Comparative study of bulk and partial digestion methods for airborne PM10-bound elements in a high mineral dust urban site in Constantine,Algeria

When high mineral loads in atmospheric particulate matter (PM) are present, particular attention should be paid to the selection of appropriate acidic digestion protocols for wet chemical analysis. We report on a comparative study of elemental recovery yields from five different pre-analytical acid digestion procedures for mineral-rich urban background PM₁₀ samples collected in the city of Constantine (Northeastern Algeria). Five reference materials (NIST 1633b, UPM 1648, NAT-7, SO-2 and SO-4) were also digested according to the same protocols. The selected acidic digestion/extraction procedures are widely used for PM chemical analysis and comprise P1 (HNO₃/HF/HCl), P2 (HCl/HNO₃), P3 (HCl/H₂O₂/HNO₃), P4 (HNO₃/HF/HClO₄) and P5 (HNO₃/H₂O₂); the latter assisted with microwave digestion. Elemental recovery yields were compared for major and trace elements typically determined in PM for source apportionment analysis and the results evidenced large differences. For most elements, the bulk extraction procedures (requiring the use of HF) allowed a full elemental recovery, particularly for elements that are associated with aluminium silicate species and oxides that are resistant to mild acid attack. In contrast, in the extraction protocols without HF low recovery yields were obtained for elements such as Al, Ti, Zr, Sc and other aluminium silicate-related elements in PM₁₀ samples with high mineral dust load. We highlight that the European standard digestion method EN-14902:2005 should be applied specifically for the metals for which this method was developed, but caution should be taken when the analysis of other elements in PM is required, especially in urban areas where road and vehicle wear dust is likely to be a major component of ambient PM. When using wet chemistry analysis for PM source apportionment studies, we strongly recommend HF bulk dissolution of samples to ensure the reliability of the geochemical information when coupled with an appropriate analytical tool.     

Flow Regimes of Interaction of a Turbulent Plane Jet into a Rectangular Cavity: Experimental Approach and Numerical Modelling

The present work is devoted to the experimental and numerical study ofthe interaction of a turbulent plane jet with a rectangular cavity.Several flow regimes have been found to occur: the non-oscillationregime, the stable oscillation regime and an unstable oscillationregime. The first two regimes have been particularly considered. Theexperimental study has been carried out using hot wire anemometry andsome visualisations. The numerical predictions based on statisticalmodelling have been made using on the one hand the standard k– model and on the other hand a two-scales split spectrum model. The structuralproperties of the flow have been described for the different situations.For the oscillatory regime, a parametrical study allowed to determinethe influence of the jet exit location and the Reynolds number on thefrequency of the jet flapping. The one point closures have been able topredict the oscillatory regime, and in particular the two-scales modelled to improved results because better account is taken of lag effectsin unsteady non-equilibrium situations.     

Synthesis of polyamidoamine dendrimer (PAMAM/CuS/AA) nanocomposite and its application in the removal of Isma acid fast yellow G Dye

The adsorption of Isma acid fast yellow G dye was studied using polyamidoamine (PAMAM)/Copper sulfide (CuS)/AA nanocomposite containing different amounts of CuS by batch technique. PAMAM dendrimer/CuS/AA nanocomposites were synthesized via gamma irradiation cross‐linking method with the aid of sonication. The nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier‐transform infrared, X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy X‐ray, thermal gravimetric analysis, ultraviolet‐visible, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The size of the CuS nanoparticles was formed in the range of 12–19 nm. The adsorption capacity of the nanocomposites was evaluated as a function of initial dye concentration, pH, adsorbent dosage, and time. It was verified that the adsorption rate fits a pseudo‐second‐order kinetics for initial Isma acid fast yellow G dye concentrations. Results indicated that the adsorption of Isma acid fast yellow G dye fitted well to the Langmuir model. Our results demonstrate that the PAMAM dendrimer/CuS/AA nanocomposite is very promising for removing organic dyes from wastewater. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tunable gold nanoparticles shape and size in reductive and structuring media containing protic ionic liquids

Herein, a facile method was developed for preparing high concentration of monodispersed gold nanoparticles (NPs) at room temperature from gold(III) chloride by using different media based on N,N-dimethylformamide or water solutions containing a protic ionic liquid (PIL), namely, the octylammonium formate or the bis(2-ethyl-hexyl)ammonium formate, based on which both PILs were used as redox-active structuring media. The formation of gold NPs in these systems was then characterized using UV–visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. From these investigations, it appears that the structure and aggregation pathway of PILs in selected solvents affect strongly the formation, growth, the shape, and the size of gold NPs. In fact, by using this approach, the shape-/ size-controlled gold NPs (branched and spherical) can be generated under mild condition. This approach suggests also a wealth of potential for these designer nanomaterials within the biomedical, materials, and catalysis communities by using designer and safer media based on PILs.     

The Au(n) cluster probe in secondary ion mass spectrometry: influence of the projectile size and energy on the desorption/ionization rate from biomolecular solids

A Au-Si liquid metal ion source which produces Au(n) clusters over a large range of sizes was used to study the dependence of both the molecular ion desorption yield and the damage cross-section on the size (n = 1 to 400) and on the kinetic energy (E = 10 to 500 keV) of the clusters used to bombard bioorganic surfaces. Three pure peptides with molecular masses between 750 and 1200 Da were used without matrix. [M+H](+) and [M+cation](+) ion emission yields were enhanced by as much as three orders of magnitude when bombarding with Au(400) (4+) instead of monatomic Au(+), yet very little damage was induced in the samples. A 100-fold increase in the molecular ion yield was observed when the incident energy of Au(9) (+) was varied from 10 to 180 keV. Values of emission yields and damage cross-sections are presented as a function of cluster size and energy. The possibility to adjust both cluster size and energy, depending on the application, makes the analysis of biomolecules by secondary ion mass spectrometry an extremely powerful and flexible technique, particularly when combined with orthogonal time-of-flight mass spectrometry that then allows fast measurements using small primary ion beam currents.     

Structure-antibacterial activity relationship of secondary metabolites from Ajuga pseudoiva Rob. leaves

A selection of steroids, glycerides, clerodane diterpenoids, and a beta-hydroxy fatty acid methyl ester, all previously isolated from Ajuga pseudoiva leaves, were tested for their antibacterial activity toward three Gram- rods and one Gram+ coccus using the dilution method; MIC values were determined. The results suggested some importance for a free beta-hydroxy group in the fatty acid ester and also in the glycerides and clerodane derivatives; the absolute configurations of the latter, notably at C2, had little influence on activity.     

Robust optimization of noisy blackbox problems using the Mesh Adaptive Direct Search algorithm

Blackbox optimization problems are often contaminated with numerical noise, and direct search methods such as the Mesh Adaptive Direct Search (MADS) algorithm may get stuck at solutions artificially created by the noise. We propose a way to smooth out the objective function of an unconstrained problem using previously evaluated function evaluations, rather than resampling points. The new algorithm, called Robust-MADS is applied to a collection of noisy analytical problems from the literature and on an optimization problem to tune the parameters of a trust-region method.     

Novel synthesis of 3-cyano-2-pyridones derivatives catalyzed by Au–Co/TiO2

Research on Chemical Intermediates - The current work described a new and highly selective method for the synthesis of substituted 3-cyano-2-pyridones scaffolds using gold-cobalt supported on TiO2...     

Spectroscopic investigation of the donor-acceptor interaction between o-phenylenediamine and tetracyanoethylene in dichloromethane

The interaction between the electron donor o-phenylenediamine (o-phendn) and the pi-acceptor tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) has been investigated spectrophotometrically in dichloromethane at 25 degrees C. The results indicate that the reaction proceeds via two major steps. The formation of the 1:2 charge-transfer complex [(o-phendn)(2), (TCNE)(4)] in which two o-phenylenediamine molecules undergoes slow N-substitution by one TCNE forming the final reaction product 2,2-di-o-aminoaniline-1,1-dicyanoethylene and 2HCN molecules. The reaction was studied using electronic, infrared, photometric titration and cyclic voltametric measurements. A general mechanism for the reactions is proposed.     

An electrochemical sensor based on TiO2/activated carbon nanocomposite modified screen printed electrode and its performance for phenolic compounds detection in water samples

Herein, we reported a titanium oxide (TiO₂) modified activated carbon nanocomposite that showed advantageous characteristics in terms of electro-conductivity, catalytic activity and surface area. The designed nanocomposite was employed to modify the screen printed carbon electrode transducer surface in the construction of an electrochemical sensor. The electrode surface modification was characterised by cyclic voltammetry and impedimetric studies. The modified transducer surface was subsequently used for the detection of four phenolic endocrine disruptors, p-nitrophenol, hydroquinone, catechol and 1-naphtol. Under optimal conditions, TiO₂ modified activated carbon sensor was evaluated by differential pulse voltammetry showing a good linearity with correlation coefficients higher than 0.99. It showed, in parallel, a high sensitivity where the detection limits were 348 ng/L, 110.1 ng/L, 3.3 ng/L and 7.2 µg/L for the respective studied compounds (S/N = 3). Finally, we validated the method with river water samples, and good recovery values were obtained showing the potential application of the reported biosensor.