Complexes of Fulvic Acid on Hematite Interfaces: Characterization and Photochemical Properties

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), combined with ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and transmission electron micrograph (TEM), has been used to observe the interaction between fulvic acid (FA) and hematite. The FTIR data have shown that the interaction mechanism corresponds mainly to the ligand-exchange involving carboxylic functional groups of the FA and hematite surface sites. The general trends included an increase in the content of Fe(III)-humate complexes on hematite surfaces accompanied by a decrease in pH and an increasing in the ionic strength. Both UV-Vis spectroscopy and TEM images have shown that hematite can interplay with FA under acidic conditions. In particular, the TEM images have shown that the presence of FA can significantly alter the characteristics of the hematite surfaces. Photochemical experiments have shown that hematite promotes the phototransformation of lindane (-HCH), whereas the presence of FA adversely affects the phototransformation of the target pollutant. The hematite coated with FA displayed a somewhat better catalyzing capability compared to the hematite only.     

Arylmethyl radicals from arylmethoxybromodiazirines

[reaction: see text] Photolytic decompositions of 3-arylmethoxy-3-bromodiazirines afford arylmethyl radicals by homolyses of the diazirines' excited states.     

Interior and interfacial aqueous solvation of benzene dicarboxylate dianions and their methylated analogues: A combined molecular dynamics and photoelectron spectroscopy study

Aqueous solvation of benzene dicarboxylate dianions (BCD(2-)) was studied by means of photoelectron spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. Photoelectron spectra of hydrated o- and p-BCD(2-) with up to 25 water molecules were obtained. An even-odd effect was observed for the p-BCD(2-) system as a result of the alternate solvation of the two negative charges. However, the high polarizability of the benzene ring makes the two carboxylate groups interact with each other in p-BCD(2-), suppressing the strength of this even-odd effect compared with the linear dicarboxylate dianions linked by an aliphatic chain. No even-odd effect was observed for the o-BCD(2-) system, because each solvent molecule can interact with the two carboxylate groups at the same time due to their proximity. For large solvated clusters, the spectral features of the solute decreased while the solvent features became dominant, suggesting that both o- and p-BCD(2-) are situated in the center of the solvated clusters. Molecular dynamics simulations with both nonpolarizable and polarizable force fields confirmed that all three isomers (o-, m-, and p-BCD(2-)) solvate in the aqueous bulk. However, upon methylation the hydrophobic forces overwhelm electrostatic interactions and, as a result, the calculations predict that the tetramethyl-o-BCD(2-) is located at the water surface with the carboxylate groups anchored in the liquid and the methylated benzene ring tilted away from the aqueous phase.     

Kilohertz Cr:forsterite regenerative amplifier

We report on a tunable regenerative amplifier that is operational in the near-infrared spectral region from 1230 to 1280 nm based on the vibronic laser material Cr:forsterite. Utilizing the technique of chirped-pulse amplification, we generated pulses as short as 150 fs at 1255 nm at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. Pulse amplification of more than 5 x 10(5) times was observed, with recorded output pulse energies of 34 muJ . Implementation of a second-harmonic generator yielded 110-fs-duration pulses of 7-muJ energy at 625 nm.     

Separation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with aqueous short-chain alcohol solvent

Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) with aqueous organic solvent has been developed to separate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Methanol, ethanol or propanol as an organic modifier was added to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micellar solution in order to increase the solubility of very hydrophobic solutes in mobile phase. Both methanol and ethanol can be used as co-solvents for the separation of PAHs. Use of ethanol resulted in a shorter analysis time than use of methanol. The separations of some PAHs were unsatisfactory using propanol although the analysis time was much shorter than with ethanol. The influence of ethanol content, SDS concentration and temperature on the separations was studied. Benzene and nine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were successfully separated using 50 mM SDS-20 mM phosphate-5 mM borate, containing 40% (v/v) ethanol at 35 degrees C. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of t(R) ranged from 0.5 to 1.5% for six repeat injections.     

Magnetic properties and quantum phase transitions of purely organic molecule-based ferrimagnets based on Green's function theory

Magnetic properties of a Heisenberg diamondlike spin chain model for purely organic molecule-based ferrimagnets are investigated by means of the many-body Green's function method within random phase approximation. The molecule-based ferrimagnet is composed of S=1 biradical and S=1/2 monoradical molecules alternating with intermolecular antiferromagnetic (AF) interactions, and the S=1 site is composed of two S=1/2 spins by a finite intramolecular ferromagnetic (F) interaction. The numerical results reveal that occurrence of ferrimagnetic spin alignments along the chain is determined by the intermolecular AF interactions. Owing to the very small intermolecular AF interactions, the curves of the product of magnetic susceptibility and temperature (chiT) against temperature display as a round peak at low temperatures, and the ferrimagnetic phase transition could only be detected at ultralow temperatures in practical organic compounds. Temperature- and magnetic-field-induced magnetic phase transitions are discussed, which are consistent with the experimental findings. The lower spatial symmetry of intermolecular interactions makes it easy to form spin pairs with a singlet (S=0) ground state along the chain and to reduce Curie temperature. The formations of molecular dimers and trimers along the chain have contributions to bring about F alignments with effective S=1/2 magnetic supramolecules and to enhance Curie temperature. In addition, the experimental data of the magnetic susceptibility measurements for a molecule-based ferrimagnet are also fairly compared with our theoretical results.