A modified sequential extraction method for arsenic fractionation in sediments

A modified sequential extraction method was developed to characterize arsenic (As) associated with different solid constituents in surficial deposits (sediments), which are unconsolidated glacial deposits overlying bedrock. Current sequential extraction methods produce a significant amount of unresolved As in the residual fraction, but our proposed scheme can fractionate >90% of the As present in sediments. Sediment samples containing different As concentrations (3–35 μg g⁻¹) were used to assess the developed method. The pooled amount of As recovered from all the fractions using the developed method was similar (83–122%) to the total As extracted by acid digestion. The concentrations of As in different fractions using the developed scheme were comparable (89–106%) to the As fractions obtained by other existing methods. The developed method was also evaluated for the sequential extraction of other metals such as copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr) and strontium (Sr) in the sediment samples. The pooled concentrations of these four individual metals from all the fractions were similar (96–104%) to their total concentrations extracted by acid digestion. During method development, we used extractants that did not contain chloride to eliminate formation of polyatomic ions of argon chloride (⁴⁰Ar³⁵Cl) that interfered with ⁷⁵As when analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The results suggest that the developed method can reliably be employed for complete As and other metals’ fractionation in sediments using ICP-MS.     

On the Center of Continuous Maps of Dendrites

The structure and the depth of the center of a continuous map of a dendrite with a closed countable set of branch points of a finite order are studied. It is proved that the center of that map coincides with the closure of the set of periodic points. It is shown also that for an arbitrary natural number n S 2 there are the dendrite X n with a closed countable set of branch points of a finite order and the continuous map f n : X n M X n with n as the depth of the center.     

Existence and multiplicity results for periodic solutions of nonlinear difference equations

We use Brouwer degree to prove existence and multiplicity results for the periodic solutions of some nonlinear second-order and first-order difference equations. We obtain, in particular upper and lower solutions theorems, Ambrosetti–Prodi type results and sharp existence conditions for nonlinearities which are bounded from below or above.     

Guiding functions and periodic solutions for inclusions with causal multioperators

In the present paper, the method of guiding functions is applied to study the periodic problem for a differential inclusion with a causal multioperator. At first we consider the case when the multioperator is closed and convex-valued. Then the case of a non-convex-valued and lower semicontinuous right-hand part is considered. Thereafter, the theory is extended to the case of non-smooth guiding functions.     

Periodic solutions to a class of biological diffusion models with hysteresis effect

This paper is concerned with a class of biological models which consists of a nonlinear diffusion equation and a hysteresis operator describing the relationship between some variables of the equations. By the viscosity approach, we show the existence of periodic solutions of the problem under consideration. More precisely, with the help of the subdifferential operator theory and Leray–Schauder theorem, we show the existence of periodic solutions to the approximation problem and then obtain the solution of the original problem by using a passage-to-limit procedure.     

Singly Periodic Solutions of the Allen-Cahn Equation and the Toda Lattice

The Allen-Cahn equation ? Δu = u ? u ³ in ?² has family of trivial singly periodic solutions that come from the one dimensional periodic solutions of the problem ?u″ =u ? u ³. In this paper we construct a non-trivial family of singly periodic solutions to the Allen-Cahn equation. Our construction relies on the connection between this equation and the infinite Toda lattice. We show that for each one-soliton solution to the infinite Toda lattice we can find a singly periodic solution to the Allen-Cahn equation, such that its level set is close to the scaled one-soliton. The solutions we construct are analogues of the family of Riemann minimal surfaces in ?³.     

基于第一性原理的无铅无机钙钛矿Cs3Bi2X9(X=Cl、Br、I)光电性能表面效应研究

用基于第一性原理的密度泛函理论方法,对Cs₃Bi₂X₉(X=Cl、Br、I)的光电特性进行理论计算,并系统阐述这3种晶体的表面效应对光电性能的影响。结果表明,3种材料的光学特性由铋原子和卤素原子最外层p轨道上的价电子主导。在可见光区中,材料的吸收峰会随卤素原子序数的增加呈现红移,其中一维结构的Cs₃Bi₂Cl₉表面结构在光吸收能力上尤为特别且敏感;二维结构的Cs₃Bi₂Br₉光吸收能力会受厚度影响;零维结构的Cs₃Bi₂I₉非常稳定,且几乎不受表面特性和晶体厚度的影响。     

Investigation of Copper(II) Interference on the Anodic Stripping Voltammetry of Lead(II) and Cadmium(II) at Bismuth Film Electrode

The bismuth‐coated electrode is known to be prone to errors caused by copper(II). This study investigates copper(II) interference at bismuth film electrode for the detection of lead(II) and cadmium(II). It was conducted using glassy carbon electrode, while the bismuth film was plated in situ simultaneously with the target metal ions at ? 1200 mV. Copper(II) presented in solution significantly reduced the sensitivity of the electrode, for example there was an approximately 70 % and 90 % decrease in peak signals for lead(II) and cadmium(II), respectively, at a 10‐fold molar excess of copper(II). The decrease in sensitivity was ascribed to the competition between copper and bismuth or the metal ions for surface active sites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) analysis suggested a large decrease in the amount of bismuth nanoparticles formed on the electrode surface in the presence of copper(II) occurred, validating the competition between copper and bismuth ions for surface active sites. Recovery of the stripping signal of lead(II) and cadmium(II) was obtained by adding ferrocyanide ion to the solution. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to determine lead(II) and cadmium(II) in water samples and the method was validated by ICP‐MS technique.