Spectroscopic and atomic force microscopy investigations of hybrid materials composed of fullerenes and 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane

Fullerene based materials may open a new horizon in many fields of science. In this study we fabricated thin films of the hybrid materials formed as a result of interactions between C₆₀ fullerenes and 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS). The deposition technique was a combination of spin-coating and evaporation methods. Interactions within the films were investigated by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS). Surface morphology was measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM). We found that there are strong chemical reactions between the nucleophilic nitrogen atoms from APTMS and electrophilic fullerene molecules. Results of NEXAFS investigations suggest that due to direct interactions between APTMS and C₆₀ the electronic structure of the fullerene molecules changes while at the same time AFM proved that the C₆₀ molecule diameter is not altered.     

Plasmonic refraction‐induced ultrahigh transparency of highly conducting metallic networks

We demonstrate a high optoelectronic performance and application potential of our random network, with subwavelength diameter, ultralong, and high‐quality silver nanowires, stabilized on a substrate with a UV binder. Our networks show very good optoelectronic properties, with the single best figure of merit of ∼1686, and excellent stability under harsh mechanical strain, as well as thermal, and chemical challenge. Our network transparency strongly exceeds the simple shading limit. We show that this transmission enhancement is due to plasmonic refraction, which in an effective medium picture involves localized plasmons, and identify the inhomogeneous broadening as the key factor in promoting this mechanism. Such networks could become a basis for a next generation of ultrahigh‐performance transparent conductors.

     

A New Route to Light Emitting Organic Materials Based on Triazine Derivatives

Novel light-emitting organic materials comprising conjugated oligomers chemically attached via a flexible spacer to an electron–or hole-conducting core were synthesized by Stille cross-coupling methodology and designed for tunable charge injection and optical properties. The hyperbranched structures have been characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and UV-VIS spectroscopy. The obtained structures show good stability in common organic solvents such as CHCl₃, toluene, and CH₂Cl₂ and exhibit excellent thermal stability. A preliminary electroluminescence properties were also investigated. This class of materials will help to balance charge injection and transport and to spread out the charge recombination zone, thereby significantly improving the device efficiency and lifetime of unpolarized and polarized OLEDs.     

Ergodic Directions for Billiards in a Strip with Periodically Located Obstacles

We study the size of the set of ergodic directions for the directional billiard flows on the infinite band ${\mathbb{R}\times [0,h]}$ with periodically placed linear barriers of length 0 < λ < h. We prove that the set of ergodic directions is always uncountable. Moreover, if λ/h ∈ (0, 1) is rational, the Hausdorff dimension of the set of ergodic directions is greater than 1/2. In both cases (rational and irrational) we construct explicitly some sets of ergodic directions.     

Mechanism of the Verwey transition in magnetite

By combining ab initio results for the electronic structure and phonon spectrum with the group theory, we establish the origin of the Verwey transition in Fe3O4. Two primary order parameters with X3 and Delta5 symmetries are identified. They induce the phase transformation from the high-temperature cubic to the low-temperature monoclinic structure. The on-site Coulomb interaction U between 3d electrons at Fe ions plays a crucial role in this transition--it amplifies the coupling of phonons to conduction electrons and thus opens a gap at the Fermi energy.     

Situations in traffic — how quickly they change

Spatio-temporal correlations of traffic intensity are analyzed employing data collected for the motorway M-30 around Madrid during one week in January 2009. We found that the lifetime of these correlations is the shortest in the evening between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. This lifetime represents a new indicator for the amount of attention that is demanded by drivers in given traffic conditions.     

Theoretical studies on aromaticity of selected hydroxypyrones. Part 3#. Chelatoaromaticity phenomenon in metalcomplexes of hydroxypyrones

The aim of this project is to study the aromatic properties of various forms (neutral, cationic, and anionic) of selected hydroxypyrones (pyromeconic acid, maltol, and ethylmaltol) and their metalcomplexes with aluminum, gallium, and indium ions. Aromaticity of hydroxypyrone metalcomplexes is important because it can influence the stability of such complexes, which is crucial for their applications in medicinal and environmental chemistry. Results from ten different indices of aromaticity (HOMA, NICS(0), NICS(1), NICS_scan, ASE_iso, PDI, FLU, I_ring, MCI, and KMCI) show that aromaticity in hydroxypyrones decreases in the order cations > neutral molecules > anions. Performed calculations situate the aromaticities of ligands in metalcomplexes close to their respective cations. This means that complexation causes a significant increase of the aromaticity of ligands, which stabilizes formed chelatocomplexes. On the other hand, we clearly show that rings that are involved in binding metal ions are not aromatic. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.