Syntheses and molecular structures of four inorganic–organic hybrid compounds from N-containing aromatic bases and perchlorometallates of Zn,Cu, Sn,and Fe

Four organic–inorganic crystals, [(HL1)₂(ZnCl₄)]·H₂O (1) (L1?=?2-methylquinoline), [(HL1)₂(CuCl₄)] (2), [(HL2)₂SnCl₆] (3) (L2?=?6-bromobenzo[d]thiazol-2-amine), and [(HL3)FeCl₄] (4) (L3?=?5,7-dimethyl-1,8-naphthyridine-2-amine), derived from N-containing aromatic Brønsted bases and metal(II) chlorides (zinc(II) chloride, copper(II) chloride dihydrate, tin(II) chloride dihydrate, and iron(III) chloride hexahydrate) were prepared at room temperature and characterized by IR, X-ray structure analysis, elemental analysis, and TG analysis. The crystals are built up by perchlorometallates (Zn, Cu, Sn, and Fe) associated with organic cations through multiple non-covalent associations. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that 1 and 2 have 3-D network structures built from hydrogen bonds between the cations and chlorometallates. Water molecules play an important role in structure extension in 1. Anhydrous 3 and 4 produced from 2-aminoheterocyclic derivatives display 2-D sheet structures. Arrangements of anions and cations are dominated by shape and size of cations, and also by the different structures of the chlorometallates as well as non-bonding interactions in the crystal structures. Except for 1, the other compounds are thermally stable below 240°C.     

Liquid–liquid extraction of copper(II) with substituted salicylideneanilines from sulfate media

The liquid–liquid extraction of copper(II) with Schiff bases in chloroform from sulfate media is studied for pH and concentration of the extractant. Stoichiometry coefficients of the extracted species are determined by the slope analysis method. With salicylideneaniline, the copper(II) is extracted as a mixed chelate complex, CuL₂HL. In the presence of substituent, the copper is extracted as simple chelates, CuL₂. The trends in the values of extraction constants were explained in terms of the nature of the substituents.     

The dynamics of cavitation bubbles in a sealed vessel

A model of cavitation bubbles is derived in liquid confined in an elastic sealed vessel driven by ultrasound. In this model, an assumption that the pressure acting on the sealed vessel due to bubble pulsations is proportional to total volume change of bubbles is made. Numerical simulations are carried out for a single bubble and for bubbles. The results show that the pulsation of a single bubble can be suppressed to a large extent in sealed vessel, and that of two matched bubbles with same ambient radius can be further suppressed. However, when two mismatched bubbles have the same ambient radii, an interesting breathing phenomenon takes place, where one bubble pulsates inversely with the other one. Due to this breathing phenomenon the suppression effect becomes weak, so the maximum radii of two mismatched bubbles can be larger than that of a single bubble or that of two matched bubbles in sealed vessel. Besides that, for two mismatched bubbles with different ambient radii, the small one in sealed vessel under some certain parameters can pulsate as strong as or even stronger than that of a single bubble in an open vessel.     

The role of the bubble–bubble interaction on radial pulsations of bubbles

Using a model that with or without considering the interaction between bubbles through the radiated pressure waves, numerical simulations of cavitation bubbles have been performed in order to study the effect of the bubble–bubble interaction on radial pulsations of bubbles. Comparing the results obtained by with or without considering the bubble–bubble interaction, it is suggested that the suppression or enlargement property of expansion ratios of bubbles due to the bubble–bubble interaction largely depends on the ultrasound parameters, the ambient bubble radii, the distances between bubbles and the number of bubbles (in multi-bubble environment, the last two aspects can be expressed using the coupling strength). The frequency response curve of expansion ratio decreases and shifts to left due to the bubble–bubble interaction and the larger the coupling strength is, the more the left-shifting is.     

Preparation and characterization of a novel green tea essential oil nanoemulsion and its antifungal mechanism of action against Magnaporthae oryzae

Blast is one of the most devastating fungal diseases of rice caused by Magnaporthe oryzae. Plant essential oil (EO) can function as antifungal agents and are regarded as a safe and acceptable method for plant disease control. However, EOs are unstable and hydrophobic, which limits its use. In the present study, we aimed for the preparation and characterization of a nanoemulsion (NE) from green tea essential oil (GTO) by ultrasonication method and determined the antifungal activity of NE on M. oryzae. The particle size and zeta potential of the NE were 86.98 nm and −15.1 mV, respectively. The chemical composition and functional groups of GTO and NE were studied by using GC–MS analysis, portable Raman spectroscopy, and FTIR coupled with chemometric analysis. GC–MS analysis showed the major components in GTO and NE were n-Hexyl cinnamaldehyde and L-α-Terpineol. Both GTO and NE showed good antioxidant activity and total phenol content. Moreover, the NE showed good antifungal activity against M. oryzae which was further confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination. Also, confocal Raman micro-spectroscopy (CRM) revealed the antifungal mechanism of GTO and NE on M. oryzae which proves the cell damage. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the antifungal activity of GTO and NE against M. oryzae and also the use of CRM for the evaluation of the chemical changes in single fungal hyphae in a holistic approach. This study suggests that the prepared NE could be a potential candidate for use as a substitute for synthetic fungicides.     

The effect of HCP on the formation of twin boundaries and dislocations in Ni–Co alloys

In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) was used to simulate the rapid solidification process of Ni₄₇Co₅₃ and Ni₄₈Co₅₂ alloys at a cooling rate of 10¹² K/s. The effects of HCP on the formation of twin boundaries and dislocations in two Ni–Co alloys are studied. It is found that the difference of HCP clusters is the main effect that producing discrepancies on microstructure of two alloys. The number of HCP clusters accounted for 9.23% in Ni₄₇Co₅₃ alloy. They are regularly arranged to form the number of single-layer twin boundaries, and each twin boundary ends in a dislocation. The FCC and HCP structures coexist in the same atomic layers, which is easy to create dislocations. The relatively standard FCC crystal and only 0.32% HCP clusters are formed in Ni₄₈Co₅₂ alloy at 300 K. That small amount of HCP clusters are dispersed on the surface, and cause the formation of dislocation in the border with FCC clusters.     

Emitting layer analysis of blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence devices using capacitance–voltage method

In this paper, blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been elucidated, with a focus on the degradation characteristics of the emission layer (EML). The operational stability against electrical stress was investigated for two host materials and four doping concentrations, which were used as the EML. The operating stability of the devices was confirmed by comparing the peak capacitance before and after degradation. Devices using bis [2-(diphenyl-phosphino) phenyl] ether oxide (DPEPO) as a host exhibited poor degradation characteristics. However, high stability was confirmed when 3,3-di (9H-carba-zol-9-yl)-biphenyl (mCBP) was used. DPEPO host devices are most resistant against performance degradation when they are doped with 10 wt% 10,10'-(4,4′-sulfonylbis(4,1-phenylene))bis(9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine (DMAC-DPS). We successfully determined the electroluminescence characteristics of the device depending on the host material, as well as the doping concentration, using the capacitance–voltage method.     

Effect of quantization and positron concentration on shielding potentials in electron-positron-ion plasma

The kinetic theory of plasma has been employed to compute the test-charge potential distributions accounting for quantization effects in magnetized electron-positron-ion (EPI) plasmas. In this regard, the degenerate positrons and electrons are assumed to follow the Fermi-Dirac distribution, while inertial ions are modelled by Maxwellian velocity distribution. By solving the Fourier-transformed Vlasov–Poisson equations, a modified dielectric function and electrostatic potential is obtained. By imposing various constraints on the test-charge speed, the potential profile has been analysed in terms of Debye–Hückel (DH), far-field (FF), and wake-field (WF) potentials. It has been found that the amplitude of DH and FF potentials increases by the inclusion of quantization effects, and it becomes the opposite for the WF potential profile. Furthermore, the variation of positron concentration significantly affects the DH, FF, and WF potentials. The present findings are important to understand the shielding phenomenon in degenerate multi-species plasmas.     

Impact of Extracellular Polymeric Substance in the Inactivation of Harmful Algae by Ag2O/g-C3N4 under Visible Light

Photocatalysis has attracted much attention as an emerging algae removal technology, but the inactivation performance is inevitably affected by the extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) produced by algae. In this study, a photocatalyst (Ag₂O/g-C₃N₄) with efficient algae inactivation is adopted to investigate the interactions with EPS, and the impact of EPS on photocatalytic algae removal is studied. The results show that EPS can adhere to the surface of Ag₂O/g-C₃N₄ by electrostatic force. The interaction with EPS decreases the surface zeta potential of the Ag₂O/g-C₃N₄ from 7.71 to −22.3 mV with the increase in EPS concentration, and the maximum ratio of particle size increases from 825 to 1281 nm. In addition, the interaction with EPS inhibits the release of Ag⁺ in Ag₂O/g-C₃N₄ by half, thus, the toxicity of metal ions will be alleviated. Meanwhile, EPS can also be degraded by Ag₂O/g-C₃N₄, indicating that EPS can work as a radical scavenger to protect the algae cells. Without the protection of EPS, 97.8% of algae cells are inactivated after 5 h photocatalysis. Therefore, more attention should be given to the interaction between EPS and photocatalyst to promote the design and application of the photocatalytic.     

Thermally Evaporated Ag–Au Bimetallic Catalysts for Efficient Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) has indispensable significance for carbon recycling and renewable energy production. As typical electrochemical catalysts, Au and Ag show relatively high reaction activity and selectivity in CO₂RR. In this study, a series of Ag–Au bimetallic catalysts are designed and synthesized through the thermal evaporation method for efficient yet massive production of electrochemical catalysts. The Ag–Au catalysts show significantly enhanced activity and selectivity in CO₂RR, which is mainly attributed to the increased grain boundaries with well-dispersed single Ag atoms. After the optimization, Au20Ag10 exhibits the best performance with a CO Faraday efficiency of 89% at −0.9 V (vs the reversible hydrogen electrode) with good stability.