A new tripodal rhodamine B derivative as a highly selective and sensitive fluorescence chemosensor for copper(II)

A new tripodal rhodamine B derivative 2 was designed and synthesized by tripodal trialdehyde and rhodamine B hydrazide for the first time. This derivative could be used as a fluorescent chemosensor for the selective and sensitive determination of copper(II) in Tris-HCl buffer and ethanol aqueous mixed media. Under the optimum conditions described herein, fluorescence enhancement at 557/577 nm was linearly related to the concentration of copper(II) in the range of 0.10 to 10.00×10⁻⁵ mol·L⁻¹, with a correlation coefficient of R ²=0.9964 (n=15) and a detection limit of 1.129×10⁻⁷ mol·L⁻¹ (the relative standard deviation for five repeated measurements at 4.00×10⁻⁵ mol·L⁻¹ Cu(II) was 2.2%). The absorbance measurements at 557 nm were linearly related to the concentration of Cu(II) in the range of 0.50 to 25.00×10⁻⁵ mol·L⁻¹, with a correlation coefficient of R ²=0.9948 (n=13) and a detection limit of 3.338×10⁻⁷mol·L⁻¹. Supported by the Foundation of the Governor of Guizhou Province, China (Grant No. 200617) and the Talented Person Foundation of Guizhou University (Grant No. 2007039)     

A highly selective fluorescent probe for Hg based on a rhodamine-coumarin conjugate

A fluorescent probe 1 for Hg²⁺ based on a rhodamine-coumarin conjugate was designed and synthesized. Probe 1 exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity for sensing Hg²⁺, and about a 24-fold increase in fluorescence emission intensity is observed upon binding excess Hg²⁺ in 50% water/ethanol buffered at pH 7.24. The fluorescence response to Hg²⁺ is attributed to the 1:1 complex formation between probe 1 and Hg²⁺, which has been utilized as the basis for the selective detection of Hg²⁺. Besides, probe 1 was also found to show a reversible dual chromo- and fluorogenic response toward Hg²⁺ likely due to the chelation-induced ring opening of rhodamine spirolactam. The analytical performance characteristics of the proposed Hg²⁺-sensitive probe were investigated. The linear response range covers a concentration range of Hg²⁺ from 8.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ and the detection limit is 4.0 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹. The determination of Hg²⁺ in both tap and river water samples displays satisfactory results.     

二茂铁衍生物的合成及单晶结构研究

近年来 ,二茂铁金属有机液晶材料因其特异的液晶性能和较高的应用价值 ,引起了人们广泛的研究兴趣 ,得到了迅速的发展 ,使该类液晶材料的种类不断增加[1～ 4] 。本文报道的二茂铁衍生物是一个含有苯基、酯基和Ｓｃｈｉｆｆｓ的金属有机化合物 ,是一种潜在的金属有机液晶材料 ,其合成路线如下 :1　实验1 1　仪器与试剂仪器 :显微熔点测定仪。核磁共振仪为ＲｒａＫｅｒＡＶＡＮＣＥ - 30 0Ｇ型 ,ＴＭＳ作为内标。红外光谱仪为Ｐｅｒｋｉｎ Ｅｌｍｅｒ1 730型 ,ＫＢｒ压片。单晶测定仪为ＳｉｅｍｅｎｓＰ4型衍射仪。试剂均为国产化学纯。1 2…     

Solid/liquid interfacial tension as a tool to study stability of lysozyme on adsorption to solid surfaces

This work proposes the use of solid/liquid interfacial tension to study the stability of adsorbed lysozyme films on a solid surface using the contact angle of a liquid at the three phase contact line, in the presence of a denaturant, urea.Results suggest a direct correlation between this method with a standard technique like the fluorescence emission spectra and is measured with the same observable error as in the spectral methods. Further the technique provides a simple and direct handle to evaluate the homogeneity and degree of polarity of protein films on solid surfaces.     

Study of fibrinogen adsorption on hydroxyapatite and TiO2 surfaces by electrochemical piezoelectric quartz crystal impedance and FTIR-ATR spectroscopy

The electrochemical piezoelectric quartz crystal impedance (EQCI), a combined technique of piezoelectric quartz crystal impedance (PQCI), electrochemical impedance (EI), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total internal reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) were used to in situ study the adsorption process of fibrinogen onto the surface of biomaterials—TiO₂ and hydroxyapatite (Ca₅(PO₄)₃OH, HAP). The equivalent circuit parameters, the resonance frequencies and the half peak width of the conductance spectrum of the two biomaterial-modified piezoelectric quartz crystal (PQC) resonances as well as the FTIR-ATR spectra of fibrinogen during fibrinogen adsorption on TiO₂ and HAP particles modified electrode surface were obtained. The adsorption kinetics and mechanism of fibrinogen were investigated and discussed as well. The results suggested that two consecutive steps occurred during the adsorption of fibrinogen onto TiO₂ and hydroxyapatite (HAP) surface. The fibrinogen molecules were firstly adsorbed onto the surface, and then the rearrangement of adsorbed fibrinogen or multi-layered adsorption occurred. The FTIR-ATR spectroscopy investigations showed that the secondary structure of fibrinogen molecules was altered during the adsorption and the adsorption kinetics of fibrinogen related with the variety of biomaterials. These experimental results suggest a way for enriching biological analytical science and developing new applications of analytical techniques, such as PQCI, EI, and FTIR-ATR.     

Characterization of rhodamine B hydroxylamide as a highly selective and sensitive fluorescence probe for copper(II)

Rhodamine B hydroxylamide (1) is characterized as a highly selective and sensitive fluorescence probe for Cu²⁺. Under the optimized conditions, the probe exhibits specific absorbance-on and fluorescence-on responses to Cu²⁺ only. This remarkable property may allow Cu²⁺ to be detected directly in the presence of the other transition metal ions, and such an application has been demonstrated to human serum. The reaction mechanism is also investigated and proposed as that the hydroxylamide group of 1 binds Cu²⁺, and the subsequent complexation of Cu²⁺ displays a high catalytic activity for the hydrolytic cleavage of the amide bond, causing the release of fluorophore (rhodamine B) and thereby the retrievement of absorbance and fluorescence. The recovered fluorescence intensity is proportional to the concentration of Cu²⁺ in the range 1-20 μM. The detection limit for Cu²⁺ is 33 nM (k = 3). The reaction mechanism described here may be useful for developing excellent spectroscopic probes with cleavable active bonds for other analytes.     

Multiple immunoblot: a sensitive technique to stain proteins and detect multiple antigens on a single two-dimensional replica

A multiple immunoblotting technique was developed to positively identify up to three different antigens on a single nitrocellulose replica of a two-dimensional isoelectric focusing/sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel. Three highly sensitive immunoblot assays were selected, including: horseradish peroxidase/luminescence, alkaline phosphatase, and silver-enhanced immunogold. As a major advantage, the method permits a simultaneous detection of up to three different antigens without eluting the antibody-dye complex between staining of single polypeptides, thus providing a highly accurate identification of closely migrating components. The staining procedure is summarized in a flow chart. In addition to the multiple immunoblot staining, some suggestions are provided for a sensitive protein staining.     

Curing reaction of glycidylthioether resins: Kinetic model study by near infrared spectroscopy and multivariate curve resolution

The reactivity of sulfur‐based epoxy monomers was studied by monitoring of a model system involving phenylglycidylthioether and aniline. The reaction was carried out under isothermal conditions and monitored in situ by near infrared spectroscopy. Using multivariate curve resolution‐alternating least squares made it possible to obtain the concentration and spectral profiles of each species throughout the reaction. To obtain the kinetic rate constants, the values of the recovered concentration profiles were fitted to a kinetic model proposed for the reaction. Reactivity was evaluated by comparing the concentration profiles and kinetic rate constants obtained with the same parameters obtained for phenylglycidylether/aniline as a reference system. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4846–4856, 2006     

Headspace solvent microextraction as a simple and highly sensitive sample pretreatment technique for ultra trace determination of geosmin in aquatic media

A headspace solvent microextraction method was developed for the trace determination of geosmin, an odorant compound, in water samples. After performing the extraction by a microdrop of an organic solvent, the microdrop was introduced directly into a GC-MS injection port. One-at-the-time optimization strategy was applied to investigate and optimize some important extraction parameters such as type of solvent, drop volume, temperature, stirring rate, ionic strength, sample volume, and extraction time. The analytical data exhibited an RSD of less than 5% (n = 5), a linear calibration range of 5-900 ng/L (r2 > 0.998), and a detection limit of 0.8 and 3.3 ng/L using two different sets of selected ions. The proposed method was successfully applied to the extraction and determination of geosmin in the spiked real water sample and reasonable recovery was achieved.     

Monitor adsorption of acetone vapor to a room temperature ionic liquid 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide by a langasite crystal resonator

In this work, the responses of a Y-cut langasite crystal resonator (LCR) in liquid phases were investigated by an impedance analysis method. The resonant frequency (f_S) of the LCR decreases with increasing mass loading on the active surface of the resonator. The LCR can be operated at the resonant frequency that is down to about 60% of the fundamental frequency (f₀) under foreign mass loading. The frequency-mass coefficient of the Y-cut LCR is theoretically derived to be −1.282 × 10⁻⁶, which is supported by the experimental results. The resonant frequency of the LCR decreases linearly while its motional resistance (R_m) increases linearly with increasing (ρη)^1/2, where η and ρ are the viscosity and density of the liquid phase, respectively. The slopes of the plots of f_S versus (ρη)^1/2 and R_m versus (ρη)^1/2 are related to the region of (ρη)^1/2 because of the influence of surface roughness of the LCR. The changes in viscodensity of a room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([C₈MIM][Br]), were investigated in acetone vapor adsorption and ascending temperature processes by the LCR. The adsorption of acetone into [C₈MIM][Br] causes a significantly drop in viscosity of the [C₈MIM][Br] film, which induces an increase in f_S and a decrease in R_m for the RTIL modified LCR. When the thickness of [C₈MIM][Br] film is less than the decay distance of the thickness-shear wave, a mass effect model is observed in the early adsorption process. Based on the responses of the LCR, the viscodensity of the [C₈MIM][Br] film as well as the adsorbed amounts of acetone into film were monitored in real time during the adsorption or desorption processes.     

Plasticization of a polymer layer harnessed to a silicon microcantilever as a highly sensitive and selective means to detect nitroaromatic derivatives

A new approach to the chemo‐mechanical detection of trace amounts of nitroaromatics, even in the presence of high concentrations of background materials, is presented. The detection scheme is based on the plasticization of an aminopropyl silane layer that is harnessed to a silicon beam following its reaction with nitroaromatic systems. The reaction‐induced plasticization attenuates the temperature induced bending of the polymer‐beam sandwich, offering a simple and very sensitive tool for the detection of nitroaromatic systems. Using this approach, it was possible to detect a sample of 100 pg TNT even in the presence of a ～10⁹ fold excess of a background material such as acetonitrile. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 2124–2130     

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as a highly sensitive tool for a dynamic interaction study between heparin and antithrombin: a novel antithrombin sensor

Specific recognition between two biological partners is widely exploited in biosensors nowadays. To explore this avenue, a novel biosensor for antithrombin (AT) detection was constructed. Heparin was used as the affinity ligand.A well-known acrylic monomer (butyl methacrylate) was polymerized and grafted onto the heparin polysaccharide by the use of ceric ammonium nitrate as a redox initiator in aqueous nitric acid medium. Polymers were deposited as a thin layer onto surface of stainless steel electrode (SS316L).The obtained polymers were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).Moreover, the films were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), contact-angle measurements and AFM.EIS was used to study the biosensor affinity to AT and the relationship between functionalization growth of modified electrode and the response of the sensor.The proposed approach appears to be simple, sensitive and correlated with methods that analyse the detection of antithrombin.     

Temperature-programmed desorption as a tool for quantification of protein adsorption capacity in micro- and nanoporous materials

The protein adsorption capacity of porous sorbents is generally obtained by measuring the concentration of proteins desorbed from the materials after treatment by a detergent, or by measuring the decrease of protein concentration in the solution. These methods have some drawbacks and often lead to a low precision in the determination of the adsorption capacities. We describe in this paper a new method that allows to directly quantify the amount of proteins adsorbed on porous materials. This method is based on the quantitative analysis by mass spectrometry of some low mass gaseous species which evolve from the biomolecules during the heat treatment of a temperature-programmed desorption analysis (TPD-MS). The method has been applied to bovine serum albumin and cytochrome C adsorbed on an activated carbon. The adsorption uptake of the proteins on the carbon material could be measured by this direct analysis. A comparison with the depletion method was done, it shows that the two methods are complementary. The depletion method allows a determination of the total adsorption capacity, while the TPD-MS method focus on irreversible capacity.     

Solubility Parameters Based on IR and NIR Spectra: I. Correlation to Polar Solutes and Binary Systems

IR and NIR spectra were correlated to Hildebrand and Hansen solubility parameters through use of multivariate data analysis. PLS‐1 models were developed and used to predict solubility parameters for solvents, crude oils, and SARA fractions. PLS regression showed potential for good correlation of the solubility parameters with IR and NIR spectra. Principal component analysis of IR spectra showed that crude oils are grouped according to their relative contents of heavy components such as asphaltenes. PCA of IR spectra for SARA fractions resulted in obvious groupings of the respective fractions. Prediction of solubility parameters from IR spectra of polymers, crude oils, and SARA fractions gave values that are comparable to literature values. This study indicates that correlation of solubility parameters with IR and NIR spectra is possible. In turn, it may be possible to develop models that can predict the polarities of crude oils and crude oil fractions such as resins and asphaltenes.     

Liquid crystal alignment on a ZrO2 thin film as a function of ion beam incident angle

Nematic liquid crystal alignment capabilities and electro-optical performance characteristics have first been embodied in a ZrO₂ layer using ion-beam irradiation. The study demonstrates that liquid crystal layers can be aligned homogeneously as a function of the incident angle of the ion beam device, which causes a uniform dense plasma. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that full oxidation of the ZrO₂ thin-film surfaces was produced by ion irradiation, shifting the Zr 3d spectra to lower binding energies. In addition, the electro-optical performance characteristics of twisted nematic cells on a ZrO₂ thin-film layer after ion beam irradiation showed similar characteristics to those of a rubbed polyimide cell.     

Controlled formation of optically reflective and electrically conductive silvered surfaces on polyimide film via a direct ion-exchange self-metallization technique using silver ammonia complex cation as the precursor

Double-surface-silvered polyimide films have been successfully fabricated using silver ammonia complex cation ([Ag(NH3)2]+) as the silver precursor and 3,3',4,4'-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride/4,4'-oxidianile- (BTDA/ODA-) based poly(amic acid) (PAA) as the polyimide precursor via a direct ion-exchange self-metallization technique. The process has been clarified to involve the loading of silver(I) into PAA via ion exchange, the thermally induced reduction of silver(I) to silver(0) and the concomitant imidization of PAA to polyimide upon thermal treatment, the subsequent silver-catalyzed and oxygen-assisted decomposition of the polyimide overlayer, and the self-accelerated aggregation of silver clusters on the film surface to produce well-defined surface silver layers. By employing [Ag(NH3)2]+ solution with a concentration of only 0.01 M and an ion-exchange time of no more than 10 min, the controlled formation of highly reflective and conductive silver surfaces upon thermal treatment at 300 degrees C for less than 4.5 h indicates that the present work provides an efficient route and an effacious silver species for polyimide surface metallization. Although the alkaline characteristics of [Ag(NH3)2]+ have a strong hydrolysis effect on the polyimide precursor chains, the final metallized films retain the key mechanical and thermal properties of the pure polyimide. Films were characterized by ATR-FTIR, XPS, ICP-AES, SEM, TEM, DSC, TGA, reflectivity, conductivity, and mechanical measurements.     

Influence of ionic strength and shear rate on the desorption of polystyrene particles from a glass collector as studied in a parallel-plate flow chamber

The residence-time-dependent desorption during the deposition of polystyrene particles 736 nm in diameter on glass was studied in situ using a parallel-plate flow chamber and automated image analysis. Comparison of successively grabbed images yielded the initial desorption rate coefficient, and final desorption rate coefficient and a relaxation time for the transition from the initial to the final desorption state, i.e. ageing of the bonds. Desorption experiments were performed from suspensions with different potassium nitrate concentrations (1, 10 and 50 mM) and at varying shear rates (15–200 s⁻¹. The initial desorption rate coefficient β₀ ranging from 1 × 10⁻³ to 20 × 10⁻³s⁻¹, and the final desorption rate coefficient β_∞, ranging from 0.01 × 10⁻³ to 0.65 × 10⁻³s⁻¹ were both larger than the desorption rate coefficients calculated neglecting a possible residence time dependence. These desorption rate coefficients, β, ranged from 0.005 × 10⁻³ to 0.40 × 10⁻³s⁻¹. The relaxation times, at which the adhesion of the polystyrene particles entered a more irreversible state of adhesion compared with their initial state of adhesion, varied from 100 to 1000 s. The desorption rate coefficients as well as the relaxation time showed major variations with the shear rate and the ionic strength of the suspension. At high ionic strength, the initial and final desorption rate coefficients increase and the relaxation time decreases with increasing shear rate, whereas at low ionic strength the desorption rates decrease and the relaxation time increases with increasing ionic strength. This study provides direct evidence that the interaction forces between adhering particles and a collector surface change over time.     

A DFT study on the possibility of using a single Cu atom incorporated nitrogen-doped graphene as a promising and highly active catalyst for oxidation of CO

Using dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT) calculations, a single Cu adatom incorporated nitrogen-doped graphene (CuN₃-Gr) is proposed as a new and highly active noble-metal-free catalyst for carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation reaction. According to our results, the Cu adatom can be stably anchored onto the monovavancy site of the nitrogen-doped graphene, and the resulting large diffusion barrier suggests that the metal clustering is avoided in CuN₃-Gr. Three possible reaction mechanisms for CO oxidation (ie, Eley–Rideal, Langmuir–Hinshelwood, and termolecular Eley–Rideal) are systematically studied. It is found that the activation energy for the rate-determining step of the termolecular Eley–Rideal mechanism is only 0.13 eV, which is much smaller than those of others. The results of this study may provide a useful guideline for the design of highly active and promising single-metal catalysts for the CO oxidation reaction based on graphene.     

Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation coupled to on-chip MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry as a tool for characterising proteinaceous conditioning films on functionalised surfaces

Proteinaceous conditioning films (pCFs) are thought to play a key role in microbial adhesion, leading to the fouling of technical and biomedical devices and biofilm formation, which in turn causes material damage or persistent infections, respectively. However, little is definitively known about the process of surface conditioning via proteins. Herein, we demonstrate the potential of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation coupled to MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry (QCM-D-MALDI) to investigate protein adsorption on different surfaces, enabling both the monitoring of CF formation and the determination of the molecular composition of CFs. After running QCM-D experiments, a subsequent tryptic on chip digestion step allows the identification of the proteins deposited on the sensor chip surface via MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry. Prominent blood plasma proteins, i.e., human serum albumin (HSA), fibrinogen (FG) and fibronectin (FN), were used. Chemically well defined sensor surfaces were prepared, among others, via self-assembled monolayer (SAM) technology. In cases where protein adsorption was observed by QCM-D, the adsorbed proteins were clearly detected and identified using MALDI-ToF/MS for both single-protein solutions of HSA, FG and FN as well as for protein mixtures. However, for equimolar protein mixtures on TiO₂ surfaces, only signals attributed to FG and FN were observed in the mass spectra. No signals indicating the presence of HSA could be detected. This finding leads to the assumption that only FG and FN attach to the TiO₂ sensor surface under the given experimental conditions.     

Mercury adsorption on gold surfaces employed in the sampling and determination of vaporous mercury: a scanning tunneling microscopy study

To clarify the mechanism of mercury adsorption on gold surfaces thin epitaxial gold films have been exposed to trace amounts of gaseous mercury under laboratory conditions for different periods of time. The changes in the surface morphology of the thin films caused by the exposure have been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The evolution of the surface structures with time has been also investigated, in the course of a few days after the exposure. The adsorption of mercury on the gold surfaces has caused drastic changes in the morphology of the surfaces. Pits and islands of 2 to 30 nm in diameter have appeared on the surface, their size and density per unit area depending on the amount of exposure to mercury. The formation of pits and islands followed a certain path of events.