SciCombinator

Beam profiles are commonly measured with complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS) or charge coupled devices (CCD). The devices are fast and reliable but expensive. By making use of the fact that the Bayer-filter in commercial webcams is transparent in the near infra-red (>800 nm) and their CCD chips are sensitive up to about 1100 nm, we demonstrate a cheap and simple way to measure laser beam profiles with a resolution down to around ±1 μm, which is close to the resolution of the knife-edge technique.

Resistive random access memory based on the resistive switching phenomenon is emerging as a strong candidate for next generation non-volatile memory. So far, the resistive switching effect has been observed in many transition metal oxides, including strongly correlated ones, such as, cuprate superconductors, colossal magnetoresistant manganites and Mott insulators. However, up to now, no clear evidence of the possible relevance of strong correlation effects in the mechanism of resistive switching has been reported. Here, we study Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3, which shows bipolar resistive switching. Performing micro-spectroscopic studies on its bare surface we are able to track the systematic electronic structure changes in both, the low and high resistance state. We find that a large change in the electronic conductance is due to field-induced oxygen vacancies, which drives a Mott metal-insulator transition at the surface. Our study demonstrates that strong correlation effects may be incorporated to the realm of the emerging oxide electronics.

The increasing applicability of antifungal treatments, the limited range of available drug classes and the emergence of drug resistance in Candida spp. suggest the need for new treatment options. To explore the applicability of C. albicans photoinactivation, we examined nine structurally different imidazoacridinone derivatives as photosensitizing agents. The most effective derivatives showed a >104-fold reduction of viable cell numbers. The fungicidal action of the three most active compounds was compared at different radiant powers(3.5 to 63 mW/cm2), and this analysis indicated that 7 mW/cm2 was the most efficient. The intracellular accumulation of these compounds in fungal cells correlated with the fungicidal activity of all 9 derivatives. The lack of effect of verapamil, an inhibitor targeting Candida ABC efflux pumps, suggests that these imidazoacridinones are not substrates for ABC transporters. Thus, unlike azoles, a major class of antifungals used against Candida, ABC transporter-mediated resistance is unlikely. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)-spin trapping data suggested that the fungicidal light-induced action of these derivatives might depend on the production of superoxide anion. The highest generation rate of superoxide anion was observed for 1330H, 1610H, and 1611. Singlet oxygen production was also detected upon the irradiation of imidazoacridinone derivatives with UV laser light, with a low to moderate yield, depending on the type of compound. Thus, imidazoacridinone derivatives examined in the present study might act via mixed type I/type II photodynamic mechanism. The presented data indicate lack of direct correlation between the structures of studied imidazoacridinones, cell killing ability, and ROS production. However, we showed for the first time that for imidazoacridinones not only intracellular accumulation is necessary prerequisite of lethal photosensitization of C. albicans, but also localization within particular cellular structures. Our findings present IA derivatives as efficient antifungal photosensitizers with a potential to be used in local treatment of Candida infection.

The poisoning of H2S sensing material based on the mixture of acid-treated carbon nanotubes, CuO and SnO2 was investigated by exposing the material to high doses of H2S (1% in volume) and following the changes spectroscopically. The presence of metal sulfides (CuS and SnS2), sulfates and thiols was confirmed on the surface of this material as the result of H2S poisoning. Further study revealed that leaving this material in air for extended period of time led to reoxidation of metal sulfides back to metal oxides. The formation of thiols and sulfates directly on carbon nanotubes is not reversible under these conditions; however, the extent of the overall surface reaction in this case is substantially lower than that for the composite material.

The depolymerization of lignin to bioaromatics usually requires a hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) step to lower the oxygen content. A mixed Cu-Mg-Al oxide (CuMgAlO x ) is an effective catalyst for the depolymerization of lignin in supercritical ethanol. We explored the use of Ni-based cocatalysts, i.e. Ni/SiO2, Ni2P/SiO2, and Ni/ASA (ASA = amorphous silica alumina), with the aim of combining lignin depolymerization and HDO in a single reaction step. While the silica-supported catalysts were themselves hardly active in lignin upgrading, Ni/ASA displayed comparable lignin monomer yield as CuMgAlO x . A drawback of using an acidic support is extensive dehydration of the ethanol solvent. Instead, combining CuMgAlO x with Ni/SiO2 and especially Ni2P/SiO2 proved to be effective in increasing the lignin monomer yield, while at the same time reducing the oxygen content of the products. With Ni2P/SiO2, the lignin monomer yield was 53 wt %, leading to nearly complete deoxygenation of the aromatic products.

The engineering of acetylenic carbon-rich nanostructures has great potential in many applications, such as nanoelectronics, chemical sensors, energy storage, and conversion, etc. Here we show the synthesis of acetylenic carbon-rich nanofibers via copper-surface-mediated Glaser polycondensation of 1,3,5-triethynylbenzene on a variety of conducting (e.g., copper, graphite, fluorine-doped tin oxide, and titanium) and non-conducting (e.g., Kapton, glass, and silicon dioxide) substrates. The obtained nanofibers (with optical bandgap of 2.51 eV) exhibit photocatalytic activity in photoelectrochemical cells, yielding saturated cathodic photocurrent of ca. 10 µA cm-2(0.3-0 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode). By incorporating thieno[3,2-b]thiophene units into the nanofibers, a redshift (ca. 100 nm) of light absorption edge and twofold of the photocurrent are achieved, rivalling those of state-of-the-art metal-free photocathodes (e.g., graphitic carbon nitride of 0.1-1 µA cm-2). This work highlights the promise of utilizing acetylenic carbon-rich materials as efficient and sustainable photocathodes for water reduction.

Stabilizing superoxide (O2-) is one of the key issues of sodium-air batteries because the superoxide-based discharge product (NaO2) is more reversibly oxidized to oxygen when compared with peroxide (O22-) and oxide (O2-). Reversibly outstanding performances of sodium-oxygen batteries have been realized with the superoxide discharge product (NaO2) even if sodium peroxide (Na2O2) have been also known as the discharge products. Here we report that the Lewis basicity of anions of sodium salts as well as solvent molecules, both quantitatively represented by donor numbers (DNs), determines the superoxide stability and resultantly the reversibility of sodium-oxygen batteries. A DN map of superoxide stability was presented as a selection guide of salt/solvent pair. Based on sodium triflate (CF3SO3-)/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a high-DN-pair electrolyte system, sodium ion oxygen batteries were constructed. Pre-sodiated antimony (Sb) was used as an anode during discharge instead of sodium metal because DMSO is reacted with the metal. The superoxide stability supported by the high DN anion/solvent pair ([Formula: see text] -/DMSO) allowed more reversible operation of the sodium ion oxygen batteries.

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled “CuO photocathode-embedded semitransparent photoelectrochemical cell” (Patel et al., 2016) [1]. This article describes the growth of Cu oxides films using reactive sputtering and application of CuO photocathode in semitransparent photoelectrochemical cell (PEC). In this data article, physical, optical and electrical properties, and PEC performances data set of the reactively sputtered semitransparent CuO samples are made publicly available to enable extended analyses.

Titanium dioxide is one of the most popular compounds among simple oxides. Except for the fully oxidized titanate, titanium oxides have partially filled d states and their exotic properties have captured attention. Here, we report on the discovery of superconductivity in Ti4O7 and γ-Ti3O5 in a thin film form. The epitaxial Ti4O7 and γ-Ti3O5 thin films were grown using pulsed-laser deposition on (LaAlO3)0.3-(SrAl0.5Ta0.5O3)0.7 and α-Al2O3 substrates, respectively. The highest superconducting transition temperatures are 3.0 K and 7.1 K for Ti4O7 and γ-Ti3O5, respectively. The mechanism behind the superconductivity is discussed on the basis of electrical measurements and previous theoretical predictions. We conclude that the superconductivity arises from unstabilized bipolaronic insulating states with the assistance of oxygen non-stoichiometry and epitaxial stabilization.

In this study, a chlorine dioxide solution (UC-1) composed of chlorine dioxide was produced using an electrolytic method and subsequently purified using a membrane. UC-1 was determined to contain 2000 ppm of gaseous chlorine dioxide in water. The efficacy and safety of UC-1 were evaluated. The antimicrobial activity was more than 98.2% reduction when UC-1 concentrations were 5 and 20 ppm for bacteria and fungi, respectively. The half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of H1N1, influenza virus B/TW/71718/04, and EV71 were 84.65 ± 0.64, 95.91 ± 11.61, and 46.39 ± 1.97 ppm, respectively. A 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test revealed that the cell viability of mouse lung fibroblast L929 cells was 93.7% at a 200 ppm UC-1 concentration that is over that anticipated in routine use. Moreover, 50 ppm UC-1 showed no significant symptoms in a rabbit ocular irritation test. In an inhalation toxicity test, treatment with 20 ppm UC-1 for 24 h showed no abnormality and no mortality in clinical symptoms and normal functioning of the lung and other organs. A ClO₂ concentration of up to 40 ppm in drinking water did not show any toxicity in a subchronic oral toxicity test. Herein, UC-1 showed favorable disinfection activity and a higher safety profile tendency than in previous reports.