Evidence of the contribution of molecular fluorophores to the luminescence of carbon entities formed by solvothermal treatment of trinitropyrene.

Carbon dots are a subset of carbon nanomaterials with fluorescent properties that render them attractive for various potential applications such as bioimaging and sensing. The past years saw significant progress being made in the understanding of the formation and the underlying fluorescent property. Nevertheless, efforts are still necessary to unravel the formation of carbon dots and the origin of their luminescence, especially for new types of precursor material such as polycyclic aromatic compounds.

Short-chain branched sulfosuccinate as a missing link between surfactants and hydrotropes.

Surfactants aggregate in water into micelles, and these micelles incorporate organic substances to solubilize them. Hydrotropes are compounds that increase the solubility of hydrophobic substances in water without this form of aggregation. Decreasing the chain length of the classical surfactant Aerosol OT (AOT) from C8 to C5 results in a molecule with intermediate properties.

study of the synthesis of thorite (ThSiO) under environmental representative conditions.

Thorite, (ThSiO4) with a zircon type structure, is one of the most abundant natural sources of thorium on Earth. Generally, actinides are known to form nanoparticles in silicate medium, though no direct link between those colloids and the crystalline form of thorite was evidenced until now. Here we show the formation of thorite from colloids and nanocrystalline structures under experimental conditions close to environmental pH and temperature.

Synthesis of poly(diallyldimethylammonium) capped copper hexacyanoferrate (CuHCF) nanoparticles: An efficient stabiliser for Pickering emulsions.

Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) capped copper hexacyanoferrate nanoparticles (CuHCF NPs) with the controlled size are prepared following a precipitation method. While PDDA and CuHCF are not active at the cyclohexane/water interface, PDDA capped CuHCF NPs present synergistic property permitting them to stabilise oil-in-water emulsions for weeks. These latter can be considered as promising precursors for the development of new porous materials considering the fact that the NPs present some interests in the field of nuclear decontamination.

Direct DOC and nitrate determination in water using dual pathlength and second derivative UV spectrophotometry.

UV spectrophotometry is largely used for water and wastewater quality monitoring. The measurement/estimation of specific and aggregate parameters such as nitrate and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is possible with UV spectra exploitation, from 2 to multi wavelengths calibration. However, if nitrate determination from UV absorbance is known, major optical interferences linked to the presence of suspended solids, colloids or dissolved organic matter limit the relevance of UV measurement for DOC assessment.