Multiply doped nanostructured silicate sol-gel thin films: spatial segregation of dopants, energy transfer, and distance measurements

Physical and chemical strategies that place designed molecules in spatially separated regions of surfactant-templated mesostructured silicate thin films are used to prepare films containing rhodamine 6G (R6G), lanthanide complexes, and both simultaneously. Fluorescence and photoexcitation spectra of R6G in amorphous and structured thin films show that it is located inside the surfactant micelles of structured thin films. A silylated ligand that binds lanthanides condenses to form part of the silica framework and causes the lanthanide to localize in the silica. Luminescence and photoexcitation spectra show that energy transfer from the metal complex to R6G occurs in the films. R6G quenches Tb emission in a concentration-dependent manner. Energy transfer efficiency is calculated using the Tb luminescence lifetime, and this quantity is used to calculate the distance between Tb and R6G with the aid of Forster theory.     

Synthesis of Fe—Ni—Ce trimetallic catalyst nanoparticles via impregnation and co-precipitation and their application to dye degradation

In this study, trimetallic catalysts were prepared via the co-precipitation and impregnation methods. In order to investigate the effect of impregnation on the catalytic activity and crystallite size, a trimetallic catalyst, Fe—Ni—Ce, was prepared through the co-precipitation method in one set of experiments, and cerium was impregnated with the Ni—Fe mixture in the final stage of the preparation in another set. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was employed to confirm the formation of trimetallic catalysts and the success of the impregnation method. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller nitrogen adsorption isotherm exhibits a high specific surface area (approximately 39 m² g^?1) for the nanoparticles obtained by the impregnation method. The crystallography and morphology of the trimetallic catalysts thus prepared were characterised by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. UV-VIS spectroscopy and methylene blue dye degradation tests were also performed to investigate the catalytic activity of the synthesised catalysts. The crystalline size was found to be smaller for the catalysts prepared by the impregnation method. In addition, the samples synthesised using the cerium impregnation method showed superior activity in the methylene blue dye degradation test. The effect of the catalyst dosage on dye degradation, as well as the effect of the initial dye concentration on the catalyst activity, was also studied for both methods.     

A review on wound dressings with an emphasis on electrospun nanofibrous polymeric bandages

Wound dressings have experienced continuous and significant changes since the ancient times. The development starts with the use of natural materials to simply cover the wounds to the materials of the present time that could be specially made to exhibit various extraordinary functions. The modern bandage materials made of electrospun biopolymers contain various active compounds that are beneficial to the healing of wounds. These materials are fibrous in nature, with the size of fibers segments ranging from tens of nanometers to micrometers. With the right choices of biopolymers used for these fibrous materials, they could enhance the healing of wounds significantly compared with the conventional fibrous dressing materials, such as gauze. These bandages could be made such that they contain bioactive ingredients, such as antimicrobial, antibacterial, and anti‐inflammatory agents, which could be released to the wounds enhancing their healing. In an active wound dressing (AWD), the main purpose is to control the biochemical states of a wound in order to aid its healing process. This review provides an overview of different types of wounds, effective parameters in wound healing and different types of wound dressing materials with a special emphasis paid to those prepared by electrospinning. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chlorine‐Enhanced Surface Mobility of Au(100)

Motivated by experimental studies of two‐dimensional Ostwald ripening on Au(100) electrodes in chlorine‐containing electrolytes, we have studied diffusion processes using density functional theory. We find that chlorine has a propensity to temporary form AuCl complexes, which diffuse significantly faster than gold adatoms. With and without chlorine, the lowest activation energy is found for the exchange mechanism. Chlorine furthermore reduces the activation energy for the detachment from kink sites. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations were performed on the basis of extensive density functional theory calculations. The island‐decay rate obtained from these Monte Carlo simulations, as well as the decay rate obtained from the theoretical activation energies and frequency factors when inserted into analytical solutions for Ostwald ripening, are in agreement with experimental island‐decay rates in chlorine‐containing electrolytes.     

Adsorption and decomposition of NO on O-covered planar and faceted Ir(2 1 0)

We report on the adsorption and decomposition of NO on O-covered planar Ir(2 1 0) and nanofaceted Ir(2 1 0) with variable facet sizes investigated using temperature programmed desorption (TPD), high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), and density functional theory (DFT). When pre-covered with up to 0.5 ML O, both planar and faceted Ir(2 1 0) exhibit unexpectedly high reactivity for NO decomposition. Upon increasing the oxygen coverage to 0.7 ML O, planar Ir(2 1 0) has little activity while faceted Ir(2 1 0) still remains active toward NO decomposition, although NO decomposition is completely inhibited when both surfaces are pre-covered by 1 ML O. NO molecularly adsorbs on O-covered Ir at 300 K. At low NO and oxygen coverage, NO adsorbs on the atop sites of planar Ir(2 1 0) while on the bridge and atop sites of faceted Ir(2 1 0) composed of (1 1 0) and {3 1 1} faces. No evidence for size effects in the decomposition of NO on O-covered faceted Ir(2 1 0) is observed for average facet size in the range 5-14 nm. Our findings should be of importance for development of Ir-based catalysts for NO decomposition under oxygen-rich conditions.     

Granular micromechanics based micromorphic model predicts frequency band gaps

Granular materials are typically characterized by complex structure and composition. Continuum modeling, therefore, remains the mainstay for describing properties of these material systems. In this paper, we extend the granular micromechanics approach by considering enhanced kinematic analysis. In this analysis, a decomposition of the relative movements of interacting grain pairs into parts arising from macro-scale strain as well as micro-scale strain measures is introduced. The decomposition is then used to formulate grain-scale deformation energy functions and derive inter-granular constitutive laws. The macro-scale deformation energy density is defined as a summation of micro-scale deformation energy defined for each interacting grain pair. As a result, a micromorphic continuum model for elasticity of granular media is derived and applied to investigate the wave propagation behavior. Dispersion graphs for different cases and different ratios between the microscopic stiffness parameters have been presented. It is seen that the model has the capability to present band gaps over a large range of wave numbers.     

Silver nanoparticles supported on ionic‐tagged magnetic hydroxyapatite as a highly efficient and reusable nanocatalyst for hydrogenation of nitroarenes in water

A novel chemically modified magnetic hydroxyapatite (MHAp) was prepared and used as support and stabilizer for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. First, 1,4‐diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) was successfully grafted onto the surface of MHAp, and then silver nanoparticles were homogeneously loaded on mesoporous MHAp‐DABCO (ionic‐tagged MHAp) nanocomposite by in situ chemical reduction of silver nitrate using sodium borohydride. The structure and properties of the resulting MHAp‐DABCO‐Ag nanocomposite were confirmed using various techniques. The catalytic activity of ionic‐tagged MHAp‐Ag nanocatalyst was investigated for the hydrogenation reaction of nitroarenes in aqueous media. The results reveal that the Ag‐containing inorganic–organic nanocomposite is highly efficient for the reduction of a wide range of aromatic nitro compounds under green conditions. The superparamagnetic nature of the nanocatalyst leads to its being readily removed from solution via application of a magnetic field, and it can be easily stored and reused.     

The Perusal of Photofission Fragments Mass Yields for Actinide Isotopes by Systematics Neutron Models

Physics of Atomic Nuclei - Three neutron-induced models have been investigated for photofission phenomena. The fission fragment mass yields were calculated for actinide isotopes by three neutron...     

Deformation parameter changes in fission mass yields within the systematic statistical scission-point model

The fission fragment mass-yields are evaluated for pre-actinide and actinide isotopes using a systematic statistical scission point model. The total potential energy of the fissioning systems at the scission point is presented in approximate relations as functions of mass numbers,deformation parameters and the temperature of complementary fission fragments. The collective temperature, Tcoll, and the temperature of fission fragments, Ti, are separated and the effect of collective temperature on mass yields results is investigated. The fragment temperature has been calculated with the generalized superfluid model. The sum of deformation parameters of complementary fission fragments has been obtained by fitting the calculated results with the experimental data. To investigate the transitions between symmetric and asymmetric modes mass yields for pre-actinide and heavy actinides are calculated with this model. The transition from asymmetric to symmetric fission is well reproduced using this systematic statistical scission point model. The calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental data with Tcoll= 2 Me V at intermediate excitation energy and with T_(coll)= 1MeV for spontaneous fission.Despite the Langevin model, in the scission point model, a constraint on the deformation parameters of fission fragments has little effect on the results of the mass yield.