The Sorption Behavior of Wood Studied by Means of an Improved Cup Method

In transport models for wood, sorption is an essential parameter. Sorption is the balancing process between the two phases of water present in wood below the fiber saturation point, namely water vapor in the lumens and bound water in the cell walls. To gain better insight into the physical background of transport processes, a special experimental test setup—the improved cup method—is presented. It allows for separation of sorption from other processes. In this test, a diffusion cup contains a thin specimen of wood, with one side facing outwards to a climate chamber and the opposite side facing inwards the cup. In contrast to the common cup method, the herein presented method uses a data logger for relative humidity and temperature placed inside the cup. The use of thin cross-cut specimens allows for explicit separation of the different processes occurring during transient moisture transport. Mass changes were determined and relative humidity inside the cups was measured for eight specimens of Norway spruce with different specimen thicknesses. Relative humidity was increased in three uniform steps in the test chamber from 4.0 up to 76.5%. The results obtained with this special test setup indicate that the sorption process is different than assumed in previous publications. This emphasizes the need of improved modeling approaches.     

Investigation of Hydrodynamic Dispersion and Intra-pore Turbulence Effects in Porous Media

Transport in Porous Media - The aim of the present paper is to evaluate and compare the pore level hydrodynamic dispersion and effects of turbulence during flow in porous media. In order to compute...     

Informed Molecular Design of Conjugated Oligoelectrolytes To Increase Cell Affinity and Antimicrobial Activity

Membrane‐intercalating conjugated oligoelectrolytes (COEs) are emerging as potential alternatives to conventional, yet increasingly ineffective, antibiotics. Three readily accessible COEs, belonging to an unreported series containing a stilbene core, namely D4 , D6 , and D8 , were designed and synthesized so that the hydrophobicity increases with increasing side‐chain length. Decreased aqueous solubility correlates with increased uptake by E. coli. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of D8 is 4 μg mL^?1 against both E. coli and E. faecalis, with an effective uptake of 72 %. In contrast, the MIC value of the shortest COE, D4 , is 128 μg mL^?1 owing to the low cellular uptake of 3 %. These findings demonstrate the application of rational design to generate efficacious antimicrobial COEs that have potential as low‐cost antimicrobial agents.     

Progress in pulsed-current Karl Fischer coulometry using diaphragm-free cells

Factors influencing the accuracy of water determinations using diaphragm-free, pulsed current Karl Fischer (KF) coulometry were investigated with the new Metrohm 756 instrument. Results obtained with commercially available reagents from Riedel-deHaen and Merck were compared with home-made ones that were especially designed to minimize the formation of iodine-consuming reduction products generated in the cathode reaction. Positive errors in the range 2-5% were found for the commercial reagents as compared to 0.2-1% for the home-made ones which were buffered at about pH 10 containing modifiers like chloroform, hexanol or ethylene glycol. Except for the composition of the KF-reagent, the cathode current density and the titration rate were found to be critical parameters for the accuracy of the determinations. For all reagents investigated, the best results were obtained for the maximum generator current 400 mA (corresponding to a current density of 1,400 mA cm(-2)) in combination with a maximum titration rate of 2,000 microg min(-1). Surprisingly, the errors found under optimum conditions for the pulse technique were always somewhat larger than the corresponding values obtained with continuous coulometry.     

DIURNAL VARIATIONS IN LUMINESCENCE IN Scenedesmus obtusiusculus (CHLOROPHYCEAE) INDUCED BY 3-(3,4-DICHLOROPHENYL)-1,1-DIMETHYLUREA

Abstract— Luminescence from synchronously cultured Scenedesmus obtusiusculus cells was measured with a high sensitivity photon counter. Recording of light emission was initiated 0.2 s after switching off actinic light. Luminescence decay was separated into two phases: one for decay to 10⁴ pulses s^-1, the other for decay from 10⁴ to 10³ pulses s^-1. Most photons are emitted during the rapid decay to 10⁴ pulses s^-l. Only small diurnal variations of the two phases could be observed in controls. Treatment with 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) decreased both the total number of photons emitted and the time required to reach the 10⁴ pulses s^-1 level. No diurnal rhythmicity was induced by DCMU in the first phase but DCMU induced a pronounced diurnal variation in decay time in the second phase of luminescence parallelled by a periodicity in the number of photons emitted. The results indicate that DCMU interferes with the participation of PS I in luminescence. The chlorophyll alb ratio was constant during the life cycle of the cells. No relation could be observed between luminescence and the diurnal rhythmicity in photosynthesis that is characteristic for synchronized unicellular algae.     

Transition probabilities in Sm II via optical nutation

We have measured the transition probabilities for three lines in Sm II. The measurements are made by studying optical nutation with a fast Doppler switching technique in collinear laser spectroscopy on ion beams. The recorded nutation curves are fitted to a quantum-optical theoretical model, and the transition probabilities are extracted. For all three lines, the measured transition probabilities are more accurate than those of earlier published measurements.     

Femtosecond transient absorption anisotropy study on [Ru(bpy)3]2+ and [Ru(bpy)(py)4]2+. Ultrafast interligand randomization of the MLCT state

It is known that the relaxed excited state of [Ru(bpy)3]2+ is best described as a metal to ligand charge transfer (MLCT) state having one formally reduced bipyridine and two neutral. Previous reports have suggested [Malone, R. et al. J. Chem. Phys. 1991, 95, 8970] that the electron "hops" from ligand to ligand in the MLCT state with a time constant of about 50 ps in acetonitrile. However, we have done transient absorption anisotropy measurements indicating that already after one picosecond the molecule has no memory of which bipyridine was initially photoselected, which suggests an ultrafast interligand randomization of the MLCT state.     

Electron donor-acceptor dyads and triads based on tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) and benzoquinone: synthesis,characterization, and photoinduced electron transfer reactions

Two electron donor-acceptor triads based on a benzoquinone acceptor linked to a light absorbing [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) complex have been synthesized. In triad 6 (denoted Ru(II)-BQ-Co(III)), a [Co(bpy)(3)](3+) complex, a potential secondary acceptor, was linked to the quinone. In the other triad, 8 (denoted PTZ-Ru(II)-BQ), a phenothiazine donor was linked to the ruthenium moiety. The corresponding dyads Ru(II)-BQ (4) and PTZ-Ru(II) (9) were prepared for comparison. Upon light excitation in the visible band of the ruthenium moiety, electron transfer to the quinone occurred with a rate constant k(f) = 5 x 10(9) s(-)(1) (tau(f) = 200 ps) in all the quinone containing complexes. Recombination to the ground state followed, with a rate constant k(b) approximately 4.5 x 10(8) s(-)(1) (tau(b) approximately 2.2 ns), for both Ru(II)-BQ and Ru(II)-BQ-Co(III) with no indication of a charge shift to generate the reduced Co(II) moiety. In the PTZ-Ru(II)-BQ triad, however, the initial charge separation was followed by a rapid (k > 5 x 10(9) s(-)(1)) electron transfer from the phenothiazine moiety to give the fairly long-lived PTZ(*)(+)-Ru(II)-BQ(*)(-) state (tau = 80 ns) in unusually high yield for a [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+)-based triad (> 90%), that lies at DeltaG degrees = 1.32 eV relative to the ground state. Unfortunately, this triad turned out to be rather photolabile. Interestingly, coupling between the oxidized PTZ(*)(+) and the BQ(*)(-) moieties seemed to occur. This discouraged further extension to incorporate more redox active units. Finally, in the dyad PTZ-Ru(II) a reversible, near isoergonic electron transfer was observed on excitation. Thus, a quasiequilibrium was established with an observed time constant of 7 ns, with ca. 82% of the population in the PTZ-Ru(II) state and 18% in the PTZ(*)(+)-Ru(II)(bpy(*)(-)) state. These states decayed in parallel with an observed lifetime of 90 ns. The initial electron transfer to form the PTZ(*)(+)-Ru(II)(bpy(*)(-)) state was thus faster than what would have been inferred from the Ru(II) emission decay (tau = 90 ns). This result suggests that reports for related PTZ-Ru(II) and PTZ-Ru(II)-acceptor complexes in the literature might need to be reconsidered.