Search results for "Faces"
showing 10 items of 3167 documents
Gold catalyzed stereoselective tandem hydroamination–formal aza-Diels–Alder reaction of propargylic amino esters
2013
A gold-catalyzed tandem intramolecular hydroamination-formal aza-Diels-Alder reaction of propargylic amino esters is described. The overall process leads to the formation of a tetracyclic framework as a single diastereoisomer, with the creation of four bonds and five stereocenters.
Templated growth of smart coatings: Hybrid chemical vapour deposition of vanadyl acetylacetonate with tetraoctyl ammonium bromide
2009
Hybrid aerosol assisted and atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition methodology has been utilised to produce thin films of vanadium dioxide from vanadyl acetylacetonate. Tetraoctyl ammonium bromide (TOAB) was used in the aerosol precursor solution. The films were analysed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Their optical and thermochromic behaviour was also determined. It was found that the use of TOAB had a templating effect that led to a halving in the particle size and that this consequently led to a significant decrease in the thermochromic transition temperature of the films to 34 8C.
Crystallization kinetics of amorphous SiC films: Influence of substrate
2005
Abstract The crystallization kinetics of amorphous silicon carbide films was studied by means of X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The films were deposited by radio frequency (r.f.) magnetron sputtering on glassy carbon and single crystalline silicon substrates, respectively. TEM micrographs and XRD patterns show the formation of nano-crystalline β-SiC with crystallite sizes in the order of 50 nm during annealing at temperatures between 1200 and 1600 °C. A modified Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov (JMAK) formalism was used to describe the isothermal transformation of amorphous SiC into β-SiC as an interface controlled, three-dimensional growth processes fr…
Influence of the electro-optical properties of an a-Si:H single layer on the performances of a pin solar cell
2012
We analyze the results of an extensive characterization study involving electrical and optical measurements carried out on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (α-Si:H) thin film materials fabricated under a wide range of deposition conditions. By adjusting the synthesis parameters, we evidenced how conductivity, activation energy, electrical transport and optical absorption of an α-Si:H layer can be modified and optimized. We analyzed the activation energy and the pre-exponential factor of the dark conductivity by varying the dopant-to-silane gas flow ratio. Optical measurements allowed to extract the absorption spectra and the optical bandgap. Additionally, we report on the temperature dependen…
Amplified Spontaneous Emission Properties of Solution Processed CsPbBr3 Perovskite Thin Films
2017
Metal halide perovskites are currently emerging as highly promising optoelectronic materials. It has been recently demonstrated that fully inorganic solution processed CsPbBr3 perovskite thin films show good electroluminescence properties combined with high thermal stability. In this work, we investigate in details the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) properties of CsPbBr3 perovskite thin films, as a function of the temperature and the trap density, modified by changing the CsBr-PbBr2 precursor concentration. ASE is observed in samples from both CsBr-rich solution (low trap density) and equimolar solution (higher trap density), up to about 150 K, with a minimum threshold of 26 and 29 mu…
Amyloid Fibrils Formation of Concanavalin A at Basic pH
2011
Mechanisms of partial unfolding and aggregation of proteins are of extreme interest in view of the fact that several human pathologies are characterized by the formation and deposition of protein-insoluble material, mainly composed of amyloid fibrils. Here we report on an experimental study on the heat-induced aggregation mechanisms, at basic pH, of concanavalin A (ConA), used as a model system. Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence and multiangle light scattering allowed us to detect different intertwined steps in the formation of ConA aggregates. In particular, the ThT fluorescence increase, observed in the first phase of aggregation, reveals the formation of intermolecular β-sheet structure wh…
Thermodynamic versus Conformational Metastability in Fibril-Forming Lysozyme Solutions
2012
The role of intermolecular interaction in fibril-forming protein solutions and its relation with molecular conformation is a crucial aspect for the control and inhibition of amyloid structures. Here, we study the fibril formation and the protein-protein interactions of lysozyme at acidic pH and low ionic strength. The amyloid formation occurs after a long lag time and is preceded by the formation of oligomers, which seems to be off-pathway with respect to fibrillation. By measuring the osmotic isothermal compressibility and the collective diffusion coefficient of lysozyme in solution, we observe that the monomeric solution is kept in a thermodynamically metastable state by strong electrosta…
Thioflavin T Hydroxylation at Basic pH and Its Effect on Amyloid Fibril Detection
2008
The fluorescent dye thioflavin T (ThT) is commonly used for in situ amyloid fibril detection. In this work, we focused on the spectroscopic properties and chemical stability of ThT in aqueous solution as a function of pH, temperature, and dye concentration. A reversible hydroxylation process occurs in alkaline solutions, which was characterized using a combination of UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, proton NMR, and density functional theory (DFT). On the basis of these studies, we propose a chemical structure for the hydroxylated form. Finally, by means of fluorescence spectroscopy, ThT hydroxylation effects on in situ amyloid detection have been investigated, providing new insights on the e…
The Boson Peak of Amyloid Fibrils: Probing the Softness of Protein Aggregates by Inelastic Neutron Scattering
2014
Proteins and polypeptides are characterized by low-frequency vibrations in the terahertz regime responsible for the so-called "boson peak". The shape and position of this peak are related to the mechanical properties of peptide chains. Amyloid fibrils are ordered macromolecular assemblies, spontaneously formed in nature, characterized by unique biological and nanomechanical properties. In this work, we investigate the effects of the amyloid state and its polymorphism on the boson peak. We used inelastic neutron scattering to probe low-frequency vibrations of the glucagon polypeptide in the native state and in two different amyloid morphologies in both dry and hydrated sample states. The dat…
Secondary nucleation and accessible surface in insulin amyloid fibril formation.
2008
At low pH insulin is highly prone to self-assembly into amyloid fibrils. The process has been proposed to be affected by the existence of secondary nucleation pathways, in which already formed fibrils are able to catalyze the formation of new fibrils. In this work, we studied the fibrillation process of human insulin in a wide range of protein concentrations. Thioflavin T fluorescence was used for its ability to selectively detect amyloid fibrils, by mechanisms that involve the interaction between the dye and the accessible surface of the fibrils. Our results show that the rate of fibrillation and the Thioflavin T fluorescence intensity saturate at high protein concentration and that, surpr…