Strategy to design aqueous-soluble iron-oxide molecular cluster and nanostructure using polyoxometalate ligand scaffold

Profound availability of iron on earth crust and diversely accessible redox states, makes it a significant metal ion in biology as well as to design molecular catalysts and nanostructured materials. Low-oxidation potential and prone to hydrolysis in an aqueous medium, predominantly in neutral to basic pH, of the divalent iron in the active site of the catalysts, results in the formation of bulk and/or colloidal ferric-hydroxide, oxy-hydroxide, and -oxide. However, nature has developed its own strategy to preserve iron-oxide cluster core, e.g., Ferritin, without aggregation in physiological pH via designing protein scaffold as protector ligand. Although molecular iron-oxo clusters, isolated by using small organic ligands, are depicted as potent catalysts, they usually don't sustain under catalytic turnover condition. In this context, the isolation of multinuclear iron-oxo clusters soluble in water and their subsequent catalysis in the aqueous phase remains a perdurable challenge. Polyoxometalates (POM) are themselves small metal-oxo cluster anions where the metals are in the highest valent-state and a diverse POM structure can be obtained simply by varying the metal ions. Depending on the structure of the POM, the available terminal or bridging oxo groups can act as donor atoms to one or more iron centers. Consequently, a variety of iron clusters can be stabilized by using POM scaffold. Thereby, polyoxoanions, extremely aqueous-soluble and oxidatively inert under reaction conditions, behaved as versatile ligand platform to stabilize iron clusters of different nuclearity (n = 2–30) in water. Moreover, different possible structures and diversity in chemical property by varying hetero atoms or metal ions led to the isolation of a unique aqueous soluble iron-oxide and/or iron-oxy-hydroxide nanostructure where a significant number of polyoxoanions were covalently attached, making them extremely soluble nanostructures. This review summarizes the adapted synthetic strategies to isolate such molecular and nano-scopic iron clusters stabilized by POM anions and describes their stability in an aqueous medium and showcases their prospective applications in different emerging areas.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the reaction of hydroxopentaaquarhodium(III) ion with <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-Arginine in aqueous solution

The kinetics of the aqua ligand substitution from hydroxopentaaquarhodium(III) ion, [Rh(H₂O)₅(OH)]²⁺, by l-Arginine has been studied spectrophotometrically as a function of Arginine concentration, and temperature, at pH 4.3. The reaction proceeds via a rapid outer sphere association complex formation step followed by two consecutive steps. The first of these involves ligand-assisted anation, while the second involves chelation as the second aqua ligand is displaced. The association equilibrium constant for the outer sphere complex formation has been evaluated together with the rate constants for the two subsequent steps. The activation parameters for both steps have been evaluated using Eyring’s equation. Thermodynamic parameters calculated from the temperature dependence of the outer sphere association equilibrium constants are also consistent with an associative mode of activation. The product of the reaction has been characterized by conductivity measurement and IR spectroscopic analysis.     

Exact diffusion constant of a one-dimensional asymmetric exclusion model with open boundaries

For the 1D fully asymmetric exclusion model with open boundary conditions, we calculate exactly the fluctuations of the current of particles. The method used is an extension of a matrix technique developed recently to describe the equatime steady-state properties for open boundary conditions and the diffusion constant for particles on a ring. We show how the fluctuations of the current are related to non-equal-time correlations. In the thermodynamic limit, our results agree with recent results of Ferrari and Fontes obtained by working directly in the infinite system. We also show that the fluctuations of the current become singular when the system undergoes a phase transition with discontinuities along the first-order transition line.     

Observation of grain growth in swift heavy ion irradiated NiO thin films

NiO thin films grown on Si(100) substrates by electron beam evaporation, were sintered at 500 °C and 700 °C. The films were irradiated with 120 MeV Au⁹⁺ ions. Irradiation had different effects depending upon the initial microstructure of the films. Irradiation of the films at a fluence of 3 × 10¹¹ ions cm⁻² leads to grain growth for the films sintered at 500 °C and grain fragmentation for the films sintered at 700 °C. At still higher fluences of irradiation, grain size in 500 °C sintered film decreased, but the same improved in 700 °C sintered film. Associated with the grain size, texturing of the films was also shown to undergo significant modifications under irradiation.     

Fabrication of a nanostructured gold-polymer composite material

A facile synthesis route is described for the preparation of a poly-(o-aminophenol)-gold nanoparticle composite material by polymerization of o-aminophenol (AP) monomer using HAuCl₄ as the oxidant. The synthesis was carried out in a methanol medium so that it could serve a dual solvent role, a solvent for both the AP and the water solution of HAuCl₄. It was found that oxidative polymerization of AP leads to the formation of poly-AP with a diameter of 50±10nm, while the reduction of AuCl₄ ^- results in the formation of gold nanoparticles (∼ 2nm). The gold nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed and highly stabilized throughout the macromolecular chain that formed a uniform metal-polymer composite material. The resultant composite material was characterized by means of different techniques, such as UV-vis, IR and Raman spectroscopy, which offered the information about the chemical structure of polymer, whereas electron microscopy images provided information regarding the morphology of the composite material and the distribution of the metal particles in the composite material.     

Alternation in Photosynthetic Characteristics of Anabaena doliolum Following Exposure to UVB and Pb

Abstract— Anabaena doliolum , when exposed to either ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation or Pb, showed reduced growth rate, carbon fixation, O₂-evolution, photosynthetic electron transport activity and ATP pool size. The rate of respiration was found to increase in UVB-treated cells; this increase was more pronounced in the cells exposed to UVB and Pb simultaneously. The UVB-induced inhibition of 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol (DCPIP) photoreduction and lowering of chlorophyll a fluorescence could not be reversed by artificial electron donors (diphenyl carbazide, NH₂OH and MnCl₂). These electron donors, however, substantially reversed the inhibition caused by Pb, thereby suggesting that UVB primarily inhibits the photosys-tem II (PS II) reaction center and Pb arrests the electron flow at the water splitting site. Nevertheless, the suppressed fluorescence intensity and the reduced emission and excitation peaks of phycobilisomes indicate the involvement of Pb in inhibition of PS II. All combinations of UVB and Pb inhibited the different metabolic processes in a synergistic manner.     

Induced Correspondence of a Local π‐Aromatic Sextet in Heteroannulenes: Synthesis and Characterization

Acid‐catalyzed [3+3] condensation reactions of two hitherto unknown tripyrrane moieties with pentafluorobenzaldehyde has led to the formation of new generation heteroannulene (4.1.4.1) and mutant heteroannulene (1.1.1.1.1.1). Inclusion of local π‐aromatic sextets, namely the N‐methyl pyrrole rings through β,β‐linkages and α,β‐linkages, has led to the isolation of first ever heteroannulenes cross‐conjugated at four points and two points respectively within the macrocycles.     

Photophysical study of 3-acetyl-4-oxo-6,7-dihydro-12H-indolo[2,3-a]quinolizine in biomimetic reverse micellar nanocavities: a spectroscopic approach

Photophysical properties of 3-acetyl-4-oxo-6,7-dihydro-12H-indolo[2,3-a]quinolizine (AODIQ), a bioactive molecule, has been investigated in well-characterized, monodispersed biomimicking nanocavities formed by sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT) in heptane using steady-state and picosecond time resolved fluorescence and fluorescence anisotropy. The emission behavior of AODIQ is very much dependent upon the water/surfactant mole ratio (W), i.e., on the water pool size of the reverse micellar core. AODIQ exhibits a sharp decrease in fluorescence anisotropy with increasing W, implying that the overall motional restriction experienced by the molecule is decreased with increased hydration. Some of the depth-dependent relevant fluorescence parameters, namely, fluorescence maxima and fluorescence anisotropy (r), have been monitored for exploiting the distribution and microenvironment around the probe in the reverse micelles. Fluorescence spectral position and fluorescence quenching studies suggest that the probe does not penetrate into the reverse micellar core; rather it binds at the interfacial region. Quantitaive estimates of the micropolarity and microviscosity at the binding sites of the probe molecule have been determined as a function of W.     

Effect of cobalt substitution on microstructure and magnetic properties in ZnO nanoparticles

Ferromagentic semiconductors have been actively pursued because of their potential as spin polarized carrier sources and easy integration into semiconductor technology. One such material, ZnO has been shown to be a potential Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor (DMS). The appearance of ferromagnetism, however, is found to be sensitive to the processing conditions. We report synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles of size ∼20 nm by a simple co-precipitation technique using metal nitrates and NaOH as precipitant. The particles are self-organised and reveal single crystalline behaviour in electron diffraction pattern. Incorporation of Co in ZnO matrix leads not only to the reduction in crystallite size but also to the modification of the structure. At 5% Co, the particles are highly textured. The particles also aggregate and the aggregated mass have nearly rectangular shape as seen through TEM. Increasing Co to 10%, results into further reduction of particle size and the particles self organize in a line, which looks like nanofibers. This alignment of particles increases by increasing the Co content further. This type of growth of nanofibers above Co ≥ 10% is well correlated with the anisotropic peak broadening observed in the XRD spectra. In addition, Co substitute Zn site up to 20% without showing any extra phase in XRD spectra as compared to 7 to 10% in case of bulk. Transport and magnetic studies indicate that conductivity increases with increasing Co content, but carrier mediated ferromagnetism is absent down to 10 K.      

Invariant Solutions of Inhomogeneous Universe with Electromagnetic Field in Lyra Geometry

The present study deals with the cylindrically symmetric inhomogeneous cosmological models for perfect fluid distribution with electro-magnetic field in Lyra geometry. Lie group analysis has been used to identify the generators (symmetries) that leave the given system of partial differential equations (field equations) invariant. With the help of canonical variables associated with these generators, the assigned system of partial differential equations is reduced to an ordinary differential equations whose simple solutions provide nontrivial solutions of the original system. They obtained a new class of invariant (similarity) solutions by considering the potentials of metric and displacement field are functions of coordinates t and x. The physical behavior of the derived models are also discussed.