Electrocatalysis in confined space

The complex interplay of restricted mass transport leading to local accumulation or depletion of educts, intermediates, products, counterions and co-ions influences the reactions at the active sites of electrocatalysts when electrodes are rough, three-dimensionally mesoporous or nanoporous. This influence is important with regard to activity, and even more to selectivity, of electrocatalytic reactions. The underlying principles are discussed based on the growing awareness of these considerations over recent years.     

Spectroscopic characterization of core and shell regions in monolayer protected gold nanoparticles

We report studies on the structure of the metallic core and the alkyl cap layer in monolayer protected gold nanoparticles having sizes down to 1.6 nm. These particles are obtained by laser ablating gold targets in alkane-thiol solutions at different concentrations. The electronic structure of gold core and the vibrational properties of the capping hydrocarbon chains reveal effects connected with the nanosized nature of the particles.     

Strongly confined quantum wire states in strained T-shaped GaAs/InAlAs structures

The confinement energy of T-shaped quantum wires (QWRs), which were fabricated by the cleaved edge overgrowth technique in a way that the QWRs form at the intersection of In_0.2Al_0.8As stressor layers and the overgrown (1 1 0) GaAs quantum well (QW), is examined using micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy. Photoluminescence (PL) signals from individual QWRs can be spatially resolved, since the strained films are separated by 1 μm wide Al_0.3Ga_0.7As layers. We find that due to the tensile strain being transmitted to the QW, the confinement energy of the QWRs rises systematically up to 40 meV with increasing thickness of the stressor layers. By reducing the excitation power to 0.1 μW the QWR PL emission occurs 48 meV redshifted with respect to the QW. All QWR peaks exhibit smooth lineshapes, indicating the absence of pronounced exciton localization.     

Effect of the polyethylene confinement and topology on its crystallisation within semicrystalline ABC triblock copolymers

The isothermal crystallisation behaviour of the polyethylene block within polystyrene-b-polyethylene-b-poly(ε-caprolactone), SEC, triblock copolymers was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The morphology was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Melting scans after isothermal crystallisation performed at different times were employed to determine the crystallisation kinetics one step at a time (“isothermal step crystallisation”). Double melting endotherms were observed after isothermal crystallisation and they were interpreted as a result of the melting of two lamellar populations. These arise from the intrinsic short chain branching distribution within the hydrogenated polybutadiene chains that conform the PE blocks and from their location within the copolymer microdomains. The Hoffman-Weeks procedure failed to yield reasonable values for the equilibrium melting point of the PE blocks as a result of the distribution of linear sequences present in these blocks. The results indicate that as the degree of PE confinement increases the Avrami index decreases to values that are even lower than 1, a result that can be explained by the nature of the homogeneous nucleation process that is in between sporadic and instantaneous.     

Relativistic calculations on the ground and excited states of AgH and AuH in cylindrical harmonic confinement

The relativistic ground and low-lying excited state potential energy curves of AgH and AuH in the presence of a cylindrical harmonic confining potential were calculated using the multi-state multi-reference perturbation theory with the spin-free no-pair Hamiltonian obtained via the third-order Douglas–Kroll transformation, incorporated with the full two-electron Breit–Pauli spin–orbit operator. The spectroscopic parameters were obtained for both the scalar- and quasi-relativistic potentials. The spin–orbit coupling constants were calculated for several strengths of the confining potential, and the effects of the applied potential on the coupling constants were analyzed using configuration interaction. This paper is dedicated to Serafín Fraga—colleague, mentor, and friend.     

Monte Carlo simulations of down-scattered neutron and knock-on deuteron spectra in deuterium-tritium capsule implosions

A Monte Carlo particle tracking (MCPT) code has been developed and coupled to hydrodynamic simulations to generate and track primary and scattered neutrons in addition to scattered charged particles by post-processing. This code uses one dimensional (1-D) deuterium-tritium implosion profiles, and the computed down-scattered neutron and knock-on deuteron spectra are analyzed for different areal densities. The mixing effects on the spectra of down-scattered neutron and knock-on deuteron are also investigated. The implementation of the numerical scheme is analyzed, and the particle splitting technique is adopted, which is proven to efficiently reduce computational effort.     

Two-dimensional functional molecular nanoarchitectures – Complementary investigations with scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy

Functional molecular nanoarchitectures (FMNs) are highly relevant for the development of future nanotechnology devices. Profound knowledge about the atomically controlled construction of such nanoscale assemblies is an indispensable requirement to render the implementation of such components into a real product successful. For exploiting their full potential the architectures’ functionalities have to be characterized in detail including the ways to tailor them. In recent years a plethora of sophisticated constructs were fabricated touching a wide range of research topics.     

Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Modified with Silylated-salicylaldimine Co(II) and Pd(II) Complexes as Precatalysts in Ethylene Oligomerization

MWCNTs-Co(II) and Pd(II) were prepared through grafting silylated-salicylaldimine Pd(II) and Co(II) on multiwalled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs) for ethylene oligomerization. The structures of the two MWCNTs-supported catalysts were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analyses(TGA) and nitrogen adsorption and desorption. And the influence of the supported pattern on the catalytic properties for ethylene oligomerization was investigated. The results revealed that the silylated-salicylaldimine complexes were grafted on the inner and outer surfaces of the carbon nanotubes and the pore size and BET surface area of MWCNTs decreased. Compared with the homogeneous catalysts, the two MWCNTs-supported catalysts had higher selectivity for hexene and 1-hexene in the presence of diethylaluminum chloride(DEAC) with a small molecule size due to confinement effect. MWCNTs-Pd exhi-bited higher activity and higher selectivity for C₈⁺ olefin compared to MWCNTs-Co due to electronic factors. The catalytic activities of MWCNTs-Pd and MWCNTs-Co decreased from 24.18×10⁵g·(mol Pd·h)^–1 and 20.57×10⁵g·(mol Co·h)^–1 to 19.79×10⁵g·(mol Pd·h)^–1 and 13.14×10⁵g·(mol Co·h)^–1 after the third recycle reaction, respectively.     

A Novel M8L6 Cubic Cage That Binds Tetrapyridyl Porphyrins: Cage and Solvent Effects in Cobalt-Porphyrin-Catalyzed Cyclopropanation Reactions

Confinement of a catalyst can have a significant impact on catalytic performance and can lead to otherwise difficult to achieve catalyst properties. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of a novel caged catalyst system Co−G@Fe₈(Zn−L ⋅ 1)₆ , which is soluble in both polar and apolar solvents without the necessity of any post-functionalization. This is a rare example of a metal-coordination cage able to bind catalytically active porphyrins that is soluble in solvents spanning a wide variety of polarity. This system was used to investigate the combined effects of the solvent and the cage on the catalytic performance in the cobalt catalyzed cyclopropanation of styrene, which involves radical intermediates. Kinetic studies show that DMF has a protective influence on the catalyst, slowing down deactivation of both [Co(TPP)] and Co−G@Fe₈(Zn−L ⋅ 1)₆ , leading to higher TONs in this solvent. Moreover, DFT studies on the [Co(TPP)] catalyst show that the rate determining energy barrier of this radical-type transformation is not influenced by the coordination of DMF. As such, the increased TONs obtained experimentally stem from the stabilizing effect of DMF and are not due to an intrinsic higher activity caused by axial ligand binding to the cobalt center ([Co(TPP)(L)]) . Remarkably, encapsulation of Co−G led to a three times more active catalyst than [Co(TPP)] (TOF_ini) and a substantially increased TON compared to both [Co(TPP)] and free Co−G . The increased local concentration of the substrates in the hydrophobic cage compared to the bulk explains the observed higher catalytic activities.     

高双折射微结构光纤特性的研究

采用基于单轴各向异性完美匹配层吸收边界的频域有限差分方法研究一种椭圆芯高双折射微结构光纤的特性.通过计算,分析了空气孔尺寸和孔距对模式双折射、泄漏损耗以及模式截止波长的影响;综合研究了双折射微结构光纤的几种特性及其相互之间的影响和制约关系;并首次采用有效面积的方法研究高双折射微结构光纤的模式截止特性,分析单模传输条件;从而为高双折射微结构光纤的设计提供了一定的理论依据.