NaBH4/Charcoal: A New Synthetic Method for Mild and Convenient Reduction of Nitroarenes

NaBH₄ in the presence of charcoal (0.4–0.8 g) reduces varieties of nitroarenes to their corresponding amines. Reduction reactions were carried out in a mixture of H₂O‐THF (1:0.5 mL) at 50–60°C with high to excellent yields of products.     

Direct breath figure formation on PMMA and superhydrophobic surface using in situ perfluoro-modified silica nanoparticles

Breath figure formation was carried out directly on the surface of poly(methylmethacrylate) using a mixture of a good solvent, tetrahydrofuran, and a nonsolvent, water. Direct breath figure formation was coined for this method and a mechanism was proposed to describe the figure formation by the method based on hypothesizes available for the normal breath figure formation. The proposed mechanism is such that the sonication effect, immersion time, and water content on characteristics of the obtained figures can be explained. The figured surface was then made superhydrophobic with a water contact angle of 175° using in situ growing of perfluoro modified silica nanoparticles inside the figure cell by one-pot method. The spherical modified silica nanoparticles were detected being trapped by figure features providing a mechanical entrapment of the low-surface energy nanoparticles. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2013     

Application of artificial neural networks for formulation and modeling of dye adsorption onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes

In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) has been developed to predict the adsorption amount of dye (methylene blue) onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Batch experiments have been carried out to obtain experimental data. Important parameters in the adsorption system such as initial dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, temperature, pH and contact time have been used as the inputs of the network, while the output is the final concentration of dye in aqueous solution after adsorption. The neural network structure has been optimized by testing various training algorithms and different number of neurons in a hidden layer. An empirical equation for determination of final dye concentration in aqueous solutions after adsorption has been developed by using the weights of the optimized network. The results of the optimized ANN have been compared with conventional models in equilibrium and kinetic fields. According to error analysis and determination coefficient, the ANN was found to be the most appropriate model to describe this adsorption process. Sensitivity analysis showed that initial dye concentration, pH and contact time are the most effective parameters in this process. The influence percentages of these parameters on the output were 28, 24 and 24 %, respectively.     

Enhanced photo-catalytic activity of TiO2 nanostructured thin films under solar light by Sn and Nb co-doping

In this study, preparation of Sn and Nb co-doped TiO₂ dip-coated thin films on glazed porcelain substrates via sol–gel process have been investigated. The effects of co-doping content on the structural, optical, and photo-catalytic properties of applied thin films have been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission SEM (FE-SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy. Surface chemical state of thin films was examined by atomic X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XRD results suggest that adding impurities has a great effect on the crystallinity and particle size of TiO₂. Titania Rutile phase formation in thin film was promoted by Sn⁴⁺ addition but was inhibited by Nb⁵⁺ doping. The prepared co-doped TiO₂ photo-catalyst films showed optical absorption edge in the visible light area and exhibited excellent photo-catalytic ability for degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution under solar irradiation. Comparison with undoped and Sn or Nb-doped TiO₂, codoped TiO₂ shows an obviously higher catalytic activity under solar irradiation.     

Field-temperature phase diagrams in chiral tilted smectics,evidencing ferroelectric and ferrielectric phases

Usual ferroelectric compounds undergo a paraelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transition when the susceptibility of the electric polarization density changes its sign. The temperature is the only thermodynamic field that governs the phase transition. Chiral tilted smectics may also present an improper ferroelectricity when there is a tilt angle between the average long axis direction and the layer normal. The tilt angle is the order parameter of the phase transition which is governed by the temperature. Although the electric susceptibility remains positive, a polarization proportional to the tilt appears due to their linear coupling allowed by the chiral symmetry. Further complications come in when the chirality increases, as new phases are encountered with the same tilt inside the layers but a distribution of the azimuthal direction which is periodic with a unit cell of two (SmC(A)*, three (SmC(Fi1)*, four (SmC(Fi2)* or more (SmC(alpha)* layers. In most of these phases, the layer normal is a symmetry axis so there is no macroscopic polarization except for the SmC(Fi1)* in which the average long axis is tilted so the phase is ferrielectric. By studying a particular compound with only a SmC(Fi2)* and a SmC(alpha)* phase, we show that we recover the uniformly tilted ferroelectric SmC* when applying an electric field. We are thus led to build field-temperature phase diagrams for this class of compounds by combining different experimental techniques described here.     

Green,rapid, and highly efficient syntheses of α,α′-bis[(aryl or allyl)idene]cycloalkanones and 2-[(aryl or allyl)idene]-1-indanones as potentially biologic compounds via solvent-free microwave-assisted Claisen–Schmidt condensation catalyzed by MoCl5

A new, green, and highly efficient protocol for the expeditious preparation of some α,α′-bis[(aryl or allyl)idene]cycloalkanones and 2-[(aryl or allyl)idene]-1-indanones via a simple microwave-assisted Claisen–Schmidt condensation reaction catalyzed by MoCl₅ was successfully developed. Outstanding features of the current methodology include the use of solvent-free conditions, simple operation, use of a very inexpensive and available catalyst, low catalyst loading, short reaction times, high yields of the pure products, no harmful by-products, easy workup, and also the applicability of microwave irradiation as a clean source of energy. Furthermore, a gram-scale reaction was successfully conducted, proving the scalability of this current Claisen–Schmidt condensation reaction.     

Spectroscopic analysis of the interaction between Co3O4 nanoparticles and acid phosphatase

Monatshefte für Chemie - Chemical Monthly - In this study, the structure and stability of acid phosphatase in its interaction with Co3O4 nanoparticles are evaluated through absorbance, enzyme...     

Fabrication of Electrochemical Sensor Based on CeO2−SnO2 Nanocomposite Loaded on Pd Support for Determination of Nitrite at Trace Levels

Here, an electrochemical sensor based on CeO₂‐SnO₂/Pd was prepared and used for highly selective and sensitive determination of nitrite in some real samples. This nanocomposite was characterized by various methods like X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The electrochemical behavior of the sensor was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry. The results showed excellent catalytic property of the nanocomposite as a an electrocatalyst for nitrite oxidation. In the following, the experimental parameters affecting the analytical signal for nitrite were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the limit of detection and sensitivity of the sensor were calculated as 0.10 μM and 652.95 μA.mM^?1.cm^?2, respectively. Also, the response of the sensor was linear in the range of 0.36 to 2200 μM of nitrite. Finally, some of the inherent features of the sensor such as repeatability, reproducibility and stability were examined after evaluation of the sensor selectivity in the presence of several interfering species.     

Integrated photonic crystal spectrometers for sensing applications

A combination of negative refraction and diffraction compensation in a superprism-based photonic crystal structure is used to demonstrate a compact on-chip photonic crystal spectrometer. This structure provides strong dispersion and signal isolation, which are essential for forming an efficient and compact spectrometer. Performance of these spectrometers as spectral pattern detectors is discussed. The experimental results show that a PC structure with 80 μm × 220 μm dimension can locate a single spectral feature with better than 10 pm accuracy over a bandwidth of 50 nm around 1550 nm center wavelength at an output signal-to-noise ratio of 13 dB.