Facile Synthesis of γ‐In2Se3 Nanoflowers toward High Performance Self‐Powered Broadband γ‐In2Se3/Si Heterojunction Photodiode

An effective colloidal process involving the hot‐injection method is developed to synthesize uniform nanoflowers consisting of 2D γ‐In₂Se₃ nanosheets. By exploiting the narrow direct bandgap and high absorption coefficient in the visible light range of In₂Se₃, a high‐quality γ‐In₂Se₃/Si heterojunction photodiode is fabricated. This photodiode shows a high photoresponse under light illumination, short response/recovery times, and long‐term durability. In addition, the γ‐In₂Se₃/Si heterojunction photodiode is self‐powered and displays a broadband spectral response ranging from UV to IR with a high responsivity and detectivity. These excellent performances make the γ‐In₂Se₃/Si heterojunction very interesting as highly efficient photodetectors.     

Thermisch gespritzte Schichten im System Al2O3–Cr2O3–TiO2 – ein Update

With exception of ZrO₂, the individual oxides and binary compositions in the system Al₂O₃–Cr₂O₃–TiO₂ are the most important oxide materials for the preparation of thermally sprayed coatings. In this contribution selected results of recent own research activities are summarized. This includes the comparison of microstructures, phase compositions, and properties of coatings, deposited by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) and high velocity oxy‐fuel (HVOF) spraying. The possibilities arriving from the use of suspensions as feedstock are reviewed. Special attention is paid to the advantage of use of binary compositions in this system. Tribological, electrical and corrosion properties of the coatings are discussed.     

In Situ Study of γ‐TiAl Lamellae Formation in Supersaturated α2‐Ti3Al Grains

In situ heating transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to investigate the initial stage of γ‐TiAl lamellae formation in an intermetallic Ti–45Al–7.5Nb alloy (in at.%). The material was heat treated and quenched in a non‐equilibrium state to consist mainly of supersaturated, ordered α₂‐Ti₃Al grains. Subsequently, specimens were annealed inside a TEM up to 750 °C. The in situ TEM study revealed that ultra‐fine γ‐TiAl laths precipitate in the α₂‐matrix at ≈730 °C which exhibit the classical Blackburn orientation relationship, i.e. (0001)α₂//(111)γ and [$11{\bar {2}}0$ ]α₂//<110]γ. The microstructural development observed in the in situ TEM experiment is compared to results from conventional ex situ TEM studies. In order to investigate the precipitation behavior of the γ‐phase with a complementary method, in situ high energy X‐ray diffraction experiments were performed which confirmed the finding that γ‐laths start to precipitate at ≈730 °C from the supersaturated α₂‐matrix.     

Multilayer Amorphous‐Si‐B‐C‐N/γ‐Al2O3/α‐Al2O3 Membranes for Hydrogen Purification

The hydrogen and carbon monoxide separation is an important step in the hydrogen production process. If H₂ can be selectively removed from the product side during hydrogen production in membrane reactors, then it would be possible to achieve complete CO conversion in a single‐step under high temperature conditions. In the present work, the multilayer amorphous‐Si‐B‐C‐N/γ‐Al₂O₃/α‐Al₂O₃ membranes with gradient porosity have been realized and assessed with respect to the thermal stability, geometry of pore space and H₂/CO permeance. The α‐Al₂O₃ support has a bimodal pore‐size distribution of about 0.64 and 0.045 µm being macroporous and the intermediate γ‐Al₂O₃ layer—deposited from boehmite colloidal dispersion—has an average pore‐size of 8 nm being mesoporous. The results obtained by the N₂‐adsorption method indicate a decrease in the volume of micropores—0.35 vs. 0.75 cm³ g^?1—and a smaller pore size ?6.8 vs. 7.4 Å—in membranes with the intermediate mesoporous γ‐Al₂O₃ layer if compared to those without. The three times Si‐B‐C‐N coated multilayer membranes show higher H₂/CO permselectivities of about 10.5 and the H₂ permeance of about 1.05 × 10^?8 mol m^?2 s^?1 Pa^?1. If compared to the state of the art of microporous membranes, the multilayer Si‐B‐C‐N/γ‐Al₂O₃/α‐Al₂O₃ membranes are appeared to be interesting candidates for hydrogen separation because of their tunable nature and high‐temperature and high‐pressure stability.     

Inclusion Complexes of Tolnaftate with β-Cyclodextrin and Hydroxypropyl β-Cyclodextrin

Tolnaftate, an antifungal agent, was found to form inclusion complexes with both β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrins (HPBCDs) with two different degrees of substitution [HPBCD(A)-8% and HPBCD(B)-3%]. Complex formation in the solution state was studied using phase solubility and spectral shift methods. Solid complexes were prepared by the coprecipitation method. Solubilities and dissolution rates were determined for each solid complex, its corresponding physical mixture, and free drug. The increase in solubility of tolnaftate with added HPBCD was found to be significantly greater than with added β-CD. For both HPBCD(A) and HPBCD(B), over the concentration range 0-0.05 M. 1:1 complexes with stability constants of 1460 ± 139 M^-1 and 1860 ± 165 M^-1 were observed, respectively. Over the β-CD concentration range 0-0.02 M, a 1:1 complex with a stability constant of 1190 ± 105 M^-1 was observed. At higher HPBCD concentrations, the increase in solubility was observed to show a positive deviation from linearity (type A_p phase diagram). Using the spectral method, in a 2 5% v/v methanol in water system, the stability constants were determined to be 1020 ± 150 M^-1 1110 ± 120 M^-1 and 1100 ± 260 M^-1 for HPBCD(A), HPBCD(B) and β-CD, respectively. The solid complexes prepared showed improved dissolution over physical mixtures and free drug.     

Coaggregation of κ‐Casein and β‐Lactoglobulin Produces Morphologically Distinct Amyloid Fibrils

The unfolding, misfolding, and aggregation of proteins lead to a variety of structural species. One form is the amyloid fibril, a highly aligned, stable, nanofibrillar structure composed of β‐sheets running perpendicular to the fibril axis. β‐Lactoglobulin (β‐Lg) and κ‐casein (κ‐CN) are two milk proteins that not only individually form amyloid fibrillar aggregates, but can also coaggregate under environmental stress conditions such as elevated temperature. The aggregation between β‐Lg and κ‐CN is proposed to proceed via disulfide bond formation leading to amorphous aggregates, although the exact mechanism is not known. Herein, using a range of biophysical techniques, it is shown that β‐Lg and κ‐CN coaggregate to form morphologically distinct co‐amyloid fibrillar structures, a phenomenon previously limited to protein isoforms from different species or different peptide sequences from an individual protein. A new mechanism of aggregation is proposed whereby β‐Lg and κ‐CN not only form disulfide‐linked aggregates, but also amyloid fibrillar coaggregates. The coaggregation of two structurally unrelated proteins into cofibrils suggests that the mechanism can be a generic feature of protein aggregation as long as the prerequisites for sequence similarity are met.     

Calculation of efficiency functions in 4π β-γ counting

An attempt is made to calculate an efficiency function applicable to 4πβ-γ coincidence measurements as the first stage of evaluating the order of the polynomial of the fitting function. For this purpose, the β-ray energy spectra and self-absorptions of spherical particle sources are calculated by the Monte Carlo simulation under the continuous slowing down approximation. On the other hand, it is shown that three sets of absorption coefficients and partial intensity ratios corresponding to a β-ray group give analytically the self-absorption for the same particle sources. Finally, we show that the efficiency functions applicable to ⁵⁹Fe and ¹³⁴Cs are easily obtained by using the energy spectra or self-absorptions.     

Study of autoabsorption for total α and β counting

The RaMsEs Group (Radioprotection et Mesures Environnementales) of the IPHC performs research and offers services mainly in the field of radioactivity measurements and sample analysis. This report will describe some of our recent experience using a semiautomatic evaporation system to prepare large area thin deposits for total α and β counting and gives experimental and simulated results for the autoabsorption coefficients.     

Dipolar‐Distribution Cavity γ‐Fe2O3@C@α‐MnO2 Nanospindle with Broadened Microwave Absorption Bandwidth by Chemically Etching

Developing microwave absorption materials with ultrawide bandwidth and low density still remains a challenge, which restricts their actual application in electromagnetic signal anticontamination and defense stealth technology. Here a series of olive‐like γ‐Fe₂O₃@C core–shell spindles with different shell thickness and γ‐Fe₂O₃@C@α‐MnO₂ spindles with different volumes of dipolar‐distribution cavities were successfully prepared. Both series of absorbers exhibit excellent absorption properties. The γ‐Fe₂O₃@C@α‐MnO₂ spindle with controllable cavity volume exhibits an effective absorption (2O₃@C spindle reaches as high as ?45 dB because of the optimized electromagnetic impedance balance between polymer shell and γ‐Fe₂O₃ core. Intrinsic ferromagnetism of the anisotropy spindle is confirmed by electron holography. Strong coupling of magnetic flux stray lines between spindles is directly imaged. This unique morphology and facile etching technique might facilitate the study of core–shell type microwave absorbers.     

Inclusion Complexation of Lorazepam with β — Cyclodextrin

The preparation of an inclusion complex of Lorazepam, a benzodiazepine antianxiety agent with β -cyclodextrin is described. The inclusion compound was prepared by the homogeneous coprecipitation method in the molar ratio of 1:2 of the drug and β -cyclodextrin respectively. The formation of inclusion complex was evaluated by UV spectral studies, IR studies, X-ray diffractometry, and Differential Thermal Analysis. The solubility and in-vitro drug release studies indicated that the complex form of the drug significantly increase the solubility and the dissolution rate compared to the free form. Tablets prepared with Lorazepam- β -cyclodextrin complex also showed a significant increase in dissolution of the drug indicating that P-cyclodextrin plays an important role in the solubilization of the drug.     

Amyloid Self‐Assembly of hIAPP8‐20 via the Accumulation of Helical Oligomers, α‐Helix to β‐Sheet Transition,and Formation of β‐Barrel Intermediates

The self‐assembly of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) into β‐sheet‐rich nanofibrils is associated with the pathogeny of type 2 diabetes. Soluble hIAPP is intrinsically disordered with N‐terminal residues 8–17 as α‐helices. To understand the contribution of the N‐terminal helix to the aggregation of full‐length hIAPP, here the oligomerization dynamics of the hIAPP fragment 8–20 (hIAPP8‐20) are investigated with combined computational and experimental approaches. hIAPP8‐20 forms cross‐β nanofibrils in silico from isolated helical monomers via the helical oligomers and α‐helices to β‐sheets transition, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and reversed‐phase high performance liquid chromatography. The computational results also suggest that the critical nucleus of aggregation corresponds to hexamers, consistent with a recent mass‐spectroscopy study of hIAPP8‐20 aggregation. hIAPP8‐20 oligomers smaller than hexamers are helical and unstable, while the α‐to‐β transition starts from the hexamers. Converted β‐sheet‐rich oligomers first form β‐barrel structures as intermediates before aggregating into cross‐β nanofibrils. This study uncovers a complete picture of hIAPP8‐20 peptide oligomerization, aggregation nucleation via conformational conversion, formation of β‐barrel intermediates, and assembly of cross‐β protofibrils, thereby shedding light on the aggregation of full‐length hIAPP, a hallmark of pancreatic beta‐cell degeneration.