Side Chain Influence on Electrochemical and Photovoltaic Properties of Yne‐Containing Poly(phenylene vinylene)s

Summary: The electrochemical behaviour of four types of (phenylene ethynylene)‐alt‐(phenylene vinylene) hybrid polymers, 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 have been investigated with respect to the influence of the grafted alkoxy side chains. In the case of the fully substituted polymers 2 , 3 , and 4 , the strong insulating nature of longer linear octadecyl or bulky branched 2‐ethylhexyl side chains lowers the HOMO levels of the polymers thereby increasing the discrepancy, ΔE_g, between the electrochemical, Eequation/tex2gif-stack-1.gif, and the optical, Eequation/tex2gif-stack-2.gif, bandgap energies. Thus it is not possible to establish a direct correlation between the open circuit voltage, V_OC, of bulk heterojunction solar cell devices of the configuration glass substrate/ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer 3 :PCBM(1:3, w/w)/LiF/Al and the HOMO energy levels of polymer 3 solely, as postulated in the literature. The photovoltaic (PV) parameters greatly depend on the grafted side chains.

Linear I–V curves of solar cell devices from polymers 3a – d , measured in the dark and under 100 mW · cm⁻² solar simulator illumination.     

Spin gapless semiconductor like Ti2MnAl film as a new candidate for spintronics application

A novel Heusler ferrimagnet Ti₂MnAl film has been grown on Si(001) substrate using magnetron sputtering. Characteristics of its magnetic and transport properties reveal the spin‐gapless‐semiconductor (SGS) nature of the stoichiometric Ti₂MnAl, in agreement with theoretical prediction. The as‐grown SGS‐like Ti₂MnAl film demonstrated high Curie temperature, nearly compensated ferrimagnetic properties with small coercivity and low magnetization. It also showed semiconductor‐like behavior at room temperature allowing good compatibility with commercial Si‐based semiconductor. In this regards, Ti₂MnAl film is a potential candidate material for spintronics application, especially for the minimization of energy consumption of device. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Simultaneous Determination of Paracetamol,Ibuprofen, and Caffeine in Tablets by Molecular Absorption Spectroscopy Combined with Classical Least Square Method

In this paper, the classical least-squares (CLS) method with molecular absorption spectrophotometric measurement was used to determine simultaneously paracetamol (PAR), ibuprofen (IBU), and caffeine (CAF) in tablets. The absorbance spectra of the standard solutions and samples were measured over a wavelength from 220 to 300 nm with a 0.5 nm step. The concentration of PAR, IBU, and CAF in the sample solutions was calculated by using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and a program called CLS-Excel written in Microsoft Excel 2016. The method and the CLS-Excel program were tested on mixed standard laboratory samples with different PAR, IBU, and CAF concentration ratios, and they showed only small errors and a satisfying repeatability. An analytical procedure for tablets containing PAR, IBU, and CAF was developed. The reliability of the procedure was proved via the recovery and repeatability of the analysis results with an actual tablet sample and by comparing the mean contents of active substances in the tablets obtained from the analytical procedure with the HPLC method. The procedure is simple with a reduced cost compared with the HPLC standard method.     

Selective Smoothed Finite Element Method

The paper examines three selective schemes for the smoothed finite element method (SFEM) which was formulated by incorporating a cell-wise strain smoothing operation into the standard compatible finite element method (FEM). These selective SFEM schemes were formulated based on three selective integration FEM schemes with similar properties found between the number of smoothing cells in the SFEM and the number of Gaussian integration points in the FEM. Both scheme 1 and scheme 2 are free of nearly incompressible locking, but scheme 2 is more general and gives better results than scheme 1. In addition, scheme 2 can be applied to anisotropic and nonlinear situations, while scheme 1 can only be applied to isotropic and linear situations. Scheme 3 is free of shear locking. This scheme can be applied to plate and shell problems. Results of the numerical study show that the selective SFEM schemes give more accurate results than the FEM schemes.     

Regularization of a two-dimensional strongly damped wave equation with statistical discrete data

In this paper, we consider an inverse problem for a strongly damped wave equation in two dimensional with statistical discrete data. Firstly, we give a representation for the solution and then present a discretization form of the Fourier coefficients. Secondly, we show that the solution does not depend continuously on the data by stating a concrete example, which makes the solution be not stable and thus the present problem is ill-posed in the sense of Hadamard. Next, we use the trigonometric least squares method associated with the Fourier truncation method to regularize the instable solution of the problem. Finally, the convergence rate of the error between the regularized solution and the sought solution is estimated and also investigated numerically.     

A new route to triphenylpyridines utilizing ketoximes as building blocks via cascade reactions under iron‐organic framework catalysis

Iron‐based metal–organic framework VNU‐20 was utilized as a heterogeneous catalyst for cascade reactions between ketoximes and dibenzyl ether to produce 2,4,6‐triphenylpyridines. Additionally, benzyl alcohol and (dimethoxymethyl)benzene could be used as an alternative starting materials for the transformation. The oxidant exhibited a remarkable impact on the reactions, and di‐tert‐butylperoxide was the most appropriate candidate. The VNU‐20 displayed higher efficiency than many homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. The catalyst was reusable for the cascade reactions without a noticeable deterioration in catalytic activity. This transformation is new, and would offer alternative routes to triphenylpyridines utilizing ketoximes as building blocks.     

Asymmetric Reductive and Alkynylative Heck Bicyclization of Enynes to Access Conformationally Restricted Aza[3.1.0]bicycles

Conformationally restricted azabicycles are becoming increasingly important in medicinal research. Asymmetric Heck bicyclization of enynes proceeds to give medicinally useful aza[3.1.0] and aza[4.1.0] bicycles with excellent enantioselectivity. The key organopalladium species after bicyclization can be trapped by silanes and terminal alkynes.     

Finite-sum smooth optimization with SARAH

Computational Optimization and Applications - We introduce NC-SARAH for non-convex optimization as a practical modified version of the original SARAH algorithm that was developed for convex...     

A Simple Route to the Synthesis of Pt Nanobars and the Mechanistic Understanding of Symmetry Reduction

Noble-metal nanocrystals with anisotropic shapes have received increasing interest owing to their unique properties. Here, a facile route to the preparation of Pt nanobars with aspect ratios tunable up to 2.1 was reported by simply reducing a Pt^IV precursor in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at 160 °C in the presence of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP). In addition to its commonly observed roles as a solvent and a reductant, DMF could also decompose to generate CO, a capping agent capable of selectively passivating Pt{100} facets to promote the formation of nanobars. The size and aspect ratio of the nanobars could be tuned by varying the amount of Pt^IV precursor involved in the synthesis, as well as the concentration of PVP because of its dual roles as a stabilizer and a co-reductant. Our mechanistic study indicated that the anisotropic growth resulted from both particle coalescence and localized oxidative etching followed by preferential growth.     

Chemical Constituents of the Leaves of Polyscias fruticosa

Chemistry of Natural Compounds -