Isoregic Thienylene‐Phenylene Polymers: The Effects of Structural Variation and Application to Photovoltaic Devices

Isoregic conjugated polymers composed of thiophene and dialkoxybenzene units were designed to harvest incident light in the mid‐visible energy range (band gap of 2.1 eV). Poly(1,4‐bis(2‐thienyl)‐2,5‐diheptoxybenzene) (PBTB(OC₇H₁₅)₂) and poly(1,4‐bis(2‐thienyl)‐2,5‐didodecyloxybenzene) (PBTB(OC₁₂H₂₅)₂) have shown significant photovoltaic performance as an electron donor when used in tandem with the electron acceptor [6, 6]‐phenyl C₆₁‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) in bulk hetero‐junction photovoltaic devices. Photovoltaic devices incorporating PBTB(OC₇H₁₅)₂ and PCBM have shown AM1.5 efficiencies of ～0.6% with a short circuit current density of 2.5 mA/cm², an open circuit voltage of 0.74 V, and a fill factor of 0.32. Incident Photon‐to‐Current Efficiency (IPCE) of the device was found to be ca. 16% at 410 nm. In order to examine the relationship between the molecular structure of the polymers and their electronic energy levels, and to correlate this with photovoltaic performance, optoelectronic and electrochemical results are discussed in relation to the I‐V characteristics of the devices. Additionally, a computer‐aided simulation is used to gain further insight into the effect of polymer structure on the energetic relationships in the bulk heterojunction devices.     

Covalently Trapped Triarylamine-Based Supramolecular Polymers

C₃-Symmetric triarylamine trisamides (TATAs), decorated with three norbornene end groups, undergo supramolecular polymerization and further gelation by π–π stacking and hydrogen bonding of their TATA cores. By using subsequent ring-opening metathesis polymerization, these physical gels are permanently crosslinked into chemical gels. Detailed comparisons of the supramolecular stacks in solution, in the physical gel, and in the chemical gel states, are performed by optical spectroscopies, electronic spectroscopies, atomic force microscopy, electronic paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, X-ray scattering, electronic transport measurements, and rheology. The results presented here clearly evidence that the core structure of the functional supramolecular polymers can be precisely retained during the covalent capture whereas the mechanical properties of the gels are concomitantly improved, with an increase of their storage modulus by two orders of magnitude.     

Increasing Complexity: A Practical Synthetic Approach to Three-Dimensional,Cyclic Sulfoximines and First Insights into Their in Vitro Properties

A short synthetic approach with broad scope to access five- to seven-membered cyclic sulfoximines in only two to three steps from readily available thiophenols is reported. Thus, simple building blocks were converted to complex molecular structures by a sequence of S-alkylation and one-pot sulfoximine formation, followed by intramolecular cyclization. Seventeen structurally diverse cyclic sulfoximines were prepared in high overall yields. In vitro evaluation of these underrepresented, three-dimensional, cyclic sulfoximines with respect to properties relevant to medicinal chemistry did not reveal any intrinsic flaw for application in drug discovery.     

Irradiated UAmO2 transmutation discs analyses: from dissolution to isotopic analyses

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - This paper details the different steps for the isotopic determination of UAmO2 discs from analytical irradiation. MARIOS and DIAMINO irradiations...     

The Aqueous Ca2+ System,in Comparison with Zn2+, Fe3 +, and Al3 +: An Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Study

Herein, we report on the structure and dynamics of the aqueous Ca²⁺ system studied by using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations. Our detailed study revealed the formation of well‐formed hydration shells with characteristics that were significantly different to those of bulk water. To facilitate a robust comparison with state‐of‐the‐art X‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) data, we employ a 1st principles MD‐XAFS procedure and directly compare simulated and experimental XAFS spectra. A comparison of the data for the aqueous Ca²⁺ system with those of the recently reported Zn²⁺, Fe³⁺, and Al³⁺ species showed that many of their structural characteristics correlated well with charge density on the cation. Some very important exceptions were found, which indicated a strong sensitivity of the solvent structure towards the cation′s valence electronic structure. Average dipole moments for the 2nd shell of all cations were suppressed relative to bulk water.     

Optimization of Sr-90 precipitation in nitric acid using design of experiments for radioactive waste characterization method

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - 90Sr radiochemical method using nitric acid for Sr and Ca separation was optimized using design of experiments methodology. Nitric acid...