Design of a portable luminescence bio-tool for on-site analysis of heavy metals in water samples

ABSTRACT

In this work, we report an innovative tool for heavy metal screening in water samples. This new chemiluminescent set-up screens the light generated from luminol oxidation by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The pollutant concentrations in real water samples were calculated by studying the effect of metal ions on chemiluminescence signal. Owing to its simplicity, portability and low cost, this approach presents a real alternative to classical optical methods. It is constructed with simple materials: a black box containing a cuvette and a micro-camera. When the enzymatic reaction takes place, the luminescence is captured by the camera placed in upright position. The image can be saved automatically in a computer for further analysis using a MATLAB interface. The RGB diagram is then established to determine the analyte concentrations in the tested samples. This method was successfully applied for the determination of mercury (Hg), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in lake and field water samples. In these experiments, three concentrations of each analytes were tested (5, 25 and 50 µg/L). We noted a good proportionality between the analyte concentration and the chemiluminescent detection intensity. Detection of binary and tertiary combinations of heavy metals has been also investigated. The developed biosensor showed low detection limits for the tested heavy metals: 1, 0.7 and 0.02 for Hg²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺, respectively. Finally, excellent recoveries ranging from 98% to 104% were obtained for the HRP-inhibition assay.     

Simple procedure for the fabrication of flexible NMR shim coils

Photolithography allows simple fabrication of flexible NMR shim coils. Here we demonstrate this procedure by fabricating optimized first-order shim coils for a transverse field orientation “Halbach” permanent magnet cylinder.     

Which Parameters Affect the Response of the Channel Biosensor?

The important parameters in defining the response of the portable channel biosensor described previously are explored by connecting the portable flow cell to a gravity feed flow system and using a highly defined enzyme immobilization protocol which ensures the enzyme reaction is a surface reaction. The enzyme glucose oxidase (GOD) was immobilized by covalent attachment to a self‐assembled monolayer modified gold surface. As a glucose solution flowed down the rectangular duct defined by the flow cell, it passed over the enzyme layer where the enzyme reaction produced hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide was swept further downstream to the detector electrode. The response of such an enzyme electrode was shown to be limited by mass transport of the cosubstrate oxygen to the enzyme layer. Increasing the amount of oxygen in the sample meant the response of the biosensor became limited by the enzyme kinetics. The influence of parameters such as flow rate, height of the channel, enzyme layer length and the gap between the enzyme layer and the detector electrode were explored.     

便携式检测仪检测呋喃丹和对氧磷的研究

基于胆碱酯酶被抑制前后反应速率不同的原理,研制了便携式荧光探针农药残留检测仪,并对检测条件进行了优化,获得呋喃丹和对氧磷的检出限分别为3．0和12μg／L,线性范围分别为3．0—37．8μg／L和12-350μg／L,该检测仪具有操作简便,检测怏速,可用于现场检测等优点,在对蔬菜和水果样品检测中,获得呋喃丹的回收率在87％～114％之间。     

基于等离激元增强拉曼光谱的便携式快速检测仪设计与实现

用于食品安全、环境污染、毒品、化学战剂检测等的现场快速检测要求检测设备便携、快速和准确。目前的常规实验室检测方法虽然能够实现准确检测,但是其实时性较差,无法满足现场快速检测的要求。因此,设计开发了基于等离激元增强拉曼光谱的便携式快速检测仪,能够实现对滥用添加剂、违禁食品添加剂、农药残余、毒品、化学战剂和环境水污染等大量有害物质的现场快速定性检测。该检测仪基于ARM嵌入式系统开发,编写了其操作交互界面和底层驱动程序,实现了拉曼光谱数据自动标定和特征谱图快速识别等算法。在仪器中搭建了检测物质拉曼光谱的标谱数据库,数据库根据检测科目进行分类,每种科目包含该类别的多种物质,每种物质均包含其高中低多种浓度的标准品和样本谱图。设计实现了大类科目的辨识比对算法和GPU硬件加速算法,实现了对某一类科目的所有物质的快速比对,与传统的纯CPU算法实现相比较,在辨识速度上提高了20倍以上。通过市场购买的功能饮料、违规葡萄酒与果汁等实际样品对所制备的样机仪器进行测试,测试结果符合预期,具有良好的灵敏度与重现性,满足了现场快速检测的要求。     

近红外等效光谱测量方法研究

便携式近红外光谱仪器测量低反射率或透过率样品的漫反射率或透过率光谱时,由于仪器噪声的影响,光谱数据小、信噪比低,即使采用降噪数据处理,所得光谱数据仍无法满足分析精度的要求。因此研究了近红外等效光谱测量方法：根据低反射率或透过率样品在常规测量条件下反射信号的强度,增大仪器测量时光源电流以增大样品扫描信号、减小参比反射或透射光强以避免参比信号超量程,并计算得与常规测量方法相同的等效光谱,以提高样品近红外反射率或透过率光谱数据的信噪比。理论分析和实验结果表明采用近红外等效光谱测量方法,可获得与常规测量方法的光谱数据相同、且信噪比增大的等效光谱。     

Reciprocal contribution analysis of the left and right hips while walking

The physical posture of even healthy university students is easy to collapse when walking with textbooks and other heavy loads during university attendance. Consequently, they may experience lower-back pain or knee pain. However, the resulting burden of this stress to the left and right lower-back has not previously been quantitatively analyzed.In this study, we employed a Relative Power Contribution (RPC) analysis approach to quantitatively investigate and compare the reciprocal contribution between the left and right lower-backs while walking with a bag and without a bag. Quantitative data were collected by two accelerometers installed on the subjects.Results for the subjects walking with and without a bag indicated that the contribution of the left and right lower-backs decreased by up to 21% (p<0.05). Some disorder occurs in the feedback relations of the movement in both lower-backs and as a result, it was understood to cause much discomfort in these areas.This analysis reveals the quantitative relations of left and right lower-backs, which are difficult to discern from the original data. The results can be useful for preventive healthcare for lower-back and knee pains.     

Performance characteristics of a new prototype for a portable GC using ambient air as carrier gas for on-site analysis

The performance characteristics of a portable GC instrument requiring no compressed gas supplies and using relatively lightweight transportable components for the analysis of volatile organic components in large-volume air samples are described. To avoid the need for compressed gas tanks, ambient air is used as the carrier gas, and a vacuum pump is used to pull the carrier gas and injected samples through the wall-coated capillary column and a photoionization detector (PID). At-column heating is used eliminating the need for a conventional oven. The fused silica column is wrapped with heater wire and sensor wire so that heating is provided directly at the column. A PID is used since it requires no external gas supplies and has high sensitivity for many compounds of interest in environmental air monitoring. In order to achieve detection limits in the ppb range, an online multibed preconcentrator containing beds of graphitized carbons and carbon molecular sieves is used. After sample collection, the flow direction through the preconcentrator is reversed, and the sample is thermally desorbed directly into the column. Decomposition of sensitive compounds during desorption is greater with air as the carrier gas than with hydrogen.     

基于MEMS微镜技术的近红外光谱仪的研究

针对传统近红外光谱仪的不足,设计了基于MEMS微镜技术的近红外光路,并对其电路和处理软件做出简要描述,最后用标准样品进行实验,实验结果表明,该光谱仪在重复性和稳定性得到保证的前提下可以做到小型化、便携化.     

Catalytic ignition and autothermal combustion of JP-8 and its surrogates over a Pt/γ-Al2O3 catalyst

With the aim of utilizing JP-8 fuel for small scale portable power generation systems, catalytic combustion of JP-8 is studied. The surface ignition, extinction and autothermal combustion of JP-8, of a six-component surrogate fuel mixture, and the individual components of the surrogate fuel over a Pt/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst are experimentally investigated in a packed bed flow reactor. The surrogate mixture exhibits similar ignition–extinction behavior and autothermal temperatures compared to JP-8 suggesting the possibility of using this surrogate mixture for detailed kinetics of catalytic combustion of JP-8. It is shown that JP-8 ignites at low temperatures in the presence of catalyst. Upon ignition, catalytic combustion of JP-8 and the surrogate mixture is self-sustained and robust combustion is observed under fuel lean as well as fuel rich conditions. It is shown that the ignition temperature of the hydrocarbon fuels increases with increasing equivalence ratio. Extinction is observed under fuel lean conditions, whereas sustained combustion was also observed for fuel rich conditions. The effect of dilution in the air flow on the catalytic ignition and autothermal temperatures of the fuel mixture is also investigated by adding helium to the air stream while keeping the flow rate and the equivalence ratio constant. The autothermal temperature decreases linearly as the amount of dilution in the flow is increased, whereas the ignition temperature shows no dependence on the dilution level under the range of our conditions, showing that ignition is dependent only on the type and relative concentration of the active species.