Measurement of density distributions for colloidal beta-FeOOH rods in suspensions exhibiting phase separation: the role of long-range forces in smectic ordering

We prepared monodisperse colloidal beta-FeOOH rods with length-to-width ratios L/W of 3.6-7.0 (L=210-330 nm and W=40-58 nm). Density gradients of the rods occurred in the suspensions by gravity, inducing a phase separation. The denser phase showed smectic (Sm) liquid crystalline structures exhibiting iridescent colors in a wide range of pH from 1.2 (at which the rods interact attractively) to 4.7 (repulsively). The lower density phase was disordered, but frequently emitted diffuse colors locally (at pH>2.6), implying the occurrence of short-range order. The nematic phase was not observed in the beta-FeOOH systems, being consistent with theoretical predictions. The particle density distributions were measured over the whole region of the suspensions (separated into two phases) at various pH values using a rapid freezing method. A phase diagram was determined thereby, where the critical (minimal) packing fraction of the particles for the Sm phase showed a nonlinear decrease from 0.43 to 0.12 with increasing pH. Rod-rod spacings in the Sm phase estimated experimentally at various pH were well explained using Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) type pair potentials. It is suggested that Sm ordering can be induced by attractive minima at pH<2.2, while driven by soft repulsions at pH>2.6. The former Sm ordering is expected to be the condensation-type phase transition and the latter the disorder-order transition.     

Response characteristics of the glucose-sensitive field-effect transistor. Computer simulation of the effect of gluconolactonase coimmobilization in a glucose oxidase membrane

The bienzyme system consisting of glucose oxidase and gluconolactonase was investigated using a conventional diffusion-kinetics model for an enzyme-modified field-effect transistor (FET) to clarify the effect of gluconolactonase coimmobilization in a glucose oxidase membrane on the steady-state response amplitude of a glucose sensor based on a FET. The model includes spontaneous and enzymatic hydrolysis reactions of d-glucono-δ-lactone and it elucidated the following experimental results: a glucose sensor with a membrane (about 1 μm in thickness) coimmobilizing these enzymes showed a sufficient response amplitude, whereas without coimmobilization of gluconolactonase no detectable response was observed up to 3 mM glucose; and the response amplitude depended strongly on the amount of lactonase in the membrane. The model also predicted an optimum enzyme ratio for coimmobilization in a membrane.     

Chemical structure of iodine-doped polyisoprene

A nonconjugated conducting polymer (1,4-rans-polyisoprene) at different iodine doping levels has been studied with the 27.7-keV Mössbauer resonance of¹²⁹I. At the light doping level, almost all iodines are covalently bonding to the carbon atoms, breaking the double bonds of the main chain. At the medium doping level, other iodine species are found, which are idendified as anion species, l^?, l ₃ ^? and l ₃ ^? .At the heavy doping level, polyiodide anions, l ₃ ^? and l ₅ ^? , increase as compared to the covalently bonding iodine atoms and addtionally molecular iodine l₂ exists.     

Quantitative analysis of methylguanidine and guanidine in physiologic fluids by high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection method.

A rapid and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the quantitative analysis of methylguanidine and guanidine in physiological fluids. These quanidino compounds are separated on a 6 x 0.23 cm cation-exchange column with 0.5 M sodium hydroxide solution. The guanidino compounds are detected with a fluorometer, which monitors the fluorescent guanidine derivatives produced by the reaction of the eluted constituents with 9,10-phenanthrenequinone. Sensitivity to sub-nanomole levels of methylguanidine and guanidine is demonstrated. The method was successfully applied to physiological fluids such as serum and cerebrospinal fluid from uremic patients.     

Selective CO2 reduction into formate using Ln-Ta oxynitrides combined with a binuclear Ru(Ⅱ)complex under visible light

Hybrid materials constructed from a visible-light-absorbing semiconductor and a functional metal complex have attracted attention as efficient photocatalysts for CO₂ reduction with high selectivity to a desired product.In this work,defect fluorite-type Ln-Ta oxynitrides LnTaO_xN_y(Ln=Nd,Sm,Gd,Tb,Dy and Ho)were examined as the semiconductor component in a hybrid photocatalyst system combined with known Ag nanoparticle promoter and binuclear ruthenium(Ⅱ)complex(RuRu’).Among the LnTaO_xN_y examined,TbTaO_xN_y gave the highest performance for CO₂ reduction under visible light(k>400 nm),with a Ru Ru0-based turnover number of 18 and high selectivity to formate(>99%).Physicochemical analyses indicated that high crystallinity and more negative conduction band potential of Ln Ta O_xN_ywith the absence of Ln-4 f states in the band gap structure contributed to higher activity of the hybrid photocatalyst.     

Relativistic time delays in the Dirac approach to nucleon-nucleus scattering

In connection with a characteristic feature of the effective optical potential in the Dirac approach two types of time delays are considered in the relativistic eikonal approximation. One is obtained from the scattering amplitude and the other given by the wave packet motion in the interaction region. These time delays turn out to differ in sign at intermediate energies, in contrast to the agreement between corresponding nonrelativistic time delays.     

Time-resolved DNP study on the hydrogen abstraction reaction of benzaldehyde

The kinetic feature of intermediate free radical in the photochemical reaction of benzaldehyde is studied by time-resolved DNP technique. The feature of nuclear polarization is different between laser excitation and continuous light excitation. This difference is explained by the difference of the lifetime of intermediate free radicals caused by the difference of the concentration of intermediate free radicals. The time-resolved DNP shows that the lifetime of intermediate free radical is about 300 ns and the cross-relaxation process of aromatic proton of ketyl radical is shorter than 300 ns.