Synthesis and Thermolysis of the Homoleptic Iron(II) Complex [Fe{cyclo‐(P5tBu4)}2]

Na[cyclo‐(P₅tBu₄)] ( 1 ) reacts with [FeBr₂(CO)₄] (2:1) to give the first homoleptic iron(II) complex [Fe{cyclo‐(P₅tBu₄)}₂] ( 2 ) containing two tridentate cyclo‐(P₅tBu₄)^– ligands. Thermolysis of 2 up to 500 °C produces a new phosphorus‐rich iron phosphide, calculated as FeP₆ according to the mass change.     

Thermal and kinetic analyses of 2,5-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole

Thermal behavior and UV–Vis absorption properties of 2,5-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole were investigated in the present study. It was found that decomposition occurs in two stages which correspond to removal of both phenolic rings and degradation of remaining core structure, respectively. After the characterization of decomposition stages, apparent activation energy values of each stage were calculated using model-free isoconversional methods (FWO and KAS). Apparent activation energies of decomposition stages are determined by both methods. Their averages are calculated as 98.232 and 123.253 kJ mol^?1 in consecutive order. UV–Vis absorption properties of this compound have been determined with using different solvents.     

Catalytic methanolysis of hydrazine borane: a new and efficient hydrogen generation system under mild conditions

Safe and efficient hydrogen storage is a major obstacle for using hydrogen as an energy carrier. Therefore, intensive efforts have been focused on the development of new materials for chemical hydrogen storage. Of particular importance, hydrazine borane (N(2)H(4)BH(3)) is emerging as one of the most promising solid hydrogen carriers due to its high gravimetric hydrogen storage capacity (15.4 wt%) and low molecular weight. Herein, we report metal catalyzed methanolysis of hydrazine borane (N(2)H(4)BH(3), HB) as a fast hydrogen generation system under mild conditions. When trace amounts of nickel(ii) chloride (NiCl(2)) is added to the methanol solution of hydrazine borane ([HB]/[Ni] ≥ 200) the reaction solution releases 3 equiv. of H(2) with a rate of 24 mol H(2) (mol Ni min)(-1) at room temperature. The results reported here also includes (i) identification of the reaction products by using ATR-IR, DP-MS, (1)H and (11)B NMR spectroscopic techniques and the establishment of the reaction stoichiometry, (ii) investigation of the effect of substrate and catalyst concentrations on the hydrogen generation rate to determine the rate law for the catalytic methanolysis of hydrazine borane, (iii) determination of the activation parameters (E(a), ΔH(#), and ΔS(#)) for the catalytic methanolysis of hydrazine borane by using the temperature dependent rate data of the hydrogen generation.     

Phenolic acid contents, essential oil compositions and antioxidant activities of two varieties of Salvia euphratica from Turkey

This study was designed to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activities of n-hexane (Hex), dichloromethane (DCM), methanol (MeOH) and essential oils (EO) extracts obtained from Salvia euphratica var. euphratica and Salvia euphratica var. leiocalycina and to determine their essential oil and phenolic acid compositions. The samples were screened for their antioxidant activity by using DPPH and β-carotene/linoleic acid assays. Methanol extracts of both varieties exhibited strong antioxidant activities. Our results showed that rosmarinic acid was dominant phenolic acid of MeOH extracts (39.4 and 55.8?μg?mg?1, respectively). The chemical compositions of essential oils of two varieties were analysed and their main components were determined as eucalyptol (18.4%) and trans-pinocarvyl acetate (24.9%), respectively. It can be said that these varieties could be used as natural antioxidant.     

Investigation of directional solidified Al–Ti alloy

Al–1 wt% Ti alloy was directionally solidified upwards under argon atmosphere under the two conditions; with different temperature gradients (G = 2.20–5.82 K/mm) at a constant growth rate (V = 8.30 μm/s) and with different growth rates (V = 8.30–498.60 μm/s) at a constant temperature gradient (G = 5.82 K/mm) in a Bridgman furnace. The dependence of characteristic microstructure parameters such as primary dendrite arm spacing (λ₁), secondary dendrite arm spacing (λ₂), dendrite tip radius (R) and mushy zone depth (d) on the velocity of crystal growth and the temperature gradient were determined by using a linear regression analysis. A detailed analysis of microstructure development with models of dendritic solidification and with previous similar experimental works on dendritic growth for binary alloys were also made.     

Synthesis and characterization of tellurium-doped CdO nanoparticles thin films by sol–gel method

In this work, tellurium (Te) doped CdO nanoparticles thin films with different Te concentrations (1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 %) were prepared by sol–gel method. The effects of Te doping on the structural, morphological and optical properties of the CdO thin films were systematically studied. From X-ray diffraction spectra, it has seen that all of thin films were formed polycrystalline and cubic structure having (111), (200) and (311) orientations. The structure of CdO thin films with Te-dopant was formed the unstable CdTeO₃ monoclinic structure crystal plane ( $ {\bar{\text{1}}\text{22}} $ 1 ¯ 22 ), however, the intensity of this unstable peak of the crystalline phase decreased with the increase of Te-doping ratio. The strain in the structure is also studied by using Williamson-Hall method. From FE-SEM images, it has seen that particles have homogeneously distributed and well hold onto the substrate surface. Additionally, grain size increases from 27 to 121 nm with the increase of Te-doping ratio. Optical results indicate that 1 % Te-doped CdO thin film has the maximum transmittance of about 87 %, and the values of optical energy band gap increases from 2.50 to 2.64 eV with the increase of Te-doping ratio. These results make Te-doped CdO thin films an attractive candidate for thin film material applications.     

Lyotropic Liquid Crystal to Soft Mesocrystal Transformation in Hydrated Salt–Surfactant Mixtures

Hydrated CaCl₂, LiI, and MgCl₂ salts induce self‐assembly in nonionic surfactants (such as C₁₂H₂₅(OCH₂CH₂)₁₀OH) to form lyotropic liquid‐crystalline (LLC) mesophases that undergo a phase transition to a new type of soft mesocrystal (SMC) under ambient conditions. The SMC samples can be obtained by aging the LLC samples, which were prepared as thin films by spin‐coating, dip‐coating, or drop‐casting of a clear homogenized solution of water, salt, and surfactant over a substrate surface. The LLC mesophase exists up to a salt/surfactant mole ratio of 8, 10, and 4 (corresponding to 59, 68, and 40 wt % salt/surfactant) in the CaCl₂, LiI, and MgCl₂ mesophases, respectively. The SMC phase can transform back to a LLC mesophase at a higher relative humidity. The phase transformations have been monitored using powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and FTIR techniques. The LLC mesophases only diffract at small angles, but the SMCs diffract at both small and wide angles. The broad surfactant features in the FTIR spectra of the LLC mesophases become sharp and well resolved upon SMC formation. The unit cell of the mesophases expands upon SMC transformation, in which the expansion is largest in the MgCl₂ and smallest in the CaCl₂ systems. The POM images of the SMCs display birefringent textures with well‐defined edges, similar to crystals. However, the surface of the crystals is highly patterned, like buckling patterns, which indicates that these crystals are quite soft. This unusual phase behavior could be beneficial in designing new soft materials in the fields of phase‐changing materials and mesostructured materials, and it demonstrates the richness of the phase behavior in the salt–surfactant mesophases.     

Hyperboloidal layers for hyperbolic equations on unbounded domains

We show how to solve hyperbolic equations numerically on unbounded domains by compactification, thereby avoiding the introduction of an artificial outer boundary. The essential ingredient is a suitable transformation of the time coordinate in combination with spatial compactification. We construct a new layer method based on this idea, called the hyperboloidal layer. The method is demonstrated on numerical tests including the one dimensional Maxwell equations using finite differences and the three dimensional wave equation with and without nonlinear source terms using spectral techniques.