Time Resolved Microwave Interferometry Measurement of the Electron Density in a Pulsed 1,3-Butadiene Discharge

Pulsed plasmas containing organic precursors are becoming increasingly common for multiple applications. To understand the nature of such discharges, in-situ time resolved microwave interferometry measurements of the electron density in a 60 W pulsed inductively coupled 1,3-butadiene discharge have been made. Measurements were also made for continuous wave plasmas at 40, 50, 60 and 70 W power for comparison. The data shows that the time averaged electron densities are independent of pulse width at a particular duty cycle. In addition, time averaged values increase approximately linearly with increasing duty cycle. Such linearity in average density is tied to the ambipolar loss rate. This knowledge is important for understanding the growth kinetics of plasma polymerized films.     

Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Water Extract from Galls of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhus Chinensis</Emphasis> and Its Antibacterial Activity

The green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has been proposed as a simple, eco-friendly and cost effective alternative to chemical and physical methods. The Rhus chinensis plant is one of the well studied medicinal plant and its galls find excellent clinical and therapeutic applications. The present study reports the use of water extract from galls of R. chinensis as a reducing agent and formation of AgNPs from silver nitrate solution by a green synthesis route. The AgNPs formation was observed visually by color change and the absorbance peak at 450 nm was observed by UV–Visible spectrophotometer. The shape, size, and morphology of synthesized AgNPs were monitored by transmission electron microscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The face centered cubic structure of AgNPs was confirmed by X-ray diffraction pattern and element composition by energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectrum revealed that the presence of components acts as a reducing and capping agent. The antibacterial activity was performed using the agar well diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration were determined by broth dilution and spread plate method respectively. Synthesized nanoparticles were spotted as triangular and hexagonal shape and the particle size was around 150 nm.     

Impact of APCI ionization source in liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry based tissue distribution studies

Measurement of test article concentration in tissue samples has been an important part of pharmacokinetic study and has helped to co‐relate pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationships since the 1950s. Bioanalysis of tissue samples using LC–MS/MS comes with unique challenges in terms of sample handling and inconsistent analyte response owing to nonvolatile matrix components. Matrix effect is a phenomenon where the target analyte response is either suppressed or enhanced in the presence of matrix components. Based on previous reports electrospray ionization (ESI) mode of ionization is believed to be more affected by matrix components than atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) or atmospheric pressure photoionization. To explore the impact of ionization source with respect to bioanalysis of tissue samples, five structurally diverse compounds – atenolol, verapamil, diclofenac, propranolol and flufenamic acid – were selected. Quality control standards were spiked into 10 different biological matrices like whole blood, liver, heart, brain, spleen, kidney, skeletal muscle, eye and skin tissue and were quantified against calibration standards prepared in rat plasma. Quantitative bioanalysis was performed utilizing both APCI and ESI mode and results were compared. Quality control standards when analyzed with APCI mode were found to be more consistent in terms of accuracy and precision as compared with ESI mode. Additionally, for some instances, up to 20‐fold broader dynamic linearity range was observed with APCI mode as compared with ESI mode. As phospholid interferences have poor response in APCI mode, protein precipitation extraction technique can be used for multimatrix quantitation, which is more amenable to automation. The approach of multiple biological matrix quantitation against a single calibration curve helps bioanalysts to reduce turnaround time. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Joule–Thomson inversion curves of mixtures by molecular simulation in comparison to advanced equations of state: Natural gas as an example

Molecular modelling and simulation as well as four equations of state (EOS) are applied to natural gas mixtures regarding Joule–Thomson (JT) inversion. JT inversion curves are determined by molecular simulation for six different natural gas mixtures consisting of methane, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and ethane. These components are also regarded as pure fluids, leading to a total of 10 studied systems. The results are compared to four advanced mixture EOS: DDMIX, SUPERTRAPP, BACKONE and the recent GERG-2004 Wide-Range Reference EOS. It is found that molecular simulation is competitive with state-of-the-art EOS in predicting JT inversion curves. The molecular based approaches (simulation and BACKONE) are superior to DDMIX and SUPERTRAPP.     

Chemical Degradation of Mercury Alkyls Mediated by Copper Selenide Nanosheets

Methylation and demethylation of mercury compounds are two important competing processes that control the net production of highly toxic mercury alkyls, methylmercury (MeHg⁺) and dimethylmercury (Me₂Hg), in environment. Although the microbial and the photochemical methylation and demethylation processes are well studied in recent years but the chemical methylation and demethylation processes have not been studied well. Herein, we report for the first time that the CuSe nanosheet has remarkable ability to activate the highly inert Hg?C bonds of various MeHg⁺ and Me₂Hg compounds at room temperature (21 °C). It facilitates the conversion of MeHg⁺ into Me₂Hg in the absence of any proton donors. Whereas, in the presence of any proton source, it has unique ability to degrade MeHg⁺ into CH₄ and inorganic mercury (Hg²⁺). Detailed studies revealed that the relatively fast Hg?C bond cleavage was observed in case of MeHgSPh or MeHgI in comparison to MeHgCl, indicating that the Hg?C bond in MeHgCl is relatively inert in nature. On the other hand, the Hg?C bond in Me₂Hg is considered to be exceedingly inert and, thus, difficult to cleave at room temperature. However, CuSe nanosheets showed unique ability to degrade Me₂Hg into CH₄ and Hg²⁺, via the formation of MeHg⁺, under acidic conditions at room temperature. DFT calculations revealed that the Hg?C bond activation occurs through adsorption on the surface of (100)‐faceted CuSe nanosheets.     

Green solid-phase peptide synthesis 4. γ-Valerolactone and N-formylmorpholine as green solvents for solid phase peptide synthesis

Herein, we report the use of γ-valerolactone (GVL) and N-formylmorpholine (NFM) as DMF substitutes in polystyrene based SPPS. The solubility of selected amino acids and coupling reagents were studied in GVL and NFM, followed by their use in the successful synthesis of Aib-enkephalin pentapeptide (H-Tyr-Aib-Aib-Phe-Leu-NH₂) and Aib-ACP decapeptide (H-Val-Gln-Aib-Aib-Ile-Asp-Tyr-Ile-Asn-Gly-NH₂).     

Solution-processed electrochemical synthesis of ZnFe2O4 photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Herein, we report the synthesis of ZnO nanorod films onto FTO (fluorine-doped tin oxide) substrates using the solution-processed electrodeposition method....     

Design and synthesis of novel 1,3,4-oxadiazole based azaspirocycles catalyzed by NaI under mild condition and evaluated their antidiabetic and antibacterial activities

A modest, efficient, and mild synthetic procedure has been developed for the synthesis of novel series of 1,3,4-oxadiazole containing azaspirocycles derivatives. The reaction of 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivative with diverse azaspiro compounds under room temperature condition with helps of sodium iodide catalyst and polar aprotic solvent. Numerous compensations of this strategy embrace less time required, yield increment, consumption of all reactants, and mild condition. All synthesized compounds evaluated for in vitro antidiabetic and antibacterial screening. Among them some compounds show significant biological response.