Spectroscopic,thermal and toxicity studies of some 2-amino — 3- cyano — 1, 5 -diphenylpyrrole containing Schiff bases copper (II) complexes

Two novel Schiff base ligands of 2-amino-3-cyano-1,5-diphenylpyrrole and salicylaldehyde (HL¹) or 2- hydroxy1-naphthylaldehyde (HL²) and their copper(II) complexes have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, spectral (UV-Vis, IR, EPR, Mass (for ligands)), thermal (DTA-TGA) methods, magnetic and conductance measurements. IR results demonstrate the bidentate binding of the Schiff base ligands involving azomethine nitrogen, phenolic or naphtholic oxygen and suggest the presence of HL² and complexes (1, 2, 4 and 8) in enolimine-ketonamine tautomeric forms in the solid state. The EPR spectral data of complexes (2, 5, 6) show that the metal — ligand bonds have considerable covalent character. The thermal studies show that complexes (1, 2, 4 and 8) that are present in enolimine-ketonamine tautomeric forms exhibit lower thermal stability. The effect of synthesized ligands (HL¹, HL²) and complexes (1, 5) were tested on the mortality of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Steinernema carpocapsae). The study shows that the mortality of the nematodes increased with increasing concentrations of copper(II) ion, ligands and complexes. Copper(II) ion was the most toxic for EPN.      

Effect of radiation dose on the properties of natural rubber nanocomposite

Effect of radiation dose and carbon nanotubes (CNT) on the mechanical properties of standard Malaysian rubber (SMR) was investigated in this study. SMR nanocomposites containing 1–7 phr CNT were prepared using the solvent casting method and the nanocomposites were radiated at doses of 50–200 kGy. The change in mechanical properties, especially, tensile strength (Ts), elongation at break (Eb), hardness and tensile modulus at 100% elongation (M₁₀₀) were studied as a function of radiation dose. The structure and morphology of reinforced natural rubber was investigated by FESEM, TEM and AFM in order to gain further evidence on the radiation-induced crosslinking. It was found that the Ts, M₁₀₀ and the hardness of the SMR/CNT nanocomposites significantly increased with radiation dose; the elongation at break exhibited an increase up to 100 kGy, and a downward trend thereafter. Results on gel fraction further confirmed the crosslinking of SMR/CNT nanocomposites upon radiation.     

The effect of anti-reflection coating of porous silicon on solar cells efficiency

Anti-reflection coatings of solar cells have been fabricated using different techniques. The techniques used include SiO₂ thermal oxidation, ZnO/TiO₂ sputtering deposition and porous silicon prepared by electrochemical etching. Surface morphology and structural properties of solar cells were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy and atomic forces microscopy. Optical reflectance was obtained by using optical reflectometer. I-V characterizations were studied under 80 mW/cm² illumination conditions. Porous silicon was found to be an excellent anti-reflection coating against incident light when it is compared with another anti-reflection coating and exhibited good light-trapping of a wide wavelength spectrum which produced high efficiency solar cells.     

Living fungal hyphae-templated porous gold microwires using nanoparticles as building blocks

Abstract  

A simple and environmentally benign green method is reported to decorate growing fungal hyphae with high loading of gold nanoparticles, which were initially produced using aqueous tea extract as a sole reducing/stabilizing agent. Inoculation of fungal spores in aqueous suspension of nanoparticles led to the growth of intensely red-coloured fungal hyphae due to the accumulation of gold nanoparticles. Heat treatment of these hybrid materials led to the formation of porous gold microwires. This report is thus an interesting example of using green and sustainable approach to produce nanostructured materials which have potential applications in catalysis, sensing and electronics.     

Study of dielectric and impedance properties of Mn ferrites

The paper reports on the effect of Al substitution on the structural and electrical properties of bulk ferrite series of basic composition MnFe_2−2xAl_2xO₄ (0.0≤x≤0.5) synthesized using solid state reaction method. XRD analysis confirms that all the samples exhibit single phase cubic spinel structure excluding presence of any secondary phase. The dielectric constant shows a normal behaviour with frequency, whereas the loss tangent exhibits an anomalous behaviour with frequency for all compositions. Variation of dielectric properties and ac conductivity with frequency reveals that the dispersion is due to Maxwell-Wagner type of interfacial polarization in general and hopping of charge between Fe⁺² and Fe⁺³ as well as between Mn⁺² and Mn⁺³ ions at octahedral sites. The complex impedance plane spectra shows the presence of two semicircles up to x=0.2, and only one semicircle for the higher values of x. The analysis of the data shows that the resistive and capacitive properties of the Mn ferrite are mainly due to processes associated with grain and grain boundaries.     

A magnetised foil as inclined π-flipper for time-of-flight neutron beams

A prototype instrument with an inclined ferromagnetic foil was built which was capable of π-flipping over a broad wavelength range of polarised thermal neutrons in a time-of-flight beam. It was found that, for a single foil, polarised neutrons could be flipped in a wavelength range of 0.2-0.5 nm with an efficiency of 93%. With improved mechanical setup this range probably can even be extended to 0.1-1.0 nm. Foil flippers can have some major advantages for polychromatic SESANS over resonance flippers, but the technical realisation with four foils in series will be challenging.     

Method for vector characterization of polar liquids using frequency-domain spectroscopy

A device for performing vector transmission spectroscopy on aqueous and polar solvent specimens at terahertz frequencies is presented. The device enables the direct measurement of the complex dielectric function across the terahertz band using a Fourier transform IR spectrometer for lossy solutions. Using microfluidic sampling, specimen handling is straightforward and direct measurements on polar specimens are made possible. The method is scalable to longer or shorter wavelengths.     

Nickel N‐heterocyclic carbene complexes in the vinyl polymerization of norbornene

Vinyl polymerized norbornene has some useful properties such as good mechanical strength, optical transparency and heat resistance. Several transition metal complexes have been described in the literature as active catalysts for the vinyl polymerization of norbornene. We now report the use of three types of nickel(II) complexes with N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands in the catalytic vinyl polymerization of norbornene under a range of conditions. Specifically, two nickel complexes bearing a chelating bis(NHC) ligand, two nickel complexes bearing two chelating anionic N‐donor functionalized NHC ligands as well as one diiodidonickel(II) complex with two monodentate NHC ligands were tested. The solid‐state structure of bis(1,3‐dimethylimidazol‐2‐ylidene)diiodidonickel(II), as determined by X‐ray crystallography, is presented. The highest polymerization activity of 2.6 × 10⁷ g (mol cat)^?1 h^?1 was observed using the latter nickel complex as catalyst, activated by methylaluminoxane. The norbornene polymers thus obtained are of high molecular weight but with rather low polydispersity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.