Polymer-Supported Boron Trifluoride

Polystyrene, cross-linked with 7.8% of divinylbenzene, formed a stable complex in chloroform with boron trifluoride containing 0.11% of boron, while cross-linked polystyrene-4-vinylpyridine resins containing 2–2.5% of pyridine rings formed a stable complex with boron trifluoride, containing 1.04% of boron. Both complexes catalyze conversions of aromatic aldehydes, ketones, and acids with alcohols into corresponding acetals, cyclic ketals, and esters; diphenylmethanol converts into ether. The structure of the alcohol plays an important role, with conversions decreasing in the order 1-butanol, 2-butanol, tert-butanol. Both complexes are very stable and in most cases more reactive than the cross-linked polystyrene-A1C1₃ complex.     

Structure of 6,11-dichloro-9-dimethylthio-7,8-dicarba-nido-undecaborane [6,11-Cl2-9-SMe2-7,8-C2B9H9]

A technique is proposed for directed synthesis of 6,11-dichloro-9-dimethylthio-7,8-dicarba-nido-undecaborane [6,11-Cl₂-9-SMe₂-7,8-C₂B₉H₉]. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction is used to identify the molecular and crystal structure of the compound.     

Reactions of 2- and 4-pyrones with secondary phosphine chalcogenides: a facile synthesis of functional phosphorylated pyrones

The oxidative cross-coupling between 4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2-pyrone or 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4-pyrone and secondary phosphine chalcogenides proceeds in CCl₄/Et₃N under mild conditions (20–52 °С, 0.75–10 h) through the hydroxyl group to give O-(6-methyl-2-oxo-2H-pyran-4-yl) diorganylphosphinochalcogenoates or O-(2-methyl-4-oxo-4H-pyran-3-yl) diorganylphosphinochalcogenoates, in high yields.     

Development of a method for the determination of 93Zr and 94Nb in radioactive waste using TEVA® resin

The behaviour of ⁹⁵Zr and ⁹⁵Nb isotopes on TEVA^® resin column was studied. The influence of hydrofluoric, hydrochloric, oxalic and sulphuric acids on the separation and chemical yield of zirconium and niobium was tested. The method is suitable for the separation of ⁹³Zr and ⁹⁴Nb isotopes from hydrofluoric, hydrochloric and sulphuric acid by using different concentrations of the acid for the load or elutes solutions. Samples from reactor and fuel assemblies such as the control-rod connection rod, shielding/absorber parts of fuel rods, neutron in-core measurement channels, pressure vessel basic construction material and internal cladding, core barrel and reactor protection tube unit were analysed.     

Broadband spin‐controlled focusing via logarithmic‐spiral nanoslits of varying width

This work presents analytical, numerical and experimental demonstrations of light diffracted through a logarithmic spiral (LS) nanoslit, which forms a type of switchable and focus‐tunable structure. Owing to a strong dependence on the incident photon spin, the proposed LS‐nanoslit converges incoming light of opposite handedness (to that of the LS‐nanoslit) into a confined subwavelength spot, while it shapes light with similar chirality into a donut‐like intensity profile. Benefitting from the varying width of the LS‐nanoslit, different incident wavelengths interfere constructively at different positions, i.e., the focal length shifts from 7.5 μm (at λ = 632.8 nm) to 10 μm (at λ = 488 nm), which opens up new opportunities for tuning and spatially separating broadband light at the micrometer scale.

     

Unveiling the correlation between non‐diffracting tractor beam and its singularity in Poynting vector

This paper investigates the singular optics of nonparaxial light beams in the near field when the light behaves as a tractor beam. New insights into the optical pulling force, which is usually represented by integrating the stress tensor at a black box enclosing the object, are interpreted by the optical singularity of the Poynting vector. The negative nonconservative pulling force originates from the transfer of the azimuthal Poynting vector to the longitudinal component partly owing to the presence of a scatterer. The separatrice pattern and singularity shifts of the Poynting vector unanimously exhibit a differentiable near‐field distribution in the presence of optical pulling force. A new method is established to calculate the near‐field optical force using the differential Poynting vector in the far field. The results obtained provide a clear physical interpretation of the light–matter interaction and manifest the significance of singular optics in manipulating objects.

     

Adsorption-Inhibition of Clathrate Hydrates by Self-Assembled Nanostructures

The mechanism by which safranine O (SFO), an ice growth inhibitor, halts the growth of single crystal tetrahydrofuran (THF) clathrate hydrates was explored using microfluidics coupled with cold stages and fluorescence microscopy. THF hydrates grown in SFO solutions exhibited morphology changes and were shaped as truncated octahedrons or hexagons. Fluorescence microscopy and microfluidics demonstrated that SFO binds to the surface of THF hydrates on specific crystal planes. Cryo-TEM experiments of aqueous solutions containing millimolar concentrations of SFO exhibited the formation of bilayered lamellae with an average thickness of 4.2±0.2 nm covering several μm². Altogether, these results indicate that SFO forms supramolecular lamellae in solution, which might bind to the surface of the hydrate and inhibit further growth. As an ice and hydrate inhibitor, SFO may bind to the surface of these crystals via ordered water molecules near its amine and methyl groups, similar to some antifreeze proteins.