Excitons and many-electron effects in the optical response of single-walled boron nitride nanotubes

We report first-principles calculations of the effects of quasiparticle self-energy and electron-hole interaction on the optical properties of single-walled boron nitride nanotubes. Excitonic effects are shown to be even more important in BN nanotubes than in carbon nanotubes. Electron-hole interactions give rise to complexes of bright (and dark) excitons, which qualitatively alter the optical response. Excitons with a binding energy larger than 2 eV are found in the BN nanotubes. Moreover, unlike the carbon nanotubes, theory predicts that these exciton states are comprised of coherent supposition of transitions from several different subband pairs, giving rise to novel behaviors.     

New polyethyleneglycol-functionalized texaphyrins: synthesis and in vitro biological studies

The synthesis of four new analogues of motexafin gadolinium (MGd), a gadolinium(III) texaphyrin complex in clinical trials for its anticancer properties, is described. These new derivatives contain either 1,2-diaminobenzene or 2,3-diaminonaphthalene subunits as the source of the imine nitrogens and bear multiple 2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethoxy (PEG) groups, on either meso aryl or beta-pyrrolic substituents, to increase their water solubility. All four analogues were found to be more active in vitro than the parent system MGd as judged from cell proliferation assays using the PC3 and A549 cell lines.     

Effects of polyether–polyamide block copolymer coating on performance and fouling of reverse osmosis membranes

The effects of a water-permeable polymer coating on the performance and fouling of high-flux (ESPA1 and ESPA3) and low-flux (SWC4) polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were investigated. It was anticipated that the coating would create a smoother hydrophilic surface that would be less susceptible to fouling when challenged with a motor-oil/surfactant/water feed emulsion (used as a model foulant). AFM and FT-IR analyses confirm that a 1 wt.% polyether–polyamide (PEBAX^® 1657) solution applied to ESPA and SWC4 membranes produces a continuous polymer coating layer and, thereby, provides smoother membrane surfaces. However, pure-water permeation data combined with a series-resistance model analysis reveal that the coating does not only cover the surface of the polyamide membrane, but also penetrates into its porous ridge-and-valley structure. During a long-term (106-day) fouling test with an oil/surfactant/water emulsion, the rate of flux decline was slower for coated than for uncoated membranes. This improvement in fouling resistance compensated for the decrease in permeate flux for SWC4 over a period of approximately 40 days. However, the coating material is believed to penetrate more deeply into the polyamide surface layer of the high flux, high surface area ESPA membranes relative to the low-flux SWC4, resulting in significant water flux reduction.     

Differential thermal analysis of poly(vinylidene chloride) crystals

The melting behavior of poly(vinylidene chloride) (PVDC) was studied using differential thermal analysis (DTA). Crystals were grown isothermally from 0.1% and 0.02% dilute solutions of the polymer in 1.2-dibromoethane and monobromobenzene. Both solid and oil samples were used for the DTA experiments. Solid samples are defined as dried down crystals and oil samples are crystals which have been suspension exchanged in silicone oil without letting them dry out. Thermal curves of solid samples are similar to those obtained previously with as-polymerized crystals, that is they show two endotherms. The lower temperature peak corresponds to the melting of lamellae as formed. The upper peak at around 200°C, may be due to the melting of crystals which have reorganized during heating. Thermal curves of oil samples show two extra small peaks in addition to those of the solid samples. From the results of annealing and degradation experiments, these two peaks may correspond to a small portion of the crystals which have been partially degraded to form double bonds and thus possess lower melting points. An alternative explanation is that there is an as yet unreported second crystal form of PVDC.

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Zusammenfassung Das Schmelzverhalten von Poly/vinylidenchlorid (PVDC) wurde unter Einsatz der Differentialthermoanalyse (DTA) untersucht. Die Kristalle wurden unter isothermen Bedingungen aus 0.1 % und 0.02% verdünnten Lösungen des Polymeren in 1.2-Dibromäthan und Monobrombenzol gezüchtet. Sowohl »feste« als auch »ölige« Proben wurden für die DTA-Versuche eingesetzt. Als »feste« Proben wurden getrocknete Kristalle definiert und »ölige« als solche, bei welchen die Suspension im Siliconöl verblieb, ohne sie austrocknen zu lassen. Die thermische Kurven der »festen« Proben sind den bereits früher mit polymerisierten Kristallen erhaltenen ähnlich, d. h. sie zeigen zwei Endotherme. Der Peak bei der niedrigeren Temperatur entspricht den Schmelzen der gebildeten Lamellen. Der obere Peak bei etwa 200° kann dem Schmelzen von während der Aufheizung reorganisierten Kristallen zugeschrieben werden. Die thermische Kurven der »öligen« Proben zeigen zwei zusätzliche kleine Peaks außer denen an »festen« Proben. Aus den Ergebnissen der Temper- und Zersetzungsversuche dürften diese beiden Peaks einen kleinen Anteil der teilweise unter Bildung von Doppelbindungen zersetzten Kristalle entsprechen, welche auf diese Weise niedrigere Schemlzpunkte haben. Eine alternative Erklärung ist, daß es eine bisher nicht beschriebene zweite Kristallform von PVDC gibt.

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The authors wish to thank the NSF Materials Division for support of this work under grants DMR 72-03292 A01 and A02.     

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer: FRET studies of ligand binding to cell surface receptors

We describe a simple optical system employing fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) to identify potential binding domains on the macrophage scavenger receptor for the ligand maleylated bovine serum albumin (mal-BSA). Using a plasma membrane vesicle system, we placed donor probes on the ligand and acceptor probes in the membrane to determine the distance of bound ligand from the cell surface. Two donors and three acceptors were employed. Transfer between ligand covalently modified with multiple dansyl molecules and hexadecanoylaminoeosin in the membrane yielded a distance of 46.5 ± 7.5 å; transfer from the same type of donors to octadecylrhodamine B in the membrane gave a distance of 58.5 ± 3.0 å. No transfer was observed between ligand mono-labeled with fluorescein and l,l′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindocarbocyanineperchlorate in the membrane. This suggests that the orientation of mal-BSA bound to the receptor places the fluorescein probe too far from the lipid surface to experience energy transfer. The distance information identifies a potential location for the binding site, which can be compared to structural information about the receptor and used to extract a binding sequence.     

Site selectivities of alkali ions in CsRb2C60 and Cs2RbC60 superconductors

The temperature-dependent site selectivities of Cs and Rb ions in CsRb₂C₆₀ and Cs₂RbC₆₀ superconductors are computed using the free energy obtained from the configuration entropy and the total energy calculated using the ab initio pseudopotential density-functional theory. It is found that in CsRb₂C₆₀ the smaller Rb ions can occupy a considerable number of large octahedral interstitial sites at high temperatures, however, the transition to random occupation never takes place. For Cs₂RbC₆₀ the Cs occupancy of the large octahedral interstitial sites is almost always 100%, and, interestingly, the two tetrahedral interstitial sites are randomly occupied by Cs and Rb ions even at very low temperatures.     

Photoisomerization of azobenzene from first-principles constrained density-functional calculations

Despite considerable work in the field, the precise mechanism for the photoisomerization of azobenzene, C(12)H(10)N(2), is still an open issue. Early theoretical studies of the problem indicated that isomerization occurs through an in-plane inversion path, and this has been used to explain recent time-resolved UV-visible spectroscopy measurements. On the other hand, a number of recent theoretical studies have concluded that a torsion of the N-N bond ("rotation path") is probably the most favorable mechanism for photoisomerization involving the first excited state. We have performed first-principles calculations using constrained density-functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT in the local-density approximation, with results that also favor the rotation path mechanism. Our results are compared with other analyses, primarily based on configuration interaction.     

Temperature dependence of the band gap of semiconducting carbon nanotubes

The temperature dependence of the band gap of semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is calculated by direct evaluation of electron-phonon couplings within a "frozen-phonon" scheme. An interesting diameter and chirality dependence of E(g)(T) is obtained, including nonmonotonic behavior for certain tubes and distinct "family" behavior. These results are traced to a strong and complex coupling between band-edge states and the lowest-energy optical phonon modes in SWNTs. The E(g)(T) curves are modeled by an analytic function with diameter- and chirality-dependent parameters; these provide a valuable guide for systematic estimates of E(g)(T) for any given SWNT. The magnitudes of the temperature shifts at 300 K are smaller than 12 meV and should not affect (n,m) assignments based on optical measurements.     

Self-consistent pseudopotential calculation for the (111) surface of aluminum

The electronic structure of the (111) surface of aluminum is calculated using self-consistent pseudopotentials. Surface states are identified and the (111) work function calculated. The behavior of the total charge density and potential near the surface is displayed and discussed. Self-consistency is found to be of crucial importance.