Spin-crossover, mesomorphic and thermoelectrical properties of cobalt(II) complexes with alkylated N3-Schiff bases

Three new cobalt(ii) complexes, [Co(L12)2](BF4)2 (1), [Co(L14)2](BF4)2·H2O (2) and [Co(L16)2](BF4)2·H2O (3), where L12-16 are N3-Schiff bases appended with linear C12-16 carbon chains at the nitrogen atoms, were obtained in good yields by facile one-pot reactions. The single crystal X-ray structure of complex 1 shows a tetragonally compressed CoN6 coordination geometry. The melting temperatures of 1-3 were lower than 373 K, while their decomposition temperatures were above 473 K. All complexes have high-spin Co(ii) centres at 300 K and exhibit a columnar mesophase above 383 K. Complexes 1 and 3 showed normal thermal spin-crossover behaviour with weak hysteresis loops at about 320 K. Hence, these complexes showed uncoupled phase transitions (class iiia). The values for the Seebeck coefficient (Se) of the cobalt redox couples formed from 1 and 2 were 1.89 ± 0.02 mV K-1 and 1.92 ± 0.08 mV K-1, respectively, identifying them as potential thermoelectrochemical materials.

Encouraging high expectation entrepreneurship : the implications of Australian policy practices

Recent studies have shown the important roles that new high growth firms can play in job creation and economic development. This paper reviews the positioning of present Australian government policies and programs that intend to be supportive of the development of more high growth businesses; that is those that employ greater than twenty persons. The research explores the environments of a group of new high growth Australian firms and the roles that the various identified government support initiatives have played in their development. The paper also draws on recent research on survival and growth patterns of spin-off companies generated by publicly funded research agencies to map the government support initiatives with the different stages of the high growth business life cycle. The paper reviews issues in the Australian business environment that may have affected the rate of generation of new high growth firms. Of particular relevance has been the progressive freeing up of the Australian labour market and a greater resource allocation to research commercialisation by publicly funded research providers. The analysis has finally separately considered how to produce and support more founders of such high growth firms, their future chief executive officers, the specialist consultants and other professional support people and issues related to access to finance that such firms will need. The research findings draw attention to the important role of government financial support for industry research, particularly at the point where the first product is in the market and resources are scarce. At this point support is vital both to increase the market penetration of the core product and for R&D for product customisation and increasing the product range.

New opportunities for quantitative and time efficient 3D MRI of liquid and solid electrochemical cell components: Sectoral Fast Spin Echo and SPRITE.

The ability to image electrochemical processes in situ using nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers exciting possibilities for understanding and optimizing materials in batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors. In these applications, however, the quality of the MRI measurement is inherently limited by the presence of conductive elements in the cell or device. To overcome related difficulties, optimal methodologies have to be employed. We show that time-efficient three dimensional (3D) imaging of liquid and solid lithium battery components can be performed by Sectoral Fast Spin Echo and Single Point Imaging with T1 Enhancement (SPRITE), respectively. The former method is based on the generalized phase encoding concept employed in clinical MRI, which we have adapted and optimized for materials science and electrochemistry applications. Hard radio frequency pulses, short echo spacing and centrically ordered sectoral phase encoding ensure accurate and time-efficient full volume imaging. Mapping of density, diffusivity and relaxation time constants in metal-containing liquid electrolytes is demonstrated. 1, 2 and 3D SPRITE approaches show strong potential for rapid high resolution (7)Li MRI of lithium electrode components.