Optimization of the liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation method for the synthesis of $$\hbox {C}_{60}$$ nanotubes

Tubular fullerene nanowhiskers called ‘fullerene nanotubes’ are composed of \(\hbox {C}_{60}\) fullerene molecules (\(\hbox {C}_{60}\) NTs) are synthesized at room temperature using the liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation method in the pyridine and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) system. The growth control of fullerene nanotubes is important for their chemical and physical properties as well as for their future applications. In the present study, we investigated the effect of light, water, solvent ratio and temperature on the synthesis of \(\hbox {C}_{60}\) nanotubes. A marked development in the yield of \(\hbox {C}_{60}\) NTs was achieved using dehydrated solvents, a solution with a volume ratio of 1:9 for pyridine: IPA, a growth temperature equal to \(5{^{\circ }}\hbox {C}\) and by illuminating the \(\hbox {C}_{60}\)-pyridine solution with ultraviolet light (wavelength 302 nm) for 102 h. The synthesized fullerene nanotubes were characterized by different analytical techniques including Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, optical microscopy, focussed ion beam scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.     

Diameter controlled growth of fullerene nanowhiskers and their optical properties

The diameters of C₆₀ nanowhiskers (C₆₀NWs), which are prepared by a simple liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation method, can be tuned appropriately by controlling the area size of liquid–liquid interface. The diameters of C₆₀NWs decrease with decreasing the area size of liquid–liquid interface. The electronic spectra of C₆₀NWs show a dependence on the diameters of C₆₀NWs, reflecting strength of interaction among the C₆₀ molecules in each C₆₀NW.     

Affine-invariant recognition of gray-scale characters using globalaffine transformation correlation

Describes a technique of gray-scale character recognition that offers both noise tolerance and affine-invariance. The key ideas are twofold. First is the use of normalized cross-correlation as a matching measure to realize noise tolerance. Second is the application of global affine transformation (GAT) to the input image so as to achieve affine-invariant correlation with the target image. In particular, optimal GAT is efficiently determined by the successive iteration method using topographic features of gray-scale images as matching constraints. We demonstrate the high matching ability of the proposed GAT correlation method using gray-scale images of numerals subjected to random Gaussian noise and a wide range of affine transformation. Moreover, extensive recognition experiments show that the achieved recognition rate of 94.3 percent against rotation within 30 degrees, scale change within 30 percent, and translation within 20 percent of the character width along with random Gaussian noise is sufficiently high compared to the 42.8 percent offered by simple correlation     

Structural Analysis of Crystalline R(+)-α-Lipoic Acid-α-cyclodextrin Complex Based on Microscopic and Spectroscopic Studies

R(+)-α-lipoic acid (RALA) is a naturally-occurring substance, and its protein-bound form plays significant role in the energy metabolism in the mitochondria. RALA is vulnerable to a variety of physical stimuli, including heat and UV light, which prompted us to study the stability of its complexes with cyclodextrins (CDs). In this study, we have prepared and purified a crystalline RALA-αCD complex and evaluated its properties in the solid state. The results of ¹H NMR and PXRD analyses indicated that the crystalline RALA-αCD complex is a channel type complex with a molar ratio of 2:3 (RALA:α-CD). Attenuated total reflection/Fourier transform infrared analysis of the complex showed the shift of the C=O stretching vibration of RALA due to the formation of the RALA-αCD complex. Raman spectroscopic analysis revealed the significant weakness of the S–S and C–S stretching vibrations of RALA in the RALA-αCD complex implying that the dithiolane ring of RALA is almost enclosed in glucose ring of α-CD. Extent of this effect was dependent on the direction of the excitation laser to the hexagonal morphology of the crystal. Solid-state NMR analysis allowed for the chemical shift of the C=O peak to be precisely determined. These results suggested that RALA was positioned in the α-CD cavity with its 1,2-dithiolane ring orientated perpendicular to the plane of the α-CD ring.     

Low-temperature preparation of dye-sensitized solar cells through crystal growth of anatase titania in aqueous solutions

Crystal growth of anatase-type titania in aqueous solutions of titanium tetrafluoride and titanyl sulfate at 60 °C was applied for low-temperature preparation of dye-sensitized solar cells. Crystalline titania films grown on a transparent conducting substrate were directly utilized as a photoelectrode for the solar cells. The improvement of porous electrodes consisting of titania nanoparticles was also achieved through subsequent grain growth and neck formation in the solutions. The maximum efficiency of the photovoltaic performance obtained by the low-temperature processes was almost equal to that with a conventional heating procedure.     

Simple purification and selective enrichment of metallic SWCNTs produced using the arc-discharge method

Purified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were produced using the arc-discharge method with a combination of air oxidation and dispersion–centrifugation processes in a tetrahydrofuran solution containing an amine as a dispersant. Subsequently, SWCNT samples were analyzed using thermo gravimetric analysis, vis-near infrared absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Results revealed that metallic SWCNTs were enriched in a supernatant through the dispersion–centrifugation process.     

Synthetic pores with reactive signal amplifiers as artificial tongues

The sensation of taste is mediated by activation or deactivation of transmembrane pores. Artificial stimulus-responsive pores are enormously appealing as sensor components because changes in their activity are readily detectable in many different ways. However, the detection of multiple components in complex matrices (such as foods) with one pore sensor has so far remained elusive because the specificity necessary for sensing a target compound in complex mixtures is incompatible with the broad applicability needed for the detection of multiple components. Here, we present synthetic pores that, like our tongues, can sense flavours in food and in addition make them visibly detectable. Differential sensing and pattern recognition are solutions based on empirical and biomimetic approaches. They have been explored with synthetic receptor arrays and electronic tongues. In contrast, our approach is non-empirical as it exploits reactive amplifiers that covalently capture elusive analytes after enzymatic signal generation and drag them into synthetic pores for blockage. Reactive amplification proved to be highly sensitive and adaptable to various analytes and pores. Moreover, it can be combined with reactive filtration for minimizing interference. The system was tested on real food samples for detection of sucrose, lactose, lactate, acetate, citrate and glutamate to demonstrate the feasibility of these synthetic pores as universal sensors.     

Effect of irradiation source on the dentin bond strength of a one-bottle universal adhesive containing an amide monomer

One-bottle universal adhesives have been widely used because of their simplicity of bonding procedures for various dental materials. The present study evaluated the effect of the polymerization light source on the micro-tensile bond strengths of a universal adhesive (Clearfil Universal Bond Quick) to dentin in comparison with a one-bottle self-etch adhesive (Clearfil S³ Bond Plus) and two 2-step self-etch adhesives (Clearfil SE Bond and Clearfil SE Bond 2). The adhesives were applied to extracted human dentin according to the manufacturer’s instructions and irradiated using either a quartz-tungsten-halogen (QTH) or blue light-emitting diode (LED). Subsequently, a resin composite was incrementally built on each adhesive and light-cured using the QTH. The bonded specimens were sectioned and subjected to micro-tensile bond strength tests. Both the type of adhesive and the light source were found to statistically affect the bond strength, with no interactions. The LED gave greater bond strength than the QTH. The bond strengths of the two-step adhesives were significantly higher than those of the one-bottle products, irrespective of the light source. The Clearfil Universal Bond Quick exhibited significantly higher bond strength than the Clearfil S³ Bond Plus. LED curing improved the performance of Clearfil Universal Bond Quick, and this product generated bond strength superior to that of the existing one-bottle adhesive Clearfil S³ Bond Plus.     

A triangle lattice model that predicts transmembrane helix configuration using a polar jigsaw puzzle

We developed a method of predicting the tertiary structuresof seven transmembrane helical proteins in triangle latticemodels, assuming that the configuration of helices is stabilizedby polar interactions. Triangle lattice models having 12 or11 nearest neighbor pairs were used as general templates ofa seven-helix system, then the orientation angles of all heliceswere varied at intervals of 15°. The polar interaction energyfor all possible positions of each helix was estimated usingthe calculated polar indices of transmembrane helices. An automatedsystem was constructed and applied to bacteriorhodopsin, a typicalmembrane protein with seven transmembrane helices. The predictedoptimal and actual structures were similar. The top 100 predictedhelical configurations indicated that the helix-triangle, CFG,occurred at the highest frequency. In fact, this helix-triangleof bacteriorhodopsin forms an active proton-pumping site, suggestingthat the present method can identify functionally importanthelices in membrane proteins. The possibility of studying thestructure change of bacteriorhodopsin during the functionalprocess by this method is discussed, and may serve to explainthe experimental structures of photointermediate states.