Titrimetric determination of microgram amounts of bismuth after precipitation as Bi[Cr(SCN)(6)] followed by thiocyanate amplification

Bismuth (10-100 mug) is precipitated as Bi[Cr(SCN)(6)]. After filtration, the precipitate is treated with bicarbonate solution, and the thiocyanate dissolved is oxidized by iodine in alkaline medium to sulphate. After acidification, the excess of iodine is extracted into chloroform, and the iodide in the aqueous solution is amplified by bromine oxidation and subsequent treatment with more iodide. The titrimetric procedure provides 228 iodine atoms for each original bismuth ion. Only Hg(2+)(2), Hg(2+) and AsO(3-)(4) interfere seriously.     

Development and evaluation of microfluidic device for the determination of organophosphorus pesticide incorporating monolith based immobilized AChE with spectrophotometric detection

A spectrophotometric microfluidic bioreactor system is described for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides. The glass chip was designed and fabricated for in situ monolithic preparation and subsequently acetlycholineserase (AChE) immobilization via a covalent bonding method. The porous polymer monolith was prepared using glycidyl methacrylate, ethylenedimethacrylate and 2,2-dimethoxy-1,2-diphenylethan-1-one in binary porogenic solvents of cyclohexanol and dodecanol. The epoxide groups of monolith were reacted with ethylenediamine and gluteraldehyde to allow immobilization of the enzyme using their amine groups. Organophosphorus pesticides can be determined by measuring their inhibition effect on the enzyme AChE using Ellman's reaction. A linear relationship between the absorbance and percentage inhibitions was obtained over the concentration range of 0.25 to 2.50?mg?L^?1 paraoxon with a correlation coefficient (r ²) of 0.9974. The limit of detection (LOD) defined as 10% inhibition (I ₁₀) was 0.17?mg?L^?1 for paraoxon. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of 1.0?mg?L^?1 paraoxon was 3.73% (n?=?5). The proposed µFI system incorporates efficient enzyme immobilization and reduces reagent consumption and waste production and could thus be considered to be more environmentally friendly.     

A cleaner and simple spectrophotometric micro-fluidic procedure for copper determination using nitroso-R salt as chromogenic agent

A cleaner and simple spectrophotometric method using microflow analysis (muFA) was performed. It consisted of a T-junction with microcoil on a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) chip which was fabricated by laser ablation and a molded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as top plate. The fabricated PMMA chip was integrated with light emitting diode (LED) as light source and spectrometer as detector. The proposed device was applied to determining copper in water samples using nitroso-R salt as chromogenic reagent at 495nm. It was found that the proposed muFA system was with less reagents and samples consumption with tiny waste generation. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) was less than 2% (n=11) with the percentage recovery of 98.0+/-1.7% (n=7). The linear range for determination of copper in water samples was over the range of 0.05-3.0mugmL(-1) with a correlation coefficient (r(2)) of 0.999. The limit of detection (3sigma) was 47ngmL(-1) with a sample throughput of 30h(-1).     

Greener analytical method for the determination of copper(II) in wastewater by micro flow system with optical sensor

Greener analytical method using micro flow system for the determination of Cu(II) in wastewater samples was designed and investigated. The micro flow system consisted of a planar glass chip with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) top plate and fixed with fiber optic probe as optical sensor for monitoring of Cu(II) that reacted with 2-carboxy-2′-hydroxy-5′-sulfoformazyl benzene (zincon) on the chip at 605 nm. This design gave a satisfied sensitivity with a linear calibration graph over the range of 0.1-3.0 μg mL⁻¹ of Cu(II) and correlation coefficient 0.9991. The percentage relative standard deviation was 2.5 for 10-replicate measurements and the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.1 μg mL⁻¹. This system has been successfully applied to the determination of Cu(II) in wastewaters from electroplating industry with less reagents and samples consumption and diminutive waste generation.     

Flow injection chemiluminescence determination of paracetamol

A simple chemiluminometric method using flow injection has been developed for the determination of paracetamol (acetaminophen), based on the chemiluminescence produced by the reduction of tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III). The latter is obtained by oxidation of tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) by potassium permanganate in dilute sulphuric acid in the presence of paracetamol. A standard or sample solution was injected into the ruthenium(II) stream (flow rate 1.5 ml min⁻¹) which was then merged with potassium permanganate in dilute sulphuric acid stream (flow rate 0.5 ml min⁻¹). The chemiluminescence intensity is enhanced by the presence of manganese(II) ions. Under the optimum conditions, a linear calibration graph was obtained over the range of 0.3-50.0 μg ml⁻¹ and the detection limit was 0.2 μg ml⁻¹ (s/n = 3). The relative standard deviation of the proposed method calculated from 20 replicate injections of 5.0 μg ml⁻¹ paracetamol was 1.1%. The sample throughput was 90 h⁻¹. The method was successfully applied to the determination of paracetamol in commercial pharmaceutical formulations.     

A microflow chemiluminescence system for determination of chloramphenicol in honey with preconcentration using a molecularly imprinted polymer

A novel chemiluminescence (CL) microfluidic system incorporating a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) preconcentration step was used for the determination of chloramphenicol in honey samples. The MIP was prepared by using chloramphenicol as the template, diethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DAM) as the function monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross-linking monomer, 2, 2′-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone (DMPA) as the free radical initiator and toluene and dodecanol as the solvent. The MIP was pre-loaded into a 10 mm long, 2 mm wide and 150 μm deep channel in a planar glass microfluidic device. When the sample containing chloramphenicol was introduced into the microfluidic device it was first preconcentrated on the MIP then detected by an enhancement effect on the chemiluminescence reaction of tris(2, 2′-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) with cerium(IV) sulphate in sulphuric acid. A micro-syringe pump was used to pump the reagents. The CL intensity was linear in relationship to the chloramphenicol concentrations from 1.55 × 10⁻⁴ to 3.09 × 10⁻³ μmol L⁻¹ (r² = 0.9915) and the detection limit (3σ) and the quantitation limit (10σ) were found to be 7.46 × 10⁻⁶ and 2.48 × 10⁻⁵ μmol L⁻¹, respectively. This method offered a high selectivity and sensitivity for quantitative analysis of chloramphenicol in the honey samples.     

Chemical constituents and antioxidant and biological activities of the essential oil from leaves of Solanum spirale

The essential oil of the leaves Solanium spirale Roxb. was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed for the first time using GC and GC-MS. Thirty-nine constituents were identified, constituting 73.36% of the total chromatographical oil components. (E)-Phytol (48.10%), n-hexadecanoic acid (7.34%), beta-selinene (3.67%), alpha-selinene (2.74%), octadecanoic acid (2.12%) and hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (2.00%) were the major components of this oil. The antioxidant activity of the essential oil was evaluated by using the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assay. The oil exhibited week antioxidant activity with an IC50 of 41.89 mg/mL. The essential oil showed significant antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus with MIC values of 43.0 microg/mL and 21.5 microg/mL, respectively. It also showed significant cytotoxicity against KB (oral cancer), MCF-7 (breast cancer) and NCI-H187 (small cell lung cancer) with the IC50 values of 26.42, 19.69, and 24.02 microg/mL, respectively.     

A comparison of enrichment factor of knotted and serpentine reactors using flow injection sorption and preconcentration for the off-line determination of some trace elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The preconcentration efficiency expressed as an enrichment factor (EF) in knotted and serpentine reactors (SR) for FI sorption and preconcentration for the off-line determination of Cd(II), Ni(II), Co(II),Cu(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), Mo(VI), Cr(VI) and W(VI) with ICP-MS was investigated. The preconcentration was carried out by the formation of metal–pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate complex in an acidic solution and sorbed onto the inner wall of the PTFE reactors. The EFs were determined as the ratio between the analyte intensities after preconcentration using the reactors and that obtained without using the reactors. Comparing the two procedures for the equal reactor length (150 cm), the higher EFs obtained by using knotted reactor (KR) were observed for all elements. With the preconcentration time of 120 s and a sample flow rate of 1.2 ml min⁻¹, the EFs of 4–36 and 3–12 were gained using knotted and SRs, respectively. The results obtained indicate that the KR is preferable to use for flow injection sorption preconcentration system over the SR.     

Flow injection spectrophotometric determination of europium using chlortetracycline

A flow injection (FI) spectrophotometric determination of europium (III) is described, based on the complexation between europium (III), and chlortetracycline (CTC) in a Tris-buffer pH 8.0 medium. The resulting yellow-coloured complex is measured at its absorption maximum of 400 nm after 100 μl of sample or standard solution containing europium (III) are injected into the merged streams of CTC and Tris-buffer solutions. Optimum conditions for determining μg amounts of europium (III) are achieved by univariate method. Various types of reactors are also investigated. It is shown that the use of a single bead string reactor gives rise to the enhancement of peak height. A linear calibration curve over the range of 0.10-0.60 μg ml⁻¹ europium (III) is established with the regression equation (n=6) Y=34.93X+0.01 and the correlation coefficient of 0.9994 is obtained. A detection limit (3σ) of 0.01 μg ml⁻¹ of europium (III) and the relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of 4.32% for determining 1.0 μg ml⁻¹ of europium (III) (n=7) are obtained. The recommended method has been applied to the quantitation of europium (III) in spiked water and stream sediment samples with average recoveries of 99.9 and 97.5%, respectively. The sampling rate is found to be 85 h⁻¹.     

Reverse flow injection spectrophotometric determination of iron(III) using norfloxacin

A reversed flow injection colorimetric procedure for determining iron(III) at the μg level was proposed. It is based on the reaction between iron(III) with norfloxacin (NRF) in 0.07 mol l⁻¹ ammonium sulfate solution, resulting in an intense yellow complex with a suitable absorption at 435 nm. Optimum conditions for determining iron(III) were investigated by univariate method. The method involved injection of a 150 μl of 0.04% w/v colorimetric reagent solution into a merged streams of sample and/or standard solution containing iron(III) and 0.07 mol l⁻¹ ammonium sulfate in sulfuric acid (pH 3.5) solution which was then passed through a single bead string reactor. Subsequently the absorbance as peak height was monitored at 435 nm. Beer's law obeyed over the range of 0.2–1.4 μg ml⁻¹ iron(III). The method has been applied to the determination of total iron in water samples digested with HNO₃–H₂O₂ (1:9 v/v). Detection limit (3σ) was 0.01 μg ml⁻¹ the sample through of 86 h⁻¹ and the coefficient of variation of 1.77% (n=12) for 1 μg ml⁻¹ Fe(III) were achieved with the recovery of the spiked Fe(III) of 92.6–99.8%.