An efficient synthesis of (±)-β-herbertenol by a 1,3-cyclopentadione annelation strategy

A simple and efficient synthesis of sesquiterpene (±)-β-herebertenol is described. The formation of cyclopentadione onto the aromatic moiety is the key feature of this protocol.     

Electrical and humidity sensing properties of synthesized hydrophosphoric acid doped polyaniline

H₃PO₄ doped polyaniline was synthesized by a single‐step chemical polymerization method using ammonium persulfate as an oxidizing agent. The material characterization was done by SEM, UV–vis spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The pellets of the synthesized material were used to study the electrical properties, using a four‐probe method. The room temperature electrical conductivity is found to be 0.2201 S/cm. The electrical resistance in response to the varying humid environment (ranging between 20 and 100% RH) is recorded to evaluate the sensitivity of the H₃PO₄ polyaniline samples toward humidity. The resistance of the samples is found to vary by three orders of magnitude for 20–100% RH and is found to decrease with increasing humidity. The response and recovery time are observed to be 12–14 and 26–30 sec, respectively. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Joule heating-enabled electrothermal enrichment of nanoparticles in insulator-based dielectrophoretic microdevices

Insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) exploits the electric field gradients formed around insulating structures to manipulate particles for diverse microfluidic applications. Compared to the traditional electrode-based dielectrophoresis, iDEP microdevices have the advantages of easy fabrication, free of water electrolysis, and robust structure, etc. However, the presence of in-channel insulators may cause thermal effects because of the locally amplified Joule heating of the fluid. The resulting electrothermal flow circulations are exploited in this work to trap and concentrate nanoscale particles (of 100 nm diameter and less) in a ratchet-based iDEP microdevice. Such Joule heating-enabled electrothermal enrichment of nanoparticles are found to grow with the increase of alternating current or direct current electric field. It also becomes more effective for larger particles and in a microchannel with symmetric ratchets. Moreover, a depth-averaged numerical model is developed to understand and simulate the various parametric effects, which is found to predict the experimental observations with a good agreement.     

Selective oxidation of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes

In this work we present a simple and non-invasive approach to the preparation of semi-conducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) through selective destruction of the metallic counterparts present in the starting material. Most separation techniques require chemical treatment, the application of ultrasound, or the addition of auxiliary molecules, which lead to the introduction of defects and impurities. In this contribution, laser ablation SWCNTs were selectively oxidised via long-term heating leading to the enrichment of semi-conductive nanotubes. Spectroscopic analysis demonstrates that the selective character of oxidation occurs only in the optimal temperature range, determined by thermo-gravimetric analysis. By tuning the process parameters, one can obtain a sample exhibiting different purity (up to 95 % of semi-conducting nanotubes) and separation efficiency. The samples’ quality and yield of separation were determined by UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and TG analysis. The approach presented is readily scaleable.     

Enhanced electron field emission properties of high aspect ratio silicon nanowire-zinc oxide core-shell arrays

The enhanced electron field emission (EFE) properties of high aspect ratio, vertically aligned SiNW-ZnO core-shell arrays are presented. These core-shell arrays are prepared by a thin, controlled, highly crystalline and conformal coating of zinc oxide as shell using the plasma assisted-atomic layer deposition (PA-ALD) route on vertically aligned silicon nanowire arrays core. The core-shell nanostuctures are confirmed by HRTEM imaging along with the individual elemental mapping demonstrating the conformal deposition of 10 nm ZnO on the SiNWs. EFE properties of va-SiNW-ZnO core-shell arrays showed a high emission current density of 51 μA cm(-2) and a low turn on field of 7.6 V μm(-1) (defined at a current density of 1 μA cm(-2)) compared to the 3.2 μA cm(-2) emission current density and 9.1 V μm(-1) turn on field for SiNWs. The field enhancement factor (β) of 4227 for the devices demonstrates that these core-shell nanowire arrays are excellent field-emitters. Such an enhancement in the field emission originates from the details of the band structure of this peculiar material combination resulting in good electron transport from SiNW to ZnO as evident from the band diagram of the core-shell material. This is further supported by the conducting AFM studies where lowering in threshold voltage by 1 eV confirms the role of ZnO coating in the enhancement of the emission characteristics.     

Analysis of Pazufloxacin Mesilate in Human Plasma and Urine by LC with Fluorescence and UV Detection,and Its Application to Pharmacokinetic Study

A liquid chromatographic method for analysis of pazufloxacin mesilate in human plasma and urine has been developed and validated for selectivity, sensitivity, accuracy, precision, and stability in pharmacokinetic analysis. The sensitivity of the method was 0.02 μg mL^?1 in plasma and 0.5 μg mL^?1 in urine, with overall intra-day and inter-day precision (RSD < 10%) and accuracy (90–120%) acceptable for clinical pharmacokinetic analysis. Recovery from plasma and urine was 80–110% for both pazufloxacin mesilate and enoxacin, the internal standard. Pazufloxacin was stable in both plasma and urine, with no significant degradation under four different conditions. The method was successfully used in a preliminary study of the bioavailability of pazufloxacin mesilate in healthy human volunteers after intravenous administration of 300 and 500 mg.     

Resonances in the pump-probe spectroscopy of Λ system in alkali atoms

We investigate resonances in the pump-probe spectroscopy of Λ configuration of levels in the hyperfine manifold of D ₂ transition of ¹³³Cs and ^a7Rb with specific reference to Autler-Townes splitting, dressed state resonances in double Λ system and electromagnetically induced transparency. As an application, a dark resonance based magnetometer is briefly discussed.     

Atomic frequency offset locking in a Λ type three-level Doppler broadened Cs system

We here present a comparative study of frequency stabilities of pump and probe lasers coupled at a frequency offset generated by coherent photon-atom interaction. Pump-probe spectroscopy of the Λ configuration in D₂ transition of cesium is carried out to obtain sub-natural (∼2 MHz) electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and sub-Doppler (∼10 MHz) Autler-Townes (AT) resonance. The pump laser is locked on the saturated absorption spectrum (SAS, ∼13 MHz) and the probe laser is successively stabilized on EIT and AT signals. Frequency stabilities of pump and probe lasers are calculated in terms of Allan variance σ(2,τ) by using the frequency noise power spectrum. It is found that the frequency stability of the probe stabilized on EIT is superior (σ∼2×10⁻¹³) to that of SAS locked pump laser (σ∼10⁻¹²), whereas the performance of the AT stabilized laser is inferior (σ∼6×10⁻¹²). This contrasting behavior is discussed in terms of the theme of conventional master-slave offset locking scheme and the mechanisms underlying the EIT and sub-Doppler AT resonances in a Doppler broadened atomic medium.