High-resolution continuum source electrothermal absorption spectrometry of AlBr and CaBr for the determination of bromine

Molecular absorption spectra of AlBr and CaBr, produced in a graphite furnace, were investigated using a high-resolution echelle spectrometer equipped with a xenon short-arc lamp as continuum source. The analytical usability of the spectra for the determination of bromine was studied. To this end, the molecular absorptions of AlBr at 278.914 nm and CaBr at 625.315 nm were evaluated. Apart from strong absorption bands of CaF around 625.3 nm, which disturb the use of CaBr, no spectral interferences were observed for both AlBr and CaBr. Regarding chemical interference with matrix substances, the molecular absorption of AlBr and CaBr is influenced in a different way. While the sensitivity of the CaBr absorption is susceptible to chloride, aluminum, potassium and sodium ions, there is no significant effect on the AlBr absorption. In contrast, the inorganic acids (nitric, phosphoric, and sulfuric) have an influence on AlBr, but not on the CaBr molecular absorption. Therefore, the two methods complement each other and each has its own application area. Regarding real samples, a salt sample from the death sea and an organic pharmaceutical were evaluated. The results were in good agreement with those derived from two independent methods and with an existing reference value. Relative standard deviations were found in the range of 5%. The limit of detection for bromine was about 2 ng for both AlBr and CaBr molecular absorption; the dynamic range was linear at least up to 250 ng Br.     

Determination of Lead in Coal Using Direct Solid Sampling and High-Resolution Continuum Source Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A method has been developed for the determination of Pb in coal using direct solid sampling (SS) and high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CS GF AAS). The certified coal reference materials used in this study were ground in an agate mortar to particle size ≤50 μm. Mass aliquots between 0.1 and 1 mg were weighed onto pyrolytic graphite platforms, and inserted directly into the graphite tube. For pyrolysis temperatures lower than 600 °C, a continuous background due to radiation scattering at solid particles preceded the atomic signal, as the coal matrix could not be sufficiently eliminated under these conditions. An optimized pyrolysis temperature of 700 °C was adopted for Pb without the use of a modifier. The optimum atomization temperature was found to be 1700 °C. Under these conditions, interference-free determination could be performed with calibration against aqueous standards in 0.5% v/v HNO₃. A total of six certified reference coal samples were analyzed, and the results obtained were all in good agreement with certified and informed values, respectively, according to a Student t-test at a 95% confidence level. A detection limit of 0.008 μg g⁻¹ for Pb was obtained at the 217.000 nm resonance line, a value comparable to those obtained by other sensitive, but much more sophisticated techniques, showing that the absence of dilution in the SS-HR-CS GF AAS method allows at least equivalent detection performance.     

Terahertz metamaterials based on arrays of rolled-up gold/(In)GaAs tubes

We investigate metamaterials based on arrays of rolled-up gold/(In)GaAs microrolls. By finite-integration-technique simulations we show that these arrays interact resonantly with the magnetic component of an electromagnetic field and exhibit a negative effective permeability at terahertz frequencies. We find a strong dependence of the resonance frequency on small variations in the winding number n. We show that this dependence can be removed, if desired, by applying an additional slit into the metal layer of the tube.     

The cavity-enhanced absorption spectrum of NH3 in the near-infrared region between 6850 and 7000 cm

In this paper, we describe new high-resolution measurements of the absorption spectrum of ¹⁴NH₃ in the 6850-7000 cm⁻¹ region using cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS), and Fourier-transform spectroscopy (FTS) between ∼6400 and 6900 cm⁻¹. The CEAS measurements were used to determine line positions, line intensities (cross-sections) and pressure-broadening parameters, the latter in three different bath gases. A total of 1117 NH₃ lines were observed. The accuracy of the line positions is about 0.001 cm⁻¹, and absorptions cross-sections as low as 1×10⁻²³ cm² molecule⁻¹ are reported.     

Optical probing of a fractionally charged quasihole in an incompressible liquid

In photoluminescence spectroscopy of a low-mobility two-dimensional electron gas subjected to a quantizing magnetic field, we observe an anomaly around nu=1 / 3 at a very low temperature (0.1 K) and an intermediate electron density (0.9 x 10(11) cm(-2)). The anomaly is explained as due to perturbation of the incompressible liquid at the Laughlin state due to close proximity of a localized charged exciton which creates a fractionally charged quasihole in the liquid. The anomaly of approximately 2 meV can be destroyed by applying a small thermal energy of approximately 0.2 meV that is enough to close the quasihole energy gap.     

Electronic excitations in microstructured MOS - systems

We have investigated the DC- and dynamic electronic properties of MOS-systems with spatially modulated charge density. The charge density modulation is induced via oxide modulation in lateral and cross-grating structures with typical periodicities of 500 nm. Magneto-conductance measurements are performed to characterize the charge density modulation. In spectroscopic investigations we find, that the charge density modulation strongly affects the collective excitation spectrum of the 2D-electron gas and induces minigaps in the 2D-plasmon dispersion.     

R+ˆ is surprisingly an integral domain

It is shown that if $(R,\mathfrak{m},k)$ is a complete local domain with $\mathrm{char}k=p>0$ and $R^{+}$ is its integral closure in an algebraic closure of the quotient field, then both the $\mathfrak{m}$-adic and p-adic completions of $R^{+}$ are integral domains. More generally, this theorem remains true if the completeness assumption is relaxed to allow R to be an analytically irreducible Henselian local ring. It is also shown that these rings, which are Cohen-Macaulay R-modules (even balanced in the $\mathfrak{m}$-adic case), will have dimension larger than the dimension of R unless $\dim ?R\le 1$.     

Sequence-specific recognition and cooperative dimerization of N-terminal aromatic peptides in aqueous solution by a synthetic host

This article describes the selective recognition and noncovalent dimerization of N-terminal aromatic peptides in aqueous solution by the synthetic host compound, cucurbit[8]uril (Q8). Q8 is known to bind two aromatic guests simultaneously and, in the presence of methyl viologen, to recognize N-terminal tryptophan over internal and C-terminal sequence isomers. Here, the binding of Q8 to aromatic peptides in the absence of methyl viologen was studied by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), (1)H NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. The peptides studied were of sequence X-Gly-Gly, Gly-X-Gly, and Gly-Gly-X (X = Trp, Phe, Tyr, and His). Q8 selectively binds and dimerizes Trp-Gly-Gly (1) and Phe-Gly-Gly (4) with high affinity (ternary K = 10(9)-10(11) M(-)(2)); binding constants for the other 10 peptides were too small to be measured by ITC. Both peptides bound in a stepwise manner, and peptide 4 bound with positive cooperativity. Crystal structures of Q8.1 and Q8.4(2) reveal the basis for selective recognition as simultaneous inclusion of the hydrophobic aromatic side chain into the cavity of Q8 and chelation of the proximal N-terminal ammonium group by carbonyl groups of Q8. The peptide sequence selectivity and positively cooperative dimerization reported here are, to the best of our knowledge, unprecedented for synthetic hosts in aqueous solution. Specific peptide recognition and dimerization by synthetic hosts such as Q8 should be important in the study of dimer-mediated biochemical processes and for the separation of peptides and proteins.