Room temperature ferromagnetism and white light emissive CdS:Cr nanoparticles synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method

Undoped and Cr (3% and 5%) doped CdS nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method. The synthesized nanocrystalline particles are characterized by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence (PL), Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and Raman spectroscopy. XRD studies indicate that Cr doping in host CdS result a structural change from Cubic phase to mixed (cubic + hexagonal) phase. Due to quantum confinement effect, widening of the band gap is observed for undoped and Cr doped CdS nanoparticles compared to bulk CdS. The average particle size calculated from band gap values is in good agreement with the TEM study calculation and it is around 4-5 nm. A strong violet emission band consisting of two emission peaks is observed for undoped CdS nanoparticles, whereas for CdS:Cr nanoparticles, a broad emission band ranging from 420 nm to 730 nm with a maximum at similar to 587 nm is observed. The broad emission band is due to the overlapped emissions from variety of defects. EPR spectra of CdS:Cr samples reveal resonance signal at g = 2.143 corresponding to interacting Cr3+ ions. VSM studies indicate that the diamagnetic CdS nanoparticles are transform to ferromagnetic for 3% Cr3+ doping and the ferromagnetic nature is diminished with increasing the doping concentration to 5%. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Visible light-induced cytotoxicity of a dinuclear iron(III) complex of curcumin with low-micromolar IC50 value in cancer cells

Photoactive metal complexes have emerged as potential candidates in the photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. We present here the synthesis, characterization and visible light-triggered anticancer activity of two novel mixed-ligand oxo-bridged iron(III) complexes, viz., {Fe(L)(acac)}(2)(mu-O)](ClO4)(2) (1) and {Fe (L)(cur)}(2)(mu-O)](ClO4)(2) (2) where L is bis-(2-pyridylmethyl)-benzylamine, acac is acetylacetonate and cur is the monoanion of curcumin (bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-diene-3,5-dione). The crystal structure of complex 1 (as PF6 salt, 1a) shows distorted octahedral geometry of each iron(III) centre formed by the FeN3O3 core. The 1: 2 electrolytic complexes are stable in solution and retain their oxo-bridged identity in aqueous medium. Complex 2 has a strong absorption band in the visible region and shows promising photocytotoxicity in HeLa and MCF-7 cancer cells in visible light giving respective IC50 values of 3.1 +/- 0.4 lM and 4.9 +/- 0.5 lM while remains non-toxic in the dark (IC50 > 50 lM). The control complex 1 is inactive both in the light and dark. Complex 2 accumulates in cytoplasm of HeLa and MCF-7 cells as evidenced from fluorescence microscopy and triggers apoptotic cell death via light-assisted generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Taken together, complex 2 with its promising photocytotoxicity but negligible dark toxicity in cancer cells has significant photochemotherapeutic potential for applications in PDT. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ray tracing based path-length calculations for polarized light tomographic imaging

A ray tracing based path length calculation is investigated for polarized light transport in a pixel space. Tomographic imaging using polarized light transport is promising for applications in optical projection tomography of small animal imaging and turbid media with low scattering. Polarized light transport through a medium can have complex effects due to interactions such as optical rotation of linearly polarized light, birefringence, diattenuation and interior refraction. Here we investigate the effects of refraction of polarized light in a non-scattering medium. This step is used to obtain the initial absorption estimate. This estimate can be used as prior in Monte Carlo (MC) program that simulates the transport of polarized light through a scattering medium to assist in faster convergence of the final estimate. The reflectance for p-polarized (parallel) and s-polarized (perpendicular) are different and hence there is a difference in the intensities that reach the detector end. The algorithm computes the length of the ray in each pixel along the refracted path and this is used to build the weight matrix. This weight matrix with corrected ray path length and the resultant intensity reaching the detector for each ray is used in the algebraic reconstruction (ART) method. The proposed method is tested with numerical phantoms for various noise levels. The refraction errors due to regions of different refractive index are discussed, the difference in intensities with polarization is considered. The improvements in reconstruction using the correction so applied is presented. This is achieved by tracking the path of the ray as well as the intensity of the ray as it traverses through the medium.

Light Induced Metastable State of Silver Nitroprusside Probed by Raman Spectroscopy

Low temperature Raman spectroscopic measurements on silver nitroprusside (AgNP), Ag-2Fe(CN)(5)NO] powders display reversible features of a partially converted metastable state. The results are compared with similarly observed metastable state in case of sodium nitroprusside (NaNP) and the differences have been discussed in terms of possible resistance to metastable state formation offered by silver atoms on the basis of hard soft acid base (HSAB) theory.

Fluoranthene derivatives as blue fluorescent materials for non-doped organic light-emitting diodes

In this study, we report synthesis of symmetrically and non-symmetrically functionalized fluoranthene-based blue fluorescent molecular materials for non-doped electroluminescent devices. The solid state structure of these fluorophores has been established by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Furthermore, a detailed experimental and theoretical study has been performed to understand the effect of substitution of symmetric and non-symmetric functional groups on optical, thermal and electrochemical properties of fluoranthene. These materials exhibit a deep blue emission and high PLQY in solution and solid state. The vacuum deposited, non-doped electroluminescent devices with the device structure ITO/NPD (15 nm)/CBP (15 nm)/EML (40 nm)/TPBI (30 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al were fabricated and characterized. A systematic shift in the peak position of EL emission was observed from sky blue to bluish-green with EL maxima from 477 nm to 490 nm due to different functional groups on the periphery of fluoranthene. In addition, a high luminance of >= 2000 cd m(-2) and encouraging external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 1.1-1.4% were achieved. A correlation of the molecular structure with device performance has been established.

Limited-view light sheet fluorescence microscopy for three dimensional volume imaging

We propose and demonstrate a limited-view light sheet microscopy (LV-LSM) for three dimensional (3D) volume imaging. Realizing that longer and frequent image acquisition results in significant photo-bleaching, we have taken limited angular views (18 views) of the macroscopic specimen and integrated with maximum likelihood (ML) technique for reconstructing high quality 3D volume images. Existing variants of light-sheet microscopy require both rotation and translation with a total of approximately 10-fold more views to render a 3D volume image. Comparatively, LV-LSM technique reduces data acquisition time and consequently minimizes light-exposure by many-folds. Since ML is a post-processing technique and highly parallelizable, this does not cost precious imaging time. Results show noise-free and high contrast volume images when compared to the state-of-the-art selective plane illumination microscopy. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

Optimizing Photovoltaic Response by Tuning Light-Harvesting Nanocrystal Shape Synthesized Using a Quick Liquid-Gas Phase Reaction

The electron recombination lifetime in a sensitized semiconductor assembly is greatly influenced by the crystal structure and geometric form of the light-harvesting semiconductor nanocrystal. When such light harvesters with varying structural characteristics are configured in a photoanode, its interface with the electrolyte becomes equally important and directly influences the photovoltaic efficiency. We have systematically probed here the influence of nanocrystal crystallographic structure and shape on the electron recombination lifetime and its eventual influence on the light to electricity conversion efficiency of a liquid junction semiconductor sensitized solar cell. The light-harvesting cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanocrystals of distinctly different and controlled shapes are obtained using a novel and simple liquid gas phase synthesis method performed at different temperatures involving very short reaction times. High resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic studies respectively exhibit different crystallographic phase content and optical properties. When assembled on a mesoscopic TiO2 film by a linker molecule, they exhibit remarkable variation in electron recombination lifetime by 1 order of magnitude, as determined by ac-impedance spectroscopy. This also drastically affects the photovoltaic efficiency of the differently shaped nanocrystal sensitized solar cells.

Phase dependent photocatalytic activity of Ag loaded TiO2 films under sun light

Well-crystallized anatase and mixed (anatase-rutile) phase TiO2 thin films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering technique at various DC powers in the range of 80-140 W. Pure anatase phase was observed in the TiO2 films deposited at low power of 80 W. Films deposited at 120 W were composed of both anatase and rutile phases. At higher power of 140 W, the films are rutile dominated and the rutile percentage increased from 0 to 82% with increase of DC power. The same results of phase change were confirmed by Raman studies. The surface morphology of the TiO2 films showed that the density of the films increased with increase of sputter power. The optical band gap of the films varied from 3.35 to 3.14 eV with increase of DC power. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 films increased with increasing DC power up to 120 W and after that it decreases. We found that the TiO2 films deposited at 120 W with 48% of rutile phase, exhibited high photocatalytic activity (43% of degradation) under UV light compared with other TiO2 films. After loading the optimized Ag nanoparticles on the mixed phase TiO2 films, the photocatalytic activity shifted from UV to visible region with enhancement of photocatalytic activity (55% of degradation). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimizing Photovoltaic Response by Tuning Light-Harvesting Nanocrystal Shape Synthesized Using a Quick Liquid-Gas Phase Reaction

The electron recombination lifetime in a sensitized semiconductor assembly is greatly influenced by the crystal structure and geometric form of the light-harvesting semiconductor nanocrystal. When such light harvesters with varying structural characteristics are configured in a photoanode, its interface with the electrolyte becomes equally important and directly influences the photovoltaic efficiency. We have systematically probed here the influence of nanocrystal crystallographic structure and shape on the electron recombination lifetime and its eventual influence on the light to electricity conversion efficiency of a liquid junction semiconductor sensitized solar cell. The light-harvesting cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanocrystals of distinctly different and controlled shapes are obtained using a novel and simple liquid gas phase synthesis method performed at different temperatures involving very short reaction times. High resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic studies respectively exhibit different crystallographic phase content and optical properties. When assembled on a mesoscopic TiO2 film by a linker molecule, they exhibit remarkable variation in electron recombination lifetime by 1 order of magnitude, as determined by ac-impedance spectroscopy. This also drastically affects the photovoltaic efficiency of the differently shaped nanocrystal sensitized solar cells.

Phase dependent photocatalytic activity of Ag loaded TiO2 films under sun light

Well-crystallized anatase and mixed (anatase-rutile) phase TiO2 thin films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering technique at various DC powers in the range of 80-140 W. Pure anatase phase was observed in the TiO2 films deposited at low power of 80 W. Films deposited at 120 W were composed of both anatase and rutile phases. At higher power of 140 W, the films are rutile dominated and the rutile percentage increased from 0 to 82% with increase of DC power. The same results of phase change were confirmed by Raman studies. The surface morphology of the TiO2 films showed that the density of the films increased with increase of sputter power. The optical band gap of the films varied from 3.35 to 3.14 eV with increase of DC power. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 films increased with increasing DC power up to 120 W and after that it decreases. We found that the TiO2 films deposited at 120 W with 48% of rutile phase, exhibited high photocatalytic activity (43% of degradation) under UV light compared with other TiO2 films. After loading the optimized Ag nanoparticles on the mixed phase TiO2 films, the photocatalytic activity shifted from UV to visible region with enhancement of photocatalytic activity (55% of degradation). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

White light emissive molecular siblings

The design and synthesis of two structurally close and complementarily fluorescent boron based molecular siblings 2 and 3 are reported. The luminescence properties of individual triads are modulated to complement each other by controlling the intramolecular energy transfer in 2 and 3. The binary mixture of 2 and 3 emits white-light.

Mitochondria-Targeting Iron(III) Catecholates for Photoactivated Anticancer Activity under Red Light

Iron(III) catecholates Fe(R-bpa)(R-dopa)Cl] (1, 2) with a triphenylphosphonium (TPP) moiety, where R-bpa is 2-(TPP-N,N-bis((pyridin-2-yl)methyl)ethanamine) chloride (TPPbpa) and R-dopa is 4-{2-(anthracen-9-yl)methylamino]ethyl}benzene-1,2-diol (andopa, 1) or 4-{2-(pyren-1-yl)-methylamino]ethyl}benzene-1,2-diol (pydopa, 2), were synthesized and their photocytotoxicity studied. Complexes 3 and 4 with phenyl-N,N-bis(pyridin-2-yl)methyl]methanamine (phbpa) were used as controls. The catecholate complexes showed an absorption band near 720 nm. The 5e(-) paramagnetic complexes showed a Fe-III/Fe-II irreversible response near -0.45 V and a quasi-reversible catechol/semiquinone couple near 0.5 V versus saturated calomel electrode (SCE) in DMF/0.1 M tetrabutylammonium perchlorate. They showed photocytotoxicity in red/visible light in HeLa, HaCaT, MCF-7, and A549 cells. Complexes 1 and 2 displayed mitochondrial localization, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation under red light, and apoptotic cell death. Control complexes 3 and 4 exhibited uniform distribution throughout the cell. The complexes showed DNA photocleavage under red light (785 nm), forming hydroxyl radicals as the ROS.

Novel synergistic photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics and bacteria using V-N doped TiO2 under visible light: the state of nitrogen in V-doped TiO2

We report the synthesis of vanadium and nitrogen co-doped TiO2 for photocatalysis mainly emphasizing the state of nitrogen doping into TiO2 in the presence of vanadium ions. Considering the increase in antibiotic resistance developed by microbes due to the excess of pharmaceutical waste in the ecosystem, the photocatalytic activity was measured by degrading an antibiotic, chloramphenicol. A novel experiment was conducted by degrading the antibiotic and bacteria in each other's vicinity to focus on their synergistic photo-degradation by V-N co-doped TiO2. The catalysts were characterized using XRD, DRS, PL, TEM, BET and XPS analysis. Both interstitial and substitutional nitrogen doping were achieved with V-TiO2, showing high efficiency under visible light for antibiotic and bacterial degradation. In addition, the effect of doping concentration of nitrogen and vanadium in TiO2 and catalyst loading was studied thoroughly. Reusability experiments show that the prepared V-N co-doped TiO2 was stable for many cycles.