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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Redox enzyme-embedded pyrene-poly(ethylenimine) hydrogel electrode for electrosynthesis

Devices, systems, and compositions of matter involving enzyme-mediated bioelectrocatalysis are disclosed and described. An enzyme electrode can include an electrode, a bioelectric material coupled to the electrode, the bioelectric material further including a water-permeable polymer matrix, a planar linker covalently coupled to the water-permeable polymer matrix and noncovalently coupled to the electrode, and electrochemically active oxidoreductase enzyme molecules functionally embedded in the water-permeable polymer matrix.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Synthesis and Photophysical Properties of Light-Harvesting Gold Nanoclusters Fully Functionalized with Antenna Chromophores

The development of efficient light-harvesting systems is important to understand the key aspects of solar-energy conversion processes and to utilize them in various photonic applications. In this study, atomically well-defined gold nanoclusters are reported as a new platform to fabricate artificial light-harvesting systems. An efficient amide coupling method is developed to synthesize water-soluble Au 22 clusters fully protected with pyrene chromophores by taking advantage of their facile phase-transfer reaction. The synthesized Au 22 clusters with densely packed 18 pyrene chromophores (Au 22 –PyB 18 ) exhibit triple-emission in blue, green, and red wavelength regions arising respectively from pyrene monomer, pyrene excimer, and Au 22 emission, producing bright white light emission together. The photoluminescence of Au 22 is enhanced by more than tenfold, demonstrating that pyrenes at the periphery efficiently channel the absorbed energy to the luminescent Au 22 at the center. A combination of femtosecond transient absorption and anisotropy measurements of Au 22 –PyB 18 explicitly reveals three main decay components of 220 fs, 3.5 ps, and 160 ps that can be assigned to energy migration between pyrenes and energy transfer processes from pyrene monomer and excimer to the central Au 22 , respectively.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1994

Infrared Spectroscopy of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Cations: The Members - 3

In spite of the fact that the infrared spectroscopic properties of only a few isolated ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are known, gaseous, ionized PAHs are thought to be responsible for a very common family of infrared interstellar emission bands. In order to provide a data base to test this hypothesis and, if borne out, to use this emission band family as a probe of many different interstellar environments, we are carrying out a thorough study of the infrared spectroscopic properties of neutral and ionized PAHs in argon matrices. Here we present the near and mid-infrared spectra of the cations of the five most thermodynamically favored PAHs up to coronene: phenanthrene, pyrene, benzo[e]pyrene, benzo[ghilperylene, and coronene. The properties of naphthalene, the first member of the series, are given elsewhere. The spectra of perdeuterated phenanthrene and pyrene are also reported. For those molecules which have been previously studied (pyrene, d(10)-pyrene, and coronene), band positions and relative intensities are in agreement. In all cases we report additional features. Absolute integrated absorbance values are given for the phenanthrene, perdeutero-phenanthrene, pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, and coronene cations. With the exception of coronene,the cation bands corresponding to the CC modes are typically 2-5 times more intense than those of the CH out-of-plane bending vibrations. For the cations the CC stretching and CH in-plane bending modes give rise to bands which are an order of magnitude stronger than for the neutral species, and the CH out-of-plane bends produce bands which are 5-20 times weaker than in the neutral species. This behavior is similar to that found in most other PAH cations studied to date. The astronomical implications of these PAH cation spectra are also discussed.

Hudgins, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Un-Numbered Operational Areas PRL 229 Railroad Tie Disposal Area Pond Confirmation Sampling Report

This Confirmatory Sampling (CS) Report (CSR) was prepared for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida in accordance with the CS Work Plan (CSWP) (HGL, 2022a). The CSR summarizes investigation activities performed on the Railroad Tie Disposal Area (RTDA) of the Un-Numbered Operational Areas (UNOA), Potential Release Location (PRL) 229 located at KSC. HydroGeoLogic, Inc. (HGL) prepared this report under Contract Number 80KSC019D0012. The purpose of the CSR is to provide information to evaluate the level of potential contamination in surface water and sediment samples collected from the RTDA PRL 229 Pond and determine if contaminants pose unacceptable risks to ecological receptors. The CSR provides analytical data of 10 sets of surface water and sediment samples collected in 2021. Surface water samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs), metals, hardness, and salinity, while sediment samples were analyzed for metals, total organic carbon (TOC), SVOCs, PAHs, and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). The CSR includes a Screening Level Ecological Risk Assessment (SLERA) conducted under KSC’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action Program to determine if unacceptable risks to ecological receptors exist at PRL 229 Pond. Metals and PAHs were detected in surface water samples, including detections of antimony, arsenic, barium, calcium, copper, lead, magnesium, thallium, zinc, anthracene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(g,h,i)perylene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, chrysene, dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, fluoranthene, indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene and pyrene. Based on measured salinity (1.03 to 1.21 parts per thousand), the pond was identified as freshwater. Sediment analytical results also contained detections of metals and PAHs, including antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium, thallium, zinc, anthracene benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(g,h,i)perylene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, chrysene, dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, fluoranthene, indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene and pyrene. Potential risks to ecological receptors were evaluated in accordance with the SLERA Work Plan and the Decision Process Document for the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action Program at KSC (DPD) (Geosyntec, 2019), and using the 2021 sediment and surface water analytical results. Potential ecological receptors evaluated in the SLERA include the aquatic community, benthic invertebrates, aquatic birds, and aquatic mammals. The SLERA included Steps 2a through 2c of the Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) process in accordance with the DPD. Using multiple lines of evidence, the SLERA concluded that many of the detected analytes are present at concentrations similar to those in background or reference locations at KSC, and/or at concentrations that would not pose a significant risk to ecological communities. There are no screening values available for the avian community, and PAHs are bioaccumulative compounds. For this reason, food web modeling was completed as a supplement to Step 2c to provide a quantitative evaluation of this exposure pathway. Food web modeling indicates that PAHs are unlikely to pose a risk to birds exposed to site sediment and surface water. Based on the results of the SLERA, the contaminants in sediment and surface water pose no to minimal risk to the ecological communities that could live or forage at the site. Based on the results of the SLERA, no further study is recommended for the RTDA Pond at PRL 229.

Confirmation Sampling↗
DOE OSTI2022

Bay capping via acetylene addition to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Mechanism and kinetics

The bay-capping mechanism on PAH armchair edges and the kinetics of acetylene addition to 6–6–5 and 5–6–5 bays have been explored by ab initio/RRKM-ME calculations. The bays on the edges were modeled by C 21 H 11 and C 20 H 9 radicals produced by H abstractions from 7H-benzo[c]cyclopenta[e]pyrene and dicyclopenta[cf]pyrene. The C 20 H 9 + C 2 H 2 reaction is shown to have a low entrance barrier and to rapidly form the capped product, indaceno[2,1,8,7-cdefg]pyrene, along with ethynyl substituted dicyclopenta[cf]pyrene at temperatures above 1400 K. The reactivity of C 21 H 11 is shown to be governed by the location of the unpaired electron; the π radical R1 formed by H abstraction from the CH 2 group in 7H-benzo[c]cyclopenta[e]pyrene reacts with C 2 H 2 very slowly owing to a high entrance barrier, with the bay-capping rate constant approaching 10 -16 cm 3 molecule -1 s -1 only at temperatures above 2000K. Further, this result reaffirms that the growth of π aryl radicals via acetylene addition is inefficient and reflects the generally low reactivity of such radicals where the spin density is highly delocalized over the entire polyaromatic system. Alternatively, the σ C 21 H 11 radical R2 produced by H abstraction from the five-membered ring at the bay rapidly reacts with C 2 H 2 forming the bay-capped product, with the rate constant on the order of 10 -12 cm 3 molecule -1 s -1 at T≥1500K. Rate constants for the capping reactions at the 6–6–5 and 5–6–5 bays are compared with those at the 6–0–6, 6–6–6, and 6–5–6 bays. The site-specific bay-capping rate constants have been utilized in kMC simulations of the PAH growth and the results showed measurable differences when the 6–6–5 and 5–6–5 bay-capping reactions are taken into account, including an increase of the growth rate and the formation of closed-shell PAH and a rise of the number of embedded five-membered rings accompanied with a slight decrease of their overall amount.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Axial vs equatorial: Capturing the intramolecular charge transfer state geometry in conformational polymorphic crystals of a donor–bridge–acceptor dyad in nanosecond-time-scale

Two conformational polymorphs of a donor–bridge–acceptor (D-B-A) dyad, p-(CH 3 ) 2 N-C 6 H 4 -(CH 2 ) 2 -(1-pyrenyl)/PyCHDMA, were studied, where the electron donor (D) moiety p-(CH 3 ) 2 N-C 6 H 4 /DMA is connected through a bridging group (B), –CH 2 –CH 2 –, to the electron acceptor (A) moiety pyrene. Though molecular dyads like PyCHDMA have the potential to change solar energy into electrical current through the process of photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), the major challenge is the real-time investigation of the photoinduced ICT process in crystals, necessary to design solid-state optoelectronic materials. The time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) measurements with the single crystals showed that the ICT state lifetime of the thermodynamic form, PyCHDMA1 (pyrene and DMA: axial), is ~3 ns, whereas, for the kinetic form, PyCHDMA20 (pyrene and DMA: equatorial), it is ~7 ns, while photoexcited with 375 nm radiation. The polymorphic crystals were photo-excited and subsequently probed with a pink Laue x-ray beam in time-resolved x-ray diffraction (TRXRD) measurements. The TRXRD results suggest that in the ICT state, due to electron transfer from the tertiary N-atom in DMA moiety to the bridging group and pyrene moiety, a decreased repulsion between the lone-pair and the bond-pair at N-atom induces planarity in the C–N–(CH 3 ) 2 moiety, in both polymorphs. The Natural Bond Orbital calculations and partial atomic charge analysis by Hirshfeld partitioning also corroborated the same. Although the interfragment charge transfer (IFCT) analysis using the TDDFT results showed that for the charge transfer excitation in both conformers, the electrons were transferred from the DMA moiety to mostly the pyrene moiety, the bridging group has little role to play in that.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1995

Infrared Spectroscopy of Matrix-Isolated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Cations

Gaseous, ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are thought to be responsible for a very common family of interstellar infrared emission bands. Here the near- and mid-infrared spectra of the cations of the five most thermodynamically favored PAHs up to coronene: phenanthrene, pyrene, benzo(e)pyrene, benzo-(ghi)perylene, and coronene, are presented to test this hypothesis. For those molecules that have been studied previously (pyrene, pyrene-d(sub 10), and coronene), band positions and relative intensities are in agreement. In all of these cases we report additional features. Absolute integrated absorbance values are given for the phenanthrene, perdeuteriophenanthrene, pyrene, benzo(ghi]perylene, and coronene cations. With the exception of coronene, the cation bands corresponding to the CC modes are typically 2-5 times more intense than those of the CH out-of-plane bending vibrations. For the cations, the CC stretching and CH in-plane bending modes give rise to bands that are an order of magnitude stronger than those of the neutral species, and the CH out-of-plane bends produce bands that are 5-20 times weaker than those of the neutral species. This behavior is similar to that found in most other PAH cations studied to date. The astronomical implications of these PAH cation spectra are also discussed.

Hudgins, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Infrared Spectroscopy of Matrix-Isolated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Cations: The Members of the Thermodynamically Most Favorable Series through Coronene - Part 2

Gaseous, ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS) are thought to be responsible for a very common family of interstellar infrared emission bands. Here the near- and mid-infrared spectra of the cations of the five most thermodynamically favored PAHs up to coronene: phenanthrene, pyrene, benzo[e]pyrene, benzo-[ghi]perylene, and coronene, are presented to test this hypothesis. For those molecules that have been studied previously (pyrene, pyrene-d(sub 10), and coronene), band positions and relative intensities are in agreement. In all of these cases we report additional features. Absolute integrated absorbance values are given for the phenanthrene, perdeuteriophenanthrene, pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, and coronene cations. With the exception of coronene, the cation bands corresponding to the CC modes are typically 2-5 times more intense than those of the CH out-of-plane bending vibrations. For the cations, the CC stretching and CH in-plane bending modes give rise to bands that are an order of magnitude stronger than those of the neutral species, and the CH out-of-plane bends produce bands that are 5-20 times weaker than those of the neutral species. This behavior is similar to that found in most other PAH cations studied to date. The astronomical implications of these PAH cation spectra are also discussed.

Hudgins, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Infrared spectroscopy of matrix-isolated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon cations. 2. The members of the thermodynamically most favorable series through coronene

Gaseous, ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are thought to be responsible for a very common family of interstellar infrared emission bands. Here the near- and mid-infrared spectra of the cations of the five most thermodynamically favored PAHs up to coronene:phenanthrene, pyrene, benzo[e]pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, and coronene, are presented to test this hypothesis. For those molecules that have been studied previously (pyrene, pyrene-d10, and coronene), band positions and relative intensities are in agreement. In all of these cases we report additional features. Absolute integrated absorbance values are given for the phenanthrene, perdeuteriophenanthrene, pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, and coronene cations. With the exception of coronene, the cation bands corresponding to the CC modes are typically 2-5 times more intense than those of the CH out-of-plane bending vibrations. For the cations, the CC stretching and CH in-plane bending modes give rise to bands that are an order of magnitude stronger than those of the neutral species, and the CH out-of-plane bends produce bands that are 5-20 times weaker than those of the neutral species. This behavior is similar to that found in most other PAH cations studied to date. The astronomical implications of these PAH cation spectra are also discussed.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗
NASA NTRS1998

Fluorescence Studies of Lysozyme Nucleation

Fluorescence is one of the most powerful tools available for the study of macromolecules. For example, fluorescence can be used to study self association through methods such as anisotropy (the rotational rate of the molecule in solution), quenching (the accessibility of a bound probe to the bulk solution), and resonance energy transfer (measurement of the distance between two species). Fluorescence can also be used to study the local environment of the probe molecules, and the changes in that environment which accompany crystal nucleation and growth. However fluorescent techniques have been very much underutilized in macromolecular growth studies. One major advantage is that the fluorescent species generally must be at low concentration, typically ca 10-5 to 10-6 M. Thus one can study a very wide range of solution conditions, ranging from very high to very low protein concentration, he latter of which are not readily accessible to scattering techniques. We have prepared a number of fluorescent derivatives of chicken egg white lysozyme (CEWL). Fluorescent probes have been attached to two different sites, ASP 101 and the N-terrninal amine, with a sought for use in different lines of study. Preliminary resonance energy transfer studies have been -carried out using pyrene acetic acid (Ex 340 mn, Em 376 nm) lysozyme as a donor and cascade blue (Ex 377 run, Em 423 nm) labeled lysozyme as an acceptor. The emission of both the pyrene and cascade blue probes was followed as a function of the salt protein concentrations. The data show an increase in cascade blue and a concomitant decrease in the pyrene fluorescence as either the salt or protein concentrations are increased, suggesting that the two species are approaching each other close enough for resonance energy transfer to occur. This data can be analyzed to measure the distance between the probe molecules and, knowing their locations on the protein molecule their distances from and orientations with respect to each other. The results of these and other studies will be discussed.

Pusey, Marc L.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Static and Dynamic Gradient Based Directional Transportation of Neutral Molecules in Swollen Polymer Films

Abstract Materials which selectively transport molecules offer powerful opportunities for concentrating and separating chemical agents. Here, utilizing static and dynamic chemical gradients, transport of molecules within swollen crosslinked polymers is demonstrated. Using an ≈200 μm static hydroxyl to hexyl gradient, the neutral ambipolar nerve agent surrogate diethyl (cyanomethyl)phosphonate (DECP) is directionally transported and concentrated 60‐fold within 4 hours. To accelerate transport kinetics, a dynamic gradient (a “travelling wave”) is utilized. Here, the non‐polar dye pyrene was transported. The dynamic gradient is generated by an ion exchange process triggered by the localized introduction of an aqueous NaCl solution, which converts the gel from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. As the hydrophilic region expands, associated water enters the gel, and pyrene is pushed ahead of the expansion front. The dynamic gradient provides about 10‐fold faster transport kinetics than the static gradient.

Ali, Mohammad A.↗