Structural and elemental investigations of isolated aquatic humic substances using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Structural and elemental investigations of aquatic humic substances (HS) by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are described. For that purpose small amounts (10-50 microg) of dissolved reference HS, which were characterized within the German research program DFG-ROSIG, were dried as thin films on small pieces of a high-purity silicon wafer. The photoelectrons from such HS layers exhibited characteristic signals of carbon C1s, nitrogen N1s, oxygen O1s and sulfur S2s, which could be fitted by Gaussian curves and used for the quantification of various moieties of HS: carbon (C-C, C-O, C=O, O=C-O), oxygen (C-O, C=O), nitrogen (C-N, C-N+) and sulfur. Moreover, by adding up the element signals of the HS samples their elemental composition of C, O, N and S was assessed. A comparison of the data based on solution state NMR and conventional elementary analysis revealed a satisfactory accuracy with those obtained by XPS.     

XPS法研究煤表面碳官能团的变化及硫迁移行为

采用XPS对六枝（Liuzhi）和遵义（Zunyi）原煤及其固定床热解半焦表面的含碳官能团和硫迁移行为进行了研究。在氮气气氛下,在400℃～700℃遵义煤焦表面O=C－O, C－H 和 C－C含量与原煤相比,呈现下降趋势,而C=O和O－C－O、C－O含量却呈现增加趋势; 六枝煤焦表面的O=C－O、C=O和O－C－O、C－O含量的变化规律与遵义煤相似,而C－H和C－C含量的变化却与遵义煤相反。在氢气气氛下, 遵义煤焦表面不仅O=C－O含量与原煤相比下降, 而且C=O和O－C－O、C－O含量也下降,但C－H和C－C含量却增加; 六枝煤除了C=O 和O－C－O含量下降外, 其他官能团的变化与其在氮气气氛下相似。两种煤焦表面S/C比在氮气气氛下随着温度的升高而升高,氢气气氛下在400℃~600℃随着温度的升高却下降,700℃又显著升高。这说明在热解过程中硫在两种气氛下都能从体相向表面迁移,但是氢气能够和含硫自由基反应,所以氢气气氛下煤焦表面的S/C比率低于其氮气气氛下的。     

Adlayers of dimannoside thiols on gold: surface chemical analysis

Carbohydrate films on gold based on dimannoside thiols (DMT) were prepared, and a complementary surface chemical analysis was performed in detail by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), FT-IR, and contact angle measurements in order to verify formation of ω-carbohydrate-functionalized alkylthiol films. XPS (C 1s, O 1s, and S 2p) reveals information on carbohydrate specific alkoxy (C-O) and acetal moieties (O-C-O) as well as thiolate species attached to gold. Angle-resolved synchrotron XPS was used for chemical speciation at ultimate surface sensitivity. Angle-resolved XPS analysis suggests the presence of an excess top layer composed of unbound sulfur components combined with alkyl moieties. Further support for DMT attachment on Au is given by ToF-SIMS and FT-IR analysis. Carbon and oxygen K-edge NEXAFS spectra were interpreted by applying the building block model supported by comparison to data of 1-undecanethiol, poly(vinyl alcohol), and polyoxymethylene. No linear dichroism effect was observed in the angle-resolved C K-edge NEXAFS.     

Physical and chemical characterization of iris and choroid melanosomes isolated from newborn and mature cows

Bovine iris and choroid melanosomes at two ages (<1 week and >2 years) were examined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), elemental analysis, infrared spectrometry (IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS). When iris and choroid melanosomes at the same age were compared, the quantification of metal elements by ICP-MS revealed that choroid melanosomes had a higher binding capacity for the carboxylate-binding metal ions (e.g. Na+ K+, Mg2+, Ca2+ and Zn2+). Elemental analysis showed a higher O:N ratio in choroid melanosomes. Both observations suggested that choroid melanosomes have a higher content of carboxylate-containing monomer than iris melanosomes. IR spectrometric analysis showed a red shift (approximately 8 cm(-1)) of the absorption peak of aromatic C=C, C=N and C=O at approximately 1630 cm(-1) in the IR spectrum of iris melanosomes relative to choroid melanosomes. Increased conjugation in the molecular structure of the pigment is proposed to contribute to this peak shift. It is also notable that although the elemental analysis showed different C, N and O contents in the two types of melanosomes, XPS showed almost the same elemental compositions on the surface of two types of iris and choroid melanosomes studied. When the melanosomes from the same tissues at different ages were compared, ICP-MS analysis suggested that the number of carboxylate groups in the melanosomes decreased with age. Both elemental analysis and XPS showed that C:N ratio decreased with age, which was proposed to be due to both a decrease in carboxylate groups in mature samples and to the fissure of phenol rings caused by age-associated oxidation. Such age-related oxidative damage diminishes conjugation and is manifested by blue shifts of absorption peaks for aromatic double bonds in the IR spectra of mature melanosomes. XPS analysis showed that the ratio of C-O:C=O decreased with age. These tissue-related and age-related chemical differences between samples affected the optic density and metal binding properties of melanosomes, which are believed to be closely associated with the biological functions of melanins.     

XPS investigations of thick,oxygen-containing cubic boron nitride coatings

Cubic boron nitride (c-BN) coatings produced by PVD and PECVD techniques usually exhibit very high compressive stresses and poor adhesion due to intense ion bombardments of the growing surface that are mandatory during the formation of the cubic phase. Our previous investigations indicate, however, that a controlled addition of oxygen during film deposition can lead to a drastic reduction of the detrimental stress, yet having minor effect on the cubic phase content in the resulting low-stress, oxygen-containing c-BN:O coatings (as already confirmed by various analytical methods like X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron diffraction, and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR)). This stress-reduction technique makes possible the deposition of well-adhered, superhard c-BN:O layer about 2 μm thick through magnetron sputtering on top of an adhesion-promoting base layer and via a compositional-graded nucleation process. In the present paper, we report on the atomic bonding structure relating in particular to the incorporated oxygen within such a thick c-BN:O coating using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The c-BN:O top layer was found to consist of about 49.8 at% boron, 42.2 at% nitrogen, 5.5 at% oxygen, as well as small amounts of carbon (1.4 at%) and argon (1.1 at%). Because of the low oxygen concentration, it was difficult to categorize the bonding state of oxygen according to the XPS spectra of B 1s and N 1s elemental lines. However, the detailed results in terms of the O 1s spectrum strongly indicated that the lattice nitrogen of c-BN was partially replaced by the added oxygen.     

Determining the interaction and characterization of asphaltene in alkylbenzene solvents using nuclear-electron double resonance

This study uses ¹H dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) methods to determine asphaltene aggregates and the interaction between asphaltene extracted from MC800 asphalt and alkylbenzene solvents, as well as elemental analysis for the characterization of asphaltene. The asphaltene sample was characterized using the elemental analysis of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S). The results show that asphaltenes have the highest carbon content. The sulfur and hydrogen contents are nearly the same and nitrogen content is the smallest. The DNP data provided good results for characterizing asphaltene behavior in alkylbenzene solvents.     

Photoemission and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure studies of the bacterial surface protein layer of Bacillus sphaericus NCTC 9602

The electronic structure of the regular, two-dimensional bacterial surface protein layer of Bacillus sphaericus NCTC 9602 has been examined by photoemission (PE) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. Both the O 1s and the N 1s core-level PE spectra show a single structure, whereas the C 1s core-level spectrum appears manifold, suggesting similar chemical states for each oxygen atom and also for each nitrogen atom, while carbon atoms exhibit a range of chemical environments in the different functional groups of the amino acids. This result is supported by the element-specific NEXAFS spectra of the unoccupied valence electronic states, which exhibit a series of characteristic NEXAFS peaks that can be assigned to particular molecular orbitals of the amino acids by applying a phenomenological building-block model. The relative contributions of the C-O, C-N, and C-C bond originating signals into the C 1s PE spectrum are in good agreement with the number ratios of the corresponding bonds calculated from the known primary structure of the bacterial surface protein. First interpretation of the PE spectrum of the occupied valence states is achieved on the basis of electronic density-of-states calculations performed for small peptides. It was found that mainly the pi clouds of the aromatic rings contribute to both the lowest unoccupied and the highest occupied molecular orbitals.     

Surface characterization of 7S and 11S globulin powders from soy protein examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy

In this study the surface composition of 7S and 11S globulin powders from soybean proteins by aqueous buffer and reverse micelle extractions had been examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Analysis by XPS revealed that the O and N atomic percentage of 7S and 11S globulin surfaces from bis(2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) reverse micelle was higher than from aqueous buffer, but the C atomic percentage was lower. The O/C ratio of the 7S globulin powder from aqueous buffer and reverse micelle was similar while significant differences were obtained in the O/C ratio of the 11S globulin powder, N/C atom ratios of the 7S and 11S globulin powders and high-resolution XPS C 1s, N 1s, O 1s spectra. Powder microstructure after reverse micelle treatment showed the presence of small pores, indicating the effect of reverse micelle on the 7S and 11S globulin structure. The obtained results indicated that the reverse micelle could affect the C, O and N components on the surface of soybean proteins.     

Oxygen, carbon, and sulfur segregation in annealed and unannealed zerovalent iron substrates

Finely ground and pretreated iron substrates known as "zerovalent iron" or "Fe0" are used as reductants in the environmental remediation of halogenated hydrocarbons, and the composition of their surfaces significantly affects their reactivity. Samples of unannealed and annealed (heat-treated under H2/N2) zerovalent iron were analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Surface concentration of the iron and of the impurities observed by XPS and AES, carbon, chlorine, sulfur, and oxygen, were measured before and after soaking in trichloroethylene (TCE) and in water saturated with TCE (H2O/TCE) to simulate chlorocarbon remediation conditions. Samples pretreated by annealing at high temperature under H2 contained less iron carbide. The carbide contaminant was evident in both iron and carbon XPS spectra, with binding energies of 709.0 and 283.3 eV for the Fe 2p3/2 and C 1s, respectively. The annealed Fe0 surface also contained more sulfur. The carbide concentration was essentially unchanged by TCE and H2O/TCE exposure, whereas the sulfur decreased in proportion to chlorine adsorption following the dechlorination reaction. While oxygen concentration is initially lower on the annealed substrate surface, it rapidly increased during the model TCE remediative treatment process and thus does not represent a significant effect of the annealing process on surface reactivity.     

Competitive reaction pathways for functionalization and volatilization in the heterogeneous oxidation of coronene thin films by hydroxyl radicals and ozone

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to monitor the heterogeneous reaction of hydroxyl radicals (OH) and ozone with thin films (～5 ?) of coronene. Detailed elemental and functional group analysis of the XPS spectra reveals that there is a competition between the addition of oxygenated functional groups (functionalization) and the loss of material (volatilization) to the gas phase. Measurements of the film thickness and elemental composition indicate that carbon loss is as important as the formation of new oxygenated functional groups in controlling how the oxygen-to-carbon ratio (O/C) of the coronene film evolves during the surface reaction. When the O/C ratio of the film is small (～0.1) the addition of functional groups dominates changes in film thickness, while for more oxygenated films (O/C > 0.3) carbon loss is an increasingly important reaction pathway. Decomposition of the film occurs via the loss of both carbon and oxygen atoms when the O/C ratio of the film exceeds 0.5. These results imply that chemically reduced hydrocarbons, such as primary organic aerosol, age in the atmosphere by forming new oxygenated functional groups, in contrast to oxygenated secondary organic aerosol, which decompose by a heterogeneous loss of carbon and/or oxygen.     

Formation and characterization of Cu<Subscript>x</Subscript>S layers on polyethylene film using the solutions of sulfur in carbon disulfide

Results of the formation of copper sulfide layers using the solutions of elemental sulfur in carbon disulfide as precursor for sulfurization are presented. Low density polyethylene film can be effectively sulfurized in the solutions of rhombic (α) sulfur in carbon disulfide. The concentration of sulfur in polyethylene increases with the increase of the temperature and concentration of sulfur solution in carbon disulfide and it little depends on the duration of sulfurization. Electrically conductive copper sulfide layers on polyethylene film were formed when sulfurized polyethylene was treated with the solution of copper (II/I) salts. Cu_xS layer with the lowest sheet resistance (11.2 Ω cm⁻²) was formed when sulfurized polyethylene was treated with copper salts solution at 80°C. All samples with formed Cu_xS layers were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. XPS analysis of obtained layers showed that on the layer’s surface and in the etched surface various compounds of copper, sulfur and oxygen are present: Cu₂S, CuS, CuO, S₈, CuSO₄, Cu(OH)₂ and water. The biggest amounts of CuSO₄ and Cu(OH)₂ are present on the layer’s surface. Significantly more copper sulfides are found in the etched layers.     

含柠檬酸配体的钼硫簇合物的合成与晶体结构的测定

合成了含有Mo—S簇阴离子 [Mo2 O2 ( μ S) 2 (C6H5O7) (C6H4 O7) ]5-柠檬酸簇合物 ,并通过元素分析、红外光谱、紫外 可见光谱和X射线光电子能谱对配合物进行了表征 ,用X射线衍射法测定了该化合物的晶体结构 .结果表明 ,该簇合物属于单斜晶系 ,空间群P2 1/c,a =2 3 766( 5)nm ,b =1 3 2 74 ( 3 )nm ,c =2 2 4 71 ( 5)nm ,α=γ =90°,β=1 1 8 2 1°,V =6 2 4 7( 2 )nm3 ,Z =8,一致性因子R =0 0 83 1 ,R2 ,w=0 1 536.该簇合物阴离子中每一个Mo原子都采取扭曲的八面体结构 ,柠檬酸通过羟基、α 羧基、一个 β 羧基与Mo配位 .晶体结构表明在一个结晶学上不对称的结构单元内有两个结晶学上独立的分子 .     

((Fluoroformyl)imido)(trifluoromethyl)sulfur fluoride, FC(O)N = S(F)CF3: unexpected conformational properties

The geometric structure and conformational properties of ((fluoroformyl)imido)(trifluoromethyl)sulfur fluoride, FC(O)N = S(F)CF3, are investigated by gas electron diffraction (GED) experiments, IR (gas) spectroscopy, and quantum chemical calculations (HF, MP2, and B3LYP with 6-31G* basis sets). The GED intensities are reproduced best with a mixture of 79(12)% trans-syn and 21(12)% cis-syn conformers. "Trans/cis" describes the orientation around the S=N double bond (FC(O) group relative to sulfur substituents), and "syn" refers to the orientation of the C=O bond relative to the S=N bond. From the intensities of the C=O bands in the IR (gas) spectrum, a composition of 86(8)%:14(8)% is derived. These ratios correspond to delta G0(GED) = 0.79(36) and delta G0(IR) = 1.09(35) kcal mol-1. The preference of a trans structure, around the S=N double bond is unexpected, since all imidosulfur compounds studied thus far possess a cis configuration. The conformational properties are reproduced qualitatively correctly by all theoretical calculations. The predicted energy differences delta E(HF) = 2.41, delta E(MP2) = 0.64, and delta E(B3LYP) = 0.28 kcal mol-1 are larger or slightly smaller than the experimental values. Additional theoretical calculations (B3LYP) for several imidosulfur compounds reveal that only FC(O)N=S(F)CF3, with mixed substitution at sulfur and the FC(O) group bonded to nitrogen, prefers the trans structure.     

紫外辐照对高密度聚乙烯分子结构的影响

紫外线;官能化;紫外辐照对高密度聚乙烯分子结构的影响     

Removal of Ar+ beam‐induced damaged layers from polyimide surfaces with argon gas cluster ion beams

An Ar Gas Cluster Ion Beam (GCIB) has been shown to remove previous Ar⁺ ion beam‐induced surface damage to a bulk polyimide (PI) film. After removal of the damaged layer with a GCIB sputter source, XPS measurements show minor changes to the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atomic concentrations relative to the original elemental bulk concentrations. The GCIB sputter depth profiles showed that there is a linear relationship between the Ar⁺ ion beam voltage within the range from 0.5 to 4.0 keV and the dose of argon cluster ions required to remove the damaged layer. The rate of recovery of the original PI atomic composition as a function of GCIB sputtering is similar for carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, indicating that there was no preferential sputtering for these elements. The XPS chemical state analysis of the N 1s spectra after GCIB sputtering revealed a 17% damage ratio of altered nitrogen chemical state species. Further optimization of the GCIB sputtering conditions should lead to lower nitrogen damage ratios with the elemental concentrations closer to those of bulk PI. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

负载硫化钴纳米颗粒的N、S共掺杂石墨烯氧还原电催化剂的制备及性能

采用D-氨基葡萄糖作为Co分散剂和碳源,硫脲作为氮源和硫源,以NaCl为模板制备负载硫化钴纳米颗粒的N、S共掺杂三维石墨烯氧还原电催化剂(CoS/N/S/rGO)。CoS/N/S/rGO具有良好的氧还原反应(ORR)活性,起始电位和半波电位分别为960和815 mV,性能与商业Pt/C相当。此外,CoS/N/S/rGO表现出明显的4电子转移特性和超低的过氧化氢产率。与基于Pt/C的锌-空气电池相比,基于CoS/N/S/rGO的锌-空气电池在6 mol·L~(-1) KOH和0.2 mol~(-1) Zn(CH_3COO)_2碱性电解质中显示出更高的恒电流放电性能以及更好的稳定性。     

Comparative analysis of hydrogen bonding with participation of the nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur atoms in the 2(2'-heteroaryl)pyrroles and their trifluoroacetyl derivatives based on the 1H, 13C, 15N spectroscopy and DFT calculations

The N-H...X (X = N,O,S) intramolecular hydrogen bond in the series of 2(2'-heteroaryl)pyrroles and their trifluoroacetyl derivatives is examined by the (1)H, (13)C, (15)N spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The influence of the hydrogen bond on coupling and shielding constants is considered. It is shown that the N-H...N intramolecular hydrogen bond causes a larger increase in the absolute size of the (1)J(N,H) coupling constant and a larger deshielding of the bridge proton than the N-H...O hydrogen bond. The effect of the N-H...S interaction on the (1)J(N,H) coupling constant and the shielding of the bridge proton is small. The NMR parameter changes in the series of the 2(2'-heteroaryl)pyrroles due to N-H...X hydrogen bond and the series of the 1-vinyl-2-(2'-heteroaryl)-pyrroles due to C-H...X hydrogen bond have the same order. The proximity of the nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur lone pair to the F...H hydrogen bridge quenches the trans-hydrogen bond spin-spin couplings (1h)J(F,H-1) and (2h)J(F,N).     

Carbon-nitrogen place exchange on NO exposed beta-Mo2C

Atomic nitrogen and oxygen were deposited on beta-Mo(2)C through dissociative adsorption of NO. Reflectance absorbance infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS), thermal desorption, and synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were used to investigate the interplay between atomic nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen in the 400-1250 K region. The combination of the high resolution and high surface sensitivity offered by the synchrotron XPS technique was used to show that atomic nitrogen displaces interstitial carbon onto the carbide surface. Thermal desorption measurements show that the burnoff of the displaced carbon occurs at approximately 890 K. The incorporation of nitrogen into interstitial sites inhibits oxygen dissolution into the bulk. RAIRS spectroscopy was used to identify surface oxo, terminal oxygen, species formed from O(2) and NO on beta-Mo(2)C.     

Spectral and magnetic properties of phenylazo-6-aminouracil complexes

Complexes of Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) with substituted phenylazo-6-aminouracils containing (-H, p-OH, p-CH(3), p-OCH(3) p-COOH) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, magnetic measurements and spectral measurements (IR, UV-Vis, ESR). Infrared spectra assigned the fundamental bands of the major groups, O-H, N-H, C-H, C=O, C=N, N=N, C-N and C-O (nu, delta and gamma modes of vibrations). The absence of nu(OH) and the appearance of nu(C=O) in the infrared spectra of the free ligands of 5-(p-tolyl and p-anisylazo)-6-aminouracil, assigned the keto structure, whereas in cases of 5-(phenyl, p-hydroxyphenyl and p-carboxyphenylazo)-6-aminouracil ligands, the data showed strong nu(OH) and nu(C=O) bands to assign keto-enol tautomerisms. The modes of interactions between the ligands and the metals were discussed, where oxygen and nitrogen atoms (of amino-amide groups) are involved in chelation. The azo group was not involved in chelation for all the prepared complexes except those of copper complexes derived from 5-(phenyl, p-tolyl, p-hydroxyphenyl and p-carboxyphenylazo)-6-aminouracils. The room temperature effective magnetic moment values, the Nujol mull spectra and ESR proved that all the prepared complexes were of octahedral geometry, except the nickel complex derived from 5-(phenylazo)-6-aminouracil and cobalt complex derived from 5-(p-carboxy-phenylazo)-6-aminouracil were square planar.