Evaluation and mechanistic analysis of the effect of the addition of alkaline earth metal CaO on Cd solidification enhancement in lightweight aggregate preparation.

The volatilization of Cd during the preparation of lightweight aggregates (LWAs) can cause serious damage to the environment, so a method to harmlessly transform Cd during this process is required. In this regard, the alkaline earth metal CaO was added to Cd-containing aggregate raw materials for treatment, and the effect of CaO addition on the properties of LWAs in the presence of chlorine and sulfate was investigated. Kinetic models of the Cd volatilization were established by using the Arrhenius equation to predict the volatilization of Cd at different sintering stages.

Efficient photoactivated hydrogen evolution promoted by CuO-gCN-TiO-Au ( = 1,2) nanoarchitectures.

In this work, we propose an original and potentially scalable synthetic route for the fabrication of CuO-gCN-TiO-Au ( = 1,2) nanoarchitectures, based on Cu foam anodization, graphitic carbon nitride liquid-phase deposition, and TiO/Au sputtering. A thorough chemico-physical characterization by complementary analytical tools revealed the formation of nanoarchitectures featuring an intimate contact between the system components and a high dispersion of gold nanoparticles. Modulation of single component interplay yielded excellent functional performances in photoactivated hydrogen evolution, corresponding to a photocurrent of ≈-5.

Fluorescence excitation enhancement by waveguiding nanowires.

The optical properties of vertical semiconductor nanowires can allow an enhancement of fluorescence from surface-bound fluorophores, a feature proven useful in biosensing. One of the contributing factors to the fluorescence enhancement is thought to be the local increase of the incident excitation light intensity in the vicinity of the nanowire surface, where fluorophores are located. However, this effect has not been experimentally studied in detail to date.

Pore performance: artificial nanoscale constructs that mimic the biomolecular transport of the nuclear pore complex.

The nuclear pore complex is a nanoscale assembly that achieves shuttle-cargo transport of biomolecules: a certain cargo molecule can only pass the barrier if it is attached to a shuttle molecule. In this review we summarize the most important efforts aiming to reproduce this feature in artificial settings. This can be achieved by solid state nanopores that have been functionalized with the most important proteins found in the biological system.

Spatioselective surface chemistry for the production of functional and chemically anisotropic nanocellulose colloids.

Maximizing the benefits of nanomaterials from biomass requires unique considerations associated with their native chemical and physical structure. Both cellulose nanofibrils and nanocrystals are extracted from cellulose fibers a top-down approach and have significantly advanced materials chemistry and set new benchmarks in the last decade. One major challenge has been to prepare defined and selectively modified nanocelluloses, which would, , allow optimal particle interactions and thereby further improve the properties of processed materials.

Effect of diluent on the extraction of europium(iii) and americium(iii) with ,,','-tetraoctyl diglycolamide (TODGA).

Solvent extraction of Eu and Am ,,','-tetraoctyl diglycolamide (TODGA) dissolved in different molecular diluents was studied. The diluent types used in this work were primary and secondary alcohols, secondary ketones and alkanes. Effects of concentration of extracting agent, temperature, diluent type and its carbon chain length on the extractions were determined.

Tuning Electrostatic Gating of Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes by Controlling Protein Orientation in Biosensing Devices.

The ability to detect proteins through gating conductance by their unique surface electrostatic signature holds great potential for improving biosensing sensitivity and precision. Two challenges are: (1) defining the electrostatic surface of the incoming ligand protein presented to the conductive surface; (2) bridging the Debye gap to generate a measurable response. Herein, we report the construction of nanoscale protein-based sensing devices designed to present proteins in defined orientations; this allowed us to control the local electrostatic surface presented within the Debye length, and thus modulate the conductance gating effect upon binding incoming protein targets.

Synthesis of highly monodisperse Pd nanoparticles using a binary surfactant combination and sodium oleate as a reductant.

This study presents the synthesis of monodisperse Pd nanoparticles (NPs) stabilized by sodium oleate (NaOL) and hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC). The synthesis was conducted without traditional reductants and Pd-precursors are reduced by NaOL. It was confirmed that the alkyl double bond in NaOL is not the only explanation for the reduction of Pd-precursors since Pd NPs could be synthesized with CTAC and the saturated fatty acid sodium stearate (NaST).

Optical properties of plasmonic nanopore arrays prepared by electron beam and colloidal lithography.

Solid state nanopores are central structures for many applications. To date, much effort has been spent on controlled fabrication of single nanopores, while relatively little work has focused on large scale fabrication of arrays of nanopores. In this work we show wafer-scale fabrication of plasmonic nanopores in 50 nm thick silicon nitride membranes with one or two 30 nm gold films, using electron beam lithography with a negative resist or a new version of colloidal lithography.

A Record Chromophore Density in High-Entropy Liquids of Two Low-Melting Perylenes: A New Strategy for Liquid Chromophores.

Liquid chromophores constitute a rare but intriguing class of molecules that are in high demand for the design of luminescent inks, liquid semiconductors, and solar energy storage materials. The most common way to achieve liquid chromophores involves the introduction of long alkyl chains, which, however, significantly reduces the chromophore density. Here, strategy is presented that allows for the preparation of liquid chromophores with a minimal increase in molecular weight, using the important class of perylenes as an example.

Non-scrambling of hydrogen in NH (HO) clusters.

We have measured the metastable decay of protonated, ammonia-doped, deuterated water clusters produced in an electrospray source, d -NH (HO), = 0-6. The mass spectra show a very strong odd-even effect, consistent with a low degree of scrambling of the hydrogen bound to water and to the ammonia. The relative evaporation rate constant for light water was almost twice the one for heavy water, with the rate for mixed protium-deuterium water molecule intermediate between these two values.