Photochemical reactions of chromium hexacarbonyl with tetraalkyldiphosphine disulfides

New complexes [Cr(CO)₄(R₂P(S)P(S)R₂)] and [Cr₂(CO)₁₀(-R₂P(S)P(S)R₂)] (R = Me, Et, Pr ⁿ , Bu ⁿ ), (1a)–(1d) and (2a)–(2d) [(1a), R = Me; (1b), R = Et; (1c), R = Pr ⁿ ; (1d), R = Bu ⁿ ; (2a), R = Me; (2b), R = Et; (2c), R = Pr ⁿ ; (2d), R = Bu ⁿ ] have been prepared by the photochemical reaction of Cr(CO)₆ with R₂P(S)P(S)R₂ (R = Me, Et, Pr ⁿ and Bu ⁿ ) and characterized by elemental analyses, FT-i.r., ³¹P-[¹H]-n.m.r. spectroscopy and FAB-mass spectrometry. The spectroscopic data suggest cis-chelate bidentate coordination of the ligand in [Cr(CO)₄(R₂P(S)P(S)R₂)] and cis-bridging bidentate coordination of the ligand between two metals in [Cr₂(CO)₁₀(-R₂P(S)P(S)R₂)] (R = Me, Et, Pr ⁿ and Bu ⁿ ).     

Photochemical reactions of [(η 5-C5H5)Mn(CO)3] with Ph2P(S)(CH2) n P(S)Ph2 [n=1, dppm(S)2; 2, dppe(S)2; 3, dppp(S)2]

Six new complexes, Mn(CO)( ⁵-C₅H₅){Ph₂P(S)(CH₂) _n P(S)Ph₂}] (1a–3a) [(1a), n=1; (2a), n=2; (3a), n=3] and [Mn₂(CO)₄( ⁵-C₅H₅)₂(cis--Ph₂P(S)(CH₂) _n P(S)Ph₂)] (1b–3b) [(1b), n=1; (2b), n=2; (3b), n=3] have been synthesized by the photochemical reaction of [( ⁵-C₅H₅)Mn(CO)₃] with Ph₂P(S)(CH₂) _n P(S)Ph₂ [n=1, dppm(S)₂; 2, dppe(S)₂; 3, dppp(S)₂]. The complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectroscopy, f.t.-i.r. and ³¹P–[¹H]-n.m.r. spectroscopy. The spectroscopic studies reveal that coordination of the ligand iscis-chelate bidentate in [Mn(CO)( ⁵-C₅H₅){Ph₂P(S)(CH₂) _n P(S)Ph₂}] (1a–3a) and cis-bridging bidentate between two metals in [Mn₂(CO)₄( ⁵-C₅H₅)₂(cis--Ph₂P(S)(CH₂) _n P(S)Ph₂)] (1b–3b).     

Improvement of cyclability of silicon-containing carbon nanofiber anodes for lithium-ion batteries by employing succinic anhydride as an electrolyte additive

Si/C composite nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning and carbonization using polyacrylonitrile as the spinning medium and carbon precursor. The effect of electrolyte additive succinic anhydride (SA) on the electrochemical performance of Si/C composite nanofiber anodes was investigated. Results show that after 50 cycles, the discharge capacity of Si/C composite nanofiber anode with the SA-added electrolyte is 34 % higher than that with additive-free electrolyte. At 150th cycle, the capacity retention of Si/C composite nanofiber anode with SA-added electrolyte is 82 % under 70 % state-of-charge. It is demonstrated that adding additive SA in the electrolyte is an effective and economic way to improve the cyclability of high-capacity Si/C composite nanofibers for next-generation high-energy lithium-ion batteries.     

Evaluation of theoretical approaches for describing the interaction of water with linear acenes

The interaction of a water monomer with a series of linear acenes (benzene, anthracene, pentacene, heptacene, and nonacene) is investigated using a wide range of electronic structure methods, including several "dispersion"-corrected density functional theory (DFT) methods, several variants of the random phase approximation (RPA), DFT-based symmetry-adapted perturbation theory with density fitting (DF-DFT-SAPT), MP2, and coupled-cluster methods. The DF-DFT-SAPT calculations are used to monitor the evolution of the electrostatics, exchange-repulsion, induction, and dispersion contributions to the interaction energies with increasing acene size and also provide the benchmark data against which the other methods are assessed.     

Silafluorene‐based polymers for electrochromic and polymer solar cell applications

In this study, four novel silafluorene (SiF) and benzotriazole (Btz) bearing conjugated polymers are synthesized. In the context of electrochemical and optical studies, these polymers are promising materials both for electrochromic device (ECD) and polymer solar cell (PSC) applications. All of the polymers are ambipolar (both p‐ and n‐dopable) and multichromic. Electrochemistry experiments indicate that incorporation of selenophene instead of thiophene unit increases the HOMO energy level of the polymers. Power conversion efficiency of the PSCs reached 1.75% for PTBTSiF, 1.55% for PSBSSiF, 2.57% for PBTBTSiF, and 1.82% for PBSBSSiF. The hole mobilities of the polymers are estimated through space charge limited current (SCLC) model. PBTBTSiF has the highest hole mobility as 2.44 × 10^?3 cm² V s^?1. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1541–1547     

Liftable homeomorphisms of rank two finite abelian branched covers

Archiv der Mathematik - We investigate branched regular finite abelian A-covers of the 2-sphere, where every homeomorphism of the base (preserving the branch locus) lifts to a homeomorphism of the...     

Nanophosphor aluminum oxide: Luminescence response of a potential dosimetric material

This work reports on the investigation of the radiation dosimetry properties of Al₂O₃ nanopowders. Samples were produced by solution combustion synthesis using three different organic fuels to check for the effect of synthesis conditions on the properties of interest. Luminescence characteristics were studied by thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques. We found that samples produced using urea have characteristics similar to bulk Al₂O₃:C and may be suitable for personal dosimetry, while samples produced using glycine and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) may be more suitable for applications where fast OSL decay is advantageous. While these results are promising and warrant further investigation, much has to be done to overcome the greatly decreased luminescence intensity of the nanomaterials as compared to bulk Al₂O₃:C.