Speciation analysis of inorganic Sb(III) and Sb(V) ions by using mini column filled with Amberlite XAD-8 resin

The speciation of inorganic Sb(III) and Sb(V) ions in aqueous solution was studied. The adsorption behavior of Sb(III) and Sb(V) ions were investigated as iodo and ammonium pyrollidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) complexes on a column filled with Amberlite XAD-8 resin. Sb(III) and Sb(V) ions were recovered quantitatively and simultaneously from a solution containing 0.8 M NaI and 0.2 M H₂SO₄ by the XAD-8 column. Sb(III) ions were also adsorbed quantitatively as an APDC complex, but the recovery of the Sb(V)-APDC complex was found to be <10% at pH 5. According to these data, the concentrations of total antimony as Sb(III)+Sb(V) ions and Sb(III) ion were determined with XAD-8/NaI+H₂SO₄ and XAD-8/APDC systems, respectively. The Sb(V) ion concentration was calculated by subtracting the Sb(III) concentration found with XAD-8/APDC system from the total antimony concentration found with XAD-8/NaI+H₂SO₄ system. The developed method was applied to determine Sb(III) and Sb(V) ions in samples of artificial seawater and wastewater.     

Mixed-ligand complexes of copper(I) with heterocyclic thiones

Summary Novel mixed-ligand copper(I) complexes of general formula [TPP–Cu–(L)Cl] or [TPPhos–Cu–(L)Cl], where TPP=triphenylphosphine, TPPhos=triphenylphosphate and L=imidazolidine-2-thione [Imt],N-propylimidazolidice-2-thione [PrImt],N-i-propylimidazolidine-2-thione [iPrImt], and 1,3-diazinine-2-thione [Diaz] and bis coniplexes of formula [(L)₂CuCl] where L=[PrImt] and [iPrImt] have been prepared and characterized by electronic, vibrational and n.m.r. spectroscopy. The spectral data are consistent with S-donation of thiones. The magnitude of upfield shift in¹³Cn.m.r. of the thionreide carbon on complexation has been interpreted in terms of coordination geometry around the metal stoms. X-ray structure analysis agrees with the conclusions from the spectroscopic measurements. The structure of [(PrImt)₂CuCl] revealed three-coordinated copper(I) with crystal data:a=14.106(4),b=14.380(2),c=19.024(3) A, =108.8(2)°,z=8 and space group P2/c.     

Evidence for a Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Mechanism in a Biomimetic System for Monoamine Oxidase B Catalysis

Mechanistic studies with 5-ethyl-3-methyllumiflavinium (Fl⁺) perchlorate, a biomimetic model for flavoenzyme monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) catalysis, and the tertiary, allyl amine 1-methyl-4-(1-methyl-1 H-pyrrol-2-yl)-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MMTP) reveal that proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) may be an important pathway for MAO catalysis. The first step involves a single-electron transfer (SET) leading to the free radicals Fl^. and MMTP^., the latter produced by deprotonation of the initially formed and highly acidic MMTP^.+. Molecular oxygen (O₂) is found to play a hitherto unrecognized role in the early steps of the oxidation. MMTP and several structurally similar tertiary amines are the only tertiary amines oxidized by MAO, and their structural/electronic properties provide the key to understanding this behavior. A general hypothesis about the role of SET in MAO catalysis, and the recognition that PCET occurs with appropriately substituted substrates is presented.     

Electrochemical performance of grown layer of Ni(OH)2 on nickel foam and treatment with phosphide and selenide for efficient water splitting

Active nanocomposites synthesized by the electrochemical approach play a vital role in energy generation, conversion, and storage technologies. Recently, scientists began to explore the use of earth-rich transition metal-based materials to replace precious metal-based catalysts. Transition metals (TMs) based nickel (Ni) and their pnictides compounds such as phosphides and selenides exhibit good activity for hydrogen evaluation reaction (HER) and the entire water electrolysis process. In this study, we first prepared Ni(OH)₂ and grown its layer on Ni foam (NF) and treated it with selenide (Se) and phosphide (P) then nickel-based selenide-phosphide catalyst (Ni–P–Se) was prepared by simultaneous selenization and phosphidation process for the first time. The as-obtained composite was then analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), elemental mapping and transmission electron microscope (TEM) means to study the composition, structure, and micro-morphology of materials. Furthermore, we also observed electrocatalytic water splitting activity using electrochemical cell. The results of electrochemical tests depicted that the selenization and phosphidation treatments significantly enhanced the electrocatalytic HER activity of the starting materials. The overpotentials required for Ni–P–Se to reach 10 ?mA ?cm^?2 and 100 ?mA ?cm^?2 were only 242 ?mV and 282 ?mV. The Tafel slope of Ni–P–Se is 151 ?mV dec^?1, which is lower than that of nickel phosphide, selenide, and hydroxide indicating that selenide-phosphide enhances the HER reaction kinetics of the material, which in turn increases hydrogen output rate as compared with previous studies.     

Tunable dual wavelength fiber laser incorporating AWG and optical channel selector by controlling the cavity loss

In this paper, we propose and demonstrated a dual wavelength fiber laser (DWFL) based on the use of an erbium doped fiber (EDF) gain medium as well as an 1 × 24 Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) together with two optical channel selectors (OCS) to provide channel spacing tunability. The output power of the two wavelengths is equalized by controlling the cavity loss in the DWFL using two Programmable Optical Attenuators (POAs). The widest spacing obtained from the DWFL is 18.13 nm while the narrowest spacing is 0.8 nm. The DWFL has good stability with only minor power fluctuations of less than 1.5 dB and a Side Mode Suppression Ratio (SMSR) of approximately 69.1 dB with peak fluctuations of less than 2.3 dB.