Several first-principles surface and bulk electronic structure calculations relating to the nucleation and growth of single-wall carbon nanotubes are described. Density-functional theory in various forms is used throughout. In the surface-related calculations, a 38-atom Ni cluster and several low-index Ni surfaces are investigated using pseudopotentials and plane-wave expansions. The energetic ...

We report developments of the kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method with improved accuracy and increased versatility for the description of atomic diffusivity on metal surfaces. The on-lattice constraint built into our recently proposed self-learning KMC (SLKMC) (Trushin et al 2005 Phys. Rev. B 72 115401) is released, leaving atoms free to occupy 'off-lattice' positions to accommodate several proces...

Rational combination of pyridazine, hydroxo and carboxylate bridging ligands led to the assembly of three types of mixed-ligand polynuclear Cu(II) clusters (A: [Cu2(μ-OH)(μ-pdz)(μ-COO)]; B: [Cu4(μ3OH)2(μ-pdz)2]; C: [Cu5(μ-OH)2(μ-pdz)4(μ-COO)2(μ-H2O)2]) and their integration into 3D framework structures. Mixed-ligand complexes [Cu2(μ-OH){TMA}(L)(H2O)] (1), [Cu4(μ3-OH)2{ATC}2(L)2(H2O)2]·H2O (2) [...

Sulfolobus metallicus is a thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon used in high-temperature bioleaching processes that is able to grow under stressing conditions such as high concentrations of heavy metals. Nevertheless, the genetic and biochemical mechanisms responsible for heavy metal resistance in S. metallicus remain uncharacterized. Proteomic analysis of S. metallicus cells exposed to 100 mM Cu rev...

When Neurospora crassa is grown in the presence of Cu(II) ions, it accumulates the metal with the concomitant synthesis of a low molecular weight copper-binding protein. The molecule binds 6 g-atom of copper per mole protein (Mr = 2200) and shows a striking sequence homology to the zinc- and cadmium-binding vertebrate metallothioneins. Absorption, circular dichroism, and electron paramagnetic r...

heavy metal contamination around the national iranian lead and zinc company (nilz) in zanjan province was evaluated in this paper. collected data were used to appraise the degree of soil contamination and also the source of pollution in the study area based on geoaccumulation index (igeo), and enrichment factor (ef). the levels of fe, zn, cd and pb in the samples exceed those reported in litera...

The bifunctional CO dehydrogenase/acetyl-CoA synthase (CODH/ACS) plays a central role in the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway of autotrophic CO(2) fixation. A recent structure of the Moorella thermoacetica enzyme revealed that the ACS active site contains a [4Fe-4S] cluster bridged to a binuclear Cu-Ni site. Here, biochemical and x-ray absorption spectroscopic (XAS) evidence is presented that the copper ...

Copper sulfate (CuSO4) foot baths are a management practice used by dairy farms in an effort to control hoof infections. As an unintended consequence, agricultural soils experience Cu accumulation when spent foot baths are disposed of in wastewater lagoons utilized for irrigation purposes. We investigated the effect of Cu applications (up to 1000 mg kg) to a Xeric Haplocalcid (Declo series) and...

Two trinuclear copper [Cu(I)Cu(I)Cu(I)(L)](1+) complexes have been prepared with the multidentate ligands (L) 3,3'-(1,4-diazepane-1,4-diyl)bis(1-((2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)(methyl)amino)propan-2-ol) (7-Me) and (3,3'-(1,4-diazepane-1,4-diyl)bis(1-((2-(diethylamino) ethyl)(ethyl) amino)propan-2-ol) (7-Et) as models for the active site of the particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO). The ligands wer...