Dielectric characteristics of neodymium heptamolybdate crystals grown by gel encapsulation technique

Results obtained from the dielectric studies of neodymium heptamolybdate crystals grown in the system Nd(NO₃)₃ –MoO₃ –NH₄OH– HNO₃ —Na₂SiO₃ by gel encapsulation technique are presented. The variation of dielectric constant (ε′), dielectric loss (tanδ) and conductivity (σ) with frequency at different temperatures is studied. The dielectric constant of the material increases sharply, attains a peak value and then decreases rapidly, as material's temperature rises from room temperature to higher degrees. The temperature at which the peak value is attained is the transition temperature of the material. Dielectric loss (tan δ) follows almost a similar behaviour. The conductivity (σ) is also found to be temperature-and frequency-dependent. This sharp rise in ε′ is attributed to the contribution from space charge polarization. Theoretically obtained data using the expression ε′ = a₀ + a₁ T² and —In σ = a + b(T — T₀)² for T < T₀) fits very well with the experimentally obtained data indicating that space charge polarization increases as some power of temperature larger than one.     

Growth of lanthanum heptamolybdate crystals by gel technique

The growth of single crystals of lanthanum heptamolybdate is achieved by allowing controlled diffusion of La ions through silica gel using the system La(NO₃)₃ MoO₃ NH₄OH HNO₃–Na₂SiO₃. The reaction mechanism leading to the growth is reported. Mechanism of crystallization of La heptamolybdate is discussed. Formation of Liesegang rings consisting of La heptamolybdate crystals in the system is reported. It is observed that concentration programming and seeded growth enhances the size of crystals. The crystals grown in the system are single crystal platelets exhibiting squarish or octagonal facets. Some crystals exhibit a spherulitic morphology.     

Bell's inequality and universal quantum gates in a cold-atom chiral fermionic p-wave superfluid

We propose and analyze a probabilistic scheme to entangle two spatially separated topological qubits in a p{x}+ip{y} superfluid using controlled collisions between atoms in movable dipole traps and unpaired atoms inside vortex cores in the superfluid. We discuss how to test the violation of Bell's inequality with the generated entanglement. A set of universal quantum gates is shown to be implementable deterministically using the entanglement despite the fact that the entangled states can be created only probabilistically.     

The stability constants of ML and ML2 complexes of Be(II) and Co(II)—isoleucine according to paper ionophoretic data

Complexation reactions of isoleucine with beryllium(II) and cobalt(II) have been studied in solution phase using paper ionophoretic technique. The stability constants of ML and ML₂ complexes of Be(II)—isoleucine and Co(II)—isoleucine systems have been found to be (7.49 ± 0.07, 5.89 ± 0.03) and (4.57 ± 0.11, 2.99 ± 0.09) (logarithm stability constant values), respectively at ionic strength of 0.1 mol L^?1 and a temperature of 35°C.     

Supported lipid bilayer nanosystems: stabilization by undulatory-protrusion forces and destabilization by lipid bridging

Control of the stabilization/destabilization of supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) on nanoparticles is important for promotion of their organized assembly and for their use as delivery vehicles. At the same time, understanding the mechanism of these processes can yield insight into nanoparticle-cell interactions and nanoparticle toxicity. In this study, the suspension/precipitation process of zwitterionic lipid/SiO(2) nanosystems was analyzed as a function of ionic strength and as a function of the ratio of lipid/SiO(2) surface areas, at pH = 7.6. Salt is necessary to induce supported lipid bilayer (SLB) formation for zwitterionic lipids on silica (SiO(2)) (Seantier, B.; Kasemo, B., Influence of Mono- and Divalent Ions on the Formation of Supported Phospholipid Bilayers via Vesicle Adsorption. Langmuir 2009, 25 (10), 5767-5772). However, for zwitterionic SLBs on SiO(2) nanoparticles, addition of salt can cause precipitation of the SLBs, due to electrostatic shielding by both the lipid and the salt and to the suppression of thermal undulation/protrusion repulsive forces for lipids on solid surfaces. At ionic strengths that cause precipitation of SLBs, it was found that addition of excess SUVs, at ratios where there were equal populations of SUVs and SLBs, restored the undulation/protrusion repulsive forces and restabilized the suspensions. We suggest that SUVs separate SLBs in the suspension, as observed by TEM, and that SLB-SLB interactions are replaced by SLB-SUV interactions. Decreasing the relative amount of lipid, to the extent that there was less lipid available than the amount required for complete bilayer coverage of the SiO(2), resulted in precipitation of the nanosystem by a process of nanoparticle lipid bridging. For this case, we postulate a process in which lipid bilayer patches on one nanoparticle collide with bare silica patches on another SiO(2) nanoparticle, forming a single bilayer bridge between them. TEM data confirmed these findings, thus indicating that lipid bridges are composed of half bilayers on adjoining SiO(2) nanoparticles.     

Quantum chemical studies on the structure and detonation properties of the fused polynitrodiazoles: New high energy density molecules

In this study, we explore the possibility that fused polynitrodiazoles act as high energy density materials. Density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/aug‐cc‐pVDZ level were performed to predict the structure, energy of explosion (≈1.68 kcal g^?1), density (≈1.98 g cm^?3), detonation velocity (≈9.50 km s^?1), and detonation pressure (≈41.50 GPa) of model molecules. The predicted properties have been found to be promising compared with 3,4,5‐trinitro‐1H‐pyrazole, 1,3,5‐trinitro‐1,3,5‐triazinane, and octahydro‐1,3,5,7‐tetranitro‐l,3,5,7‐tetraazocane. The nature of azoles of the molecule presumably determines the geometry, stability, sensitivity, density, and detonation performance. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

High-pressure study of lithium azide from density-functional calculations

The structural, electronic, optical, and vibrational properties of LiN(3) under high pressure have been studied using plane wave pseudopotentials within the generalized gradient approximation for the exchange and correlation functional. The calculated lattice parameters agree quite well with experiments. The calculated bulk modulus value is found to be 23.23 GPa, which is in good agreement with the experimental value of 20.5 GPa. Our calculations reproduce well the trends in high-pressure behavior of the structural parameters. The present results show that the compressibility of LiN(3) crystal is anisotropic and the crystallographic b-axis is more compressible when compared to a- and c-axes, which is also consistent with experiment. Elastic constants are predicted, which still awaits experimental confirmation. The computed elastic constants clearly show that LiN(3) is a mechanically stable system and the calculated elastic constants follow the order C(33) > C(11) > C(22), implying that the LiN(3) lattice is stiffer along the c-axis and relatively weaker along the b-axis. Under the application of pressure the magnitude of the electronic band gap value decreases, indicating that the system has the tendency to become semiconductor at high pressures. The optical properties such as refractive index, absorption spectra, and photoconductivity along the three crystallographic directions have been calculated at ambient as well as at high pressures. The calculated refractive index shows that the system is optically anisotropic and the anisotropy increases with an increase in pressure. The observed peaks in the absorption and photoconductivity spectra are found to shift toward the higher energy region as pressure increases, which implies that in LiN(3) decomposition is favored under pressure with the action of light. The vibrational frequencies for the internal and lattice modes of LiN(3) at ambient conditions as well as at high pressures are calculated from which we predict that the response of the lattice modes toward pressure is relatively high when compared to the internal modes of the azide ion.     

New Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) homoleptic complexes with 6-chloro-5-7-dimethyl-4oxo-4H-chromene-3-carbaldehydes and its heteroleptic complexes with quinoline-8 ol: synthesis,characterization and antimicrobial activity

Research on Chemical Intermediates - In the present study, the synthesis of ligand 6-chloro-5-7-dimethyl-4oxo-4H-chromene-3-carbaldehydes by three steps from the substituted phenol. The formed...     

A four-arm Sagnac interferometric switch

A four-arm Sagnac interferometric switch is demonstrated. The switch works on the nonlinearity of the Pancharatnam's phase in a Young's interference set-up with differently polarized coherent laser beams.     

Dynamics of a supercooled liquid

The theory of collective motion in liquids suggested by the authors has been found to explain successfully the recent experimental results of temperature dependent disorder in supercooled liquid gallium. Metastability limit is exhibited through a singularity of S(k, ω = 0) and corresponds to a critical value of correlation between different particles beyond which the supercooled liquid goes to the thermodynamically stable solid state.