Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance studies of DNA hybridization on gold/SiOx interfaces

The use of Au/SiO(x) interfaces for the investigation of DNA hybridization using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) simultaneously is demonstrated. Standard glass chemistry was used to link single-stranded DNA (ss-DNA) on aldehyde-terminated Au/SiO(x) interfaces. The layer thickness and amount of grafted oligonucleotides (ODNs) were calculated from SPR on the basis of a multilayer system of glass/Ti/Au/SiO(x)/grafted molecule. Capacitance and resistance values of the modified interface before and after hybridization were calculated from EIS data using an equivalent circuit and allowed the affinity rate constant, K(A) = 4.07 x 10(5) M(-1), to be determined. The EIS results were comparable to those obtained by SPR hybridization kinetics recorded in parallel.     

Biomolecule and nanoparticle transfer on patterned and heterogeneously wetted superhydrophobic silicon nanowire surfaces

We report on the use of patterned superhydrophobic silicon nanowire surfaces for the efficient, selective transfer of biological molecules and nanoparticles. Superhydrophilic patterns are prepared on superhydrophobic silicon nanowire surfaces using standard optical lithography. The resulting water-repellent surface allows material transfer and physisorption to the superhydrophilic islands upon exposure to an aqueous solution containing peptides, proteins, or nanoparticles.     

Theoretical study of ground state and high-pressure phase of platinum carbide

We report local density-functional calculations using the full-potential linearized muffin-tin orbital method (FP-LMTO) for platinum carbide (PtC) in the, rock-salt (B1), zinc-blende (B3), wurtzite (B4), nickel-arsenide (B8) and PbO (B10) structures. The ground state properties such as the equilibrium lattice constant, elastic constants, the bulk modulus and its pressure derivative of PtC in these phases are determined and compared with available experimental and theoretical data.Our calculations show that the ground state phase of PtC to be zinc-blende (B3) structure at zero pressure and the nickel-arsenide (B8) structure is a high-pressure phase. The transition pressures at which this compound undergoes the structural phase transition from (B3) to (B8) and from (B3) to (B1) are found to be 34.25 and 51.28 GPa, respectively. The highest bulk modulus values in the nickel-arsenide (B8), zinc-blende (B3), rock-salt (B1) and PbO (B10) structures indicate that PtC is a hard material.     

Numerical analysis of the azimuthal periodicity in the two lowest order modes of microstructured fibres applied to the precise determination of the cutoff wavelength

The azimuthal far-field analysis technique (AFFAT) is one of the only two methods reported to date, able to measure the cutoff wavelength λ_c in microstructured fibres (MOFs). The measurement is operated through a parameter D which is related to the modulation of the power crossing a rotating slit at the output of the tested fibre. In standard fibres, the criterion of the CEI/IEC 793-1-C7A normalised method (i.e., 2.25% of the output power carried by the second mode) is expressed by the unchanged −16.4 dB value of D(λ_c). In this paper, we show that this criterion is expressed in MOFs by a value of D which strongly depends on the geometrical parameters of the fibre and on the launching conditions at the input. However, we demonstrate that, with a slightly relaxed criterion corresponding to 10% of the output power carried by the second mode at λ_c, D remains close to −10 dB whatever the considered MOF. Thus, this constitutes a universal decision criterion allowing to determine λ_c in any classical MOF, by means of the AFFAT, with a very limited uncertainty.     

Nonlinearities effects on optical MIMO systems

Optical Review - Multimode fibers (MMF) are enjoying a renewed attention boosted by recent advances in multimode complex nonlinear optics. Reason behind nonlinearity is occurred either due to...     

Palladium oxide nanoparticles supported on graphene oxide: A convenient heterogeneous catalyst for reduction of various carbonyl compounds using triethylsilane

Palladium oxide nanoparticles supported on graphene oxide ‐ triethylsilane was found to be an effective reductive system for a broad range of reduction processes, including the reduction of various carbonyl compounds such as aromatic aldehydes to their corresponding alcohols or methyl arene compounds, aromatic ketones to their respective alcohols or saturated compounds, aromatic acyl chlorides to their reduced compounds. The desired products were obtained in good to excellent yields under mild conditions. The heterogeneous environmentally friendly catalyst can be easily separated from the reaction mixture through a simple filtration, facilitating purification of the prepared compounds.     

Infrared dichroism and polymer orientation in attenuated total reflection. Theoretical considerations

The orientation of molecular chains in polymers cannot be easily extracted from ATR spectra measurements. One can infer the orientation parameters by using plausible models that describe the type of the statistical distribution of the molecular chains in the sample. In this work, we are interested in the case of weakly aligned polymers. Therefore, we first adjusted the partial axial orientation model usually applied for strongly oriented polymers to the samples under our investigations and second, related the parameters describing the orientation configuration to the dichroic ratios in four particular molecular chain distributions: randomly, totally, partially, and elliptically oriented. A new method that leads to the determination of these dichroic ratios from ATR spectra is presented. This method is based only on the use of three distinct polarizations of the beam. Thus, all the practical difficulties usually encountered in the other methods are eliminated. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 35 : 1361–1372, 1997     

Pd nanoparticles supported on reduced graphene oxide as an effective and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for the Mizoroki–Heck coupling reaction

A general method for the synthesis of palladium nanoparticles loaded on reduced graphene oxide functionalized with diethylenetriamine (PdNPs/rGO-NH₂) using a sonochemical procedure is described. The heterogeneous nanocomposite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, thermogravimetric analysis, high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV–visible absorption, and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The PdNPs/rGO-NH₂ was very effective for the Mizoroki–Heck coupling reaction of several aryl iodide compounds with different alkenes in the presence of triethylamine. The reaction provides the coupling products in good to excellent yields (59–100%). Additionally, the PdNPs/rGO-NH₂ catalyst can be reutilized for six successive runs without any apparent diminution of its catalytic reactivity.