3-methylthiophene self-assembled monolayers on planar and nanoparticle Au surfaces

In this article the adsorption of 3-methylthiophene on planar and nanoparticle Au surfaces is investigated. The resulting systems are compared with a benchmark system based on 1-decanethiol. The characterization data collected evidence the formation of a packed 3-methylthiophene SAM on the planar surface. In particular, spectroscopic investigations suggest that 3-methylthiophene aromatic system is not adsorbed on the surface through the pi-electron system but rather through the S atom alone. On the other hand, the behavior of 3-methylthiophene on nanoparticle surfaces is notably different from that of the alkanethiol. Only a limited fraction of the surface of Au nanoparticles results to be actually coated after purification; this notwithstanding, the nanoparticle growth seems to be strongly influenced by the presence of such a labile encapsulating agent.     

Structure and properties of 1,4-benzenedimethanethiol films grown from solution on Au(1 1 1): An XPS and NEXAFS study

Core level photoemission and X-ray absorption at the carbon C 1s edge are applied to the study of chemisorption of 1,4-benzenedimethanethiol molecules on Au(1 1 1) and to investigate the effect of the solvent used to prepare the organic films. 1,4-Benzenedimethanethiol films were prepared in polar and non-polar solvents, i.e. ethanol, methanol and n-hexane. 1,4-Benzenedimethanethiol molecules are anchored to the substrate through a single S-Au bond; the molecules in the films tend to assume an upright orientation, the aromatic ring resulting tilted towards the direction perpendicular to the substrate plane. The films present an effective thickness corresponding to more than a single layer. Only small differences are observed among behaviours in different solvents. It is concluded that the final properties and conformation of the 1,4-benzenedimethanethiol films are largely determined by the reciprocal interactions between the molecules and with the substrate.     

Scattering of low energy Na+ ions from a clean polycrystalline Ag surface

The energy distributions of low energy (E₀ = 0.4–3.2 keV) Na⁺ ions scattered from a clean polycrystalline Ag surface were measured. The angle between the incident beam and the surface was fixed at ψ = 45° while the scattering angle (θ) ranged from 50 to 130°. The cleanliness of the surface during the measurement was maintained by simultaneous deposition of Ag atoms from an effusion source. The obtained distributions considerably differ from the corresponding distributions of noble ions. Firstly, for all measured values of E₀ and θ, an intensive hump is observed in the high energy part of the distribution. In certain cases this hump is transformed into a peak. Secondly, the low energy part of the distribution is very pronounced, especially for higher values of E₀ and θ.     

Sub‐ and Supramolecular X‐Ray Characterization of Engineered Tissues from Equine Tendon,Bovine Dermis,and Fish Skin Type‐I Collagen

Collagen represents one of the most widely used biomaterial for scaffolds fabrication in tissue engineering as it represents the mechanical support of natural tissues. It also provides physical scaffolding for cells and it influences their attachment, growth, and tissue regeneration. Among all fibrillary collagens, type I is considered one of the gold standard for scaffolds fabrication, thanks to its high biocompatibility, biodegradability, and hemostatic properties. It can be extracted by chemical and enzymatic protocols from several collagen‐rich tissues, such as tendon and skin, of different animal species. Both the extraction processes and the manufacturing protocols for scaffolds fabrication provide structural and mechanical changes that can be tuned in order to deeply impact the properties of the final biomaterial. The aim of this review is to discuss the role of X‐rays to study structural changes of type I collagen from fresh collagen‐rich tissues (bovine, equine, fish) to the final scaffolds, with the aim to screen across available collagen sources and scaffolds fabrication protocols to be used in tissue regeneration.     

Simultaneous Determination of Sulfonamides, Fluoroquinolones, Macrolides and Trimethoprim in Wastewater and River Water by LC-Tandem-MS

A sensitive and highly selective method for the simultaneous determination of sulfonamides, macrolides, fluoroquinolones and trimethoprim in wastewater and river water has been developed. Samples were enriched by solid-phase extraction and analysed by reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry. Several surrogate standards were used for quantification purposes. Absolute recoveries of individual antimicrobials were between 49 and 133% with RSD between 1 and 18% in all investigated matrices. Detection limits in low ng L^?1 range were achieved. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of raw municipal wastewater, wastewater effluents and river waters.     

Structural,energetic and spectroscopic characterisation of 5-fluorouracil anticarcinogenic drug isomers,tautomers and ions

ABSTRACT

In many cases, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is the first-line drug used in combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments due to its radio-sensitization properties. It could participate in a tautomerization process similar to that of uracil, where 5-FU may couple to adenine in DNA. At present, we performed structural and spectroscopic studies using quantum chemical methods of neutral and cationic isolated 5-FU anticarcinogenic drug tautomers, either interacting with a water molecule or embedded into an implicit water solvent. Also, we determined the stationary points (both stable structures and transition states) on their ground potential energy surfaces playing a role during the tautomerization processes. For neutral and ionic species in the gas phase and in solvent, the ordering of the tautomers is found to be the same, where the di-keto form of 5-FU is the most stable structure, followed by the keto–enol and di-enol structural forms. The energy barriers for tautomerization are strongly reduced in solvent (< 0.5?eV) compared to isolated species (～2?eV). The patterns of their lowest electronic states are also computed. Our data may help for the identification of these species in vivo and in the laboratory.     

Laser-assisted micro-forming process with miniaturised structures in sapphire dies

Current results will be presented on developing and miniaturising a novel laser-assisted forming process to manufacture microstructures in metals such as stainless steel and aluminum. Due to its mechanical and optical properties, sapphire is a well-suited material for the micro-forming tool. Because of its high band gap, radiation with small wavelengths in the UV range is required to reach the ablation threshold. Thus, excimer lasers are used for manufacturing the microstructures. On the other hand, its high transmittance for higher wavelengths allows heating of the work-piece through the sapphire die during the micro-forming process, which allows a better form filling. The main goal of these investigations is to identify the scaling effects on micro-formed structures that result from miniaturising microstructures on dies for the development of strategies to overcome obstacles caused by these miniaturisation effects.     

Analysis of optodynamic sources generated during laser-induced breakdown in water

We propose a method for evaluating the size of the laser-induced breakdown region in water based on the detection and analysis of optodynamic waves. The breakdown region is an optodynamic source of pressure waves that propagate into the surrounding liquid as an ultrasonic pulse. In the experiment the optical breakdown was generated by a standard ophthalmic Nd:YAG laser with a pulse duration of 10 ns and a maximum energy per pulse of 10 mJ. The pulses were detected inside the liquid with a laser-beam deflection probe. The waveforms were captured in the far-field and analyzed. The analysis provides information about the apparent size of the optodynamic source, which is directly related to the size of the breakdown region. The proposed method can be adapted for online monitoring.     

Pontryagin Classes of Generalized Symmetric Spaces

The real characteristic Pontryagin classes of generalized symmetric spaces with simple compact principal Lie groups are calculated in this paper.