Synthesis of 2D Germanane (GeH): a New,Fast, and Facile Approach

Germanane (GeH), a germanium analogue of graphane, has recently attracted considerable interest because its remarkable combination of properties makes it an extremely suitable candidate to be used as 2D material for field effect devices, photovoltaics, and photocatalysis. Up to now, the synthesis of GeH has been conducted by substituting Ca by H in a β‐CaGe₂ layered Zintl phase through topochemical deintercalation in aqueous HCl. This reaction is generally slow and takes place over 6 to 14 days. The new and facile protocol presented here allows to synthesize GeH at room temperature in a significantly shorter time (a few minutes), which renders this method highly attractive for technological applications. The GeH produced with this method is highly pure and has a band gap (E_g) close to 1.4 eV, a lower value than that reported for germanane synthesized using HCl, which is promising for incorporation of GeH in solar cells.     

Photoinduced Charge‐Transfer Interactions on a Graphene/Block Copolymer Electrostatically Bound to Tetracationic Porphyrin in Aqueous Media

Stable dispersions of exfoliated graphene in aqueous media with the aid of the amphiphilic block copolymer poly(isoprene‐b‐acrylic acid) (PI‐b‐PAA), in the form of its anion, were used to electrostatically bind cationic 5,10,15,20‐tetrakis(1‐methyl‐4‐pyridinio)porphine tetra(p‐toluenesulfonate) (H₂P⁴⁺). A new graphene/PI‐b‐PAA^?–H₂P⁴⁺ ensemble was formed and examined by dynamic light scattering, UV/Vis and fluorescence emission spectroscopy. The efficient fluorescence quenching of H₂P⁴⁺ in the graphene/PI‐b‐PAA^?–H₂P⁴⁺ ensemble was probed by using steady‐state and time‐resolved photoluminescence, suggesting that electron/energy‐transfer phenomena occur within the nanoensemble. Blank experiments validated the concept of electrostatic interactions that govern the formation of graphene/PI‐b‐PAA^?–H₂P⁴⁺ ensemble, which signified the importance of graphene as an electron acceptor toward the preparation of some new donor–acceptor systems. Finally, kinetic analysis of the lifetime profiles of the fluorescence emission gave information regarding the quenching rate constant and quantum yield of the singlet excited state of H₂P⁴⁺ in the graphene/PI‐b‐PAA^?–H₂P⁴⁺ ensemble.     

Synthesis of 2D Germanane (GeH): a New,Fast, and Facile Approach

Germanane (GeH), a germanium analogue of graphane, has recently attracted considerable interest because its remarkable combination of properties makes it an extremely suitable candidate to be used as 2D material for field effect devices, photovoltaics, and photocatalysis. Up to now, the synthesis of GeH has been conducted by substituting Ca by H in a β‐CaGe₂ layered Zintl phase through topochemical deintercalation in aqueous HCl. This reaction is generally slow and takes place over 6 to 14 days. The new and facile protocol presented here allows to synthesize GeH at room temperature in a significantly shorter time (a few minutes), which renders this method highly attractive for technological applications. The GeH produced with this method is highly pure and has a band gap (E_g) close to 1.4 eV, a lower value than that reported for germanane synthesized using HCl, which is promising for incorporation of GeH in solar cells.     

Single‐Step Functionalization and Exfoliation of Graphene with Polymers under Mild Conditions

The simultaneous polymer functionalization and exfoliation of graphene sheets by using mild bath sonication and heat treatment at low temperature is described. In particular, free‐radical polymerization of three different vinyl monomers takes place in the presence of graphite flakes. The polymerization procedure leads to the exfoliation of graphene sheets and at the same time the growing polymer chains are attached onto the graphene lattice, which gives solubility and stability to the final graphene‐based hybrid material. The polymer‐functionalized graphene sheets possess fewer defects as compared with previously reported polymer‐functionalized graphene. The success of the covalent functionalization and exfoliation of graphene was confirmed by using a variety of complementary spectroscopic, thermal, and microscopy techniques, including Raman, IR and UV/Vis spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and transmission electron microscopy.     

Spectral signatures and structural motifs in isolated and hydrated monosaccharides: phenyl alpha- and beta-l-fucopyranoside

The conformation and structure of phenyl-alpha-l-fucopyranoside (alpha-PhFuc), phenyl-beta-L-fucopyranoside (beta-PhFuc) and their singly hydrated complexes (alpha,beta-PhFuc.H(2)O) isolated in a molecular beam, have been investigated by means of resonant two photon ionization (R2PI) spectroscopy and ultraviolet and infrared ion-dip spectroscopy. Conformational and structural assignments have been based on comparisons between their experimental and computed near IR spectra, calculated using density functional theory (DFT) and their relative energies, determined from ab initio (MP2) calculations. The near IR spectra of "free" and hydrated alpha- and beta-PhFuc, and many other mono- and di-saccharides, provide extremely sensitive probes of hydrogen-bonded interactions which can be finely tuned by small (or large) changes in the molecular conformation. They provide characteristic "signatures" which reflect anomeric, or axial vs. equatorial differences, both revealed through comparisons between alpha/beta-PhFuc and alpha/beta-PhXyl; or similarities, revealed through comparisons between fucose (6-deoxy galactose) and galactose; or binding motifs, for example, "insertion" vs. "addition" structures in hydrated complexes. At the monosaccharide level (the first step in the carbohydrate hierarchy), these trends appear to be general. In contrast to the monohydrates of galactose (beta-PhGal) and glucose (beta-PhGlc), the conformations of alpha- and beta-PhFuc are unaffected by the binding of a single water molecule though changes in the R2PI spectra of multiply hydrated alpha-PhFucW(n) however, may reflect a conformational transformation when n> or = 3.     

Computation of the Optimal Policy for the Control of a Compound Immigration Process through Total Catastrophes

In this paper we consider a Markov decision model introduced by Economou (2003), in which it was proved that the optimal policy in the problem of controlling a compound immigration process through total catastrophes is of control-limit type. We show that the average cost of a control-limit policy is unimodal as a function of the critical point. This result enables us to design very efficient algorithms for the computation of the optimal policy as the bisection procedure and a special-purpose policy iteration algorithm that operates on the class of control-limit policies.AMS 2000 Subject Classification: Primary 9OC40; Secondary 6OJ25