On-line microwave oven digestion flame atomic absorption analysis of solid samples

A manifold has been developed for on-line microwave oven digestion and flame atomic absorption spectrometric (FAAS) determination of metallic elements in solid samples. The use of a closed flow system permits sample treatment before analysis by FAAS, the direct injection of slurries avoids a filtration step and the interconnection of two conventional rotary injection valves allows the rapid introduction of samples and standards. The determination of lead in sewage sludge was employed as a test system for the proposed on-line sample digestion manifold. The procedure has a limit of detection of 0.2 μg Pb g^?1.     

Silver dissolution in acid thiocarbamide solutions containing sulfide ions

Regularities of silver dissolution in acid thiocarbamide electrolytes are studied. The kinetics of the process is shown to be severely affected by the admixture of hydrogen sulfide molecules that form upon inserting sodium sulfide or accumulate in electrolyte with the passage of time elapsed since its preparation. Catalytic effect increases with increasing length of time of the electrode’s contact with solution prior to the beginning of experiment or following an increase in the concentration of sulfide ions. Experiments with the surface renewed in the course of potential scans show that the catalytic effect is connected with the adsorption of sulfide ions on an interface. At large values of the surface coverage with sulfide ions, the dissolution rate increases so much that the dissolution process starts to be limited largely by the process of supply of thiocarbamide molecules toward the electrode surface.     

The drying of sulphide-bearing materials in a microwave oven: A caveat

The drying of sulphide-bearing materials in a microwave oven should be undertaken with caution. Several sulphide minerals and sulphide-bearing materials have shown a susceptibility to oxidation (which may even be violent) during microwave drying and this could affect the results of subsequent work on these materials.     

Spectrophotometric determination of formaldehyde with chromotropic acid in phosphoric acid medium assisted by microwave oven

In the present study, a spectrophotometric method for the determination of formaldehyde by using chromotropic acid was devised, in which the use of potentially hazardous and corrosive concentrated sulfuric acid was eliminated and advantageously replaced by a mixture of H₃PO₄ and H₂O₂. The reaction between formaldehyde and chromotropic acid (CA) in a concentrated phosphoric acid medium was accelerate by irradiating the mixture with microwave energy for 35 s (1100 W), producing a violet-red compound (λ_max=570 nm). Beer's Law is obeyed in a concentration range of 0.8-4.8 mg l⁻¹ of formaldehyde with a good correlation coefficient (r=0.9968). The proposed method was applied in the analysis of formaldehyde in commercial disinfectants. Recoveries were within 98.0-100.4%, with standard deviations ranging from 0.03 to 0.13%.     

Evaluation of the use of microwave oven systems for the digestion of environmental samples

In most chemical analyses for inorganic determinations in environmental matrices the sample is physically destroyed by dissolution, calcination etc. These digestion procedures have to be validated in order to ensure that no contamination and/or losses have occurred which could affect the accuracy of the final results obtained; this validation can be made by using certified reference materials (CRMs).In the recent past, microwave digestion procedures have been developed and have been shown to offer the benefits of rapid sample preparation and reduced contamination risks; however, an incomplete dissolution was suspected in some cases, e.g. in interlaboratory exercises, for the analysis of organic matrices.The aim of this study was to test microwave digestion procedures for different environmental CRMs and to evaluate the suitability of these methods for the determination of some trace elements. The effects of chemical species (As, Hg and Se-species) on the total element recovery after digestion are discussed.     

Microwave oven dissolution of geological samples: Novel application in the determination of natural decay series radionuclides

A microwave oven was utilised to decompose several geological materials by means of acid digestion. Dissolution was achieved in 5 min and²³⁸U,²³⁴U,²³²Th and²³⁰Th were all determined on the solutions by radiochemical separation and -spectrometry. The materials, which include a granite, an arkose, a river sediment and a nearshore marine sediment, display a large range in U and Th contents /Th/U ratio of 0.7 to 7: U content of 12 to 1400 Bq kg^–1/ and activity ratios /²³⁴U/²³⁸U of 0.95 to 1.50/. The data indicate that the microwave oven dissolution method produces data comparable to the traditional /open beaker/ method. Unit costs are, however, significantly reduced.     

Teflon bomb decomposition of silicate materials in a microwave oven

A method is described for the decomposition of silicate materials in 20-tal Tefion- TFE bombs by using a domestic microwave oven. A domestic pressure cooker was used as a precautionary device to contain acid fumes. Total decomposition of the reference materials, marine sediment MESS-1 and granite G-2, was achieved in 60 s with a mixture of hydrofluoric acid and aqua regia. By using flame or graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, recoveries greater than 97% were obtained for aluminium, chromium and zinc and greater than 93% for silicon in the samples and for silicon in a pure quartz rod.     

Rapid hydrolysis of benzodiazepines to benzophenones in a microwave oven

A microwave oven is used to carry out the complete hydrolysis of diazepam to the corresponding benzophenone in only 10 min, at 650 W, with good recovery. The reaction yield is evaluated by first-derivative UV spectrophotometry.     

Moderated pressure microwave digestion system for preparation of biological samples

A new type closed digestion vessel was constructed for digestion of biological samples. In this the vapour pressure can be maintained on moderated level (150-300 kPa) by means of an internal cooling spiral. During the operation the reflux of the condensed acid and water vapour continuously renews the liquid phase over the sample. By this way a less expensive microwave system may be applied. The performance of this instrument is practically equal to the commercial systems. The digestion time of plant and tissue samples is 5-10 min and the analytical results for reference materials are in good agreement with the reference values.     

Total dissolution of environmental and biological samples by closed-vessel microwave digestion for radiometric analysis

Dry soil, fish-fillet ash, and grass ash were dissolved with a closed-vesselmicrowave oven system and mineral acids. Reagents and dissolution conditionswere varied to ensure total dissolution and recovery of radionuclides. Solventsto dissolve 99.9% of the mass of 3 g samples satisfactorily were 45 ml 14NHF followed by 60 ml 4N HNO₃ saturated with H₃BO₃ for soil, 60 ml 9N HNO₃ followed by 60 ml 14N HF for grass,and 60 ml 9N HNO₃ for fish. The reliability of the dissolutionwas tested with samples from the DOE Quality Assurance Program.     

Methane coupling in microwave plasma under atmospheric pressure

Methane coupling in microwave plasma under atmospheric pressure has been investigated.The effects of molar ratio n(CH4)/n(H2),flow rate and microwave power on the reaction have been studied.(1)With the decrease of n(CH4)/n(H2)ratio,methane conversion,C2 hydrocarbon yield,energy yield and space-time yield of acetylene increased,but the yield of carbon deposit decreased.(2)With the increase of microwave power,energy yield of acetylene decreased,but space-time yield of acetylene increased.(3)With the increase of flow rate,energy yield and space-time yield of acetylene increased first and then decreased.Finally,under the reaction conditions of CH4 flow rate of 700 mL/min,n(CH4)/n(H2)ratio of 1/4 and microwave power of 400 W,the energy yield and space-time yield of acetylene could reach 0.337 mmol/kJ and 12.3 mol/(s m3),respectively.The reaction mechanism of methane coupling in microwave plasma has been investigated based on the thermodynamics of chemical reaction.Interestingly,the acetylene yield of methane coupling in microwave plasma was much higher than the maximum thermodynamic yield of acetylene.This phenomenon was tentatively explained from non-expansion work in the microwave plasma system.     

Effect of hydrogen sulfide on the iron dissolution rate in a sodium sulfate solution under natural aeration conditions

The influence of hydrogen sulfide (10–100 mg/1) on the Armco iron anodic dissolution in an aerated 0.17 M Na₂SO₄ solution is investigated. During a potentiostatic anodic polarization, the hydrogen sulfide introduction makes the current increase stepwise. The magnitude of the increase depends on the duration of preliminary anodic polarization, electrode potential, and hydrogen sulfide concentration. The anodic metal dissolution activation by hydrogen sulfide is explained by chemical conversion of the oxide-hydroxide passivating film into iron sulfide that is generated at the metal surface in the form of a porous film and does not hinder the electrode dissolution. Dedicated to the ninetieth anniversary of Ya.M. Kolotyrkin’s birth.     

A new procedure for bovine milk digestion in a focused microwave oven: gradual sample addition to pre-heated acid

Milk samples can be efficiently digested using a focused microwave oven, however the conventional procedure of addition of concentrated acids to the liquid sample leads to digestates with elevated acidity and residual carbon concentrations. In this work a focused microwave oven was applied for acid digestion of bovine milk samples using a conventional and an alternative procedure based on gradual sample addition to hot and concentrated acids. A two-level 2³ full factorial design experiment with eight runs was carried out to evaluate the optimum experimental conditions for reducing both the residual carbon and the final acidity of digestates. The three studied parameters were: temperature of the digestion medium for sample addition, addition of sulfuric acid before the sample or during the first step, and number of aliquots of the sample gradually added. The best conditions were attained by adding small aliquots of milk (ten-fold a volume of 0.5 ml added during 5.0 min) to a digestion mixture containing 3.0 ml nitric acid plus 1.0 ml sulfuric acid heated at 105 °C. It was demonstrated that the digestion efficiency of the alternative procedure was better than the conventional procedure, i.e. 98 and 80%, respectively. The alternative procedure was applied for determination of Ba, Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Na, P, and Zn in whole and non-fat bovine milk. The accuracy was proved using two certified reference materials (whole and non-fat milk powder).     

Analysis of inclusions in aluminium by dissolution of the samples in hydrochloric/nitric acid

Summary A new method has been developed for the analysis of oxides, borides and Al₃Ti in aluminium. 20 g samples are dissolved in hydrochloric acid — nitric acid solution. The solution is filtered and the silicon in the residue is removed by means of hydrofluoric acid. The undissolved phases were identified by X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy; the composition of the particles was determined by use of emission spectrography and X-ray fluorescence and the size distribution of the inclusions by use of the Coulter Counter.An aluminium — 5 wt% titanium — 1 wt% boron alloy investigated contains 6.4 wt% TiAl₃ and 3.4 wt% TiB₂. The results obtained with the new method were in agreement with standard optical analysis of the alloy material.Five aluminium ingots investigated contain 6–10 ppm oxides as determined by neutron activation analysis. The new method gave similar, but lower oxide values. The differences in results was explained by assuming that a small portion of the oxides went into solution in the acids and that the samples analyzed by neutron activation had a surface oxide layer.The main weight fraction of the oxides was found to consist of particles larger than 5 m in spherical diameter.

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Analyse von Einschlüssen in Aluminium durch Lösen der Proben in Salz/Salpeter-Säure

Zusammenfassung Zur Analyse von Oxiden, Boriden und Al₃Ti in Aluminium wurde eine neue Methode entwickelt, bei der 20 g-Proben in einer HCl/HNO₃-Mischung aufgelöst werden. Nach Filtern der Lösung wird das Silicium im Rückstand mit Flußsäure (HF) entfernt. Die ungelösten Phasen werden mit Hilfe von Röntgenbeugung und REM identifiziert, die Partikel-zusammensetzung mit Hilfe von Emmissionsspektrographie und Röntgenfluorescenz bestimmt und die Größenverteilung der Einschlüsse mit Coulter Counter ermittelt.Für eine Al — 5% Ti — 1% B-Legierung haben wir 6.4% TiAl₃ und 3.4% TiB₂ ermittelt. Die mit Hilfe der neuen Methode gefundenen Resultate stimmten mit den Werten der optischen Standardanalyse überein.Fünf durch Neutronenaktivierung untersuchte AlGußstücke enthielten 6–10 ppm Oxide. Die neue Methode gab ähnliche aber niedrigere Oxidwerte. Die Unterschiede lassen sich durch kleine Oxidmengen erklären, die in den Säuren in Auflösung gehen; außerdem besaßen die mit Neutronenaktivierung analysierten Proben eine Oberflächenoxidschicht.Den hauptsächlichen Gewichtsanteil der gefundenen Oxide bildeten Partikel mit mehr als 5 m Durchmesser.

     

Kinetics of silver dissolution in sulfide containing thiocarbamide electrolytes

Effective values of reaction order with respect to ligand P, transfer coefficient α, and exchange current i ₀ at constant silver surface coverages θ by sulfide ions are measured. The employed solutions contained from 0.4 to 0.05 M thiocarbamide, 0.5 M HClO₄, 10^?4 M AgNO₃, and from 10^?5 to 10^?4 M Na₂S. It is shown that the exchange current grows approximately linearly from 10^?5 to 1.5 × 10^?4 A/cm² at θ increase in the range from zero to 0.8, while α and P values grow negligibly in the ranges of 0.4–0.45 and 0.9–1.1, accordingly. The obtained results are compared with the data of similar studies of the gold behavior in acidic thiocarbamide solutions. The possible reasons for the different effects of sulfide ion chemisorption on the anodic dissolution of gold and silver in the studied solutions are discussed.     

Preparation of biodegradable plastic in microwave oven and solvent-free conditions

With the aim of the obtention of biodegradable material, we describe a new method for the esterification of microcrystalline cellulose. This methodology uses microwave irradiation under solvent-free conditions in the presence of basic catalysts.     

Development of a modified medium pressure microwave vapor-phase digestion method for difficult to digest organic samples

A previously developed microwave heated vapor-phase digestion method for biological samples was modified to enable digestion of difficult to digest organic samples. Organic samples containing ca. 100 mg of organic carbon were digested using volume calibrated quartz inserts inside second generation type medium pressure microwave vessels. As digestion reagents, 98% sulfuric acid, 70% nitric acid and 30% hydrogen peroxide were used. The accuracy of the method was tested with six certified reference materials. Elements Ca, Fe, K, Na, Mg, P and Zn were determined from NIST-SRM 8433 corn bran. Elements Al, Fe, Cd, Cu, and Zn were determined from NRCC DOLT-2 dogfish liver. The element Cd was determined from IRMM-VDA Cd in polyethylene No. 001-004 reference materials. These elements were determined from digested samples by ICP-OES. The results were close or within certified limits. The modified method could digest nearly all the materials tested, including the above mentioned reference materials, 2-nitrobenzoic acid (2-NBA), 4-NBA and copper(II) phthalosyanine-3, 4',4',4'-tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt (CPS). The method could not digest 3-NBA.     

The kinetics of zinc dissolution in nitric acid

The dissolution of zinc in 0.48–1.49M HNO₃ was studied at 15–25°C, by following simultaneously the concentration changes of the reactants (Zn and HNO₃), intermediate (HNO₂) and product (Zn²⁺) with time. Explicit mechanisms were suggested for the dissolution of zinc in nitric acid. The kinetics of the dissolution process show that it is of the first-order with respect to [Zn] and [HNO₂]. The data obtained show that the dissolution process is diffusion-controlled. The mechanism of zinc dissolution is compared with the mechanism of copper dissolution.

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Die Kinetik der Auflösung von Zink in Salpetersäure

Zusammenfassung Die Auflösung von Zink in 0.48–1.49M HNO₃ wurde bei 15–25°C mittels gleichzeitiger Verfolgung der Konzentrationsänderungen der Reaktanden (Zn und HNO₃), des intermediären HNO₂ und des Produkts Zn²⁺ untersucht. Es wird ein Mechanismus vorgeschlagen. Die Kinetik der Auflösung ist erster Ordnung bezüglich [Zn] und [HNO₂]. Die Daten zeigen, daß der Auflösungsvorgang diffusionskontrolliert ist. Der Mechanismus der Auflösung von Zink wird mit dem der Kupferauflösung verglichen.

     

Comparison of two methods for determination of tomato paste solids: vacuum oven versus microwave oven

Two analytical procedures used to determine total, soluble, and insoluble solids in tomato paste were evaluated. The microwave oven (MO) method was compared to the vacuum oven (VO) method. The VO method is tedious and measured the three solids fractions in the paste directly, while the MO method measured the total solids directly but used an equation to calculate the water-soluble and -insoluble solids. The MO method was faster and less labor-intensive, and yielded small but statistically significant higher values for total and insoluble solids and lower statistically significant values for soluble solids.     

Phenylacetylene hydrogenation under hydrogen pressure in acid

Phenylacetylene hydrogenation has been studied on a 5% Pt/C catalyst under hydrogen pressure in 0.1 N H₂SO₄. It is shown that the reaction order is –1 with respect to the hydrogenated compound.

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5% Pt/C- 0,1 H₂SO₄. , –1.