Single source molecular precursor routes to lead chalcogenides

The use of single-source molecular precursors for lead chalcogenide thin films by CVD or as nanoparticles by solution methods is reviewed. The potential applications of these materials in solar energy are discussed along with the relative advantages of the various methods.     

Influence of Metal Nanoparticles on the Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Glucose by Poly(NiIIteta) Modified Electrodes

Conductive polymeric [Ni^II(teta)]²⁺ (teta=C‐meso‐5,5,7,12,12,14‐hexamethyl‐1,4,8,11‐tetra‐azacyclotetradecane) films (poly(Ni)) have been deposited on the surface of glassy carbon (GC), Nafion (Nf) modified GC (GC/Nf) and Nf stabilized Ag and Au nanoparticles (NPs) modified GC (GC/Ag‐Nf and GC/Au‐Nf) electrodes. The cyclic voltammogram of the resulting electrodes, show a well defined redox peak due to oxidation and reduction of poly(Ni) system in 0.1 M NaOH. They show electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of glucose. AFM studies reveal the formation of poly(Ni) film on the modified electrodes. Presence of metal NPs increases electron transfer rate and electrocatalytic oxidation current by improving the communication within the Nf and poly(Ni) films. In the presence of metal NPs, 4 fold increase in current for glucose oxidation was observed.     

Strategies for protecting supply chain networks against facility and transportation disruptions: an improved Benders decomposition approach

Disruptions rarely occur in supply chains, but their negative financial and technical impacts make the recovery process very slow. In this paper, we propose a capacitated supply chain network design (SCND) model under random disruptions both in facility and transportation, which seeks to determine the optimal location and types of distribution centers (DC) and also the best plan to assign customers to each opened DC. Unlike other studies in the extent literature, we use new concepts of reliability to model the strategic behavior of DCs and customers at the network: (1) Failure of DCs might be partial, i.e. a disrupted DC might still be able to serve with a portion of its initial capacity (2) The lost capacity of a disrupted DC shall be provided from a non-disrupted one and (3) The lost capacity fraction of a disrupted DC depends on its initial investment amount in the design phase. In order to solve the proposed model optimally, a modified version of Benders’ Decomposition (BD) is applied. This modification tackles the difficulties of the BD’s master problem (MP), which ultimately improves the solution time of BD significantly. The classical BD approach results in low density cuts in some cases, Covering Cut Bundle (CCB) generation addresses this issue by generating a bundle of cuts instead of a single cut, which could cover more decision variables of the MP. Our inspiration to improve the CCB generation led to a new method, namely Maximum Density Cut (MDC) generation. MDC is based on the observation that in some cases CCB generation is cumbersome to solve in order to cover all decision variables of the MP rather than to cover part of them. Thus the MDC method generates a cut to cover the remaining decision variables which are not covered by CCB. Numerical experiments demonstrate the practicability of the proposed model to be promising in the SCND area, also the modified BD approach decreases the number of BD iterations and improves the CPU times, significantly.     

Preparation of single‐walled carbon nanotubes‐induced poly(p‐oxybenzoyl) crystals

Crystallization of oligomers was applied for the preparation of single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)/poly(p‐oxybenzoyl) (POB) crystals using SWNTs as a nucleating agent. Polymerization conditions were investigated to induce the crystallization of POB oligomers through SWNTs. SWNTs/POB plate‐like or lozenge‐shaped crystals were successfully prepared by direct polymerization of p‐hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA) in a mixed solvent of DMF/Py with TsCl in the presence of functionalized SWNTs. The size of the plate‐like crystals were ～200 nm to 3 μm. The crystals consisted of some layers, ～3 nm thick plates. Model reactions showed that esterification reactions proceed between functionalized SWNTs and HBA monomers in the polymerization system. The obtained crystals exhibited unique morphology and high crystallinity, producing a novel SWNT/POB hybrid. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1265–1277, 2008     

Entropy-Based Greedy Algorithm for Decision Trees Using Hypotheses

In this paper, we consider decision trees that use both conventional queries based on one attribute each and queries based on hypotheses of values of all attributes. Such decision trees are similar to those studied in exact learning, where membership and equivalence queries are allowed. We present greedy algorithm based on entropy for the construction of the above decision trees and discuss the results of computer experiments on various data sets and randomly generated Boolean functions.     

Spectrophotometric determination of copper by flow injection analysis with an on-line reduction column

A silver reductor minicolumn is used ina flow-injection system for reduction of copper(II) to copper(I), which is detected spectrophotometrically using bathocuproine disulphonic acid. The reductor functions very well at flow rates up to 4 ml min^?1; this allows sample injection ar rates up to 120 h^?1. Linear calibration is achieved for 5 × 10^?7– 1 × 10^?4 M copper. The detection limit is 3.4 ng and the midrange precision is 1%.     

Synthesis of single-crystalline CoP nanowires by a one-pot metal-organic route

A simple one-pot method has been used to prepare uniform single-crystalline CoP nanowires with a high aspect ratio by the thermal-decomposition reaction of cobalt(II) acetylacetone with long-chain alkylphosphonic acid in the presence of hexadecylamine (HDA) and trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) at high temperature. The crystal morphology of the resulting nanowires can be influenced by the ratio of HDA and TOPO.     

Magnesium-tetrazaporphyrin incorporated PVC matrix as a new material for fabrication of Mg(2+) selective potentiometric sensor

Membrane incorporating [Mg{(TAP)(SBn)₈}] complex, (I), as ionophore with composition I:NaTPB:DOP:PVC in the ratio 10:2:133:200 (w/w) exhibits the best result for potentiometric sensing of Mg²⁺ ions. This gives linear potential response in the concentration range of 9.4×10⁻⁶ to 1.0×10⁻¹ M with a slope of 29.2±0.4 mV per decade of activity of Mg²⁺. Standard deviation in observed values of potentials in this concentration range, from the least square fit line, found to be 2.91 mV with 90% confidence limit lying within ±0.4 mV per decade of activity. The electrode works satisfactorily in the pH range 3.5-7.8 and shows a fast response time of 13±2 s. It shows good selectivity for Mg²⁺ over other mono-, bi- and tri-valent cations. Only K⁺ and Zn²⁺ cause slight interference if present at concentrations ≥1.0×10⁻⁵ M. The electrode is durable and can be used over a period of 5 months with good reproducibility (∼1% error). It has been successfully used as an indicator electrode in potentiometric titration of Mg²⁺ against EDTA as well as for the determination of Mg²⁺ in simulated mixtures.