Erratum to Formation and control of Au and Ag nanoparticles inside borate glasses using femtosecond laser and heat treatment

We report the spectroscopic properties of femtosecond laser-irradiated sodium-alumino-borate glass doped with silver and gold ions. We precipitated gold and silver nanoparticles by laser irradiation and annealing at 400°C for 30 min. The irradiation and annealing treatment produced different absorption and emission characteristics in Au³⁺ doped and Au³⁺, Ag⁺ codoped glasses, and the possible mechanisms of the observed results are discussed. The size of the nanoparticles was estimated by TEM and absorption band analysis.     

Progressive formation of fine and coarse ripples on SiC surface by repeated irradiation of femtosecond laser pulses

In this work, we report the progressive formation of first nanoparticles, next fine ripples, and eventually coarse ripples during the irradiation of single-crystal 6H-SiC surfaces with increasing number of femtosecond laser pulses (λ = 515 nm, τ = 250 fs, repetition rate = 100 kHz). At laser fluences greater than the single-pulse ablation threshold, nanoparticles were produced on the surface by the first few pulses over which fine ripple patterns overlapped at increased pulse numbers. As the pulse number was further increased over ten, the surface was gradually transformed into a coarse ripple–covered one. At laser fluence below the threshold, however, only fine ripples were formed nonuniformly.     

Domination number in graphs with minimum degree two

A set D of vertices of a graph G = （V, E） is called a dominating set if every vertex of V not in D is adjacent to a vertex of D. In 1996, Reed proved that every graph of order n with minimum degree at least 3 has a dominating set of cardinality at most 3n/8. In this paper we generalize Reed＇s result. We show that every graph G of order n with minimum degree at least 2 has a dominating set of cardinality at most （3n ＋IV21）/8, where V2 denotes the set of vertices of degree 2 in G. As an application of the above result, we show that for k ≥ 1, the k-restricted domination number rk （G, γ） ≤ （3n＋5k）/8 for all graphs of order n with minimum degree at least 3.     

A new Li-Al-N-H system for reversible hydrogen storage

Complex metal hydrides are considered as a class of candidate materials for hydrogen storage. Lithium-based complex hydrides including lithium alanates (LiAlH(4) and Li(3)AlH(6)) are among the most promising materials owing to its high hydrogen content. In the present work, we investigated dehydrogenation/rehydrogenation reactions of a combined system of Li(3)AlH(6) and LiNH(2). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of Li(3)AlH(6)/3LiNH(2)/4 wt % TiCl(3)-(1)/(3)AlCl(3) mixtures indicated that a large amount of hydrogen (approximately 7.1 wt %) can be released between 150 degrees C and 300 degrees C under a heating rate of 5 degrees C/min in two dehydrogenation reaction steps. The results also show that the dehydrogenation reaction of the new material system is nearly 100% reversible under 2000 psi pressure hydrogen at 300 degrees C. Further, a short-cycle experiment has demonstrated that the new combined material system of alanates and amides can maintain its hydrogen storage capacity upon cycling of the dehydrogenation/rehydrogenation reactions.     

Decarboxylative cross-couplings of 2-aminopyrimidine-5-carboxylic acids

Decarboxylative CC cross-couplings of 2-aminopyrimidine-5-carboxylic acids under a Pd/Ag-based catalytic system opens a new platform for the introduction of diverse C5 substituents. The reaction methods proceeded efficiently with a wide range of the acids and the coupling partners of aryl iodides, alkenes, bromoalkynes, and azoles. Considering ready availability of 2-aminopyrimidine-5-carboxylic acid from the oxidative dehydrosulfurative CN cross-coupling of the 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-1H-2-thiones, this reaction method unambiguously pave a shortcut to densely substituted 2-aminopyrimidine derivatives with unprecedented diversity.     

Observation of negative charge trapping and investigation of its physicochemical origin in newly synthesized poly(tetraphenyl)silole siloxane thin films

A new kind of organic-inorganic hybrid polymer, poly(tetraphenyl)silole siloxane, was invented and synthesized for realization of its unique charge trap properties. The organic portions consisting of (tetraphenyl)silole rings were responsible for negative charge trapping, while the Si-O-Si inorganic linkages provided the intrachain energy barrier for controlling electron transport. The polysilole siloxane dielectric thin films were fabricated by spin-coating and curing of the polymers, followed by characterization with spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS), and photoemission spectroscopy (PES). The abrupt increase in density and decrease in thickness of the thin film at a curing temperature of 100 °C was attributed to a thermodynamically preferred state in the nanoscopic arrangement of the polymer chains; this was due to cofacial π-π interactions in a skewed manner between peripheral phenyl groups of the (tetraphenyl)silole rings of the adjacent polymer chains. Using the NEXAFS spectrum to assess high electron affinity, the LUMO energy level of the dielectric thin film cured at 150 °C was positioned 1 eV above the Fermi energy level (E(F)). The electron trapping of the dielectric thin films was confirmed from the positive flat band shift (ΔV(FB)) in the capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements performed within the metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) device structure, which strongly verified the polymer design concept. From the simple kinetics model of the electron transport, it was proposed that the flat band shift (ΔV(FB)) or trap density of the negative charges (|ρ|) was logarithmically proportional to the decay constant (β) for the electron-tunneling process. When a phenyl group of a silole ring in a polymer chain was inserted into the two available phenyl groups of another silole ring in another polymer chain, the electron transfer between the groups was enhanced, decreasing the trap density of the negative charges (|ρ|). For the thermodynamically preferred state generating the high refractive index, the distance between the two phenyl groups of the adjacent polymer chains was estimated to be in the range of 0.27-0.36 nm.     

Reactions of arachno-6,8-C2B7H12- with electron deficient olefins: syntheses of cyano-substituted carboranes

The syntheses of new cyano-substituted derivatives of arachno-6,8-C(2)B(7)H(13) have been achieved through the addition reactions of the arachno-6,8-C(2)B(7)H(12)(-) (1-) anion with cyano-activated olefins. The reaction of PSH+1- with tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) yielded the unusual bridging compound PSH(+)endo-6-endo-7-[micro(2)-(C(CN)(2))(2)]-arachno-6,8-C(2)B(7)H(12)(-) (PSH+2-)) resulting from cycloaddition of the TCNE at the C6-B7 edge of the anion. Consistent with its hypho skeletal electron count, an X-ray crystallographic study and DFT/GIAO calculations confirm 2(-) has a more open structure than 1-. The reaction of 1- with acrylonitrile resulted in the formation of endo-6-(NCCH(2)CH(2))-arachno-6,8-C(2)B(7)H(11)(-) (3-), which, upon acidification, afforded endo-6-(NCCH(2)CH(2))-arachno-6,8-C(2)B(7)H(12) (3) in high yield. X-ray crystallographic and DFT/GIAO studies established that the cyanoethyl fragment in 3 is substituted at the endo-position of the C6 cage-carbon. Heating 3 in THF at 50 degrees C or in toluene at 110 degrees C resulted in the quantitative isomerization of the cyanoethyl-substituent from the endo- to the exo-position at C6 to yield exo-6-(NCCH(2)CH(2))-arachno-6,8-C(2)B(7)H(12) (4). This is the first example of an endo to exo isomerization to be observed at a cage-carbon of a carborane. While heating 3 resulted in isomerization to 4, heating 3- in the presence of a small amount of 3 yielded the new ethylene-bridged 10-vertex tricarbaborane micro(6,9)-(CH(2)CH(2))-arachno-5,6,9-C(3)B(7)H(11) (5) resulting from reduction of the 3- pendant nitrile group, followed by deammination and carbon insertion.     

Tunable magnetic arrangement of iron oxide nanoparticles in situ synthesized on the solid substrate from diblock copolymer micelles

Hexagonal arrangement of iron oxide nanoparticles was fabricated by utilizing a single-layered film of diblock copolymer micelles. The synthesis was directly performed on the solid substrate by oxygen plasma with preserving the dimensional order of micelles so that separate procedures for synthesis and deposition of nanoparticles were not necessary. Since the oxygen plasma treatment also eliminated polymers, pure patterns of iron oxide nanoparticles were obtained. Moreover, easy control over the size of nanoparticles enabled us to selectively create a ferrimagnetic or a superparamagnetic pattern of iron oxide nanoparticles without altering the fabrication process.