Physico-chemical studies on Gum Dhawa (Anogeissus latifoliaWall.)

Summary The p_H of an aqueous solution of Gum Dhawa (Anogeissus latifoliaWall.) is 2.68 and it is sensitive to p_H changes. The absence of the sulphate and the presence of a slight trace of phosphate, confirms the view that the acidity is due to the presence of carboxyl groups, which are formed by the hydrolysis of the gum. The hydrogen ion activity increases up to a concentration of 3% and beyond this point it attains a steady value. The sp. cond. is zero at the zero concentration and the relation between sp. cond. and up to 3% concentration is linear and afterwards it attains a steady value. It has been found by experimental observation that the gum solution has got no buffering capacity. Neutralization curves with NaOH and Ba(OH)₂ show that the combination with alkali takes place in equivalent proportion. The viscosity of the gum solution always increases with increasing p_H on the addition of HCl. The viscosity increase with NaOH is slow in the beginning, but after p_H 4.2 it rises rapidly, attains a maximum and steeply falls off near p_H 6.7. Now it decreases slowly and again a deviation is noted at 10.5. The viscosity is maximum near about the neutralization point. This is due to the stretched chain of the polymer unit. The fall in viscosity is explained by the folding chain theory in conjunction with mass action or common ion effect and due to the destruction of the proteins, by concentrated NaOH, which forms a complex with carbohydrate polymer.The authors wish to thank Dr.R. C. Mehrotra, Professor and the Head of the Chemistry Department, for providing all facilities for this work. Our thanks are also due to the Ministry of Education, Government of India, for the award of a research scholarship to one of us (V.K.S.).     

Theory of the photoelastic effect in ZnO,ZnS and CdS crystals

It has been a general opinion that the Clausius-Mossotti dielectric theory is not capable of explaining the observed photoelastic behaviour of partially ionic crystals.However in the present communication we show that by making account of the variation of polarizabilities under compressive stress within the framework of the Clausius-Mossotti theory it is possible to obtain a reasonable agreement with experimental data on the photoelastic behaviour of ZnO, ZnS and CdS crystals.     

Sizes and electronic polarizabilities of divalent ions in crystals

The Pauling’s form for the overlap repulsive energy is used to calculate the sizes of isoelectronic divalent ions in MgO, CaS, SrSe and BaTe crystals by minimising the next nearest neighbour repulsive interaction. The radii calculated by this method differ significantly from the conventional sets of ionic radii in a consistent way, being larger for cations and smaller for anions. The polarizability-radius cube relation is also utilized to calculate the electronic polarizabilities of ions. The electronic polarizabilities, thus obtained agree with the values determined from the refractivity measurements.     

Effect of the crystal potential on electronic polarizabilities of ions in alkaline earth chalcogenides

The electronic polarizabilities of ions in alkaline earth chalcogenides are estimated by taking account of the effect of the crystalline potential. The polarizabilities thus obtained are found to present a good agreement with experimental data. It has been shown that the polarizabilities and radii of alkaline earth and chalcogenide ions follow the polarizability-radius cube relation approximately well.     

Self-assembly of thiacyanine dyes in water for the synthesis of active hybrid nanofibres

Water-soluble self-assembled nanostructures were synthesised by simple counter ion exchange of thiacyanine dyes which helps in the formation of nematic (N) and hexagonal (M) chromonic liquid-crystalline (CLCs) phases. Conjugated double bonds as central spacers connected between two benzothiazole segments affect water solubility and liquid crystal formation. Aggregation-dependent properties characterised by ultraviolet–visible, fluorescence and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Sol–gel reaction of dye aggregates with silica species furnishes entangled nanotubular fibres with constant diameter and their length in excess of micrometres, having templates of pore sizes below the mesoporous range. The π–π stacked chromonic aggregate dyes are also of importance in shape selective catalysis, adsorption, desorption micro-patterned materials, and provide a significant step towards biosensor medical applications because of their water-soluble nature.     

Synthesis and liquid crystalline behaviour of substituted (E)-phenyl-4-(phenyldiazenyl) benzoate derivatives and their photo switching ability

Azobenzene derivatives containing phenyl/4-halogen-phenyl 4-{(E)-[4-(pent-4-en-1-yloxy)phenyl]diazenyl}benzoate group with different electronegative substituent (H, F, Cl, Br and I) at other end was synthesised. These azo-based benzoate derivatives have been characterised by FTIR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, elemental analyser, POM and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Photosaturation at 358 nm obtained after 82 s of UV irradiation and the longest thermal back relaxation time of 45 h recorded by UV-Vis. The azo derivative could be possible photolock under UV light, as observed by the improved thermal back relaxation time. The resulting photolockable chain of azobenzene might prove valuable in the development of optical device application. These azobenzene moieties also exhibit liquid crystalline behaviour with respect to the halogen substitution as an electron withdrawing group shows that strong structure property relationship exists among them.     

Multiple ionization of argon in coincidence with projectile ions in 60–120 MeV Si q+-Ar collisions

A projectile ion-recoil ion coincidence technique has been employed to study the multiple ionization and the charge transfer processes in collisions of 60–120 MeV Si ^q+ (q = 4−14) ions with neutral argon atoms. The relative contribution of different ionization channels, namely; direct ionization, electron capture and electron loss leading to the production of slow moving multiply charged argon recoil ions have been investigated. The data reported on the present collision system result from a direct measurement in the considered impact energy for the first time. The total ionization cross-sections for the recoil ions are shown to scale as q ^1.7/E _p ^0.5 , where E _p is the energy in MeV of the projectile and q its charge state. The recoil fractions for the cases of total- and direct ionizations are found to decrease with increasing recoil charge state j. The total ionization fractions of the recoils are seen to depend on q and to show the presence of a ‘shell-effect’ of the target. Further, the fractions are found to vary as 1/j ² upto j = 8+. The average recoil charge state 〈j〉 increases slowly with q and with the number of lost or captured electrons from or into the projectile respectively. The projectile charge changing cross-sections σ _qq′ are found to decrease with increasing q for loss ionization and to increase with q for direct-and capture ionization processes respectively. The physics behind various scaling rules that are found to follow our data for different ionization processes is reviewed and discussed.     

Effect of balanced and unbalanced magnetron sputtering processes on the properties of SnO2 thin films

A comparative study has been carried on the role of balanced magnetron (BM) and unbalanced magnetron (UBM) sputtering processes on the properties of SnO₂ thin films. The oxygen partial pressure, substrate temperature and deposition pressure were kept 20%, 700 °C and 30 mTorr, respectively and the applied RF power varied in the range of 150–250 W. It is observed that the UBM deposition causes significant effect on the structural, electrical and optical properties of SnO₂ thin films than BM as evidenced by X-ray diffraction, C-V, Spectroscopic Ellipsometer and Photoluminescence measurements. The value of band gap (E_g) of the films deposited at 150 W in UBM is found as E_g = 3.83 eV which is much higher than the value of E_g = 3.69 eV as observed in BM sputtering indicating that UBM sputtering results in good crystalline quality. Further, the C-V measurements of SnO₂ thin films deposited using UBM at high power 250 W show hysteresis with large flat band shift indicating that these thin films can be used for the fabrication of memory device. The observed results have been attributed to different mechanisms which exist simultaneously under unbalanced magnetron sputtering due to ion bombardment of growing SnO₂ thin film by energetic Ar+ ions.