Development of a polystyrene sulfonate/silver nanocomposite with self-healing properties for biomaterial applications

A silver polystyrene sulfonate polyelectrolyte was synthesized, showing a spontaneous reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles over a period of approximately 1 month. A follow-up of the nanoparticle formation via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals migration of the nanoparticles towards the cracks of the polymer over time, leading to a self-healing process of the nanocomposite. Antibacterial tests show excellent antibacterial activity of our compound, which allows us to use this compound e.g. for external medical applications.     

Vibrational spectroscopies for the analysis of cutaneous permeation: experimental limiting factors identified in the case of caffeine penetration

Caffeine is utilised as a reference for permeation studies in dermatology and cosmetology. The present work aimed to monitor the permeation of a caffeine solution through the skin. For this purpose, Raman and infrared studies were performed. Raman microspectroscopy permitted a dynamic follow-up of the caffeine diffusion. In complementary, infrared microimaging provided information of the caffeine localization in the skin by applying multivariate statistical processing on skin tissue sections. Herein, we prove the possibility of tracking low concentrations of caffeine through the skin and we highlight some experimental limitations of vibrational spectroscopies.     

The quantum drift-diffusion model: Existence and exponential convergence to the equilibrium

This work is devoted to the analysis of the quantum drift-diffusion model derived by Degond et al. in [7]. The model is obtained as the diffusive limit of the quantum Liouville–BGK equation, where the collision term is defined after a local quantum statistical equilibrium. The corner stone of the model is the closure relation between the density and the current, which is nonlinear and nonlocal, and is the main source of the mathematical difficulties. The question of the existence of solutions has been open since the derivation of the model, and we provide here a first result in a one-dimensional periodic setting. The proof is based on an approximation argument, and exploits some properties of the minimizers of an appropriate quantum free energy. We investigate as well the long time behavior, and show that the solutions converge exponentially fast to the equilibrium. This is done by deriving a non-commutative logarithmic Sobolev inequality for the local quantum statistical equilibrium.     

Growth and characterisation of single grain Al-Cu-Ru icosahedral quasicrystals from self-fluxes

ABSTRACT

In order to obtain high-quality single grains of the Al-Cu-Ru icosahedral quasicrystal (iQC), suitable for a structure analysis, the crystal growth conditions with the self-flux method have been studied. The melts of the master alloys with the compositions of Al_57.0+xCu_39.5-xRu_3.5 (x?=?0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10) and Al_62.0Cu_34.0+y Ru_4.0-y (y?=?0, 0.5, 1.5) were held at 1150°C for 2?h, then cooled down to 800, 900, or 1000°C at a rate of ?2?K/h, and subsequently retained for various durations, up to 750?h. Single grain iQCs having several millimetre-sizes, which were evaluated their quality by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), were grown throughout this study. The peak of (664004) reflection in powder XRD of the iQCs grown at 1000°C has approximately 50% narrower width than that grown at 800°C. The inhomogeneity of the compositions intra- as well as inter-grains grown at 800°C was observed. High-quality single grains with homogeneous composition could be achieved with a long-time annealing at 900°C or regardless of the annealing time at 1000°C. By changing the Al/Cu ratio of the master alloys, the composition could also be controlled for the iQCs grown at 1000°C. Single-crystal XRD experiment with synchrotron radiation on Al_66.6Cu_16.4Ru_17.0 iQC, grown at 1000°C, resulted in the collection of 2680 independent Bragg reflections that confirms the high-quality of the sample. The phase retrieval of the diffraction data resulted successfully in obtaining the structure solution, which reveals some characteristic features of this face-centred iQC structure.     

Magnesium-Catalyzed Tandem Dehydrogenation-Dehydrocoupling: An Atom Economical Access to Alkynylboranes

Owing to the unusual reactivity of sterically hindered amine–borane complexes, a catalytic system based on magnesium salts was designed to perform a tandem dehydrogenation–dehydrocoupling between terminal alkynes and boranes. The reaction is providing pure alkynylboranes within few minutes at room temperature, with only two molecules of hydrogen as a byproduct.     

Thermally Robust and Tuneable Phosphorescent Gold(III) Complexes Bearing (N^N)-Type Bidentate Ligands as Ancillary Chelates

Phosphorescent mono-cyclometalated gold(III) complexes and their possible applications in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) can be significantly enhanced with their improved thermal stability by suppressing the reductive elimination of the respective ancillary ligands. A rational tuning of the π-conjugation of the cyclometalating ligand in conjunction with the non-conjugated 5,5′-(1-methylethylidene)bis(3-trifluoromethyl)-1H-pyrazole were used as a strategy to achieve room-temperature phosphorescence emission in a new series of gold(III) complexes. Photophysical studies of the newly synthesised and characterised complexes revealed phosphorescent emission of the complexes at room temperature in solution, thin films when doped in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as well as in 2-Me-THF at 77 K. The complexes exhibit highly tuneable emission behaviour with photoluminescent quantum efficiencies up to 22 % and excited state lifetimes in the range of 63–300 μs. Detailed photophysical investigations in combination with DFT and TD-DFT calculations support the conclusion that the emission properties are strongly dictated by both the cyclometalating ligand and the ancillary chelating ligand. Thermogravimetric studies further show that the thermal stability of the Au^III complexes has been drastically enhanced, making these complexes more attractive for OLED applications.