Dynamic interactive membranes with pressure-driven tunable porosity and self-healing ability

When pressure is applied to dynamic interactive membranes consisting of micelles composed of a triblock copolymer, their morphologies can be fine-tuned. Membranes with a range of porosities are accessible which can regulate and thereby control filtration performance and also display effective autonomous healing.     

Electro-catalytic performance of Pt-supported poly (o-phenylenediamine) microrods for methanol oxidation reaction

Poly (o-phenylenediamine) (PoPD) microrods were obtained by interfacial polymerization using ferric chloride as oxidant and without any template or functional dopant. Pt/PoPD nanocatalysts were prepared by the reduction of chloroplatinic acid with sodium borohydride, and the composite catalysts formed were characterized by X-ray diffraction and electrochemical methods. The nanocomposite of Pt/PoPD microrods has been explored for their electro-catalytic performance towards oxidation of methanol. The electro-catalytic activity of Pt/PoPD was found to be much higher (current density 1.96?mA/cm² at 0.70?V) in comparison to Pt/Vulcan electrodes (the current density values of 1.56?mA/cm² at 0.71?V) which may be attributed to the microrod morphology of PoPD that facilitate the effective dispersion of Pt particles and easier access of methanol towards the catalytic sites.     

Dielectric properties of some MM′O4 and MTiM′O6 (M=Cr, Fe, Ga; M′=Nb, Ta, Sb) rutile-type oxides

We describe an investigation of the structure and dielectric properties of MM′O₄ and MTiM′O₆ rutile-type oxides for M=Cr, Fe, Ga and M′=Nb, Ta and Sb. All the oxides adopt a disordered rutile structure (P4₂/mnm) at ambient temperature. A partial ordered trirutile-type structure is confirmed for FeTaO₄ from the low temperature (17 K) neutron diffraction studies. While both the MM′O₄ oxides (CrTaO₄ and FeTaO₄) investigated show a normal dielectric property MTiM′O₆ oxides for M=Fe, Cr and M′=Nb/Ta/Sb display a distinct relaxor/relaxor-like response. Significantly the corresponding gallium analogs, GaTiNbO₆ and GaTiTaO₆, do not show a relaxor response at T<500 K.     

Synthesis,structural characterization,and antibacterial studies of a tetradentate macrocyclic ligand and Its Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) complexes

A novel macrocyclic tetradentate ligand 1,5,8,12-tetraaza-2,4,9,11-tetraphenyl-6,7:13,14-dibenzocyclohexadeca- 1,4,8,11-tetraene (L) has been synthesized. Cobalt(II), nickel(II), and copper(II) complexes of this ligand have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductance measurements, magnetic susceptibitity measurements, and mass, IR, electronic, and ESR spectral studies. The molar conductance measurements correspond to a nonelectrolytic nature for all the complexes, which can be formulated as [M(L)X₂] (where M = Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II); X = Cl⁻ and NO₃⁻). On the basis of IR, electronic, and ESR spectral studies, an octahedral geometry has been assigned to the Co(II) and Ni(II) complexes, whereas a tetragonal geometry was found for the Cu(II) complexes. The investigated compounds and uncomplexed metal salts and the ligands were tested against bacterial species like Sarcina lutea, Escherchia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. The metal complexes have higher activity than the free ligand and metal salts. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes of a tertraaza macrocyclic ligand: Synthesis, characterization and biological screening

Manganese(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II) and copper(II) complexes with 1,5,11,15-tetraaza-21,22-dioxo-tricyclo [19,3,1,I^6,10]-5,10,15-20-dicosatetraene (L), as a new macrocyclicligand, have been synthesized with and characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductance measurements, magnetic susceptibility measurements, mass, IR, electronic and EPR spectral studies. The molar conductance measurements of the complexes in DMF correspond to non-electrolytic nature of Mn(II), Co(II) and Cu(II) complexes, while showing a 1:2 electrolyte for thew Ni(II) complexe. Thus, these complexes may be formulated as [M(L)X₂] and [Ni(L)]X₂ (where M = Mn(II), Co(II) and Cu(II) and X = Cl^- and NO₃ ^-). On the basis of IR, electronic and EPR spectral studies, an octahedral geometry has been assigned for Mn(II) and Co(II), a square planar for Ni(II) and tetragonal for Cu(II) complexes. In vitro ligand and its metal complexes were also screened against the growth of some fungal and bacterial species in order to assess their antimicrobial properties.     

Quasi-elastic neutron scattering studies of the slow dynamics of supercooled and glassy aspirin

Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is not only a wonderful drug, but also a good glass former. Therefore, it serves as an important molecular system to study the near-arrest and arrested phenomena. In this paper, a high-resolution quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) technique is used to investigate the slow dynamics of supercooled liquid and glassy aspirin from 410 down to 350 K. The measured QENS spectra can be analyzed with a stretched exponential model. We find that (i) the stretched exponent β(Q) is independent of the wavevector transfer Q in the measured Q range and (ii) the structural relaxation time τ(Q) follows a power-law dependence on Q. Consequently, the Q-independent structural relaxation time τ(0) can be extracted for each temperature to characterize the slow dynamics of aspirin. The temperature dependence of τ(0) can be fitted with the mode-coupling power law, the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation and a universal equation for fragile glass forming liquids recently proposed by Tokuyama in the measured temperature range. The calculated dynamic response function χ(T)(Q, t) using the experimentally determined self-intermediate scattering function of the hydrogen atoms of aspirin shows direct evidence of the enhanced dynamic fluctuations as the aspirin is increasingly supercooled, in agreement with the fixed-time mean squared displacement ?x(2)? and the non-Gaussian parameter α(2) extracted from the elastic scattering.     

Raman imaging on high‐quality graphene grown by hot‐filament chemical vapor deposition

We report the synthesis of high‐quality graphene on Cu foils using hot‐filament chemical vapor deposition technique and demonstrate that by suitably varying the CH₄ and H₂ flow rates, one can also obtain hydrogenated graphene. Micro‐Raman spectroscopy studies confirm the growth of monolayer graphene as inferred from the intensity ratio of 2D to G peak which is nearly four in unhydrogenated samples. Detailed Raman area mapping confirms the uniform coverage of monolayer graphene. The grown layer is also transferred onto a Si substrate over ~10 × 10 mm sq. area. The present results provide a leap in synthesis technology of high‐quality graphene and pave way for scaling up the process. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crystal structure and photoluminescence correlations in white emitting nanocrystalline ZrO2:Eu3+ phosphor: Effect of doping and annealing

White emitting nanocrystalline ZrO₂:Eu³⁺ phosphors were synthesized by a simple precipitation route without using a capping agent. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study of ZrO₂ and ZrO₂:Eu³⁺samples revealed the presence of monoclinic and tetragonal phases. The monoclinic phase increases with increase in the annealing temperature while the tetragonal phase increases with increase in the concentration of Eu³⁺. This can be attributed to the presence of oxygen vacancy evolved when Zr⁴⁺ is replaced by Eu³⁺. Photoluminescence (PL) emission peaks of Eu³⁺ are observed at 591, 596, 606 and 613 nm on monitoring excitation wavelengths at 250, 286, 394 and 470 nm. The peaks at 591 and 606 nm were found to correlate with the tetragonal phase and those at 596 and 613 nm with the monoclinic phase. Intensities of these peaks are found to change as the crystal structure changes. The lifetime value corresponding to 591 nm peak increases with Eu³⁺ concentration at a particular heating temperature indicating increase of tetragonal phase with respect to monoclinic phase. The CIE co-ordinates of the doped samples were found to be close to that of white color (0.33, 0.33). The changes in the crystal structure of the doped samples due to doping and annealing did not affect the white color emission.     

Effect of foreign phases on the growth of NaBi(WO4)2 crystals

Single crystals of NaBi(WO₄)₂ (NBW) have been grown by Czochralski technique, employing differently synthesized starting charge and different axial temperature gradients. The causes behind inherent problems related to compositional changes and associated lowering in crystallization temperature have been probed by analyzing XRD and DTA patterns of post growth residual charge. Presence of low melting phases viz. Na₂WO₄ and hitherto unreported compound Na₅Bi(WO₄)₄ is thought to be responsible for the observed decrease in crystallization temperature. This problem was tackled by segregating pure phase material through re‐crystallization, under high axial temperature gradient. The use of re‐crystallized charge enabled transformation of almost the entire charge into a single crystal of high transparency. The effect of starting charge synthesis and temperature gradient on the optical transmission characteristics of NBW crystal has also been investigated. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Monosaccharide-Directed Selective Internalization of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles in Hepatic Cancer Cells

The therapeutic success of nanomedicines requires nanomaterials to either adhere to the surface or internalize within the cytoplasm. The endocytosis phenomenon is controlled by the nanomaterial's shape, size, composition, charge, and capping molecules. The membrane potential-based non-specific internalization of therapeutic nanomedicines offers limited benefits than receptor-based specific delivery. Glut receptor-based internalization of glucose molecules is a well-known process in cancerous cells, which is one of the most exploited strategies to target cancer cells using nanoparticles. However, the internalization process of other structurally similar monosaccharides (D-Galactose, Mannose, and D-Fructose) conjugated nanoparticles remains to be unexplored. Herein, D-Glucose, D-Galactose, Mannose, and D-Fructose-coated AuNPs and AgNPs have been synthesized and studied the role of Glut receptors in their internalization in liver cancer cells, and compared them with non-cancerous cells. Results revealed that almost all monosaccharide-coated NPs exhibited high uptake in liver cancer cells than non-cancerous cells. Glut-1 receptor is observed to play a key role in the uptake and inhibition of Glut-1 receptors by genistein lead to a significant decrease in nanoparticle uptake. In conclusion, monosaccharide-conjugated nanoparticles can be used to direct the selective internalization of AuNPs and AgNPs in hepatic cancer cells to realize therapeutic and imaging applications.