Monte Carlo and experimental efficiency calibration of gamma-spectrometers for non-destructive analysis of large volume samples of irregular shapes

A comparison of efficiency calibration of a HPGe gamma-ray spectrometer applied for non-destructive analysis of gamma-ray emitters in large volume samples of irregular shape is presented. The detector efficiency calibration was carried out during the analysis of cosmogenic radionuclides (⁶⁰Co, ⁵⁴Mn, ²²Na and ²⁶Al) in fragments of the Ko?ice meteorite. Fourteen meteorite fragments were available for the analysis with masses from 27 to 2,163 g. A reasonable agreement in the estimation of the HPGe detector efficiency was obtained using the Monte Carlo simulation GEANT 3 code, and the experimental calibration using radioactive standards mixed with iron–silica–copper powder housed in mock-ups of similar shapes as the original samples. The differences in the efficiency estimation obtained by both methods were within 10 %. It is recommended that the Monte Carlo simulation of the detector efficiency can be applied in routine analysis of gamma-ray emitters in large volume samples of regular or irregular shapes.     

Preparation of in-house calibration source for the use in radioactivity analysis of the environmental samples: consideration of homogeneity

An in-house reference material has been prepared in Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research radioecology laboratory, for quality control purposes of gamma spectrometer systems. The material contains a known amount of uranium ore reference material (prepared by the International Atomic Energy Agency and coded as IAEA-RGU-1) which is mixed with marine sediment collected from Kuwait bay. The IAEA-RGU-1 has been certified that it is in equilibrium state with the decay daughters, and stable to be used for quality control purposes. Nevertheless, the homogeneous distribution of the doped material with the prepared source should be verified. This has been examined using gamma spectrometry measurements in conjunction with analysis of variance statistical tools, Dixon, box plots and Grubbs tests. The calculated total uncertainty has been utilized to establish the recommended specific activity ranges of ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁴Th, ²¹⁴Pb, ²¹⁴Bi and ²¹⁰Pb radioisotopes in the prepared source. The obtained results showed that the estimated uncertainty arising from the sample inhomogeneity has a significant contribution in the total uncertainty. The stability control charts of the ultra-low background gamma spectrometry system demonstrated the suitability of the prepared material for the purpose of quality control. However, the emitted gamma-rays from the prepared source covers the required energy range for determination of natural and artificial radionuclides in different species of environmental samples such as marine sediment, soil samples, and samples contaminated by naturally occurring radioactive material produced by oil industry. In addition, the material might be used for system calibration in case its traceability is proven. The experimental data revealed the significance of the homogeneity in preparing environmental samples for radioactivity measurements; in particular when small sample quantities of environmental samples are required to be analyzed.     

Preparation of activated carbon from cotton stalk and its application in supercapacitor

High specific capacitance and low cost are the critical requirements for a practical supercapacitor. In this paper, a new activated carbon with high specific capacitance and low cost was prepared, employing cotton stalk as the raw material, by using the phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) chemical activation method. The optimized conditions were as follows: the cotton stalk and activating agent with a mass ratio of 1:4 at an activation temperature of 800 °C for 2 h. The samples were characterized by nitrogen adsorption isotherms at 77 K. The specific surface area and pore volume of activated carbon were calculated by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and t-plot methods. With these experimental conditions, an activated carbon with a BET surface area of 1,481 cm²?g^?1 and micropore volume of 0.0377 cm³?g^?1 was obtained. The capacitance of the prepared activated carbon was as high as 114 F?g^?1.The results indicate that cotton stalk can produce activated carbon electrode materials with low cost and high performance for electric double-layer capacitor.     

Charge storage in 40/60 TiFe alloy electrodes

Charge storage in 40/60 TiFe alloy has been investigated using electrode fabrication powder material, either of true alloy or of alloy precursor grades. The true alloy activated very reluctantly in that its maximum charge (i.e., hydrogen) capacity remained below 100 mA h g^{– 1}. In contrast, the alloy precursor could be activated to an intrinsic capacity of ~300 mA h g^–1. Charge storage of the 40/60 TiFe alloy precursor was certainly affected by the redox reactions of surface Fe, but a large amount was stored as hydrogen absorbed by the material, as indicated by a dialometric test and the poison effect. X-ray and EDAX analyses of the two materials can account for their differing abilities to store charge. Electronic Publication     

Certified calibration solution reference material for the determination of perfluorooctane sulfonate from the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ)

A new calibration solution reference material for the determination of perfluorooctane sulfonate anion (PFOS) and its salts has been issued as a certified reference material (CRM) by the National Metrology Institute of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (NMIJ/AIST). The purity amount-of-substance fraction of raw material potassium perfluorooctane sulfonate (K-PFOS) was evaluated based on the results obtained using the freezing point depression method, and the purity mass fraction of the raw material was calculated using the average molar mass of impurities, the molar mass of K-PFOS, and the purity amount-of-substance fraction. The certified concentration of this CRM was obtained by multiplying the dilution ratio of the raw material in a prepared solution (methanol) determined from the gravimetric blending method by the purity of the raw material. The preparation concentration of K-PFOS as a certified value of NMIJ CRM 4220-a was determined to be 9.93?mg?kg^?1. In addition, the standard uncertainty of the certified value was evaluated from the purity evaluation as well as from sample inhomogeneity, instability, and preparation variation obtained from LC/MS measurements of different gravimetrically prepared solutions of the NMIJ CRM. Consequently, the expanded uncertainty was estimated to be 0.15?mg?kg^?1 with a coverage factor k?=?2 corresponding to the half-width of estimated confidence interval of approximately 95%.     

Separation and purification of <Superscript>249</Superscript>Cf and <Superscript>245</Superscript>Cm

There is a need to provide radioactivity standards of the higher actinides in support of both decommissioning and remediation activities as well as routine environmental analysis. In the case ²⁴⁹Cf, this will provide a useful calibration nuclide for both α-and γ-spectrometry as well as improving knowledge of the decay scheme for this nuclide. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that the chemical yield of americium and curium may differ in radiochemical analysis. Thus, a chemical yield tracer of ²⁴⁵Cm may help to resolve this issue and will be suitable for both, suitable for use as a chemical yield tracer for both α-particle spectrometry and mass spectrometry. An aged source of ²⁴⁹Cf was used as the source material for the separation of these two nuclides by cation-exchange, using 2-hydroxy-2-methyl-propanoic acid at controlled pH as an eluant, ²⁴⁹Cf being eluted before the ²⁴⁵Cm daughter. The purity of both nuclides was measured by γ-ray spectrometry.     

Mesopore-dominant porous carbon derived from bio-tars as an electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors

For the first time, toxic bio-tars collected from the gasification of pine sawdust are used as the precursor for activated carbons. Various types of activation agents including KOH, K₂CO₃, H₃PO₄ and ZnCl₂ were screened for obtaining superior activated carbons. When KOH was used as an activation agent, the obtained activated carbons exhibited high specific surface area and large mesopore volume. The activated carbons were further employed to be the electrode material of supercapacitors, and its specific capacitance reached up to 260 F g^?1 at 0.25 A g^?1 current density. Also, it showed an excellent rate performance from preserving a relatively high specific capacitance of 151 F g^?1 at 50 A g^?1. The assembled device also exhibited the good electrochemical stability with the capacity retention of 90% after 5000 cycles. Furthermore, the maximum energy density of the activated carbons in organic electrolyte reached 17.8 Wh kg^?1.     

Accurate prediction of enthalpies of formation for a large set of organic compounds

This article describes a multiparameter calibration model, which improves the accuracy of density functional theory (DFT) for the prediction of standard enthalpies of formation for a large set of organic compounds. The model applies atom based, bond based, electronic, and radical environmental correction terms to calibrate the calculated enthalpies of formation at B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p) level by a least‐square method. A diverse data set of 771 closed‐shell compounds and radicals is used to train the model. The leave‐one‐out cross validation squared correlation coefficient q² of 0.84 and squared correlation coefficient r² of 0.86 for the final model are obtained. The meanabsolute error in enthalpies of formation for the dataset is reduced from 4.9 kcal/mol before calibration to 2.1 kcal/mol after calibration. Five‐fold cross validation is also used to estimate the performance of the calibration model and similar results are obtained. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

Determination of endosulfan isomers and their metabolites in tap water and commercial samples using microextraction by packed sorbent and GC–MS

A simple, rapid, accurate and sensitive method using microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) followed by GC–MS has been pursued for the determination of organochlorine insecticide endosulfan isomers (α and β) and their metabolites (ether, lactone and sulfate). MEPS is a miniaturised version of SPE employing C₁₈ packing material. It is very efficient technique as it employs as low as 10 μL of sample volume. The distinct feature of MEPS is the magnitude of the elution volume that could be directly injected to GC system. Various parameters such as extraction cycles, washing solvent, elution solvent, elution volume and pH, which influenced the MEPS performance, were tested and optimised. The calibration curves were obtained in the concentration range 1–500 ng/mL. The results showed a close correlation coefficient (R² > 0.991) for all analytes in the calibration range studied. The LOD and LOQ obtained for GC–MS under selected ion monitoring acquisition are between 0.0038–0.01 and 0.0125–0.033 ng/mL, respectively. The developed method is applicable for the quantification of these compounds in tap water and commercial samples. This method has been shown to be selective as no interferences from endogenous substances were detected by analysis. This method not only decreases sample preparation time but is cheaper, eco‐friendly and easier to perform compared to traditional techniques.     

Efficiency calibration curves in gamma-ray spectrometry for samples with different matrices

A new method for determination of efficiency calibration curves in -spectrometry is described. From the calibration curves for a bulky sample and a point source, the curves for sources with the same geometrical parameters as the bulky sample but different attenuation coefficients may be calculated. The method was tested at an energy of 88 keV on a set of samples with attenuation coefficients between 0.2 and 2 cm² g^–1. The conditions where the new method is useful are discussed.     

Transition-Metal-Free Synthesis of Heterobiaryls through 1,2-Migration of Boronate Complex

The synthesis of a diverse range of heterobiaryls has been achieved by a transition-metal-free sp²–sp² cross-coupling strategy using lithiated heterocycle, aryl or heteroaryl boronic ester and an electrophilic halogen source. The construction of heterobiaryls was carried out through electrophilic activation of the aryl–heteroaryl boronate complex, which triggered 1,2-migration from boron to the carbon atom. Subsequent oxidation of the intermediate boronic ester afforded heterobiaryls in good yield. A comprehensive ¹¹B NMR study has been conducted to support the mechanism. The cross coupling between two nucleophilic cross coupling partners without transition metals reveals a reliable manifold to procure heterobiaryls in good yields. Various heterocycles like furan, thiophene, benzofuran, benzothiophene, and indole are well tolerated. Finally, we have successfully demonstrated the gram scale synthesis of the intermediates for an anticancer drug and OLED material using our methodology.     

变压器油中溶解气体分析专用气相色谱仪的检定与校准

为解决检定变压器油中溶解气体分析专用气相色谱仪时遇到样品进样量计算不准,检测器对甲烷气体标准物质无响应,专用软件分析方法不能更改等问题,建立变压器油中溶解气体分析专用气相色谱仪的检定与校准方法。当进样模式为一次进样双柱分流时,按分流比计算分流到检测器的样品体积,其它进样模式按进样体积计算进样量;因色谱软件禁止积分导致CH_4在热导检测器上无响应时,应采用有证标准物质中的H_2或O_2进行检定与校准。以7890B型专用气相色谱仪为例,详细说明了变压器油中溶解气体分析专用气相色谱仪的检定与校准流程。该法为检定人员检定该类专用仪器时提供了参考。     

Effect of different superficial treatments on structural,morphological and superficial area of Kraft lignin based charcoal

Lignin is a biomass derived from an abundant renewable source, rich in carbon and with potential application in modern society. The goal of this work is to add more value to lignin through its thermal conversion in charcoal, as well contribute to solutions linked to environmental preservation. Charcoal was obtained from Kraft lignin and its surface was modified using chemical (acid attack) and physical (microwave plasma) methods, in order to get charcoals different characteristics. In this work, the prepared charcoals were characterized by field emission gun - scanning electron microscope (FEG-SEM), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and superficial area by BET analyses. Microscopic analyses evidenced morphological differences in the samples as consequence of the used superficial treatments. Raman spectroscopy results point to an increase in the carbon material disorder after chemical and physical treatments. The acid attack of charcoal increased its superficial area by 40% (403 m²/g) in relation to the charcoal without chemical treatment (287 m²/g). Physical treatment based on microwave plasma promoted a further increase in superficial area of 63% (468 m²/g). FT-IR showed that chemically treated charcoals presented more functional groups. Based on these results, it can be verified that the production of activated charcoal from lignin is viable and its superficial area can be increased using acid and plasma treatments, the latter being a more efficient and clean method.     

Improved algorithm for linearization of calibration curves in Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

A two-parameter model for simulation of concentration curves in Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry is proposed. The algorithm based on this model can be used for linearization of calibration curves up to the roll-over point. The merits of the algorithm are supported by experimental data obtained for 20 elements under different measurement conditions (light source current and slit width), including the cases where the curvature of the initial calibration curves originates partially from mass-dependent chemical effects and/or non-uniform atom distribution over the furnace cross section. The linearization error does not exceed the random scatter for replicates.     

Preparation of cross‐linked porous starch and its adsorption for chromium (VI) in tannery wastewater

Various cross‐linked amino starches were used for chromium (VI) adsorption in the environmental protection area. In order to improve chromium (VI) adsorption, the new cross‐linked amino starch with porous structure (CPS) was synthesized by reverse emulsion polymerization, using waxy corn starch after enzyme hydrolysis (ES) as raw material, N,N′‐methylene‐bis‐acrylamide (MBAA) as cross‐linking agent, and ceric ammonium nitrate as initiator. The effects of the volume ratio of oil phase/aqueous phase, the content of emulsifiers, ES, and MBAA on the swelling, solubility property, chromium (VI) adsorption capacity, grafting ratio, and conversion ratio of CPS were investigated. The properties and morphology of CPS have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy. The maximum adsorption capacity for chromium (VI) ions of CPS reached 28.83 mg/g when the synthesis condition of CPS was controlled as V_oil: V_H2O 8:1, emulsifier 9%, starch 2%, and MBAA 10%. The new adsorption peaks of CPS at 1641 cm^?1 and 1541 cm^?1 proved the cross‐linking reaction between ES and MBAA. The thermal decomposition temperature of CPS was improved to 250°C, and the gelatinization temperature and enthalpy value of CPS were decreased compared with ES because of the occurrence of the cross‐linking reaction. The CPS was like a sponge with a large amount of pores, and the size of these pores was 5 µm. CPS also exhibited superior adsorption property to other heavy metal ions such as cadmium (II) and lead (II) (17.37 and 35.56 mg/g). Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Purification of 89Sr source obtained from 89Y(n,p) 89Sr by ion-exchange chromatography using tri-sodium tri-meta phosphate (SMP) as eluant

⁸⁹Sr was produced via ⁸⁹Y(n, p) ⁸⁹Sr using yttria as target in Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), Kalpakkam, India. A radiochemical procedure has been developed for the separation of bulk yttrium using TBP by solvent extraction followed by purification of ⁸⁹Sr source by ion exchange chromatography using the cation exchange resin Dowex 50WX8 (100–200 mesh) and nitric acid of variable molarity as eluant. The present study establishes the purification of ⁸⁹Sr source from the other radionuclidic impurities like ⁸⁸Y, ⁶⁵Zn, ⁵⁴Mn, ⁶⁰Co, ⁸⁶Rb, ¹⁹²Ir, ¹⁰³Ru, ¹¹³Sn, ¹³⁹Ce, ¹⁶⁰Tb, ¹⁵⁴Eu etc. produced during the irradiation of yttria by using the complexing agent tri-sodium tri-meta phosphate (SMP) in nitric acid medium instead of nitric acid alone as an eluant. The purification was achieved by using 0.1 M SMP as complexing agent which was optimized based on the distribution ratio data and final elution of Sr fraction was obtained in nitric acid medium. This resulted into a faster purification of ⁸⁹Sr source in a smaller volume of eluant. Purity of Sr source from the cross contamination of the complexing agent SMP was also ensured.     

新型活性炭材料在双电层电容器中的应用研究

以椰壳为原料,利用特定的物理 化学方法在一定条件下制得双电层电容器活性炭电极材料.实验表明,该活性炭经压制成型后制作的双电层电容器,具有大的比电容,文中同时研究了酸处理、二次活化以及电极冷压成型方法对电极性能的影响.     

An Extra‐Large‐Pore Pure Silica Zeolite with 16×8×8‐Membered Ring Pore Channels Synthesized using an Aromatic Organic Directing Agent

Extra‐large‐pore zeolites for processing large molecules have long been sought after by both the academia and industry. However, the synthesis of these materials, particularly extra‐large‐pore pure silica zeolites, remains a big challenge. Herein we report the synthesis of a new extra‐large‐pore silica zeolite, designated NUD‐6, by using an easily synthesized aromatic organic cation as structure‐directing agent. NUD‐6 possesses an intersecting 16×8×8‐membered ring pore channel system constructed by four‐connected (Q⁴) and unusual three‐connected (Q³) silicon species. The organic cations in NUD‐6 can be removed in nitric acid to yield a porous material with high surface area and pore volume. The synthesis of NUD‐6 presents a feasible means to prepare extra‐large pore silica zeolites by using assembled aromatic organic cations as structure‐directing agents.     

Quantitative Analysis of Chromium(VI) in Dilute Solution by Using Adsorption and Diffuse Reflectance Near‐infrared Spectroscopy

A method for quantitative determination of metal element in aqueous solution was developed by using adsorption and diffuse reflectance near‐infrared spectroscopy (DRNIRS). In this method, the analyte is firstly adsorbed onto the resin from the dilute solution, and then the adsorbed analyte is directly determined in the sorbent by using DRNIRS. Enrichment of the analyte is achieved by the adsorption from the dilute solution, and quantitative determination is accomplished by using multivariate calibration technique. Taking chromium(VI) in river water as the analytical target, adsorption conditions and the partial least squares (PLS) model was optimized. The results show that chromium(VI) can be immobilized onto the adsorbent and quantitatively measured by DRNIRS and multivariate calibration. With cross validation and external validation, the correlation coefficient between the reference and predicted concentration was found to be above 0.98 in the range of 0.75–29.90 mg·L⁻¹ for the PLS model, and the interference of the coexisting matrix was eliminated with the aid of multivariate calibration.