Effect of electron correlation on superconducting pairing symmetry

The role of electron correlation on different pairing symmetries are discussed in details where the electron correlation has been treated within the slave boson formalism. It is shown that for a pure s or pure d wave pairing symmetry, the electronic correlation suppresses the s wave gap magnitude (as well as the ) at a faster rate than that for the d wave gap. On the other hand, a complex order parameter of the form () shows anomalous temperature dependence. For example, if the temperature () at which the d wave component of the complex order parameter vanishes happens to be larger than that for the s wave component (), then the growth of the d wave component is arrested with the onset of the s wave component of the order parameter. In this mixed phase however, we find that the suppression in different components of the gap as well as the corresponding due to coulomb correlation are very sensitive to the relative pairing strengths of s and d channels as well as the underlying lattice. Interestingly enough, in such a scenario (for a case of )the gap magnitude of the d wave component increases with electron correlation but not for certain values of electron correlation. However, this never happens in case of the s wave component. We also calculate the temperature dependence of the superconducting gap along both the high symmetry directions ( and ) in a mixed symmetry pairing state and the thermal variation of the gap anisotropy [0pt][0pt] with electron correlation. The results are discussed with reference to experimental observations. Received: 26 August 1997 / Revised: 31 December 1997 / Accepted: 28 January 1998     

Characteristics of the energy bands and the spectroscopic parameters of Pr3+ ions in PrCl3 mixed methanol, iso-propanol and butanol solutions

An investigation on the absorption spectra of the praseodymium chloride (PrCl(3)) in methanol, iso-propanol and butanol is carried out between 190 nm and 1100 nm. We have observed and assigned six energy bands of the 4f(2) electronic configuration of the Pr(3+) ion in the visible to near-infra-red and one due to 4f5d configuration in the ultraviolet region. The 4f5d band has been detected properly for low concentration of PrCl(3). We have also constructed a free-ion Hamiltonian and calculated the energy levels of the 4f(2) configuration theoretically. Hence, the best fit free-ion parameters are deduced.     

A bond by any other name

A hydrogen bond is an interaction wherein a hydrogen atom is attracted to two atoms, rather than just one, and acts like a bridge between them. The strength of this attraction increases with the increasing electronegativity of either of the atoms, and in the classical view, all hydrogen bonds are highly electrostatic and sometimes even partly covalent. Gradually, the concept of a hydrogen bond has become more relaxed to include weaker and more dispersive interactions, provided some electrostatic character remains. A great variety of very strong, strong, moderately strong, weak, and very weak hydrogen bonds are observed in practice. Weak hydrogen bonds are now invoked in several matters in structural chemistry and biology. While strong hydrogen bonds are easily covered by all existing definitions of the phenomenon, the weaker ones may pose a challenge with regard to nomenclature and definitions. Recently, a recommendation has been made to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) suggesting an updated definition of the term hydrogen bond. This definition will be discussed in greater detail.     

Reservoir-on-a-chip (ROC): a new paradigm in reservoir engineering

In this study, we design a microfluidic chip, which represents the pore structure of a naturally occurring oil-bearing reservoir rock. The pore-network has been etched in a silicon substrate and bonded with a glass covering layer to make a complete microfluidic chip, which is termed as 'Reservoir-on-a-chip' (ROC). Here we report, for the first time, the ability to perform traditional waterflooding experiments in a ROC. Oil is kept as the resident phase in the ROC, and waterflooding is performed to displace the oil phase from the network. The flow visualization provides specific information about the presence of the trapped oil phase and the movement of the oil/water interface/meniscus in the network. The recovery curve is extracted based on the measured volume of oil at the outlet of the ROC. We also provide the first indication that this oil-recovery trend realized at chip-level can be correlated to the flooding experiments related to actual reservoir cores. Hence, we have successfully demonstrated that the conceptualized 'Reservoir-on-a-Chip' has the features of a realistic pore-network and in principle is able to perform the necessary flooding experiments that are routinely done in reservoir engineering.     

One pot synthesis of amino acid derived chiral disubstituted morpholines and 1,4-oxazepanes via tandem aziridine/epoxide ring opening sequences

A new one-pot synthetic strategy is described for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure cis-3,5-disubstituted morpholines and 3,6-disubstituted 1,4-oxazepanes via tandem aziridine/epoxide ring opening sequences. This new strategy describes how epoxy alcohols could act as both a nucleophile and an electrophile in a tandem fashion and undergo intermolecular regioselective ring opening of chiral aziridines for the first time.     

1,2,3-triazole bound Au(I) (TA-Au) as chemoselective catalysts in promoting asymmetric synthesis of substituted allenes

The triazole-Au (TA-Au) complexes were identified as effective chemoselective catalysts in promoting propargyl ester/ether 3,3-rearrangements. The highly reactive allenes, which could not be isolated by simple cationic gold catalysts, were prepared in excellent yields (1% catalyst loading, >90% yields). Unlike other reported Au catalysts, the TA-Au provided effective chirality transfer without racemization over a long period of time, giving enantioenriched allenes with excellent stereoselectivity (1% catalyst loading, up to 99% ee).     

Membrane distillation as an online concentration technique: application to the determination of pharmaceutical residues in natural waters

Membrane distillation (MD) is presented for the first time as a real-time, online concentration technique, where the aqueous matrix is removed from the sample to enhance analyte enrichment. Therefore, MD is a universal method for a wide range of compounds and is unlike conventional membrane extractions that rely on the permeation of the solute into an extractant phase. The MD process showed excellent precision with relative standard deviation between 3% and 5%, linear calibration, and the detection limits for pharmaceutical compounds in the range of 0.01 to 20 mg L⁻¹ by HPLC-UV analysis. The temperature and flow rate of the feed solution were found to be important variables.     

Weak interactions modulating the dimensionality in supramolecular architectures in three new nickel(II)-hydrazone complexes, magnetostructural correlation, and catalytic potential for epoxidation of alkenes under phase transfer conditions

Three different ONO donor acetyl hydrazone Schiff bases have been synthesized from the condensation of acetic hydrazide with three different carbonyl compounds: salicylaldehyde (HL(1)), 2-hydroxyacetophenone (HL(2)), and 2, 3-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (HL(3)). These tridentate ligands are reacted with Ni(OOCCF(3))(2)·xH(2)O to yield three new Ni(II) complexes having distorted octahedral geometry at each Ni center: [Ni(L(1))(OOCCF(3))(CH(3)OH)](2) (1), [Ni(L(2))(OOCCF(3))(H(2)O)](2) (2), and [Ni(L(3))(L(3)H)](OOCCF(3))(H(2)O)(1.65)(CH(3)OH)(0.35) (3). The ligands and the complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis and IR and UV-vis spectroscopy, and the structures of the complexes have been established by single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) study. 1 and 2 are centrosymmetric dinuclear complexes and are structural isomers whereas 3 is a bis chelated cationic monomer coordinated by one neutral and one monoanionic ligand. O-H···O hydrogen bonds in 3 lead to the formation of a dimer. Slight steric and electronic modifications in the ligand backbone provoke differences in the supramolecular architectures of the complexes, leading to a variety of one, two, and three-dimensional hydrogen bonded networks in complexes 1-3 respectively. Variable temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal that moderate antiferromagnetic interactions operate between phenoxo bridged Ni(II) dimers in 1 and 2 whereas very weak antiferromagnetic exchange occurs through hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking interactions in 3. All complexes are proved to be efficient catalysts for the epoxidation of alkenes by NaOCl under phase transfer condition. The efficiency of alkene epoxidation is dramatically enhanced by lowering the pH, and the reactions are supposed to involve high valent Ni(III)-OCl or Ni(III)-O· intermediates. 3 is the best epoxidation catalyst among the three complexes with 99% conversion and very high turnover number (TON, 396).     

Current-induced decoherence in the multichannel Kondo problem

The properties of a local spin S=1/2 coupled to K independent wires is studied in the presence of bias voltages which drive the system out of thermal equilibrium. For K?1, a perturbative renormalization group approach is employed to construct the voltage-dependent scaling function for the conductance and the T matrix. In contrast to the single-channel case, the Kondo resonance is split even by bias voltages small compared to the Kondo temperature T(K), V?T(K). Besides the applied voltage V, the current-induced decoherence rate Γ?V controls the physical properties of the system. While the presence of V changes the structure of the renormalization group considerably, decoherence turns out to be very effective in prohibiting the flow towards new nonequilibrium fixed points even in variants of the Kondo model where currents are partially suppressed.