Theoretical studies of the pressure-induced zinc-blende to cinnabar phase transition in CdTe and thermodynamical properties of each phase

Luminescence of CdTe quantum dots embedded in ZnTe is quenched at pressure of about 4.5 GPa in the high-pressure experiments. This pressure-induced quenching is attributed to the “zinc-blende–cinnabar” phase transition in CdTe, which was confirmed by the first-principles calculations. Theoretical analysis of the pressure at which the phase transition occurs for CdTe was performed using the CASTEP module of Materials Studio package with both generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local density approximation (LDA). The calculated phase transition pressures are equal to about 4.4 GPa and 2.6 GPa, according to the GGA and LDA calculations, respectively, which is in a good agreement with the experimental value. Theoretically estimated value of the pressure coefficient of the band-gap luminescence in zinc-blende structure is in very good agreement with that recently measured in the QDs structures. The calculated Debye temperature, elastic constants and specific heat capacity for the zinc-blend structure agree well with the experimental data; the data for the cinnabar phase are reported here for the first time to the best of the authors' knowledge.     

Organocatalytic Activation of Pyruvates Toward Michael Addition to Nitroalkenes: Synthesis of γ-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Derivatives

Despite the significant role of pyruvic acid in biotransformations, the utilization of pyruvates in the field of catalytic asymmetric synthesis has been unexpectedly limited. This statement also applies to enamine catalysis, in which pyruvates seem to be challenging substrates. Recently, the first illustration of the asymmetric addition of pyruvic acid to β-nitrostyrenes, catalyzed by a NahE enzyme using the enamine mechanism, has appeared in the literature. Now, we demonstrate pyrrolidine-based catalyst can mimick enamine mechanism used by this enzyme to activate pyruvates in the asymmetric addition to structurally diverse nitroalkenes to produce highly enantioenriched Michael adducts without the limitations in substrate structures associated with biocatalysts. In addition to confirming that optically pure pyrrolidines can serve as ultimately small organic catalysts in pyruvate activation, we present an exceedingly simple and versatile method for the synthesis of optically pure γ-nitro acids, which are precursors for well-known active pharmaceutical ingredients namely GABA derivatives     

Temperature-controlled nanomosaics of AuCu bimetallic structure towards smart light management

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Gold–copper nanostructures are promising in solar-driven processes because of their optical, photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical...     

Synthesis and surface properties of N-dodecyl-N,N-bis[3-(aldonamido)propyl]amine-N-oxides

A new group of saccharide surfactants, N-dodecyl-N,N-bis[3-(aldonamido)propyl]amine-N-oxides (derivatives of d-gluconic, d-glucoheptonic, and lactobionic acids), were synthesized with high yields by one-step oxidation reaction of an appropriate N-dodecyl-N,N-bis[3-(aldonamido)-propyl]amine with an excess of 30 wt% of an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide. Their structures and purity were confirmed by means of elemental analysis, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In comparison to an appropriate N-dodecyl-N,N-bis[3-(aldonamido)propyl]amine, the investigated N-oxides are more soluble in water with similar critical micelle concentration values and show higher surface effectiveness. They are low-foamable but in mixtures with sodium dodecyl sulfate form high-volume and stable foams in a wide range of mixture compositions.     

Exciton Spectra and Energy Transfer in CdTe/ZnTe Double Quantum Wells Grown by Atomic-Layer Epitaxy

Semiconductors - The photoluminescence and excitation of luminescence spectra of a series of samples containing two CdTe layers D1 and D2 with a nominal thickness of 1.5 and 4 monolayers in a ZnTe...     

Synthesis and Surface Properties of Dicephalic Surfactants with a 1,3-Dioxane Ring

A new group of surface active dicephalic derivatives of 1,3-dioxane, i.e., 2-alkyl-5,5-bis{[3-(N,N-dimethylamino)propyl]amido}-1,3-dioxane-di-N-oxides, were synthesized with high yields by the reaction of an appropriate 2-alkyl-5,5-bis-(carboxyethyl)-1,3-dioxane with an excess of N,N-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine followed by oxidation with an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide. Structures and purity of all intermediates and final di-N-oxides were confirmed by means of ¹H-NMR and ESI-MS spectroscopy. Synthesized compounds showed high surface activity with low values of critical micelle concentration and high effectiveness of surface tension reduction (γ _CMC). However, only derivative with the longest 2-alkyl substituent showed good foaming and moderate emulsifying properties.

Local Definition of Spin Polarization in a Semiconductor by Micro-scale Current Loops

We present an approach to electrical control of the spin polarization in a diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) structure. A variable magnetic field induced by a micro-scale current loop magnetizes the Mn²⁺ ions in a CdMnTe/CdMgTe DMS quantum well, which via the sp-d exchange interaction polarizes photo-generated electron-hole pairs confined in the well. A maximum spin polarization degree of ±8.5% is obtained at 4.2 K without external magnetic field. The current-induced magnetic field and the current-generated heating of the spin system are quantitatively extracted by micro magneto-luminescence measurements.