Analysis of Vicinal Water in Soft Contact Lenses Using a Combination of Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy and Multivariate Curve Resolution

In this paper, we propose a new spectroscopic method to explore the behavior of molecules near polymeric molecular networks of water-containing soft materials such as hydrogels. We demonstrate the analysis of hydrogen bonding states of water in the vicinity of hydrogels (soft contact lenses). In this method, we apply force to hydrated contact lenses to deform them and to modulate the ratio between the signals from bulk and vicinal regions. We then collect spectra at different forces. Finally, we extracted the spectra of the vicinal region using the multivariate curve resolution-alternating least square (MCR-ALS) method. We report the hydration states depending on the chemical structures of hydrogels constituting the contact lenses.     

Green Strategies for the Preparation of Enantiomeric 5–8-Membered Carbocyclic β-Amino Acid Derivatives through CALB-Catalyzed Hydrolysis

Candida antarctica lipase B-catalyzed hydrolysis of carbocyclic 5–8-membered cis β-amino esters was carried out in green organic media, under solvent-free and ball-milling conditions. In accordance with the high enantioselectivity factor (E > 200) observed in organic media, the preparative-scale resolutions of β-amino esters were performed in tBuOMe at 65 °C. The unreacted β-amino ester enantiomers (1R,2S) and product β-amino acid enantiomers (1S,2R) were obtained with modest to excellent enantiomeric excess (ee) values (ee_s > 62% and ee_p > 96%) and in good chemical yields (>25%) in one or two steps. The enantiomers were easily separated by organic solvent/H₂O extraction.     

Current status of biodiesel development in Brazil

In recent years, the concept of producing biodiesel from renewable lipid sources has regained international attention. In Brazil, a national program was launched in 2002 to evaluate the technical, economic, and environmental competitiveness of biodiesel in relation to the commercially available diesel oil. Several research projects were initiated nationwide to investigate and/or optimize biodiesel production from renewable lipid sources and ethanol derived from sugarcane (ethyl esters). Once implemented, this program will not only decrease our dependence on petroleum derivatives but also create new market opportunities for agribusiness, opening new jobs in the countryside, improving the sustainability of our energy matrix, and helping the Brazilian government to support important actions against poverty. This article discusses the efforts to develop the Brazilian biodiesel program in the context of technical specifications as well as potential oilseed sources.     

Computer generation and theoretical study of alicyclic caged structures without small-size cycles

Computer design was concocted for a series of caged alicyclic structures without small cycles. With the help of molecular-mechanical calculations, the enthalpies of formation and the strain energies were determined for the corresponding compounds. The possibility of tile existence of highly strained frameworks without small cycles was analyzed.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2430–2437, October, 1996.     

球磨法制备异质结型光催化剂ZnO/Bi_4Ti_3O_(12)及催化性能

本文用水作为分散介质,掺杂一定量的ZnO于Bi_4Ti_3O_(12)中,采用高能球磨法制备了异质结型光催化剂ZnO/Bi_4Ti_3O_(12).利用UV-Vis、XRD、SEM和PL等仪器对样品进行了分析与表征.以375 W中压汞灯为光源,通过对亚甲基蓝的氧化来研究其光催化活性.结果表明,对于光氧化亚甲基蓝(MB),异质结型光催化剂ZnO/Bi_4Ti_3O_(12)光催化活性高于钛酸铋的光催化活性.当ZnO的掺杂量分别是0.0和0.5wt.%,异质结型光催化剂ZnO/Bi_4Ti_3O_(12)对亚甲基蓝光氧化率分别达到50.2和80.3 %.     

荧光共振能量转移测定牛血清白蛋白的研究

随着生物分析技术进入了后基因组时代,生命科学领域里的研究课题不断深入,DNA、RNA、蛋白质和其他生物大分子的检测技术发展十分迅速,生命科学中单分子分析技术不断揭示出生命活动的客观规律.相关的新的分析方法和仪器不断取得进展,成为生命科学的前沿领域.     

Surface chemistry and electronics of semiconductor–nanosystem junctions I: metal-nanoemitter-based solar cells

Photoelectrochemically prepared nanotopographies on semiconductors are used for realization of nanoemitter solar devices that are active in the photovoltaic and the photoelectrocatalytic mode. The development of solar devices by a nonlinear electrochemical process and combined chemical/electrochemical metal deposition is described. Based on this low-temperature scalable approach, first efficiencies of 7.3% in the photovoltaic mode are reported for the photoelectrochemical solar cell n-Si/SiO₂/Pt/I₃ ⁻–I⁻. With p-Si/Pt nanocomposite structures, light-induced H₂ evolution is achieved. The surface chemistry and morphology is analyzed by photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. The operational principle of Pt-based nanoemitter solar devices that use silicon single crystal absorbers is analyzed by Mott–Schottky plots, chronoamperometric profiles, and PES. Related to simultaneous oxide formation during Pt deposition, evidence for the formation of a metal–oxide–semiconductor junction is obtained that explains the observed electronic behavior. Contribution to the Fall Meeting of the European Materials Research Society, Symposium D: 9th International Symposium on Electrochemical/Chemical Reactivity of Metastable Materials, Warsaw, 17th–21st September 2007.     

Thermal stability of Li2O-SiO2-CaO-P2O5-F glass

Two glasses, the first one with the composition of Li₂O·2SiO₂ and the second one with the addition of CaO, P₂O₅ and CaF₂ in the stoichiometric ratio corresponding to fluoroapatite were prepared and their tendency to crystallize has been studied by non-isothermal DTA analysis. The values of kinetic parameters calculated using the isoconversional integral method have been used to determine the temperature dependencies of both the length of isothermal induction period and the length of overall isothermal crystallization for both glasses. The estimated dependencies indicate that the glass containing CaO, P₂O₅ and CaF₂ has a lower thermal stability.     

First-Principle Calculations of the Adsorption, Dissociation and Diffusion of Hydrogen on the Mg(0001) Surface

First-principle pseudopotential plane wave calculations and the Nudged Elastic Band method based on density functional theory (DFT) have been used in this article to study the dissociation of molecular hydrogen on a Mg(0001) surface and the subsequent diffusion of atomic hydrogen into the magnesium substrate. First, the dissociation pathway of H2 and the relative barrier were investigated. It was shown that physical adsorption rather than chemisorption of molecular hydrogen was observed in the calculation of the dissociation process of molecular hydrogen. Also, the diffusion process of atomic hydrogen on Mg(0001) was presented. The surface effect, which affected the diffusion of hydrogen obviously, was observed. Finally, comparing the values of the activation energies for the steps of dissociation, diffusion, and desorption, our calculation further showed that the dissociation of H2 and the desorption of hydride were the rate-limiting steps.     

Synthesis of fluorinated hyperbranched polymers capable as highly hydrophobic and oleophobic coating materials

A series of coating materials were prepared from two classes of hyperbranched polymers containing short fluorocarbon chains (HPEFs/HPUFs). The obtained hyperbranched polymers were characterized by FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹⁹F NMR, GPC and TG analyses. HPEFs/HPUFs exhibited very low surface free energies (13.67-24.49 mJ/m²) which almost are independent of their internal backbone but dependent on the terminal fluorocarbon chains. Highly hydrophobic and/or oleophobic surfaces of cotton woven fabric can be achieved from these polymers by solution-immersion coating method. The static and dynamic wettabilities of the HPEFs/HPUFs treated fabrics have been investigated. The static contact angles reached to 146°, 122° and 102° for water, hexadecane and decane, respectively. The lowest contact angle hysteresis reached to 5.9°.