Ultrafast Photogenerated Hole Extraction/Transport Behavior in a CH3NH3PbI3/Carbon Nanocomposite and Its Application in a Metal‐Electrode‐Free Solar Cell

Aligned and flexible electrospun carbon nanomaterials are used to synthesize carbon/perovskite nanocomposites. The free‐electron diffusion length in the CH₃NH₃PbI₃ phase of the CH₃NH₃PbI₃/carbon nanocomposite is almost twice that of bare CH₃NH₃PbI₃, and nearly 95 % of the photogenerated free holes can be injected from the CH₃NH₃PbI₃ phase into the carbon nanomaterial. The exciton binding energy of the composite is estimated to be 23 meV by utilizing temperature‐dependent optical absorption spectroscopy. The calculated free carriers increase with increasing total photoexcitation density, and this broadens the potential of this material for a broad range of optoelectronics applications. A metal‐electrode‐free perovskite solar cell (power conversion efficiency: 13.0 %) is fabricated with this perovskite/carbon composite, which shows great potential for the fabrication of efficient, large‐scale, low‐cost, and metal‐electrode‐free perovskite solar cells.     

Stretching DNA: Role of electrostatic interactions

The effect of electrostatic interactions on the stretching of DNA is investigated using a simple worm like chain model. In the limit of small force there are large conformational fluctuations which are treated using a self-consistent variational approach. For small values of the external force f, we find the extension scales as where is the Debye screening length. In the limit of large force the electrostatic effects can be accounted for within the semiflexible chain model of DNA by assuming that only small excursions from rod-like conformations are possible. In this regime the extension approaches the contour length as where f is the magnitude of the external force. The theory is used to analyze experiments that have measured the extension of double-stranded DNA subject to tension at various salt concentrations. The theory reproduces nearly quantitatively the elastic response of DNA at small and large values of f and for all concentration of the monovalent counterions. The limitations of the theory are also pointed out. Received 13 October 1998 and Received in final form 9 June 1999     

Nax/2Bi1−x/2MoxV1−xO4 and Bi1−x/3MoxV1−xO4 New Scheelite-related phases

New Scheelite-related solid solutions of the compositions Na_x/2Bi_1−x/2Mo_xV_1−xO₄ (0≤x≤1) and Bi_1−x/3 Mo_xV_1−xO₄(0≤x≤0.2) have been synthesised by the substitution of Na and Mo at the A and B sites respectively of the ABO₄ type ferroelastic BiVO₄. The phases were characterised using chemical analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, EDAX, and Raman spectroscopy. While almost a continuous solid solution is obtained for the series Na_x/2Bi_1−x/2Mo_xV_1−xO₄, the absence of Na at the A-site results only in a narrow stability region for the other series, Bi_1−x/3 Mo_xV_1−xO₄ where 0≤x≤0.2. Raman spectra of selected samples at room temperature also suggest that vanadium and molybdenum atoms are disordered at the tetrahedral sites.     

Hydrogen Bonded Supramolecular Assembly in N6-Benzyladeninium Nitrate and N6-Benzyladeninium 3-Hydroxy Picolinate: A Synthetic Cytokinin

Abstract  

N ⁶-benzyladeninium nitrate, (1), C₁₂H₁₂N₅ ⁺ NO₃ ⁻ crystallizes in P2 ₁/c, with a = 15.0035(13), b = 5.3788(5), c = 16.8954(13) ?, β = 107.331(6)°, Z = 4 and N ⁶-benzyladeninium 3-hydroxy picolinate, (2), C₁₂H₁₂N₅ ⁺ C₆H₄NO₃ ⁻, crystallizes in P1, with a = 8.3017(4), b = 14.6170(7), c = 14.7909 (8) ?, α = 78.801 (4), β = 81.979 (4),γ = 88.849 (4)°, Z = 4. In both the salts, the cation exists as N(7)H tautomer with protonation at the N₃ atom. The dihedral angle of 76.64 (16)° for (1), 67.91(12)° for (cation A) and 68.27 (13)° for (cation B) in (2), between the adenine plane and phenyl ring plane, the distal orientation of the N6 substituent with respect to the imidazole ring and the free N1 position, make these benzyladeninium cations meet all the requirements necessary for cytokinin activity. The crystal structures are stabilized by N–H···N, N–H···O, C–H···O hydrogen bonds and C–H···π stacking interaction between symmetry related benzyladenine molecule.     

Kinetics of interior loop formation in semiflexible chains

Loop formation between monomers in the interior of semiflexible chains describes elementary events in biomolecular folding and DNA bending. We calculate analytically the interior distance distribution function for semiflexible chains using a mean field approach. Using the potential of mean force derived from the distance distribution function we present a simple expression for the kinetics of interior looping by adopting Kramers theory. For the parameters, that are appropriate for DNA, the theoretical predictions in comparison with the case are in excellent agreement with explicit Brownian dynamics simulations of wormlike chain (WLC) model. The interior looping times (tauIC) can be greatly altered in the cases when the stiffness of the loop differs from that of the dangling ends. If the dangling end is stiffer than the loop then tauIC increases for the case of the WLC with uniform persistence length. In contrast, attachment of flexible dangling ends enhances rate of interior loop formation. The theory also shows that if the monomers are charged and interact via screened Coulomb potential then both the cyclization (tauc) and interior looping (tauIC) times greatly increase at low ionic concentration. Because both tauc and tauIC are determined essentially by the effective persistence length [lp(R)] we computed lp(R) by varying the range of the repulsive interaction between the monomers. For short range interactions lp(R) nearly coincides with the bare persistence length which is determined largely by the backbone chain connectivity. This finding rationalizes the efficacy of describing a number of experimental observations (response of biopolymers to force and cyclization kinetics) in biomolecules using WLC model with an effective persistence length.     

On the origin of the unusual behavior in the stretching of single-stranded DNA

Force-extension curves (FECs), which quantify the response of a variety of biomolecules subject to mechanical force (f), are often quantitatively fit using worm-like chain (WLC) or freely jointed chain (FJC) models. These models predict that the chain extension, x, normalized by the contour length increases linearly at small f and at high forces scale as x ~ (1 - f(-α)), where α = 0.5 for WLC and unity for FJC. In contrast, experiments on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) show that over a range of f and ionic concentration, x scales as x ~ ln f, which cannot be explained using WLC or FJC models. Using theory and simulations we show that this unusual behavior in FEC in ssDNA is due to sequence-independent polyelectrolyte effects. We show that the x ~ ln f arises because in the absence of force the tangent correlation function, quantifying chain persistence, decays algebraically on length scales on the order of the Debye length. Our theory, which is most appropriate for monovalent salts, quantitatively fits the experimental data and further predicts that such a regime is not discernible in double-stranded DNA.     

10‐(4‐Fluorophenyl)‐3,3,6,6,9‐pentamethyl‐3,4,6,7,9,10‐hexahydroacridine‐1,8(2H,5H)‐dione and 10‐(4‐fluorophenyl)‐3,3,6,6‐tetramethyl‐9‐­propyl‐3,4,6,7,9,10‐hexahydroacridine‐1,8(2H,5H)‐dione

10‐(4‐Fluoro­phenyl)‐3,3,6,6,9‐penta­methyl‐3,4,6,7,9,10‐hexa­hydro­acridine‐1,8(2H,5H)‐dione, C₂₄H₂₈FNO₂, (I), crystallizes with two crystallographically independent mol­ecules (which differ slightly in conformation), while 10‐(4‐fluoro­phenyl)‐9‐propyl‐3,3,6,6‐tetra­methyl‐3,4,6,7,9,10‐hexa­hydro­acridine‐1,8(2H,5H)‐dione, C₂₆H₃₂FNO₂, (II), crystallizes with one mol­ecule per asymmetric unit. In both structures, the central ring in the acridine moiety is in a sofa conformation, while the outer rings adopt intermediate half‐chair/sofa conformations. The central pyridine ring is orthogonal to the substituted phenyl ring. In both structures, the packing of the crystal is stabilized by C—H?O intermolecular hydrogen bonds.     

Review on fluorescent sensors-based environmentally related toxic mercury ion detection

Journal of Inclusion Phenomena and Macrocyclic Chemistry - Mercury is a frequent, bioaccumulative, extremely toxic pollutant in the environment. Mercury contamination can be accumulated along the...