Proteins and peptides voltammetry: Trends,potential, and limitations

Numerous biological processes are connected with the efficient electron transfer reactions in proteins and peptides. In this review, we discuss briefly the relevance and current challenges associated with the voltammetric analysis of peptides and proteins with and without a metal redox center. Special attention is paid to the integration of electrochemical methods with new nanomaterials which offers amplification of multiplexing capabilities for simultaneous and very sensitive examination of various proteins. After critically discussing the most interesting approaches in the proteins/peptides voltammetric analysis reported so far, for the single or multiplexed examination of such biomolecules with demonstrated applicability in the real-sample analysis, existing challenges still need to be addressed and future directions in this field will be pointed out.     

STS investigations of temperature dependence of Au(1 1 1) surface state energy position

High temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy (HT-STS) was used to investigate the electronic structure of Au(1 1 1) at different temperatures in the energy range 0-1 eV below the Fermi level. We concentrated on the influence of temperature on the Shockley surface state (SS) appearing on noble metals surface due to a surface projected bulk bang gap in [1 1 1] direction. The influence of temperature on the projected band gap edge (BE) was also investigated. The experiment was carried out in the temperature range 294-580 K. As the result of the experiment a delicate shift of the SS and the BE in direction of the Fermi level was reported.     

Magnetic properties of HITPERM-type alloys at high temperature

(Fe,Co)–Zr,Hf)–Cu–B (HITPERM-type) alloys with variable Hf, Zr and Co content were isothermally crystallised at 500–650 °C for 1 h, and the optimum nanocrystallisation temperature was selected on the basis of the minimum coercive field at room temperature. The quasistatic hysteresis loops were measured at temperature from 20 to 650 °C. Subsequently, the optimally annealed alloys were subjected to long-term annealing at 500, 550 and 600 °C. Working temperature of 600°C is too high for the investigated alloys to maintain stable magnetic properties. Temperature of 550 or 500 °C permits the material to be magnetically stable for a long period. The magnetic hysteresis loops recorded for the nanocrystalline alloys, where Fe:Co ratio is close to 1 and refractory metals content is 7 at.%, prove that coercive field increases slightly with temperature, but remains in the range of 20–40 A/m (depending on the alloy composition) from 20 to 550 °C. This proves that the investigated alloys, after optimisation of chemical composition, may be suitable for high temperature use.     

Calorimetric and Thermal Investigation of Metal Derivatives of 6-aminopicolinic Acid

The comparison of thermal and calorimetric properties of metal derivatives of 6-aminopicolinic acid (APH) is presented. The salts and complexes of APH with Cr(III), Cd(II), Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Co(II)and Ag(I) have been studied by TG-DTA and DSC methods up to 1200°C in a nitrogen atmosphere. Decomposition processes are proposed. The decarboxylation, deamination and carbonation of the organic fragments of molecules take place. The compounds decompose to metal or to metal oxides. The values of the transition enthalpy were determinated. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Improvement of the Derjaguin-Broekhoff-de Boer theory for the capillary condensation/evaporation of nitrogen in spherical cavities and its application for the pore size analysis of silicas with ordered cagelike mesopores

In a previous work, we proposed an improvement of the Derjaguin-Broekhoff-de Boer (DBdB) theory for capillary condensation/evaporation in open-ended cylindrical mesopores. In this paper, we report a further extension of this approach to the capillary condensation/evaporation of nitrogen in siliceous spherical cavities. The main idea of this improvement is to employ the Gibbs-Tolman-Koenig-Buff equation to predict the variation of the surface tension in spherical mesopores. In addition, the statistical film thickness (the so-called t-curve), which is evaluated accurately on the basis of adsorption isotherms measured for MCM-41 materials, is used instead of the originally proposed t-curve to take into account the excess chemical potential due to the surface forces. It is shown that the aforementioned modifications of the original DBdB theory that was refined by Ravikovitch and Neimark have significant implications for the pore size analysis of cagelike mesoporous silicas. To verify the proposed improvement of the DBdB pore size analysis (IDBdB), two series of FDU-1 samples, which are well-defined cagelike mesoporous materials (composed of siliceous spherical cavities interconnected by short necks), were used for the evaluation of the pore size distributions (PSDs). The correlation between the spinodal condensation point in the spherical pores predicted by the nonlocal density functional theory (NDFT) developed by Ravikovitch and Neimark and that predicted by the IDBdB theory is very good in the whole range of mesopores. This feature is mirrored to the realistic PSD characterized by the bimodal structure of pores computed from the IDBdB theory. As in the case of open-ended cylindrical pores, the improvement of the classical DBdB theory preserves its simplicity and simultaneously ensures a significant improvement of the pore size analysis, which is confirmed by the independent estimation of the average pore size by the NDFT and the powder X-ray diffraction method.     

The C(2)1pi(u) state of Na2 molecule studied by polarization labelling spectroscopy method

The C1pi(u) <-- X1sigma(g)+ system of Na2 is studied by the polarization labelling spectroscopy technique. Accurate molecular constants are derived for the observed levels nu = 0-12, J = 12-100 in the C1pi(u) state.     

Calorimetric investigation of the adsorption of binary vapour mixtures of tetrahydropyrrol with methanol and cyclopentane on the homogeneous surface

Adsorption isotherms and differential heats of adsorption of tetrahydropyrrol (THP) and cyclopentane CP), as well as THP and methanol mixtures (mole ratio 1∶1, 1∶2 and 1∶4) on the graphitized carbon black Sterling MT surface were determined. The influence of dilution of [THP] on its ability to undergo homomolecular association was tested. Even 1∶4 dilution of THP does not prevent is association. Methanol strongly interacts with THP in the mixed adsorbed layer forming heteromolecular associates.     

Collisional population of the 23 ∏ g state inK 2

We have measured the effect of potassium vapour pressure within the heat-pipe oven on the shape of the 2³ ∏ _g ?1³∑ _u ⁺ fluorescence induced by collision energy transfer from theC ¹∏ _u state which was optically excited by the 457.9 nm argon-ion laser line. The estimated cross section of that process is 300 Ų. The simulation of the diffuse band shape indicates a non-thermalised vibrational distribution in the 2³ ∏ _g state.