Electroreduction of α-glucose on CNT/graphite electrode modified by Zn and Zn–Fe alloy

Electroreduction of -glucose to form sorbitol on Zn/CNTs and Zn alloy/CNTs electrodes has been investigated in this paper. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) used in this paper are grown directly on graphite disks by chemical vapor deposition. Zn and Zn alloy are electrodeposited on the activated CNTs/graphite electrode by pulse galvanostatic method. The micrographs of Zn/CNTs and Zn alloy/CNTs electrodes are characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the current efficiency of -glucose reduction on CNTs electrodes is much better than that on flat Zn electrodes. The order of the current efficiency on different electrodes is as follows: Zn/CNT (0.58) Zn–Fe/CNT (0.57)>Zn–Ni/CNT (0.43) Zn/graphite (0.42)>Zn (0.40). It indicates that CNTs have good potential application in electrosynthesis. Additionally, effects of some operating parameters, such as pH, temperature and -glucose concentration, on the current efficiency of -glucose reduction are also discussed.     

Pulse plating effect on microstructure and corrosion properties of Zn–Ni alloy coatings

The influence of pulse plating parameters on the surface morphology, grain size, lattice imperfection and corrosion properties of Zn–Ni alloy has been studied. The coatings were electrodeposited in an alkaline cyanide-free solution. AFM was applied for surface morphology examination, XRD measurements were carried out for phase composition and texture analysis, electron probe microanalysis was used for alloy chemical composition studies, while electrochemical techniques were applied for corrosion performance evaluation. The pulse plated Zn–Ni coatings appeared to consist of the γ-Zn₂₁Ni₅ phase and the composition of the alloy depended on the plating parameters. The grain size, lattice imperfection and homogeneity of grain distribution were established to be the main factors determining corrosion behaviour of the coating. Presented at the 4th Baltic Conference on Electrochemistry, Greifswald, March 13–16, 2005     

Supplementation with Magnesium Salts—A Strategy to Increase Nutraceutical Value of Pleurotus djamor Fruiting Bodies

The use of substrates supplemented with minerals is a promising strategy for increasing the nutraceutical value of Pleurotus spp. The current research was performed to analyze the effect of substrate supplementation with magnesium (Mg) salts on the Mg content, biomass, and chemical composition of pink oyster mushroom (Pleurotus djamor) fruiting bodies. Before inoculation, substrate was supplemented with MgCl₂ × 6 H₂O and MgSO₄, both salts were applied at three concentrations: 210, 420, and 4200 mg of Mg per 2 kg of substrate. The harvest period included three flushes. Substrate supplementation with 4200 mg of Mg caused the most significant decrease in mushroom productivity, of about 28% for both Mg salts. The dry matter content in fruiting bodies was significantly lower in the treatment in which 210 mg of Mg was applied as MgSO₄ in comparison to the control. Supplementation effectively increased the Mg content in fruiting bodies of P. djamor by 19–85% depending on the treatment, and significantly affected the level of remaining bioelements and anions. One hundred grams of pink oyster fruiting bodies, supplemented with Mg salts, provides more than 20% of the Mg dietary value recommended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); thus, supplementation can be an effective technique for producing mushrooms that are rich in dietary Mg. Although P. djamor grown in supplemented substrate showed lower productivity, this was evident only in the fresh weight because the differences in dry weight were negligible. Mg supplementation increased the antioxidant activity of the fruiting bodies, phenolic compounds, and some amino acids, including L-tryptophan, and vitamins (thiamine and l-ascorbic acid).     

混合稀土对ZL108铝合金组织与性能的影响

对稀土处理前后的ZL108合金进行了机械性能测试和断口分析, 表明稀土处理有利于提高合金的塑性和强度. 对稀土处理前后合金中氢总量进行了分析, 未加稀土的合金内氢总量与稀土处理后的合金相当, 结合性能与断口形态, 从侧面表明稀土改变了氢的存在形式.     

Comparison of slurry sampling and microwave-assisted digestion for calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc determination in fish tissue samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

The development of a slurry sampling method for the determination of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium and zinc in fish tissue samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry is described. In comparison with microwave-assisted digestion, the proposed method is simple, requires short time and eliminates total sample dissolution before analysis. Suspension medium was optimized for each analyte to obtain quantitative recoveries from fish tissue samples without matrix interferences. Nevertheless, iron recoveries higher than 46% were not found. Treatment of samples slurried in nitric acid by microwave irradiation for 15-30 s at 75-285 W permitted to achieve efficient recoveries for calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc. Further improvement in the matrix effects for iron determination was accomplished by the use of an additional step of short microwave-assisted suspension treatment. However, standard addition method was required for calcium and copper determination, being necessary hydrochloric acid as suspension medium for the last one. Although copper could not be determined in the certified reference material using microwave-assisted digestion, the accuracy of the slurry sampling method was verified for all the investigated analytes. Detection limits were 22.8 ± 8.0, 0.884 ± 0.092, 5.07 ± 0.76, 35.5 ± 0.7 and 1.17 ± 0.04 μg g⁻¹ for calcium, copper, iron, magnesium and zinc, respectively. The standard deviations obtained using slurry sampling method and microwave-assisted digestion were not significantly different, and the mean relative standard deviation of the over-all method (n = 3) of the slurry sampling method for different concentration levels was below 12%.     

Iron-Cobalt-Silica Aerogel Nanocomposite Materials

Iron-Cobalt-Silica nanocomposites were prepared in form of aerogels. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and N₂ physisorption at 77 K were used to investigate the structure, size and dispersion of the nanocrystals and the porous structure in the aerogels and in the final composites. The variation of the supercritical drying conditions gives rise to differences in the morphological features of the aerogels. These differences influence the size of the cobalt oxide nanoparticles in the aerogels. On the other hand, after the reduction treatment the average size of the alloy nanoparticles is the same in all the aerogel nanocomposites. The effect of reduction temperature on alloy formation and particle size is also discussed.     

复盐法制备无水氯化镁的热解机理及动力学研究

The complex compound (MgCl₂·C₆H₅NH₂·HCl·6H2O) was prepared by reaction of C₆H₅NH₂·HCl with MgCl₂·6H₂O. Reaction mechanism and kinetics of the compounds decomposition were studied by means of the TG-DTA-MS coupling technique and the TG-DTA technique. The results show that there are four steps in the complex′s thermal decomposition, the first two steps correspond to the loss of six crystal waters and the last two steps loss one Aniline hydrochloride. The first three steps belong to the R2 mechanism with 2-dimentional phase boundary reaction as the control step, and the last step belongs to the D3 with 3-dimensional diffusion (sphere Jander equ.) as the control step. The apparent active energy of four steps are, 127.4 kJ·mol^-1, 124.8 kJ·mol^-1, 142.3 kJ·mol^-1 and 329.0 kJ·mol^-1, respectively and the frequency factor are 1.28 × 10¹⁸ s^-1, 7.94 × 10¹⁵ s^-1, 5.98 × 10¹⁶ s^-1 and 4.39 × 10³⁴ s^-1, respectively.     

The effect of calcining conditions on the rehydration of dead burnt magnesium oxide using magnesium acetate as a hydrating agent

Summary Magnesium oxide was produced through calcination of magnesite ore. A rehydration percentage of MgO to Mg(OH)₂ of higher than 60% is obtained using calcination temperatures of 1000°C and below. At these temperatures medium reactive MgO was formed. The extend to which dead burnt MgO (obtained after calcination at 1200°C and higher) may be rehydrated is dependent on the calcination time, but even after 1 h and using magnesium acetate as a hydrating agent only 40% of the initial product has rehydrated to Mg(OH)₂. After 4 and more hours of calcinations at 1200°C, a maximum of approximately 14% of the initial MgO is rehydrated back to Mg(OH)₂. Thermogravimetric analysis was performed on the various compounds to determine the amounts of Mg(OH)₂ that formed.     

Spectrophotometric determination of zinc in copper-base alloys with TAN

TAN reacts with zinc(II) forming a red complex with composition 1:2 Zn(II)-TAN and absorption maximum at 582 nm. Zinc can be determined with this reagent in the presence of Triton X-100, in the pH range 6.20-8.00 with a molar absorptivity of 4.5×10⁴ l/mol/cm Beer's Law was obeyed up to least 1.55 g/ml. Copper interference was eliminated with a mixture of thiosulfate and ascorbic acid and nickel separated by precipitation with dimethylglyoxime. The proposed method was used for zinc determination in several copper-base alloys and the results of analysis in comparison with certified values indicated that the procedure was accurate and precise. A derivative procedure is also proposed, allowing zinc determination with high sensitivity (5-400 ng/ml).     

An ab initio molecular orbital study of the grignard reagents CH3MgCl and [CH3MgCl]2: The Schlenk equilibrium

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations are used to study the modified Schlenk equilibrium: 2RMgCl (RMgCl)² MgR₂ + MgCl₂ Mg(Cl₂)MgR₂ with R=H and CH₃. In the absence of any solvents, calculations indicate that the formation of the various possible bridged dimers (RMgCl)₂ is substantially exothermic. However, using dimethylether as a model solvent, we show that the formation of the dimer (Me₂O)(CH₃)Mg(Cl₂)Mg(CH₃)(OMe₂) is exothermic only when entropic effects are included.