Microstructure and optical properties of nanocrystalline ZnO and ZnO:(Li or Al) thin films

Zinc oxide thin films (ZnO, ZnO:Li, ZnO:Al) were deposited on glass substrates by a sol-gel technique. Zinc acetate, lithium acetate, and aluminum chloride were used as metal ion sources in the precursor solutions. XRD analysis revealed that Li doped and undoped ZnO films formed single phase zincite structure in contrast to Al:ZnO films which did not fully crystallize at the annealing temperature of 550 °C. Crystallized films had a grain size under 50 nm and showed c-axis grain orientation. All films had a very smooth surface with RMS surface roughness values between 0.23 and 0.35 nm. Surface roughness and optical band tail values increased by Al doping. Compared to undoped ZnO films, Li doping slightly increased the optical band gap of the films.     

Boundary-layer flow about a vertical spinning cone under mixed thermal boundary conditions and a magnetic field

A similarity analysis was performed to investigate the laminar boundary-layer flow in the presence of a transverse magnetic field over a down-pointing and spinning cone with mixed thermal boundary conditions. Boundary layer velocity and temperature profiles were determined numerically for various values of the magnetic and spin parameters and the Prandtl number. The spin of the cone compresses the velocity profiles towards the surface by inducing an upward flow and decreases the surface temperature. The magnetic field suppresses the velocity profiles and increases the surface temperature. A transformation relating the similarity solutions of the boundary-layer velocity and temperature profiles associated with different values of the mixed thermal boundary condition parameter was obtained.     

Structural studies and cytotoxic activity of a new dinuclear coordination compound of palladium(II)–2,2′:6′,2″‐terpyridine with rigid dianionic 1,2,4‐triazole‐3‐sulfonate linker

A new dinuclear coordination compound of palladium(II), [Pd₂(terpy)₂(μ‐tas‐N¹,N⁴)]SO₄?11H₂O ( 1 ), was synthesized by tethering a doubly deprotonated 1,2,4‐triazole‐3‐sulfonate (tas) linker generated in situ via oxidation of 1,2,4‐triazole‐3‐thione (tat) under the synthetic conditions. X‐ray diffraction analysis reveals that tat molecules adopt the thione form in the solid state, and are combined in infinite chains by symmetrically related classical intermolecular hydrogen bonds N1─H1???S1, N3─H3???N2 to give rise to R₂²(7) pattern in one‐dimensional chains along the b‐axis propagating along the a‐axis. Further short contacts through lone pairs of N2???S1 on the rings between the adjacent chains along the a‐axis lead to a two‐dimensional network structure. Compound 1 was characterized using infrared, ¹H NMR and UV–visible spectroscopies, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and X‐ray crystallography. The crystal structure determination of 1 reveals that the Pd(II) ions are coordinated with four nitrogen atoms: three from terpy and one from tas acting as an end‐to‐end (μ‐1,4) bridging ligand. The Pd(II) ions in 1 adopt a distorted square planar geometry. The anti‐growth effect of 1 was tested on colorectal cancer (HCT‐15), non‐small‐cell lung cancer (A549), prostate cancer (PC‐3) and cervical cancer (HeLa) cell lines using sulforhodamine B viability assay. The cytotoxic effect was further confirmed using adenosine triphosphate viability assay. Compound 1 shows a promising cytotoxic activity in the diverse cancer cell models in vitro (p <0.0001).     

Vibration of a variable cross-section beam

Vibration of an isotropic beam which has a variable cross-section is investigated. Governing equation is reduced to an ordinary differential equation in spatial coordinate for a family of cross-section geometries with exponentially varying width. Analytical solutions of the vibration of the beam are obtained for three different types of boundary conditions associated with simply supported, clamped and free ends. Natural frequencies and mode shapes are determined for each set of boundary conditions. Results show that the non-uniformity in the cross-section influences the natural frequencies and the mode shapes. Amplitude of vibrations is increased for widening beams while it is decreased for narrowing beams.     

Investigation of the spontaneous emission rate of perylene dye molecules encapsulated into three-dimensional nanofibers via FLIM method

The decay dynamics of perylene dye molecules encapsulated in polymer nanofibers produced by electrospinning of polymethyl methacrylate are investigated using a confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy technique. Time-resolved experiments show that the fluorescence lifetime of perylene dye molecules is enhanced when the dye molecules are encapsulated in a three-dimensional photonic environment. It is hard to produce a sustainable host with exactly the same dimensions all the time during fabrication to accommodate dye molecules for enhancement of spontaneous emission rate. The electrospinning method allows us to have a control over fiber diameter. It is observed that the wavelength of monomer excitation of perylene dye molecules is too short to cause enhancement within nanofiber photonic environment of 330 nm diameters. However, when these nanofibers are doped with more concentrated perylene, in addition to monomer excitation, an excimer excitation is generated. This causes observation of the Purcell effect in the three-dimensional nanocylindrical photonic fiber geometry.     

Ionic Liquid Modified Single‐use Electrode Developed for Voltammetric Detection of miRNA‐34a and its Application to Real Samples

The ionic liquid (IL) modified chemically activated (CA) pencil graphite electrodes (PGEs) were developed for label‐free voltammetric detection of miRNA‐34a, and implemented to the real samples. Firstly, the electrochemical characterization of unmodified PGE, CA‐PGE, IL‐PGE and IL‐CA‐PGE was performed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) as well as their DNA binding capacity was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. The microscopic characterization of the surface of each electrodes was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique was used for measuring the oxidation signal of guanine in order to perform a label‐free voltammetric monitoring of a full‐match hybridization specific to miRNA‐34a. The selectivity of biosensor was tested against to miRNA‐155, miRNA‐660 as well as to the mismatch sequence of miRNA‐34a. The further selectivity of this proposed biosensor was studied in the mixture of samples containing miRNA‐34a with other miRNAs (1 : 1). The voltammetric detection of miRNA‐34a was also explored in the artificial serum medium as fetal bovine serum (FBS) and also in total RNA samples isolated from HUH‐7 human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line.     

Application of carbon arc‐generated Mo‐ and W‐based catalyst systems to the ROMP of norbornene

This study focuses on the application of the carbon arc‐generated molybdenum‐ and tungsten‐based catalyst systems, MoCl₅? C and WCl₆? C, to effect ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of bicyclo[2.2.1]hept‐2‐ene (norbornene). The results are compared with those previously obtained by the electrochemically generated MoCl₅? ē? Al? CH₂Cl₂ and WCl₆? ē? Al? CH₂Cl₂ systems. The polymer products are characterized using ¹H and ¹³C NMR, gel permeation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry and thermo gravimetric analysis. According to NMR spectra analyses, the molybdenum‐based catalyst system produced polynorbornene with ca 48% cis structure whereas tungsten system produced ca 56% cis structure polynorbornene and in both cases the polynorbornene had a blocky distribution. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The synthesis and characterization of a new (E,E)-dioxime containing 20-membered tetraazadioxa macrocyclic moieties and its mononuclear complexes

A new (E,E)-dioxime, (2Z,3Z)-9,20-bis[(4-methylphenyl)sulfonyl]-1,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,14,15,17, 18,19,20,21,22-hexadecahydro-13,16-ethano[1,4,7,11,14,18]dioxatetraazacycloicosino[2,3-g] quinoxaline-2,3-dione dioxime (6) (H₂L) has been synthesized by reacting cyanogen-di-N-oxide (5) with 4,15-bis[(4-methylphenyl)sulfonyl]-2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,17-tetradecahydro-8,11-ethano-1,18,4,8,11,15-benzodioxatetraazacycloicosine-20,21-diamine (4). Mononuclear complexes (7) and (8) of this ligand have been synthesized by reacting the vic-dioxime (H₂L) with NiCl₂.6H₂O and CoCl₂.6H₂O respectively. The BF₂⁺ capped Ni(II) and Co(III) complexes (9) and (10) of the dioxime have been synthesized from (7) and (8), respectively. The new compounds were characterized by a combination of elemental analysis, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR, IR. and MS. spectral data.     

Reversibly reducible cis-dichloroplatinum(II) and cis-dichloropalladium(II) complexes of bis(1-methylimidazol-2-yl)glyoxal

Complexes cis-MCl2(big), big=bis(1-methylimidazol-2-yl)glyoxal, M=Pt, Pd, were prepared and characterized through electrochemistry, spectroscopy, and for M=Pt, by X-ray structure analysis. The seven-membered chelate ring formed through N,N' coordination of the ligand big shows a boat conformation in agreement with density functional theory (DFT) calculation results. No significant intermolecular interactions were observed for the platinum compound. Both the PdII and PtII complexes undergo reversible one-electron reduction in CH2Cl2/ 0.1 M Bu4NPF6; the reduced palladium compound disintegrates above -30 degrees C. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), UV-vis, and IR spectroelectrochemistry studies were employed to study the monoanions. The anion radical complex [cis-PtCl2(big)]*- exhibits a well-resolved EPR spectrum with small but well-detectable g anisotropy and an isotropic 195Pt hyperfine coupling of 12.2 G. DFT calculations confirm the spin concentration in the alpha-semidione part of the radical complex with small delocalization to the bis(imidazolyl)metal section. The results show that EPR and electroactive moieties can be linked to the cis-dichloroplatinum(II) group via imidazole coordination.