The Synthesis of a Large Stokes-Shift Dye and Intercalation into the Nanochannels of Zeolite L.

A host-guest-based fluorescent composite with a large Stokes shift was synthesized by intercalating 2,2'-(thiophene-2,5-diyl)bis(benzo[d]oxazol-6-amine) (BBTA) into the nanochannels of zeolite L (ZL) and sealing the pores with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES). To confirm the orientation of the amino groups in BBTA, a single crystal of 2,5-bis(6-nitrobenzo[d]oxazol-2-yl)thiophene (BBTN) was grown and examined by X-ray crystallography. The evidence of successful intercalation of BBTA into the nanochannels of ZL was provided by fluorescence spectrometry, gas sorption and fluorescence microscopy.

Quinacridones as a Building Block for Sustainable Gliding Layers on Ice and Snow.

Quinacridone (QA) and 2,9-dimethylquinacridone (DQA) are synthetic substances suitable as a hard, abrasion-resistant, self-organizing gliding layer on ice and snow. For sustainable use, a large number of parameters must be considered to demonstrate that these non-biogenic substances and their by-products and degradation products are harmless to humans and the environment in the quantities released. For this task, available experimental data are used and supplemented for all tautomers by numerous relevant physical, chemical, toxicological and ecotoxicological estimated values based on various Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) methods.

Indigo-A New Tribological Substance Class for Non-Toxic and Ecological Gliding Surfaces on Ice, Snow, and Water.

The biogenic substance E-indigo can form supramolecular, hydrophobic structures using self-organization. These structures show a low coefficient of friction as a gliding layer against polar surfaces. The formation of primary particles with platelet morphology based on hydrogen-bonded E-indigo molecules is ideal to produce the gliding layer.

Silica particles with fluorescein-labelled cores for evaluating accessibility through fluorescence quenching by copper.

Core-shell particles with fluorescent cores were synthesised by growing silica shells on fluorescein-labelled Stöber-type particles. The porosity of the shell could be altered in a subsequent pseudomorphic transformation step, without affecting the particle size and shape. These core-shell particles constitute a platform for the evaluation of pore connectivity and core accessibility by observing the effect of a quencher on the fluorescence signal emitted by the fluorescein-labelled cores.

Ir-192 radioisotope replacement with a hand-portable 1 MeV Ku-band electron linear accelerator.

Although linear accelerators are used in many security, industrial and medical applications, the existing technologies are too large and expensive for several critical applications such as radioactive source replacement, field radiography and mobile cargo scanners. One of the main requirements for these sources is to be highly portable to allow field operation. In response to this problem, RadiaBeam has designed a hand-portable 1 MeV X-ray source, scalable to higher energies, based on Ku-band split electron linac, that can be used for Ir-192 radioisotope replacement.