Influence of a water rinse on the structure and properties of poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) films

Poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) films exhibit a complex structure of interconnected conductive PEDOT domains in an insulating PSS matrix that controls their electrical properties. This structure is modified by a water rinse, which removes PSS with negligible PEDOT loss. Upon PSS removal, film thickness is reduced by 35%, conductivity is increased by 50%, and a prominent dielectric relaxation is eliminated. These results suggest that the removed PSS is not associated with PEDOT and that the conductive domain network is not substantially altered by the removal of a significant fraction of insulator. The removal of PSS may benefit organic light emitting diode fabrication by reducing acid attack on indium tin oxide electrodes and lead to more robust performance in switching circuits by extending the working frequency range.     

Synthesis and inhibitory effect of novel glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives on IL-1 beta-induced prostaglandin E(2) production in normal human dermal fibroblasts

Olean-11,13(18)-dien-3beta,30-diol dihemiphthalate (3), which was derived from glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), has been reported to produce a potent of anti-inflammatory effect in in vivo assays. Using 3 as a lead compound, we attempted to synthesize some modified compounds which varied in the following; i) the position of a carboxyl group in the phthalate moiety, ii) the number of carboxyls attached to the benzoyl group, iii) conversion of benzene ring to another ring system, iv) the linkage form between the benzene ring and oleanene skeleton at position 3 and/or 30. These were screened for their inhibitory activity against interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta)-induced prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) production in normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF). Although conversion of the ortho-carboxyl group of 3 into the meta-position or the para-position led to an increase in inhibitory activity, the elimination or increase of the carboxyl group resulted in loss of the inhibitory activity. Conversion of the ester bond to the amide bond at position 3 and/or 30 of 3 did not contribute to a significant increase in inhibitory activity. On the other hand, among the derivatives possessing an anthranilic acid moiety at position 30 of 3beta-O-acetyl-olean-11,13(18)-dien-30-oic acid (20), 3beta-hydroxy-30-nor-olean-11,13(18)-dien-20 beta-[N-(2-carboxyphenyl)]carboxamide (30) showed the most potent inhibitory activity (IC(50) 1.0 microM) in this series.     

Biferrocene-M(mnt)2 charge-transfer complexes (M = Ni, Co; mnt = maleonitriledithiolate). structure, valence states, and magnetic properties

Charge-transfer salts of branched-alkyl biferrocenes, (1',1' '-R2-1,1' '-biferrocene)[Ni(mnt)2] (1a, R = isopropyl; 2a, R = dineopentyl) and (1',1' '-R2-1,1' '-biferrocene)2[Co(mnt)2]2 (1b, R = isopropyl; 2b, R = dineopentyl), were prepared. Their valence states were investigated using X-ray crystallography and M?ssbauer spectroscopy. Complexes 1a and 1b show segregated-stack crystal structures that contain columns of acceptors, whereas structures of 2a and 2b, which contain bulky donors, are rather discrete. All of the complexes contain mixed-valent biferrocenium monocations. A two-step valence transition was found in complex 1a. The crystal contains two crystallographically independent cations: one undergoes valence localization below room temperature; the other undergoes valence localization below ca. 130 K. The former transition is derived from asymmetry of the crystal environment around the cation, whereas the latter one is caused by symmetry lowering coupled with a spin-Peierls transition (T(C) = 133.2 K) associated with the dimerization of the acceptors. This compound was found to exhibit a dielectric response based on valence tautomerization. Other complexes (1b, 2a, and 2b) show a valence-trapped state. In all complexes, charge localization was found to occur through local electrostatic interactions between the donor's cationic moiety and the acceptor's electronegative moieties.     

Almost-regular factorization of graphs

For integers a and b, 0 ? a ? a ? b, an [a, b]-graph G satisties a ? deg(x, G) ? b for every vertex x of G, and an [a, b]-factor is a spanning subgraph F such that a ? deg(x, F) ? b for every vertex x of F. An [a, b]-factor is almost-regular if b = a + 1. A graph is [a, b]-factorable if its edges can be decomposed into [a, b]-factors. When both K and t are positive integers and s is a nonnegative integer, we prove that every [(12K + 2)t + 2ks, (12k + 4)t + 2ks]-graph is [2k,2k + 1]-factorable. As its corollary, we prove that every [r.r + 1]-graph with r ? 12k² + 2k is [2k + 1]-factorable, which is a partial extension of the two results, one by Thomassen and the other by Era.     

Volume effects in the thermodynamics of ternary austenites

Elastic measurements have been made as a function of temperature and composition on a series of Fe-based substitutional solid solutions containing Mn, Ni and Cr. These data have been used to calculate the degree of error involved in applying statistical models to ternary carbon or nitrogen austenites when such models ignore the dilation of the substitutional lattice as a function of its composition.The results show that the error in the partial thermodynamic quantities and in the isothermal variation of the activity of the interstitial species with composition is of the order of scatter found in experimental thermodynamic data measured at constant pressure.     

Coherent forward scattering spectrometry of manganese and chromium using a xenon lamp and a tellurous oxide acousto-optic tunable filter

Coherent forward scattering spectrometry has capabilities of simultaneous multielement analysis and simple instrumentation. Considering these features the authors used a xenon lamp as a continuous excitation light source and a tellurous oxide acousto-optic tunable filter as a scanning monochromator. This simple system was applied to the simultaneous determination of manganese and chromium. An analytical procedure for the determination of manganese in steels was developed and applied to standard reference materials. It was further shown that the dynamic range for both elements can be apparently extended by the use of various exciting lines and combinations of hollow cathode lamps, the xenon lamp, the tunable filter and a spectrometer.     

A photoelectron spectroscopy study of ultra-thin epitaxial alumina layers grown on Cu(111) surface

Thin epitaxial alumina layers were grown on the Cu(111) surface using simultaneous aluminum deposition and oxygen exposure. Different substrate temperatures during the deposition resulted in layers with different thicknesses, growth rates, crystallinity and epitaxy. Low energy electron diffraction measurements confirmed the epitaxial growth for substrate temperatures above 870 K. The Al 2p doublet was studied by means of photoelectron spectroscopy in order to determine the alumina termination at the metal-oxide interface. A strong dependence on the preparation temperature was found and both aluminum and oxygen terminated interfaces were created.