Spectrophotometric and titrimetric determination of gallium in minerals and ores using semimethylthymol blue

The composition, overall stability constant and molar absorptivity of the chelate of gallium(III) ion with semimethylthymol blue, SMTB, were determined spectrophotometrically in acetate buffer (pH 4.5–5). A violet Ga(SMTB) chelate was formed with logarithmic overall stability constant of 18.0±0.1 (I=0.1) and molar absorptivity of 4.25×10⁴l mol^–1cm^–1 (_max 580 nm). SMTB is proposed as a new reagent for the spectrophotometric determination of micro-molar amounts of gallium(III). The colour development depends on time, temperature, pH and buffer species. The interference of different cations, anions and organic acids on gallium(III) determination was also investigated. Beer's law was obeyed for 3.5–31.3 gGa(III)/25ml (0.14–1.25 g ml^–1). SMTB was used for the spectrophotometric determination of gallium in different grade minerals and ores and the results were of acceptable error and relative standard deviation. Comparison between the two suggested methods and atomic absorption spectrometry for Ga(III) determination was carried out.     

Ternary complexes of palladium(II) and selected amines

Summary The formation and equilibria of the binary and ternary palladium(II) complexes of diethylenetriamine (dien) with other selected amines have been investigated. The results of pH titration measurements allowed the calculation of equilibrium constants, characteristic for the binary and ternary complexes formed. The concentration distribution of various complex species was evaluated and the chelation mode ascertained by conductivity measurements.     

Transient and steady state creep of Al-4.5 wt.% Mg during phase transformation

Transient and steady state creep of Al-4.5 wt. % Mg alloy was studied under various constant stresses ranging from 91 MPa to 117 MPa in the temperature range from 473 K to 553 K. The results of creep characteristics have shown two main deformation temperature regions (below 493 K and above 513 K as well as a transient region between these temperatures). Peak values of transient creep parametersB andn were obtained at 493 K. The transient creep parameterB was related to the steady state creep rate _st through the exponent which was found to range from 0.85 to 0.5. The stress exponentm of the steady state creep has been found to be minimum at the steady state strain peaks, which is characteristic of dislocation climb along the grain boundaries. Microstructural analysis confirmed that the above mentioned mechanism took place in the dissolution region of-phase.     

Kinetics and thermodynamics of the electrodeposition of palladium, thallium, and tellurium from different baths

Some kinetic and activation thermodynamic functions for the electrodeposition of palladium, thallium, and tellurium from the best selected baths, viz. niclosamide bath [5-chloro-N-(2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl)-2-hydroxybenzamide] for Pd, alizarin red bath for Tl, and salicylaldehyde bath for Te, are determined. Reaction rate constant (k), half-lifetime (t _1/2), activation energy (E _a), and such activation thermodynamic parameters as entropy change (ΔS*), enthalpy change (ΔH*), and Gibbs free energy (ΔG*) are calculated by applying the rate theory of the first-order reaction and the Eyring theory of the reaction rate. The effect of temperature change in the range of 30–60°C on the above parameters is studied and thoroughly discussed. The effect of metal type on both the reaction rate and the activation energy is also investigated. Published in Russian in Elektrokhimiya, 2006, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 264–271. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Separation and preconcentration in a batch mode of Cd(II), Cr(III, VI), Cu(II), Mn(II, VII) and Pb(II) by solid-phase extraction by using of silica modified with N-propylsalicylaldimine

The complexes formed between IE11 and Cd(II), Cr(III), Cu(II), Mn(II) and Pb(II) were identified and confirmed by IR, UV and pH-metric titration. The uptake behavior of porous silica modified with N-propylsalicylaldimine (IE11) and these metal ions were studied. Log k(d) was found to be within the range 2.19-5.16 depending on pH and time of stirring. IE11 was used in the separation and preconcentration of Cd(II), Cr(III, VI), Cu(II), Mn(II, VII) and Pb(II) from some natural water samples. Data were compared with those obtained by the solvent extraction method APDC/MIBK. The proposed methodology allows to verify an improvement in the water quality of Nile River probably attributed to high to moderate floods in the last few years. The method was found to be accurate and not subject to random error, i.e. precise.     

Spectral analysis of a laser beam

The formulas of the dependence of the spectral laser power distribution and its spectral half-width on the physical parameters of its laser active medium are derived. In addition it is found that, if the gain line profile has a Lorentzian or Gaussian distribution, the spectral laser power distribution is of a Lorentzian profile. The spectral halfwidth of the laser beam in both cases are slightly different form each other. For a general gain line profile, the spectral laser power distribution behaves as a differential form like that of the gain line profile.The spectral halfwidth of He/Ne laser beam having powers (0·5 mW, 1·0 mW, 3·0 mW and 50 mW) and that of their longitudinal modes, the laser gain factor and the difference between the population atomic densities of the upper and lower energy levels for the laser line transition are experimentally determined.     

Effect of the laser axial modes on the coherence length of the laser beam

The effect of the presence of the axial modes within the spectral halfwidth of a laser spectral line on the visibility of its interference fringes is represented. It is found in case of axial modes with equal spectral halfwidths that the dominant factor in determining the coherence length of the laser beam is the spectral halfwidth of its axial mode and not the spectral halfwidth of the laser line. For the case of a laser beam with axial modes of different spectral halfwidths, the calculation shows a coherence length, closer to the mode with the smaller halfwidth.     

Nanoporous aluminosilicate catalyst with 3D cage-type porous structure as an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives

Herein we demonstrate for the first time, the synthesis of benzimidazoles through the coupling of aldehydes with o-phenylenediamine by using highly acidic nanoporous aluminosilicate with 3D structure and cage-type pores as the catalyst. The catalyst resulted in excellent yields in short reaction times presumably due to its high acidity, large pore diameter, high surface area, and cage-type 3D porous structure.     

Temperature distributions in the flat-plate collector under actual unsteady insolation

The dynamic behaviour of the flat-plate solar energy collector is analysed taking into account the continuous variation of the received radiant flux. Closed-form mathematical formulae are derived for the fluid and absorber-plate temperatures as functions of both the time and the position along the collector. Different mathematical forms are given for the diurnal heating and the nocturnal cooling periods. The temperature expressions are presented in dimensionless form in terms of a limited number of dimensionless groups. Samples of the results obtained by using the derived formulae are displayed graphically.     

Reduced order dynamic model of the flat-plate solar collector

Padé approximation techniques are applied to obtain a reduced order dynamic model for the partial differential system representing the dynamic behaviour of the flat-plate solar collector. According to a prespecified accuracy, the collector is divided into n sections. At any position along each section the reduced order dynamic model is decoupled second order state equation, the input of which is the output of the preceding section. Numerical solutions obtained from the reduced order dynamic model are in very close agreement with the exact solution. Moreover, the computational efforts as well as the computer storage requirements are considerably reduced in comparison with other methods.The results obtained from the dynamic model are compared with those based on a simple steady-state model. The comparison reveals that the steady-state expression may only be used for collectors having a low thermal inertia and a high fluid-stream heat capacity.