Brighter glow in ZnS nanocrystals with polarized light

No known reports exist on luminescence enhancement under polarized light excitation. In this study, ZnS nanocrystals have been observed to produce brighter luminescence when excited by polarized light. ZnS:Mn bulk and nanocrystals have shown fivefold to tenfold increase in photoluminescence (PL) intensity when excited with linearly polarized light at 305 nm and 340 nm. Luminescence enhancement to a lesser degree was observed with linearly polarized light excitation for ZnS:Cu, Al and ZnS:Ag, Al nanocrystals. The observations suggest emission intensity dependence on the degree of anisotropy, which could be correlated mainly with the symmetry of the luminescence center and also to a lesser extent with nanoparticle shape asymmetry.     

Critical Parameters of the Pumping Scheme of Ar+8 Lasers Excited by Z Pinches in Long Capilaries

The present study is focused on the demonstration of the most critical parameters of the pumping scheme of a table‐top Ar⁺⁸‐laser excited by discharges with relatively low current and voltage (I ≤ 20 kA, U ≤ 200 kV) in long (L ～ 0.5 m) capillaries. The most critical parameters of the pumping scheme were analyzed and then adjusted experimentally. The table‐top size is attributed to the use of a low‐inductance co‐axial discharge configuration that decreases the voltage and current necessary for laser excitation. Low inductance is achieved by using a capillary, water‐capacitor and water spark‐gap placed into a chamber filled with deionized water. The capillary z‐pinch is produced by the water capacitor, which is pulse‐charged by a six‐stage Marx generator, optimized for the low‐inductance discharge configuration. Optimization is performed by adjusting the value of the charging inductance and the peak charging voltage with a water spark‐gap. At the optimal conditions laser pulses with a Gaussian‐like intensity distribution and divergence angle ～ 1 mrad and energy ～ 10 μJ are generated. The physical method for generation of a laser beam with such parameters is based on the use of a long (L = 0.45 m) capillary plasma (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Viscosity Solutions of HJB Equations with Unbounded Data and Characteristic Points

We study a class of infinite horizon and exit-time control problems for nonlinear systems with unbounded data using the dynamic programming approach. We prove local optimality principles for viscosity super- and subsolutions of degenerate Hamilton–Jacobi equations in a very general setting. We apply these results to characterize the (possibly multiple) discontinuous solutions of Dirichlet and free boundary value problems as suitable value functions for the above-mentioned control problems.     

Europium(III) Concentration Effect on the Spectroscopic and Photoluminescent Properties of BaMoO4:Eu

BaMoO₄:Eu (BEMO) powders were synthesized by the polymeric precursor method (PPM), heat treated at 800 °C for 2 h in a heating rate of 5 °C/min and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, besides room temperature Photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The emission spectra of BEMO samples under excitation of 394 nm present the characteristic Eu³⁺ transitions. The relative intensities of the Eu³⁺ emissions increase as the concentration of this ion increases from 0.01 to 0.075 mol, but the luminescence is drastically quenched for the Ba_0.855Eu_0.145MoO₄ sample. The one exponential decay curves of the Eu^{3+ 5}D₀→⁷F₂ transition, λ _exc = 394 nm and λ _em = 614 nm, provided the decay times of around 0.54 ms for all samples. It was observed a broadening of the Bragg reflections and Raman bands when the Eu⁺³ concentration increases as a consequence of a more disordered material. The presence of MoO₃ and Eu₂Mo₂O₇ as additional phases in the BEMO samples where observed when the Eu³⁺ concentration was 14.5 mol%.     

Significant Polar Comonomer Enchainment in Zirconium‐Catalyzed,Masking Reagent‐Free,Ethylene Copolymerizations

In principal, the direct copolymerization of ethylene with polar comonomers should be the most efficient means to introduce functional groups into conventional polyolefins but remains a formidable challenge. Despite the tremendous advances in group 4‐centered catalysis for olefin polymerization, successful examples of ethylene + polar monomer copolymerization are rare, especially without Lewis acidic masking reagents. Here we report that certain group 4 catalysts are very effective for ethylene + CH₂=CH(CH₂)_nNR₂ copolymerizations with activities up to 3400 Kg copolymer mol^?1‐Zr h^‐1 atm^‐1, and with comonomer enchainment up to 5.5 mol % in the absence of masking reagents. Group 4 catalyst‐amino‐olefin structure–activity‐selectivity relationships reflect the preference of olefin activation over free amine coordination, which is supported by mechanistic experiments and DFT analysis. These results illuminate poorly understood facets of d⁰ metal‐catalyzed polar olefin monomer copolymerization processes.     

Significant Polar Comonomer Enchainment in Zirconium‐Catalyzed,Masking Reagent‐Free,Ethylene Copolymerizations

In principal, the direct copolymerization of ethylene with polar comonomers should be the most efficient means to introduce functional groups into conventional polyolefins but remains a formidable challenge. Despite the tremendous advances in group 4‐centered catalysis for olefin polymerization, successful examples of ethylene + polar monomer copolymerization are rare, especially without Lewis acidic masking reagents. Here we report that certain group 4 catalysts are very effective for ethylene + CH₂=CH(CH₂)_nNR₂ copolymerizations with activities up to 3400 Kg copolymer mol^?1‐Zr h^‐1 atm^‐1, and with comonomer enchainment up to 5.5 mol % in the absence of masking reagents. Group 4 catalyst‐amino‐olefin structure–activity‐selectivity relationships reflect the preference of olefin activation over free amine coordination, which is supported by mechanistic experiments and DFT analysis. These results illuminate poorly understood facets of d⁰ metal‐catalyzed polar olefin monomer copolymerization processes.     

Synthesis of a new 24-membered tetramide macrocycle and X-ray crystal structure determination

The synthesis and characterization of a new 24-membered tetramide macrocycle (6) related to Leigh's macrocycles and catenanes is reported. The replacement of p-xylylenediamine (Leigh) by m-xylylenediamine (this work) strongly modifies the geometry and properties of the new macrocycle. NMR spectroscopy (in DMSO?d₆ solution) and X-ray crystallography have been used to characterize compound 6. The structural features in the crystal (conformational aspects and H-bonding) have been discussed comparatively to two similar macrocycles NEWHIJ and UJUNOC.     

Broad yellow orange emission from SrAl2O4:Pr phosphor with blue excitation for application to white LEDs

Photoluminescence excitation to intermediate atomic levels of rare earth activator ion (praseodymium) situated intragap in alkaline earth aluminate (AEA) SrAl₂O₄ has been tailored. This lead to blue excitation (2.7 eV) of large band gap AEA possible. Photoluminescence (PL) emission in the visible region extends from 525 to 650 nm corresponding to transition from ³P₀ and ¹D₂ excited states to different ³H_J and ³F_J states of Pr³⁺, broadened by crystal field effect of SrAl₂O₄. Thus SrAl₂O₄:Pr³⁺ promise to be a good candidate for solid state lighting in conjunction with blue LED.     

On the Value Function of Weakly Coercive Problems in Nonlinear Stochastic Control

In this paper we investigate via a dynamic programming approach some nonlinear stochastic control problems where the control set is unbounded and a classical coercivity hypothesis is replaced by some weaker assumptions. We prove that these problems can be approximated by finite fuel problems; show the continuity of the relative value functions and characterize them as unique viscosity solutions of a quasi-variational inequality with suitable boundary conditions.     

An automated fluorescence protein sequencer using 7-methylthio-4-(2,1,3-benzoxadiazolyl) isothiocyanate (MTBD-NCS) as an Edman reagent

An automated fluorescence protein sequencer using 7-methylthio-5-(2,1,3-benzoxadiazolyl) isithiocyanate (MTBD-NCS), a fluorescent Edman reagent, is developed by the modification of a commercial protein sequencer. The generated MTBD-thiohydantoin amino acids fluoresced strongly, whereas the by-products such as MTBD-thiocarbamoyl amino acids and MTBD-carbamoly amino acids did not fluoresce. A few interfering peaks were observed in the chromatogram and amino acid sequence was easily determined. The coupling and cyclization/cleavage reaction conditions and extraction conditions of generated MTBD-thiazolinone amino acids were optimized using an autonalyzer. Finally, the sequence of a synthetic peptide (25 pmol), leucine-enkephalin-Thr-amide, was determined and up to six residues were successively analyzed.