Ion-mediated enhancement of the hydraulic conductivity of xylem tissue (i.e. the ionic effect) has been reported for various angiosperm species. One explanation of the ionic effect is that it is caused by the swelling and shrinking of intervessel pit membranes due to the presence of pectins and/or other cell-wall matrix polymers such as heteroxylans or arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) that may c...

This study describes the effect of ionic strength on the molecular structure of hyaluronic acid (HA) in an aqueous solution using flow field-flow fractionation and multiangle light scattering (FlFFF-MALS). Sodium salts of HA (NaHA) raw materials (∼2 × 10(6) Da) dispersed in different concentrations of NaCl prepared by repeated dilution/ultrafiltration procedures were examined in order to study ...

This review considers how various computational methods have been applied to explain the changes in reaction outcome on moving from a molecular to an ionic liquid solvent. Initially, different conceptual approaches to modelling ionic liquids are discussed, followed by a consideration of the limitations and constraints of these approaches. A series of case studies demonstrating the utility of co...

Charge transport in ionic liquids is a phenomenon of utmost interest for electrochemical (e.g. battery) applications, but also of high complexity, involving transport of ion pairs, charged clusters and single ions. Molecular understanding is limited due to unknown contributions of cations, anions and clusters to the conductivity. Here, we perform electrophoretic NMR to determine electrophoretic...

A QCM device employing ionic liquids as the sensing materials for organic vapors has been developed and evaluated. The sensing mechanism is based on the fact that the viscosity of the ionic liquid membrane decreases rapidly due to solubilization of analytes in the ionic liquids. This change in viscosity, which varies with the chemical species of the vapors and the types of ionic liquids, result...

In natural ionic solids, cationic and anionic species are alternately arranged to minimize electrostatic energy. Aggregation of identical ionic species is commonly prohibited due to the repulsive, long-range nature of Coulombic interactions. Recently, we synthesized unique ionic solids, [AuI4CoIII2(dppe)2(D-pen)4]X2·nH2O (dppe = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, D-pen = D-penicillaminate), in w...

Bis(tpy)quaterthiophenes with symmetrically distributed two and four 6-bromohexyl side groups were prepared and modified by the reaction with triethylphosphine to give the corresponding ionic species. Both ionic and non-ionic bis(tpy)quaterthiophenes (unimers) were assembled with Zn(2+) and Fe(2+) ions to conjugated metallo-supramolecular polymers (MSPs), of which the ionic ones are soluble in ...

We have investigated the thermodynamics of sulfuric acid dimer hydration using ab initio quantum mechanical methods. For (H(2)SO(4))(2)(H(2)O)(n) where n = 0-6, we employed high-level ab initio calculations to locate the most stable minima for each cluster size. The results presented herein yield a detailed understanding of the first deprotonation of sulfuric acid as a function of temperature f...

Full-wave rectification of ionic currents is obtained by constructing the typical four-diode bridge out of ion conducting bipolar membranes. Together with conjugated polymer electrodes addressed with alternating current, the bridge allows for generation of a controlled ionic direct current for extended periods of time without the production of toxic species or gas typically arising from electro...

A three-component oxidative dehydrogenation tandem reaction via the coupling and hydroarylation of benzaldehyde, aniline and phenylacetylene to a quinoline derivate was catalyzed by an iron-containing ionic liquid. The reaction was air mediated and could be performed under neat conditions. The iron(III) of the ionic liquid was the oxidizing species.