Search results for "Chemical physics"

Facile laser-assisted synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles covered by a carbon shell with tunable luminescence

2015

We report a one-step strategy at ambient conditions for the production of hybrid inorganic core–carbon shell nanoparticles by means of pulsed laser ablation of inorganic targets (LiNbO3, Au, and Si) in hydrocarbon liquids such as toluene and chloroform. The core of these spherical nanoparticles consists of the target material, whereas the shells are carbon structures (multilayer graphite-type carbon and amorphous carbon), which are formed due to the thermal decomposition of the organic liquid in contact with hot inorganic nanoparticles ejected from the bulk target. These carbon shells emit photoluminescence in the blue-green spectral region and the obtained luminescence, in which the lumine…

Single molecule spectroscopy of multichromophoric assemblies

2003

We have investigated multichromophoric assemblies composed of a variable number of chromophores by single molecule spectroscopy. Specific spectral signatures have allowed to distinguish at the single molecule level between molecular dimers representing strong and weak electronic dipole-dipole coupling. By using fluorescence excitation spectroscopy at low temperature, the sharp purely electronic zero-phonon lines of single chromophores within a single dendrimer containing four chromophores could be isolated in the frequency domain.

Parity violation energy of biomolecules - III: RNA

2006

The energy of parity-violation associated with a typical DNA double helix is estimated with ab initio techniques. It is shown that weak-nuclear interactions do not favor the formation of the double helices found in nature. Possible implications regarding the potential effect of parity-violation interactions on the evolution of biological homochirality are discussed.

Polymer-induced shape changes and capping in giant liposomes

1995

We studied the coupling of a polymeric amphiphile undergoing a transition from an expanded to a collapsed state of the hydrophilic polymer chain upon heating above 29°C with free and solid supported lipid bilayers. Lateral diffusion measurements and studies of vesicle shape-changes confirmed previous calorimetric studies, suggesting that the amphiphile remains incorporated in the giant vesicles and the supported bilayer during the transition. The two-dimensional hydrodynamic radii of the amphiphile in the expanded and collapsed state was measured by making use of the strong quadratic dependence of the diffusion coefficient on the radius of the diffusant (D ∞ r−2) due to the frictional coupl…

Counterion-Mediated Crossing of the Cyanine Limit in Crystals and Fluid Solution: Bond Length Alternation and Spectral Broadening Unveiled by Quantum…

2020

Absorption spectra of cyanine⊕·Br⊖ salts show a remarkable solvent dependence in non/polar solvents, exhibiting narrow, sharp band shapes in dichloromethane but broad features in toluene; this chan...

Halogen bonding enhances nonlinear optical response in poled supramolecular polymers

2015

We demonstrate that halogen bonding strongly enhances the nonlinear optical response of poled supramolecular polymer systems. We compare three nonlinear optical chromophores with similar electronic structures but different bond-donating units, and show that both the type and the strength of the noncovalent interaction between the chromophores and the polymer matrix play their own distinctive roles in the optical nonlinearity of the systems. acceptedVersion Peer reviewed

Pulling Single Adsorbed Bottle-Brush Polymers off a Flat Surface: A Monte Carlo Simulation

2013

Force versus extension behavior of flexible chains and semiflexible bottle-brush polymers adsorbed from a good solvent on a planar substrate is studied by Monte Carlo simulation of the bond fluctua...

Modification of Polymers in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

2003

The interaction of scFluids and polymers are governed by the intermolecular forces between solvent-solvent, solvent-polymer segment, and polymer segment-segment pairs. Because of its symmetry, within reasonable pressure values, CO2 does not have a dipole moment, but it does have a quadrupole moment significant over a much shorter distance than dipolar interactions. The quadrupole moment and the Lewis acidity of CO2 imparts to the carbon dioxide the peculiarity to be a solvent for selected classes of polymers like perfluorinated polyacrylates, polysiloxanes and polyether-polycarbonate diblock copolymers [1–3].

1988

The unperturbed dimensions parameter KΘ is one of the most important characteristics of a polymer chain. For binary systems (polymer/solvent) and mostly for ternary systems (polymer/solvent(1)/solvent(2)) the KΘ values show large discrepancies with respect to those under thetaconditions in a single solvent. These discrepancies can be explained by considering that the interaction parameter χ (and consequently the coil dimensions or the number of intramolecular contacts between polymer segments) changes with molecular weight M. Assuming this dependency, a modified Stockmayer-Fixman equation is proposed from which a unique value of KΘ for a given polymer, independent of M, is obtained. The use…

Molecular dynamics of solid polymers as revealed by deuteron NMR

1983

Pulsed deuteron NMR spectroscopy is described, which has recently been developed to become a powerful tool for studying molecular dynamics in solid polymers. It is shown that by analyzing the line shapes of2H absorption spectra and spectra obtained via solid echo and spin alignment, respectively, both type and timescale of rotational motions can be determined over an extraordinary wide range of characteristic frequencies, approximately 10 MHz to 1 Hz. By applying these techniques to selectively deuterated polymers, motional mechanisms involving different segments of the monomer unit can be monitored. In addition, motional heterogeneities in glassy polymers can be detected. The information a…