Measuring the electrophoretic mobility of concentrated suspensions in nonaqueous media

We present a new method of measuring the electrophoretic mobility of a particle in a concentrated suspension. The method is used to measure the electrophoretic mobility of PMMA particles (diameter 10 microm) suspended in a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons. The particle volume fraction of the suspension is varied from 0 up to 0.30 and the resulting variation of the electrophoretic mobility is discussed. The suspending liquid is such that its refractive index is very close to that of the particles. Thus the suspension is almost transparent and it is possible to follow through a microscope the motion of one particle. The suspension is subjected to a low-frequency electric field (0.5 Hz). The cell containing the suspension is mounted on a piezoelectric crystal. The displacement that compensates for the particle motion (when the particle image is steady) is determined.     

Triglyceride determination with use of an enzyme thermistor

The application of a split-flow type of enzyme thermistor for determining triglycerides is described. The device measures the protonation heat produced when a triglyceride is passed through a column containing triacyl glycerol lipase covalently bound to controlled-pore glass beads. The time required for a determination is less than 5 min, and the calibration graph for a triolein standard is linear up to 5 mM. The procedure is used for determining triglycerides in human blood sera and is compared with a conventional spectrophotometric method.     

Development and validation of a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry procedure for confirmation of para-toluenesulfonamide in edible fish fillet tissue

Chloramine-T is a disinfectant being developed as a treatment for bacterial gill disease in cultured fish. As part of the drug approval process, a method is required for the confirmation of chloramine-T residues in edible fish tissue. The marker residue that will be used to determine the depletion of chloramine-T residues from the edible tissue of treated fish is para-toluenesulfonamide (p-TSA), a metabolite of chloramine-T. The development and validation of a procedure for the confirmation of p-TSA is described. Homogenized fish tissue is dried by mixing with anhydrous sodium sulfate, and the mixture is extracted with methylene chloride. The extract is passed through a silica gel solid-phase extraction column, from which p-TSA is subsequently eluted with acetonitrile. The acetonitrile extract is evaporated, and the oily residue is dissolved in hexane. The hexane solution is shaken with fresh acetonitrile. The acetonitrile solution is evaporated and the residue is redissolved in dilute potassium hydroxide solution. The aqueous solution is extracted with methylene chloride to further remove more of the fat co-extractive. The aqueous solution is reacted with pentafluorobenzyl bromide in presence of tetrabutylammonium hydrogensulfate. The resulting di-(pentafluorobenzyl) derivative of p-TSA is analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. This method permits the confirmation of p-TSA in edible fish tissue at 20 ppb.     

Experimental investigation of contact angle, curvature, and contact line motion in dropwise condensation and evaporation

Image-analyzing interferometry is used to measure the apparent contact angle and the curvature of a drop and a meniscus during condensation and evaporation processes in a constrained vapor bubble (CVB) cell. The apparent contact angle is found to be a function of the interfacial mass flux. The interfacial velocity for the drop during condensation and evaporation is a function of the apparent contact angle and the rate of change of radius of curvature. The dependence of velocity on the apparent contact angle is consistent with Tanner's scaling equation. The results support the hypothesis that evaporation/condensation is an important factor in contact line motion. The main purpose of this article is to present the experimental technique and the data. The equilibrium contact angle for the drop is found experimentally to be higher than that for the corner meniscus. The contact angle is a function of the stress field in the fluid. The equilibrium contact angle is related to the thickness of the thin adsorbed film in the microscopic region and depends on the characteristics of the microscopic region. The excess interfacial free energy and temperature jump were used to calculate the equilibrium thickness of the thin adsorbed film in the microscopic region.     

An automated submicrogram determination of selenium in vegetation by quartz-tube furnace atomic-absorption spectrophotometry

An automated method for the determination of submicrogram amounts of selenium in vegetation is described. A weighed sample of vegetation is digested with a 4:1 nitric-perchloric acid mixture, and made up to a known volume. The digested sample is placed in a Technicon sampler and reacted with sodium borohydride solution. The selenium converted into the gaseous hydride is swept by an argon stream into a gas-liquid separator. The mixed gas stream is passed through a heated quartz cell, positioned in the light-path of an atomic-absorption spectrophotometer. The absorption by the atomized selenium is recorded. The method is capable of analysing 50 samples a day by the use of a calibration curve or 25 a day by the standard addition technique. A relative standard deviation of better than 10% and a detection limit of 0.025 microg/g were obtained.     

Flow injection analysis of sulphite by gas-phase molecular absorption UV/VIS spectrophotometry

A flow injection gas-phase molecular absorption spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of sulphite in aqueous solution. The sulphite solution, 200 microl, is introduced into a stream of distilled water. The carrier stream containing a sulphite zone is reacted, in the first mixing coil, with a stream of sulphuric acid (1 M). The evolved sulphur dioxide is purged to the segments of nitrogen flow through the second mixing coil. The gaseous phase is separated from the liquid stream by the use of a purpose built gas-liquid separator and then is swept into a purpose built flow-through cell. The absorbance of the gaseous phase is measured at 200 nm using a UV/VIS spectrophotometer. Up to 440 microg of sulphite is determined. The limit of detection is 0.8 microg and the R.D.S. for the determination of 70 and 220 microg of sulphite are 1.02 and 0.76%, respectively. Up to 40 samples h(-1) can be analyzed. The effect of several anions and cations on the determination of sulphite was studied and the results showed that the method is relatively free from interferences. The proposed method was applied to the determination of sulphite in a synthetic sample, water sample and lemon juice.     

Development of high-temperature pulsed slit nozzle and its application to supersonic jet absorption spectrometry

A high-temperature pulsed slit nozzle, consisting of a circular pulsed nozzle and an interface to convert a circular flow into a slit flow has been constructed. The absorption spectrum is measured by scanning the wavelength of the monochromator equipped with a xenon arc lamp and by detecting the transmitted light through a jet with a photomultiplier. A rotationally cooled spectrum is clearly observed for aniline only when a long slit nozzle is employed. The absorptivity increases proportionally to the slit length at least up to 6 cm. The time for recording a spectrum is 3.5 min, which is reduced to several seconds by transmitting a white light through a jet and by measuring the spectrum with an optical multichannel analyzer. The detection limit is estimated to a partial vapor pressure of 0.4 torr for aniline. The present system can be conveniently used in routine analysis, because of a wide spectral coverage of the lamp source.     

A specific bio-electrochemical sensor for hydrogen peroxide

A bio-electrochemical sensor specific for hydrogen peroxide is described. The sensor consists of two membranes—a catalase-collagen membrane and a teflon membrane—an alkaline solution, a platinum cathode and a lead anode. The catalase-collagen membrane is prepared electrochemically, the thickness being 1 μ; the enzyme activity is similar to that of native catalase. The sensor responds to hydrogen peroxide with a response time of only 1–2 min. The calibration curve is quite linear over a concentration range of 0–1.5 mmol l^-1 for hydrogen peroxide. The utility of the sensor in continuous usage is discussed.     

Numerical simulation of phase separation of immiscible polymer blends on a heterogeneously functionalized substrate

The spinodal phase decomposition of an immiscible binary polymer blend system is investigated with numerical models in two-dimensional and three-dimensional (3D). The effect of the elastic energy is included. The mechanism of the evolution of the phase separation is studied and the characteristic length R(t) is shown to be proportional to t(13). In the case when the phase separation is directed by a heterogeneously functionalized substrate, the increase in the characteristic length is divided into two stages by a critical time. The R(t) approximately t(13) diagram can be fitted with a straight line in both the first and second stages. The slope of the fitting line significantly decreases after the critical time. The compatibility of the resulting pattern to the substrate pattern is also measured by a factor C(S). It is observed that there is also a critical time in the evolution of the compatibility for the cases with and without elastic energy. The critical time of C(S) is identical with the respective critical time of R(t). The lateral and vertical composition profiles functionalized substrate is observed with the 3D model. The difference mechanism of the cases with and without elastic energy is discussed.     

Substoichiometric isotope dilution analysis for uranium by synergic extraction

Substoichiometric extraction of uranyl ion in a synergic system of a chelating reagent and a neutral ligand is described. The system is based on a substoichiometric amount of 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) and an excess of tributylphosphate (TBP); this is compared with a system involving a substoichiometric amount of trioctylphosphine oxide and an excess of TTA. The reproducibility of the substoichiometric extraction is 0.46 or 0.62%, respectively. The former method is superior because extraction of uranyl ion with TBP alone is negligible. The method is applicable to > ca. 10 μg of uranium.     

Atomic charges based on spherical harmonics expansion at the atomic centers

Molecular orbitals are expanded in spherical harmonics functions around atomic centers. The expansion coefficient is a function of the distance from the nucleus and the quotient between this function and a corresponding atomic orbital is almost constant in the core region. The square of the quotient is used as a definition of an atomic charge component. The erratic dependence on the type of basis functions in the Mulliken method is thereby avoided. The relationship between the new charge and the Mulliken population is investigated and a new invariant Mulliken population is suggested.     

An operational research model for pattern recognition

The operational research model is based on a facility location problem and is solved by using heuristic and branch-and-bound methods. The method is particularly useful for clustering because it contains an algorithm that permits a conclusion about the significance of a cluster, without imposing a priori conditions. The method is also applied to supervised learning, for which it is not expected to be better than existing methods. However, it could be an interesting aid to those methods because it allows reduction of large data sets. The application of the method is illustrated with a few examples.     

A lubricated stagnation point flow of nanofluid with heat and mass transfer phenomenon: Significance to hydraulic systems

The improved thermal association of heat transfer is considerably observed due to interaction of nanoparticles in recent days. The lubrication phenomenon with heat and mass transfer effects plays a key role in the hydraulic systems. In current research, the thermal impact of nanofluid over a lubricated stretching surfaces near a stagnation point analytical has been studied. A thin layer of lubricating fluid with a variable thickness provides lubrication. The inspection of thermophoresis and Brownian motion phenomenon is illustrated via Boungrino model. The analytical finding of refurbished boundary layer ordinary differential equations is obtained by a reliable and proficient technique namely variational iteration method (VIM). The Lagrange Multiplier is a potent tool in proposed technique to reduce the computational work. In addition, a numerical comparison is presented to show the effectiveness of this study. The range of flow parameters is based on theoretical flow assumptions. Physical inspection of involved parameters on velocities, temperatures, concentrations, and other quantities of interest when lubrication is presented. The current results present applications in polymer process, manufacturing systems, heat transfer and hydraulic systems.     

Interpretation of infrared spectra based on statistical approaches

A computer procedure is presented for deriving classification rules automatically from a given set of i.r. spectra. The percentage of peaks belonging to a cluster within a set of spectra is used as a measure to train classification rules and define families of spectra. The algorithm obtains information from the fingerprint region of the i.r. spectra and is tested for natural products in different ways. The information is used for fast preliminary interpretation of spectra and the search time is decreased considerably. The study is based on the SPEKTREN information system of the German Cancer Research Center.     

The molecular anvil model of an enzyme taking into consideration the flexibility of enzyme molecules

The concept of a molecular anvil model of an enzyme, assuming a rigid enzyme molecule, is introduced. Two distinct features of enzymes, high catalytic power and high specificity, are reasonably and consistently explained. The dynamic nature of molecular anvil action is stressed. The origin of the high catalytic power is the spontaneous creation of a high energy state at the anvil site. The origin of the high specificity is a high sensitivity of the maximum accessible potential energy to the relatively extruded distance of the molecular anvil. The flexible model is developed by assuming a flexible enzyme molecule. It is deduced from this flexible model that enzyme activity shows a maximum with a wide range of monotonous change of the configuration of the enzyme molecule. This is the origin of the general property of enzymes that enzyme activity shows a maximum with monotonous variation of environmental parameters such as pH, temperature, pressure or some times concentration of chemical substances. The induced fit theory of Koshland is reasonably explained. The relation and differences between individual theories of enzymes are discussed. The enzymological basis of the complex regulation of biological organisms is discussed. The inversion of the sign of control of effectors is predicted when environmental parameters are varied. This concept may be useful in designing artificial enzymes or high specificity catalysts.Presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Inclusion Phenomena and the Third International Symposium on Cyclodextrins, Lancaster, U.K., 20–25 July 1986.     

Recombination of ions of a dense ion plasma in a fluorine atmosphere

A new effect leading to the slowing of recombination in a weakly nonideal ion plasma is considered. The solvation of ions is included in the explanation of the results from studying a gas discharge afterglow in a fluorine atmosphere. It is shown that recombination in such a system is slowed in comparison to the standard relationships for ideal plasma. The formation and composition of cluster ions in such a medium are considered. The relationship between the variation in the kinetics of recombination and the course of the process according to a complicated mechanism with the intermediate formation of metastable cluster pairs is established. A quantitative model is built and a formula allowing us to describe the recombination rate over a wide range of parameters of the medium is obtained. It is shown that the proposed model is in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Spectral characteristics of zero-phonon transitions in crystal impurities: A diagrammatic approach

The zero-phonon line shape of a localized transition in a crystal is treated by use of a general interaction between the local transition and the lattice phonons with the harmonic approximation. The theory is carried out to infinite order perturbation by diagrammatic techniques and is thus valid for arbitrarily large phonon coupling. Within our model it is found that the spectral characteristics of the zero phonon line and their temperature dependence are due to resonant Raman-ike phonon scattering processes which cause a decay of the phase coherence of the excitation. The line shape due to this mechanism is found to be lorentzian, and its width increases with temperature, but is zero at 0 K. The line position is also a function of temperature.     

Die Tautomeriegleichgewichte von Dihydrochinoxalinen

The primary product of the two step reduction of 2-phenylquinoxaline is the 1,4-dihydrocompound which undergoes a tautomeric rearrangement to the thermodynamically more stable 1,2-dihydro-3-phenylquinoxaline. The 1,4-dihydro compound is an extremely reactive reducing agent whereas the 1,2-dihydro form is almost inert against oxidizing agents. Both dihydro forms are in a kinetically hindered equilibrium. The rearrangement requires a transfer of a proton from a nitrogen to a carbon atom and is therefore relatively slow even at pH 0. The 1,2-dihydro compound cannot take part in redox reactions directly. If this compound is oxidized, the rate determining step is always the reversed tautomeric rearrangement. The effect of the kinetics of the tautomeric rearrangement on the polarographic behavior of the 2-phenylquinoxaline system is discussed.     

Formation of an Electric Charge in a Dielectric Fluid Above a Rotating Disk

A plane metal disk rotating at a constant angular velocity is considered. Above the disk, there is a dielectric fluid containing a small amount of a foreign electrolyte. The electrolyte contains positive and negative ions and is assumed to be strong. The charging of the fluid is determined by the electrochemical reactions that take place at the disk surface. The effect of an electric field on the charging process is taken into account.     

Ferroelectric and antiferroelectric low molar mass organosiloxane liquid crystals

The present paper is a study of the ferroelectric and antiferroelectric behaviour in low molar mass organosiloxane liquid crystal materials classed as mono-mesogens (AB type) and bi-mesogens (ABA type). A systematic study of series of materials all based on the same chiral mesogenic moiety is presented. The mesogen is a biphenylyl benzoate with a halogen X attached laterally to the benzoate ring which is closest to the chiral centre. Three homologous series, where the halogen is either fluorine, chlorine or bromine, are investigated. The number of silicon atoms in the linkage or end group is varied between two and nine. It is found that the materials have a broad (40 C) ferroelectric or antiferroelectric phase with a high P s (90nC cm2). The siloxane moiety forces the tilt angle to a temperature independent value close to 45. The antiferroelectric order is observed only in bi-mesogens with an odd number of silicon atoms in the siloxane link. The antiferroelectric order is attributed to the conformation of the molecule rather than to antiferroelectric interactions between layers.