Multifunctionality in spin crossover materials

One of the most important trends in the spin crossover (SCO) field is focused on the synthesis of new molecule-based functional materials in which the SCO properties may be combined with other physical or chemical properties in a synergic fashion. The current stage of investigations regarding interplay and synergic effects between SCO, magnetic coupling, liquid crystalline properties, host-guest interactions, non-linear optical properties, electrical conductivity, and ligand isomerization is highlighted and discussed.     

Studies on tetra-amine phthalocyanines

Metal(II) tetranitro phthalocyanines of cobalt, nickel and copper are synthesized in pure state by a novel modified method. The complexes are characterized using elemental, electronic and IR spectral studies. Pure metal(II) tetra-amino phthalocyanines of cobalt, nickel and copper are synthesized by reducing the nitro groups of the above complexes using sodium sulphide. These complexes are also characterized by elemental, electronic, IR spectral and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The nature of the electrical conductivities of the above three metal(II) tetra-amino phthalocyanine derivatives are studied in the temperature range 303-473 K and the data are presented. Among the effect of various substituent groups on the electrical conducting property of phthalocyanine, amine group substituent on the peripheral benzene ring of the phthalocyanine molecule has been found to increase electrical conductivity to a greatest extent. These complexes showed about 10⁵-10⁶ times higher electrical conductivities compared to their parent phthalocyanine compounds.     

镀金和碳纳米管修饰金电极上吸附态葡萄糖氧化酶比活性的EQCM研究

采用石英晶体微天平(EQCM)技术监测了裸金电极、镀金和碳纳米管修饰金电极上葡萄糖氧化酶(GOD)的吸附过程. 通过EQCM测量吸附固定的GOD质量, 并实时检测酶反应产物H2O2的氧化电量, 求算了各表面上吸附态GOD的比活性(ESAi). 结果表明, 各表面上均可吸附一定的GOD, 且吸附态GOD均有一定的酶活性; 修饰CNTs可增大酶吸附量和酶电极对葡萄糖的响应电流, 但ESAi随CNTs修饰量的增大而降低; Au电极上电镀金后, 酶吸附量和酶电极对葡萄糖的响应电流亦增大, 但ESAi与裸金电极上的基本一致.     

Reverse permeation of sodium ions driven by pH difference across a liquid membrane: time dependencies of membrane resistance and membrane potential in a reverse permeation system

The diffusional flux of sodium ions across a liquid membrane was observed as a reverse permeation phenomenon: sodium ions were transported across the membrane against their own concentration difference. A supported liquid membrane having stearic acid as an ionic carrier was used. The internal aqueous phase contained NaCl and HCl and the external aqueous phase contained NaOH of the same initial concentration as NaCl in the internal aqueous phase. The reverse permeation occurred with a long time delay. During the delay, sodium ions flowed from the acidic to alkaline solution. The diffusion coefficient of sodium ion estimated from the flux equation taking into account the Donnan equilibrium at the interface was found to be much greater than that in the membrane solvent, 1-octanol. In the same membrane system as for the flux measurement, the membrane conductance and the membrane potential were measured as a function of time. The time dependence of the membrane potential in the presteady state showed a biphasic behavior. The initial rapid phase could be attributed to the change in the phase boundary potential and the subsequent slow step to the change in the diffusion potential within the membrane. Before the steady membrane potential had been reached, the reverse permeation of sodium ions against their own concentration difference was not observed. During the slow relaxation process of the membrane potential, the membrane resistance decreased to approach the steady state. Moreover, the oscillation of membrane potential abruptly started at a time in the slow step of the potential change and continued during the steady state. It was suggested that, at the presteady state, the increase in the amount of water in the membrane would drive a drastic change in the state of the liquid membrane in the filter pore, e.g. an inverted micellar structure making.     

(A19N7)[In4]2 (A = Ca,Sr) and (Ca4N)[In2]: Synthesis,Crystal Structures,Physical Properties,and Chemical Bonding

Single phase powders of (A₁₉N₇)[In₄]₂ (A = Ca, Sr) and (Ca₄N)[In₂] were prepared by reaction of melt beads of the metallic components with nitrogen. The crystal structure of (Ca₁₉N₇)[In₄]₂ was refined based on neutron and X‐ray powder diffraction data. The crystal structure of (Sr₁₉N₇)[In₄]₂ was solved from the X‐ray powder pattern. The structure refinements in combination with results from chemical analyses ascertain the compositions. The compounds (A₁₉N₇)[In₄]₂ (A = Ca, Sr) are isotypes of (Ca₁₉N₇)[Ag₄]₂; (Ca₁₉N₇)[In₄]₂ is probably identical to the earlier reported (Ca_18.5N₇)[In₄]₂. The crystal structure of the isotypes (A₁₉N₇)[In₄]₂ (A = Ca, Sr; cubic, , Ca: a = 1471.65(3) pm; Sr: a = 1561.0(1) pm) contains isolated [In₄] tetrahedra embedded in a framework of edge‐ and vertex‐sharing (A₆N) octahedra. Six of these octahedra are condensed by edge‐sharing around one central A²⁺ ion to form “superoctahedra” (A₁₉N₆) which are connected three‐dimensionally via further octahedra by corner‐sharing. The crystal structure of (Ca₄N)[In₂] (tetragonal, I4₁/amd, a = 491.14(4) pm, c = 2907.7(3) pm) consists of alternating layers of perovskite type slabs of vertex‐sharing octahedra (Ca₂Ca_4/2N) and parallel arranged infinite zigzag chains equation/tex2gif-stack-1.gif[In₂]. In the sense of Zintl‐type counting the compounds (A²⁺)₁₉(N^3?)₇[(In^2.125?)₄]₂ present an electron excess, (Ca²⁺)₄(N^3?)[(In^2.5?)₂] is electron deficient. Metallic properties are supported by electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The analysis of the electronic structures gives evidence for the existence of homoatomic interactions In–In and significant heteroatomic metal–metal interactions Ca–In which favor the deviations of the title compounds from the (8 – N) rule.     

Ternary rare-earth nickel arsenides R3Ni7As5 (R=La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm) with a new variant of the BaAl4-type: crystal structure and physical properties

The ternary rare-earth nickel arsenides R₃Ni₇As₅ (R=La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm) were prepared by arc melting the elemental components and subsequent annealing at T=1070 K. The crystal structure of Ce₃Ni₇As₅ was determined from single-crystal X-ray data: space group Pmmn, Z=2; a=1.24210(6), b=0.40797(2), c=0.96436(5) nm, R_F=0.037 (R_w=0.044); 596 independent reflections; 53 variable parameters. It is a new structure type, which belongs to the family of BaAl₄-related structures. The magnetic properties are as follows: La₃Ni₇As₅ is a Pauli-type paramagnet above 4.2 K, Pr₃Ni₇As₅ remains paramagnetic in the temperature range investigated and Nd₃Ni₇As₅ undergoes a ferromagnetic ordering at T_C=24 K. Sm₃Ni₇As₅ orders antiferromagnetically at a Néel temperature of T_N=18 K followed by a spin flip towards parallel spin-alignment below T_C=6 K. Ce₃Ni₇As₅ reveals a strong deflection of the linear temperature dependence of the inverse susceptibility due to an intermediate valence behavior. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivities for the La, Pr, Nd, Sm containing samples corroborates with the metallic state of the non-magnetic (La) and the magnetically ordered compounds, whereas in case of Ce₃Ni₇As₅ the resistivity seems to be determined by an interplay of Kondo scattering and crystalline field effects. L_III X-ray absorption spectra confirm the demagnetization effects owing from valence fluctuations, the actual valence thereby changes from ν=3.10-3.14 at room temperature and 10 K, respectively.     

Effect of the Structure of Nonuniform Conducting Polymer Films on Their Electrochemical Impedance Response

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is used to characterize thin p-doped polypyrrole (PPy) films in propylene carbonate (PC) solutions and poly(trifluorophenyl)thiophene (PTFPT), in solutions based on sulfolane (SF). It appears that the latter film is much less swelled compared to the former one. One consequence of this difference is that the PTFPT film shows a much higher bulk resistance compared to that for the PPy film. Another important consequence is that the swelling of the PTFPT film is essentially physically non-homogeneous. Two parallel, uncoupled paths, with different chemical diffusion coefficients, model the experimental results adequately. In order to quantify the impedance spectra for both polymer films, we use a model proposed by Rubinstein et al. explaining the difference in the diffusion coefficients of Ru(bpy)^3+/2+ ₃ within a thin Nafion film. The model can also predict the impedance spectra for composite powdery electrodes containing different particle sizes, such as composite cathodes and graphite anodes used in lithium batteries.     

靛红掺杂聚吡咯膜修饰电极的电荷传输

利用交流阻抗法研究了靛红掺杂聚吡咯膜内的电荷传输，通过非线性最小二乘法拟合，得出了体系的等效电路，并计算出其电荷扩散系数和异相电子传递反应速率常数。实验结果表明，随着膜厚的增加，活性点增多，异相电子传递反应速率常数增大，同时表观扩散系数也增大。     

Electrochemical Impedance Analysis of Thermogalvanic Cells

Thermogalvanic cells(also known as thermo-electrochemical cells) that convert waste heat energy to electricity are a new type of energy conversion device. However, the electron transfer kinetics and mass transfer of redox couples have not been thoroughly studied. Here, the ion reaction and charge transport in thermogalvanic cells are investigated by electrochemical impedance analysis. We first propose the detailed impedance model followed experimental verification on three types of electrode materials. Parameters including kinetic rate constants and ion diffusion coefficients for the electrodes are obtained by fitting the impedance data. Our study shows explicitly that impedance analysis can provide useful information on selecting suitable electrode materials for thermogalvanic cells.     

Electrical and magnetic properties of ion-exchangeable layered ruthenates

An ion-exchangeable ruthenate with a layered structure, K_0.2RuO_2.1, was prepared by solid-state reactions. The interlayer cation was exchanged with H⁺, C₂H₅NH₃⁺, and ((C₄H₉)₄N⁺) through proton-exchange, ion-exchange, and guest-exchange reactions. The electrical and magnetic properties of the products were characterized by DC resistivity and susceptibility measurements. Layered K_0.2RuO_2.1 exhibited metallic conduction between 300 and 13 K. The products exhibited similar magnetic behavior despite the differences in the type of interlayer cation, suggesting that the ruthenate sheet in the protonated form and the intercalation compounds possesses metallic nature.