Effect of γ-ray irradiation on structure formation and optical constants of thermally evaporated rhodamine B thin films

Rhodamine B (RhB) is polycrystalline in powder form; it becomes nanocrystalline in thermally evaporated films. Gamma-rays induce nanocrystalline to amorphous transformation of RhB films. The optical constants are independent of film thickness. The type of electronic transition for as-deposited and gamma-ray irradiated RhB film is indirect allowed one. The onset and optical energy gap for as-deposited films are 2 and 3.45 eV, respectively. Exposure to different γ-ray doses did not change the transmittance and reflectance behavior of RhB films. γ-ray irradiation decreases onset and optical energy gap, refractive index and dispersion parameters and increase extinction coefficient, oscillator and electric dipole strengths.     

The role of the weakest-link mechanism in controlling the plasticity of micropillars

We present a computational study on the effects of sample size on the strength and plastic flow characteristics of micropillars under compression loading. We conduct three-dimensional simulations using the parametric dislocation dynamics coupled with the boundary element method. Two different loading techniques are performed. The plastic flow characteristics as well as the stress-strain behavior of simulated micropillars are shown to be in general agreement with experimental observations. The flow strength versus the diameter of the micropillar follows a power law with an exponent equal to -0.69. A stronger correlation is observed between the flow strength and the average length of activated dislocation sources. This relationship is again a power law, with an exponent -0.85. Simulation results with and without the activation of cross-slip are compared. Discontinuous hardening is observed when cross-slip is included. Experimentally observed size effects on plastic flow and work-hardening are consistent with a “weakest-link activation mechanism”.     

Local order in aqueous NaCl solutions and pure water: X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics simulations study

The microstructures of pure water and aqueous NaCl solutions over a wide range of salt concentrations (0-4 m) under ambient conditions are characterized by X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. MD simulations are performed with the rigid SPC water model as a solvent, while the ions are treated as charged Lennard-Jones particles. Simulated data show that the first peaks in the O...O and O...H pair correlation functions clearly decrease in height with increasing salt concentration. Simultaneously, the location of the second O...O peak, the signature of the so-called tetrahedral structure of water, gradually disappears. Consequently, the degree of hydrogen bonding in liquid water decreases when compared to pure fluid. MD results also show that the hydration number around the cation decreases as the salt concentration increases, which is most likely because some water molecules in the first hydration shell are occasionally substituted by chlorine. In addition, the fraction of contact ion pairs increases and that of solvent-separated ion pairs decreases. Experimental data are analyzed to deduce the structure factors and the pair correlation functions of each system. X-ray results clearly show a perturbation of the association structure of the solvent and highlight the appearance of new interactions between ions and water. A model of intermolecular arrangement via MD results is then proposed to describe the local order in each system, as deduced from X-ray scattering data.     

Antiparasitic activities of bimetallic N-heterocyclic carbene gold(I) complexes with ferrocene ligands: Relevance of chlorido and phosphino ligands

Gold(I) complexes carrying imidazole-2-ylidene ligands and ferrocene substituents were prepared. Their activities against protozoal Leishmania major and Toxoplasma gondii parasites were analyzed. Certain gold(I) complexes with chlorido and 1,1′-bis(triphenylphosphino)ferrocene ligands revealed promising antiparasitic effects. The new chlorido complexes 5b and 5c showed high activities against T. gondii tachyzoites and L. major promastigotes while the new ferrocene-bridged bis-gold(I) complexes 8a and 8b were particularly active against L. major amastigotes and considerably selective as to toxicity results from Vero cells and macrophages.     

Characterization of 2-Pisot Elements in the Field of Laurent Series over a Finite Field

Mathematical Notes - Let Fq be a finite field, and let Fq[X] be the ring of polynomials with coefficients in Fq. A 2-Pisot element is a pair of algebraic integers of formal Laurent series over...     

Some remarks on residually algebraic pairs of rings

In this paper we continue the study of residually algebraic pairs begun in [10], and we give other characterizations of such pairs. As a consequence, we study the interaction between residually algebraic pairs and pairs of rings when all intermediate domains satisfy some properties P {\cal P} .     

Canonical quantization of the electromagnetic field in the presence of non-dispersive bi-anisotropic inhomogeneous magnetodielectric media

By introducing a suitable Lagrangian, a canonical quantization of the electromagnetic field in the presence of a non-dispersive bi-anisotropic inhomogeneous magnetodielectric medium is investigated. A tensor projection operator is defined and the commutation relation between the vector potential and its canonically conjugate variable is written in terms of the projection operator. The quantization method is generalized in the presence of the atomic systems. The spontaneous emission of a two-level atom located in a non-dispersive anisotropic megnetodielectric medium is studied.     

Non-isothermal kinetics of CrO3 decomposition pathways in air

The course of the non-isothermal decomposition of CrO₃ in air was explored kinetically, by using a number of widely accepted methods. The credibility of the values obtained from a given kinetic parameter (the reaction order, the activation energy and the frequency factor) was justified on the grounds of (i) a multiple correlation coefficient, and (ii) the merits and demerits of the method adopted. The results obtained may help towards a characterization of the non-isothermal conditions under which the encountered decomposition events and products could be resolved. The study was motivated by the results of previous physicochemical characterization studies [1, 2], in which catalytically important intermediates CrO_x(3<x<6) were structurally identified.     

Hirshfeld Surface Analysis,Crystal Structure and Spectroscopic Studies of a New Cu(II) Halocuprate Salt with Protonated N-Amino-Ethyl-Piperazine

(C₆H₁₈N₃)₄[CuCl₅]₂[CuCl₄]₃·1.42H₂O is prepared and characterized by various physicochemical techniques. The single crystal X-ray diffraction structural analysis reveals that the title compound belongs to the orthorhombic system with the space group Cmca. Its unit cell dimensions are: a = 24.286(2) Å, b = 14.3082(14) Å, c = 16.6160(16) Å, Z = 4, V = 5773.8(10) ų. Its crystal structure is determined and refined down to R = 0.024 and wR(F²) = 0.059. The structure contains three crystallographically independent Cu²⁺ ions coordinated to chlorine anions in various fashions. Cu1 is five-coordinated in a distorted square pyramidal fashion, while Cu2 and Cu3 are four-coordinated in square planar and distorted tetrahedral fashions, respectively. The entities are interconnected by means of the hydrogen bonding [O(W)–H…Cl, N–H…Cl, C–H…Cl and C–H…O(W)], forming a three-dimensional network. Intermolecular interactions are investigated by Hirshfeld surfaces and the contacts of the eight different chloride atoms are notably compared. The vibrational absorption bands are identified by infrared spectroscopy. The optical study is performed by UV-vis absorption.     

The Synthesis and Characterization of a New Layered Chlorozincophosphate Zn(HPO4)Cl[C4H10N]

Along a systematic study of open-framework materials aiming at producing new molecular sieves, we characterized a new zincophosphate Zn(HPO₄)Cl[C₄H₁₀N]. It was synthesized under mild conditions (r.t.) in the presence of pyrrolidinium as an organic-structure directing agent. The structure of this compound, determinated by single crystal X-ray diffraction, consists of anionic parallel [Zn(HPO₄)Cl]^? sheets alternating with thick slabs of organic molecules (C₄H₁₀N)⁺. These latters are linked to the anionic sheets through hydrogen bonds. Zn(HPO₄)Cl[C₄H₁₀N] crystallizes in the monoclinic system and the space group C2/c (No. 9) with cell parameters a = 24,83(9), b = 9,258(5), c = 8.778(3), β = 110,45(4), Z = 8, V = 1891.0(14) Åt³, R = 0.045, and R_w = 0.07. Solid state ³¹P and ¹³C MAS NMR spectroscopies are in agreement with the X-ray structure.