Mechanochemical synthesis of poly(2,5-dimethoxy aniline) nanobelts and its electrochemical performance in hybrid supercapacitors

A solvent-free mechanochemical route for the preparation of poly(2,5-dimethoxyaniline) hydrochloride nanostructures is developed and reported in the article. High conductivity, good crystallinity, and nanostructured morphology are observed for the prepared polymer. This polymeric powder is utilized as a cathode material in hybrid supercapacitor and its electrochemical performance is evaluated and discussed in this short report. The maximum specific capacitance of the poly(2,5-dimethoxyaniline) hydrochloride/activated carbon hybrid supercapacitor is found to be 125 F g⁻¹ at 1 mA cm⁻² current density. The cell delivers a specific energy as high as 50 Wh kg⁻¹ at a specific power of 97 W kg⁻¹ and also exhibits an excellent cycle performance with more than 99% coulombic efficiency and the maintenance of 85% of its initial capacitance after 1,000 cycles.     

Synthesis,growth, structure,spectral, thermal and first-order molecular hyperpolarizability of benzophenone-2-furoyl hydrazone single crystal

Single crystals of benzophenone-2-furoyl hydrazone are grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique from ethanol at room temperature. It belongs to monoclinic system with the space group P2₁/c and the cell parameters are, a = 6.1631(3) Å, b = 13.1397(8) Å, c = 18.0030(11) Å and V = 1457.72(14) Å³. NMR spectral studies reveal the structure and powder XRD indicates the crystallinity of the specimen. The characteristic functional groups present in the molecule are confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The crystals are transparent in the visible region having a lower optical cut-off at ∼406 nm and the band gap energies are estimated by the application of Kubelka–Munk algorithm. Thermal analysis by TG/DTA indicates the stability of the material. The scanning electron microscopy studies reveal the surface morphology of the as-grown crystal. Theoretical calculations were performed using Hartree–Fock method with 6-31G(d,p) as the basis set for to derive the optimized geometry, dipole moment and first-order molecular hyperpolarizability (β) values.     

A statistical fMRI model for differential T2* contrast incorporating T1 and T2* of gray matter

Relaxation parameter estimation and brain activation detection are two main areas of study in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Relaxation parameters can be used to distinguish voxels containing different types of tissue whereas activation determines voxels that are associated with neuronal activity. In fMRI, the standard practice has been to discard the first scans to avoid magnetic saturation effects. However, these first images have important information on the MR relaxivities for the type of tissue contained in voxels, which could provide pathological tissue discrimination. It is also well-known that the voxels located in gray matter (GM) contain neurons that are to be active while the subject is performing a task. As such, GM MR relaxivities can be incorporated into a statistical model in order to better detect brain activation. Moreover, although the MR magnetization physically depends on tissue and imaging parameters in a nonlinear fashion, a linear model is what is conventionally used in fMRI activation studies. In this study, we develop a statistical fMRI model for Differential T₂^? ConTrast Incorporating T₁ and T₂^? of GM, so-called DeTeCT-ING Model, that considers the physical magnetization equation to model MR magnetization; uses complex-valued time courses to estimate T₁ and T₂^? for each voxel; then incorporates gray matter MR relaxivities into the statistical model in order to better detect brain activation, all from a single pulse sequence by utilizing the first scans.     

Reaction of anthracene with CH radicals: an experimental study of the kinetics between 58 and 470 K

The rate coefficient of the reaction of the methylidine radical CH with anthracene has been studied over a wide temperature range (58-470 K) in a dedicated "Cinétique de Réaction en Ecoulement Supersonique Uniforme" (Reaction Kinetics in Uniform Supersonic Flow) apparatus. The reaction exhibits a slight positive temperature dependence, which can be fitted to the expression k(T) = (3.32 +/- 1.00) x 10(-10)(T/298)((0.46+/-0.14)) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1). Even at the lowest temperature, the reaction remains very fast indicating that the kinetics are probably driven by a capture process.     

A continuous-flow crushing device for on-line delta2H analysis of fluid inclusion water in speleothems

A method for the isotope analysis of fluid inclusion water in speleothem calcite is presented. The technique is based on a commercially available continuous-flow pyrolysis furnace (ThermoFinnigan TC-EA). The main adaptation made to the standard TC-EA configuration is the addition of a crusher and cold trap unit, which is connected to the carrier gas inlet at the top of the TC-EA reactor tube. A series of tests conducted with this device shows that: (1) standard waters, injected in the crusher, and passed through a cryogenic trapping routine, yield accurate delta(2)H values; (2) crushed cubes of speleothem calcite from two Peruvian caves with rather dissimilar seepage water delta(2)H values yield fluid inclusion delta(2)H values in good accordance with these drip waters. The clear advantage of this continuous-flow technique for fluid inclusion isotope analysis is that it is relatively quick compared with other techniques. Since the conditions of water sample introduction into the TC-EA are identical for delta(2)H and delta(18)O analysis, we expect that only limited adaptations to the extraction procedure are required to provide delta(18)O analysis of fluid inclusion samples with the same device.     

Enhancement of second harmonic generation efficiency: Cs(I)-doped tris(thiourea)zinc(II) sulphate crystals

The effect of dopant cesium (Cs(I)) over a concentration range from 1 to 10 mol% on the growth process, morphology, thermal and optical properties of tri(thiourea)zinc(II) sulfate (ZTS) single crystals grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique has been investigated. Incorporation of Cs(I) into the crystal lattice was well confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The lattice parameters of the as-grown crystals were obtained by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The reduction in the intensities observed in powder X-ray diffraction patterns of doped specimen and slight shifts in vibrational frequencies in fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) indicate the lattice stress as a result of doping. Thermal studies reveal the purity of the material and no decomposition is observed up to the melting point. High transmittance is observed in the visible region and the cut-off λ is ～280 nm. The surface morphology of the as-grown specimens was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency of the host crystal is enhanced greatly in the presence of high concentrations of the dopant.