Using gold colloid nanoparticles to modulate the surface enhanced fluorescence of Rhodamine B

Enhanced fluorescence from Rhodamine B (RB) mixed with gold colloids has been observed under ultraviolet irradiation. Spectroscopic studies show that with the increasing gold colloids content, the fluorescence of RB at about 590 nm increases firstly and then decreases with slight red shift. These features observed in the experiment can be explained by the local electric field enhancement via surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of gold nanoparticles. Fluorescence enhancement is obtained when the emission frequency of RB lies within the bandwidth of local field enhancement from gold nanoparticles. Theoretical calculation results show that the local field band red shifts obviously with increase the thickness of dye shell which capped on gold particle, whereas the fluorescence band of RB is fixed around 590 nm. Therefore, the red shift and non-monotonic change of fluorescence intensity from RB is attributed to the dye shell dependent red shift of local field band of gold particles.     

Facile preparation,spectral property and application of Ag/ZnO nanocomposites

Research on Chemical Intermediates - In this paper, a one-pot and sustainable method for the preparation of Ag/ZnO nanocomposites in green polyethylene glycol-200 (PEG-200) was reported with silver...     

XANES/EPR Evidence of the Oxidation of Nickel(II) Quinolinylpropioamide and Its Application in Csp3−H Functionalization

An in situ generated oxidation species of nickel quinolinylpropioamide intermediate was produced. Characterization by X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and EPR provides complementary insights into this oxidized nickel species. With aliphatic amides and isocyanides as substrates, a nickel-catalyzed facile synthesis of structurally diverse five-membered lactams could be achieved.     

Lewis Acid Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Hydrogen Activation: Structures,Mechanisms, and Reactivities

As a new type of bifunctional catalyst, the Lewis acid transition-metal (LA-TM) catalysts have been widely applied for hydrogen activation. This study presents a mechanistic framework to understand the LA-TM-catalyzed H₂ activation through DFT studies. The mer(trans)-homolytic cleavage, the fac(cis)-homolytic cleavage, the synergetic heterolytic cleavage, and the dissociative heterolytic cleavage should be taken as general mechanisms for the field of LA-TM catalysis. Four typical LA-TM catalysts, the Z-type κ⁴-L₃B-Rh complex tri(azaindolyl)borane-Rh, the X-type κ³-L₂B-Co complex bis-phosphino-boryl (PBP)-Co, the η²-BC-type κ³-L₂B-Pd complex diphosphine-borane (DPB)-Pd, and the Z-type κ²-LB-Pt complex (boryl)iminomethane (BIM)-Pt are selected as representative models to systematically illustrate their mechanistic features and explore the influencing factors on mechanistic variations. Our results indicate that the tri(azaindolyl)borane-Rh catalyst favors the synergetic heterolytic mechanism; the PBP-Co catalyst prefers the mer(trans)-homolytic mechanism; the DPB-Pd catalyst operates through the fac(cis)-homolytic mechanism, whereas the BIM-Pt catalyst tends to undergo the dissociative heterolytic mechanism. The mechanistic variations are determined by the coordination geometry, the LA-TM bonding nature, the electronic structure of the TM center, and the flexibility or steric effect of the LA ligands. The presented mechanistic framework should provide helpful guidelines for LA-TM catalyst design and reaction developments.     

Protein–Metal-Ion Networks: A Unique Approach toward Metal Sulfide Nanoparticles Embedded In Situ in Nanocomposites

Nanoscale metal sulfides are of tremendous potential in biomedicine. Generally, the properties and performances of metal sulfide nanoparticles (NPs) are highly related to their structures, sizes and morphologies. Recently, a strategy of using sulfur-containing protein–metal-ion networks for preparing metal sulfide embedded nanocomposites was proposed. Within the networks, proteins can play multiple roles to drive the transformation of these networks into protein-encapsulated metal sulfide NPs with ultrasmall size and defined structure (as both a template and a sulfur provider) or metal sulfide NP–protein hydrogels with injecting and self-healing properties (as a template, a sulfur provider, and a gelator) in a controlled manner. In this Concept, the synthesis strategy, the formation mechanism, and the biomedical applications of the gained nanocomposites are presented. Moreover, the challenges and opportunities of using protein–metal ion networks to construct functional materials for biomedical applications are analyzed.     

Quintic time-dependent-coefficient derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation in hydrodynamics or fiber optics: bilinear forms and dark/anti-dark/gray solitons

Nonlinear Dynamics - Studies on the water waves contribute to the design of the related industries, such as the marine and offshore engineering, while the media with the negative refractive index...     

Size effect of lead-free halide double perovskite on luminescence property

Lead-free halide double perovskites have gathered wide scientific interest since they are environmentally friendly and stable.However,compared to the lead perovskites,their optoelectronic properties are compromised.Herein we report a series of bulk lead-free mixed Bi-In halide double perovskites:Cs_2AgBi_(1-x)In_xCl_6(0x1).The Cs_2AgBi_(0.125)In_(0.875)Cl_6breaks the parity-forbidden transition and retains direct band gap structure,having warm-white light emission,with photoluminescence quantum efficiency(PLQE)of 70.3%,much higher than the PLQE of reported lead perovskite materials.Its exciton self-trapping dynamics is investigated.Meanwhile,the Cs_2AgBi_(0.125)In_(0.875)Cl_6nanocrystals and Cs_2AgBi_(0.125)In_(0.875)Cl_6microcrystals can be synthesized by modified hot injection and rapid cooling crystallization,respectively.The size effect of Cs_2AgBi_(0.125)In_(0.875)Cl_6is studied on the photoluminescence(PL)property.Additionally,the bulk material exhibits excellent stability on exposure to light,humidity and air for more than 3 months.It is a promising candidate as highly efficient warm white-light emitting material for road lighting.     

Generation and Propagation of Optical Superoscillatory Vortex Arrays

Superoscillation is an intriguing wave phenomenon which enables subwavelength features propagating into far field and hence has potential applications in super‐resolution microscopy as well as particle trapping and manipulation. While previous demonstrations mostly concentrate on designing complicated nanostructures for generating uncontrollable superoscillatory functions, here a new technique which allows for creating polynomially shaped superoscillatory functions that contain phase singularity arrays is demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally. Such a technique is implemented in optical experiments for the first time and controllable superoscillatory lobes with feature much below the diffraction limit is achieved. More importantly, a general theoretical framework, which, to our knowledge, has not been reported before, is developed to show how the created superoscillations propagate to a distance of many Rayleigh ranges and eventually disappear when the distance is sufficiently larger. The validity of the model is confirmed by the experiments. The results may trigger further studies in light field shaping and manipulations in subwavelength scale.     

Retraction Note to: Chattering-free variable structure controller design via fractional calculus approach and its application

Nonlinear Dynamics - TheEditor-in-Chief has retracted this article [1] because it overlaps significantly with an