Biomimetic oxidation of thiol and application to odor-removing fiber

The oxidation of HO-CH₂-CH₂-SH (RSH) by molecular oxygen and Fe(III)- as well as Co(II)-multicarboxyphthalocyanine and the mechanism in homogeneous aqueous system were investigated. As application to enzyme-like heterogeneous catalysts, Fe(III)-as well as Co(II)-octacarboxyphthalocyanine were supported on amorphous enriched rayon staple fiber and their enzyme-like activities were estimated. These fibers were applicated to new odor-removers acting as artificial enzyme systems.     

Raman and infrared spectra of the all-trans, 7-cis, 9-cis, 13-cis and 15-cis isomers of β-carotene: Key bands distinguishing stretched or terminal-bent configurations form central-bent configurations

Raman and infrared spectra in the region of 1800-150 cm⁻¹ were recorded for a set of cis-trans isomers of d̃-carotene, i.e. the all-trans, 7-cis, 9-cis, 13-cis and 15-cis isomers. Spectral comparison revealed Raman and infrared key bands which (1) distinguish stretched or terminal-bent configurations (all-trans, 7-cis and 9-cis) from central-bent configurations (13-cis and 15-cis), and (2) distinguish unmethylated 7-cis and 15-cis configuratios. Keybands (1) include Raman bands at 1160 and 1140 cm⁻¹ and infrared bands at 825 and 775 cm⁻¹ (the intensity varies with the position of the cis-bend) Key bands (2) include Raman bands at 1274 and 962 cm⁻¹ and an infrared band at 741 cm⁻¹ (characteristic of the 7-cis configuration), and also a Raman band at 1247 cm⁻¹ and an infrared band at 775 cm⁻¹ (characteristic of the 15-cis configuration). The normal modes for the key bands were determined by a set of normal coordinate calculations for the isomeric configurations of a simplified model of d̃-carotene. The key bands were mainly related to the C H in-plane bendings, coupled with the CC or C C stretching, or to the C H out-of-plane wagging vibrations, some of which coupled with the CC torsion.     

Chaotic mixing generated by acoustic streaming

The acoustic mixer presented in this paper is a closed cylinder containing chemical solutions. The ultrasound was generated in a water bath outside of the cylinder. The mixing efficiency was measured by using a laser-photodiode system and by mixing iodine and sodium thiosulfate. Iodine solution has a light brown color which becomes transparent if the solution is mixed with sodium thiosulfate. The unmixed regions of the solution in the container remain dark. Starch was used to make the solution darker. Considering the relative position between the cylinder and the transducer, it was shown that displacements parallel to the axes of the streaming have little effect on the mixing speed. Indeed, the distance of the cylinder from the center of the streaming is more important to obtain ideal mixing performances. The frequency and size of the transducers has been investigated too and little effect was found. In contrast, the wave amplitude seems to be the biggest factor in obtaining rapid mixing.     

Reduction of inelastic scattering effect by introduction of GalnAs/GalnP strain-compensated superlattice into multi-quantum barriers

The effect of inelastic scattering on the electron reflection in multi-quantum barriers (MQBs) has been examined using the damped resonant tunnelling model for the first time. The electron reflectivity in the virtual barrier region for unstrained GalnAs/InP MQB deteriorates below 100% by about 10% for phase relaxation time of 0.22ps. We propose a strain-compensated GalnAs/GalnP MQB which not only has virtual barrier 4 times as high as that of an unstrained MQB, but whose reflectivity deterioration is reduced to less than 5% in comparison with 10% for unstrained MQB for the same phase relaxation time. We have also successfully grown a Ga_0.25In_0.75As (1.5% compressive) well/Ga_0.25In_0.75P (1.2% tensile) barrier short-period superlattice with six wells by chemical beam epitaxy, which exhibits the possibility of fabrication of the strain-compensated MQBs.     

Strongly nonlinear luminescence in oxidized porous silicon films

Partially oxidized free-standing porous silicon films show a strongly superlinear increase in photoluminescence (PL) intensity above a threshold cw excitation intensity of 10 W/cm². The PL-intensity increase can be expressed by a power law with n9 as a function of the excitation intensity. The PL-peak wavelength of this emission is slightly redshifted from that at low-excitation levels. These changes are fully reversible and reproducible, but not observed in samples on substrate. We attribute this behavior to thermal reexcitation of carriers trapped at the dangling bond states in initially nonluminescent Si nanocrystallites.     

Waveguide holograms: A new approach to hologram integration

A new class of holography is proposed, in which (1) the evanescent part of a guided wave, or (2) the guided wave in a thin-film hologram is utilized as the reference wave and/or the illuminating one. The hologram was designated as “wave-guide hologram” and has advantages in the possibility of integration, wide field of view, and compactness and high reliability of the reconstructing system. The possibility of the waveguide hologram has been proved through reconstruction experiments with a guided wave of a waveguide hologram recorded with a plane reference wave.     

The modulation transfer function in the hologram copying process

The concept of MTF is introduced to analyze and describe consistently the hologram copying process, considering the original hologram as a volume hologram. The effect of the copying condition on the quality of the replica is expressed quantitatively in terms of the MTF. It turns out that holograms can be copied most successfully when the copying beam is oriented parallel to the original reference beam. The theoretical prediction is experimentally confirmed.