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Now showing 1 - 10 of 49
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    Self-propelled micromotors for cleaning polluted water
    (Washington, DC : ACS, 2013) Soler, L.; Magdanz, V.; Fomin, V.M.; Sanchez, S.; Schmidt, O.G.
    We describe the use of catalytically self-propelled microjets (dubbed micromotors) for degrading organic pollutants in water via the Fenton oxidation process. The tubular micromotors are composed of rolled-up functional nanomembranes consisting of Fe/Pt bilayers. The micromotors contain double functionality within their architecture, i.e., the inner Pt for the self-propulsion and the outer Fe for the in situ generation of ferrous ions boosting the remediation of contaminated water.The degradation of organic pollutants takes place in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, which acts as a reagent for the Fenton reaction and as main fuel to propel the micromotors. Factors influencing the efficiency of the Fenton oxidation process, including thickness of the Fe layer, pH, and concentration of hydrogen peroxide, are investigated. The ability of these catalytically self-propelled micromotors to improve intermixing in liquids results in the removal of organic pollutants ca. 12 times faster than when the Fenton oxidation process is carried out without catalytically active micromotors. The enhanced reaction-diffusion provided by micromotors has been theoretically modeled. The synergy between the internal and external functionalities of the micromotors, without the need of further functionalization, results into an enhanced degradation of nonbiodegradable and dangerous organic pollutants at small-scale environments and holds considerable promise for the remediation of contaminated water.
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    The use of matrix-specific calibrations for oxygen in analytical glow discharge spectrometry
    (Dordrecht : Springer, 2014) Gonzalez-Gago, C.; Smid, P.; Hofmann, T.; Venzago, C.; Hoffmann, V.; Gruner, W.
    The performance of glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry for oxygen determination is investigated using a set of new conductive samples containing oxygen in the percent range in three different matrices (Al, Mg, and Cu) prepared by a sintering process. The sputtering rate corrected calibrations obtained at standard conditions for the 4 mm anode (700 V, 20 mA) in GD-OES are matrix independent for Mg and Al but not for Cu. The importance of a "blue shifted" line of oxygen at 130.22 nm (first reported by Köster) for quantitative analyses by GD-OES is confirmed. Matrix-specific calibrations for oxygen in GD-MS are presented. Two source concepts - fast flow (ELEMENT GD) and low gas flow (VG9000) - are evaluated obtaining higher sensitivity with the static flow source. Additional experiments using Ar-He mixtures or μs pulsed GD are carried out in ELEMENT GD aiming to improve the oxygen sensitivity.
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    Quinoidal Azaacenes: 99 % Diradical Character
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH Verlag, 2020) Intorp, S.N.; Hodecker, M.; Müller, M.; Tverskoy, O.; Rosenkranz, M.; Dmitrieva, E.; Popov, A.A.; Rominger, F.; Freudenberg, J.; Dreuw, A.; Bunz, U.H.F.
    Quinoidal azaacenes with almost pure diradical character (y=0.95 to y=0.99) were synthesized. All compounds exhibit paramagnetic behavior investigated by EPR and NMR spectroscopy, and SQUID measurements, revealing thermally populated triplet states with an extremely low-energy gap ΔEST′ of 0.58 to 1.0 kcal mol−1. The species are persistent in solution (half-life≈14–21 h) and in the solid state they are stable for weeks.
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    Magnetic Micromotors for Multiple Motile Sperm Cells Capture, Transport, and Enzymatic Release
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH Verlag, 2020) Xu, H.; Medina-Sánchez, M.; Schmidt, O.G.
    An integrated system combining a magnetically-driven micromotor and a synthetized protein-based hyaluronic acid (HA) microflake is presented for the in situ selection and transport of multiple motile sperm cells (ca. 50). The system appeals for targeted sperm delivery in the reproductive system to assist fertilization or to deliver drugs. The binding mechanism between the HA microflake and sperm relies on the interactions between HA and the corresponding sperm HA receptors. Once sperm are captured within the HA microflake, the assembly is trapped and transported by a magnetically-driven helical microcarrier. The trapping of the sperm-microflake occurs by a local vortex induced by the microcarrier during rotation-translation under a rotating magnetic field. After transport, the microflake is enzymatically hydrolyzed by local proteases, allowing sperm to escape and finally reach the target location. This cargo-delivery system represents a new concept to transport not only multiple motile sperm but also other actively moving biological cargoes.
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    Improving the zT value of thermoelectrics by nanostructuring: Tuning the nanoparticle morphology of Sb2Te3 by using ionic liquids
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Schaumann, Julian; Loor, Manuel; Ünal, Derya; Mudring, Anja; Heimann, Stefan; Hagemann, Ulrich; Schulz, Stephan; Maculewicz, Franziska; Schierning, Gabi
    A systematic study on the microwave-assisted thermolysis of the single source precursor (Et2Sb)2Te (1) in different asymmetric 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium- and symmetric 1,3-dialkylimidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) reveals the distinctive role of both the anion and the cation in tuning the morphology and microstructure of the resulting Sb2Te3 nanoparticles as evidenced by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A comparison of the electrical and thermal conductivities as well as the Seebeck coefficient of the Sb2Te3 nanoparticles obtained from different ILs reveals the strong influence of the specific IL, from which C4mimI was identified as the best solvent, on the thermoelectric properties of as-prepared nanosized Sb2Te3. This work provides design guidelines for ILs, which allow the synthesis of nanostructured thermoelectrics with improved performances.
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    Magnetic superexchange interactions: Trinuclear bis(oxamidato) versus bis(oxamato) type complexes
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015) Abdulmalic, Mohammad A.; Aliabadi, Azar; Petr, Andreas; Krupskaya, Yulia; Kataev, Vladislav; Büchner, Bernd; Zaripov, Ruslan; Vavilova, Evgeniya; Voronkova, Violeta; Salikov, Kev; Hahn, Torsten; Kortus, Jens; Meva, Francois Eya’ane; Schaarschmidt, Dieter; Rüffer, Tobias
    The diethyl ester of o-phenylenebis(oxamic acid) (opbaH2Et2) was treated with an excess of RNH2 in MeOH to cause the exclusive formation of the respective o-phenylenebis(N(R)-oxamides) (opboH4R2, R = Me 1, Et 2, nPr 3) in good yields. Treatment of 1–3 with half an equivalent of [Cu2(AcO)4(H2O)2] or one equivalent of [Ni(AcO)2(H2O)4] followed by the addition of four equivalents of [nBu4N]OH resulted in the formation of mononuclear bis(oxamidato) type complexes [nBu4N]2[M(opboR2)] (M = Ni, R = Me 4, Et 5, nPr 6; M = Cu, R = Me 7, Et 8, nPr 9). By addition of two equivalents of [Cu(pmdta)(NO3)2] to MeCN solutions of 7–9, novel trinuclear complexes [Cu3(opboR2)(L)2](NO3)2 (L = pmdta, R = Me 10, Et 11, nPr 12) could be obtained. Compounds 4–12 have been characterized by elemental analysis and NMR/IR spectroscopy. Furthermore, the solid state structures of 4–10 and 12 have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. By controlled cocrystallization, diamagnetically diluted 8 and 9 (1%) in the host lattice of 5 and 6 (99%) (8@5 and 9@6), respectively, in the form of single crystals have been made available, allowing single crystal ESR studies to extract all components of the g-factor and the tensors of onsite CuA and transferred NA hyperfine (HF) interaction. From these studies, the spin density distribution of the [Cu(opboEt2)]2− and [Cu(opbonPr2)]2− complex fragments of 8 and 9, respectively, could be determined. Additionally, as a single crystal ENDOR measurement of 8@5 revealed the individual HF tensors of the N donor atoms to be unequal, individual estimates of the spin densities on each N donor atom were made. The magnetic properties of 10–12 were studied by susceptibility measurements versus temperature to give J values varying from −96 cm−1 (10) over −104 cm−1 (11) to −132 cm−1 (12). These three trinuclear CuII-containing bis(oxamidato) type complexes exhibit J values which are comparable to and slightly larger in magnitude than those of related bis(oxamato) type complexes. In a summarizing discussion involving experimentally obtained ESR results (spin density distribution) of 8 and 9, the geometries of the terminal [Cu(pmdta)]2+ fragments of 12 determined by crystallographic studies, together with accompanying quantum chemical calculations, an approach is derived to explain these phenomena and to conclude if the spin density distribution of mononuclear bis(oxamato)/bis(oxamidato) type complexes could be a measure of the J couplings of corresponding trinuclear complexes.
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    Syntheses, crystal structure and magnetic properties of Tl9RETe6 (RE = Ce, Sm, Gd)
    (Basel : MDPI AG, 2020) Isaeva, A.; Schönemann, R.; Doert, T.
    The three compounds Tl9RETe6 with RE = Ce, Sm, Gd were synthesized from the elements at 1020 K. Their isostructural crystal structures are ordered derivatives of the Tl5Te3 type with rare-earth metal and thallium occupying different Wyckoff positions. The structures can be understood as charge-ordered in accordance with the Zintl-Klemm concept: 9 Tl+ + RE3+ + 6 Te2-. DFT calculations for Tl9GdTe6, however, result in a low, but finite density of states at the Fermi level. Magnetic data confirm trivalent Gd, but indicate a small amount of Ce4+ in Tl9CeTe6; no indications for long-range magnetic order was found down to T = 2 K.
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    Sc3CH@C80: selective 13C enrichment of the central carbon atom
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Junghans, Katrin; Rosenkranz, Marco; Popov, Alexey A.
    Sc3CH@C80 is synthesized and characterized by 1H, 13C, and 45Sc NMR. A large negative chemical shift of the proton, -11.73 ppm in the Ih and -8.79 ppm in the D5h C80 cage isomers, is found. 13C satellites in the 1H NMR spectrum enabled indirect determination of the 13C chemical shift for the central carbon at 173 ± 1 ppm. Intensity of the satellites allowed determination of the 13C content for the central carbon atom. This unique possibility is applied to analyze the cluster/cage 13C distribution in mechanistic studies employing either 13CH4 or 13C powder to enrich Sc3CH@C80 with 13C.
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    Artificial micro-cinderella based on self-propelled micromagnets for the active separation of paramagnetic particles
    (Cambridge : RSC, 2013) Zhao, G.; Wang, H.; Sanchez, S.; Schmidt, O.G.; Pumera, M.
    In this work, we will show that ferromagnetic microjets can pick-up paramagnetic beads while not showing any interaction with diamagnetic silica microparticles for the active separation of microparticles in solution.
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    Stimuli-responsive nanogel composites and their application in nanomedicine
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015) Molina, Maria; Asadian-Birjand, Mazdak; Balach, Juan; Bergueiro, Julian; Miceli, Enrico; Calderón, Marcelo
    Nanogels are nanosized crosslinked polymer networks capable of absorbing large quantities of water. Specifically, smart nanogels are interesting because of their ability to respond to biomedically relevant changes like pH, temperature, etc. In the last few decades, hybrid nanogels or composites have been developed to overcome the ever increasing demand for new materials in this field. In this context, a hybrid refers to nanogels combined with different polymers and/or with nanoparticles such as plasmonic, magnetic, and carbonaceous nanoparticles, among others. Research activities are focused nowadays on using multifunctional hybrid nanogels in nanomedicine, not only as drug carriers but also as imaging and theranostic agents. In this review, we will describe nanogels, particularly in the form of composites or hybrids applied in nanomedicine.