Search results for " time-resolved"
showing 10 items of 13 documents
Tracking Ca2+ ATPase intermediates in real time by x-ray solution scattering
2020
Sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA) transporters regulate calcium signaling by active calcium ion reuptake to internal stores. Structural transitions associated with transport have been characterized by x-ray crystallography, but critical intermediates involved in the accessibility switch across the membrane are missing. We combined time-resolved x-ray solution scattering (TR-XSS) experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for real-time tracking of concerted SERCA reaction cycle dynamics in the native membrane. The equilibrium [Ca2] E1 state before laser activation differed in the domain arrangement compared with crystal structures, and following laser-induced release o…
Nano-Oxides produced by ns laser ablation in liquids
2014
Laser ablation in liquids was successfully applied to produce nanosized oxides from Si, Ti and Zn targets. The obtained colloidal solutions of nanoparticles were investigated by complementary techniques: AFM, IR and Raman spectroscopies; optical absorption and time resolved photoluminescence. The results demonstrate the production of SiO2, TiO2 and ZnO. The absorption and emission properties of these material have been also investigated and appear to be promising for optical applications.
Formation and Growth of Pd Nanoparticles Inside a Highly Cross-Linked Polystyrene Support: Role of the Reducing Agent
2014
Simultaneous time-resolved SAXS and XANES techniques were employed to follow in situ the formation of Pd nanoparticles in a porous polystyrene support, using palladium acetate as a precursor and gaseous H2 or CO as reducing agents. These results, in conjunction with data obtained by diffuse reflectance UV–vis and DRIFT spectroscopy and TEM measurements, allowed unraveling of the different roles played by gaseous H2 and CO in the formation of the Pd nanoparticles. In particular, it was found that the reducing agent affects (i) the reduction rate (which is faster in the presence of CO) and (ii) the properties of the hosted nanoparticles, in terms of size (bigger with CO), morphology (spherica…
Visible luminescence peculiar to sintered silica nanoparticles: Spectral and decay properties
2015
We report that the sintering at 1000 degrees C of silica nanoparticles (an average diameter of 14 nm) produces a transparent sample that exhibits a bright visible emission under UV excitation. The use of time resolved luminescence spectroscopy and a tunable laser source allows us to single out three contributions centered at 1.96 eV, 2.41 eV and 3.43 eV. The excitation spectra of these emissions evidence bell shaped bands consistent with transitions between localized defects' states. For each emission we study the intensity and the lifetime in the temperature range from 300 K down to 10 K, thus evidencing the competition between radiative and non-radiative processes in the optical cycle of …
The Monod-Wyman-Changeux allosteric model accounts for the quaternary transition dynamics in wild type and a recombinant mutant human hemoglobin
2012
International audience; The acknowledged success of the Monod-Wyman-Changeux (MWC) allosteric model stems from its efficacy in accounting for the functional behavior of many complex proteins starting with hemoglobin (the paradigmatic case) and extending to channels and receptors. The kinetic aspects of the allosteric model, however, have been often neglected, with the exception of hemoglobin and a few other proteins where conformational relaxations can be triggered by a short and intense laser pulse, and monitored by time-resolved optical spectroscopy. Only recently the application of time-resolved wide-angle X-ray scattering (TR-WAXS), a direct structurally sensitive technique, unveiled th…
Luminescence features of nonbridging oxygen hole centres in silica probed by site-selective excitation with tunable laser
2008
Time-resolved photoluminescence at 1.9 eV associated with the nonbridging oxygen hole centre (NBOHC) in silica was investigated under excitation with a ns pulsed laser system, tunable in the visible range. Mapping of the excitation/emission pattern evidences the site-selective excitation of the resonant zero phonon line (ZPL) transition due to its weak coupling with the stretching mode of dangling oxygen. Decay of ZPL follows an exponential law with lifetime of 15.3 μs, which provides a precise measure of the electronic transition probability of a single NBOHC.
Photoluminescence of Carbon Dots Embedded in a SiO2 Matrix
2016
Abstract We synthetized carbon dots by a pyrolitic method, and studied their photoluminescence in aqueous environment and upon trapping in a solid matrix. To this aim, we devised a facile procedure allowing to embed the dots in amorphous SiO2, without the need of any pre-functionalization of the nanoparticles, and capable of yielding a brightly photoluminescent monolith. Experimental data reveal a remarkable similarity between the emission properties of carbon dots in water and in SiO2, suggesting that the chromophores responsible of the photoluminescence undergo only weak interactions with the environment. Time-resolved photoluminescence data reveal that the typical photoluminescence tunab…
Homogeneous and inhomogeneous contributions to the luminescence linewidth of point defects in amorphous solids: Quantitative assessment based on time…
2008
The article describes an experimental method that allows to estimate the inhomogeneous and homogeneous linewidths of the photoluminescence band of a point defect in an amorphous solid. We performed low temperature time-resolved luminescence measurements on two defects chosen as model systems for our analysis: extrinsic Oxygen Deficient Centers (ODC(II)) in amorphous silica and F+ 3 centers in crystalline Lithium Fluoride. Measurements evidence that only defects embedded in the amorphous matrix feature a dependence of the radiative decay lifetime on the emission energy and a time dependence of the first moment of the emission band. A theoretical model is developed to link these properties to…
Effects induced by UV laser radiation on the blue luminescence of silica nanoparticles
2013
The effects induced on the blue luminescence centered around 2.8 eV, characteristic of silica nanoparticles, were investigated by monitoring its intensity during and after exposure to the third and the fourth harmonic of a Nd:YAG pulsed laser. The luminescence trend is found to be dependent on the UV photon energy: 3.50 eV photons induce a partial bleaching followed by a recovery in the post-irradiation stage; 4.66 eV photons cause a total bleaching permanent after the irradiation. These results are interpreted as the conversion of luminescent defects towards stable and metastable configurations.
Quantum confinement effects observed by the photoluminescence of SiOx/SiO2 multilayers
2012
Spectral and decay features related to the red emission from Si nanocrystals were investigated by time-resolved photoluminescence spectra carried out on SiOx/SiO2 nanosized multilayers. On decreasing the SiOx thickness from 8.4 nm to 2.2 nm this luminescence band exhibits a blue-shift from 1.65 eV to 1.75 eV and its lifetime increases from 12μs to 17 μs. These results are discussed on the basis of previous models proposed in literature and agree with quantum confinement effects arising from differently sized Si nanocrystals in our samples.