Rapid deposition of triangular silver nanoplates on planar surfaces: application to metal-enhanced fluorescence

A simple and rapid wet-chemical technique for the deposition of silver triangles on conventional glass substrates, which alleviates the need for lithography, has been developed. The technique is based on the seed-mediated cetyltrimethylammonium-bromide-directed growth of silver triangles on glass surfaces, where smaller spherical silver seeds that were attached to the surface were subsequently converted and grown into silver triangles in the presence of a cationic surfactant and silver ions. The size of the silver triangles was controlled by sequential immersion of silver seed-coated glass substrates into a growth solution and by the duration time of immersion. Atomic force microscopy studies revealed that the size of the silver triangles ranged between 100 and 500 nm. Interestingly, these new surfaces are a significant improvement over traditional silver island films for applications in metal-enhanced fluorescence. A routine 16-fold enhancement in emission intensity was typically observed, for protein-immobilized indocyanine green, with a relatively very low loading density of silver triangles on the glass surface.     

Thermal Characterizations of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers

This review emphasizes the breadth of metallic and metallic-like polymers evaluated as to thermal properties. Techniques usefully applied to particular systems are noted with the aim of suggesting their application to other systems.     

Low-lying energy levels of the FeH molecule

Multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) and complete active space second-order perturbation theory (CASPT2) calculations are performed on Fe₂ and Fe^? ₂. Although it is not possible to definitively identify the ground states of Fe₂ and Fe^? ₂, the calculations suggest that the ground state of Fe^? ₂ in ⁸Σ^? _u derived from 3d¹³4σ² _g4σ² _u and that the states observed in photodetachment are the ⁹Σ^? _g and ⁷Σ^? _g states with a 3d¹³4σ² _g4σ¹ _u occupation, but that the ground state of Fe₂ is ⁷Δ_u(3d¹⁴4σ² _g) and is not observed in the photo-detachment spectra.     

Data Formats for Elementary Gas Phase Kinetics,Part 1: Unique Representations of Species at the Molecular Level

Standardized electronic formats for data are needed to efficiently and transparently communicate the results of scientific studies. A format for the unique identification of chemical species is a requirement in the field of chemistry, and the IUPAC International Chemical Identifier (InChI) has been widely adopted for this purpose. The InChI identifier has proved to be very useful. The InChI identifier, however, is currently insufficient to uniquely specify some types of molecular entities at a detailed molecular level needed to fully characterize their chemical nature, to differentiate between chemically distinct conformers, to uniquely identify structures used in quantum chemical calculations, and to completely describe elementary chemical reactions. To address this limitation, we propose an augmented form of InChI, denoted as InChI–ER, which contains additional optional layers that allow the unique and unambiguous identification of molecules at a detailed molecular level. The new layers proposed herein are optional extensions of the existing InChI formalism and, like all other InChI layers, would not interfere with InChI identifiers currently in use. The focus of the present work is the better specification of required molecular entities such as rotational conformations, ring conformations, and electronic states. In companion articles, we propose additional reaction layers using an extended InChI format that will enable the unique identification of elementary chemical reactions, including specification of associated transition states, specification of the changes in bonds that occur during reaction, and classification of reaction types.     

OPTIMAL FISH HARVESTING FOR A POPULATION MODELED BY A NONLINEAR PARABOLIC PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION

As the human population continues to grow, there is a need for better management of our natural resources in order for our planet to be able to produce enough to sustain us. One important resource we must consider is marine fish populations. We use the tool of optimal control to investigate harvesting strategies for maximizing yield of a fish population in a heterogeneous, finite domain. We determine whether these solutions include no‐take marine reserves as part of the optimal solution. The fishery stock is modeled using a nonlinear, parabolic partial differential equation with logistic growth, movement by diffusion and advection, and with Robin boundary conditions. The objective for the problem is to find the harvest rate that maximizes the discounted yield. Optimal harvesting strategies are found numerically.     

Enhanced Ratiometric pH Sensing Using SNAFL-2 on Silver Island Films: Metal-enhanced Fluorescence Sensing

We have explored the opportunities for enhanced ratiometric pH sensing using the well-known carboxy seminaphthofluorescein (SNAFL-2) and silver island films (SiFs). Our results show that the metallic surfaces can provide up to a 40-fold increase in probe fluorescence intensity as compared to nonmetallic surfaces with the same probe coverage. However, while the S/N is significantly better for pH sensing, the emission wavelength ratiometric values are similar to that obtained in solution, due to the fact that the emission of both the acidic and basic forms of the probe are enhanced to similar extents. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of enhanced ratiometric fluorescence sensing on metallic surfaces.     

QUENCHING OF METHYLCYCLOHEXANE FLUORESCENCE BY METHANOL*

We measured the fluorescence emission spectrum and intensity decays of methylcyclohexane (MCH) when excited by simultaneous absorption of two photons at 298 nm. The steady-state intensities and lifetimes were both decreased by methanol, which was found to be an efficient quencher of MCH fluorescence. Methanol quenching of MCH is clearly dynamic, but the exact mechanism of quenching is unclear. Dynamic quenching of MCH was also observed by water and n-propanol. These results suggest that alkane fluorescence from biopolymers, if observable, will only occur from regions of the macromolecules that are not exposed to water.     

Fluorescence spectral properties of the anticancer drug topotecan by steady-state and frequency domain fluorometry with one-photon and multi-photon excitation

Topotecan is an antitumor agent with activity against a variety of cancers. We examined the steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectral properties of topotecan with one- and two-photon excitation. Topotecan was found to display a high two-photon cross section near 20 GM for wavelengths within the fundamental output of a Ti:sapphire laser, 800-880 nm. In frozen solution the anisotropies of topotecan are near the theoretical maxima for one-photon and two-photon excitation with colinear electronic transitions. The intensity and anisotropy decays of topotecan fluorescence were found to be homogeneous (single exponentials) in phosphate-buffered saline and propylene glycol. The steady-state and time-resolved data indicate that topotecan binds to a double-helical DNA oligomer d(AT)10 resulting in increased anisotropies and multiexponential intensity and anisotropy decays. Subnanosecond components in the anisotropy decay of the DNA-topotecan complex suggest loose binding of the drug to DNA. Loose binding of topotecan to DNA is also revealed by accessibility of topotecan to collisional quenching by iodide.