Solid–liquid interface analysis with in-situ Rutherford backscattering and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

A novel Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) method is presented to investigate the interface between a solid surface and a surrounding liquid. The introduced measurement system allows to observe and quantify adsorption at the solid–liquid interface and the formation of the electrochemical double layer (EDL). BaCl₂ as a bicomponent electrolyte and a Si₃N₄ membrane surface are chosen as a model system to prove the capabilities of the setup. The results of these RBS measurements are combined with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to validate the findings for the solid–liquid interface under study. Complementary results and discrepancies regarding the formation of the EDL are discussed.     

A process framework for inducing and explaining Datalog theories

Advances in Data Analysis and Classification - With the increasing prevalence of Machine Learning in everyday life, a growing number of people will be provided with Machine-Learned assessments on a...     

2,7,11,16-Tetra-tert-Butyl Tetraindenopyrene Revisited by an “Inverse” Synthetic Approach

A new synthetic route to tetraindenopyrene (TIP)—a bowl-shaped cut-out structure of C₇₀—is reported. The key step in this approach is a fourfold palladium-catalyzed C−H activation that increases the yield more than 50 times in comparison to the approach originally described by Scott and co-workers. Besides examination of its optoelectronic properties and study of its aggregation in solution, TIP was also re-investigated by dispersion-corrected DFT methods, which showed that dispersion interactions significantly increase the bowl-to-bowl inversion barrier. Furthermore, TIP was used as a semiconductor in p-channel thin-film transistors (TFTs).     

1H NMR study of the conformation and absolute stereochemistry of two spirocyclic NK-1 antagonists

The binding affinities at the human NK-1 receptor of two spirocyclic compounds were found to be similar despite being epimeric at a key stereocentre. This unexpected result prompted a thorough investigation of the solution conformations of the two compounds. This revealed that a conformational switch in the tetrahydrofuran ring enabled the C-3-aryl group to be equatorial in both cases, leading to a similar juxtaposition of the aryl rings.     

Cyclic cluster growth in ferroelectric perovskites

We prove that point defect clustering in perovskite ferroelectrics and the subsequent loss in switchable polarization can occur only if the depolarizing fields are locally unscreened during certain fractions of time in each of the multiple bipolar electric field cycles.