High-performance liquid chromatography of some basic drugs on a n-octadecylphosphonic acid modified magnesia-zirconia stationary phase

The high-performance liquid chromatographic behavior of some basic drugs was studied on a n-octadecylphosphonic acid modified magnesia-zirconia (C18PZM) stationary phase. The effect of mobile phase variables such as methanol content, ionic strength, and pH on their chromatographic behavior was investigated. The retention mechanism of basic drugs on the stationary phase was elucidated. The results indicate that both hydrophobic and cation-exchange interactions contribute to solute retention under most chromatographic conditions. The inherent Br?nsted-acid sites and also the adsorbed Lewis base anionic buffer constituents on accessible ZM surface Lewis acid sites play a role in the retention of ionized solutes by cation-exchange interaction. However, especially at high mobile phase pH, the retention of basic drugs depends mainly on hydrophobic interactions between solutes and support. Separations of the basic drugs on the C18PZM phase by a predominantly reversed-phase retention mode were very promising. The mixed-mode retention feature on this phase, as a result of the adsorbed Lewis base anionic buffer constituents acting as sites for cation-exchange, could also be very useful, e.g. for enhancing the chromatographic selectivity of such analytes. The C18PZM seems to be an excellent alternative to silica-based reversed-phase stationary phase for the separation of strongly basic solutes.     

Conductivities and silver electrode polarization resistance of solid electrolyte ceramics from ZrO2-Y2O3 powder synthesized in air plasma

Ceramic specimens have been obtained from the powder of ZrO₂-7.5 mol% Y₂O₃ having a specific surface area of 30 m²/g synthesized in air plasma. The novelty of this research lies in the fact that the plasma process makes it possible to prepare so-called nanopowders with a particle size less than 100 nm, possessing specific physical, chemical and technological properties. The sintered density of the specimens was 94–96% of the theoretical value, 6.001 g/cm³. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the specimens corresponded to a face-centered cubic lattice. Impedance in the frequency range of 100 Hz–15 MHz and d.c. polarization curves in a potential range of −10 to 10 mV were measured in the temperature range 200–850 °C in heating and cooling cycles. The intragrain, the grain boundary and the total bulk conductivities, the electrode polarization resistance and their activation energies were determined. The thermal stability of the studied system was proved in three measurement series up to 600–850 °C in heating and cooling cycles. The results obtained have shown that the conductivity of ZrO₂-7.5 mol% Y₂O₃ ceramics is not solely a function of temperature, but also depends on the previous thermal state of the ceramics. Received: 16 October 1997 / Accepted: 19 January 1998     

A Novel Toxicological Evaluation of TiO2 Nanoparticles on DNA Structure0

TiO2 has been tested to be toxic to DNA under the photo-irradiation of ultraviolet A （UVA）. However, in the dark conditions, after several days of treatment with TiO2 in aqueous solution, the interaction between TiO2 and two types of DNA was detected and the mechanisms were studied by the methods of gel-electrophoresis, IR spectroscopy and TEM. The results showed that the DNA would be bound to TiO2; the ratio of binding was related to the concentration and the treating time; the mechanism of binding is related to phosphate groups of DNA. Besides, DNA with different structure showed different degree of binding. These findings showed a new possible way through which the TiO2 nanoparticles interact with DNA.     

湿式氧化工艺中颗粒Ru催化剂的活性和稳定性

分别采用传统成型法和新的成型法制备了一系列以CeO2为主要成分的载体,将贵金属Ru浸渍在这些载体上制备了不同的催化剂.对催化剂的比表面积和机械强度进行了表征,并通过湿式氧化乙酸的静态实验和湿式氧化苯酚的动态实验分别考察了催化剂的活性和稳定性.结果表明,Ru负载在采用新方法成型的载体上制得的催化剂具有更大的比表面积.向CeO2中掺杂Zr能增大载体的比表面积.新方法制备的催化剂Ru/ZrO2-CeO2催化湿式氧化乙酸具有良好的活性,化学需氧量(COD)去除率为98%.在110h的催化湿式氧化苯酚反应中,苯酚和COD的去除率维持在96%左右,反应过程中活性组分的溶出浓度很小,催化剂表面有少量的积炭,但积炭在300℃能够被完全氧化.因而催化剂具有较好的稳定性和工业应用可能性.     

锆助剂对低温液相合成甲醇用铜铬硅催化剂性能的影响

考察了含锆的铜铬硅催化剂低温液相合成甲醇性能，并进行了BET、TPR-H2、TPD-H2、TPD-CO、XRD和XPS表征。结果表明，锆作为结构助剂及电子助剂对催化剂在低温液相合成甲醇反应中具有显著的促进作用，反应活性可提高32.25 ％。锆助剂能有效提高催化剂的比表面积，促进催化剂中铜铬组分的分散及表面富集。ZrO2加入在催化剂表面产生的Cu+与催化活性的改善密切相关，Zr4+、Cr3+、Cu+可形成复合中心，为价态的稳定性提供微环境，在H2活化及C O键的断裂等反应步骤中起重要作用。     

Preparation and characterization of sulfated zirconia (SO4/ZrO2)/Nafion composite membranes for PEMFC operation at high temperature/low humidity

Fine particle superacidic sulfated zirconia (SO₄²⁻/ZrO₂, S-ZrO₂) was synthesized by ameliorated method, and composite membranes with different S-ZrO₂ contents were prepared by a recasting procedure from a suspension of S-ZrO₂ powder and Nafion solution. The physico-chemical properties of the membranes were studied by ion exchange capacity (IEC) and liquid water uptake measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, thermogravimetry–mass spectrometry (TG–MS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The results showed that the IEC of composite membrane increased with the content of S-ZrO₂, S-ZrO₂ was compatible with the Nafion matrix, the incorporation of the S-ZrO₂ could increase the crystallinity and also improve the initial degradation temperature of the composite membrane. The performance of single cell was the best when the S-ZrO₂ content was 15 wt.%, and achieved 1.35 W/cm² at 80 °C and 0.99 W/cm² at 120 °C based on H₂/O₂ and at a pressure of 2 atm, the performance of the single cell with optimized S-ZrO₂ was far more than that of the Nafion at the same condition (e.g. 1.28 W/cm² at 80 °C, 0.75 W/cm² at 120 °C). The 15 wt.% S-ZrO₂/Nafion composite membrane showed lower fuel cell internal resistance than Nafion membranes at high temperature and low relative humidity (RH).     

Influence of pretreatment conditions on low-temperature CO oxidation over Au/MOx/Al2O3 catalysts

Composite oxide MO_x/Al₂O₃ supported gold catalysts for low-temperature CO oxidation were prepared and investigated. The presence of transition metal oxide was proved to be beneficial to the improvement of catalytic performance of Au/Al₂O₃ catalysts for low-temperature CO oxidation. Furthermore, the influence of various pretreatment conditions on Au/MO_x/Al₂O₃ catalysts was studied carefully. The image of TEM showed that gold catalyst with small gold particles only in the form of a fine dispersion exhibited highly catalytic activity. The XPS, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy characterization results of Au/FeO_x/Al₂O₃ catalyst showed that gold catalysts having partially oxidized gold species have the best catalytic performance. One possible pathway for CO oxidation on Au/FeO_x/Al₂O₃ catalyst is that the CO adsorbed on gold particles reacts with adsorbed oxygen, which is possible to occur on oxygen vacancies on the support or at the metal–support interface.     

Sol-gel approach to in situ creation of high pH-resistant surface-bonded organic-inorganic hybrid zirconia coating for capillary microextraction (in-tube SPME)

A novel zirconia-based hybrid organic-inorganic sol-gel coating was developed for capillary microextraction (CME) (in-tube SPME). High degree of chemical inertness inherent in zirconia makes it very difficult to covalently bind a suitable organic ligand to its surface. In the present work, this problem was addressed from a sol-gel chemistry point of view. Principles of sol-gel chemistry were employed to chemically bind a hydroxy-terminated silicone polymer (polydimethyldiphenylsiloxane, PDMDPS) to a sol-gel zirconia network in the course of its evolution from a highly reactive alkoxide precursor undergoing controlled hydrolytic polycondensation reactions. A fused silica capillary was filled with a properly designed sol solution to allow for the sol-gel reactions to take place within the capillary for a predetermined period of time (typically 15-30 min). In the course of this process, a layer of the evolving hybrid organic-inorganic sol-gel polymer got chemically anchored to the silanol groups on the capillary inner walls via condensation reaction. At the end of this in-capillary residence time, the unbonded part of the sol solution was expelled from the capillary under helium pressure, leaving behind a chemically bonded sol-gel zirconia-PDMDPS coating on the inner walls. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones, and aldehydes were efficiently extracted and preconcentrated from dilute aqueous samples using sol-gel zirconia-PDMDPS coated capillaries followed by thermal desorption and GC analysis of the extracted solutes. The newly developed sol-gel hybrid zirconia coatings demonstrated excellent pH stability, and retained the extraction characteristics intact even after continuous rinsing with a 0.1 M NaOH solution for 24 h. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the use of a sol-gel zirconia-based hybrid organic-inorganic coating as an extraction medium in solid phase microextraction (SPME).     

Early Stages of Crystallization in Gel Derived ZrO2 Precursors

Three different precursor materials giving rise to contrasted nanostructures, xerogels, aerogels and precipitates, are prepared by a sol gel route in the Zrn -propoxide—acetylacetone—water—n-propanol system. Clear homogeneous gels are made by using a proper amount of acetylacetone and water. The gels are dried either by conventional processing (xerogels) or by supercritical evacuation of alcoholic solvent (aerogels). The complexation ratio (R = [acetylacetone]/[Zr(OR)₄]) is the main parameter controlling the size of ZrO₂ primary particles. WhenR = 0 , precipitates are obtained.Xerogels, aerogels and precipitates are characterized and their textures are compared through small angle X-ray scattering measurements. The fractal structure of gels is destroyed by conventional drying and is preserved in aerogels. On the other hand precipitates are described as homogeneous agglomerates of very small primary units.The first crystallization steps are studied by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction experiments. The contribution of crystallite size and microstrain effects are investigated by Rietveld whole pattern fitting. The crystallization of precipitate powders starts at the agglomerate scale with large crystal like distorted lattices.     

Combined investigation of experimental characterization and theoretic calculation on the structure of dextran-Fe3O4 clusters

Dextran-Fe₃O₄ hybrid clusters were fabricated by coprecipitating ferric and ferrous ions in the presence of dextran, and after characterization of these clusters combined with calculation based on classical nucleation theory, a structure model of these hybrid clusters was proposed. The hybrid cluster was believed including small Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and dextran which acted as both nucleating agent and stabilizer, so that exist in both the inside of magnetite nanoparticles and the periphery of the hybrid clusters. Besides, the effects of W_CD (weight_{iron cation}:weight_dextran) and molecular weight of dextran on the size, morphology and magnetic property of clusters were also investigated in this paper. It was found that the variation of W_CD and molecular weight of dextran have great effect on the size of the hybrid clusters, but have almost no effect on the size of the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The characterization of magnetic property demonstrated that the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles are of a single domain and the saturation magnetization was affected by the size of dextran-Fe₃O₄ hybrid clusters.