Maskless Preparation of Spatially-Resolved Plasmonic Nanoparticles on Polydimethylsiloxane via In Situ Fluoride-Assisted Synthesis

Here, a fluoride-assisted route for the controlled in-situ synthesis of metal nanoparticles (NPs) (i.e., AgNPs, AuNPs) on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is reported. The size and coverage of the NPs on the PDMS surface are modulated with time and over space during the synthetic process, leveraging the improved yield (10×) and faster kinetics (100×) of NP formation in the presence of F⁻ ions, compared to fluoride-free approaches. This enables the maskless preparation of both linear and step gradients and patterns of NPs in 1D and 2D on the PDMS surface. As an application in flexible plasmonics/photonics, continuous and step-wise spatial modulations of the plasmonic features of PDMS slabs with 1D and 2D AgNP gradients on the surface are demonstrated. An excellent spatially resolved tuning of key optical parameters, namely, optical density from zero to 5 and extinction ratio up to 100 dB, is achieved with AgNP gradients prepared in AgF solution for 12 minutes; the performance are comparable to those of commercial dielectric/interference filters. When used as a rejection filter in optical fluorescence microscopy, the AgNP-PDMS slabs are able to reject the excitation laser at 405 nm and retain the green fluorescence of microbeads (100 µm) used as test cases.     

A branch-and-bound method for the minimum k−enclosing ball problem

The minimum k-enclosing ball problem seeks the ball with smallest radius that contains at least k of m given points. This problem is NP-hard. We present a branch-and-bound algorithm on the tree of the subsets of k points to solve this problem. Our method is able to solve the problem exactly in a short amount of time for small and medium sized datasets.     

Close‐Packed Two‐Dimensional Silver Nanoparticle Arrays: Quadrupolar and Dipolar Surface Plasmon Resonance Coupling

Silver nanoparticles (NPs) ranging in size from 40 to 100 nm were prepared in high yield by using an improved seed‐mediated method. The homogeneous Ag NPs were used as building blocks for 2D assembled Ag NP arrays by using an oil/water interface. A close‐packed 2D array of Ag NPs was fabricated by using packing molecules (3‐mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane) to control the interparticle spacing. The homogeneous 2D Ag NP array exhibited a strong quadrupolar cooperative plasmon mode resonance and a dipolar red‐shift relative to individual Ag NPs suspended in solution. A well‐arranged 2D Ag NP array was embedded in polydimethylsiloxane film and, with biaxial stretching to control the interparticle distance, concomitant variations of the quadrupolar and dipolar couplings were observed. As the interparticle distance increased, the intensity of the quadrupolar cooperative plasmon mode resonance decreased and dipolar coupling completely disappeared. The local electric field of the 2D Ag NP array was calculated by using finite difference time domain simulation and qualitatively showed agreement with the experimental measurements.     

Tips and Tricks for the Surface Engineering of Well-Ordered Morphologically Driven Silver-Based Nanomaterials

Particularly-shaped silver nanostructures are successfully applied in many scientific fields, such as nanotechnology, catalysis, (nano)engineering, optoelectronics, and sensing. In recent years, the production of shape-controlled silver-based nanostructures and the knowledge around this topic has grown significantly. Hence, on the basis of the most recent results reported in the literature, a critical analysis around the driving forces behind the synthesis of such nanostructures are proposed herein, pointing out the important role of surface-regulating agents in driving crystalline growth by favoring (or opposing) development along specific directions. Additionally, growth mechanisms of the different morphologies considered here are discussed in depth, and critical points highlighted.     

Nano-sized Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes and their use as a precursor for synthesis of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles: A study on their sonochemical synthesis,characterization, and DNA-binding/cleavage,anticancer, and antimicrobial activities

Two new divalent copper (C1) and zinc (C2) chelates having the formulae [M(PIMC)₂] (where M = Cu(II), Zn(II) and PIMC = Ligand [(E)-3-(((3-hydroxypyridin-2-yl)imino)methyl)-4H-chromen-4-one] were obtained and characterized by several techniques. Structures and geometries of the synthesized complexes were judged based on the results of alternative analytical and spectral tools supporting the proposed formulae. IR spectral data confirmed the coordination of the ligands to the copper and zinc centers as monobasic tridentate in the enol form. Thermal analysis, UV-Vis spectra and magnetic moment confirmed the geometry around the copper center to be tetrahedral, square pyramidal and octahedral. Study of the binding ability of the synthesized compounds with Circulating tumor DNA (CT-DNA) bas been evaluated applying UV-Vis spectral titration and viscosity measurements. The copper and zinc oxides were achieved from the copper and zinc nano-particles structures Schiff base complexes as the raw material after calcination for 5 hr at 600°C. On the other hand, synthesized of C1 and C2 NPs were used as suitable precursors to the preparation of CuO and ZnO NPs. Finally, the synthesized of the two complexes exhibited enhanced activity against the tested bacterial (Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia Coli) and fungal strains (Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus) as compared to HPIMC. Among all these synthesized compounds, C1 exhibits good cleaving ability compared to other newly synthesized C2.     

Functionalized Silver-Ion-Mediated α-dC/β-dC Hybrid Base Pairs with Exceptional Stability: α-d-5-Iodo-2′-Deoxycytidine and Its Octadiynyl Derivative in Metal DNA

Silver-mediated α-dC–Ag⁺–β-dC hybrid base pairs decorated with 5-iodo- or 5-octadiynyl residues are well accommodated in duplex DNA. A strong T_m increase and favorable thermodynamic data for duplex DNA were observed after addition of silver ions. The phenomenon is particularly obvious when both nucleobases of the base pairs are functionalized. Neither the position of the base pair, nor the type of 5-substituent had a negative influence. On the contrary, functionalization of conventional silver-mediated β-dC–Ag⁺–β-dC homo base pairs showed a negative impact induced by the bulky substituents. To this end, cytosine modified 12-mer oligodeoxynucleotides were prepared by solid-phase synthesis employing new α-anomeric 2′-deoxycytidine phosphoramidites. A multigram scale synthesis was developed for 5-iodo-α-d -2′-deoxycytidine ( 1 ) employing the direct glycosylation of cytosine with Hoffer's α-d -halogenose followed by separation of anomeric DMT nucleosides. Regarding base-pair stability and functionalization silver-mediated α/β-dC hybrid base pairs were found to be superior to β/β-dC homo pairs. According to their extraordinary properties, they might find applications in DNA diagnostics, material science, or nanotechnology.     

提高焊膏印刷质量的工艺改进

焊膏印刷作为SMT工艺的第一步，其质量好坏对SMT工艺有着重要影响。文章通过对焊膏成分、特性的分析，讨论了印刷中各种工艺参数的正确选择；对焊膏印刷中容易出现的质量问题进行了详细分析，指出了产生问题的原因，提出了改进措施。     

Fine Dry Grinding of Zeolite in a Laboratory Ball Mill

This paper presents the importance and usage of natural zeolites, which was recently recognized in the industry. Therefore, the grinding properties of natural zeolite were studied with the emphasis on a kinetic study in a ball mill. The experimental mill employed was laboratory sized, 200 mm diameter, 191 mm length, providing a total mill volume of 6000 cm³, with a total mass of 5.62 kg of steel balls of 25 mm diameter with a charge of 20% of the mill volume and with a rotation speed of 76 rpm. The breakage parameters were determined by using single sized feed fractions of ?850+600 μm, ?600+425 μm, and ?425+300 μm for the zeolite samples. The S_i (specific rate of breakage) and B_{i, j} (primary breakage distribution) values were obtained for those feed size fractions in order to predict the product size distributions by simulation for comparison to the experimental data. From the experimental results, S_i values increased as the feed sizes became coarser, i.e., the highest S_i value was 0.85 min^?1 for ?850+600 μm, while the lowest S_i value was 0.65 min^?1 for ?425+300 μm feed ground in the mill. The B_{i, j} values obtained for the zeolite sample were γ=0.84, ?=0.61, and β=4.25. The breakage parameters obtained showed that the zeolite is broken faster than quartz and slower than calcite and barite in terms of the a_T values reported previously at the same experimental conditions. The simulations of the product size distributions of zeolite were in good agreement with the experimental data using a standard ball mill simulation program. The slowing‐down effect was also seen in the mill after 4 min. of grinding.     

Controlled Synthesis of Ag2S,Ag2Se,and Ag Nanofibers by Using a General Sacrificial Template and Their Application in Electronic Device Fabrication

Nanofiber bundles of Ag₂S, Ag₂Se, and Ag have been successfully synthesized by making use of Ag₂C₂O₄ template nanofiber bundles, utilizing both anion‐exchange and redox reactions. The obtained bundles were polycrystalline nanofibers composed of nanoparticles in which the precursor morphology was well‐preserved, indicating that Ag₂C₂O₄ nanofiber bundles acted as a general sacrificial template for the synthesis of silver‐based semiconductor and metal nanofibers. Dispersing media and transforming reactants were found to be key factors influencing the chemical transformation in the system. In particular, separate single‐crystalline Ag nanofibers were obtained via a nontemplate route when ascorbic acid was used as a relatively weak reductant. An electrical transfer and switching device was built with the obtained Ag₂S and Ag nanofiber bundles, utilizing the unique ion‐conductor nature of Ag₂S and revealing their potential applications in electronics.     

The structure of CeAlO3 by Rietveld refinement of X-ray powder diffraction data

The room temperature structure of perovskite CeAlO₃ has been reinvestigated by X-ray powder diffraction. The Rietveld refinement has confirmed the tetragonal symmetry; but revealed a super cell, a=5.32489(6) Å and c=7.58976(10) Å, with the space group I4/mcm. In CeAlO₃, the distortion from the ideal cubic perovskite is caused by the cooperative tilting of the AlO₆ octahedra around the primitive cubic [001]_p-axis.