Investigation into the determination of trimethylarsine in natural gas and its partitioning into gas and condensate phases using (cryotrapping)/gas chromatography coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and liquid/solid sorption techniques

Speciation of trialkylated arsenic compunds in natural gas, pressurized and stable condensate samples from the same gas well was performed using (Cryotrapping) Gas Chromatography-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. The major species in all phases investigated was found to be trimethylarsine with a highest concentration of 17.8 ng/L (As) in the gas phase and 33.2 μg/L (As) in the stable condensate phase. The highest amount of trimethylarsine (121 μg/L (As)) was found in the pressurized condensate, along with trace amounts of non-identified higher alkylated arsines. Volatile arsenic species in natural gas and its related products cause concern with regards to environment, safety, occupational health and gas processing. Therefore, interest lies in a fast and simple field method for the determination of volatile arsenicals. Here, we use simple liquid and solid sorption techniques, namely absorption in silver nitrate solution and adsorption on silver nitrate impregnated silica gel tubes followed by total arsenic determination as a promising tool for field monitoring of volatile arsenicals in natural gas and gas condensates. Preliminary results obtained for the sorption-based methods show that around 70% of the arsenic is determined with these methods in comparison to volatile arsenic determination using GC-ICP-MS. Furthermore, an inter-laboratory- and inter-method comparison was performed using silver nitrate impregnated silica tubes on 14 different gas samples with concentrations varying from below 1 to 1000 μg As/m³ natural gas. The results obtained from the two laboratories differ in a range of 10 to 60%, but agree within the order of magnitude, which is satisfactory for our purposes.     

Lipid-soluble and water-soluble arsenic compounds in blubber of ringed seal (Pusa hispida)

High concentrations of arsenic were observed in the blubber of ringed seals (Pusa hispida) in our previous study. To better understand the arsenic accumulation in blubber of marine mammals, arsenicals in the blubber of ringed seal were characterized using high performance liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC–ICPMS). The most predominant water-soluble arsenical in the blubber was dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), in spite of the predominance of arsenobetaine in other tissues. Lipid-soluble fraction was hydrolyzed under mild (tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAH) hydrolysis) and strong (NaOH hydrolysis) conditions, and then an aliquot of hydrolysate was injected onto HPLC–ICPMS. Both TEAH-labile and TEAH-stable/NaOH-labile lipid-soluble fractions contained precursors of DMA. These results suggest that the blubber might be the pool of DMA and DMA-containing precursors in ringed seals.     

Optical properties of perturbed NO 2 − ions in KNO2 doped NaNO2 single crystals

Summary On the basis of high-resolution and time-resolved fluorescence spectra, a model is proposed for the interpretation of the fluorescence lines originating from various perturbed NO ₂ ^– centers situated in the neighbourhood of the K⁺ ion of the NaNO₂:KNO₂ crystal. Since their excited state energies are lower than that of the host, these perturbed NO ₂ ^– ions act as traps for the host singlet exciton. On the assumption that the perturbation giving rise to those traps results from an interaction of the impurity ion K⁺ with its nearest neighbours, the observed position of the energy levels of the various traps can be reconciled with crystal field calculations.     

ESR Study of a Nitroxide Radical in Sol-Gel Glasses

A spin probe TEMPOL (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxy) was dissolved in a tetraethyl orthosilicate sol-gel reaction system and measured by electron spin resonance spectroscopy at 295 K. The nitrogen hyperfine coupling constant was from 1.64–1.66 mT in the sol-gel solutions. The values were sensitive to the ethanol-to-water ratio of the solutions. The hyperfine coupling constant in the xerogels was 1.70 mT, which was almost the same as that in water, indicating that the probe molecules were trapped in silica pores with water adsorbed on the silica surfaces. The motion of TEMPOL in the xerogels was considerably slower than in the sol-gel solutions. The local viscosity estimated was from 70–90 cP. The ESR spectra of TEMPOL were altered during the sol-gel process, indicating that adsorbed water on the silicas surfaces has an important role for trapping organic molecules in sol-gel glasses.     

还原气化-原子荧光光谱法快速测定绿色食品基地土壤中的砷与汞

应用还原气化-原子荧光光谱法，使待测元素与基体自动分离、富集，测定绿色食品基地土壤中的AS、HG。经对国家经土壤标准物质进行分析证明，该方法具有快速、准确、灵敏度高等优点，用于绿色食品基地的审评检测，结果令人满意。     

Electroanalytical Determination of Carbaryl in Natural Waters on Boron Doped Diamond Electrode

The anodic voltammetric behavior of carbaryl on a boron‐doped diamond electrode in aqueous solution is reported. The results, obtained by square‐wave voltammetry at 0.1 mol L^?1 Na₂SO₄ and pH 6.0, allow the development of a method to determine carbaryl, without any previous step of extraction, clean‐up, preconcentration or derivatization, in the range 2.5–30.0×10^?6 mol L^?1, with a detection limit of 8.2±0.2 μg L^?1 in pure water. The analytical sensitivity of this electrochemical method diminished slightly, from 3.07 mA mmol^?1 L to 2.90 mA mmol^?1L, when the electrolyte was prepared with water samples collected from two polluted points in an urban creek. In these conditions, the recovery efficiencies obtained were around 104%. The effect of other pesticides (fenthion and 4‐nitrophenol) was evaluated and found to exert a negligible influence on carbaryl determination. The square‐wave voltammetric data obtained for carbaryl were typical of an irreversible electrode process with mass transport control. The combination of square‐wave voltammetry and diamond electrodes is an interesting and desirable alternative for analytical determinations.     

Electrocatalytic Reduction of Chromium(VI) by Thionin: Electrochemical Properties and Mechanistic Study

The electrochemical properties of aqueous thionin (an electroactive water soluble dye) of pH 1–12 were investigated by cyclic voltammetry at a boron doped diamond(BDD) electrode. A well defined reversible redox couple was observed in acidic, neutral and alkaline solutions. The standard potential and kinetic parameters for thionin were obtained by fitting experimental cyclic voltammograms to those generated by the DigiSim program. The electrogenerated reduced form of thionin has been used as an efficient organic catalyst for the reduction of Cr(VI) at a BDD electrode immersed in aqueous media. The cyclic voltammetry measurements indicate that an electrocatalytic process occurs, where electrochemically generated thionin reduced species (Leucothionin) is oxidized by Cr(VI) back to the parent thionin species via a EC' reaction mechanism. The determination of catalytic rate constant (K_cat) was accomplished again by fitting experimental cyclic voltammograms with simulated ones.     

The phase diagram and tetragonal superstructures of the rare earth cobaltate phases Ln1−xSrxCoO3-δ (Ln=La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Y, Ho, Dy, Er, Tm and Yb)

Single phase perovskite-based rare earth cobaltates (Ln_1−xSr_xCoO_3−δ) (Ln=La³⁺, Pr³⁺, Nd³⁺, Sm³⁺, Gd³⁺, Dy³⁺, Y³⁺, Ho³⁺, Er³⁺, Tm³⁺ and Yb³⁺; 0.67?x?0.9) have been synthesized at 1100°C under 1 atmosphere of oxygen. X-ray diffraction of phases containing the larger rare earth ions La³⁺, Pr³⁺ and Nd³⁺ reveals simple cubic structures; however electron diffraction shows orientational twinning of a local, tetragonal (I4/mmm; a_p×a_p×2a_p) superstructure phase. Orientational twinning is also present for Ln_1−xSr_xCoO_3−δ compounds containing rare earth ions smaller than Nd³⁺. These compounds show a modulated intermediate parent with a tetragonal superstructure (I4/mmm; 2a_p×2a_p×4a_p). Thermogravimetric measurements have determined the overall oxygen content, and these phases show mixed valence (3⁺/4⁺) cobalt oxidation states with up to 50% Co(IV). X-ray diffraction data and Rietveld techniques have been used to refine the structures of each of these tetragonal superstructure phases (Ln=Sm³⁺-Yb³⁺). Coupled Ln/Sr and oxygen/vacancy ordering and associated structural relaxation are shown to be responsible for the observed superstructure.     

Determination of Arsenic as the Oxidate by Ion Chromatography

Abstract

An ion chromatographic procedure is described for the analysis of arsenic as the oxo anion. The procedure involves oxidations of the arsenic to arsenate in an aqueous solution and injection onto an anion separator column, Comparison is made with a standard wet chemical procedure, and data is presented on reproducibility. In addition, there is a brief discussion of the applicability of this method to the determination of other oxo anions.