The Synthesis and Analysis of the Cytotoxicity of Al2O3-Supported Silver Nanoparticles Prepared by the Plasma Chemical Process Initiated by Pulsed MW Radiation in the Al2O3-Ag Powder Mixtures.

An original plasma chemical process initiated by microwave discharge in a mixture of metal and dielectric powders was applied to prepare specific materials, which consisted of microsized spherical particles of aluminum oxide covered with silver nanoparticles. The prepared materials are highly uniform in shape, size distribution, and composition. Their cytotoxicity was investigated using the human cell lines MCF7, HEK293T, A549, and VA-13 and the bacterial strains E. coli JW5503 (ΔtolC) and E. coli K12. Their cytotoxicity was found not to exceed the cytotoxicity of the starting materials. Thus, the prepared materials can be considered highly promising for catalysis and biotechnology applications.

Microwave Simulation Experiments on Regolith (Lunar Dust) Deposition on Stainless Steel.

In this article, results are presented of experiments on depositing charged particles, which imitate the levitating dust on the Moon, on stainless steel. Ensembles of particles are created above the surface of laboratory regolith whose composition and particle size distribution imitate the dust that covers the Moon's surface. Under the action of the gyrotron radiation on regolith, non-linear physical-chemical processes develop (breakdown, chain plasmachemical reactions, and particle scattering by the Coulomb mechanism), which lead to the appearance of a levitating cloud of particles. The simulation experiment is based on the similarity between the processes that develop in the laboratory experiments with regolith and the processes that occur on the Moon during its bombardment by micrometeorites. The effect of the levitating cloud on stainless steel plates is studied and it is shown that regolith particles in the shape of spheroids of different sizes are deposited on the surface of the plates. The dimensions of the deposited particles and the density of their placement depend on the quality of treatment of the plate surface. It is shown that the laboratory-produced dusty plasma can be used in simulation experiments to study the modification of surfaces of different materials for space technology.

Reactivity of polynuclear palladium carboxylate complexes towards acetonitrile: synthesis and X-ray study of Pd2(C6H4-o-C(=NH)CH3)2(CH3CO2)2 and Pd5(CH3C(=N)OC(=N)CH3)(NO)(NO2)x(RCO2)7-x.

Reactions of the polynuclear palladium carboxylate complexes (binary palladium carboxylates and palladium nitrosyl carboxylates) with acetonitrile in some common organic solvents are described. It was found that reaction of palladium acetate Pd(3)(µ-CH(3)CO(2))(6) with acetonitrile and benzene leads to the formation of a binuclear complex Pd(2)(C(6)H(4)-o-C(=NH)CH(3))(2)(CH(3)CO(2))(2) containing molecules of orthometallated 1-phenylethanimine formed as a result of C-C-coupling of acetonitrile and benzene. Nitrosyl carboxylate complexes Pd(4)(NO)(2)(RCO(2))(6) promote more complicated transformations of acetonitrile that leads to the formation of coordinated acetimidic anhydride, which was found in Pd(5)(CH(3)C(=N)OC(=N)CH(3))(NO)(NO(2))(x)(RCO(2))(7-x) clusters. Structures of all the complexes contained products of acetonitrile transformations and a new palladium nitrosyl carboxylate Pd(4)(NO)(2)(cyclo-C(6)H(11)CO(2))(6) was studied with XRD. Analysis of the structures allowed finding a "building block" of palladium nitrosyl carboxylate clusters, that is a 4-nuclear metal chain -Pd(µ-RCO(2))(2)Pd(µ-NO)(µ-RCO(2))Pd(µ-RCO(2))(2)Pd-.