Photoluminescence properties of various CVD-grown ZnO nanostructures

We have studied systematically room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) properties of many nanostructured ZnO samples grown by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Their PL spectra consist of two emissions peaked in the ultraviolet (UV) and green regions. The relative intensity of these emissions depends on the excitation energy density, size and morphology of ZnO nanostructures. Based on the excitation-density dependence of the integrated intensity ratio of UV-to-green emission, we could classify PL spectra of ZnO nanostructures into three groups characteristic of size and morphology. Our study also reveals that with increasing excitation density, the UV-peak position shifts slightly towards longer wavelengths while the green emission around 514-520 nm is almost unchanged. This green-luminescence emission is dominant when the nanostructure sizes range from 20 to 200 nm, which is related to a large surface-to-volume ratio.     

Synthesis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes for NH3 gas detection

It has been recently demonstrated that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) represent a new type of chemical sensor capable of detecting a small concentration of molecules such as CO, NO₂, NH₃.In this work, CNTs were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on the SiO₂/Si substrate by decomposition of acetylene (C₂H₂) on sputtered Ni catalyst nanoparticles. Their structural properties are studied by atomic force microscopy, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The CNTs grown at 700 °C exhibit a low dispersion in size, are about 1 μm long and their average diameter varies in the range 25–60 nm as a function of the deposition time. We have shown that their diameter can be reduced either by annealing in oxygen environment or by growing at lower temperature (less than 600 °C).We developed a test device with interdigital Pt electrodes on an Al₂O₃ substrate in order to evaluate the CNTs-based gas sensor capabilities. We performed room temperature current–voltage measurements for various gas concentrations. The CNT films are found to exhibit a fast response and a high sensitivity to NH₃ gas.     

Perfect impedance-matched left-handed behavior in combined metamaterial

Matching the impedance of a medium to free space, which is usually not available in natural materials, is an important advance in metamaterials. In this paper, we present a simple mechanism for a perfect impedance-matched left-handed metamaterials, that reveals a nearly zero reflection over operating frequency. This finding is based on the independent manipulation of the electric response without any effect on the magnetic one.     

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of a Novel Series of (Hydroxyphenyl)-Aminophosphonates

Abstract

Elevated plasma cholesterol is now well established as a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. It has also been shown that the oxidation of low density lipoproteins leads to the formation of foam cells which contribute to the deposition of cholesterol in arteries.     

Photoinitiated cationic polymerisation of multifunctional systems

Different types of tridimensional polymer networks have been synthetised by photoinitiated cationic polymerisation of vinyl ether and epoxy-functionalised oligomers and polymers. The polymerisation kinetics was followed by real-time infrared (RTIR) spectroscopy, a technique that records directly conversion versus time profiles in a timescale as short as 1 s. The addition of a diacrylate monomer was shown to accelerate the ring-opening polymerisation of epoxidized polyisoprene, with formation of interpenetrating polymer networks having well contrasted properties. A dual polymer network has been generated by photocrosslinking of a polyisoprene functionalised with both epoxy and acrylate groups.     

Chain transfer reactions in emulsion polymerization of butadiene/styrene

Calculation of regulating index r from M̄_W values determined by experiments is proposed. The calculation is based on the assumption that the M̄_W values only depend on the conversion and the regulating index in emulsion polymerization. On this basis the calculation of regulator concentration in the latex particles was also possible. M̄_W values calculated in this way and experimental M̄_W values show good agreement.     

Target Design of Novel Histone Deacetylase 6 Selective Inhibitors with 2-Mercaptoquinazolinone as the Cap Moiety

Epigenetic alterations found in all human cancers are promising targets for anticancer therapy. In this sense, histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) are interesting anticancer agents that play an important role in the epigenetic regulation of cancer cells. Here, we report 15 novel hydroxamic acid-based histone deacetylase inhibitors with quinazolinone core structures. Five compounds exhibited antiproliferative activity with IC₅₀ values of 3.4–37.8 µM. Compound 8 with a 2-mercaptoquinazolinone cap moiety displayed the highest antiproliferative efficacy against MCF-7 cells. For the HDAC6 target selectivity study, compound 8 displayed an IC₅₀ value of 2.3 µM, which is 29.3 times higher than those of HDAC3, HDAC4, HDAC8, and HDAC11. Western blot assay proved that compound 8 strongly inhibited tubulin acetylation, a substrate of HDAC6. Compound 8 also displayed stronger inhibition activity against HDAC11 than the control drug Belinostat. The inhibitory mechanism of action of compound 8 on HDAC enzymes was then explored using molecular docking study. The data revealed a high binding affinity (−7.92 kcal/mol) of compound 8 toward HDAC6. In addition, dock pose analysis also proved that compound 8 might serve as a potent inhibitor of HDAC11.     

A two-frequency acoustic technique for bubble resonant oscillation studies

A two-frequency acoustic apparatus has been developed to study the dynamics of a single gas or vapor bubble in water. An advantage of the apparatus is its capability of trapping a bubble by an ultrasonic standing wave while independently driving it into oscillations by a second lower frequency acoustic wave. For a preliminary application, the apparatus is used to study resonant oscillations. First, near-resonant coupling between the volume and the n = 3 shape oscillation modes of air bubbles at room temperature is studied, where n is the mode number. The stability boundary, amplitude versus frequency, of the volume oscillation forms a wedge centered at the resonant frequency, which qualitatively agrees with a theoretical prediction based on a phase-space analysis. Next, the resonant volume oscillations of vapor bubbles are studied. The resonant radius of vapor bubbles at 80 degrees C driven at 1682 Hz is determined to be 0.7 mm, in agreement with a prediction obtained by numerical simulation.