Electrochemical,Spectroelectrochemical, and Electrocatalytic Dioxygen Reducing Properties of Peripheral Tetra-2,6-dimethoxyphenoxy Substituted Phthalocyanines

By using of peripherally tetrakis-2,6-dimethoxyphenoxy substituted Co(II), Fe(III), and Mn(III) phthalocyanines was observed to extend the redox richness of the phthalocyanine ring with the addition of reversible metal-based electron transfer couples to the phthalocyanine ring-based electron transfer processes in solution. The emergence of highly steady anionic and cationic redox species with clear spectral and colour changes both in solution and in the film during in situ spectroelectrochemical and in situ electrocolorimetric measurements pointed out their applicability as electrochromic materials. Furthermore, the phthalocyanine complexes demonstrated strong interaction with dioxygen and thus, high electrocatalytic enforcement for its reduction.     

A new decavanadate polyoxovanadate nanocluster: synthesis,characterization and rapid adsorption of methylene blue

A new decavanadate polyoxovanadate nanocluster, [2-ampH]₆[V₁₀O₂₈]?2H₂O (1), was synthesized through reaction between ammonium vanadate and 2-aminopyridine at pH = 2. Nanocluster 1 was characterized by IR, elemental analysis, and X-ray crystallography. 1 was found to adsorb and desorb dyes and may have widespread application in wastewater treatment. The utility of 1 for adsorption of methylene blue was studied. The adsorbed dyes can be easily desorbed, and 1 has full efficiency after five cycles.     

A Robust Analytical Approach for the Identification of Specific Protein Carbonylation Sites: Metal-Catalyzed Oxidations of Human Serum Albumin

The formation of protein carbonyls in the metal-catalyzed oxidation of human serum albumin (HSA) is characterized using a new analytical approach that involves tagging the modification site with multiple hydrazide reagents. Protein carbonyl formation at lysine and arginine residues was catalyzed with copper and iron ions, and the resulting oxidation patterns in HSA are contrasted. A total of 18 modification sites were identified with iron-ion catalysis and 14 with copper-ion catalysis. However, with the more stringent requirement of identification with at least two tagging reagents, the number of validated modification sites drops to 10 for iron and nine for copper. Of the 14 total validated sites, there were only five in common for the two metal ions. The results illustrate the value of using multiple tagging agents and highlight the selective and specific nature of metal-catalyzed protein oxidations.     

PAN-based activated carbon nanofiber/metal oxide composites for CO2 and CH4 adsorption: influence of metal oxide

In the present study, we successfully prepared two different electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based-activated carbon nanofiber (ACNF) composites by incorporation of well-distributed Fe₂O₃ and Co₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs). The influence of metal oxide on the structural, morphological, and textural properties of final composites was thoroughly investigated. The results showed that the morphological and textural properties could be easily tuned by changing the metal oxide NPs. Even though, the ACNF composites were not chemically activated by any activation agent, they presented relatively high surface areas (S_BET) calculated by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) equation as 212.21 and 185.12 m²/g for ACNF/Fe₂O₃ and ACNF/Co₃O₄ composites, respectively. Furthermore, the ACNF composites were utilized as candidate adsorbents for CO₂ and CH₄ adsorption. The ACNF/Fe₂O₃ and ACNF/Co₃O₄ composites resulted the highest CO₂ adsorption capacities of 1.502 and 2.166 mmol/g at 0 °C, respectively, whereas the highest CH₄ adsorption capacities were obtained to be 0.516 and 0.661 mmol/g at 0 °C by ACNF/Fe₂O₃ and ACNF/Co₃O₄ composites, respectively. The isosteric heats calculated lower than 80 kJ/mol showed that the adsorption processes of CO₂ and CH₄ were mainly dominated by physical adsorption for both ACNF composites. Our findings indicated that ACNF-metal oxide composites are useful materials for designing of CO₂ and CH₄ adsorption systems.     

Global existence and boundedness for a class of second-order nonlinear differential equations

In this paper we obtain new conditions for the global existence and boundedness of solutions for nonlinear second-order equations of the form ${\left(r\left(t\right){\left|u^{\prime }\right|}^{p?2}{u}^{\prime }\right)}^{\prime }+g(t,u,u^{\prime })u^{\prime }+a\left(t\right)f\left(u\right)=e\left(t\right)\text{,}$ where $p>1$ is a real constant. The results are applicable to well-known Emden–Fowler and Lienard type equations. An illustrative example is also provided.     

On asymptotic equivalence of linear and quasilinear difference equations

The asymptotic equivalence of systems of difference equations of linear and quasilinear type is investigated. The first result on the asymptotic equivalence of linear systems is a discrete analog of an improved version of the Levinson's well-known theorem on asymptotic equivalence of linear differential equations, while the second one providing conditions for asymptotic equivalence of linear and quasilinear systems is related to that of Yakubovich in differential equations case.     

On the Diophantine equation x 2 − kxy + y 2 − 2 n = 0

In this study, we determine when the Diophantine equation x ²?kxy+y ²?2 ⁿ = 0 has an infinite number of positive integer solutions x and y for 0 ? n ? 10. Moreover, we give all positive integer solutions of the same equation for 0 ? n ? 10 in terms of generalized Fibonacci sequence. Lastly, we formulate a conjecture related to the Diophantine equation x ² ? kxy + y ² ? 2 ⁿ = 0.     

Oscillation of even order nonlinear delay dynamic equations on time scales

One of the important methods for studying the oscillation of higher order differential equations is to make a comparison with second order differential equations. The method involves using Taylor’s Formula. In this paper we show how such a method can be used for a class of even order delay dynamic equations on time scales via comparison with second order dynamic inequalities. In particular, it is shown that nonexistence of an eventually positive solution of a certain second order delay dynamic inequality is sufficient for oscillation of even order dynamic equations on time scales. The arguments are based on Taylor monomials on time scales.     

Novel dinuclear and polynuclear copper(II)-pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxylate supramolecular complexes with 1,3-propanediamine, N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine and 2,2′-bipyridine

Three novel Cu(II)-pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxylate complexes with 1,3-propanediamine (pen), [Cu₂(μ-pzdc)₂(pen)₂] · 2H₂O (1), N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine (tmen), {[Cu(μ-pzdc)(tmen)] · H₂O}_n(2), and 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy), {[Cu(μ-pzdc)(bipy)]·H₂O}_n(3) have been synthesized and characterized by means of elemental and thermal analyses, magnetic susceptibilities, IR and UV/vis spectroscopic studies. The molecular structures of dinuclear (1) and polynuclear (2 and 3) complexes have been determined by the single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. The pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxylate acts as a bridging ligand through oxygen atom of carboxylate group and N atom of pyrazine ring and one oxygen atom of neighboring carboxylate. It links the Cu(II) ions to generate a distorted square pyramidal geometry forming a one-dimensional (1D) chain. Adjacent chains of 1 and 2 are then mutually linked via hydrogen bonding interactions, which are further assembled to form a two and three-dimensional network, respectively. The chains of complex 3 are further constructed to form three-dimensional framework by hydrogen bonding, C–H?π and ring?ring stacking interactions. In the complexes, Cu(II) ions have distorted square pyramidal geometry. Thermal analyses properties and thermal decomposition mechanism of complexes have been investigated by using thermal analyses techniques (TG, DTG and DTA).     

Pyridine-2,5-dicarboxylic acid complexes of nickel(II) with 2,2′-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline coligands; syntheses,crystal structures,spectroscopic and thermal studies

Two pyridine-2,5-dicarboxylic acid (pydcH₂) complexes of nickel(II) with 2,2′-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline were synthesized and characterized by elemental, spectroscopic, thermal analysis, magnetic measurements and single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. Both [Ni(pydc)(bipy)₂]·7H₂O and [Ni(pydc)(phen)₂]·6.5H₂O crystallize in the monoclinic system and P2₁/c space group. The Ni(II) ions are coordinated by two bidentate bipy or phen ligands and one pydc dianion in a distorted octahedral geometry. The pydc ligand is coordinated through the pyridine nitrogen atom and oxygen atom of carboxyl group as a bidentate ligand. Both carboxylate groups of pydc are deprotonated but only the 2-carboxylate is coordinated to the metal. Thermal decompositions of the complexes have been studied over the range 30–600 °C on heating in a static air atmosphere.