Effect of W co-doping on the optical,magnetic and electrical properties of Fe-doped BaSnO3

The effect of W co-doping on the optical, magnetic and electrical properties of Fe-doped BaSnO₃ has been studied. Polycrystalline BaSnO₃, BaSn_0.96Fe_0.04O₃ and BaSn_0.95Fe_0.04W_0.01O₃ samples were prepared using solid state reaction. In the analysis of powder X-ray diffraction patterns, the samples were found to be free of secondary phases. Diffuse reflectance spectra evidenced the substitution of Fe and W for Sn in the host BaSnO₃. Micro-Raman spectra confirmed the existence of oxygen vacancies in the samples. Upon W-1% co-doping, the ferromagnetic character of Fe-4% doped BaSnO₃ is suppressed drastically and its Curie temperature is reduced to 310 K from 462 K. The existence of F-centers and ferromagnetic interactions at room temperature is evidenced by the electron paramagnetic resonance and ferromagnetic resonance signals observed in the electron spin resonance spectra of the undoped and Fe-4% doped, (Fe-4% and W-1%) co-doped BaSnO₃ samples respectively. Suppression of ferromagnetism upon W co-doping is due to the fact that each W⁶⁺ ion donates two electrons to the host lattice and it reduces the number of oxygen vacancies that are essential for ferromagnetism to exist in the Fe-doped BaSnO₃ samples.     

Self‐Supported Chiral Titanium Cluster (SCTC) as a Robust Catalyst for the Asymmetric Cyanation of Imines under Batch and Continuous Flow at Room Temperature

A robust heterogeneous self‐supported chiral titanium cluster (SCTC) catalyst and its application in the enantioselective imine‐cyanation/Strecker reaction is described under batch and continuous processes. One of the major hurdles in the asymmetric Strecker reaction is the lack of availability of efficient and reusable heterogeneous catalysts that work at room temperature. We exploited the readily hydrolyzable nature of titanium alkoxide to synthesize a self‐supported chiral titanium cluster (SCTC) catalyst by the controlled hydrolysis of a preformed chiral titanium‐alkoxide complex. The isolated SCTC catalysts were remarkably stable and showed up to 98 % enantioselectivity (ee) with complete conversion of the imine within 2 h for a wide variety of imines at room temperature. The heterogeneous catalysts were recyclable more than 10 times without any loss in activity or selectivity. The robustness, high performance, and recyclability of the catalyst enabled it to be used in a packed‐bed reactor to carry out the cyanation under continuous flow. Up to 97 % ee and quantitative conversion with a throughput of 45 mg h^?1 were achieved under optimized flow conditions at room temperature in the case of benzhydryl imine. Furthermore, a three‐component Strecker reaction was performed under continuous flow by using the corresponding aldehydes and amines instead of the preformed imines. A good product distribution was obtained for the formation of amino nitriles with ee values of up to 98 %. Synthetically useful ee values were also obtained for challenging α‐branched aliphatic aldehyde by using the three‐component continuous Strecker reaction.     

Dihydrogen phosphate mediated supramolecular frameworks in 2‐ and 4‐chloroanilinium dihydrogen phosphate salts

The title compounds, 2‐chloroanilinium dihydrogen phosphate (2CADHP) and 4‐chloroanilinium dihydrogen phosphate (4CADHP), both C₆H₇NCl⁺·H₂PO₄⁻, form two‐dimensional supramolecular organic–inorganic hybrid frameworks. In 2CADHP, the dihydrogen phosphate anions form a double‐stranded anionic chain generated parallel to the [010] direction through O—H...O hydrogen bonds, whereas in 4CADHP they form a two‐dimensional supramolecular net extending parallel to the crystallographic (001) plane into which the cations are linked through strong N—H...O hydrogen bonds.     

Synthesis and characterization of NaA zeolite powder/film deposited on alumina beads by dip-coating method

Linde Type A (LTA) zeolites have been synthesized in the current study by simple sol–gel technique. The crystal growth has been controlled by varying the hydrogel synthesis time and annealing temperature. The resulting products obtained at various crystallization times and temperatures have been studied using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) method, High resolution transmission electron microscopy images, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs, energy dispersive study and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. The TEM images of the final LTA zeolite annealed at 500 °C revealed the formation of cubic structure. XRD analysis revealed that the crystallinity improved with annealing. BET analysis revealed that the synthesized LTA is a well crystallized 4A zeolite. LTA zeolites were dispersed in poly ethylene glycol in the ratio 3:100 and 5:100 and coated on porous alumina beads for the formation of membrane. The SEM images revealed excellent formation of fine structure LTA zeolite membrane with uniform coating. The membrane consisted of a top layer with thickness of 1.14–2.0 µm. Crystals in the top layer showed cubic morphology and amorphous phase was observed at the grain boundaries present between LTA zeolite and alumina substrate.     

Main-chain liquid crystalline copolymers: synthesis and comparative study of the mesomorphic properties and non-linear optical properties

Linear main-chain polymers (P1, P2 and P3) have been synthesised and characterised. The polymers were designed to understand the rigidity of the mesogen’s linking groups and its effect on transition temperature. The liquid crystalline behaviour of these polymers was investigated using polarised optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. All polymers exhibited phase transition on heating and cooling runs. The mesophase stability decreases with the decrease of rigidity of the second mesogen (P2>P1>P3). Similarly, the enthalpy and entropy changes are dependent on the rigidity of the second mesogen (Mesogen B). Polymer P1 undergoes photoisomerisation under UV-visible light irradiation and it attains a photo-stationary state at 275 s. This provides an opportunity to investigate the third-order non-linear optical properties. The non-linear behaviour of polymer P1 in chloroform presents a distinct deviation in a different concentration, where polymer P1 also exhibits a negative non-linear refractive index. Thus, polymer P1 can be used as a potential candidate for optical device applications such as optical limiters.     

Improving the signal amplitude of meandering coil EMATs by using ribbon soft magnetic flux concentrators (MFC)

This paper presents a new method of improving the ultrasonic signal amplitude from a meander line EMAT by using soft magnetic alloy ribbon (Fe₆₀Ni₁₀V₁₀B₂₀) as a magnetic flux concentrator (MFC). The flux concentrator is a thin soft amorphous magnetic material (Fe₆₀Ni₁₀V₁₀B₂₀) which is very sensitive to a small flux change. The MFC is used with the EMAT to improve the signal amplitude and it was observed that the peak signal amplitude increases by a factor of two compared to the signal without MFC. Two dimensional numerical models have been developed for the EMAT with MFC to quantify the improvement of the received signal amplitudes. Model calculations and experiments have been carried out for a wide range of ultrasonic frequencies (500 kHz-1 MHz) in different materials.     

A facile preparation of N-protected indolaldehydes using a modified Hass procedure

The preparation of a variety of N-protected indolaldehydes is reported via the reaction of N-protected bromomethylindoles with 2-nitropropane using NaH/DMF.     

Lewis Acid–Mediated Domino Reaction of 3-Bromomethylthiophenes with Arenes/Heteroarenes

Lewis acid–mediated domino reaction of 3-bromomethylthiophenes with various types of arenes and heteroarenes is reported.