Thermal activation of molecularly-wired gold nanoparticles on a substrate as catalyst

The ability to prepare nanostructured metal catalysts requires the ability to control size and interparticle spatial and surface access properties. In this work, we report novel findings of an atomic force microscopic investigation of a controlled thermal activation strategy of gold catalysts nanostructured via molecular wiring or linking on a substrate surface. Gold nanocrystals of approximately 2 nm diameter capped by decanethiolate and wired by 1,9-nonanedithiolate on mica substrates were studied as a model system. By manipulating the activation temperature (200-250 degrees C), the capping/wiring molecules can be removed to produce controllable particle size and interparticle spatial morphology. The electrocatalytic activity of the activated nanostructures toward methanol oxidation, which is of fundamental importance to fuel cell catalysis, has been demonstrated. The novelty of the findings is the viability of a thermal activation strategy of core-shell nanostructured catalysts based on molecularly predefined interparticle spatial properties on a substrate, which upon further investigation may form the basis for spatially controllable nanostructured catalysts.     

Thermoanalytical investigations on kinetics and mechanism of deamination of tris(ethylenediamine)copper(II) sulphate

The thermal decomposition of tris(ethylenediamine)copper(II) sulphate has been studied using TG, DTG and DTA. The different stages of decomposition have been identified by these techniques in conjunction independent pyrolysis and X-ray diffraction. The kinetics and mechanism of the first two stages of deamination of the complex were evaluated. The activation parameters for the deamination reaction were computed from the TG and DTA curves using four integral methods. The two stages of deamination follow the mechanism of random nucleation with the formation of one nucleus on each particle (Mampel equation). The thermodynamic parameter namely heat of reaction (DH) for the two deamination processes was also evaluated.

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Zusammenfassung Mittels TG, DTG und DTA wurde die thermische Zersetzung von Tris(ethylendiamin)-kupfer(II)-sulfat untersucht. Anhand dieser Methoden wurden in Verbindung mit einer gesonderten Pyrolyse und Röntgendiffraktion die einzelnen Schritte dieser Zersetzung identifiziert. Weiterhin wurde die Kinetik und der Mechanismus der beiden ersten Schritte der Desaminierung des Komplexes entwickelt. Unter Anwendung von vier Integralmethoden wurden aus den TG- und DTA-Kurven die Aktivierungsparameter der Desaminierungsreaktion berechnet. Beide Schritte der Desaminierung verlaufen nach dem Mechanismus der Random-Keimbildung mit der Bildung von einem Keim pro Partikel (Mampel-Gleichung). Die Reaktionswärme der zwei Desaminierungsprozesse wurde ebenfalls bestimmt.

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The authors are grateful to the authorities of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre for providing the instrumental facilities. The help of Dr. K. Krishnan and Mr. Viswanathan Asari in the TG/DTA instrumental work is gratefully appreciated. One of the authors (S.M.) acknowledges with gratitude the aid given to him by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (India) in the form of a senior research fellowship for carrying out this work.     

Nafion-H catalysed sulfonylation of aromatics with arene/alkenesulfonic acids for the preparation of sulfones1a

Synthesis of both symmetric and unsymmetric diaryl/aryl alkyl sulfones is easily achieved by Friedel-Crafts type sulfonylation of aromatics with suitable arene- or alkane-sulfonic acids in the presence of Nafion-H, a perfluorinated resinsulfonic acid catalyst.     

Flotation-spectrophotometric method for the determination of mercury using iodide and brilliant green

This paper describes a sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of mercury, based on the flotation of a mercury iodide-brilliant green complex with cyclohexane at pH 5 and dissolution of the complex in acetone. The absorbance of the complex is measured at 625 nm. Beer's law is obeyed from 4–500 g/l of mercury. The method is highly sensitive ( = 5.96 × 10⁵ 1 mol^–1 cm^–1) and selective, as it is free from interferences by almost all cations and anions in the presence of EDTA. Furthermore, a two-level orthogonal array design as a chemometric method has been used for optimization of the various parameters involved. The method has been successfully applied to paper industry effluents.     

Composition-controlled synthesis of bimetallic gold-silver nanoparticles

This paper reports findings of an investigation of the synthesis of monolayer-capped binary gold-silver (AuAg) bimetallic nanoparticles that is aimed at understanding the control factors governing the formation of the bimetallic compositions. The synthesis of alkanethiolate-capped AuAg nanoparticles was carried out using two related synthetic protocols using aqueous sodium borohydride as a reducing agent. One involves a two-phase reduction of AuCl(4)(-), which is dissolved in organic solution, and Ag(+), which is dissolved in aqueous solution. The other protocol involves a two-phase reduction of AuCl(4)(-) and AgBr(2)(-), both of which are dissolved in the same organic solution. AuAg nanoparticles of 2-3 nm core sizes with different compositions in the range of 0-100% Au have been synthesized. The two synthetic routes were compared in terms of bimetallic composition and size properties. Our new findings have allowed us to establish the correlation between synthetic feeding of metals and metal compositions in the bimetallic nanoparticles, which have important implications to the exploration of gold-based bimetallic nanoparticles for constructing sensing and catalytic nanomaterials.     

Spectrophotometric determination of ziram (dithiocarbamate fungicide) by thiocyanate and rhodamine 6G method

A sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of ziram in water, vegetables and grains. The method is based on the dissociation of dithiocarbamate complex of zinc with thiocyanate and rhodamine 6G at pH 4 to form a pink coloured complex that is stabilized by gelatin. The method is simple and Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range of 0.05-1 ppm of ziram. The method is free from interference of similar dithiocarbamate fungicides containing Mn(2+) and Fe(3+) ions.     

Self-avoiding walks and trees in spread-out lattices

LetG _R be the graph obtained by joining all sites ofZ ^d which are separated by a distance of at mostR. Let (G _R ) denote the connective constant for counting the self-avoiding walks in this graph. Let (G _R ) denote the coprresponding constant for counting the trees embedded inG _R . Then asR, (G _R ) is asymptotic to the coordination numberk _R ofG _R , while (G _R ) is asymptotic toek _R. However, ifd is 1 or 2, then (G _R )-k _R diverges to –.Dedicated to Oliver Penrose on this occasion of his 65th birthday.     

Rapid separation of microgram amounts of metal ions on stannic antimonate ion-exchange paper

Summary Microgram amounts of metal ions have been separated using stannic antimonate paper. Most of the separations can be accomplished within 15 minutes.

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Zusammenfassung Unter Verwendung von Zinn(IV)antimonat-Papier lassen sich Mikromengen zahlreicher Metallionen trennen. Die meisten Trennungen lassen sich innerhalb 15 min durchführen.

     

Determination of aluminium in bulk coal samples by neutron activation analysis

The determination of Al₂O₃, in bulk coal samples to an accuracy of about 0.2% Al₂O₃ has been achieved by means of a thermal-neutron activation technique based on the reaction ²⁷Al(n,γ)²⁸Al. In the analysed samples, which had widely different compositions, the Al₂O₃ concentrations ranged from 1 to 11% and the ash contents from 7 to 40%. Al₂O₃ concentrations measured by x-ray fluorescence showed a linear relationship with both the 1.78-MeV γ-ray count following the decay of ²⁸Al and the thermal-neutron count near the samples during irradiation. The linear relationship, which was obtained by regression analysis of the experimental data, determined the Al₂O₃concentrations with a standard deviation of 0.24% Al₂O₃. The particle sizes in the samples ranged from —0.5 to —40 mm, the moisture contents ranged from 1 to 6%, and the sample weights ranged from 8 to 11 kg. However, inclusion of these parameters in the regression analysis did not significantly improve the results for Al₂O₃.