Electric control of magnetism in a multiferroic metal–organic framework

Electric control of magnetism is demonstrated in a multiferroic metal–organic framework with a perovskite structure. A moderate electric field of a few kV/cm applied during the cooling process is able to cause a large (more than 50%) change of the magnetization at low temperature. This significant magnetoelectric effect is ascribed to the electric field manipulation of orientation of hydrogen bonds that modify the superexchange interaction between metal ions.

     

Simplified simulation of fretting wear using the method of dimensionality reduction

We study the problem of wear of a rotationally symmetric profile subjected to oscillations with small amplitude. Under these conditions, sliding occurs at the boundary of the contact area while the inner parts of the contact area may still stick. In a recent paper, Dimaki with colleagues proposed a numerically exact simulation procedure based on the method of dimensionality reduction (MDR). This drastically reduced the simulation time compared with conventional finite element simulations. The proposed simulation procedure requires carrying out the direct and the inverse MDR transformations in each time step. This is the main time consuming operation in the proposed method. However, solutions obtained with this method showed a remarkable simplicity of the development of wear profiles in the MDR space. In the present paper, we utilize these results to formulate an approximate model, in which the wear is simulated directly in the one-dimensional space without using integral transformations. This speeds up the simulations of wear by further several orders of magnitude.     

The effect of k-cubic Dresselhaus spin–orbit coupling on the decay time of persistent spin helix states in semiconductor two-dimensional electron gases

We study the theoretical effect of k-cubic （i.e, cubic-in-momentum） Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling on the decay time of persistent spin helix states in semiconductor two-dimensional electron gases. We show that the decay time of persistent spin helix states may be suppressed substantially by k-cubic Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling, and after taking the effect of k-cubic Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction into account, the theoretical results obtained accord both qualitatively and quantitatively with other recent experimental results.     

A novel Lagrangian relaxation approach for a hybrid flowshop scheduling problem in the steelmaking-continuous casting process

One of the largest bottlenecks in iron and steel production is the steelmaking-continuous casting (SCC) process, which consists of steel-making, refining and continuous casting. The SCC scheduling is a complex hybrid flowshop (HFS) scheduling problem with the following features: job grouping and precedence constraints, no idle time within the same group of jobs and setup time constraints on the casters. This paper first models the scheduling problem as a mixed-integer programming (MIP) problem with the objective of minimizing the total weighted earliness/tardiness penalties and job waiting. Next, a Lagrangian relaxation (LR) approach relaxing the machine capacity constraints is presented to solve the MIP problem, which decomposes the relaxed problem into two tractable subproblems by separating the continuous variables from the integer ones. Additionally, two methods, i.e., the boundedness detection method and time horizon method, are explored to handle the unboundedness of the decomposed subproblems in iterations. Furthermore, an improved subgradient level algorithm with global convergence is developed to solve the Lagrangian dual (LD) problem. The computational results and comparisons demonstrate that the proposed LR approach outperforms the conventional LR approaches in terms of solution quality, with a significantly shorter running time being observed.     

Molecular design of efficient yellow- to red-emissive alkynylgold(iii) complexes for the realization of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) and their applications in solution-processed organic light-emitting devices

Here, we report the design and synthesis of a new class of fused heterocyclic alkynyl ligand-containing gold(iii) complexes, which show tunable emission colors spanning from the yellow to red region in the solid state and exhibit thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) properties. These complexes display high photoluminescence quantum yields of up to 0.87 and short excited-state lifetimes in sub-microsecond timescales, yielding high radiative decay rate constants on the order of up to 10⁶ s⁻¹. The observation of the drastic enhancement in the emission intensity of the complexes with insignificant change in the excited-state lifetime upon increasing the temperature from 200 to 360 K indicates an increasing radiative decay rate. The experimentally estimated energy splitting between the lowest-lying singlet excited state (S₁) and the lowest-lying triplet excited state (T₁), ΔE_S1–T1, is found to be as small as ∼0.03 eV (250 cm⁻¹), comparable to the value of ∼0.05 eV (435 cm⁻¹) obtained from computational studies. The delicate choice of the cyclometalating ligand and the fused heterocyclic ligand is deemed the key to induce TADF through the control of the energy levels of the intraligand and the ligand-to-ligand charge transfer excited states. This work represents the realization of highly emissive yellow- to red-emitting gold(iii) TADF complexes incorporated with fused heterocyclic alkynyl ligands and their applications in organic light-emitting devices.

We report the design of a new class of fused heterocyclic alkynyl ligand-containing gold(iii) complexes, which shows tunable emission colors spanning yellow to red region and exhibits thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) properties.     

Ferrocenyl-doped silica nanoparticles as an immobilized affinity support for electrochemical immunoassay of cancer antigen 15-3

The aim of this study is to elaborate a simple and sensitive electrochemical immunoassay using ferrocenecarboxylic (Fc-COOH)-doped silica nanoparticles (SNPs) as an immobilized affinity support for cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) detection. The Fc-COOH-doped SNPs with redox-active were prepared by using a water-in-oil microemulsion method. The use of colloidal silica could prevent the leakage of Fc-COOH and were easily modified with trialkoxysilane reagents for covalent conjugation of CA 15-3 antibodies (anti-CA 15-3). The Fc-COOH-doped SNPs were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The fabrication process of the electrochemical immunosensor was demonstrated by using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. Under optimal conditions, the developed immunosensor showed good linearity at the studied concentration range of 2.0-240 U mL⁻¹ with a coefficient 0.9986 and a detection limit of 0.64 U mL⁻¹ at S/N = 3.     

SPEC Process II. Adsorption of strontium and some typical co-existent elements contained in high level liquid waste onto a macroporous silica-based crown ether impregnated functional composite

To separate Sr(II), one of the heat emitting nuclides, from high level liquid waste (HLLW), a macroporous silica-based DtBuCH18C6 polymeric composite, DtOct/SiO₂-P, was synthesized by means of molecular modification of 4,4′,(5′)-di(tert-butylcyclohexano)-18-crown-6 (DtBuC H18C6) with a long-chain 1-octanol. It was performed by impregnating and immobilizing DtBuCH18C6 and 1-octanol molecules into the pores of the SiO₂-P particles, the macroporous silica-based support. The adsorption of Sr(II) and some co-existent typical elements Na(I), K(I), Cs(I), Ru(III), Mo(VI), Pd(II), Ba(II), La(III), and Y(III) contained in highly active liquid waste (HLW) towards DtOct/SiO₂-P was investigated at 323 K. The effects of contact time and the concentration of HNO₃ in a range of 0.1–5.0M on the adsorption of the tested metals were examined. The macroporous silica-based DtOct/SiO₂-P polymeric composite showed strong adsorption ability and high selectivity for Sr(II) over all of the tested metals except Ba(II). The optimum acidity of Sr(II) adsorption onto DtOct/SiO₂-P was determined to be 2.0M HNO₃. The bleeding behavior of DtOct/SiO₂-P in aqueous phase was evaluated using total organic carbon (TOC) analysis. The content of TOC increased with increasing the HNO₃ concentration and contact time. It resulted from the decrease in the stability of the associated species, C₈H₁₇-OH• DtBuCH18C6 formed through hydrogen binding, because of high temperature.     

Facile and Controllable Synthesis of Monodisperse CaF2 and CaF2:Ce3+/Tb3+ Hollow Spheres as Efficient Luminescent Materials and Smart Drug Carriers

Highly uniform and well‐dispersed CaF₂ hollow spheres with tunable particle size (300–930 nm) have been synthesized by a facile hydrothermal process. Their shells are composed of numerous nanocrystals (about 40 nm in diameter). The morphology and size of the CaF₂ products are strongly dependent on experimental parameters such as reaction time, pH value, and organic additives. The size of the CaF₂ hollow spheres can be controlled from 300 to 930 nm by adjusting the pH value. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurements suggest that mesopores (av 24.6 nm) exist in these hollow spheres. In addition, Ce³⁺/Tb³⁺‐codoped CaF₂ hollow spheres can be prepared similarly, and show efficient energy transfer from Ce³⁺ to Tb³⁺ and strong green photoluminescence of Tb³⁺ (541 nm, ⁵D₄→⁷F₅ transition of Tb³⁺, the highest quantum efficiency reaches 77 %). The monodisperse CaF₂:Ce³⁺/Tb³⁺ hollow spheres also have desirable properties as drug carriers. Ibuprofen‐loaded CaF₂:Ce³⁺/Tb³⁺ samples still show green luminescence of Tb³⁺ under UV irradiation, and the emission intensity of Tb³⁺ in the drug‐carrier system varies with the released amount of ibuprofen, so that drug release can be easily tracked and monitored by means of the change in luminescence intensity. The formation mechanism and luminescent and drug‐release properties were studied in detail.     

Synthesis and in vitro antibacterial activities of 7-(4-alkoxyimino-3-hydroxypiperidin- l-yl)quinolone derivatives

A series of novel 7-(4-alkoxyimino-3-hydroxypiperidin-l-yl)quinolone derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for in vitro antibacterial activities. Compounds 8f, 8g, 8i and 8j with the potencies similar to or better than those of levofloxacin and IMB against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, worth further investigation.     

短链氯化石蜡分析方法

短链氯化石蜡作为一类新型持久性有机污染物已经引起全球的关注,我国是氯化石蜡第一大生产国,但对其研究还处于起步阶段。氯化石蜡组成特别复杂,其定量分析面临巨大的挑战,已成为对氯化石蜡环境存在现状、降解途径以及毒性等进一步研究的瓶颈问题。本文从环境样品的制备、净化、仪器分析以及质量保证4个方面对国际上短链氯化石蜡分析方法的研究进行了评述,针对短链氯化石蜡的分析方法同样适用于中链氯化石蜡。