Molar extinction coefficients of some carbohydrates in aqueous solutions

Molar extinction coefficients of some carbohydrates viz. l-arabinose (C₅H₁₀O₅), d-glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆), d-mannose (C₆H₁₂O₆), d-galactose (C₆H₁₂O₆), d(-) fructose (C₆H₁₂O₆) and maltose (C₁₂H₂₄O₁₂) in aqueous solutions have been determined at 81, 356, 511, 662, 1173 and 1332 keV by gamma ray transmission method in a narrow beam good geometry set-up. These coefficients have been found to depend upon the photon energy following a 4-parameter polynomial. These extinction coefficients for different sugars having the same molecular formula have same values varying within experimental uncertainty. Within concentration ranges studied, Beer-Lambert law is obeyed very well.     

Shape‐directed platinum nanoparticle synthesis: nanoscale design of novel catalysts

Platinum‐based catalytic materials have received significant attention, particularly in the shape and size control of faceted materials for catalysis. More recently, there has been a rapid increase in the number of reports of successful preparations in this field; however, a fundamental understanding of controlled growth towards catalytic material design is essential for future implementation and broad application. In this review, we provide an overview of the recent findings reported since 2009, focusing on methods for shape control as well as the effects of exposed surface facets on select catalytic reactions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High performance nitrile copolymers for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

This paper reports the fuel cells (DMFC and PEMFC) performance using sulfonated poly(arylene ether ether nitrile) (SPAEEN) copolymers containing sulfonic acid group arranged in structurally different ways. The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) fabricated from SPAEEN containing 60 mol% of angled naphthalenesulfonic acid group (m-SPAEEN-60) had superior performance over those derived from pendent naphthalenesulfonic acid group (p-SPAEEN) or sulfonated hydroquinone (HQ-SPAEEN) in H₂/air and/or DMFC conditions. For example, the current density of the MEA using m-SPAEEN-60 at 0.5 V and 2.0 M methanol was 250 mA/cm², whereas the current densities of the MEAs using p-SPAEEN-50 and HQ-SPAEEN-56 were 185 and 190 mA/cm², respectively. In addition, compared with the sulfonated polysulfone (BPSH-35) and Nafion membranes, the copolymer containing nitrile group showed the improved cell performance. For example, the power density of the MEA using m-SPAEEN-60 at 250 mA/cm² and 2.0 M methanol was 125 mW/cm², whereas the power densities of the MEAs using sulfonated polysulfone (BPSH-35) and Nafion were 115 and 113 mW/cm², respectively. m-SPAEEN-60 showed stable cell performance during extended operation (>100 h).     

Dichlorocarbene Addition to

In contrast to the terminal phosphinidene complex PhPW(CO)(5) (2), which adds to [5]metacyclophane (1) in a 1,4-fashion, dichlorocarbene preferentially adds in a 1,2-fashion to the formal "anti-Bredt" type double bond of the aromatic ring of 1 to afford the norcaradiene 11b, which immediately rearranges to the bridged cycloheptatriene 12b and further by a [1,5] sigmatropic chlorine migration to the isomeric 13b as the first observable product. More slowly, the latter isomerizes via a dissociative mechanism to give 15b. A computational study supports the notion that the [1,5] chlorine migration in the rearrangement 12b --> 13b, for which an activation barrier of 70.2 kJ mol(-)(1) was calculated, is essentially concerted with minor charge separation. In contrast, the analogous [1,5] chlorine migration in the flat model compound 7,7-dichlorocycloheptatriene (12a) displays features of a dissociative pathway.     

Single‐Molecule Nanocatalysis Shows In Situ Deactivation of Pt/C Electrocatalysts during the Hydrogen‐Oxidation Reaction

By coupling a Pt‐catalyzed fluorogenic reaction with the Pt‐electrocatalyzed hydrogen‐oxidation reaction (HOR), we combine single‐molecule fluorescence microscopy with traditional electrochemical methods to study the real‐time deactivation kinetics of a Pt/C electrocatalyst at single‐particle level during electrocatalytic hydrogen‐oxidation reaction. The decay of the catalytic performance of Pt/C could be mainly attributed to the electrocatalysis‐induced etching or dissolution of Pt nanoparticles. Spontaneous regeneration of activity and incubation period of the Pt electrocatalyst were also observed at single‐particle level. All these new insights are practically useful for the understanding and rational design of highly efficient electrocatalysts for application in fuel cells.     

Structural and vibrational characterization of the organic semiconductor tetracene as a function of pressure and temperature

Neutron powder diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering measurements were performed on crystalline tetracene, a molecular semiconductor of triclinic crystal structure that adopts a herringbone layered motif, as a function of pressure up to 358 MPa. In combination with theoretical and simulated computations, these measurements permit detailed characterization of the structural and vibrational changes of tetracene as a function of pressure. Powder diffraction at 295 K reveals anisotropic modification of the crystal structure with increasing pressure. Particularly, the unit cell parameters associated with the two-dimensional herringbone layers of the solid state structure displayed continuous change at all measured pressures, whereas perpendicular to the herringbone layers the structure remains relatively unchanged. The measured compressibilities along the [1 0 0], [0 1 0], and [0 0 1] crystal axes are −3.8 × 10⁻⁴, −1.9 × 10⁻⁴, and −3.4 × 10⁻⁴ Å/MPa, respectively. Inelastic neutron scattering spectra were collected at several pressures in the 25–75 and 0–25 meV energy ranges using a filter analyzer and a Fermi chopper time-of-flight spectrometer, respectively. Assignment of the spectral peaks to specific intramolecular vibrational modes has been accomplished using ab initio density functional theory calculations and the low energy lattice phonon modes were interpreted from the results of molecular dynamics simulations at 1 atm and 358 MPa. Anisotropic behavior parallel to that observed in the structural measurements is also apparent in both the intramolecular and lattice phonon vibrational dynamics. Intramolecular vibrations having atomic displacements entirely within the plane of the molecule’s aromatic ring remain unchanged with increasing pressure while vibrations with atomic displacements perpendicular to the molecular plane shift to higher energy. The lattice phonons display a similar anisotropy with increasing pressure. Phonon modes propagated within the herringbone layer are significantly shifted to higher energy with increasing pressure relative to the modes with displacements primarily perpendicular to the layers. Overall, both the planar internal geometry and the layered arrangement of the tetracene molecules significantly influence the observed structural and vibrational behavior with increasing pressure.