Aqueous synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity of ZnO/Fe2O3 heterostructures

We report a facile synthesis of ZnO/Fe₂O₃ heterostructures based on the hydrolysis of FeCl₃ in the presence of ZnO nanoparticles. The material structure, composition, and its optical properties have been examined by means of transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance UV–visible spectroscopy. Results obtained show that 2.9 nm-sized Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles produced assemble with ZnO to form ZnO/Fe₂O₃ heterostructures. We have evaluated the photodegradation performances of ZnO/Fe₂O₃ materials using salicylic acid under UV-light. ZnO/Fe₂O₃ heterostructures exhibited enhanced photocatalytic capabilities than commercial ZnO due to the effective electron/hole separation at the interfaces of ZnO/Fe₂O₃ allowing the enhanced hydroxyl and superoxide radicals production from the heterostructure.     

In vitro evaluation of the anti-proliferative activities of the wood essential oils of three Cedrus species against K562 human chronic myelogenous leukaemia cells

There are four kinds of Cedar: Cedrus libani naturally occurring in Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, Cedrus atlantica in Morocco and Algeria, Cedrus brevefolia in Cyprus Island and Cedrus deodara which is distributed in Himalayan Mountains. Wood essential oils obtained from C. libani, C. atlantica and C. deodara were tested for the inhibition of K562 cell proliferation and for the induction of erythroid differentiation. The wood essential oils of C. libani, C. atlantica and C. deodara inhibited the proliferation of the K562 cell line exhibiting IC(50) values 23.38?±?1.7, 59.37?±?2.6 and 37.09?±?1.4?μg?mL(-1), respectively. Meanwhile, C. libani wood oils induced a percentage of erythroid differentiation of 15?±?2% at concentration 5?μg?mL(-1). Cedrus deodara wood oil indicated a percentage of erythroid differentiation of 20?±?2% at concentration 25?μg?mL(-1) and C. atlantica wood oils showed a percentage of erythroid differentiation of 12?±?1.8% at concentration 10?μg?mL(-1).     

Synthesis and characterization of a new hexacyclic helicene

A new helically chiral hexacyclic system, bearing an acetoxymethyl group, was prepared from a simple naphthalene building block in good yield and purity, via a four-step sequence involving palladium-catalysed Heck couplings and oxidative photocyclizations. Suitable crystals of the latter indicate that its conformation closely resembles that of unsubstituted [6]helicene, whose idealized symmetry is C₂. The optical properties of the hexacyclic helicene were investigated and show interesting behaviour.     

Synthesis, characterization, and conformational analysis of new perfunctionalized calix[9]arenes

The synthesis of a series of six new per-substituted p-tert-butylcalix[9]arenes derivatives has been achieved. Functions such as ester, nitrile, or carbonate have been grafted on the phenolic oxygens of calix[9]arene: p-tert-butylcalix[9]arene nona-ethyl acetate, p-tert-butylcalix[9]arene nona-carboxylic acid, p-tert-butylcalix[9]arene nona-cyanopropyloxy, p-tert-butylcalix[9]arene nona-tert-butoxycarbonyle, p-tert-butylcalix[9]arene nona-acetyl, and p-tert-butylcalix[9]arene nona-trifluoroacetyl have been obtained in good yields (from 48% to 78%) and fully characterized. The X-ray structures of p-tert-butylcalix[9]arene nona-tert-butoxycarbonyl and p-tert-butylcalix[9]arene nona-ethyl acetate have been determined. A dynamic NMR study has revealed the high conformational mobility of such structures, even at low temperature.     

Preparation and structural characterization of tetracoordinated tungsten(II) diazadiene complexes

Reduction in situ of WCl₄(MeCN)₂ with zinc in the presence of diazadiene ligands 1b-f is reported and produces a series of diamagnetic complexes (DAD)WCl₂2b-f. All complexes were characterized by ¹H, ¹³C NMR and IR spectroscopic data. The crystal structures of complexes 2b and 2e were solved by X-ray diffraction methods.     

Inverse conductivity Problem with Internal Data

This paper concerns the reconstruction of a scalar coefficient of a second-order elliptic equation in divergence form posed on a bounded domain from internal data. This problem finds applications in multi-wave imaging, greedy methods to approximate parameter-dependent elliptic problems, and image treatment with partial differential equations. We first show that the inverse problem for smooth coefficients can be rewritten as a linear transport equation. Assuming that the coefficient is known near the boundary, we study the well-posedness of associated transport equation as well as its numerical resolution using discontinuous Galerkin method. We propose a regularized transport equation that allow us to derive rigorous convergence rates of the numerical method in terms of the order of the polynomial approximation as well as the regularization parameter. We finally provide numerical examples for the inversion assuming a lower regularity of the coefficient, and using synthetic data.