ZnO nanoparticles embedded in UVM-7-like mesoporous silica materials: Synthesis and characterization

ZnO nanodomains embedded in bimodal mesoporous silica (UVM-7) materials with high Zn content (4≤Si/Zn≤30) have been synthesized by an one-pot surfactant-assisted procedure from a hydro alcoholic medium using a cationic surfactant (CTMABr=cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) as structural directing agent, and starting from molecular atrane complexes of Zn and Si as hydrolytic inorganic precursors. This chemical procedure allows optimizing the dispersion of the ZnO particles in the silica walls. The bimodal mesoporous nature of the final high surface area nano-sized materials is confirmed by XRD, TEM, and N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms. The small intra-particle mesopore system is due to the supramolecular templating effect of the surfactant, while the large pores have their origin in the packing voids generated by aggregation of the primary nanometric mesoporous particles. A limited pore blocking and a high accessibility to the ZnO active nanoparticles have been achieved. The effects induced by the progressive incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles into the mesostructure have been examined, including a careful optical spectroscopic study (PL and UV–visible).     

Clay‐Na as a sorbent for the extraction of anti‐inflammatory compounds in water samples

In this work, clay‐Na particles are used as the adsorbent for the solid‐phase extraction of acidic compounds. The novel sorbent under study is based on high‐specific surface area, cation‐exchange capacity designed specifically to offer ion‐exchange properties with the goal being to selectively extract a group of acidic compounds. The effects of the extraction parameters including extraction elution solvent, sample volume and pH. In optimum conditions, the repeatability for one fiber (n = 3), expressed as % relative standard deviation, was between 0.3 and 4.3% for the acid compounds. The detection limits for the studied acidic compounds were between 0.1–0.6 μg/L. The developed method offers the advantages of being simple to use and having a low cost of equipment.     

Synthesis of New 3-Carboxamidine Iminocoumarins and Benzopyrano[2,3-d]pyrimidines

A new approach to synthesis of a series of 3-carboxamidine iminocoumarins derivatives and substituted benzopyrano[2,3-d]pyrimidines was developed. The chemical structure of all the compounds was investigated by infrared, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, mass, and elemental analysis. The anticholinesterase activity of compound 12 was evaluated according to the modified Ellman’s method.     

Preparation process of a highly resistant wollastonite bioceramics using local raw materials

Wollastonite (CaSiO₃) is mainly used for traditional ceramics. In this study, wollastonite-based ceramics was obtained by solid state reaction. The starting powders were sintered at different temperatures (850–1,250 °C) for 2 h. Moreover, different amounts of B₂O₃ (0.5–5.0 mass%) have been added. A relative density of about 97% of the theoretical was reached for samples sintered at 1,050 °C for 2 h, containing 3 and 5 mass% B₂O₃. Excellent values of both three point flexural strength (343 ± 34 MPa) and micro-hardness (4.8 GPa) for samples containing 5 mass% B₂O₃, sintered at 1,050 °C for 2 h. Besides this, a relatively low mass loss ratio has been measured (1.1%) for wollastonite samples containing 5 mass% B₂O₃, sintered under the same conditions, after soaking in lactic acid for 9 days. Finally, the bioactivity of wollastonite by the possibility of formation of apatite on the surface of wollastonite immersed in simulated body fluid was confirmed.     

A new class of bent and hyper-bent Boolean functions in polynomial forms

Bent functions are maximally nonlinear Boolean functions and exist only for functions with even number of inputs. This paper is a contribution to the construction of bent functions over ${\mathbb{F}_{2^{n}}}$ (n = 2m) having the form ${f(x) = tr_{o(s_1)} (a x^ {s_1}) + tr_{o(s_2)} (b x^{s_2})}$ where o(s _i ) denotes the cardinality of the cyclotomic class of 2 modulo 2 ⁿ ? 1 which contains s _i and whose coefficients a and b are, respectively in ${F_{2^{o(s_1)}}}$ and ${F_{2^{o(s_2)}}}$ . Many constructions of monomial bent functions are presented in the literature but very few are known even in the binomial case. We prove that the exponents s ₁ = 2 ^m ? 1 and ${s_2={\frac {2^n-1}3}}$ , where ${a\in\mathbb{F}_{2^{n}}}$ (a ?? 0) and ${b\in\mathbb{F}_{4}}$ provide a construction of bent functions over ${\mathbb{F}_{2^{n}}}$ with optimum algebraic degree. For m odd, we give an explicit characterization of the bentness of these functions, in terms of the Kloosterman sums. We generalize the result for functions whose exponent s ₁ is of the form r(2 ^m ? 1) where r is co-prime with 2 ^m  + 1. The corresponding bent functions are also hyper-bent. For m even, we give a necessary condition of bentness in terms of these Kloosterman sums.     

Entanglement and Zeeman interaction in diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dot

We present theoretically the Zeeman coupling and exchange-induced swap action in spin-based quantum dot quantum computer models in the presence of magnetic field. We study the valence and conduction band states in a double quantum dots made in diluted magnetic semiconductor. The latter have been proven to be very useful in building an all-semiconductor platform for spintronics. Due to a strong p–d exchange interaction in diluted magnetic semiconductor (Cd_0.57Mn_0.43Te), the relative contribution of this component is strongly affected by an external magnetic field, a feature that is absent in nonmagnetic double quantum dots. We determine the energy spectrum as a function of magnetic field within the Hund–Mulliken molecular-orbit approach and by including the Coulomb interaction. Since we show that the ground state of the two carriers confined in a vertically coupled quantum dots provide a possible realization for a gate of a quantum computer, the crossing between the lowest states, caused by the giant spin splitting, can be observed as a pronounced jump in the magnetization of small magnetic field amplitude. Finally, we determine the swap time as a function of magnetic field and the inter dot distance. We estimate quantitatively swap errors caused by the field, establishing that error correction would, in principle, be possible in the presence of nonuniform magnetic field in realistic structures.     

Reactivity of MnII with superoxide. Evidence for a [MnIIIOO]+ unit by low-temperature spectroscopies

Manganese superoxide dismutase cycles between the MnIII and MnII states to produce oxygen and hydrogen peroxide from superoxide. The formation of an adduct has been suggested, but its nature remains questionable because both [MnIIOO-] and [MnIIIOO2-] redox states have been proposed. Study of the reactivity of superoxide with manganese complexes is of current interest. The reaction of [(L)MnII]2+ [L = N-methyl-N,N',N'-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)ethane-1,2-diamine] with potassium superoxide has been investigated at low temperature in an anhydrous solvent using various techniques. Upon the addition of ca. 2 equiv of potassium superoxide, the [(L)MnII]2+ colorless solution turned blue and the UV-vis spectrum displayed a band at 590 nm (165 M(-1) cm(-1)) and a shoulder at 430 nm (100 M(-1) cm(-1)). Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry showed a peak (m/z = 434.1) assigned to [(L)MnO2]+. The X-band electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum parallel mode displayed a six-line signal separated by 6.6 mT and centered at 86 mT (g = 8.1). These results support the formation of an [MnIIIOO]+ adduct.