Study of the growth of capped ZnO nanocrystals: a route to rational synthesis

We report the study of complex and unexpected dependencies of nanocrystal size as well as nanocrystal-size distribution on various reaction parameters in the synthesis of ZnO nanocrystals using poly(vinyl pyrollidone) (PVP) as a capping agent. This method establishes a qualitatively different growth mechanism to the anticipated Ostwald ripening behavior. The study of size-distribution kinetics and an understanding of the observed non-monotonic behaviors provides a route to rational synthesis. We used a simple, but accurate, approach to estimate the size-distribution function of nanocrystals from the UV-absorption spectrum. Our results demonstrate the accuracy and generality of this approach, and we also illustrate its application to various semiconducting nanocrystals, such as ZnO, ZnS, and CdSe, over a wide size range (1.8-5.3 nm).     

Triazine interlinked covalent organic polymer as an efficient anti-bacterial agent

Herein, we report the synthesis of new covalent organic polymer comprising triazine and o-tolidine by solvothermal method. The formation of polymer was confirmed by Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FT-IR), cross polarization–magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Their antibacterial activity toward S. aureus (gram-positive) and P. aeruginosa (gram-negative) was assessed by the optical density measurements and direct contact method. These results have great significance toward the design of new porous polymers for antibacterial applications.     

Bound states and band structure—A unified treatment through the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi approach

We analyze the Scarf potential, which exhibits both discrete energy bound states and energy bands, through the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi approach. The singularity structure and the boundary conditions in the above approach, naturally isolate the bound and periodic states, once the problem is mapped to the zero energy sector of another quasi-exactly solvable quantum problem. The energy eigenvalues are obtained without having to solve for the corresponding eigenfunctions explicitly. We also demonstrate how to find the eigenfunctions through this method.     

Fast folding of RNA pseudoknots initiated by laser temperature-jump

RNA pseudoknots are examples of minimal structural motifs in RNA with tertiary interactions that stabilize the structures of many ribozymes. They also play an essential role in a variety of biological functions that are modulated by their structure, stability, and dynamics. Therefore, understanding the global principles that determine the thermodynamics and folding pathways of RNA pseudoknots is an important problem in biology, both for elucidating the folding mechanisms of larger ribozymes as well as addressing issues of possible kinetic control of the biological functions of pseudoknots. We report on the folding/unfolding kinetics of a hairpin-type pseudoknot obtained with microsecond time-resolution in response to a laser temperature-jump perturbation. The kinetics are monitored using UV absorbance as well as fluorescence of extrinsically attached labels as spectroscopic probes of the transiently populated RNA conformations. We measure folding times of 1-6 ms at 37 °C, which are at least 100-fold faster than previous observations of very slow folding pseudoknots that were trapped in misfolded conformations. The measured relaxation times are remarkably similar to predictions of a computational study by Thirumalai and co-workers (Cho, S. S.; Pincus, D.L.; Thirumalai, D. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2009, 106, 17349-17354). Thus, these studies provide the first observation of a fast-folding pseudoknot and present a benchmark against which computational models can be refined.     

Synthesis,structural and optical properties of well dispersed anatase TiO2 nanoparticles by non‐hydrothermal method

The formation of nanocrystalline TiO₂ particles has been investigated via a surfactant‐free synthetic non‐hydrothermal method. Titanium isopropoxide and toluene were used as the starting materials. At a low temperature of 250 °C for 6 h, the reaction mixture turned in to a white precipitate (TiO₂) as a result of the thermal decomposition of metal alkoxide. The obtained product was found to crystallize purely in the anatase phase with well defined morphology. The powder XRD study confirms that the average size of the particle is close to ∼15 nm. The TEM analysis indicates the sizes of the primary and secondary particles in the range between 8‐10 nm and 15‐20 nm respectively. The quantum size confinement of the crystallites is evident from the blue shift of the absorption edge in the UV‐Visible absorption spectrum. The luminescence property of the TiO₂ nanoparticles studied by the emission spectrum confirms the presence of defect levels caused by the oxygen vacancies. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Nucleation kinetics,growth and hardness parameters of l-alanine alaninium picrate (LAAP) single crystals

Amino acids are considered to be the building blocks of proteins and are gaining importance due to their interesting optical behavior. l-alanine is an amino acid which dissolves in water and it can react with other acids to form new compounds. In this work, l-alanine is mixed with picric acid to prepare l-alanine alaninium picrate (LAAP) salt. Solubility and metastable zone width were measured for LAAP salt and induction period was measured at different supersaturation ratios. The critical nucleation parameters were evaluated based on the classical theory of homogeneous nucleation. Using the optimized nucleation parameters, single crystals of LAAP salt were grown by slow evaporation technique. XRD and FTIR studies were carried out to understand structural and molecular formation of the crystal. Microhardness measurements were performed on the grown LAAP crystal and various parameters such as work hardening constant, stiffness constant, yield strength, resistance pressure and corrected hardness were evaluated. Nonlinear optical behavior of the sample was analyzed.     

Force field calculation for inplane vibrations of ethylene usingcndo/Force method

cndo/Force method is used to evaluate redundancy-free internal valence force field (rfivff) for inplane vibrations of ethylene. The bending force constants, the stretch-band and bend-bend interaction force constants are predicted reasonably well in magnitude and sign by this method; whereas stretching force constants and stretch-stretch interactions are overestimated. Initial force field is set up by transferring stretching force constants from structurally-related molecules and including the rest of the force constants fromcndo force field. The field so constructed is subjected to refinement by the least square method. A total of 64 vibrational frequencies of C₂H₄, C₂D₄, C₂H₂D₂ and their¹³C isotopic modifications are used to determine force field containing 15 parameters. The final force field is found to be reasonable on the basis of frequency fits, potential energy distribution and band assignments.     

Blue-emitting copper-doped zinc oxide nanocrystals

We report the first synthesis of Cu doped in the core region of ZnO nanocrystals and fluorescing in the blue region, establishing the novel possibility of using these as fluorescent probes.     

Effect of Ligand Polarity on the Internal Dipoles and Ferroelectric Distortion in BaTiO3 Nanocubes

Surface adsorbates and surrounding matrix species have been demonstrated to affect the properties of nanoscale ferroelectrics and nanoscale ferroelectric composites; potentially counteracting performance losses that can occur in small particle sizes. In this work, the effects of nonpolar oleic acid (OA) and polar tetrafluoroborate (BF₄⁻) ligand capping on the surface of various sizes of BaTiO₃ nanocubes have been investigated with combined neutron diffraction and neutron pair distribution function (PDF), density functional theory (DFT), and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) methods. The low real space PDF region provides an unobstructed view of rhombohedral (split short and long) Ti−O distances in BaTiO₃ nanocubes, mimicking the well-established order-disorder local structure found in bulk BaTiO₃. Interestingly, the intermediate-range order in nanocubes is found to be orthorhombic, rather than tetragonal. It is concluded that polar ligands adsorbed at BaTiO₃ surfaces stabilize the correlation length scale of local rhombohedral distortions in ferroelectric nanoparticles relative to nonpolar ligands.     

Synthesis,crystal growth and characterization of organic NLO material: 4-Bromo-4′-hydroxybenzylidene aniline

One of the novel benzylidene aniline derivatives, 4-bromo-4′-hydroxybenzylidene aniline (BHBA) was synthesized and single crystal of BHBA was grown from solution following slow evaporation method at room temperature. Unit cell parameters of the grown crystal were determined from single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Functional groups of BHBA were identified from Fourier transform infrared spectral study. UV–vis-NIR analysis of BHBA showed that the crystal is transparent between wavelengths 400 and 1100 nm. Thermal stability of the title compound was examined by thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetric studies. Fluorescence spectrum of the grown crystal recorded using spectrofluorometer shows emission peak at 450 nm. The second harmonic generation efficiency of BHBA estimated by Nd:YAG pulsed laser employing the Kurtz powder technique is ∼1.3 times that of potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate. Microhardness studies reveal that BHBA possesses high Vickers hardness value. The dielectric measurements were carried out at different temperatures and frequencies and the results are discussed.