Flow-based solution-liquid-solid nanowire synthesis.

Discovered almost two decades ago, the solution-liquid-solid (SLS) method for semiconductor nanowire synthesis has proven to be an important route to high-quality, single-crystalline anisotropic nanomaterials. In execution, the SLS technique is similar to colloidal quantum-dot synthesis in that it entails the injection of chemical precursors into a hot surfactant solution, but mechanistically it is considered the solution-phase analogue to vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) growth. Both SLS and VLS methods make use of molten metal nanoparticles to catalyse the nucleation and elongation of single-crystalline nanowires.

Ionic liquid mediated routes to polydentate oxygen-donor adducts of cerium(III) bromide.

The preparation of a series of CeBr(3) molecular adducts supported by the polydentate oxygen donor ligands diglyme, dimethoxyethane and tetraglyme is reported. The new complexes are characterized structurally by X-ray diffraction and optically by photoluminescence studies.

Structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of quasi-1D quantum magnets [Ni(HF2)(pyz)2]X (pyz = pyrazine; X = PF6(-), SbF6(-)) exhibiting Ni-FHF-Ni and Ni-pyz-Ni spin interactions.

[Ni(HF(2))(pyz)(2)]X {pyz = pyrazine; X = PF(6)(-) (1), SbF(6)(-) (2)} were structurally characterized by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction and found to possess axially compressed NiN(4)F(2) octahedra. At 298 K, 1 is monoclinic (C2/c) with unit cell parameters, a = 9.9481(3), b = 9.

An ionic liquid-mediated route to cerium(III) bromide solvates.

A novel synthetic route to a series of cerium bromide solvates is reported. The combination of bulk cerium bromide and the ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide results in a precursor paste that enhances the solubility of the cerium(III)bromide moiety in a number of donor solvents. Crystallization from these solvents has resulted in the isolation and characterization of CeBr(3)(THF)(4) (2), CeBr(3)(2-Me-THF)(4) (3), and CeBr(3)(MeCN)(5)·MeCN (4).

Cooperative ordering at liquid crystal interfaces and its role in orientational memory.

Orientational memory in interfacial liquid crystal films occurs when cells heated above the isotropic transition temperature return to their initial ordered texture upon cooling. First observed over 80 years ago, the origins of orientational memory, which is sometimes called the surface memory effect, remain poorly understood. In this study, films of the thermotropic liquid crystal 4'-octyl-4-cyanobiphenyl on graphite were studied by scanning tunneling and polarizing optical microscopy.

AgBF4-impregnated poly(vinyl phenyl ketone): an ethylene sensing film.

Incorporation of silver tetrafluoroborate (AgBF4) into poly(vinyl phenyl ketone) (PVPK) renders the photoluminescent polymer responsive to ethylene. Polymer films prepared with a 2:1 ratio of Ag+ ions to polymer acetophenone groups responded with a quench of photoluminescence. Conditioned films showed a luminescence quench that was proportional to ethylene concentration before saturation occurred.