On the adsorption of extended viologens at the electrode|electrolyte interface

Extended viologens represent a group of organic molecules intended to be used as molecular wires in molecular electronic devices. Adsorption properties of a novel series of extended viologen molecules were studied at the mercury electrode|electrolyte interface. These compounds form compact monolayers around the potential of zero charge with a constant differential capacitance value of 2.5 ± 0.2 μF cm(-2) independent of temperature, length of the molecule, and its bulk concentration. At more negative potentials their reduction in the adsorbed state takes place. We showed that the adsorption process is diffusion controlled and time needed to fully cover the electrode surface is independent of the electrode potential. A modified Koryta equation was employed for the calculation of the surface concentration of the adsorbates leading to the value of 5.3 × 10(-11) mol cm(-2) for the shortest wire and to 1.6 × 10(-11) mol cm(-2) for the longest one. Based on the space filling model and the differential capacitance value in the compact film region, it was postulated that these molecules lay flat on the electrode surface.     

Ni-W alloy coatings deposited from a citrate electrolyte

Ni-W alloy coatings were deposited by applying current pulses with different pulse parameters at 60°C onto mild steel substrates from aqueous electrolytes with different tungstate concentration. Morphology and composition of the alloys were analyzed by SEM and EDX, respectively. XRD was used to determine metallic phases. Scanning electron micrographs revealed that deposition parameters had a strong effect on the morphology of the coatings. Increasing the duty cycle or decreasing the off time led to a compact morphology. Corrosion properties of the coatings were investigated by potentiodynamic polarization in a chloride medium. It was found that compact morphology of the deposits and high content of tungsten in the coating contribute to satisfactory corrosion results of Ni-W alloy coatings under the conditions studied.     

Electrochemical microbead-based immunoassay using an (eta5-cyclopentadienyl)tricarbonylmanganese redox marker bound to bovine serum albumin

A first example of the solid-phase immunoassay of a high-weight antigen bovine serum albumin (BSA) using an (eta(5)-cyclopentadienyl)tricarbonylmanganese (cymantrene) redox probe is presented. The electrochemical detection is based on the impedance measurements of a one-electron reversible reduction of the organometallic probe. The microbead-based immunoassay is discussed for two types of microbeads with different diameters (2.5 and 90 microm) and capabilities to bind the immunoglobulins (2.4 and 10 microg/mg of beads). The use of larger agarose microbeads allows the formation of an antigen-antibody complex at the surface of microbeads directly dispersed in the analyzed solution. No additional separation step is necessary for the electrochemical competitive immunoassay analysis of BSA. The presence of agarose beads in the analyzed solution has no effect on the electrochemical signal from labeled BSA released from the antigen-antibody complex.     

Differentiation of selected blue writing inks by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy were used to examine 14 blue inks obtained from commercially available stationery. Standard colouring agents in the inks: β-phase of phtalocyanine blue PB15 and some homologues of the methyl violet class, were identified. Surface enhanced Raman spectra were recorded on a firm heterostructure of silver/nanocrystalline diamond/silicon constituting an active substrate providing the possibility to write directly on the surface. Based on the differences in traditional and surface enhanced Raman spectra, two inks were identified unambiguously, the remaining inks were categorised into three groups exhibiting common spectral features. Despite their similarity, surface enhanced Raman spectra exhibited soft variations enabling discrimination of the inks, thus proving the usefulness of the method.     

Inclusion complex of α-cyclodextrin and the extended viologen dication: a model of an insulated molecular wire

An extended viologen dication 1, containing one viologen subunit, was used as a model for the inclusion complex formation between cyclodextrin (CD) molecules and molecular wires comprising several subunits. UV–Vis and fluorescence spectroscopic measurements confirmed the formation of two types of the inclusion complexes 1:1 and 2:1 between αCD and 1 in the aqueous solution containing 20% of ethanol. The complex formation constants were obtained from the fluorescence spectral changes: K _a  = 25 ± 3 mM^?1 for [αCD–1] complex and K _a  = 0.21 ± 0.07 mM^?2 for [(αCD)₂–1] complex, respectively. Cyclodextrins βCD and γCD do not form the inclusion complexes with 1 in these aqueous solutions. The time-dependent differential capacitance measurements confirmed the adsorption of 1 in the form of a complex at the electrode/electrolyte interface. These studies were conducted with the aim to find the most suitable CD cavity that would separate individual molecular wires from each other on the electrode/electrolyte interface.     

Rapid solidification of cryolite and cryolite–alumina melts

Abstract  

Rapid solidification processing (with a cooling rate in the interval 10⁵–10⁶ K s⁻¹) was used to prepare deeply undercooled cryolite–alumina melts. These samples were analyzed by XRD, infrared, and Raman spectroscopy. Besides cryolite, the amorphous phase and a low amount of ι-Al₂O₃ were detected. Annealing of the quenched sample revealed the transformation of metastable amorphous phases into different products depending on the annealing conditions. The results obtained showed that all of the elements (Na, Al, O, and F) are probably present in the amorphous parts of the quenched samples.     

Electrochemical electron transfer and its relation to charge transport in single molecule junctions

Ability to control charge transport at nanometer scale lies in the heart of design of fast reliable electronic devices. Molecular electronics thrive to use functional molecules for such transport. If the molecule contains redox center(s), a diode-like or transistor-like behavior can be easily explored by controlling not only the voltage difference between two metallic contacts of the molecular junction but also the potential of one of the contacting electrodes with respect to some reference. Thus, one needs to understand the relationship between electrochemical electron transfer and charge transport in metal–molecule–metal junctions. This review presents latest theoretical approaches toward understanding of such relationship and discusses pivotal experimental works to validate them. Tunneling and hopping pathways may operate in parallel (two-channel model), but experimental conditions dictate the channel preference.     

One-electron reduction of an "extended viologen" p-phenylene-bis-4,4'-(1-aryl-2,6-diphenylpyridinium) dication

One-electron reduction of the "extended viologen" dication 1 yields the red cation radical 2, characterized by strong near-IR absorption. It has been generated and studied by pulse radiolytic, electrochemical, redox titration, UV-visible, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic methods. All results are in agreement with a fully delocalized electronic structure for 2.