Highly confined hybrid spoof surface plasmons in ultrathin metal-dielectric heterostructures

Highly confined "spoof" surface plasmons (SSPs) are theoretically predicted to exist in a perforated metal film coated with a thin dielectric layer. Strong modes confinement results from the additional waveguiding by the layer. Spectral characteristics, field distribution, and lifetime of these SSPs are tunable by the holes' size and shape. SSPs exist both above and below the light line, offering two classes of applications: "perfect" far-field absorption and efficient emission into guided modes. It is experimentally shown that these plasmonlike modes can turn thin, weakly absorbing semiconductor films into perfect absorbers.     

温和条件下金属双氮杂环卡宾配合物催化CO2直接转化为炔酸的高效均相羧化反应

近年来,催化CO2合成精细化学品的研究备受关注。本研究在温和条件下利用金属双氮杂环卡宾催化剂实现CO2与末端炔烃的直接羧化反应,并提出合理的催化机理。首先,合成制备了铜基、银基两种金属双氮杂环卡宾催化剂,实验证明银双氮杂环卡宾配合物具有较好催化活性。通过改变环境条件和底物种类,对反应条件及催化剂底物适应性进行了探究,利用核磁共振谱仪表征产物分子结构并计算直接羧化反应的催化产率。结果表明,适宜催化条件为:1.2eq Cs2CO3作为添加剂、1大气压、室温、无水溶剂和1(mmol)%催化剂用量。银基金属催化剂活性较铜基催化剂高并具有广泛的底物适应性,对苯乙炔的催化产率高达93%;对乙炔气体同样具有良好的催化活性。此类催化剂具有优良的催化活性,能催化合成丙炔酸等重要医药中间体,在工业应用上具有极大潜力和广阔前景。     

Zeolite nanoparticles (H-ZSM5) as a highly efficient,green, and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for selective oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides under mild conditions

H-ZSM5 is applied as an efficient, highly reusable, and heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides using 30% H₂O₂ under solvent-free conditions at room temperature. A variety of aromatic and aliphatic sulfides with different functional groups were successfully oxidized with good to excellent yields in short reaction times. The catalyst can be easily recovered by simple filtration and recycled for several consecutive runs without any significant loss of its catalytic activity.     

Photochromism of dihydroindolizines. Part XVIII: palladium-catalyzed Negishi coupling for the synthesis of photochromic dihydro 5-azaindolizine-linker-conjugates with a terminal ethylene anchoring group

Eight new photochromic dihydro 5-azaindolizine-linker-conjugates with a terminal ethylene anchoring group have been synthesized via palladium-catalyzed Negishi coupling. Polychromatic light irradiation of the photochromic dihydro 5-azaindolizines (DHAIs) led to ring-opened colored betaines which underwent reversible thermal 1,5-electrocyclization into their corresponding DHAIs in the second domain. The noteworthy multiaddressable photochromic properties are useful for a plethora of new applications for these materials such as anchoring the ethylene group to metal-oxide nanoparticles.     

Oxandrastins: Antibacterial Meroterpenes from an Australian Mud Dauber Wasp Nest-Associated Fungus,Penicillium sp. CMB-MD14

The ethyl acetate extract of an ISP-2 agar cultivation of the wasp nest-associated fungus Penicillium sp. CMB-MD14 exhibited promising antibacterial activity against vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), with a bioassay guided chemical investigation yielding the new meroterpene, oxandrastin A (1), the first andrastin-like metabolite with an extra oxygenation at C-2. A culture media optimisation strategy informed a scaled-up rice cultivation that yielded 1, together with three new oxandrastins B–D (2–4), two known andrastins C (5) and F (6), and a new meroterpene of the austalide family, isoaustalide F (7). Structures of 1–7 were assigned based on detailed spectroscopic analysis and chemical interconversion. A GNPS molecular networking analysis of the rice cultivation extract detected the known austalides B (8), H (9), and H acid (10), tentatively identified based on molecular formulae and co-clustering with 7. That the anti-VRE properties of the CMB-MD14 extract were exclusively attributed to 1 (IC₅₀ 6.0 µM, MIC₉₉ 13.9 µM), highlights the importance of the 2-OAc and 3-OAc moieties to the oxandrastin anti-VRE pharmacophore.     

A PVC-based 1,8-diaminonaphthalen electrode for selective determination of vanadyl ion

A PVC membrane vanadyl (VO²⁺) ion-selective electrode was constructed using 1,8-diaminonaphthalen (DAN) as a neutral carrier. The electrode shows good Nernstian response for VO²⁺ ions over a wide concentration range (1.0×10⁻¹-1.0×10⁻⁵ M). The optimum composition of the membrane was 55 wt.% poly(vinylchloride), 35 wt.% 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE), 5 wt.% ionophore, and 5 wt.% potassium tetrakis(p-chlorophenyl)borate (KTpClPB). It has relatively fast response time and can be used at least for 5 weeks without any considerable divergence in potentials. The proposed electrode revealed relatively good selectivity for VO²⁺ over wide variety of other metal ions. The electrode was used for the potentiometric titration of VO²⁺ ions with EDTA.     

A new dodecylsulfate-selective supported liquid membrane electrode based on its N-cetylpyridinium ion-pair

A supported liquid and a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)-based membrane selective for dodecylsulfate (DS⁻) ion are described. The active element is a membrane containing a dissolved ion association complex of DS⁻ with cetylpyridinium (CP⁺) cation. The supported liquid membrane electrode (acetophenone as solvent) showed a Nernstian response towards the DS⁻ anion over the concentration range of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) from 8.3×10⁻³ to 1.0×10⁻⁶ mol dm⁻³ at 25 °C. The proposed electrode also showed a super-Nernstian potential response (108±2 mV decade⁻¹) at low concentrations (1.0×10⁻⁹ to 1.0×10⁻⁶ mol dm⁻³). Moreover, this electrode showed good selectivity and precision (R.S.D.?2.0%), and was usable within the pH range 4.0-6.8. The proposed electrode revealed a lower limit of detection of 6.3×10⁻⁷ mol dm⁻³ and improved selectivity in comparison with the some previously reported DS⁻ ion selective electrodes. The isothermal temperature coefficient of this electrode amounted to −0.001 V °C⁻¹. The liquid membrane electrode may find application in the direct determination of SDS by the standard addition method at pH 5.0, and in the physicochemical studies of surfactant solutions.     

Synthesis of colloidal nanoscaled copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) particles for photovoltaic applications

In this work, Cu(In,Ga)Se(2) (CIGS) nanoparticles were synthesized using a wet chemical method. The method is based on a non-vacuum thermal process that does not use selenization. The effects of temperature, source materials, and growth conditions on the phase and particle size were investigated. X-ray diffraction results confirm the formation of a tetragonal CIGS structure as the main phase with the purity more than 99% obtained by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The morphology and size of the samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Using these methods, 20-80nm particles were obtained. Through measurements of the absorption spectra of CIGS nanoparticles, the band gap of the synthesized material was determined to be about 1.44eV, which corresponds to an acceptable wavelength region for absorber layers in solar cells.