Topic Review
Ionic Liquid
Ionic Liquids (ILs) are organic salts that melt commonly below 100 °C, constituted entirely by charged species. The tunability and versatility of ILs have given rise to several applications at the academic and industrial levels. Here the following topics are highlighted: chemical structure; ILs classification according to the possibility of proton transfer, and the historical generations of ILs.
  • 9.1K
  • 01 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Tautomerism Detected by NMR
Tautomerism is typically the relocation of a light atom, often hydrogen, at the same time as a rearrangement of the electronic structure.  Typical examples are acetylacetone and acetone. This entry gives a short introduction to how to detect and describe a tautomeric equilibrium using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Typical parameters used are chemical shifts (1H,13C,15N,19F and 17O) one-bond coupling constants and isotope effects on chemical shifts.
  • 9.0K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Chemical Affinity
In chemical physics and physical chemistry, chemical affinity is the electronic property by which dissimilar chemical species are capable of forming chemical compounds. Chemical affinity can also refer to the tendency of an atom or compound to combine by chemical reaction with atoms or compounds of unlike composition.
  • 6.1K
  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Applications of Cyclodextrins
Due to their unique structural, physical and chemical properties, cyclodextrins and their derivatives have been of great interest to scientists and researchers in both academia and industry for over a century. Many of the industrial applications of cyclodextrins have arisen from their ability to encapsulate, either partially or fully, other molecules, especially organic compounds. Cyclodextrins are non-toxic oligopolymers of glucose that help to increase the solubility of organic compounds with poor aqueous solubility, can mask odors from foul-smelling compounds, and have been widely studied in the area of drug delivery. 
  • 5.5K
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
MOFs and COFs
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are two innovative classes of porous coordination polymers. MOFs are three-dimensional materials made up of secondary building blocks comprised of metal ions/clusters and organic ligands whereas COFs are 2D or 3D highly porous organic solids made up by light elements (i.e., H, B, C, N, O). Both MOFs and COFs, being highly conjugated scaffolds, are very promising as photoactive materials for applications in photocatalysis and artificial photosynthesis because of their tunable electronic properties, high surface area, remarkable light and thermal stability, easy and relative low-cost synthesis, and structural versatility. 
  • 5.0K
  • 08 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Copper(II) Complex
A dinuclear copper(II) complex of (1) (where bipy = 2,2′‑bipyridine, bzt = benzoate and ox = oxalate) was synthesised and characterised by diffractometric (powder and single-crystal XRD) and thermogravimetric (TG/DTG) analyses, spectroscopic techniques (IR, Raman, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) and electronic spectroscopy), magnetic measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The analysis of the crystal structure revealed that the oxalate ligand is in bis(bidentate) coordination mode between two copper(II) centres. The other four positions of the coordination environment of the copper(II) ion are occupied by one water molecule, a bidentate bipy and a monodentate bzt ligand. An inversion centre located on the ox ligand generates the other half of the dinuclear complex. Intermolecular hydrogen bonds and pi-pi for the organisation of the molecules in the solid state. Molar magnetic susceptibility and field dependence magnetisation studies evidenced a weak intramolecular–ferromagnetic interaction (J = +2.9 cm‑1) between the metal ions. The sign and magnitude of the calculated J value by density functional theory (DFT) are in agreement with the experimental data.
  • 4.0K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES)
Deep eutectic solvent (DES) are a highly non-ideal mixture of two biodegradable components (HBA and HBD) associated with strong hydrogen bonding interactions. 
  • 3.9K
  • 08 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Barrier Layer of Cu Interconnects
The barrier layer in Cu technology is essential to prevent Cu from diffusing into the dielectric layer at high temperatures; therefore, it must have a high stability and good adhesion to both Cu and the dielectric layer. In the past three decades, tantalum/tantalum nitride (Ta/TaN) has been widely used as an inter-layer to separate the dielectric layer and the Cu. However, to fulfill the demand for continuous down-scaling of the Cu technology node, traditional materials and technical processes are being challenged. Direct electrochemical deposition of Cu on top of Ta/TaN is not realistic, due to its high resistivity. Therefore, pre-deposition of a Cu seed layer by physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is necessary, but the non-uniformity of the Cu seed layer has a devastating effect on the defect-free fill of modern sub-20 or even sub-10 nm Cu technology nodes. New Cu diffusion barrier materials having ultra-thin size, high resistivity and stability are needed for the successful super-fill of trenches at the nanometer scale. In this review, we briefly summarize recent advances in the development of Cu diffusion-proof materials, including metals, metal alloys, self-assembled molecular layers (SAMs), two-dimensional (2D) materials and high-entropy alloys (HEAs). Also, challenges are highlighted and future research directions are suggested.
  • 3.5K
  • 30 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Catalyst Design via Colloidal Synthesis
Supported nanoparticles are commonly applied in heterogeneous catalysis. The catalytic performance of these solid catalysts is, for a given support, dependent on the nanoparticle size, shape, and composition, thus necessitating synthesis techniques that allow for preparing these materials with fine control over those properties. Such control can be exploited to deconvolute their effects on the catalyst’s performance, which is the basis for knowledge-driven catalyst design. In this regard, bottom-up synthesis procedures based on colloidal chemistry have proven successful in achieving the desired level of control for a variety of fundamental studies. This article aims to give an overview of recent progress made in this synthesis technique for the application of controlled catalytic materials in gas-phase catalysis. The focus goes to mono- and bimetallic materials, as well as to recent efforts in enhancing their performance by embedding colloidal templates in porous oxide phases.
  • 3.4K
  • 12 May 2021
Topic Review
Halogen Bonds
A halogen bond occurs when there is evidence of a net attractive interaction between an electrophilic region associated with a halogen atom in a molecular entity and a nucleophilic region in another, or the same, molecular entity.
  • 2.8K
  • 08 Dec 2020
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