Dual Fluorometric Detection of Fe3+ and Hg2+ Ions in an Aqueous Medium Using Carbon Quantum Dots as a “Turn-off” Fluorescence Sensor

The present study aimed to develop a carbon dots-based fluorescence (FL) sensor that can detect more than one pollutant simultaneously in the same aqueous solution. The carbon dots-based FL sensor has been prepared by employing a facile hydrothermal method using citric acid and ethylenediamine as precursors. The as-synthesized CDs displayed excellent hydrophilicity, good photostability and blue fluorescence under UV light. They have been used as an efficient “turn-off” FL sensor for dual sensing of Fe³⁺ and Hg²⁺ ions in an aqueous medium with high sensitivity and selectivity through a static quenching mechanism. The lowest limit of detection (LOD) for Fe³⁺ and Hg²⁺ ions was found to be 0.406 µM and 0.934 µM, respectively over the concentration range of 0-50 µM. Therefore, the present work provides an effective strategy to monitor the concentration of Fe³⁺ and Hg²⁺ ions simultaneously in an aqueous medium using environment-friendly CDs.

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Red-emitting β-diketonate Eu(III) Complexes With Substituted 1,10-phenanthroline Derivatives: Optoelectronic and Spectroscopic Analysis

Journal of Fluorescence - A series of europium diketonate complexes with 1-phenyl-1,3-butanedione (PBD) and 1,10-phenanthroline derivatives were synthesized and explored spectroscopically....     

Radiating viscous universes coupled with zero-mass scalar field: Exact solutions

The dynamics of a radiating viscous fluid universe coupled with zero-mass scalar field is investigated in the Einstein formalism and two exact solutions are obtained. Both the solutions give expanding models. Their many physical and geometrical properties are studied. The model universe corresponding to the first solution turns out to be a big bang model. The second model shows an interesting feature of absorbing radiation rather than emitting it under certain conditions.     

Perturbation expansions for quantum many-body systems

A systematic method for developing high-order, zero-temperature perturbation expansions for quantum many-body systems is presented. The models discussed explicitly are spin models with a variety of interactions, in one and two dimensions. The wide applicability of the method is illustrated by expansions around Hamiltonians with ordered and disordered ground states, namely Ising and dimerized models. Computer implementation of this method is discussed in great detail. Some previously unpublished series are tabulated.     

Elastic constants of mixed ammonium halides

In the present communication a method based on the three body forces for the evaluation of second and third order elastic constants of mixed ammonium halides has been described. The Lundqvist three body potential is used along with long range Coulombian and short-range overlap repulsive potentials. The latter is taken of the Born-Mayer type and effective up to first neighbours only. It has been assumed that the charge transfer and short-range parameters depend linearly on the composition of solid solutions. Theoretical results obtained, for the entire range of compositions of mixed NH₄Cl and NH₄Br, have been compared with the recently measured experimental values and the theoretical results of other workers, whenever these are available.The authors are thankful to Dr. J. Shanker, Department of Physics, Agra University, Agra, for helpful discussions.     

A new phase-conjugate one-way scheme for phase-distortion correction

In this paper we describe a phase-conjugate scheme in which the pump waves are derived from a distorted optical beam by a spatial filtering technique. Experimental demonstration of this scheme is given for phase-distortion correction. To avoid the problem of back reflection a quasi-real-time reconstruction scheme is adopted. The read out is done with a direct beam from the laser.     

Elastic behaviour of lead fluoride under pressure

The variation of the second-order elastic constants (SOECs) and the longitudinal and shear modulii with hydrostatic pressure for the lead fluoride (PbF₂) has been investigated for the first time by means of a three-body force potential (TBP) model. The significance of three-body interactions (TBI) has been clearly demonstrated in reproducing the elastic constant variations and the pressure derivatives of SOECs of PbF₂. The equation of state for this crystal has also been reported.     

Time-resolved spectra of coumarin 30-rhodamine 6G dye mixture

The effect of acceptor concentration on the energy transfer from Coumarin 30 (donor) to Rhodamine 6G (acceptor) has been studied. The nature of energy transfer reaction has been studied through lifetime measurements by recording the time-resolved fluorescence decay curves. The energy transfer parameters calculated were used to confirm the occurrence of energy transfer on the basis of the emission-reabsorption effect.     

Full potential calculation of electronic properties of rutile RO2 (R=Si, Ge, Sn and Pb) compounds via modified Becke Johnson potential

The electronic properties of RO₂ (R=Si, Ge, Sn and Pb; a group IVA element) compounds in rutile structure have been calculated using WIEN2k implementation of full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method. The exchange and correlation (XC) effects are taken into account by an orbital independent modified Becke Johnson (MBJ) potential as coupled with Local Density Approximation (LDA) for all the compounds except for PbO₂ where only Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) is considered for the same. We predict a direct band gap in all these compounds with continuous decrease as the atomic size of IVA element increases such that there is an appearance of semimetallic band structure for the last compound, PbO₂. The largest band gap (7.66 eV) has been found for SiO₂, which governs its insulating nature. We observe that MBJLDA results for band gaps of these compounds are far better than those obtained using GGA and Engel-Vosko's GGA (EV-GGA). A very good agreement is observed between MBJLDA band gaps with corresponding experimental values as compared to other calculations. The electronic band structures are also analyzed in terms of contributions from various electrons.     

Investigation of surface plasmon biosensing using gold nanoparticles enhanced ellipsometry

We present a label-free, nondestructive and high sensitivity biosensor by using the phase information of a gold nanoparticles enhanced ellipsometry signal. The refractive index (RI) resolution from ellipsometric phase information is of the order of 1.6×10(-6) RI units. Furthermore, spectroscopic and dynamic measurements show substantial change in the phase signal when biomolecules are coated on gold nanoparticles. The detection limit of our proposed technique is up to ～18?pM concentration of the target biomolecules.