Preparation and characterization of nano cobalt oxide

A simple and general method has been proposed for preparing strong violet emitting CdS quantum dots, in which a ligand exchange strategy was applied to surface passivation and functionalization with good reproducibility. The resulting quantum dots showed a visible violet luminescence with emission peak centered near 423 nm and photoluminescence quantum yields reached over 30%. Additionally, different mercapto-compounds used as ligands can make different functionalized surfaces, favoring quantum dots dispersion in different media and their further applications. It was observed that the band edge emission has the main contribution to the bright violet luminescence.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">J</Emphasis>-embeddable reducible surfaces

Here we classify J-embeddable surfaces, i.e. surfaces whose secant varieties have dimension at most 4, when the surfaces have two components at most.     

The use of cation exchange matrix separation coupled with ICP-MS to directly determine platinum group element (PGE) and other trace element emissions from passenger cars equipped with diesel particulate filters (DPF)

Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry coupled with cation exchange matrix separation has been optimised for the direct determination of platinum group element (PGE) and trace element emissions from a diesel engine car. After matrix separation method detection limits of 1.6 ng g(-1) for Pd, 0.4 ng g(-1) for Rh and 4.3 ng g(-1) for Pt were achieved, the method was validated against the certified reference material BCR 723, urban road dust. The test vehicle was fitted with new and aged catalytic converters with and without diesel particulate filters (DPF). Samples were collected after three consecutive New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) of the particulate and "soluble" phases using a home-made sampler optimised for trace element analysis. Emission factors for the PGEs ranged from 0.021 ng km(-1) for Rh to 70.5 ng km(-1) for Pt; when a DPF was fitted, the emission factors for the PGEs actually used in the catalysts dropped by up to 97% (for Pt). Trace element emission factors were found to drop by a maximum of 92% for Ni to a minimum of 18% for Y when a DPF was fitted; a new DPF was also found to cause a reduction of up to 86% in the emission of particulate matter.     

Synthesis and characterization of hybrid organic/inorganic nanotubes of the imogolite type and their behaviour towards methane adsorption

Imogolite-like nanotubes have been synthesised in which SiCH(3) groups have been introduced in place of the SiOH groups that naturally occur at the inner surface of imogolite, an alumino-silicate with formula (OH)(3)Al(2)O(3)SiOH, forming nanotubes with inner and outer diameter of 1.0 and 2.0 nm, respectively. The new nanotubular material, composition (OH)(3)Al(2)O(3)SiCH(3), has both larger pores and higher specific surface area than unmodified imogolite: it forms as hollow cylinders 3.0 nm wide and several microns long, with a specific surface area of ca. 800 m(2) g(-1) and intriguing surface properties, due to hydrophobic groups inside the nanotubes and hydrophilic Al(OH)Al groups at their outer surface. Adsorption of methane at 30 °C has been studied in the pressure range between 5 and 35 bar on both the new material and unmodified imogolite: it resulted that the new material adsorption capacity is about 2.5 times larger than that of imogolite, in agreement with both its larger pore volume and the presence of a methylated surface. On account of these properties and of its novelty, the studied material has several potential technical applications, e.g. in the fields of gas chromatography and gas separation.     

Carboxylic groups in mesoporous silica and ethane-bridged organosilica: effect of the surface on the reactivity

Proton-donor ability of carboxylic groups incorporated by co-condensation into SBA-15 and ethane-bridged periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) has been studied through IR spectroscopy by dosing ammonia, which forms reversibly COO(-) groups and NH(4)(+) ions. The related equilibrium constants, determined by elaboration of IR data, reveal a lower reactivity of -COOH groups at the surface of PMO than on SBA-15, when the two samples have been outgassed at the same temperature. This finding is interpreted in terms of different dielectric constants and intermolecular interactions engaged with the surface species. Carboxylic groups on ethane-bridged organosilica react with silanols upon thermal treatment at 473 K to form a mixed anhydride species Si-O-C(O)-, at variance with the same groups on SBA-15.     

Laser spectroscopic and theoretical studies of encapsulation complexes of calix[4]arene

The complexes between the host calix[4]arene (C4A) and various guest molecules such as NH(3), N(2), CH(4), and C(2)H(2) have been investigated via experimental and theoretical methods. The S(1)-S(0) electronic spectra of these guest-host complexes are observed by mass-selected resonant two-photon ionization (R2PI) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy. The IR spectra of the complexes formed in molecular beams are obtained by IR-UV double resonance (IR-UV DR) and IR photodissociation (IRPD) spectroscopy. The supramolecular structures of the complexes are investigated by electronic structure methods (density functional and second order perturbation theory). The current results for the various molecular guests are put in perspective with the previously reported ones for the C4A-rare gas (Rg) (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2007, 126, 141101) and C4A-H(2)O complexes (J. Phys. Chem. A, 2010, 114, 2967). The electronic spectra of the complexes of C4A with N(2), CH(4), and C(2)H(2) exhibit red-shifts of similar magnitudes with the ones observed for the C4A-Rg complexes, whereas the complexes of C4A with H(2)O and NH(3) show much larger red-shifts. Most of the IR-UV DR spectra of the complexes, except for C4A-C(2)H(2), show a broad hydrogen-bonded OH stretching band with a peak at ~3160 cm(-1). The analysis of the experimental results, in agreement with the ones resulting from the electronic structure calculations, suggest that C4A preferentially forms endo-complexes (guests inside the host calizarene cavity) with all the guest species reported in this study. We discuss the similarities and differences of the structures, binding energies, and the nature of the interaction between the C4A host and the various guest species.     

Geometric stability switch criteria in delay differential equations with two delays and delay dependent parameters

Most modeling efforts involve multiple physical or biological processes. All physical or biological processes take time to complete. Therefore, multiple time delays occur naturally and shall be considered in more advanced modeling efforts. Carefully formulated models of such natural processes often involve multiple delays and delay dependent parameters. However, a general and practical theory for the stability analysis of models with more than one discrete delay and delay dependent parameters is nonexistent. The main purpose of this paper is to present a practical geometric method to study the stability switching properties of a general transcendental equation which may result from a stability analysis of a model with two discrete time delays and delay dependent parameters that dependent only on one of the time delay. In addition to simple and illustrative examples, we present a detailed application of our method to the study of a two discrete delay SIR model.