A highly selective chemodosimeter for the rapid detection of Hg2+ ions in aqueous media

A novel S,S′-diallyl carbohydrazonodithioate derivative 3 of rhodamine B hydrazone was developed as a chemodosimeter for selective detection of mercury ions based on Hg²⁺ promoted cyclization. The allyl groups of 3 play a key role in the binding and selection of Hg²⁺ ions. The probe responds selectively to Hg²⁺ over various other competitive cations with marked chromo- and fluorogenic changes. The formation of stable oxadiazole derivative 8 was a strong driving force for this high selectivity. Practically, this probe is more promising because of the remarkable high selectivity, faster response, low detection limit, and aqueous solubility of 3.     

Synthesis of triphenylamine-based thiophene-(N-aryl)pyrrole-thiophene dyes for dye-sensitized solar cell applications

Two new triphenylamine-based metal-free organic dyes (TPTDYE-1 and TPTDYE-2) containing 1-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-2,5-di(2-thienyl)pyrrole as a new π-conjugated chromophore were synthesized for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications. TPTDYE-1 containing three donor groups around the acceptor group was found to show relatively narrow absorption band from 300 nm to 470 nm while TPTDYE-2 having extended π–π delocalization between the donor and acceptor group showed broad absorption band from 300 nm to 550 nm. The electrochemical studies indicate that the HOMO–LUMO energy gap of TPTDYE-1 is considerably wider than that of TPTDYE-2. The dye-sensitized solar cell performance of each dye was investigated, and the TPTDYE-2-sensitized cell was found to show a maximum monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 75%, a short-circuit photocurrent density (J_sc) of 13.50 mA/cm², an open-circuit voltage (V_oc) of 0.72 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.69, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 6.71% under simulated AM 1.5 irradiation (100 mW/cm²). Under the same condition the TPTDYE-1-sensitized cell showed the same IPCE value of 75% with a promising conversion efficiency of 6.00%, a J_sc of 11.11 mA/cm², a V_oc of 0.76 V, and a FF of 0.71.     

A metal-free C–C/C–O bond formation for the synthesis of 2-amino-5-oxo-4-aryl-4H,5H-pyrano[3,2-c]chromene-3-carboxamide catalyzed by polystyrene-supported p-toluenesulfonic acid (PS-PTSA)

An efficient and eco-friendly procedure for the synthesis of 2-amino-5-oxo-4-aryl-4H,5H-pyrano[3,2-c]chromene-3-carboxamide has been developed through a one-pot three-component condensation of 4-hydroxycoumarin with aldehydes and cyanoacetamide, in the presence of catalytic amount of polystyrene-supported p-toluenesulfonic acid (PS-PTSA) as a highly active and reusable heterogeneous acid catalyst in EtOH at 80?°C conditions. This new procedure offers several advantages such as shorter reaction times, excellent yields, a wide range of functional group tolerance, easy experimental work-up procedure, operationally simple under metal-free reaction conditions and C-C/C-O bond formation. The catalyst can be recovered and reused for at least four runs without any significant impact on the product yields.     

Fabrication of Nb2O5/C nanocomposites as a high performance anode for lithium ion battery

Nb₂O₅/C nanosheets are successfully prepared through a mixing process and followed by heating treatment.Such Nb₂O₅/C based electrode exhibits high rate performance and remarkable cycling ability, showing a high and stable specific capacity of ~380 mAh g^-1 at the current density of 50 mA g^-1(much higher than the theoretical capacity of Nb₂O₅).Further more,at a current density of 500 mA g^-1,the nanocomposites electrode still exhibits a specific capacity of above 150 mAh g^-1 after 100 cycles.These results suggest the Nb₂O₅/C nanocomposite is a high performance anode material for lithium-ion batteries.     

Atomic layer deposition of TiO2 nanotubes and its improved electrostatic capacitance

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanotubes are fabricated into anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane via atomic layer deposition (ALD). For the ALD of TiO₂, gaseous precursors, titanium (IV) isopropoxide and water are sequentially applied and chemically reacted with each other. A thickness of nanotubes is precisely controlled by the applied cycle numbers of ALD and the morphology of nanostructures is investigated by SEM and TEM. The amorphous property of TiO₂ nanostructures is revealed by XRD and the composition of nanotubes is measured by TEM–EDX. The impurity contents and binding structure of the nanostructures are analyzed by XPS. The electrostatic capacitance of TiO₂ nanotubes into AAO is 480 μF/cm² and it is about 3 times higher compared with AAO membrane (172 μF/cm²).