The optical properties of CdxZn1−xS thin films on glass substrate prepared by spray pyrolysis method

A series of Cd_xZn_1−xS thin films have been deposited on glass substrates using spray pyrolysis technique. The crystallinity and microstructure of Cd_xZn_1−xS thin films have been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Based on the results of Hall measurements, the films obtained were an n-type semiconductor. The X-ray data analysis of Cd_xZn_1−xS thin films showed that the grain size of the Cd_xZn_1−xS increased with increase in Cd composition. It is observed that the band gap increases as the Cd composition decreases. The results also showed a blue shift of absorption edge of optical transmission spectra is increases as Zn ratio increases. The effects of Cd composition on the structural and optical properties of Cd_xZn_1−xS thin films were related to their grain size, stress and carrier concentration.     

Single-molecule elasticity measurements of the onset of excluded volume in poly(ethylene glycol)

A polymer must reach a certain size to exhibit significant excluded-volume interactions and adopt a swollen random-walk configuration. We show that single-molecule measurements can sense the onset of swelling by modulating the effective chain size with force: as the force is reduced from a large value, the polymer is first highly aligned, then a Gaussian coil, then finally a swollen chain, with each regime exhibiting a distinct elasticity. We use this approach to quantify the structural parameters of poly(ethylene glycol) and show that they vary in the expected manner with changes in solvent.     

Angular and radial mode analyzer for optical beams

We describe an approach to determining both the angular and the radial modal content of a scalar optical beam in terms of optical angular momentum modes. A modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer that incorporates a spatial rotator to determine the angular modes and an optical realization of the fractional Hankel transform (fHT) to determine the radial modes is analyzed. Varying the rotation angle and the order of the fHT produces a two-dimensional (2D) interferogram from which we extract the modal coefficients by simple 2D Fourier analysis.     

The elliptic matrix completion problem

Completions of partial elliptic matrices are studied. Given an undirected graph G, it is shown that every partial elliptic matrix with graph G can be completed to an elliptic matrix if and only if the maximal cliques of G are pairwise disjoint. Further, given a partial elliptic matrix A with undirected graph G, it is proved that if G is chordal and each specified principal submatrix defined by a pair of intersecting maximal cliques is nonsingular, then A can be completed to an elliptic matrix. Conversely, if G is nonchordal or if the regularity condition is relaxed, it is shown that there exist partial elliptic matrices which are not completable to an elliptic matrix. In the process we obtain several results concerning chordal graphs that may be of independent interest.     

Radioprotective and Antitumor Activity of Some Novel Amino Acids and Imidazoles Containing Thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine Moiety

A variety of novel thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives, comprising amino acids 3a–l, imidazothieno-pyrimidines 4A, 4b–h, and 7, were obtained via the reaction of 4-chloro-5,6-dimethylthieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine 1 with a variety of reagents. The structures of these compounds were confirmed by microanalysis, IR, ¹H NMR, and mass spectrometry. Some of the obtained compounds showed promising radioprotective and antitumor activities.     

Unexpected Formation of O-Acylhydroxamate from the Oxidation of a Dihydroisoquinoline Imine

The reaction of 3,3-dimethyl-7-nitro-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline 1 with m-chloroperbenzoic acid (m-CPBA) mainly yielded oxaziridine and nitrone, with their selectivities being dependent on the solvents. The reaction with 2.5 equivalents of m-CPBA gave small amounts of oxaziridines and hydroxamic acids as well as isolated O-acylhydroxamate compounds.     

4-Carbomethoxybenzaldehyde as a highly sensitive pre-column fluorescence derivatization reagent for 9,10-phenanthrenequinone

9,10-Phenanthrenequinone (PQ) is harmful environmental pollutant that is detected in airborne particulates. The measurement of PQ in the air should be necessary to evaluate the potential adverse effects of PQ on human health. We have recently developed a determination method for PQ based on the fluorescence derivatization of PQ using benzaldehyde and ammonium acetate as a reagent. In this study, in order to obtain more sensitive and selective fluorescence derivatization reaction, we measured the fluorescence of the reaction mixture of PQ with 21 kinds of aromatic aldehydes in the presence of ammonium acetate. Among the tested aldehydes, 4-carbomethoxybenzaldehyde was found to be the best reagent in regard to fluorescence intensity and emission wavelength maximum. Based on the fluorescence derivatization with 4-carbomethoxybenzaldehyde, a highly sensitive chromatographic method was developed for the determination of PQ with the detection limit (S/N=3) of 1.2 fmol/injection.     

Use of charge-transfer complexation in the spectrophotometric analysis of certain cephalosporins

Three simple, rapid and sensitive spectrophotometric procedures were developed for the analysis of cephapirin sodium (1), cefazoline sodium (2), cephalexin monohydrate (3), cefadroxil monohydrate (4), cefotaxime sodium (5), cefoperazone sodium (6) and ceftazidime pentahydrate (7) in pure form as well as in their pharmaceutical formulations. The methods are based on the reaction of these drugs as n-electron donors with the σ-acceptor iodine, and the π-acceptors: 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzo-quinone (DDQ) and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ). Depending on the solvent polarity, different coloured charge-transfer complexes and radicals were developed. Different variables and parameters affecting the reactions were studied and optimized. The obtained charge-transfer complexes were measured at 364 nm for iodine (in 1,2-dichloroethane), 460 nm for DDQ (in methanol) and 843 nm for TCNQ (in acetonitrile). Ultraviolet–visible, infrared and ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance techniques were used to study the formed complexes. Due to the rapid development of colours at ambient temperature, the obtained results were used on thin-layer chromatograms for the detection of the investigated drugs. Beer's plots were obeyed in a general concentration range of 6–50, 40–300 and 4–24 μg ml⁻¹ with iodine, DDQ and TCNQ, respectively, with correlation coefficients not less than 0.9989. The proposed procedures could be applied successfully to the determination of the investigated drugs in vials, capsules, tablets and suspensions with good recovery; percent ranged from 96.47 (±1.14) to 98.72 (±1.02) in the iodine method, 96.35 (±1.62) to 98.51 (±1.30) in the DDQ method, and 95.98 (±0.78) to 98.40 (±0.87) in the TCNQ method. The association constants and standard free energy changes using Benesi–Hildebrand plots were studied. The binding of cephalosporins to proteins in relation to their molar absorptivities was studied.     

Surface characterization and sorption efficacy of tire‐obtained carbon: experimental and semiempirical study of rhodamine B adsorption

This work focuses on the surface characterization and sorption activity of carbon derived from waste tires. The carbon was prepared by thermal treatment of waste rubber tires, followed by exposure to nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The tired‐obtained activated carbon (AC) was evaluated using a variety of techniques. Fourier transform infrared spectroscope and Raman spectra reveal existence of hydroxyl and carboxylic groups on AC surface. Scanning electron microscope and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller revealed the porosity of AC is well developed with mesopore structure (mesopore volume of 0.96 cm³/g). AC was tested for Rhodamine B sorption, and the adsorption kinetics well fitted using a pseudo second‐order kinetic model. The adsorption isotherm data could be well described by the Langmuir model. Semiempirical calculations using Austin Model 1 were performed to explain the adsorption at molecular level. Binding enthalpies in the range of 0.5–4 kcal/mol of four possible scenarios were computed. We believe the combination between experimental work and semiempirical calculations allows for a better understanding of Rhodamine B molecules adsorption on the AC surface. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.