Single‐crystalline gold microplates grown on substrates by solution‐phase synthesis

Chemically synthesized single‐crystalline gold microplates have been attracting increasing interest because of their potential as high‐quality gold films for nanotechnology. We present the growth of tens of nanometers thick and tens of micrometers large single‐crystalline gold plates directly on solid substrates by solution‐phase synthesis. Compared to microplates deposited on substrates from dispersion phase, substrate‐grown plates exhibit significantly higher quality by avoiding severe small‐particle contamination and aggregation. Substrate‐grown gold plates also open new perspectives to study the growth mechanism via step‐growth and observation cycles of a large number of individual plates. Growth models are proposed to interpret the evolution of thickness, area and shape of the plates. It is found that the plate surface remains smooth after regrowth, implying the applicability of regrowth for producing giant plates as well as unique single‐crystalline nano‐structures.     

Chemical Probing of the Human Sirtuin 5 Active Site Reveals Its Substrate Acyl Specificity and Peptide‐Based Inhibitors

Sirtuins are NAD⁺‐dependent deacetylases acting as sensors in metabolic pathways and stress response. In mammals there are seven isoforms. The mitochondrial sirtuin 5 is a weak deacetylase but a very efficient demalonylase and desuccinylase; however, its substrate acyl specificity has not been systematically analyzed. Herein, we investigated a carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 derived peptide substrate and modified the lysine side chain systematically to determine the acyl specificity of Sirt5. From that point we designed six potent peptide‐based inhibitors that interact with the NAD⁺ binding pocket. To characterize the interaction details causing the different substrate and inhibition properties we report several X‐ray crystal structures of Sirt5 complexed with these peptides. Our results reveal the Sirt5 acyl selectivity and its molecular basis and enable the design of inhibitors for Sirt5.     

Bent-core liquid crystal-functionalised flexible polymer substrates for liquid crystal alignment

ABSTRACT

A transparent flexible polymer film is chemically functionalised with a bent-core liquid crystal (BCLC) compound for effective alignment of the bulk BCLC sample at the substrate–LC interface. The surface attachment was achieved via a simple procedure which involved pre-treatment of the polymer film (commercial name: over head projector film) using piranha solution followed by chemically attaching the BCLC compound through silane condensation reaction. Surface characterisation of the unmodified and BC-modified flexible films was carried out through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, contact angle (CA) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The BC-modified flexible substrates are analysed for their efficiency to orient the bulk LC sample. Remarkably, the chemically modified polymer substrates are highly efficient in vertically aligning both the BC and rod-like LC samples at the substrate–LC interface, in comparison to their unmodified counterparts. The described method is simple, reproducible, surface modified substrates are highly stable and more importantly reusable. The demonstrated method for the alignment of BCLCs advances a step forward towards the realisation of applications proposed for these fascinating compounds.     

Spatially Resolved Bottom‐Side Fluorination of Graphene by Two‐Dimensional Substrate Patterning

Patterned functionalization can, on the one hand, open the band gap of graphene and, on the other hand, program demanding designs on graphene. The functionalization technique is essential for graphene‐based nanoarchitectures. A new and highly efficient method was applied to obtain patterned functionalization on graphene by mild fluorination with spatially arranged AgF arrays on the structured substrate. Scanning Raman spectroscopy (SRS) and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (SEM‐EDS) were used to characterize the functionalized materials. For the first time, chemical patterning on the bottom side of graphene was realized. The chemical nature of the patterned functionalization was determined to be the ditopic scenario with fluorine atoms occupying the bottom side and moieties, such as oxygen‐containing groups or hydrogen atoms, binding on the top side, which provides information about the mechanism of the fluorination process. Our strategy can be conceptually extended to pattern other functionalities by using other reactants. Bottom‐side patterned functionalization enables utilization of the top side of a material, thereby opening up the possibilities for applications in graphene‐based devices.     

金微/纳颗粒阵列的SERS效应研究

表面增强拉曼散射(surface-enhanced Raman scattering,简称为SERS)能够提供有机分子的指纹特征信息,且具有灵敏度高和响应时间快等优点,是一项具有发展前景的分析技术。纳米结构SERS基底是获得SERS信号的关键。本文利用简便的电沉积方法在硅片上制备大面积的金微/纳颗粒阵列。金纳米颗粒之间存在大量狭小的纳米间隙,在光激发下产生大量的SERS"热点",从而具有很高的SERS灵敏度。而且,这种金微/纳结构具有高结构稳定性和化学稳定性。该结构对浓度低至10-12 M的罗丹明6G(R6G)具有很高的SERS灵敏性,且具有很好的SERS信号均匀性。利用这种微/纳结构阵列SERS基底,实现对水中低浓度农药甲基对硫磷的成功检测。这表明我们制备的金微/纳颗粒阵列在检测环境中的毒性有机物污染物方面具有潜在的应用前景。     

Study on nitridation processes of β-Ga2O3 single crystal

Nitridated /3-Ga2Os (100) substrate was investigated as the substrate for CaN epitaxial growth.The effects of nitridation temperature and surface roughness of -Ga2O3 wafers on the formation of CaN were studied.     

Structural study of self-assembled monolayers of ferrocenylalkanethiols on gold by angleresolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

An angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic study has been performed on structures of self-assembling systems, viz ferrocenylthiols on a gold (111) crystal. The angular dependence of the intensities of photoemission reveals that ferrocenyl groups are on the outermost layer, separated from the gold substrate by hydrocarbon chains of the thiol groups.     

MgB2超导多层膜的制备方案

简要叙述了MgB2的发展和制备历史,通过对不同衬底材料上MgB2的反应情况的总结概括以及对不同衬底材料和MgB2的晶体结构和晶格常量的比较,提出一种MgB2超导多层膜的制备方案.