Ester formation at the liquid-solid interface.

A chemical reaction (esterification) within a molecular monolayer at the liquid-solid interface without any catalyst was studied using ambient scanning tunneling microscopy. The monolayer consisted of a regular array of two species, an organic acid (trimesic acid) and an alcohol (undecan-1-ol or decan-1-ol), coadsorbed out of a solution of the acid within the alcohol at the interface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) (0001) substrate. The monoester was observed promptly after reaching a threshold either related to the increased packing density of the adsorbate layer (which can be controlled by the concentration of the trimesic acid within the alcoholic solution via sonication or extended stirring) or by reaching a threshold with regards to the deposition temperature.

Magnetic Mesoporous Photonic Cellulose Films.

Novel hybrid materials of cellulose and magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized and characterized. The materials combine the chiral nematic structural features of mesoporous photonic cellulose (MPC) with the magnetic properties of cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4). The photonic, magnetic, and dielectric properties of the hybrid materials were investigated during the dynamic swelling and deswelling of the MPC films.

Photonic metal-polymer resin nanocomposites with chiral nematic order.

Mesoporous resins with chiral nematic order were used as scaffolds to construct novel iridescent metal-polymer composites. Gold, silver and palladium nanoparticles were formed by an in situ reduction reaction. We have investigated the effects of concentration and time on the deposition.

Optically tunable chiral nematic mesoporous cellulose films.

Demand for sustainable functional materials has never been larger. The introduction of functionality into pure cellulose might be one step forward in this field as it is one of the most abundant natural biopolymers. In this paper, we demonstrate a straightforward and scalable way to produce iridescent, mesoporous cellulose membranes with tunable colors and porosity.

Chiral nematic cellulose-gold nanoparticle composites from mesoporous photonic cellulose.

Gold nanoparticles (NPs) have been loaded into mesoporous photonic cellulose (MPC) films. The NPs show a low polydispersity and a nanoparticle-based plasmonic chiroptical activity with potential for novel sensing materials.

Metastable β-Bi2O3 Nanoparticles with Potential for Photocatalytic Water Purification Using Visible Light Irradiation.

Photocatalytic studies under visible light irradiation using nanosized β-Bi2O3 are reported. β-Bi2O3 nanoparticles are prepared starting from the well-defined bismuth oxido cluster [Bi38O45(OMc)24(DMSO)9]⋅2 DMSO⋅7 H2O (OMc=O2CC3H5) using a straightforward hydrolysis and annealing protocol. Powder X-ray diffraction studies, transmission electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance UV/Vis spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption measurements (using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) theory) are used for the characterization of the as-prepared β-Bi2O3.

Mass Spectrometry and Gas-Phase Chemistry of Bismuth-Oxido Clusters.

The mass spectrometric characterisation of bismuth-oxido clusters is described together with tandem mass spectrometric experiments aimed at investigating their gas-phase chemistry. Clusters with different ligand shells (nitrate, salicylates, and methacrylate) and different sizes ({Bi O }, {Bi O }, and {Bi O }) were selected for this study. The following aspects were addressed by (tandem) electrospray ionisation Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron-resonance (ESI-FTICR) mass spectrometry: 1) Electrospray ionisation was used successfully for the generation of intact cluster ions, but led to rather complicated distributions of charge states and solvent adducts.

Metastable β-Bi2O3 nanoparticles with high photocatalytic activity from polynuclear bismuth oxido clusters.

The synthesis of nanoscaled β-Bi(2)O(3) starting from the bismuth oxido clusters [Bi(6)O(4)(OH)(4)](NO(3))(6)·H(2)O, [Bi(22)O(26)(OSiMe(2)(t)Bu)(14)], [Bi(38)O(45)(NO(3))(20)(DMSO)(28)](NO(3))(4)·4DMSO and [Bi(38)O(45)(OMc)(24)(DMSO)(9)]·2DMSO·7H(2)O (OMc = O(2)CC(3)H(5)) under ambient conditions is reported. The metal oxido clusters are regarded as ideal precursors for β-Bi(2)O(3) due to their structural relationship with the latter. Nevertheless, different bismuth oxide polymorphs are accessible dependent on the hydrolysis protocol.

Hydrolysis of a basic bismuth nitrate--formation and stability of novel bismuth oxido clusters.

The synthesis of the nanoscaled bismuth oxido clusters [Bi(38)O(45)(NO(3))(20)(DMSO)(28)](NO(3))(4)·4DMSO (1a) and [Bi(38)O(45)(OH)(2)(pTsO)(8)(NO(3))(12)(DMSO)(24)](NO(3))(2)·4DMSO·2H(2)O (2) starting from the basic bismuth nitrate [Bi(6)O(4)(OH)(4)](NO(3))(6)·H(2)O is reported herein. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, ESI mass spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis, and molecular dynamics simulation were used to study the formation, structure, and stability of these large metal oxido clusters. Compounds 1a and 2 are based on a [Bi(38)O(45)](24+) core, which is structurally related to δ-Bi(2)O(3).