Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Kenji Koga.
[Structure: see text] A novel alicyclic chiral C2-symmetric piperazine, (S,S)-7, is designed and synthesized from L-proline. Benzoylation of a series of cyclic and acyclic meso-1,2-diols with a catalytic amount of (S,S)-7 and CuCl2 provided optically active monobenzoates with high enantioselectivity.
A bidecahedral morphology in which two truncated decahedral structures share two tetrahedral units, involving two types of symmetric-tilt grain boundaries, is observed as a novel and rare morphology of gold nanoparticles frozen from liquid in free space. This low-symmetry polyhedral morphology with eight multiply twinned domains is intermediate between the icosahedral and decahedral motifs.
The oxidation process of Cu nanoparticles has been investigated by means of an in-situ X-ray diffraction method. A self-limiting oxidation process involving an unusually drastic decrease (about 4 orders in magnitude) in the oxidation rate was observed at 298 K, whereas a non-self-limiting oxidation emerged at 323 K with a rate of at least 4 orders in magnitude faster than 298 K. The drastic slowing at 298 K and the big differences between the two close temperatures in the oxidation kinetics were found to be directly correlated to whether the compressive stress in the Cu(2)O(111) layers that commensurately formed on the Cu(111) surface is relaxed or not.
We have recently developed a method to fabricate monodispersed Ni/NiO core-shell nanoparticles by pulsed laser ablation. In this report, the size-dependent magnetic properties of monodispersed Ni/NiO core-shell nanoparticles were investigated. These nanoparticles were formed in two steps. The first was to fabricate a series of monodispersed Ni nanoparticles of 5 to 20 nm in diameter using a combination of laser ablation and size classification by a low-pressure differential mobility analyzer (DMA). The second step was to oxidize the surfaces of the Ni particles in situ to form core-shell structures. A superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer was used to measure the magnetic properties of nanostructured films prepared by depositing the nanoparticles at room temperature. Ferromagnetism was observed in the magnetic hysteresis loop of the nanostructured films composed of core-shell nanoparticles with core diameters smaller than the superparamagnetic limit, which suggests the spin of Ni core was weakly exchange coupled with antiferromagnetic NiO shell. In contrast, smaller nanoparticles with core diameters of 3.0 nm exhibited superparamagnetism. The drastic change in the hysteresis loops between field-deposited and zero-field-deposited samples was attributable to the strong anisotropy that developed during the magnetic-field-assisted nanostructuring process.
Size- and temperature-dependent structural transitions in gold nanoparticles were revealed with morphology statistics obtained by high-resolution electron microscopic observations for thousands of particles annealed in a helium heat bath. We found that gold nanoparticles over a wide size range, 3-14 nm, undergo a structural transformation from icosahedral to decahedral morphology just below the melting points. It was also clarified that the formation of bulk crystalline structures from the decahedral morphology requires the melt-freeze process due to an insurmountable high free-energy barrier.