A Laser Reduced Graphene Oxide Grid Electrode for the Voltammetric Determination of Carbaryl

Laser-reduced graphene oxide (LRGO) on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate was prepared in one step to obtain the LRGO grid electrode for sensitive carbaryl determination. The grid form results in a grid distribution of different electrochemically active zones affecting the electroactive substance diffusion towards the electrode surface and increasing the electrochemical sensitivity for carbaryl determination. Carbaryl is electrochemically irreversibly oxidized at the secondary amine moiety of the molecule with the loss of one proton and one electron in the pH range from 5 to 7 by linear scan voltammetry (LSV) on the LRGO grid electrode with a scan rate of 300 mV/s. Some interference of the juice matrix molecules does not significantly affect the LSV oxidation current of carbaryl on the LRGO grid electrode after adsorptive accumulation without applied potential. The LRGO grid electrode can be used for LSV determination of carbaryl in fruit juices in the concentration range from 0.25 to 128 mg/L with LOD of 0.1 mg/L. The fabrication of the LRGO grid electrode opens up possibilities for further inexpensive monitoring of carbaryl in other fruit juices and fruits     

Styrene–isoprene block copolymers. I. Synthesis and solution properties

Copolymers with a different degree of distribution of styrene and isoprene blocks are prepared by anionic polymerization. The products are characterized by means of ¹H-NMR spectroscopy, GPC, viscometry, and light scattering. The results show that the copolymers are homogeneous in molecular weight and chain composition. In the investigated selective solvents, cyclohexane and base lubricating oil, and equilibrium exists between micelle aggregates and individual polymer coils. The influence of the copolymer structure on the micellization is more pronounced in cyclohexane.     

Untersuchung der Molekularstruktur der unter den Bedingungen der anionischen Caprolactampolymerisation gebildeten Polycapramide

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Chain heterophasic oxidation of boron

Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, p. 2185, September, 1988.     

Influence of isomerism of difluorobenzophenone on the synthesis and properties of poly(arylene ether ketones)

The influence of isomerism of difluorobenzophenone on the efficiency of polycondensation and the properties of homo- and copoly(arylene ether ketones) was studied. The latter were prepared by the reaction of 2,4"- and 4,4"-difluorobenzophenone with potassium diphenolates of bisphenol À and phenolphthalein in N,N-dimethylacetamide. A high content of an admixture of the 2,4"-isomer in 4,4"-difluorobenzophenone decreases the molecular weight of related poly(arylene ether ketones) and has no substantial effect on their glass transition temperature.     

Entropic Inequalities for Two Coupled Superconducting Circuits

We discuss the known construction of two interacting superconducting circuits based on Josephson junctions, which can be precisely engineered and easily controlled. In particular, we use the parametric excitation of two circuits realized by an instant change of the qubit coupling to study entropic and information properties of the density matrix of a composite system. We obtain the density matrix from the initial thermal state and perform its analysis in the approximation of small perturbation parameter and sufficiently low temperature. We also check the subadditivity condition for this system both for the von Neumann entropy and deformed entropies and check the dependence of mutual information on the system temperature. Finally, we discuss the applicability of this approach to describe the two coupled superconducting qubits as harmonic oscillators with limited Hilbert space.     

Structural and thermoanalytical features of novel morpholinium-based high-voltage ionic liquid

Ionic liquid N-methyl-N-(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)-ethyl)-morpholinium bis-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide was synthesized for the first time by nucleophilic substitution of bromide ion by N-methyl-morpholine. The composition was confirmed by ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Using thermal analysis and mass spectroscopy, thermal stability of this ionic liquid as well as possible directions of its destruction was analyzed. Melting point for this liquid using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was estimated in the range (?80 to ?74) °C. The dependence of electroconductivity of acetonitrile solution on concentration and temperature was studied for dissociation constant and conductivity activation energy calculations, respectively. The electrochemical stability window for this ionic liquid was defined by cyclic voltammetry and estimated as 4.84 V.     

Surface analysis of bacterial systems using cryo-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Surface analysis of biological systems using XPS often requires dehydration of the sample for it to be compatible with the ultrahigh vacuum of the spectrometer. However, if samples are frozen to liquid-nitrogen temperature prior to and during analysis, water can be retained in the sample and the organization of the sample surface should be preserved to a higher degree than in desiccated samples. This article presents recent developments of cryo-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (cryo-XPS) for analyses of hydrated biological samples at liquid nitrogen temperature. We describe experiments on bacterial cells, bacterial biofilms, and bacterial outer membrane vesicles using a variety of bacterial species. Differences and similarities in surface chemistry are monitored depending on growth in liquid culture, on culture plates, as well as in biofilms, and are discussed. Two data treatment methods providing decomposition of the C 1s spectra into lipid, polysaccharide, and peptide/peptidoglycan content are used and compared.     

The Application of Nano-SiOx Coatings as Migration Resistance Layer by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

Accumulative intake of plasticizers that are generally used to produce flexibility of webs in plastics has been proven to cause reproductive system problems and women??s infertility, and long-term consumption may even cause cancer. Hence a nano-scale layer, named as functional barrier layer, was deposited on the plastic surface to prevent plasticizer diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) migration from food-contact materials to foods. The feasibility of a functional barrier layer, i.e. SiO_x coating through plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process was then described in this paper. In this research we used Fourier transform infrared spectroscope to analyze the chemical composition of the coatings, scanning electron microscope to explore the topography of the coating surfaces, surface profilemeter to measure coating thickness in plastics, and high-performance liquid chromatography to evaluate the barrier properties of coatings. The results have clearly shown that the coatings can perfectly block the migration of the DEHP from plastics to their containers. It is to be noted that process parameters had a critical influence on the block properties of coatings. When the deposition conditions of SiO_x coatings were optimized, i.e. the discharge power of 50?W, 4:1 of O₂: HMDSO ratio and the thickness of 100?nm, the 71.2?% DEHP was effectively blocked in the plastic film.