Optimum conditions for pulse generation in diaphragm-free Karl Fischer coulometry

A flexible instrument was designed in order to investigate the influence of current magnitude, current duration and the frequency of the pulse generation on the error obtained in coulometric Karl Fischer titrations carried out in diaphragm-free cells. For a given current magnitude the lowest errors were obtained for current durations more than 60% of the total time for the pulse cycle. No significant influence of the pulse frequency (5–1000 Hz) was found independently of the pulse current duration for three different types of reagents intended for diaphragm-free coulometry. For all reagents, the errors obtained with the home-built instrument were significantly smaller than those obtained with an optimized commercial titrator based on pulsed current generation. Using optimum conditions for the former instrument, in combination with an imidazole-buffered reagent at pH 10 containing chloroform as modifier, the accuracy was close to 100%. Thus, it is now possible to achieve the same high accuracy with diaphragm-free coulometry as with the conventional diaphragm based technique. The precision of the water determinations was affected by the size of the background. Received: 16 March 2000 / Revised: 17 May 2000 / Accepted: 22 May 2000     

Progress in pulsed-current Karl Fischer coulometry using diaphragm-free cells

Factors influencing the accuracy of water determinations using diaphragm-free, pulsed current Karl Fischer (KF) coulometry were investigated with the new Metrohm 756 instrument. Results obtained with commercially available reagents from Riedel-deHaën and Merck were compared with home-made ones that were especially designed to minimize the formation of iodine-consuming reduction products generated in the cathode reaction. Positive errors in the range 2–5% were found for the commercial reagents as compared to 0.2–1% for the home-made ones which were buffered at about pH 10 containing modifiers like chloroform, hexanol or ethylene glycol. Except for the composition of the KF-reagent, the cathode current density and the titration rate were found to be critical parameters for the accuracy of the determinations. For all reagents investigated, the best results were obtained for the maximum generator current 400 mA (corresponding to a current density of 1400 mA cm^–2) in combination with a maximum titration rate of 2000 μg min^–1. Surprisingly, the errors found under optimum conditions for the pulse technique were always somewhat larger than the corresponding values obtained with continuous coulometry.     

Progress in pulsed-current Karl Fischer coulometry using diaphragm-free cells

Factors influencing the accuracy of water determinations using diaphragm-free, pulsed current Karl Fischer (KF) coulometry were investigated with the new Metrohm 756 instrument. Results obtained with commercially available reagents from Riedel-deHaen and Merck were compared with home-made ones that were especially designed to minimize the formation of iodine-consuming reduction products generated in the cathode reaction. Positive errors in the range 2-5% were found for the commercial reagents as compared to 0.2-1% for the home-made ones which were buffered at about pH 10 containing modifiers like chloroform, hexanol or ethylene glycol. Except for the composition of the KF-reagent, the cathode current density and the titration rate were found to be critical parameters for the accuracy of the determinations. For all reagents investigated, the best results were obtained for the maximum generator current 400 mA (corresponding to a current density of 1,400 mA cm(-2)) in combination with a maximum titration rate of 2,000 microg min(-1). Surprisingly, the errors found under optimum conditions for the pulse technique were always somewhat larger than the corresponding values obtained with continuous coulometry.     

Coulometric Karl Fischer titration of trace water in diaphragm-free cells

Factors influencing the accuracy and precision for diaphragm-free Karl Fischer coulometric determinations of low μg-amounts of water have been studied using the Metrohm 756 (pulsed current) coulometer and eight different types of commercial coulometric reagents and some modifications of these. As in the case of diaphragm-free coulometric titration of large amounts of water, the positive errors, due to the formation of oxidizable reduction products (of sulfur dioxide) in the cathode reaction (besides hydrogen), were found to be minimized by the use of highest possible pulse current (in the range 100–400 mA) in combination with the fastest possible titration rate. Most accurate (102–103%) and precise results (typical relative standard deviation 1.8%) were obtained for reagents containing very large concentrations of imidazole in combination with the presence of modifiers like hexanol, chloroform and propylene glycol (i.e. the HYDRA-POINT reagents). Similar results were obtained when this type of reagent was mixed 60/40 with xylene according to the ASTM recommendation for water determinations in petroleum products like crude and lubricating oils. Addition of decanol to this type of reagent mixture was found to reduce the influence from the oxidative reduction products significantly. A reduction of the error from 3.6% relative to 1.6% was achieved by addition of 9% (v/v) of decanol to a 60/40 reagent mixture of HYDRA-POINT Coulometric Gen (containing hexanol as modifier) and xylene. For larger concentrations of decanol the pulse current had to be lowered to 100 mA and this might explain why no further improvement was observed. An additional attempt to minimize the interference by lowering the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the reagents gave no significant effect. However, by means of a home-built computer-controlled coulometric instrumentation based on continuous instead of pulsed current (including a large cathodic current density) it was possible to achieve recovery rates close to 100% for the best reagents investigated. The reason for this improvement is discussed.     

Coulometric determinations

Two methods for performing coulometric determinations have been developed. Either the precise time of duration of the electrolysis is measured or the voltage is controlled. An indicator is necessary for the first method, while the end-point can be determined by the drop of the generator current to the so-called “background current” in the alternate way.The constant current method usually requires amperometric indication, which may give an incorrect end-point when conditions are not completely suitable. Chemical indicators can sometimes be used. The controlled potential method requires, no indicator, but a good coulometer and an instrument for retaining constant voltage are necessary.Coulometric determinations are based on the reactions of the substances to be determined with halogens, using different oxidizing or reducing agents, and with acids or babes.The degree of accuracy obtained using coulometric titrations corresponds to the volumetric analysis results. In addition, however, coulometry may permit an even greater accuracy, when applied under the proper conditions.The major advantage of coulometry consists in the case, with which, within the limits of the reaction, micro-quantities of the reacting substances can be determined.     

Coulometric microdetermination of water

An electroanalytical method for the determination of small amounts of water by controlled potential coulometry has been devised. Excess of iodine is produced coulometrically in a Karl Fischer reagent, the sample is added, and after complete reaction the remainder of the iodine is reduced. The number of coulombs consumed in the cell reaction is determined by integration of the current by means of an electronic integrator. Karl Fischer reagents of various compositions were checked to find the most satisfactory conditions and a special electrolysis cell for water determination was constructed entirely in glass and Teflon. Samples containing 0.1-2 mg of water were added and determined with an accuracy of +/- 0.15 %. The analysis times were 3-12 min.     

The role of the laser pulse duration in infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

The role of the laser pulse duration in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry with infrared lasers (IR-MALDI-MS) emitting in the 3 microm wavelength range has been evaluated. Mass spectrometric performance and characteristics of the IR-MALDI process were examined by comparing a wavelength-tuneable mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator (OPO) laser of 6 ns pulse duration, tuned to wavelengths of 2.79 and 2.94 microm, with an Er:YAG laser (lambda = 2.94 microm) with two pulse durations of 100 and 185 ns, and an Er:YSGG laser (lambda = 2.79 microm) with a pulse duration of 75 ns. Threshold fluences for the desorption of cytochrome C ions were determined as a function of the laser pulse duration for various common IR-MALDI matrices. For the majority of these matrices a reduction in threshold fluence by a factor of 1.2-1.9 was found by going from the 75-100 ns long pulses of the Erbium lasers to the short 6 ns OPO pulse. Within the experimental accuracy threshold fluences were equal for the 100 and the 185 ns pulse duration of the Er:YAG laser. Some pronounced pulse duration effects related to the ion formation from a glycerol matrix were also observed. The effect of the laser pulse length on the duration of ion emission was furthermore investigated.     

Determination of traces of metals in wines from Macedonia

A new method for the determination of chromium and manganese in wines using square-wave voltammetry was developed. For chromium, acrylic acid was chosen as supporting electrolyte and for manganese a mixture of NH₄OH and NH₄Cl. The experimental conditions (initial and final potential, frequency, pulse height, scan increment, scan rate and equilibrium and deposition time) were optimized. Chromium and manganese were determined in the Macedonian wines Kratošija, Kavadarka, Ohridija and Smederevka. The results agreed well with those obtained by standard UV/VIS spectrophotometry. A statistical treatment of the experimental data was performed using STATGRAPH and MATHCAD software packages. Received: 13 February 1998 / Revised: 19 May 1998 / Accepted: 25 May 1998     

Prediction of the Raman spectrum of the aqueous formate anion by a combined density functional theory and self-consistent-reaction-field study

Formate, HCOO⁻, is a small ion that can be used as a convenient model to represent general carboxylic acids as well as the terminal side chains of glutamic and aspartic amino acids in biological systems. Several ab initio techniques (Hartree–Fock and density functional theory methods) were used to study the formate anion in aqueous solution, where the solvent was treated as an electrostatic influence by means of a self-consistent-reaction-field (SCRF) method. The comparison of calculated frequencies with Raman experimental data constitutes a good test for the solvation model employed in this work. The results showed that the application of a SCRF method not only produced smaller errors but also improved the linear correlation between predicted and experimental values. This latter characteristic enables a more efficient application of a linear scaling factor, λ, which corrects the calculated frequencies. In fact, the application of λ to the values calculated for the continuum, when compared to those obtained for a vacuum, resulted in smaller root-mean-square errors of the deviations from the experimental data. Received: 15 May 2000 / Accepted: 19 June 2000 / Published online: 11 September 2000     

Differential mobility separation of ions using a rectangular asymmetric waveform

The performance of a planar differential mobility spectrometer (DMS) is investigated when operated in air at ambient pressure and driven by a rectangular asymmetric waveform, limited to frequencies of <1.2 MHz and voltage pulse amplitudes of <1 kV with steep rise times of the order of approximately 15 ns. Independent control of frequency, voltage pulse amplitude, and duty cycle allow for characterizing the DMS in terms of transmission, resolution and separation. The tradeoff between sensitivity and resolution and the effect of duty cycle on instrument performance are demonstrated experimentally. The dependence of ion mobility on the magnitude of the electric field determines the displacement of ions measured by the DC compensation voltage as a function of the duty cycle. Optimum values for the duty cycle exist for the separation of A- and C-type ions, while, B-type ions exhibit a more complex behavior. An analytical expression for describing the effect of duty cycle on the separation of the ions, determined by variations in the compensation voltage, is developed and compared to experimental results obtained in air below 75 Td using estimated alpha parameters for a set of ketones. In this context, errors associated with the calculation of alpha parameters using polynomials of even powers are highlighted.     

Electroporation of subcutaneous mouse tumors by rectangular and trapezium high voltage pulses

The artificial electrotransfer of bioactive agents such as drugs, peptides or therapeutical nucleic acids and oligonucleotides by membrane electroporation (MEP) into single cells and tissue cells requires knowledge of the optimum ranges of the voltage, pulse duration and frequency of the applied pulses. For clinical use, the classical electroporators appear to necessitate some tissue specific presetting of the pulse parameters at the high voltage generator, before the actual therapeutic pulsing is applied. The optimum pulse parameters may be derived from the kinetic normal mode analysis of the current relaxations due to a voltage step (rectangular pulse). Here, the novel method of trapezium test pulses is proposed to rapidly assess the current (I)/voltage (U) characteristics (IUC). The analysis yields practical values for the voltage U(app) between a given electrode distance and pulse duration t(E) of rectangular high voltage (HV) pulses, to be preset for an effective in vivo electroporation of mouse subcutaneous tumors, clamped between two planar plate electrodes of stainless steel. The IUC of the trapezium pulse compares well with the IUC of rectangular pulses of increasing amplitudes. The trapezium pulse phase (s) of constant voltage and 3 ms duration, following the rising ramp phase (r), yields a current relaxation which is similar to the current relaxation during a rectangular pulse of similar duration. The fit of the current relaxation of the trapezium phase (s) to an exponential function and the IUC can be used to estimate the maximum current at a given voltage. The IUC of the falling edge (phase f) of the trapezium pulse serves to estimate the minimum voltage for the exploration of the long-lived electroporation membrane states with consecutive low-voltage (LV) pulses of longer duration, to eventually enhance electrophoretic uptake of ionic substances, initiated by the preceding HV pulses.     

Determination of trace elements in zeolites by laser ablation ICP-MS

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry using a quadrupole-based mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-QMS) was applied for the analysis of powdered zeolites (microporous aluminosilicates) used for clean-up procedures. For the quantitative determination of trace element concentrations three geological reference materials, granite NIM-G, lujavrite NIM-L and syenite NIM-S, from the National Institute for Metallurgy (South Africa) with a matrix composition corresponding to the zeolites were employed. Both the zeolites and reference materials were fused with a lithium borate mixture to increase the homogeneity and to eliminate mineralogical effects. In order to compare two different approaches for the quantification of analytical results in LA-ICP-MS relative sensitivity coefficients (RSCs) of chemical elements and calibration curves were measured using the geostandards. The experimentally obtained RSCs are in the range of 0.2-6 for all elements of interest. Calibration curves for trace elements were measured without and with Li or Ti as internal standard element. With a few exceptions the regression coefficients of the calibration curves are better than 0.993 with internal standardization. NIM-G granite reference material was employed to evaluate the accuracy of the technique. Therefore, the measured concentrations were corrected with RSCs which were determined using lujavrite reference material NIM-L. This quantification method provided analytical results with deviations of 1–11% from the recommended and proposed values in granite reference material NIM-G, except for Co, Cs, La and Tb. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the determination of the trace element concentration (n = 5) is about 1% to 6% using Ti as internal standard element. Detection limits of LA-ICP-QMS in the lower μg/g range (from 0.03 μg/g for Lu, Ta and Th to 7.3 μg/g for Cu, with the exception of La) have been achieved for all elements of interest. Under the laser ablation conditions employed (λ: 266 nm, repetition frequency: 10 Hz, pulse energy: 10 mJ, laser power density: 6 × 10⁹ W/cm²) fractionation effects of the determined elements relative to the internal standard element Ti were not observed. Received: 7 April 2000 / Revised: 25 May 2000 / Accepted: 31 May 2000     

Experimental determination of the dependence of the free electron—hole recombination rate constant on the band gap in semiconductors of the AIIBVI and AIBVII types

A correlation between the recombination rate constant of free electrons and holes (k _r) and the band gap (E _g) of semiconductors (AgCl, AgBr, Cd_xZn_1−x S, CdSe, CdTe, and their solid solutions) at 295 K was found. The experimental data were obtained by the UHF photoconductivity (36 GHz) using current carrier generation by laser pulses (λ = 337 nm, pulse duration 8 ns). A decrease in E _g in a range of 1.5–3 eV increases k _r by 1.5 orders of magnitude according to the law close to exponential. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 856–860, May, 2007.     

石墨炉原子吸收光谱测定加热不燃烧烟烟草材料中铅含量的不确定度评定

为评价石墨炉原子吸收光谱法(GF-AAS)测定加热不燃烧烟(HNB)烟草材料中铅含量检测方法的可靠性和检测结果的准确性,采用自下而上法(bottom-up)评定铅含量检测结果的不确定度,分析了测量不确定度的来源及各不确定度分量的影响程度.结果表明,加热不燃烧烟烟草材料中铅含量为2.02 mg/kg,扩展不确定度为0.26 mg/kg(k=2).测量不确定度主要来源于标准曲线拟合和仪器稳定性.故选择适宜的试验方案及试剂,设置合适的仪器参数,确保良好的仪器状态及性能,是获得准确检测结果的前提条件.     

Suspended trapping gas chromatography I fourier transform mass spectrometry for analysis of complex organic mixtures

The superior sensitivity, dynamic range, and mass measurement accuracy of suspended trapping pulse sequences for gas chromatography combined with Fourier transform mass spectrometry (GC/FTMS) separations of complex organic mixtures is demonstrated. By combining intense ionization conditions with a suspended trapping event prior to detection the working range of the trapped ion cell is increased by 10³. Improved detection limits are shown for the GC/FTMS separation of a peppermint oil, with the suspended trapping total ion chromatogram yielding 28 peaks, compared with 15 with a conventional trapping pulse sequence. A fivefold to fifteenfold improvement in signal-to-noise for suspended trapping measurements is also demonstrated with comparison spectra from separations of an unleaded gasoline sample. Suspended trapping spectra show little mass discrimination when an external ion reservoir is used, and chromatographic peak heights differ from conventional spectra by less than 30% if the initial ion population is within the space charge limit of the cell. Finally, average wide band mass measurement errors for components differing in concentration by several orders of magnitude are improved by a factor of 6 to 20 with suspended trapping compared with conventional trapping. For example, average errors of 8.7 ppm are obtained for a suspended trapping GC/FTMS separation of peppermint oil from a single calibration table in which the analysis is performed in the absence of calibrant.     

Analytical controlled-potential coulometry

Advances in the technique and scope of controlled-potential coulometry during the past 30 years have made it ideally suited to the analysis of materials when high accuracy is desired. Its advantages include an inherent, routine measurement precision of better than 0.1% with 1–10 mg of analyte, minimal use of chemical calibrants, stable instrument calibrations, and excellent selectivity for elements such as the actinides and precious metals.     

A digital integrator for controlled-potential coulometry

Accurate electrolysis current integration is required in controlled-potential coulometry. Analog integrators have been shown to deviate from ideal response by as much as —0.1%. A digital integrator was designed to optimize the linearity of the voltage-to-frequency converter used, minimize the effects of temperature, eliminate integration errors caused by small polarity changes and signal noise, and allow interchangeability with an analog integrator in a state-of-the-art coulometer widely used throughout the nuclear field for controlled-potential coulometry. Evaluation of the digital integrator, calibrated versus the Faraday, showed bias-free determinations of plutonium with a relative standard deviation of approximately 0.02%. The integrator was designed specifically for use in the controlled-potential coulometric determination of plutonium, but many of the features incorporated can be adopted to digital integrators for other uses where accurate integration over long periods of time is required.     

Enhancements in laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry based on laser properties and ambient environment

Analytical performance of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) depends critically on the interaction between the laser light and the sample. The analyte emission line intensity in ICP-AES depends on the quantity of mass ablated. The effect of laser parameters (wavelength, pulse duration, and power density) was investigated for increasing the quantity of ablated mass. For fixed laser beam energy, the ablated mass can change 2 to 3 orders of magnitude by changing the laser beam spot size on the sample. The ablated mass quantity also depends on laser pulse duration and wavelength; and on ambient gas in the sample chamber. The shorter the pulse duration and wavelength, the higher the quantity of ablated mass. By using He in the chamber, the amount of mass increases by a factor of 2 for 30 ns excimer laser ablation and by an order of magnitude for ps-laser ablation.     

Multipurpose electroanalytical instrument incorporating an X-Y recorder

A multipurpose electroanalytical instrument, incorporating an X-Y recorder with it built-in time base, is described. The instrument also includes an electro-mechanical combination ampero-stat-potentiostat and a variable speed polarizing unit. The instrument accurately measures electrode potential (rather than cell voltage) and hence does not involve correction of recorded potentials for iR drop. This is especially convenient for the recording of current vs. potential curves with macroelectrodes. It has also been successfully used for voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, coulometry and recording of titration curves.     

纳米孔道单分子电化学测量仪器的稳定性研究

纳米孔道分析技术是一种基于电化学空间限域效应的单分子检测技术。测量纳米孔道产生的单分子皮安级微弱电流信号对电化学测量仪器的电流分辨、时间分辨和抗噪音能力提出了挑战。Cube纳米孔道电化学测量仪器通过设计频率补偿电路、前置电流放大器测量系统和基于现场可编程逻辑门阵列(FPGA)的高速数字处理电路,实现了便携式超灵敏电化学测量仪器对微弱电流信号的高时间分辨、高电流分辨,以及低噪音的放大、采集和快速处理。稳定性是仪器能够应用于实际单分子测量分析的重要衡量指标之一。该文通过高阻值电阻对该仪器进行稳定性测试,在截止滤波频率为5、10、100 kHz条件下,Cube纳米孔道仪器获取的电流基线的噪音均方根(RMS)值分别比商品化仪器减小了80.0%、87.5%、48.2%,证明Cube纳米孔道仪器抑制噪音能力更强,电流分辨能力更好,仪器测量稳定性更佳。进一步通过统计比较施加电压值的实际值和标准偏差,结果显示该仪器施加电压误差小,其仪器施加电压标准偏差仅为施加电压变化量(10 mV)的0.14%。同时,通过Aerolysin纳米孔道检测Poly(dA)₄的实验,对比Cube仪器和...