Photothermal Oxidation of Cinnamyl Alcohol with Hydrogen Peroxide Catalyzed by Gold Nanoparticle/Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide Nanocrystals

Gold nanoparticles with different mean sizes were formed on antimony-doped tin oxide nanocrystals by the temperature-varied deposition-precipitation method (Au/ATO NCs). Au/ATO NCs possess strong absorption in the near-infrared region due to Drude excitation in addition to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of AuNPs around 530 nm. Au/ATO NCs show thermally activated catalytic activity for the oxidation of cinnamyl alcohol to cinnamaldehyde by hydrogen peroxide. The catalytic activity increases with a decrease in the mean Au particle size (d_Au) at 5.3 nm≤d_Au≤8.2 nm. Light irradiation (λ_ex >660 nm, ∼0.5 sun) of Au/ATO NCs increases the rate of reaction by more than twice with ∼95 % selectivity. Kinetic analyses indicated that the striking enhancement of the reaction stems from the rise in the temperature near the catalyst surface of ∼30 K due to the photothermal effect of the ATO NCs.     

Fibre raman amplifier properties for applications to long-distance optical communications

This paper reviews recent theoretical and experimental studies on optical amplification by stimulated Raman scattering (Raman amplification) in single-mode optical fibres, and discusses its possible applications to long-distance optical communications. The fibre Raman amplifier can be used as an in-line optical amplifier in both repeaterless and non-regenerative all-optical repeater configurations. In the former application, signal transmission of over 400 km has been predicted theoretically, although high-power pump sources are considered to be required. In the latter configuration, in which optical fibre losses are compensated for by Raman gains, it has been shown that extremely long-distance transmission over more than 1000 km is feasible in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, where the distance achievable is mainly limited by the accumulation of Raman noise. Recent experimental demonstrations including bit-error rate measurements on the Raman amplified signal, and laser-diode pumped amplification, etc., are also reviewed. The results confirm the effectiveness of fibre Raman amplifiers in future long-haul systems.     

Non-destructive rapid analysis of brominated flame retardants in electrical and electronic equipment using Raman spectroscopy.

Using Raman spectroscopy without any preparation, we analyzed the brominated flame retardant, polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which has been prohibited by the European Union. The typical Raman bands of PBDEs, which are clearly different from those of other brominated flame retardants, are from 100 to 300 cm(-1). In our analysis, the detection limit was about 100 ppm, and the analysis took about 1 min, whereas the usual method of solvent extraction using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy takes 50 h.     

Two-dimensional numerical calculation of the flow field about a scoop inlet by the piecewise linear method

The piecewise linear method (PLM) based on time operator splitting is used to solve the unsteady compressible Euler equations describing the two-dimensional flow around and through a straight wall inlet placed stationary in a rapidly rotating supersonic flow. The PLM scheme is formulated as a Lagrangian step followed by an Eulerian remap. The inhomogeneous terms in the Euler equations written in cylindrical coordinates are first removed by Sod's method and the resulting set of equations is further reduced to two sets of one-dimensional Lagrangian equations, using time operator splitting. The numerically generated flow fields are presented for different values of the back pressure imposed at the downstream exit of the inlet nozzle. An oblique shock wave is formed in front of the almost whole portion of the inlet entrance, the incoming streamlines being deflected towards the higher pressure side after passing through the oblique shock wave and then bending down to the lower pressure side. A reverse flow appears inside the inlet nozzle owing to the recovery pressure of the incoming streams being lower than the back pressure of the inlet nozzle.     

Effect of core-shell micelle formation on the redox properties of phenothiazine-labeled poly(ethyl glycidy ether)-block-poly(ethylene oxide)

Redox properties of phenothiazine-labeled poly(ethyl glycidy ether)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PT-EGE_n-b-EO_m) are reversibly changed by core-shell micelle formation. In the temperature range higher than the critical micellization temperature (cmt), the anodic potential of PT group positively shifts and concomitantly its anodic current decrease, or levels off compared to those of the reference polymer PT-EO_m without the thermo-responsive EGE_n segment. The former alteration is caused by incorporation of hydrophobic PT groups into a core of the micelle and the latter by the decrease in the diffusion coefficient of PT groups due to formation of the core-shell micelles. The cmt value and the temperature-dependent alteration in the redox properties strongly depend on the polymer structure, especially the length of thermo-responsive EGE_n segment. The electrochemically determined hydrodynamic radii of the polymer aggregates seem to be overestimated, compared to the values reported for the aggregates of other thermo-responsive polymers with similar molecular weights, implying the presence of electrochemically inactive PT groups in the copolymers having longer thermo-responsive segments.     

Fabrication and transport properties of multiwall carbon nanotube crossroads

A multiwall carbon nanotube crossroads has been fabricated by a manipulation technique using a glass microcapillary, and the low temperature transport properties investigated. The two-terminal conductance of an individual tube shows Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid behavior G∝T^α at high temperature and dI/dV ∝V ^α at low temperature. However, no evidence of such a power-law behavior is obtained in the four-terminal conductance at the junction, where the conductance shows an almost metallic behavior ‘corrected’ by weak localization. Weak localization would essentially appear in electron states at the junctions of MWNTs.     

Local structure analysis of smoky and colorless topaz using single crystal Al NMR

The angular dependence of the ²⁷Al NMR spectrum was measured for single crystals of smoky and colorless topaz, Al₂SiO₄(F,OH)₂. Smoky topaz was obtained by irradiating high energy neutrons to colorless topaz. The quadrupole coupling constant e²Qq/h and the asymmetry parameter η were obtained from the analysis of the angular dependences of quadrupole splitting of the ²⁷Al NMR spectrum. The local structures around the aluminum atoms in smoky and colorless topaz were discussed from the magnitude and the direction of the electric field gradient. The directions of principal axes of the EFG tensor of ²⁷Al were close to the directions of Al-O and Al-F bonds. The difference in the bond lengths between Al(1)-F(1) and Al(1)-F(2) was found to affect the x and y components of the EFG tensor.     

Altered protein synthesis in rat kidney cells exposed to semiconductor materials

It is thought that the extensive industrial use of arsenic, gallium and indium, which have applications as the materials for III–V semiconductors, will increase human exposure to these compounds in the near future. We have undertaken the development of new biological indicators for assessing exposure to these elements. Element-specific alterations in protein synthesis patterns were expected to occur following exposure to arsenic compounds. We examined alterations in protein synthesis in primary cultures of rat kidney proximal tubule epithelial cells by sodium arsenite, gallium chloride and indium chloride, utilizing two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. After incubation with the chemicals for 20 h, newly synthesized proteins were labeled with [³⁵S]methionine. A protein with a molecular weight (M_r) of 30 000 was markedly induced on exposure to 10 μM arsenite or 300 μM gallium chloride, and synthesis of proteins with M_r values of 85 000, 71 000, 65 000, 51 000, 38 000 and 28 000 were also increased by exposure to arsenite and gallium chloride. No significant changes were observed upon exposure to indium. Some of these increased proteins could be heat-shock proteins.     

Purification and characterization of gamma-enolase from various mammals.

The gamma subunit of enolase (gamma-enolase) was purified from the brain tissues of cow, dog, goat, pig, rabbit, and rat. The purification was achieved in only three steps: ammonium sulfate-precipitation, DE 53 cellulose ion-exchange chromatography, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) in a preparative mode. The purification procedure was comparatively more simple than previously reported methods, and the yield of gamma-enolase was sufficient for subsequent structural and immunological analyses. In all mammals, the purified gamma-enolase migrated in sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE (SDS-PAGE) with a molecular mass of 46 kilodaltons (kDa), and the immunological cross-reactivity between those gamma-enolases was very strong. The structural homology of these gamma-enolases was examined by peptide mapping using cyanogen bromide cleavage and subsequent two-dimensional electrophoresis. The resulting peptide patterns were highly similar and in cow, dog, and goat, the patterns were almost identical. These results indicate that structural homology, that is, the species non-specificity of gamma-enolase, appears to be very high.