Preparation of carbon quantum dots with tunable photoluminescence by rapid laser passivation in ordinary organic solvents

A simple approach to prepare carbon quantum dots is presented in this communication by laser rapid passivation of nano carbon particles in ordinary organic solvent. The as-prepared carbon dots exhibited visible, tunable and stable photoluminescence (PL). XPS analysis showed that the increased oxygen concentration might be concerned with the origin of PL.     

Nanosize-induced drastic drop in equilibrium hydrogen pressure for hydride formation and structural stabilization in pd-rh solid-solution alloys

We have synthesized and characterized homogeneous solid-solution alloy nanoparticles of Pd and Rh, which are immiscible with each other in the equilibrium bulk state at around room temperature. The Pd-Rh alloy nanoparticles can absorb hydrogen at ambient pressure and the hydrogen pressure of Pd-Rh alloys for hydrogen storage is dramatically decreased by more than 4 orders of magnitude from the corresponding pressure in the metastable bulk state. The solid-solution state is still maintained in the nanoparticles even after hydrogen absorption/desorption, in contrast to the metastable bulks which are separated into Pd and Rh during the process.     

Rational design and crystal structure determination of a 3-D metal-organic jungle-gym-like open framework

A new three-dimensional (3-D) jungle-gym-like open metal-organic framework has been synthesized from a two-dimensional (2-D) layer compound using a heterogeneous pillar insertion reaction. Both the starting 2-D layer and the resulting 3-D open compounds have been characterized using X-ray crystallography.     

Biomimetic oxidation of alcohols by coenzyme PQQ-trimethyl ester

Oxidation of alcohols to corresponding carbonyl compounds by coenzyme PQQ-trimethyl ester was performed in the presence of aluminum t-butoxide or aluminum chloride under anaerobic conditions. Reduced PQQTME (PQQTMEH₂) was obtained by acidification of an aluminum complex of reduced PQQTME which was isolated in the reaction.     

Preferential Uniplanar Orientation of Cellulose Microfibrils Reinvestigated by the FTIR Technique

A simple detection method to observe the uniplanar orientation behavior of native cellulose microfibrils to the cell wall surface by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in the transmission mode is reported. Four bands at 1372, 1355, 1337, and 1317 cm⁻¹ (the latter two have been mentioned previously by Liang and Marchessault (1960, J. Polym. Sci. 43: 85–100)) were found to be sensitive to such orientation: the two middle bands at 1355 and 1337 cm⁻¹ increase remarkably when the 0.60–61 nm lattice planes lie parallel to the cell wall surfaces. The reverse was true when the 0.53–54 nm lattice planes oriented preferentially. Polarization of the two bands at 1372 and 1355 cm⁻¹ was parallel, while that of the other two bands at lower wavenumbers, i.e., at 1337 and 1317 cm⁻¹, was perpendicular to the molecular axis of cellulose. These bands were assigned to OH-related motion, probably to in-plane OH bending, as reported by Maréchal and Chanzy (2000, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 523: 183–196).     

Determination of chromium, copper and lead in river water by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry after coprecipitation with terbium hydroxide.

Coprecipitation with terbium hydroxide quantitatively recovered trace amounts of chromium(III), copper(II) and lead(II) at pH 8.4 - 10.8, 8.0 - 11.5 and 8.7 - 11.5, respectively. The precipitate was dissolved in 0.85 mol dm(-3) nitric acid, and the analytes were determined by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS). The presence of terbium (up to 7 g dm(-3)) did not interfere with the determination. The detection limits were 0.3 microg dm(-3) for chromium, 0.4 microg dm(-3) for copper and 0.5 microg dm(-3) for lead, when the analytes in 200 cm3 of the sample solution were concentrated into 10 cm3. The ions added to river or seawater were quantitatively recovered. Chromium and copper in a contaminated river water were successfully determined.