Highly Specific and Wide Range NO2 Sensor with Color Readout.

We present a simple and inexpensive method to implement a Griess-Saltzman-type reaction that combines the advantages of the liquid phase method (high specificity and fast response time) with the benefits of a solid implementation (easy to handle). We demonstrate that the measurements can be carried out using conventional RGB sensors; circumventing all the limitations around the measurement of the samples with spectrometers. We also present a method to optimize the measurement protocol and target a specific range of NO2 concentrations. We demonstrate that it is possible to measure the concentration of NO2 from 50 ppb to 300 ppm with high specificity and without modifying the Griess-Saltzman reagent.

New nanostructured materials: synthesis of dodecanuclear Ni(II) complexes and surface deposition studies.

Microwave-assisted synthesis has been used to obtain the family of dodecanuclear Ni(II) complexes [Ni12(NO3)(MeO)12(MeC6H4CO2)9(MeOH)10(H2O)2][ClO4]2 (1), [Ni12(NO3)(MeO)12(BrC6H4CO2)9(MeOH)10(H2O)2][ClO4]2 (2), [Ni12(CO3)(MeO)12(MeC6H4CO2)9(MeOH)10(H2O)2]2[SO4] (3) and [Ni12(NO3)(MeO)12(MeC6H4CO2)9(MeOH)8(H2O)7][NO3]2 (4). They contain three {Ni4O4} cubane units which template around a central µ6 anion, either NO3(-) or CO3(2-). Their magnetic properties have been studied by superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry and high-field EPR measurements. The nanostructuration of the Ni12 species on mica surfaces is studied by AFM and grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction, which reveal the formation of polycrystalline thin layers.

Molecular [(Fe3)­(Fe3)] and [(Fe4)­(Fe4)] coordination cluster pairs as single or composite arrays.

The synthesis of molecular cluster pairs is a challenge for coordination chemists due to the potential applications of these species in molecular spintronics or quantum computing. The ligand H(4)L, 1,3-bis-(3-oxo-3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-propionyl)-2-methoxybenzene, has been successfully used to obtain a series of such complexes using the basic Fe(III) trinuclear carboxylates as starting materials. Synthetic control has allowed the isolation of the two molecular cluster pairs that form the composite [Fe(4)O(2)(PhCO(2))(6)(H(2)L)(pz)](2)[Fe(3)O(PhCO(2))(5)(py)(H(2)L)](2) (1). The dimers of trinuclear units, [Fe(3)O(PhCO(2))(5)(H(2)O)(H(2)L)](2) (2) and [Fe(3)O(o-MePhCO(2))(5)(H(2)L)(py)](2) (3), and the dimers of tetranuclear units, [Fe(4)O(2)(PhCO(2))(6)(H(2)L)(pz)](2) (4) and [Fe(4)O(2)(o-MePhCO(2))(6)(H(2)L)(pz)](2) (5), are presented here. The magnetic properties of the reported aggregates show that they are pairs of semi-independent clusters weakly interacting magnetically as required for two-qubit quantum gates.

Microwave assisted synthesis and magnetic properties of octanuclear and enneanuclear Ni(II) complexes: an unprecedented coordination mode for the NO(2)(-) ligand.

Octanuclear and enneanuclear Ni(II) complexes have been synthesized using a microwave reactor. The octanuclear complex Ni(8) presents a new triply bridging coordination mode for the NO(2)(-) ligand.