A molecular fluorophore in citric acid/ethylenediamine carbon dots identified and quantified by multinuclear solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance

The composition of fluorescent polymer nanoparticles, commonly referred to as carbon dots, synthesized by microwave-assisted reaction of citric acid and ethylenediamine was investigated by ¹³C, ¹³C{¹H}, ¹H─¹³C, ¹³C{¹⁴N}, and ¹⁵N solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. ¹³C NMR with spectral editing provided no evidence for significant condensed aromatic or diamondoid carbon phases. ¹⁵N NMR showed that the nanoparticle matrix has been polymerized by amide and some imide formation. Five small, resolved ¹³C NMR peaks, including an unusual ═CH signal at 84 ppm (¹H chemical shift of 5.8 ppm) and ═CN₂ at 155 ppm, and two distinctive ¹⁵N NMR resonances near 80 and 160 ppm proved the presence of 5-oxo-1,2,3,5-tetrahydroimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-7-carboxylic acid (IPCA) or its derivatives. This molecular fluorophore with conjugated double bonds, formed by a double cyclization reaction of citric acid and ethylenediamine as first shown by Y. Song, B. Yang, and coworkers in 2015, accounts for the fluorescence of the carbon dots. Cross-peaks in a ¹H─¹³C HETCOR spectrum with brief ¹H spin diffusion proved that IPCA is finely dispersed in the polyamide matrix. From quantitative ¹³C and ¹⁵N NMR spectra, a high concentration (18 ± 2 wt%) of IPCA in the carbon dots was determined. A pronounced gradient in ¹³C chemical-shift perturbations and peak widths, with the broadest lines near the COO group of IPCA, indicated at least partial transformation of the carboxylic acid of IPCA by amide or ester formation.     

Invariant Cocycles Have Abelian Ranges

 Let R be a discrete nonsingular equivalence relation on a standard probability space , and let V be an ergodic strongly asymptotically central automorphism of R. We prove that every V-invariant cocycle with values in a Polish group G takes values in an abelian subgroup of G. The hypotheses of this result are satisfied, for example, if A is a finite set, a closed, shift-invariant subset, V is the shift, μ a shift-invariant and ergodic probability measure on X, the two-sided tail-equivalence relation on X, a shift-invariant subrelation which is μ-nonsingular, and a shift-invariant cocycle.     

Study of the reaction238U (α, α′f) atE α=480 MeV

The excitation function of the fission probability P _E E _x) for²³⁸U has been measured in the reaction²³⁸U(α, α′ f) at 480 MeV bombarding energy. The reaction mechanism of this reaction is discussed for excitation energies belowB _nf , the threshold for second chance fission, and aboveB _nf up toE _x =37 MeV. In comparing with results from fission induced by photons and by particle transfer reactions the (α, α′f) reaction gives too low values for the fission probabilityP _f at excitation energies well aboveB _nE . The role of the quasi-elastic knock-out process in this reaction is discussed.     

Ground-state properties of LiV2O4 and Li1-xZnx(V1-yTiy)2O4

We present susceptibility, microwave resistivity, NMR and heat-capacity results for Li_1-xZn_x(V_1-yTi_y)₂O₄ with 0 ? x ? 0.3 and 0 ? y ? 0.3. For all doping levels the susceptibility curves can be fitted with a Curie-Weiss law. The paramagnetic Curie-Weiss temperatures remain negative with an average value close to that of the pure compound Θ≈ - 36 K. Spin-glass anomalies are observed in the susceptibility, heat-capacity and NMR measurements for both type of dopants. From the temperature dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation rate we found critical-dynamic behavior in the Zn doped compounds at the freezing temperatures. For the Ti-doped samples two successive freezing transitions into disordered low-temperature states can be detected. The temperature dependence of the heat capacity for Zn-doped compounds does not resemble that of canonical spin glasses and only a small fraction of the total vanadium entropy is frozen at the spin-glass transitions. For pure LiV₂O₄ the spin-glass transition is completely suppressed. The temperature dependence of the heat capacity for LiV₂O₄ can be described using a nuclear Schottky contribution and the non-Fermi liquid model, appropriate for a system close to a spin-glass quantum critical point. Finally an ( x / y , T )-phase diagram for the low-doping regime is presented. Received 16 March 2001 and Received in final form 30 October 2001