Determination of lead, copper and manganese by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry after separation/concentration using a water-soluble polymer

In this study, a water-soluble polymer, polyvinylpyrrolidinone (PVP) having chelating functionalities was used for the preconcentration and separation of traces of Pb, Cu, Ve and Mn prior to their determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. For this purpose, the sample and the PVP solutions were mixed and the metal bound polymer was precipitated by adding the mixture onto acetone. The precipitate was separated by decantation and dissolved with water. By increasing the ratio of the volumes of sample to water used in dissolving the precipitate, the analyte elements were concentrated as needed. The concentration of trace elements was determined using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The analyte elements in matrix free aqueous solutions were quantitatively recovered. The validity of the proposed method was checked with a standard reference material (NIST SRM 1577b bovine liver) and spiked fruit juice, sea water and mineral water samples. The analytical results were found to be in good agreement with certified and added values. Detection limits (3δ) were 1.7, 3.6 and 4.1 μg l⁻¹ for Pb, Cu and Mn, respectively, using 10 μl of sample volume. The method is novel and can be characterized by rapidity, simplicity, quantitative recovery and high reproducibility.     

Surface modification of several carbon-based materials: comparison between CF4 rf plasma and direct F2-gas fluorination routes

Due to their extreme reactivity, fluorine and fluorinated gases may be used to modify the surface properties of numerous materials. In the following, the surface fluorination of some carbon-based compounds (graphite, graphitised carbon fibres, carbon blacks and elastomers) using CF₄ rf plasma technique and direct F₂-gas fluorination is proposed. From XPS studies, the different types of CF bonding obtained in the materials after treatment have been correlated either to the physico-chemical characteristics of the pristine material or to the experimental parameters of the fluorination. Reaction mechanisms are proposed.     

Beam-injection flame furnace AAS: comparison of different nozzle types for beam generation and application of sub-critical liquid carbon dioxide as carrier and gas pressure pump

In beam injection flame furnace AAS (BIFF-AAS) the sample is introduced as a free-flying high-speed liquid beam into an AAS flame-heated nickel tube, resulting in a considerable improvement in the power of detection. For optimization of beam generation different nozzle types (smooth jet nozzles, turbulent working nozzles) have been compared at different pressures. It was found that the type of the nozzle hardly influences the analytical signal. However, the flow rates resulting from the different inner diameters of the nozzles and the applied pressures led to drastic changes in the analytical signal. For these investigations a recently developed 0.6 MPa (84 psig) diaphragm pump system was used. Furthermore, for the first time ever sub-critical liquid carbon dioxide has been used simultaneously as a liquid gas-pressure pump, as carrier in a flow-injection system (FIA), and for the beam generation. Transport of the carrier takes place as a result of the head pressure (6 MPa) of the liquid CO₂ in the gas cylinder. For volatile elements (e.g. Cd, Hg, Pb, and Tl) detection limits between 0.2 µg L^–1 (Cd) and 28 µg L^–1 (Hg) were found, the standard deviation was from 0.6% to 3.2% depending on the element, concentration, and sample volume used. The use of liquid CO₂ as a carrier in FIA systems opens up new possibilities for online sample pretreatment and trace preconcentration.     

Method development for the determination of iron in milligram amounts of rice plants (Oryza sativa L.) from cultivation experiments using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

The amount of sample that is available for analysis in laboratory plant cultivation experiments is usually very limited. Highly sensitive analytical techniques are therefore required, even for elements that are present in the plants at mg g^–1 concentrations, and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) was chosen in this work because of its micro-sampling capability, and its relatively simple operation. Four micro-methods were investigated for the determination of iron in roots and leaves of rice plants: i) a micro-digestion with nitric and hydrochloric acids, ii) a slurry procedure using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) tissue solubilizer, iii) a slurry prepared in 1.4 mol L^–1 nitric acid, and treated in an ultrasonic bath, and iv) the direct analysis of solid samples. The micro-digestion was suffering from high blank values and contamination problems, so that it could not be recommended for routine purposes. The TMAH method exhibited poor precision and occasional low recoveries, particularly for real samples. Direct solid sampling analysis gave results similar to those obtained with the slurry technique with ultrasonic agitation for the determination of iron in certified reference materials with iron content up to about 100 g g^–1, but was too sensitive for the investigated rice plants, which had an iron content up to several mg g^–1. The slurry technique with ultrasonic treatment of the samples, suspended in dilute nitric acid, was finally adopted as the method of choice.The method was then applied for the determination of iron in the leaves and in different compartments of the roots of two rice cultivars, one sensitive to iron toxicity, an important nutritional disorder, and the other one resistant to iron toxicity. The results suggest that the higher resistance to iron toxicity of the second cultivar is due to a smaller uptake of iron from the soil, resulting in lower iron levels in all compartments of the plant.     

Method of Eliminating Systematic Errors of Atomic Absorption Analysis in Atomization of a Material in a Graphite Furnace

By taking as an example the obtaining of the spectra of the gas phase over alkali metal iodides and calcium fluoride, we show the possibility of eliminating systematic errors of atomic absorption analysis which are due to nonselective absorption of light. It is been suggested that it makes sense to create a database that would contain molecular absorption spectra of the most abundant substances and would be intended for use by chemistsanalysts.     

基体改进-石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定海水样品中痕量的铜

用石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定海水中痕量铜.对基体改进剂进行了筛选,采用HNO3-酒石酸体系,克服了海水基体的干扰,并对试剂进行了空白对照实验.在确定了升温程序的基础上,用标准加入法测定样品.使用国家标准溶液作为质控样,对方法的精密度和准确性做了验证.     

大面积均匀电子束产生实验研究

 在电子束泵浦气体激光实验中，大面积均匀电子束是获得高效能激光输出的必要条件。介绍了利用SPG-200脉冲功率源产生大面积均匀电子束的实验。SPG-200是基于SOS的全固态重复频率脉冲功率源，其开路电压大于350 kV。用于产生电子束的真空二极管阴极长294 mm，宽24 mm，两端均为半径为12 mm的半圆，栅网平面为阳极面，两者之间的距离在0~49 mm可调，阴极发射的电子束通过用于隔离激光气室和二极管真空室的压力膜及其支撑栅网引出。分别以石墨和天鹅绒为阴极材料，获得了大面积电子束输出，给出了二极管参数的测量结果，并对电子束发射均匀性进行了诊断。实验结果表明：在阴极材料为石墨、阴阳极间隙为5~9 mm时，二极管电压为240~280 kV，二极管电流为0.7~1.8 kA，输出的电子束很不均匀；在阴极材料为天鹅绒、阴阳极间隙为31~46 mm时，二极管电压为200~250 kV，二极管电流为1.5~1.7 kA，输出的电子束均匀性较好。     

Atomistic simulation of sorption in model pores with reduced spatial periodicity

Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) was used to study the sorption thermodynamics of carbon dioxide in model graphite slit-like pores and nanotubes by means of the Ewald technique, suitably adapted for the computation of long range (electrostatic) interactions of sorbates confined in pore systems exhibiting reduced periodicity in space. The computed thereby micropore size distributions extracted via mathematical elaboration of the simulation results with respect to real graphitic materials, reproduced successfully the experimentally measured isotherms of carbon dioxide in these materials at various temperatures. In the case of nanotubes, a direct Coulomb summation over a large number of periodic images proved to be a sufficient approximation leading to excellent agreement between the simulated and measured isotherms.     

Thin graphite overlayers: Graphene and alkali metal intercalation

Using LEED and angle resolved photoemission for characterisation we have prepared graphite overlayers with down to monolayer thickness by heating SiC crystals and monitored alkali metal intercalation for the multilayer films. The valence band structure of the monolayer is similar to that calculated for graphene though downshifted by around 0.8 eV and with a small gap at the zone corner. The shift suggests that the transport properties, which are of much present interest, are similar to that of a biased graphene sample. Upon alkali metal deposition the 3D character of the π states is lost and the resulting band structure becomes graphene like. A comparison with data obtained for ex situ prepared intercalation compounds indicates that the graphite film has converted to the stage 1 compounds C₈K or C₈Rb. Advantages with the present preparation method is that the graphite film can be recovered by desorbing small amounts of alkali metal and that the progress of compound formation can be monitored. The energy shifts measured after different deposits indicate that saturation is reached in three steps. Our interpretation is that in the first the alkali atoms are dispersed while the final steps are characterized by the formation of first one and then a second (2 × 2) ordered alkali metal layer adjacent to the uppermost carbon layer.     

Self-assembly of 5-octadecyloxyisophthalic acid and its coadsorption with terephthalic acid

The structure of the self-assembled monolayer of pure 5-octadecyloxyisophthalic acid (5OIA), and the coadsorption monolayer of 5OIA and terephthalic acid, is investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at the liquid-solid interface. 5OIA self-assembles into a monolayer comprised of different structures. For the major phase, 5OIA molecules alternately pack with opposite enantiotopic faces in a lamella, giving lamellae with a chain-to-trough angle of ∼88°. Two adjacent lamellae are assembled together by a hydrogen-bonding network between two carboxylic acid groups from each lamella. In the self-assembled monolayer of the mixture solution of 5OIA and terephthalic acid, 5OIA molecules coadsorb with terephthalic acid and therefore form two stoichiometric multi-component domains. Each domain has a molar ratio of 2:1 for 5OIA and terephthalic acid. For each component (5OIA or terephthalic acid), the two coadsorption structures exhibit opposite chirality.