IN AQUA SYNTHESIS OF A HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT ARYLETHYNYLENE POLYMER EXHIBITING REVERSIBLE HYDROGEL PROPERTIES

ABSTRACT

A high molecular weight poly(aryleneethynylene) (M_w ～ 60,000) is prepared by the palladium catalyzed copolymerization of 3,5-diiodobenzoic acid and acetylene gas in a basic aqueous medium. The polymer has a “zig-zag”, fully conjugated backbone. The polymer has been characterized by a variety of methods and exhibits high thermal stability. Furthermore, the polymer is readily soluble in aqueous base and is reversibly switchable from the solution state to a hydrogel state, in water, by changing the pH of the solvent.     

Development of a general approach to the synthesis of a library of isoflavonoid derivatives

Isoflavonoids are a class of organic compounds that act primarily as antioxidants. They are produced almost exclusively by various members of the bean family including soybeans, tofu, peanuts, chick peas, and alfalfa. The antioxidant characteristics that isoflavonoids exhibit help hinder the progression of certain cancers, primarily breast, prostate, and colon cancer. We have developed a three-five step synthesis for obtaining a suite of isoflavonoid derivatives. The synthesis involves an enamine formation, a ring closure and halogenation, a Suzuki coupling, and finally a global deprotection to obtain the respective isoflavonoid derivatives.     

Enhancement of single‑photon emission from nitrogen‑vacancy centers with TiN/(Al,Sc)N hyperbolic metamaterial

The broadband enhancement of single‑photon emission from nitrogen‐vacancy centers in nanodiamonds coupled to a planar multilayer metamaterial with hyperbolic dispersion is studied experimentally. The metamaterial is fabricated as an epitaxial metal/dielectric superlattice consisting of CMOS‐compatible ceramics: titanium nitride (TiN) and aluminum scandium nitride (Al_xSc_1‐xN). It is demonstrated that employing the metamaterial results in significant enhancement of collected single‑photon emission and reduction of the excited‐state lifetime. Our results could have an impact on future CMOS‐compatible integrated quantum sources.

     

Measurement of the muon capture rate in hydrogen gas and determination of the proton's pseudoscalar coupling gP

The rate of nuclear muon capture by the proton has been measured using a new technique based on a time projection chamber operating in ultraclean, deuterium-depleted hydrogen gas, which is key to avoiding uncertainties from muonic molecule formation. The capture rate from the hyperfine singlet ground state of the microp atom was obtained from the difference between the micro(-) disappearance rate in hydrogen and the world average for the micro(+) decay rate, yielding Lambda(S)=725.0+/-17.4 s(-1), from which the induced pseudoscalar coupling of the nucleon, g(P)(q(2)=-0.88m(2)(micro))=7.3+/-1.1, is extracted.     

Presowing Treatment of Spring Wheat Seeds by a Pulsed Electron Beam in the Atmosphere

High Energy Chemistry - The purpose of this work is to optimize the conditions of presowing treatment of spring wheat seeds with a low-energy pulsed electron beam. The absorbed dose in wheat has...     

Fabrication and characterization of TEOS-based silica aerogels prepared using rapid supercritical extraction

Silica aerogels were prepared using the precursor tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) via a rapid supercritical extraction (RSCE) method. Multiple consistent batches of monolithic TEOS-based aerogels were fabricated via an 8-h RSCE process. Fabricating TEOS-based aerogels with an RSCE method offers some distinct advantages. One advantage is the relative simplicity of the RSCE approach: liquid precursors are mixed and poured into a metal mold in a hydraulic hot-press, where gelation, aging and extraction of liquid from the pores occur. The precursor recipe employs TEOS, ethanol, water, oxalic acid to catalyze hydrolysis, and ammonia to catalyze the subsequent polycondensation reactions. Another advantage is that reaction of TEOS to form sol gels yields ethanol as a byproduct. A process that releases ethanol, rather than methanol (as in tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS)-based aerogels) may be more appealing for commercial applications, involving scale-up of the process. The significantly lower cost of TEOS, compared to TMOS, is a considerable advantage. The TEOS-based RSCE aerogels are mesoporous and optically translucent, have bulk densities of 0.099(±0.003) g/cm³ and surface areas of 460(±10) m²/g. Signals observed in infrared and Raman spectra of the aerogels are consistent with Si–O framework bonds. Using scanning electron microscopy imaging, the surface morphology of the aerogel samples was imaged at magnifications up to 150 kX.     

Nucleation and Growth Synthesis of Siloxane Gels to Form Functional,Monodisperse, and Acoustically Programmable Particles

Nucleation and growth methods offer scalable means of synthesizing colloidal particles with precisely specified size for applications in chemical research, industry, and medicine. These methods have been used to prepare a class of silicone gel particles that display a range of programmable properties and narrow size distributions. The acoustic contrast factor of these particles in water is estimated and can be tuned such that the particles undergo acoustophoresis to either the pressure nodes or antinodes of acoustic standing waves. These particles can be synthesized to display surface functional groups that can be covalently modified for a range of bioanalytical and acoustophoretic sorting applications.     

The last subconstituent of the Hemmeter graph

We prove that when q is any odd prime power, the distance-2 graph on the set of vertices at maximal distance D from any fixed vertex of the Hemmeter graph Hem_D(q) is isomorphic to the graph Quad_D-1(q) of quadratic forms on .