Determination of uranium and thorium concentrations in some West Malaysian limestones using neutron activation and delayed neutron analysis

Concentrations of uranium and thorium in some West Malaysian limestones have been determined using neutron activation and delayed neutron analyses. These limestones are mainly calcium carbonates and contain uranium and thorium in concentrations of about a few parts per million.     

The effects of annealing temperature on structural and optical properties of S-doped ZnO nanobelts

In this study, the effects of thermal annealing temperature on the structural and optical properties of S-doped ZnO nanobelts were investigated. The XRD pattern shows that the crystallinity of S-doped ZnO nanobelts improves with increased annealing temperature. Room temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy of the as-grown S-doped ZnO nanobelts shows no detectable ultraviolet peak with the broad peaks in the visible emission region at 480, 505, and 518 nm. A weak peak in the ultraviolet region at 383 nm appears after annealing at 400 and 600 °C. Raman spectroscopy of the sample also shows a significant change with an increase in the annealing temperature.     

Electro-optical properties of the first rhenium-hydrazone complex,fac-Re(CO)3(dpknph)*Cl

Reaction between Re(CO)₅Cl and dpknph in PhMe under reflux gave fac-Re(CO)₃(dpknph)Cl in good yield. Both dpknph and fac-Re(CO)₃(dpknph)Cl exhibit rich electro-optical properties that are sensitive to their surroundings and point to the potential use of these compounds in nonlinear optics and molecular sensing. Spectroscopic and electrochemical measurements on solutions of dpknph and fac-Re(CO)₃(dpknph)Cl show that the metal complex undergoes faster electron/charge-transfer than the free ligand. Solvent variations show that the rate increases in the following order: DMSO>DMF>MeCN.     

Carbene vs olefin products of C-H activation on ruthenium via competing alpha- and beta-H elimination

Bulky pincer complexes of ruthenium are capable of C-H activation and H-elimination from the pincer ligand backbone to produce mixtures of olefin and carbene products. To characterize the products and determine the mechanisms of the C-H cleavage, reactions of [RuCl(2)(p-cymene)](2) with N,N'-bis(di-tert-butylphosphino)-1,3-diaminopropane (L1) and 1,3-bis(di-tert-butylphosphinomethyl)cyclohexane (L2) were studied using a combination of X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and DFT computational techniques. The reaction of L1 afforded a mixture of an alkylidene, a Fischer carbene, and two olefin isomers of the 16-e monohydride RuHCl[(t)Bu(2)PNHC(3)H(4)NHPBu(t)(2)] (2), whereas the reaction of L2 gave two olefin and two alkylidene isomers of 16-e RuHCl[2,6-(CH(2)PBu(t)(2))(2)C(6)H(8)] (3), all resulting from dehydrogenations of the ligand backbone of L1 and L2. The key intermediates implicated in the C-H activation reactions were identified as 14-electron paramagnetic species RuCl(PCP), where PCP = cyclometalated L1 or L2. Thus the alpha- and beta-H elimination reactions of RuCl(PCP) involved spin change and were formally spin-forbidden. Hydrogenation of 2 and 3 afforded 16-electron dihydrides RuH(2)Cl(PCP) distinguished by a large quantum exchange coupling between the hydrides.     

A comprehensive overview on the structure and comparison of magnetic properties of nanocrystalline synthesized by a thermal treatment method

This study reports the simple synthesis of MFe₂O₄ (where M=Zn, Mn and Co) nanostructures by a thermal treatment method, followed by calcination at various temperatures from 723 to 873 K. Poly(vinyl pyrrolidon) (PVP) was used as a capping agent to stabilize the particles and prevent them from agglomeration. The pyrolytic behaviors of the polymeric precursor were analyzed by use of simultaneous thermo-gravimetry analyses (TGA) and derivative thermo-gravimetry (DTG) analyses. The characterization studies were conducted by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) confirmed the presence of metal oxide bands for all the calcined samples. Magnetic properties were demonstrated by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), which displayed that the calcined samples exhibited different types of magnetic behavior. The present study also substantiated that magnetic properties of ferrite nanoparticles prepared by the thermal treatment method, from viewing microstructures of them, can be explained as the results of the two important factors: cation distribution and impurity phase of α-Fe₂O₃. These two factors are subcategory of the preparation method which is related to macrostructure of ferrite. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy showed the existence of unpaired electrons ZnFe₂O₄ and MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles while it did not exhibit resonance signal for CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles.     

Silver Nanoparticle Fabrication by Laser Ablation in Polyvinyl Alcohol Solutions

A laser ablation technique is applied for synthesis of silver nanoparticles in different concentrations of polyvinyl alcohol （PVA） aqueous solution. The ablation of high pure silver plate in the solution is carried out by a nanosecond Q-switched Nd：YAG pulsed laser. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy are implemented to explore the particles sizes. The effects of PYA concentrations on the absorbance of the silver nanoparticles are studied as well, by using a UV-vis spectrophotometer. The preparation process is carried out for deionized water as a reference sample. The comparison of the obtained results with the reference sample shows that the formation efficiency of nanoparticles in PYA is much higher and the sizes of particles are also smaller.     

Optosensing behavior of the first Ru(II)-compound of di-2-pyridylketone-p-nitrophenylhydrazone (dpknph), [Ru(bpy)2(dpknph)]Cl2

The reaction between Ru(bpy)(2)Cl(2) (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine) and di-2-pyridylketone-p-nitrophenylhydrazone (dpknph) in refluxing ethanol gave [Ru(bpy)(2)(dpknph)]Cl(2) in good yield. Optical measurements on [Ru(bpy)(2)(dpknph)]Cl(2) in non-aqueous media revealed the presence of two interlocked electronic states due to conformational changes associated with the hydrazone moiety of [Ru(bpy)(2)(dpknph)]Cl(2). The equilibrium distribution of the high-energy beta-conformation associated with the high-energy electronic state and the low-energy alpha-conformation associated with the low-energy electronic state is solvent and solute dependent controlled by the solvent-solute and solute-solute interactions. The interplay between the alpha- and beta-conformations of [Ru(bpy)(2)(dpknph)]Cl(2) allowed calculations of the extinction coefficients of electronic states by forcing the equilibrium to shift to one conformation using chemical stimuli. Extinction coefficients of 56000+/-2000 and 48500+/-2000 M(-1) cm(-1) were calculated in DMSO for the beta- and alpha-conformations of [Ru(bpy)(2)(dpknph)]Cl(2), respectively, using excess HgCl(2) in DMSO. Thermo-optical measurements on [Ru(bpy)(2)(dpknph)]Cl(2) in DMSO confirmed the interconversion between the alpha- and beta-conformations of [Ru(bpy)(2)(dpknph)]Cl(2) and gave changes in enthalpy (DeltaH(?)) of -35.5+/-4.0 and 13.0+/-0.5 kJ mol(-1), entropy (DeltaS(?)) of -126.9+/-20 and 45.2+/-4.5 kJ mol(-1), and free energy (DeltaG(?)) of 2.31+/-0.2 and -0.48+/-0.2 kJ mol(-1) in the absence and presence of NaBH(4) at 295 K. The high values for the extinction coefficients and low values and sensitivity of the activation parameters for the interconversion between the alpha- and beta-conformations of [Ru(bpy)(2)(dpknph)]Cl(2) in DMSO to solution composition allowed for the use of this system ([Ru(bpy)(2)(dpknph)]Cl(2) and surrounding solvent or solute molecules) as a spectrophotometric sensor for a variety of chemical stimuli that include metal ions. Group 12 metal ions in concentrations as low as 1.00x10(-8) M can be detected and determined using [Ru(bpy)(2)(dpknph)]Cl(2) in DMSO in the presence and absence of NaBH(4).     

Effects of substrate on surface morphology, crystallinity, and photoluminescence properties of sputtered ZnO nano films

Effects of substrate on crystallinity, surface morphology, and luminescence properties of radio frequency sputtered zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were investigated. A variety of materials such as Si (100), Si (111), Al₂O₃, quartz, and silicon carbide (SiC) wafers were examined as substrates for deposition of ZnO thin films. The results showed smooth and uniform growth of c-axis orientation films. The thickness of the layers was about 50 nm. The average grain sizes of films were about 10, 13, and 12 nm for Si (111), quartz, and SiC samples, respectively. The deposited film on Al₂O₃ showed the largest grain size, about 500 nm. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction patterns of the samples revealed that sputtered layers on Al₂O₃ and quartz had better crystallinity with higher peak at (002) orientation compared to Si and SiC substrates. Moreover, the Al₂O₃ sample exhibited a weak peak at position of (100) planes of ZnO too. The photoluminescence spectra of the samples showed a typical luminescence behavior with a broad UV band, including a main peak at around 388 nm and a weak shoulder peak at around 381 nm, corresponding with bound excitonic recombination and free excitonic recombination, respectively. The luminescence peak revealed that the intensity of UV emission is not necessarily dependent on the grain sizes and the micro-structural quality of ZnO films.