Pressure-enhanced dehydrogenation reaction of the LiBH4-YH3 composite

The increase in hydrogen back pressure unexpectedly enhances the overall dehydrogenation reaction rate of the 4LiBH(4) + YH(3) composite significantly. Also, argon back pressure has a similar influence on the composite. Gas back pressure seems to enhance the dehydrogenation reaction by kinetically suppressing the formation of the diborane by-product.     

Enzyme-magnetic nanoparticle conjugates as a rigid biocatalyst for the elimination of toxic aromatic hydrocarbons

An enzyme-magnetic nanoparticle conjugate is prepared via conjugation of Ni(2+) ions onto the surface of magnetic nanoparticles to interact with a six histidine-tagged enzyme. The catalytic properties and enzyme rigidification of the conjugates are more stable at high concentrations of aromatic hydrocarbons.     

Anion-directed assembly of a three-dimensional metal-organic rotaxane framework

A three-dimensional extended, metal-organic rotaxane framework (MORF) that incorporates encircled "struts" has been synthesized through a one-pot self-assembly process involving a macrocyclic tetraimidazolium "molecular box", naphthalene dicaboxylate dianion, and Zn(II) cations. The present system represents progress towards controlling the features of three-dimensional metal-organic frameworks.     

Graft copolymer directed synthesis of micron-thick organized mesoporous TiO2 films for solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

Micron thick, well-organized mesoporous TiO(2) films with high porosity and good connectivity were synthesized by templating an amphiphilic graft copolymer for solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells.     

Efficient and stable panchromatic squaraine dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells

A new series of stable, unsymmetrical squaraine near-IR sensitizers (JK-216 and JK-217), which are assembled using both thiophenyl pyrrolyl and indolium groups, exhibit a panchromatic light harvesting up to 780 nm. The JK-216 based cell exhibited a record efficiency of 6.29% for near-IR DSSCs. In addition, the JK-217 device showed an excellent stability under a light soaking test at 60 °C for 1000 h.     

Highly sensitive phototransistor with crystalline microribbons from new π-extended pyrene derivative via solution-phase self-assembly

A new pyrene-cored π-conjugated molecule has been synthesized through Sonogashira coupling reaction. The single-crystalline microribbon-based FET exhibited the highest mobility of 0.7 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) (I(on)/I(off) > 10(6)). Single-crystalline microribbons were employed to operate in an organic phototransistor (OPT) under very low light intensity (I = 5.6 μW cm(-2)).     

Kaempferol and kaempferol rhamnosides with depigmenting and anti-inflammatory properties

The objective of this study was to examine the biological activity of kaempferol and its rhamnosides. We isolated kaempferol (1), a-rhamnoisorobin (2), afzelin (3), and kaempferitrin (4) as pure compounds by far-infrared (FIR) irradiation of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) leaves. The depigmenting and anti-inflammatory activity of the compounds was evaluated by analyzing their structure-activity relationships. The order of the inhibitory activity with regard to depigmentation and nitric oxide (NO) production was kaempferol (1) > a-rhamnoisorobin (2) > afzelin (3) > kaempferitrin (4). However, a-rhamnoisorobin (2) was more potent than kaempferol (1) in NF-kB-mediated luciferase assays. From these results, we conclude that the 3-hydroxyl group of kaempferol is an important pharmacophore and that additional rhamnose moieties affect the biological activity negatively.