Recent progress in pillar[n]arene-based thin films on chemical sensor applications

Journal of Inclusion Phenomena and Macrocyclic Chemistry - Pillar[n]arene is one of the most favorited supramolecular materials that possess a special chiral structure. The major property of...     

Nanopattern formation using localized plasma for growth of single-standing carbon nanotubes

We report a novel method for formation of self-organized single-standing carbon nanotubes by customizing a plasma-based process. The growth of carbon nanotubes by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition provides suitable grounds to utilize plasma–solid interactions for nanopatterning. The bulk plasma is utilized to fabricate carbon nanotubes on the prepatterned Ni catalyst which in turn can confine the plasma to the growth region. The plasma localization leads to a dielectrophoretic force exerted on Ni atoms and can be engineered in order to grow a specific pattern of self-organized single-standing carbon nanotubes. Numerical simulations based on the plasma localization and dielectrophoretic force confirmed the experimental results. This method provides a simple and cost-effective approach to obtain nanopatterned arrays of carbon nanotubes which can be used for fabrication of photonic and phononic crystals, self-gated field emission-based transistors and displays.

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Graphical abstract Nanopattern formation using localized plasma

     

Organic vapor sensing properties and characterization of α-naphthylmethacrylate LB thin films

Determination of organic vapor sensing properties of α-Naphthylmethacrylate (α-NMA) monomer based Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) thin films was aimed in this study. LB thin film fabrication was performed on quartz glass and quartz crystal substrates in order to investigate the characterization and organic vapor properties of α-NMA materials by using UV-Visible, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) techniques. π-A isotherm graph was taken and a suitable surface pressure value were primarily determined as 13?mN m^?1 for successful α-NMA LB thin film fabrication. Transfer ratio value was found to be ≥ 0.93 for quartz glass and quartz crystal substrates. The typical frequency shift per layer was obtained as 16.93?Hz/layer and the deposited mass onto a quartz crystal was calculated as 271.30?ng/layer (1.02?ng mm^?2). The sensing responses of α-NMA LB films against dichloromethane, chloroform, toluene and m-xylene were measured by QCM system. Dichloromethane created the maximum shift in the resonance frequency than other organic vapors used in this study. Results exhibited that α-NMA LB thin films were potential candidates for organic vapor sensing applications, especially high sensitive detection of dichloromethane at room temperature.     

Correction: A hybrid blue perovskite@metal–organic gel (MOG) nanocomposite: simultaneous improvement of luminescence and stability

Correction for ‘A hybrid blue perovskite@metal–organic gel (MOG) nanocomposite: simultaneous improvement of luminescence and stability’ by Samraj Mollick et al., Chem. Sci., 2019, 10, 10524–10530, DOI: 10.1039/C9SC03829A.

The authors regret that the formula used for the 2D perovskite EAPbBr₃ throughout the text is incorrect. The formula should read EA₂PbBr₄.The Royal Society of Chemistry apologises for these errors and any consequent inconvenience to authors and readers.     

General Health Benefits and Pharmacological Activities of Triticum aestivum L.

Common wheat (Triticum aestivum), one of the world’s most consumed cereal grains, is known for its uses in baking and cooking in addition to its medicinal uses. As this plant’s medical benefits are enormous and scattered, this narrative review was aimed at describing the pharmacological activities, phytochemistry, and the nutritional values of Triticum aestivum. It is a good source of dietary fiber, resistant starch, phenolic acids, alkylresorcinols, lignans, and diverse antioxidant compounds such as carotenoids, tocopherols and tocotrienols. These constituents provide Triticum aestivum with a wide range of pharmacological properties, including anticancer, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, hypolipemic, antioxidant, laxative, and moisturizing effects. This review summarized the established benefits of wheat in human health, the mode of action, and different clinical, in vitro and in vivo studies for different varieties and cultivars. This review also gives an insight for future research into the better use of this plant as a functional food. More clinical trials, in vivo and in vitro studies are warranted to broaden the knowledge about the effect of Triticum aestivum on nutrition-related diseases prevention, and physical and mental well-being sustenance.     

Null Fluid Collapse in Rastall Theory of Gravity

A Vaidya spacetime is considered for gravitational collapse of a type II fluid in the context of the Rastall theory of gravity. For a linear equation of state for the fluid profiles, the conditions under which the dynamical evolution of the collapse can give rise to the formation of a naked singularity are examined. It is shown that depending on the model parameters, strong curvature, naked singularities would arise as exact solutions to the Rastall's field equations. The allowed values of these parameters satisfy certain conditions on the physical reliability, nakedness, and the curvature strength of the singularity. It turns out that Rastall gravity, in comparison to general relativity, provides a wider class of physically reasonable spacetimes that admit both locally and globally naked singularities.     

Antifungal Activity of New Diterpenoid Alkaloids Isolated by Different Chromatographic Methods from Delphinium peregrinum L. var. eriocarpum Boiss

This paper aimed to investigate the potential antifungal influences of new alkaloids from Delphinium peregrinum L. var. eriocarpum Boiss. New Diterpenoid alkaloids Delcarpum (1), Hydrodavisine (4) and known alkaloids Peregrine (2), Delphitisine (3) were isolated by different chromatographic methods from the aerial parts of D. Peregrinum eriocarpum Boiss, which grows in Syria. The structures of alkaloids were proposed based on 1D NMR spectroscopy ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, DEPT-135, DEPT-90, 2D NMR spectroscopy DQF-COSY, HMQC, EI-Ms mass spectrum, and IR spectroscopic measurements. The antifungal activity of the isolated alkaloids was evaluated against different dermatophyte fungal isolates compared with fluconazole. In the case of Peregrine (2) the minimum inhibitory concentrations(MICs) recorded 128–256, 32–64, and 32 for Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum canis, and Trichophyton rubrum, respectively, compared to 32–64, 16, and 32 μg/mL in the case of fluconazole, respectively. The MICs recorded on application of the four alkaloids mixture were 64, 32, and 16 in the case of E. floccosum, M. canis, and T. rubrum, respectively, which were significantly lower than that measured for each of the individual alkaloid and were compatible for fluconazole. In conclusion, MICs of the tested alkaloids showed a variable potential effect on the investigated fungal isolates. Peregrine (2) was the most effective alkaloid, however, the application of the mixture of alkaloids induced significant synergistic activity that was more pronounced than the application of individual ones.     

Synthesis and structural characterization of copper(II) and vanadium(V) complexes of pyridyl/pyrimidyl–pyrazole derived Schiff base ligands – Metal specific adjustment of ligand binding mode

Two mononuclear copper(II) complexes [Cu(L₁)ClO₄] (1), [Cu(L₂)ClO₄] (3) and two mononuclear vanadium(V) complexes [{VO(L₁)(OCH₃)(CH₃OH)}{VO(L₁)(OCH₃)}] (2) and [VO(L₂) (OCH₃)(CH₃OH)] (4) have been synthesized using two Schiff base ligands HL₁ [N′-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)-5-methyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carbohydrazide] and HL₂ [1-(4,6-dimethylpyrimidin-2-yl)-N′-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)-5-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carbohydrazide]. These two similar ligands HL₁ and HL₂ in their ‘ketoimine’ form function as mononegative NNNO tetradentate ones towards the Cu(II) centre forming square planar part of the square pyramidal geometry. Where as the same ligands in their ‘imineol’ form behave as binegative ONO tridentate ones to form their V(V) analogues. In the asymmetric unit of 2, there are two independent V(V) complex molecules differing in their conformations as well as in coordination environment – octahedral V(V) in ‘unit A’ is hexa-coordinated while that in ‘unit B’ being penta-coordinated is square pyramidal. Vanadium atom in 4 is in octahedral geometry with NO₅ chromophore. The ligands HL₁ and HL₂ have been synthesized for the first time in our laboratory and characterized by X-ray crystallography and spectroscopy. The complexes (1, 2 and 4) are also characterized by X-ray crystallography, spectroscopic and electrochemical studies.