We investigate the static and dynamic states of water network during the phase transitions from double gyroid ( ) to double diamond ( ) bicontinuous cubic phases and from the latter to the reverse hexagonal (H_II) phase in monolinolein based lipidic mesophases by combining FTIR and broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS). In both cubic(s) and H_II phase, two dynamically different fractions of water are detected and attributed to bound and interstitial free water. The dynamics of the two water fractions are all slower than bulk water due to the hydrogen‐bonds between water molecules and the lipid's polar headgroups and to nanoconfinement. Both FTIR and BDS results suggest that a larger fraction of water is hydrogen‐bonded to the headgroup of lipids in the H_II phase at higher temperature than in the cubic phase at lower temperature via H‐bonds, which is different from the common expectation that the number of H‐bonds should decrease with increase of temperature. These findings are rationalized by considering the topological ratio of interface/volume of the two mesophases.

Isotopic substitutions largely affect the dielectric relaxation dynamics of hydrogen-bonded liquid water; yet, the role of the altered molecular masses and nuclear quantum effects has not been fully established. To disentangle these two effects we study the dielectric relaxation of light (H₂ ¹⁶O), heavy (D₂ ¹⁶O) and heavy-oxygen (H₂ ¹⁸O) water at temperatures ranging from 278 to 338 K. Upon ¹⁶O/¹⁸O exchange, we find that the relaxation time of the collective orientational relaxation mode of water increases by 4–5%, in quantitative agreement with the enhancement of viscosity. Despite the rotational character of dielectric relaxation, the increase is consistent with a translational mass factor. For H/D substitution, the slow-down of the relaxation time is more pronounced and also shows a strong temperature dependence. In addition to the classical mass factor, the enhancement of the relaxation time for D₂ ¹⁶O can be described by an apparent temperature shift of 7.2 K relative to H₂ ¹⁶O, which is higher than the 6.5 K shift reported for viscosity. As this shift accounts for altered zero-point energies, the comparison suggests that the underlying thermally populated states relevant to the activation of viscous flow and dielectric relaxation differ.

The complex formation between Nd(III) and D-gluconate (Gluc⁻) is of relevance in modelling the chemical equilibria of radioactive waste repositories. In the present work, the formation of Nd_pGluc_qH_−r complexes at 25 °C and pH = 2–8 was studied via spectrophotometry, potentiometry, freezing point depression, conductometry and NMR spectroscopy. In addition to the four mononuclear complexes (pq−r = 110, 120, 130 and 11−2), the formation of two binuclear, so far unknown complexes (pq−r = 23−2 and 24−2) was revealed. Between pH = 5.5 and 7, with the increasing metal ion and ligand concentrations, the Nd₂Gluc₃H₋₂ ⁺ species becomes progressively predominant. Under the conditions characteristic of waste repositories, however, the formation of these complexes can be neglected. Regarding the binding sites of Gluc⁻, C2–OH and C3–OH groups, in addition to the carboxylate ion, were identified from ¹H and ¹³C spectroscopic measurements. Above pH = 6, the metal–ligand interactions became stronger implying the formation of deprotonated complexes involving the C2–OH group, while the displacement of the second proton at the C3–OH is also possible. The metal ion induced deprotonation of the ligand was confirmed by DFT calculations.

During the interactions of α-d-isosaccharinate andd-gluconate with Ca²⁺in aqueous solution, differences rather than similarities prevail.

Different Co contents were used to tune bimetallic Pt-Co nanoparticles with a diameter of 8 nm, resulting in Pt:Co ratios of 3.54, 1.51, and 0.96. These nanoparticles were then applied to the MCF-17 mesoporous silica support. The synthesized materials were characterized with HR-TEM, HAADF-TEM, EDX, XRD, BET, ICP-MS, in situ DRIFTS, and quasi in situ XPS techniques. The catalysts were tested in a thermally induced reverse water-gas shift reaction (CO₂:H₂ = 1:4) at atmospheric pressure in the 200-700 °C temperature range. All bimetallic Pt-Co particles outperformed the pure Pt benchmark catalyst. The nanoparticles with a Pt:Co ratio of 1.51 exhibited 2.6 times higher activity and increased CO selectivity by 4% at 500 °C. Experiments proved that the electron accumulation and alloying effect on the Pt-Co particles are stronger with higher Co ratios. The production of CO followed the formate reaction pathway on all catalysts due to the face-centered-cubic structure, which is similar to the Pt benchmark. It is concluded that the enhanced properties of Co culminate at a Pt:Co ratio of 1.51 because decreasing the ratio to 0.96 results in lower activity despite having more Co atoms available for the electronic interaction, resulting in the lack of electron-rich Pt sites.