Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and spectrophotometric determination of cobalt in water samples

A new simple and rapid dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction has been applied to preconcentrate trace levels of cobalt as a prior step to its determination by spectrophotometric detection. In this method a small amount of chloroform as the extraction solvent was dissolved in pure ethanol as the disperser solvent, then the binary solution was rapidly injected by a syringe into the water sample containing cobalt ions complexed by 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN). This forms a cloudy solution. The cloudy state was the result of chloroform fine droplets formation, which has been dispersed in bulk aqueous sample. Therefore, Co-PAN complex was extracted into the fine chloroform droplets. After centrifugation (2 min at 5000 rpm) these droplets were sedimented at the bottom of conical test tube (about 100 µL) and then the whole of complex enriched extracted phase was determined by a spectrophotometer at 577 nm. Complex formation and extraction are usually affected by some parameters, such as the types and volumes of extraction solvent and disperser solvent, salt effect, pH and the concentration of chelating agent, which have been optimised for the presented method. Under optimum conditions, the enhancement factor (as the ratio of slope of preconcentrated sample to that obtained without preconcentration) of 125 was obtained from 50 mL of water sample, and the limit of detection (LOD) of the method was 0.5 µg L^?1and the relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 5) for 50 µg L^?1 of cobalt was 2.5%. The method was applied to the determination of cobalt in tap and river water samples.     

Initial bacterial attachment in slow flowing systems: effects of cell and substrate surface properties

Bacterial biofilm can have significant effects on the behaviors and/or performance of natural and man-made systems. Understanding the factors governing initial bacterial attachment is critical to biofilm management. In this study, the initial attachment of three bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida, on two substrates, glass and octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) modified glass, was examined in flow chambers. The flow chambers were designed and operated to mimic slow moving water bodies and minimize the gravitational settlement of cells. The hydrophobicity of bacterial surface was evaluated by partitioning of cells to the water-hexadecane interface and the liquid contact angles on cell layers collected on filter papers. On the more hydrophilic glass surface, the attachment trend was found to be E. coli>P. putida>P. aeruginosa, while the opposite trend was observed on the hydrophobic, OTS modified surface. The attachment trend on glass could be explained by the magnitude of the negative interaction energy at secondary minima, as predicted by the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) theory. The much higher attachments of P. aeruginosa and P. putida on the OTS-modified substrate, on the other hand, suggested that these cells could overcome the energy barrier between the primary and secondary minima of interaction energy to become attached to the primary minimum. The extent of primary-minimum attachment appeared to correlate with the scale of the energy barrier, with higher attachments in the bacteria-substrate combinations of lower energy barriers. The study generated important insights into the effects of cell and substrate surface properties on initial bacterial attachment.     

NE102A Plastic Scintillator Response to 3He Ions

Physics of Particles and Nuclei Letters - Plastic scintillators are widely used in detecting nuclear radiation due to their low construction cost, the ability to be produced in nearly any shape and...     

Retracted: Effective and Green One‐Pot Multicomponent Synthesis of Novel Derivatives of 4H‐Pyrans in the Presence of Hexamethylenetetramine as Catalyst in Water Medium

Hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) catalyzes synthesis of new polyfunctionalized 4H‐pyrans by reaction of aromatic aldehyde, malononitrile, and β‐keto esters via one‐pot three‐component procedure in water medium. Addition of reactants was performed by two methods led to achieve similar results. Using HMTA in catalytic amount not only represents the economic face of the reaction, but also due to the use of water, a green and safe reaction condition is organized. Thus, the current strategy provides the benefits of high productivity, convenient operation, and environmental friendliness. Structure of all products was proved by elemental analysis, IR, ¹H‐NMR, and ¹³C‐NMR spectroscopy.     

On the stability of a generalized additive functional equation

We consider the Hyers–Ulam stability of a functional equation for continuous functions on a space on which a topological group acts, analogously to the additive functional equation on a group. We show, among other things, that our generalized additive equation, for continuous functions on a homogeneous space of a strongly amenable topological group, is stable provided that the canonical projection from that group to its homogeneous space is a fiber bundle.     

On the quantum groups and semigroups of maps between noncommutative spaces

We define algebraic families of (all) morphisms which are purely algebraic analogs of quantum families of (all) maps introduced by P. M. So?tan. Also, algebraic families of (all) isomorphisms are introduced. By using these notions we construct two classes of Hopf-algebras which may be interpreted as the quantum group of all maps from a finite space to a quantum group, and the quantum group of all automorphisms of a finite noncommutative (NC) space. As special cases three classes of NC objects are introduced: quantum group of gauge transformations, Pontryagin dual of a quantum group, and Galois-Hopf-algebra of an algebra extension.     

Numerical investigation of cone angle effect on the flow field and separation efficiency of deoiling hydrocyclones

In this study, the effect of cone angle on the flow field and separation efficiency of deoiling hydrocyclones is investigated taking advantage of large eddy simulation. The dynamic Smagorinsky is employed to determine the residual stress tensor of the continuous phase. The method of Lagrangian particle tracking with an optimized search algorithm (closest cell) is applied to evaluate the separation efficiency of deoiling hydrocyclone. Simulations are performed on a 35-mm deoiling hydrocyclone with the three different cone angles of 6, 10 and 20 degree. The numerical results revealed that the changes in the cone angle would affect the velocity and pressure distribution inside hydrocyclone, and lead to changes in the separation efficiency. However, the large cone angle increases the tangential velocity and pressure gradient inside the hydrocyclone, but reduces the separation efficiency. The reasons behind the decrease in the separation efficiency are the flow structure and reduction of oil droplets residence time in hydrocyclones with large cone angles.     

Patterns with high rhythmicity levels in multicomponent Liesegang systems.

Liesegang banding is the display of rhythmic strata of precipitate as co-precipitate ions interdiffuse in a gel medium. Complex periodic patterns as well as aperiodic structures could emerge, notably in systems where more than one salt is precipitated. The use of three cations (Co2+) Ni2+, and Mg2+) in the banded precipitation of their hydroxides resulted in an unusual pattern with a consistently increasing rhythmicity. A periodic structure marked by the succession of band multiplets with increasing number of bands (from singlets to doublets to triplets to quadruplets, consistently) was observed. Such rhythmic patterns are obtained as the initial Mg2+ concentration ([Mg2+]0), chosen as a control parameter, increases through a critical value. At high [Mg2+]0, the trend breaks after a long time elapses. Two types of bifurcation are therefore experienced by such a system: concentration bifurcation and diffusive (time/space) bifurcation. The dynamics is elucidated on the basis of an analysis of the bands in certain groups, and gel regions between these groups, as well as between group blocs (here, a bloc denotes a succession of multiplet groups, with repetitively the same number of bands). Finally, similarities between our system and naturally occurring rhythmic patterns are emphasized and discussed.     

Front propagation in patterned precipitation. 3. Composition variations in two-precipitate stratum dynamics

This paper is a study of the composition dynamics of Liesegang band strata of Co(OH)2 and Ni(OH)2 from NH4OH, with redissolution by complex formation with ammonia. At a fixed time, the cobalt hydroxide composition was found to exhibit a random variation with band number, yet within a general overall decrease. The decrease with band number becomes more pronounced as the initial concentrations of Co2+ and Ni2+ get closer to each other. At equal concentrations, periodic oscillations in Co(OH)2 composition appear over consecutive bands. The time evolution of the total Co(OH)2 mass percent (over the entire pattern of strata) passes through a maximum. The dynamics of this complex system has been simulated by theoretical calculations using the model of Müller and Polezhaev, modified by Al-Ghoul and Sultan in a series of two papers in J. Phys. Chem. A; the present paper is the third in the series. The simulations capture the essential features of the experimentally observed dynamics.