Spontaneous formation of two-dimensional gold networks at the air-water interface and their application in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)

Two-dimensional (2-D) gold networks were spontaneously formed at the air-water interface after HAuCl4 reacted with fructose at 90 degrees C in a sealed vessel, in a reaction in which fructose acted as both a reducing and a protecting agent. Through fine-tuning of the molar ratio of HAuCl4 to fructose, the thus-formed 2-D gold networks can be changed from a coalesced pattern to an interconnected pattern. In the coalesced pattern, some well-defined single-crystalline gold plates at the micrometer-scale could be seen, while in the interconnected pattern, many sub-micrometer particles and some irregular gold plates instead of well-defined gold plates appeared. It is also found that the 2-D gold networks in the form of an interconnected pattern can be used as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) because of the strong localized electromagnetic field produced by the gaps between the neighboring particles in the 2-D gold networks.

Improvement of amplified spontaneous emission performance by doping tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3) in dye-doped polymer thin films

A well-known red fluorescent dye 4-(dicy-anomethylene)-2-t-butyl-6(1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl)4H-pyran (DCJTB) was codoped with an electron transport organic molecule tris(8-hydroxyquinohne) aluminum (Alq3) in a host matrix of polystyrene (PS), and the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) was studied by optically pumping. It was found that the ASE performance was significantly improved by the introduction of Alq3. The Alq3:DCJTB:PS blending thin films showed a low threshold (2.4 mu J/pulse) and a high net gain coefficient (109.95 cm(-1)) compared with the pure DCJTB:PS system (threshold of 15.2 mu J/pulse and gain of 35.94 cm(-1)). The improvement of the ASE performance was considered to be attributable to the effective Foster energy transfer from Alq(3) to DCJTB. Our results demonstrate that the Alq(3):DCJTB could be a promising candidate as gain medium for red organic diode lasers.

Improved amplified spontaneous emission by doping of green fluorescent dye C545T in red fluorescent dye DCJTB : PS polymer films

Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) characteristics of a red fluorescent dye, 4-(dicy-anomethylene)-2-t-butyl-6(1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl)-4H-pyran (DCJTB), and a green fluorescent dye, (10-(2-benzothiazolyl)-1,1,7,7-tetramethyl-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1H,5H,11H-[1] benzopyrano [6,7,8-ij]quinohzin-11-one) (C545T) codoped polystyrene (PS) as the active medium were studied. It was found that the performance of ASE is greatly improved due to the introduction of C545T. By optimizing the concentrations of C545T and DCJTB in PS, an ASE threshold of 0.016 mJ pulse(-1), net gain of 52.71 cm(-1), and loss of 11.7 cm(-1) were obtained. The efficient Forster energy transfer from C545T to DCJTB was used to explain the improvement of the ASE performance in the coguest system.

Synthesis of a novel electroactive ABA triblock copolymer and its spontaneous self-assembly in water

An electroactive triblock copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and aniline pentamer (AP), PEG-block-AP-block-PEG (PAP), was synthesized via polycondensation in the presence of N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC). The UV-vis spectra and cyclic-voltammograms (CV) spectra exhibited an excellent electroactivity of the triblock copolymer. The amphiphilic triblock copolymer self-assembles spontaneously into uniform micellar aggregates when the triblock copolymer was added directly to the aqueous solution. The size of the aggregates can be changed with the oxidation state of the AP segment in the PAP copolymer and the aggregates were pH-sensitive to the surrounding water solution, which provides a potential application in controlled drug release.

Synthesis of tellurium nanorods via spontaneous oxidation of NaHTe at room temperature

Trigonal phase of tellurium (t-Te) nanorods with tapered ends have been synthesized through spontaneous oxidation of NaHTe by dissolved oxygen at room temperature. Utilization of sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate was found to help to obtain high-quality nanorods. The product was characterized by X-ray diffraction and Transmission electron microscopy. In addition, the possible nucleation and growth mechanism of the t-Te nanorods was discussed.

Hydrothermal synthesis and crystal structure of a sulfur-bridged binuclear copper(II) coordination polymer generated by a spontaneous reduction

A simultaneous reduction SO42- to S2- by 2,5-pyridinedicarboxylate under hydrothermal conditions produced a new binuclear copper(II) coordination polymer [CuS(4,4'-bipy)](n) (4,4-bipy = 4,4'-bipyridine) (1). Single crystal X-ray analysis revealed that compound I consisted of sulfur-bridged binuclear copper(II) units with Cu-Cu bonding which were combined with 4,4-bipy to generate a three-dimensional network constructed from mutual interpenetration of two-dimensional (6,3) nets. Crystal data for 1:C10H8CuN2S, tetragonal 14(1)/acd, a = 14.0686(5) Angstrom, b = 14.0686(5) Angstrom, c = 38.759(2) Angstrom, Z = 32. Other characterizations by elemental analysis, IR, EPR and TGA analysis were also described in this paper.

Amplified spontaneous emission and gain from optically pumped films of dye-doped polymers

The amplified spontaneous emission and gain characteristics of various fluorescent dyes, 2-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-6(2-(2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1,1,7,7-tetramethyl-1H,5H-benzo[ij] quinolizin-9-1)ethenyl)-4H-pyran-4-ylidene) propanedinitrile (DCJTB) and 4-dicyanomethylene-2-methyl-6-(p-dimethyl-aminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM), doped in polystyrene (PS) matrices were studied and compared. It was found that DCJTB has a larger net gain, 40.72 cm(-1), a lower loss, 2.49 cm(-1), and a lower threshold, 0.16 (mJ/pulse)/cm(2), than DCM, which has a net gain of 11.95 cm(-1), a loss of 9.25 cm(-1), and a threshold of 4(mJ/pulse)/cm(2). The improvement of performance in DCJTB PS films is attributed to the larger free volume of DCJTB caused by the introduction of steric spacer groups into the DCJTB molecule.

Low threshold amplified spontaneous emission based on coumarin 151 encapsulated in mesoporous SBA-15

Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) characteristics of a blue dye coumarin 151 encapsulated in a highly ordered mesoporous SBA-15 were studied. The spectra narrowing was observed and found that the threshold and loss were greatly reduced, and the gain is significantly increased compared with spin-coated coumarin 151 doped poly(4-vinylphenol) film. The ASE threshold, gain, and loss, respectively, reached 0.55 mJ pulse(-1) cm(-2), 44.78 cm(-1), and 8.9 cm(-1) for the coumarin 151 encapsulated in mesoporous SBA-15 film. The optimized lasing action owes much to the effects of the better spatial confinement of the molecules in the ordered mesoporous structure of the host SBA-15.

Studies on the stability of polyazamacrocycle-Eu (Tb) by potentiometry and its catalytic hydrolysis on phosphate diester

The stability constants and species distributions of complexes of two lanthanide ions, Eu (III) and Tb(III), with a macrocyclic ligand, 3,6, 9, 17 20, 23-hexaazo-29, 30-dihydroxy-13, 27-dimethyl-tricylco-[23,3,1,1(11,15)] triaconta-1 (28) 11,13,15 (30), 25 26-hexane (BDBPH), in 1: 1 and 2: 1 system, were determined potentiometrically in 50% ethanol solution, at 35.0 degrees C and I = 0.100 mol/L (KCl). The two metal ions could form deprotonated mono- or dinuclear complexes with BDBPH with high stability after the three protons of the ligand completely neutralized. At higher pH values, Eu(M) could not form hydroxo complexes with BDBPH, while Tb(III) could form hydroxo complexes in the types of M2L(OH) M2L(OH)(2) and M2L (OH)(2). The kinetic study on the hydrolysis reaction of his (4-nitrophenyl) phosphate (BNPP) catalyzed by Tb-BDBPH system (2:1) was carried out in aqueous solution (pH 7.0 similar to 10.0) at 35 degrees C with I = 0.1000 mol/L (KCl). The second-order rate constant k(BNPP) (2.3 x 10(-3) (mol/L)(-1)center dot s(-1)) was determined. The dinuclear monohydroxo species, L-Tb-2-OH, is kinetically active species.

Intramolecular amide hydrolysis in N-methylmaleamic acid revisited

The intramolecular amide hydrolysis of N-methylmaleamic acid have been revisited by use of density functional theory and inclusion of solvent effects. The results indicate that concerted reaction mechanism is favored over stepwise reaction mechanism. This is in agreement with the previous theoretical study. Sovlent effects have significant influence on the reaction barrier.

Spontaneous emission properties of organic film in plane optical microcavity

The spontaneous emission properties of a single layer organic film in plane optical microcavities were studied. Optical microcavity was formed by a Tris(8-quinolinolato) aluminium (Alq) film sandwiched between a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) and a Ag metallic reflector. Two kinds of microcavities were devised by using a different DBR structure. Compared with a Alq film, significantly spectral narrowing and intensity enhancement was observed in the two microcavities, which is attributed to the microcavity effect. The spectra characteristics of the two microcavities showed that the structure of DBR has much influence on the emission properties of a microcavity. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Binuclear lanthanide complexes as catalysts for the hydrolysis of double-stranded DNA

The efficient cleavage of plasmid DNA ( pCAT) by binuclear lanthanide complexes was investigated. At 37 degrees C and neutral pH, both Ho23+L and Er23+L promoted 100% conversion of supercoiled plasmid to the nicked circular form and linear form in 1 h. The corresponding saturation kinetics curve of cleavage of pCAT plasmid by binuclear lanthanide complexes showed the expected increase with catalyst concentration. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Rare earth complexes with Ge-132 and their catalytic hydrolysis to phosphatide bond of mononucleotide

The complexes of a series of rare earths with Ge-132 have been prepared. The carboxyl anions of Ge-132 molecule were coordinated to rare earth ion with chelate style. In the complexes molecule, the GeO3/2 group of Ge-132 were hydrolyzed to become -Ge(OH)(3) group, and later does:not coordinate with rare earth ions. All of the complexes possess similar properties. In aqueous solution of pH 6 and 50 degrees C, these complexes can obviously selectively catalytically hydrolize the phosphatide bond of 5'-AMP and 5'-dAMP into phosphatic acid and riboside.

Use of lanthanide metal complexes for the hydrolysis of 3 ',5 '- and 2 ',3 ' cyclic nucleotides

Lutetium(III) and lanthanum(III) complexes of 2-carboxyethylgermanium sesquioxide (Ge-132) can hydrolyze the phosphodiester linkage of 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), 3',5'-cyclic deoxyadenosine monophosphate (dcAMP) and 2',3'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (2',3'-cAMP). Both cAMP and dcAMP are hydrolyzed with high selectivity, yielding predominantly 3'-monophosphates. 2',3'-cAMP is converted to 3'-AMP and 2'-AMP, the ratio of 3'-AMP to 2'-AMP produced being 1.4.