Nanofibrous polyaniline thin film prepared by plasma‐induced polymerization technique for detection of NO2 gas

A nanofibrous polyaniline (PANI) thin film was fabricated using plasma‐induced polymerization method and explored its application in the fabrication of NO₂ gas sensor. The effects of substrate position, pressure, and the number of plasma pulses on the PANI film growth rate were monitored and an optimum condition for the PANI thin film preparation was established. The resulting PANI film was characterized with UV–visible spectrophotometer, FTIR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The PANI thin film possessed nanofibers with a diameter ranging from 15 to 20 nm. The NO₂ gas sensing behavior was studied by measuring the change in electrical conductivity of PANI film with respect to NO₂ gas concentration and exposure time. The optimized sensor exhibited a sensitivity factor of 206 with a response time of 23 sec. The NO₂ gas sensor using nanofibrous PANI thin film as sensing probe showed a linear current response to the NO₂ gas concentration in the range of 10–100 ppm. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

KHSO4: a highly efficient and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for hydroarylation of styrenes

Abstract  

Hydroarylation of styrenes with arenes/heteroarenes using KHSO₄ (10 mol%) as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst is described. High conversion and selectivity (>99%) were observed for hydroarylation of styrenes with 2-naphthol at reflux temperature of 1,2-dichloroethane. Yields were quantitative with all styrenes. Moderate to good conversions and selectivities were achieved with other aromatics and heteroaromatics under the same conditions. Regeneration and reusability of KHSO₄ were demonstrated. Addition of a trace amount of water could help to reactivate the KHSO₄ through dispersion and to facilitate the hydroarylation reaction.     

Fullerene-C60-modified electrode as a sensitive voltammetric sensor for detection of nandrolone--an anabolic steroid used in doping

The electrochemical behaviour of nandrolone is investigated by cyclic, differential pulse and square-wave voltammetry in phosphate buffer system at fullerene-C₆₀-modified electrode. The modified electrode shows an excellent electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of nandrolone resulting in a marked lowering in the peak potential and considerable improvement of the peak current as compared to the electrochemical activity at the bare glassy carbon electrode. The oxidation process is shown to be irreversible and diffusion-controlled. A linear range of 50 μM to 0.1 nM is obtained along with a detection limit and sensitivity of 0.42 nM and 0.358 nA nM⁻¹, respectively, in square-wave voltammetric technique. A diffusion coefficient of 4.13 × 10⁻⁸ cm² s⁻¹ was found for nandrolone using chronoamperometry. The effect of interferents, stability and reproducibility of the proposed method were also studied. The described method was successfully employed for the determination of nandrolone in human serum and urine samples. A cross-validation of observed results by GC-MS indicates that the results are in good agreement with each other.     

Hydride generation activity of arsenosugars and thioarsenicals

The major arsenosugar compounds have been reported to be hydride-generation-active, however to a lesser extent in comparison with the inorganic arsenicals. We report here for the first time the identity and quantity of the volatile arsenicals generated by As-sugar-SO₃, As-sugar-SO₄, dimethylarsinoyl acetic acid and dimethylarsinoyl ethanol. Only one major volatile compound was identified for all four compounds studied: dimethylarsine. This means that the As–C bond to the longer carbon chain was cleaved during the hydride-generation process. Theoretical calculations at the RHF/6-31G(d,p) ab initio level confirm that this As–C bond is much weaker than the As–CH₃ bonds. Furthermore, it was revealed that the sulphur analogue of dimethylarsinic acid (DMAS ) is hydride-generation-active at pH 7 in contrast to dimethylarsinic acid, despite the fact that arsenic is also pentavalent. This has been substantiated by the calculation of the change in susceptibility of the arsenic towards nucleophilic attack when oxygen is replaced by sulphur. Hence, DMAS can easily be mistaken for a trivalent arsenic species.     

Phase diagram of Na2S2O3 + ethanol + water at ambient pressure and temperature

In the present communication, we report the studies concerning liquid–liquid–solid equilibria for the ternary system sodium thiosulphate (Na₂S₂O₃) + ethanol + water at ambient pressure and at room temperature (303 ± 2 K). The solubility data of Na₂S₂O₃ are reported for solutions in water, ethanol and solutions of varying concentrations of ethanol in water. The phase diagram for the said system is developed, described and compared with similar system K₂CO₃ + methanol + water. These results have been explained in terms of structural properties of aqueous ethanol solutions and further discussed in terms of the effect of ions to cause phase separation.     

Probing Absolute Electronic Energy Levels in Hg‐Doped CdTe Semiconductor Nanocrystals by Electrochemistry and Density Functional Theory

The absolute electronic energy levels in Hg‐doped CdTe semiconductor nanocrystals (CdHgTe NCs) with varying sizes/volumes and Hg contents are determined by using cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements and density functional theory (DFT) ‐based calculations. The electrochemical measurements demonstrate several distinct characteristic features in the form of oxidation and reduction peaks in the voltammograms, where the peak positions are dependent on the volume of CdHgTe NCs as well as on their composition. The estimated absolute electronic energy levels for three different volumes, namely 22, 119 and 187 nm³ with 2.7±0.3 % of Hg content, show strong volume dependence. The volume‐dependent shift in the characteristic reduction and oxidation peak potential scan can be attributed to the alteration in the energetic band positions owing to the quantum confinement effect. Moreover, the composition (Cd/Hg=98.3/1.7 and 97.0/3.0) ‐dependent alteration in the electronic energy levels of CdHgTe NCs for two different samples with similar volumes (ca. 124±5 nm³) are shown. Thus obtained electronic energy level values of CdHgTe NCs as a function of volume and composition demonstrate good congruence with the corresponding absorption and emission spectral data, as well as with DFT‐based calculations. DFT calculations reveal that incorporation of Hg into CdTe NCs mostly affects the energy levels of conduction band edge, whereas the valence band edge remains almost unaltered.     

Molecular Design Tactics for Highly Efficient Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters for Organic Light Emitting Diodes

Recently, pure organic thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters have attracted considerable interest from the scientific community in the field of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) as they can theoretically realize 100 % of the internal quantum efficiency by exploiting both the singlet and triplet excitons via the reverse intersystem crossing enabled by small singlet‐triplet energy splitting. Currently, the external quantum efficiency of the TADF emitters is reaching the level of phosphorescent emitters. Therefore, the TADF approach is considered as a potential alternative to the low efficiency conventional fluorescent and expensive phosphorescent emitters. In this account, we summarized our recent development of blue and green TADF molecular designs to improve the device performances of the TADF devices.     

Synthesis and Spectroscopic Characterization of Two Different Types of Heterobimetallic Glycolate Complexes of Niobium(V)

An entirely new class of heterobimetallic homoleptic glycolate complexes of the type Nb(OGO)₃{Ta(OGO)₂} [where G=CMe₂CH₂CH₂CMe₂ (G¹) (3); CMe₂CH₂ CHMe(G²) (4); CHMeCHMe (G³) (5); CH₂CMe₂CH₂ (G⁴) (6); CMe₂CMe₂(G⁵) (7); CH₂CHMeCH₂ (G⁶) (8); CH₂CEt₂CH₂ (G⁷) (9); CH₂CMe(Prⁿ)CH₂ (G⁸) (10)] have been prepared by the reactions of Nb(OGO)₂(OGOH) [G=G¹ (1a); G² (1b); G³ (1c); G⁴ (1d); G⁵ (1e); G⁶ (1f); G⁷ (1g); G⁸ (1h)] with Ta(OGO)₂ (OPrⁱ) (G=G¹ (2a); G² (2b); G³ (2c); G⁴ (2d); G⁵ (2e) G⁶ (2f); G⁷ (2g); G⁸ (2h). In addition to the novel derivatives (2)–(10), our earlier investigations on heterobimetallic glycolate-alkoxide derivatives have been extended to derivatives of the type Nb(OGO) [where M=A1 n=3, G=G³ (11);G⁴ (12); G⁶ (13) G⁷ (14); G^s (15); G⁹=CH₂CH₂CH₂ (16) and M=Ti (n=4, G=G⁴) (17), Zr(n=4,G=G⁴) (18)], which are conveniently prepared by the reactions of metalloligands Nb(OGO)₂(OGOH) [G=G³ (1c); G⁴ (1d); G⁶ (1f); G⁷ (1g); G⁸ (1h); G⁹ (1i)] with different metal alkoxides. All of these new complexes have been characterized by elemental analyses, molecular weight determinations, and spectroscopic (I.r. and ¹H, ²⁷Al-n.m.r.) studies. Structural features of the new derivatives have been elucidated on the basis of molecular weight and spectroscopic data.     

The binding of single-stranded DNA and PNA to single-walled carbon nanotubes probed by flow linear dichroism

The binding of single-stranded DNAs and a neutral DNA analogue (peptide nucleic acid, PNA) to single-walled carbon nanotubes in solution phase has been probed by absorbance spectroscopy and linear dichroism. The nanotubes are solubilised by aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate, in which the nucleic acids also dissolve. The linear dichroism (LD) of the nanotubes, when subtracted from that due to the nanotubes/nucleic acid samples, gives the LD of the bound nucleic acid. The binding of the single-stranded DNA to the single-walled nanotubes is quite different from that previously observed for double-stranded DNA. It is likely that the nucleic acid bases lie flat on the nanotube surface with the backbone wrapping round the nanotube at an oblique angle in the region of 45 degrees . The net effect is like beads on a string. The base orientation with the single-stranded PNA is inverted with respect to that of the single-stranded DNA, as shown by their oppositely signed LD signals.