Extended UNIQUAC model for thermodynamic modeling of CO2 absorption in aqueous alkanolamine solutions

The extended UNIQUAC model [K. Thomsen, P. Rasmussen, Chem. Eng. Sci. 54 (1999) 1787–1802] was applied to the thermodynamic representation of carbon dioxide absorption in aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA), methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) and varied strength mixtures of the two alkanolamines (MEA–MDEA). For these systems, altogether 13 interaction model parameters are adjusted. Out of these parameters, 11 are temperature dependent.     

Compatibility of electron ionization and soft ionization methods in gas chromatography/orthogonal time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Orthogonal acceleration time‐of‐flight (oa‐TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) was coupled to gas chromatography (GC) to measure ion yields (ratio of ion counts to number of neutrals entering the ion source) and signal‐to‐noise (S/N) in the electron ionization (EI) mode (hard ionization) as well as in the soft ionization modes of chemical ionization (CI), electron capture negative ion chemical ionization (NICI) and field ionization (FI). Mass accuracies of the EI and FI modes were also investigated. Sixteen structurally diverse volatile organic compounds were chosen for this study. The oa‐TOF mass analyzer is highly suited for FI MS and provided an opportunity to compare the sensitivity of this ionization method to the more conventional ionization methods. Compared to the widely used quadrupole mass filter, the oa‐TOF platform offers significantly greater mass accuracy and therefore the possibility of determining the empirical formula of analytes. The findings of this study showed that, for the instrument used, EI generated the most ions with the exception of compounds able to form negative ions readily. Lower ion yields in the FI mode were generally observed but the chromatograms displayed greater S/N and in many cases gave spectra dominated by a molecular ion. Ion counts in CI are limited by the very small apertures required to maintain sufficiently high pressures in the ionization chamber. Mass accuracy for molecular and fragment ions was attainable at close to manufacturer's specifications, thus providing useful information on molecular ions and neutral losses. The data presented also suggests a potentially useful instrumental combination would result if EI and FI spectra could be collected simultaneously or in alternate scans during GC/MS. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diabatic investigation for the NaRb molecule

An extensive diabatic investigation of the NaRb species has been carried out for all excited states up to the ionic limit Na^‐Rb⁺. An ab initio calculation founded on the pseudopotential, core polarization potential operators and full configuration interaction has been used with an efficient diabatization method involving a combination of variational effective hamiltonian theory and an effective overlap matrix. Diabatic potential energy curves and electric dipole moments (permanent and transition) for all the symmetries Σ⁺, Π, and Δ have been studied for the first time. Thanks to a unitary rotation matrix, the examination of the diabatic permanent dipole moment (PDM) has shown the ionic feature clearly seen in the diabatic ¹Σ⁺ potential curves and confirming the high imprint of the Na^‐Rb⁺ ionic state in the adiabatic representation. Diabatic transition dipole moments have also been computed. Real crossings have been shown for the diabatic PDM, locating the avoided crossings between the corresponding adiabatic energy curves.     

A study of the electrochemical behavior of an oxadiazole derivative electrodeposited on multi-wall carbon nanotube-modified electrode and its application as a hydrazine sensor

In this study, an oxadiazole multi-wall carbon nanotube-modified glassy carbon electrode (OMWCNT−GCE) was used as a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for hydrazine determination. The surface charge transfer rate constant, k _s, and the charge transfer coefficient, α, for electron transfer between GCE and electrodeposited oxadiazole were calculated as 19.4 ± 0.5 s⁻¹ and 0.51, respectively at pH = 7.0. The obtained results indicate that hydrazine peak potential at OMWCNT−GCE shifted for 14, 109, and 136 mV to negative values as compared with oxadiazole-modified GCE, MWCNT−GCE, and activated GCE surface, respectively. The electron transfer coefficient, α, and the heterogeneous rate constant, k′, for the oxidation of hydrazine at OMWCNT−GCE were also determined by cyclic voltammetry measurements. Two linear dynamic ranges of 0.6 to 10.0 μM and 10.0 to 400.0 μM and detection limit of 0.17 μM for hydrazine determination were evaluated using differential pulse voltammetry. In addition, OMWCNT−GCE was shown to be successfully applied to determine hydrazine in various water samples.

     

A simple and rapid dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method followed by GC-FID for determination of N-methylpyrrolidine in cefepime

A simple, rapid and efficient sample preparation technique, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction, coupled with gas chromatography-flame ionization detection has been developed to determine N-methylpyrrolidine in cefepime. The effect of various experimental factors on the preparation procedure, such as the nature and volume of extraction and disperser solvents, extraction time, the nature of buffer and its pH, and salt effect, was investigated, optimized and the following results were obtained: extraction solvent, chloroform; dispersive solvent and solvent for dissolving cefepime, a mixture of methanol/water (88:12, v/v); salting out agent, NaCl; and buffer, carbonate/bicarbonate (C=0.5?M, pH=12). The optimized conditions were applied to the real sample (cefepime) for the extraction and determination of N-methylpyrrolidine. The calibration graph is linear from 0.02 to 850?mg/L with the square of correlation coefficient 0.999. LOD and LOQ are 6.4 and 21.2?μg/L in solution, respectively, and 0.2 (2×10(-5) ) and 0.6 (6×10(-5) ) μg/g (%, w/w) in cefepime powder, respectively, using sample size 50?mg. Repeatability of the method is good and RSD% for six repeated experiments (C=170?mg/L) is 6.35%.     

Nanotechnology in the public eye: the case of Iran,as a developing country

Using survey data, public awareness of and attitudes toward nanotechnology are examined in Iran (N = 759). Iran is a developing country with a national nanotechnology action plan for a ten year period starting from 2003 and has been active in the field of research and development of nanotechnology meanwhile. First, the results show that majority of people are still not familiar with nanotechnology and perceived risks posed by this technology are not considered to be a lot and most people feel its benefits outweigh the risks. The emotions toward this technology are of a hopeful and positive nature and this technology is looked upon favorably in Iran. In particular, our results reveals that although the level of trust is high specially in scientists to communicate the risks with the public, there are a great number who just have some trust not quite a lot of it. Knowing that it is a hard and time-consuming effort to manage a nation’s view on nanotechnology, extensive research as well as collaboration with other countries is needed to effectively communicate the risks in time.