Development of a radiochemical neutron activation analysis procedure for determination of rhenium in biological and environmental samples at ultratrace level

Summary Radiochemical neutron activation procedures using liquid-liquid extraction with tetraphenylarsonium chloride in chloroform from 1M HCl and solid extraction with ALIQUAT 336 incorporated in a polyacrylonitrile binding matrix from 0.1M HCl were developed for accurate determination of rhenium in biological and environmental samples at the sub-ng ^. g^-1 level. Concentrations of Re in the range of 0.1 to 2.4 ng ^. g^-1 were determined in several botanical reference materials (RM), while in a RM of road dust a value of ~10 ng ^. g^-1 was found. Significantly elevated values of Re, up to 90 ng ^. g^-1 were found in seaweed (brown algae). Results for Re in the brown algae Fucus vesiculosus in which elevated ⁹⁹Tc values had previously been determined suggested possible competition between Re and Tc in the accumulation process.     

Molar volumes and viscosities of LiClO4 and LiBr in propylene carbonate + 1,2-dimethoxyethane mixed solvents at 298.15 K

The standard partial molar volumes, viscosity B-coefficients and activation free energies of lithium salts (LiClO₄ and LiBr) in propylene carbonate (PC) with 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) mixed solvents have been determined as a function of the mole fraction of DME at 298.15 K from precise density and viscosity measurements. The values studied are all positive and decrease monotonously with addition of DME in the PC, which indicates that nature of the solvents plays an important role. The effects are discussed in terms of preferential solvation and packing effect in the solvation shell and electrostriction. The differences between ClO₄⁻ and Br⁻ have also been discussed.     

Surface plasmon resonance and electrochemistry for detection of small molecules using catalyzed deposition of metal ions on gold substrate

Small molecules are difficult to detect by conventional surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy due to the fact that the changes in the refractive index resulted from the binding process of small biomolecules are quite small. Here, we report a simple and effective method to detect small biomolecule using SPR spectroscopy and electrochemistry by catalyzed deposition of metal ions on SPR gold film. As an example, the ascorbic acid-mediated deposition of Ag on gold film was monitored by in situ SPR spectrum. The deposition of Ag atom on gold film resulted in an obvious decrease of depth in SPR angular scan curves of reflectance intensity and minimum reflectivity angle. The depth change of the SPR reflectance intensity and minimum reflectivity angle curves mainly relied on the amount of Ag atom deposited on gold film that can be controlled by the concentration of ascorbic acid. By monitoring the deposition of Ag atom on gold film, ascorbic acid was detected in the concentration range of 2 × 10⁻⁵ M to 1 ×  10⁻³ M. After each of detections, the SPR sensor surface was completely regenerated by a potential step that stripped off the Ag atom. Furthermore, the regeneration process of the sensor surface provides the feasibility for detecting the concentration of ascorbic acid by electrochemical method.     

Local structure and chemical durability of FeOOH-fixed sodium silicate glass prepared from water glass

A 12M HCl solution of iron oxyhydroxide (a-FeOOH: goethite) was mixed with water glass (18Na₂O^.36SiO₂ ^.46H₂O) at room temperature. The mixture (sol) changed into a dry gel when dried at 25 °C for 120 hours in air. Glass-ceramic and glass samples were prepared when the dry gel was heated for 1-3 hours in an electric furnace at 800 and 900 °C, respectively. The ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectrum of the dry gel is composed of a magnetic hyperfine structure owing to the formation of g-FeOOH (lepidocrocite). By contrast, the ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectrum of glass-ceramic and glasses is composed of paramagnetic Fe(III) with distorted tetrahedral symmetry. This proves that Fe(III) atoms occupy network-forming Si(IV) sites in the FeOOH-fixed sodium silicate glass. A leaching test of the silicate glass in the acid rain simulant composed of HNO₃ (pH 3.5) and H₂SO₄ (pH 3.5) revealed high chemical durability, indicating that Fe(III) is firmly fixed in the glass matrix.     

Minimization of mass interferences in quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) determination of palladium using a flow injection on-line displacement solid-phase extraction protocol

A flow injection on-line displacement solid-phase extraction protocol was employed to minimize mass interferences with determination of palladium by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The developed method involved in on-line complexing of Ag⁺ with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDC), presorption of the resultant Ag–PDC onto a microcolumn packed with the cigarette filter, displacement sorption of Pd²⁺ through loading the sample solution onto the microcolumn due to on-line displacement reaction between Pd²⁺ and the presorbed Ag–PDC, elution of the retained Pd²⁺ with 50 μL of ethanol for on-line ICP-MS detection. Interferences from co-existing heavy metal ions with lower stability of their PDC complexes relative to Ag–PDC were minimized/eliminated. No interferences from 5 mg L^− 1 Zn and 3 mg L^− 1 Pb for ¹⁰⁴Pd, 0.4 mg L^− 1 Cu for ¹⁰⁵Pd, 6 mg L^− 1 Zn and 2 mg L^− 1 Cd for ¹⁰⁶Pd, 6 mg L^− 1 Zn and 3 mg L^− 1 Cd for ¹⁰⁸Pd, and 2 mg L^− 1 Cd for ¹¹⁰Pd were observed for the determination of 100 ng L^− 1 Pd. The enhancement factors of 71–75, sample throughput of 23 samples h^− 1 and detection limits of 2.8–3.5 ng L^− 1 were achieved with the consumption of 3.0 mL of sample solution. The precision (RSD) for eleven replicate determinations of Pd at the 100 ng L^− 1 level was 1.8–2.7%. The developed method was applied to the determination of palladium in rock samples.     

New lithium ion conducting polymer electrolytes based on polysiloxane grafted with Si-tripodand centers

New kind of polymer host for lithium cations has been synthesized by catalyzed hydrosilylation reaction involving hydrogen atoms of a polysiloxane and double bonds of vinyl tris-2-methoxyethoxy silane. The obtained macromolecule can be regarded as siloxane backbone grafted with silicon tripodand elements with very short polyether chains. A family of Li ion conducting polymer electrolyte membranes have been prepared by dissolving LiPF₆ in thus obtained polymer matrix. Exceptionally high room temperature specific conductivities, exceeding 10⁻³ S/cm at 25 °C, have been measured for the studied polymer electrolytes. It is proposed that polyether chains tend to self-assembly in the presence of Li cations and this highly organized arrangement of Li coordination sites creates pathways of high lithium conductivity along the polysiloxane backbones. In addition to that, strong shielding of Li-cations suppresses the formation of ion pairs, thus increasing the charge carrier concentration. The electrolytes can be easily formed into dimensionally stable, flexible membranes.     

Resonance Raman spectra of tris(acetylacetonato)iron(III) and ruthenium(III) complexes and their solvent effect

The resonance Raman spectra of tris(acetylacetonatoiron(III)) and ruthenium(III) complexes in various solvents and in water-acetonitrile (W-AN) mixtures were measured. The resonance Raman spectra of both complexes indicated peaks near 460 and around 1580 cm^–1. Thev(C-O) peak (around 1580 cm^–1) is shifted to low frequency with an increase in the dielectric constant _T of the solvents, whereas thev(M-O) (M=Fe and Ru, near 460 cm^–1) are constant, independent of _T. It implies that the C-O bond in the acac^– ligand is lengthened by the polarizability effect of the solvents, while both the Fe-O and Ru-O bonds, which are located in the inside of the complexes, are not influenced by the solvents indicating that the interaction does not depend on the properties of individual solvent molecules but on those of the aggregate.     

Demetallation of methemoglobin in cellulose nanofibril–TiO2 nanoparticle composite membrane electrodes

Porous composite films containing cellulose nanofibrils (from sisal) and TiO₂ nanoparticles (ca. 6 nm diameter) are obtained in a layer-by-layer assembly process. Each layer consists of ca. 0.18 μg cellulose nanofibrils and ca. 0.72 μg TiO₂ (determined by QCMB) and adds a thickness of ca. 16 nm (by AFM) to the uniform deposit. The TiO₂ nanophase is creating conducting pathways for electrons in a relatively open cellulose structure (ca. 82% open pores) potentially suitable for the immobilization of large redox proteins such as methemoglobin.Methemoglobin is shown to readily adsorb into the cellulose–TiO₂ film. However, electrochemical responses for the immobilized methemoglobin in aqueous 0.1 M phosphate buffer at pH 5.5 suggest that facile demetallation occurs. Experiments with Fe³⁺ in the absence of protein result in voltammetric responses indistinguishable from those observed for immobilized methemoglobin. In the presence of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) the voltammetric signals for the Fe³⁺ immediately disappear. Complementary experiments conducted in 0.1 M acetate buffer at pH 5.5 demonstrate that methemoglobin can indeed be immobilized in electrochemically active form and without demetallation loss of the voltammetric signal in the presence of EDTA. Demetallation appears to occur (i) in the presence of phosphate, (ii) at pH 5.5, (iii) and in the presence of a charged surface.     

Enhanced and selective adsorption of mercury ions on chitosan beads grafted with polyacrylamide via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization

Enhanced and selective removal of mercury ions was achieved with chitosan beads grafted with polyacrylamide (chitosan-g-polyacrylamide) via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The chitosan-g-polyacrylamide beads were found to have significantly greater adsorption capacities and faster adsorption kinetics for mercury ions than the chitosan beads. At pH 4 and with initial mercury concentrations of 10-200 mg/L, the chitosan-g-polyacrylamide beads can achieve a maximum adsorption capacity of up to 322.6 mg/g (in comparison with 181.8 mg/g for the chitosan beads) and displayed a short adsorption equilibrium time of less than 60 min (compared to more than 15 h for the chitosan beads). Coadsorption experiments with both mercury and lead ions showed that the chitosan-g-polyacrylamide beads had excellent selectivity in the adsorption of mercury ions over lead ions at pH < 6, in contrast to the chitosan beads, which did not show clear selectivity for either of the two metal species. Mechanism study suggested that the enhanced mercury adsorption was due to the many amide groups grafted onto the surfaces of the beads, and the selectivity in mercury adsorption can be attributed to the ability of mercury ions to form covalent bonds with the amide. It was found that adsorbed mercury ions on the chitosan-g-polyacrylamide beads can be effectively desorbed in a perchloric acid solution, and the regenerated beads can be reused almost without any loss of adsorption capacity.     

Enhanced electrochromic absorption in Ag nanoparticle embedded conjugated polymer composite films

Ag/MEH-PPV {poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene]} composite films were prepared by the pulse current electrodeposition of Ag nanoparticles followed by spin coating of MEH-PPV and their enhanced electrochromic coloration was investigated. A relatively uniform Ag nanoparticle array was obtained by the electrodeposition and distinct plasmon absorption bands of Ag nanoparticles were observed. The absorption maximum of Ag/MEH-PPV was much higher than that of MEH-PPV, indicating that the Ag nanoparticles induced an enhanced absorption. In addition, the electrochromic absorption was 1.6 times higher at 500 nm wavelength, with a clearly different coloration compared to MEH-PPV.