Click functionalized poly(p-phenylene ethynylene)s as highly selective and sensitive fluorescence turn-on chemosensors for Zn2+ and Cd2+ ions

Side-chain functionalized poly(p-phenylene ethynylene)s (PPEs) carrying triazole linkers, amino donors/receptors, and solubilizing groups have been found to yield remarkably high efficiency of fluorescence turn-on sensing for Zn(2+) and Cd(2+) ions in THF, and for H(+) and Cd(2+) ions in water.     

Optical properties of rare earth doped strontium aluminate (SAO) phosphors: A review

After the first news on rare earth (RE) doped strontium aluminate (SAO) phosphors in late 1990s, researchers all over the world geared up to develop stable and efficient persistent phosphors. Scientists studied various features of long lasting phosphors (LLP) and tried to earmark appropriate mechanism. However, about two decades after the discovery of SrAl₂O₄: Eu²⁺, Dy³⁺, the number of persistent luminescent materials is not significant. In this review, we present an overview of the optical characteristics of RE doped SAO phosphors in terms of photoluminescence (PL), thermoluminescence (TL) and afterglow spectra. Also, we refresh the work undertaken to study diverse factors like dopant concentration, temperature, surface energy, role of activator, etc. Simultaneously, some of our important findings on SAO are reported and discussed in the end.     

Insights from the sea: Structural biology of marine polyketide synthases

Covering: up to the end of 2011The world's oceans are a rich source of natural products with extremely interesting chemistry. Biosynthetic pathways have been worked out for a few, and the story is being enriched with crystal structures of interesting pathway enzymes. By far, the greatest number of structural insights from marine biosynthetic pathways has originated with studies of curacin A, a poster child for interesting marine chemistry with its cyclopropane and thiazoline rings, internal cis double bond, and terminal alkene. Using the curacin A pathway as a model, structural details are now available for a novel loading enzyme with remarkable dual decarboxylase and acetyltransferase activities, an Fe(2+)/α-ketoglutarate-dependent halogenase that dictates substrate binding order through conformational changes, a decarboxylase that establishes regiochemistry for cyclopropane formation, and a thioesterase with specificity for β-sulfated substrates that lead to terminal alkene offloading. The four curacin A pathway dehydratases reveal an intrinsic flexibility that may accommodate bulky or stiff polyketide intermediates. In the salinosporamide A pathway, active site volume determines the halide specificity of a halogenase that catalyzes for the synthesis of a halogenated building block. Structures of a number of putative polyketide cyclases may help in understanding reaction mechanisms and substrate specificities although their substrates are presently unknown.     

Concise, aromatization-based approach to an elaborate C2-symmetric pyrenophane

A very short synthesis (5 steps), the crystal structure and resolution of an elaborate, inherently chiral [n](1,6)pyrenophane is reported. The synthesis hinges upon two very productive events: a multicomponent reaction and an unprecedented double-McMurry/valence isomerization/dehydrogenation step. Aromatization reactions are involved in the formation of all four of the rings of the pyrene system.     

Exact elliptic compactons in generalized Korteweg–De Vries equations

Using the action principle, and assuming a solitary wave of the generic form u(x,t) = AZ(β(x + q(t)), we derive a general theorem relating the energy, momentum, and velocity of any solitary wave solution of the generalized Korteweg‐De Vries equation K*(l,p). Specifically we find that , where l,p are nonlinearity parameters. We also relate the amplitude, width, and momentum to the velocity of these solutions. We obtain the general condition for linear and Lyapunov stability. We then obtain a two‐parameter family of exact solutions to these equations, which include elliptic and hyper‐elliptic compacton solutions. For this general family we explicitly verify both the theorem and the stability criteria. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 11: 30–34, 2006     

Surface effects and diffusive phase transition in ferroelectric thin films: A self-consistent approach

A self-consistent Landau phenomenological approach has been used to study the ferroelectric transition in films in the presence of various surface effects such as depolarization and strain. The polarization distribution of the film is computed and its variation with respect to temperature, thickness and strain is determined. The gradual decrease in polarization across the transition shows the diffusive behavior which is confirmed from the soft mode and the dielectric susceptibility analysis. The critical thickness below which ferroelectricity disappears is also computed. The degree of diffuseness in the transition is obtained from the susceptibility exponent which shows more and more diffusive behavior for smaller and smaller film thickness.     

Diffusion of a Ga adatom on the GaAs(001)‐c(4 × 4)‐heterodimer surface: A first principles study

The adsorption and diffusion behavior of a Ga adatom on the GaAs (001)‐c(4 × 4)-heterodimer surface were studied by employing ab initio density functional theory (DFT) computations in the local density approximation. Structural and bonding features of the c(4 × 4)-heterodimer reconstruction surface were examined. A comparison with the c(4 × 4)-ss reconstruction was performed. Minimum energy sites (MES) on the c(4 × 4)-heterodimer surface were located by mapping the potential energy surface for a Ga adatom. Barriers for diffusion of a Ga adatom between the neighboring MES were calculated by using top hopping- and exchange-diffusion mechanisms. We proposed two unique diffusion pathways for a Ga adatom diffusing between the global minimums of two neighboring unit cells. Signature differences between electronic structures of top hopping- and exchange‐diffusion mechanisms were studied for relevant atoms. We observed a higher diffusion barrier for exchange mechanism compared to top hopping.     

Effect of NaF on optical and structural properties of CdxZn1−xS nano crystalline films

This work investigates the effect of NaF on optical and structural properties of nano crystalline Cd_xZn_1?xS films. The Cd_xZn_1?xS films are prepared through chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique in aqueous alkaline bath and their subsequent condensation on substrates. The as-obtained samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–VIS absorption spectroscopy. Micro structural features, obtained from XRD analysis confirm the formation of cubic phase of undoped as well as NaF doped Cd_xZn_1?xS nano particles while SEM observations depict non-uniform distribution of grains. These results show the average grain size of pure as well as NaF doped samples to range from 50 to 90 nm. Tauc's plots, extracted from absorption spectra exhibit absorption to be dominating mainly in blue-green region of visible spectrum. The room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra of Cd_xZn_1?xS samples show a peak around 425 nm, which gets blue shifted for doped sample indicating improvement in PL properties on its addition.     

Liquid-phase axial mixing in two-phase horizontal pipe flow

The liquid-phase axial dispersion coefficient and volume-averaged fractional phase hold-ups have been measured in two-phase horizontal pipe flow. Radioactive ^99mTc—technetium-99 metastable—(as an aqueous solution of sodium pertechnate) was used as a tracer. The pulse technique with two-point measurement was employed. Superficial gas (air) and liquid (water) velocities were varied in the range 20–2300 and 30–800mm/s, respectively. The flow regimes covered were bubbly, elongated bubbly, stratified, wavy and slug. Experiments were also performed using single-phase pipe flow. The liquid-phase dispersion coefficient has been shown to depend upon the flow regime and the superficial gas and liquid velocities.     

Suitable Stress Waveforms for the Deformation-Induced Electronic Excitation in Crystals

A quantum mechanical approach is made to the deformation-induced electronic excitation in crystals. The ML intensity is assumed to be related to the transition probability P(m, n) from n^th to m^th state, and it may be expressed as I_ML = βP(m, n) where P(m, n) = 4π²/hα² |σ_mn (ω_mn)|² ·( n · μ )_mn·². It is shown that the ML excitation can take place only by the time-dependent applied stress. The ML excitation probability is analysed for different waveforms of the applied stress such as constant stress, δ-function, rectangular stress, single sided and double sided exponential stress, unit step function, external sinusoidal signals cos ω₀t and sin ω₀t, external exponential function, a periodic function and the stress of sequence of equidistant impulses of unit strength separated by a particular time. It is found that when the stress is a δ-function, a rectangular waveform, sinusoidal singals cos ω₀t and sin ω₀t or a sequence of equidistant impulses of unit strength and separated by a particular time, then there is a considerable probability of electronic excitation by the resonance transfer mechanism between the Fourier transform of the stress waveform and the frequency of the emitting electronic system i.e. (E₂ – E₁)/h.