Mesocellular polymer foams with unprecedented uniform large mesopores and high surface areas

Mesocellular polymer foams with uniform approximately 17 nm cellular pores were fabricated using mesocellular silica foams as inorganic templates. The mesocellular polymer foams have high surface areas up to approximately 600 m(2)g(-1) and pore volumes of 1.6 cm(3)g(-1).     

Cooperative C-F...Si interaction in optically active helical polysilanes

Cooperative amplification of the C-F...Si weak interaction between side chains and the main chain was found to afford rigid rodlike helical polysilanes with a preferential screw sense.     

Vibrational Stark Effects on Carbonyl, Nitrile, and Nitrosyl Compounds Including Heme Ligands, CO, CN, and NO, Studied with Density Functional Theory

Changes in the matrix electric field in a protein, due for example to mutations or structural fluctuations, can be correlated with changes in the vibrational transition frequencies of suitable chromophores measured by IR spectroscopy through the Stark tuning rate. To make this correlation, the Stark tuning rate must be known from experiment or theory. In this paper, density functional theory at the B3LYP/TZV level of theory is used to compute the Stark tuning rate of adducts of heme porphyrin, namely, -CO, -CN, and -NO+ compounds. The results are compared with the corresponding vibrational frequencies-field dependencies from vibrational Stark spectroscopy of heme-proteins. The zero-field computed Stark tuning rate of 1.3 cm-1/MV/cm for heme-CO is in agreement with experiment, where typically the rate is 2.4/f cm-1/MV/cm for myoglobin, where f is a local field correction between 1.1 and 1.4. Several small nitrile, carbonyl, and dinitrile molecules were studied to rationalize the findings for the heme-adducted models. Here, the higher B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p) level of theory could be used so the agreement with recent experimental results is even better than for heme-adducted groups.     

Synthesis and crystal structures of novel calix[4]azacrowns

A series of novel 1,3‐altemate calix[4]arene azacrowns having mono and bis crown ethers on the lower rim of the calix[4]arene framework were synthesized. Solid‐state structures confirmed the three dimensional conformation of compounds 1–3.     

Controlled growth of calcium carbonate by poly(ethylenimine) at the air/water interface

Two metastable calcium carbonate polymorphs, hemispherical vaterite and needle-like aragonite, are selectively formed at the air/water interface by the mediation of poly(ethyleneimine)(with molecular weights of 25000 and 2000, respectively) dissolved in supersaturated calcium bicarbonate solution.     

Phytohormone Supplementation Significantly Increases Growth of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Cultivated for Biodiesel Production

Cultivation is the most expensive step in the production of biodiesel from microalgae, and substantial research has been devoted to developing more cost-effective cultivation methods. Plant hormones (phytohormones) are chemical messengers that regulate various aspects of growth and development and are typically active at very low concentrations. In this study, we investigated the effect of different phytohormones on microalgal growth and biodiesel production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and their potential to lower the overall cost of commercial biofuel production. The results indicated that all five of the tested phytohormones (indole-3-acetic acid, gibberellic acid, kinetin, 1-triacontanol, and abscisic acid) promoted microalgal growth. In particular, hormone treatment increased biomass production by 54 to 69 % relative to the control growth medium (Tris–acetate–phosphate, TAP). Phytohormone treatments also affected microalgal cell morphology but had no effect on the yields of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) as a percent of biomass. We also tested the effect of these phytohormones on microalgal growth in nitrogen-limited media by supplementation in the early stationary phase. Maximum cell densities after addition of phytohormones were higher than in TAP medium, even when the nitrogen source was reduced to 40 % of that in TAP medium. Taken together, our results indicate that phytohormones significantly increased microalgal growth, particularly in nitrogen-limited media, and have potential for use in the development of efficient microalgal cultivation for biofuel production.     

SMSI effect on ceria supported Cu-Pd catalysts in the hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene

Ceria-supported copper-palladium catalysts have been tested in the hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene. The SMSI behavior of the bimetallic catalysts depended on the temperature of reduction. They were analyzed by H₂ chemisorption and XPS.     

Studies on mass production of transformed Panax ginseng hairy roots in bioreactor

The growth properties of Panax ginseng hairy roots transformed by Agrobacterium rhizogenes were compared between flask and aerated column or stirred bioreactor. In flask cultures, sucrose, initially 30 g/L, was nearly exhausted after 45 d of culture. The pH of the medium dropped from 5.5 to 4.96 after 10 d, but afterward it gradually increased to 6.4. After 45 d, hairy roots grew about 16-folds. The growth rate of hairy roots in air-bubble column or stirred bioreactor cultures was 1.13 (1.11) to 1.23 (1.20) g fresh wt (dry wt)/(g of cells·d), respectively. For both bioreactors, growth was about three times as high as in the flask cultivation.