Near-IR photoluminescence from Si/Ge nanowire-grown silicon wafers: effect of HF treatment

We present the room-temperature near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence (PL) properties of Si/Ge nanowire (NW)-grown silicon wafers which were treated by vapor of HF:HNO₃ chemical mixture. This treatment activates or enhances the PL intensity in the NIR region ranging from 1000 nm to 1800 nm. The PL consists of a silicon band-edge emission and a broad composite band which is centered at around 1400–1600 nm. The treatment modifies the wafer surface particularly at defect sites especially pits around NWs and NW surfaces by etching and oxidation of Si and Ge. This process can induce spatial confinement of carriers where band-to-band (BB) emission is the dominant property in Si-capped strained Si/Ge NW-grown wafers. Strong signals were observed at sub-band-gap energies in Ge-capped Si/Ge NW-grown wafers. It was found that NIR PL is a competitive property between the Si BB transition and deep-level emission, which is mainly attributable to Si-related defects, Ge dots and strained Ge layers. The enhancement in BB and deep-level PL is discussed in terms of strain, oxygen-related defects, dot formation and carrier-confinement effects. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of this method in enhancing and tuning NIR PL properties for possible applications.     

Direct atomic absorption spectrometry determination of tin, lead, cadmium and zinc in high-purity graphite with flame furnace atomizer

This work described methodology of Sn, Pb, Cd and Zn impurities determination in high-purity graphite at direct atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) with flame furnace (FF) atomizer. It was evidence that quality of AAS measurements are depended from sample amount, its homogeneity, particle size, as well as calibration procedure and operation parameters of FF atomizer. Prior to analysis the method has been developed and optimized with respect to the furnace heating temperature and flame composition of FF atomizer. Conditions of absorption peak areas (Q_A) formation to each element were studied on the basis of contribution into its value some of individual parameters of analytes, including mass-transporting process from increasing mass of graphite samples into gas phase. Because particle size and homogeneous distribution of analyte in powdered materials has an enormous influence on accuracy and precision of measurement results, graphite as well as appropriate series of powdered reference standards was previously ground and investigated. Graphite samples to be analyzed and standard reference materials with mass from 0.025 to 0.200 g was previously briquetted as pellet and insert on corresponding hole in furnace. The characteristic mass (g₀) of Sn, Pb, Cd and Zn were 0.35, 0.1, 0.008 and 0.025 ng, respectively, and relative standard deviation (S_r) not more than 20%.     

Fractionation and Bioaccessibility of Manganese,Copper, Zinc,Cadmium, and Lead in Commercial Vegetable and Rice Baby Foods Using Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) with Central Composite Design (CCD)

Abstract

Herein the bioaccessibility of Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb, selected from essential and toxic elements, was determined in commercially sold vegetable purees intended for infant and toddler consumption. Chemical fractionation studies using water, acetone, diethyl ether, chloroform:methanol, and n-hexane were employed to predict the importance of the protein and lipid parts of a matrix to assess the bioaccessibility data. In addition, in-vitro gastrointestinal digestion was performed to determine the bioaccessibility of the elements using a five level, three factor central composite design (CCD) to maximize the elemental solubility. The total elemental concentrations in all of the fractions were determined by inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Based on the consumption of one jar of vegetable/rice-based baby food, Zn was 1.3% of the recommended dietary allowance and Mn was 4.2% of the adequate intake level, while Cu was almost 100% of the adequate intake level. Additionally, Pb was always below the detection limit and Cd was sometimes under the detection limit for the percent bioaccessibility. However, in some samples, Cd was as high as 80% of the tolerable weekly intake level depending on the body weight.     

Synthesis of some 6,8‐diarylimidazo[1,2‐a]pyrazine derivatives by using either reflux or microwave irradiation method and investigation of their anticancer activities

In order to obtain some 6,8‐diarylimidazo[1,2‐a]pyrazines, 1‐(2‐aryl‐2‐oxoethyl)‐2‐aryloylimidazole derivatives were reacted with ammonium acetate in acetic acid by using a new method different from that found in the literature. Anticancer activities of the compounds obtained were evaluated and the noticeable activity values were reported.     

Direct atomic absorption determination of mercury in drinking water and urine using a two-step electrothermal atomizer

A new method was developed for the direct electrothermal atomic absorption determination of mercury in drinking water and urine using double vaporization in a two-step atomizer with a purged vaporizer. In this method, a sample is placed in the vaporizer of a two-step atomizer, dried, and vaporized. The sample vapor is transferred to an unheated atomizer cell with a flow of argon and trapped by the inner surface of cell walls. This procedure can be performed repeatedly to preconcentrate mercury in the atomizer cell. Next, a portion of the sample transferred to the inner surface of the atomizer cell is revaporized and atomized by heating the atomizer cell of the two-step atomizer with a purged vaporizer, and the atomic absorption of mercury is measured. It was found that the degree of mercury transfer and trapping is as high as 100% at sufficiently high temperatures of primary vaporization, regardless of the material of the inner surface of the atomizer cell. The detection limits for mercury were 0.24 or 0.024 µg/L for drinking water at a sample volume of 100 µL using a single sample transfer or the procedure repeated ten times, respectively, and 2.0 µg/L for urine at a sample volume of 20 µL and a single sample transfer. The accuracy of the results was confirmed by the analysis of certified mercury samples and samples with known additives.Translated from Zhurnal Analiticheskoi Khimii, Vol. 60, No. 1, 2005, pp. 45–51.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Vilpan, Grinshtein, Akatov, Gucer.     

Synthesis of two new p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene β-ketoimin derivatives for extraction of dichromate anion

In this study the selective derivatization of p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene was carried out and two new p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene β-ketoimin, 5,11,17,23-tetra-tert-butyl-25,27-bis-3-methyl-[(β-ketoimine)-ethoxy]-26,28-dihydroxycalix[4]arene (4), and 5,11,17,23-tetra-tert-butyl-25,27-bis-3-chloro-[(β-ketoimine)-ethoxy]-26,28-dihydroxycalix[4]arene (5) have been synthesized. In the synthesis, the lower rim of p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene was modified in order to acquire binding site for the recognition of dichromate anion. It was observed that these ionophores 4 and 5 showed high affinity towards dichromate anion. The protonated Schiff-base forms of the receptors were effective for transferring the HCr₂O₇ ^? anion from aqueous phase to a dichloromethane phase.     

Determination of some phthalate acid esters in artificial saliva by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after activated carbon enrichment

The determination of six phthalate acid esters was achieved in artificial saliva using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry following activated carbon enrichment of samples. Central composite experimental design was applied to optimize method parameters, such as pH, adsorption time and amount of activated carbon. The best compromise of analytical conditions for the simultaneous determination of analytes from spiked artificial saliva were found to be: pH (3), adsorption time (30 min), activated carbon amount (1.8 g L⁻¹) and elution solvent (chloroform). These conditions were applied to study the migration of phthalate acid esters from different children's toys into saliva. A horizontal agitation method was applied to extract the analytes from plastic toys into saliva for 2 h at 37 °C. The detection limits of the method were in the range of 1.3-5.1 μg L⁻¹, while the relative standard deviation (%) values for the analysis of 100 μg L⁻¹ of the analytes were below 3.0% (n = 5). Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate was the main analyte found in these samples.     

A novel method to obtain a real-time control force strategy using genetic algorithms for dynamic systems subjected to external arbitrary excitations

The paper deals with a discrete differential dynamic programming type of problem. It is an optimal control problem where an external disturbance is controlled over the time horizon by a control force constituted with the well-known convolution approach. The paper presents a simple and novel idea to achieve an optimally controlled response when a linear system is subjected to an arbitrary external disturbance. The proposed approach uses the convolution concept and states that if a control method can be established to restore a unit external disturbance, then the convolution integral can be applied to generate an overall control strategy to control the system when it is subjected to an arbitrary external disturbance. In spite of its simplicity, such a strategy has not been encountered in the literature. The only requirement for this method to be useful is to obtain an optimal control strategy to suppress the vibration of the system when it is subjected to unit response disturbance. To accomplish this, a method from classical optimal control theory such as linear quadratic regulator (LQR) that involves solving the Riccati equation of the associated system can be used. However, genetic algorithm (GA) can be adopted as an alternative way to obtain an optimal control strategy against impulse input. As any arbitrary excitation can be divided into impulses, the convolution concept will constitute the overall optimal control strategy for any arbitrary excitation with simply shifting, scaling and summation (or integration) of the GA-optimized control strategy for each impulse of the arbitrary excitation. The proposed method can be used for real time control applications. Once the control strategy for the impulse disturbance is established, the results can then be used at each time step when online control is performed. Computer simulations were carried out to control the response of a quarter-vehicle active suspension system using the proposed method. The obtained results were compared to those of linear quadratic regulator (LQR) and passive suspension applications. The overall results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method for active suspension systems, especially in suppressing the vehicle body displacement when compared to both the LQR based and passive systems. Furthermore, such a control system proves to be simpler requiring less information to process, which is crucial for real-time applications.     

Effects of process parameters on supercritical CO2 extraction of total phenols from strawberry (Arbutus unedo L.) fruits: An optimization study

The aim of this work was to optimize total phenolic yield of Arbutus unedo fruits using supercritical fluid extraction. A Box–Behnken statistical design was used to evaluate the effect of various values of pressure (50–300 bar), temperature (30–80°C) and concentration of ethanol as co‐solvent (0–20%) by CO₂ flow rate of 15 g/min for 60 min. The most effective variable was co‐solvent ratio (p<0.005). Evaluative criteria for both dependent variables (total phenols and radical scavenging activity) in the model were assigned maximum. Optimum extraction conditions were elicited as 60 bar, 48°C and 19.7% yielding 25.72 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) total phenols/g extract and 99.9% radical scavenging capacity, which were higher than the values obtained by conventional water (24.89 mg/g; 83.8%) and ethanol (15.12 mg/g; 95.8%) extractions demonstrating challenges as a green separation process with improved product properties for industrial applications.     

On sharp asymptotic formulas for the Sturm–Liouville operator with a matrix potential

In this article we obtain the sharp asymptotic formulas for the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the non-self-adjoint operators generated by a system of the Sturm–Liouville equations with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. Using these asymptotic formulas, we find a condition on the potential for which the root functions of these operators form a Riesz basis.