Phlogophites intercalated with Al2O3 pillars and modified with transition metals as catalysts of the DeNOx process

Natural phlogophite, pre-treated with acids and intercalated with alumina pillars, was used as catalytic support. Transition metals (Fe, Cu) were deposited on the surface of the modified clay materials by an ion-exchange method. The obtained samples were characterized with respect to structure (XRD), texture (BET), composition (EPMA) and chemical nature of the deposited transition metals species (UV-vis-DRS). The phlogophite based materials have been found to be active and selective catalysts of the DeNOx process. The Fe-containing samples were catalytically active at lower temperatures than the clays modified with copper. A competitive ammonia oxidation by oxygen decreased the effectiveness of the DeNOx process in the high temperature range.     

Sorption behavior of acidic herbicides on carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes and graphitized carbon are investigated as adsorbents for solid phase extraction of dicamba and 2,4,5-T, two phenoxyalkanoic acid herbicides. These adsorbents have much greater adsorption capability than that of C₁₈ bonded silica, which was also tested for comparison studies. The adsorption capacity increases remarkably at lower pH of the sample solution. Freundlich isotherms were applied to analyze the data. Our studies suggest that carbon nanotubes have great potential applications in environmental analysis.     

Reduced-size polarized basis sets for calculations of molecular electric properties. IV. First-row transition metals

Recent studies of the perturbation-dependent basis sets have indicated the possibility of a significant reduction of the size of the usual CGTO sets without considerable loss of accuracy in calculations of molecular electric properties. The resulting (ZPolX) basis sets have been developed for several atoms of the first and second row of the Periodic Table. The same method of the ZPolX basis set generation is extended for the first-row transition metals and the corresponding contracted ZPolX basis sets of the size [6s5p3d1f] are determined for both nonrelativistic and scalar relativistic calculations. The performance of the ZPolX basis sets is verified in calculations on the first-row transition metal oxides at the level of the ROHF, ROHF/CASPT2, and ROHF/CCSD(T) approximations. Also the study of the dipole polarizability of TiCl₄ confirms the excellent features of these very compact basis sets. The ZPolX basis sets for nonrelativistic and relativistic calculations of molecular electric properties are available on the web page http://www.chem.uni.torun.pl/zchk/basis-sets.html.     

X-ray structure and multinuclear NMR studies of platinum(II) and palladium(II) complexes with 5,7-ditertbutyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine

Pt(II) and Pd(II) dichloride complexes with 5,7-ditertbutyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (dbtp) have been synthesized and characterized by infrared and ¹H, ¹³C NMR, ¹³C CPMAS spectroscopy. The structures of the cis-PtCl₂(dbtp)₂ · EtOH (1) and cis-PdCl₂(dbtp)(dmso) (2) has been determined by signal-crystal X-ray diffraction. In both complexes the X-ray crystal structures shows that heterocycle ligand (dbtp) binds the central atom monodentate via nitrogen atom N(3). In addition, compound (2) is interesting for its structural features, because it is the first report of mixed dichloride Pd(II) complexes with N-donor (triazolopyrimidine) and S-donor (dimethylsulfoxide) ligands. In this structure the Pd–Cl distances are: 2.302(1) and 2.281(1) Å, Pd–N 2.041(3) Å and Pd–S 2.245(1) Å. The ¹H, ¹³C NMR studies show clearly that these structures are retained in solution.     

Activity of TiO2 deposited by the CVD method on ammoxidized surface of a carbonaceous material in hydrogenation of styrene

Hydrogenation of styrene has been applied as a test reaction to study the catalytic activity of TiO₂ deposited by the CVD (chemical vapour deposition) method on the surface of a carbonaceous material enriched in nitrogen (C_N).     

Isotachophoretic determination of carboxylic acids in biodegradation samples

In the current study a method of isotachophoretic separation of selected carboxylic acids was developed. The method was used for the determination of carboxylated oligo(ethylene glycol)s and their degradation products in biodegradation tests of PEG 250 DA [a mixture of dicarboxylated oligo(ethylene glycol)s]. Two tests were performed in the studies: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) screening test and the river water die-away test. Both the biodegradation tests proved relatively fast biodegradation of the studied compounds. In the OECD screening test the biodegradation was faster than in the river water die-away test which can be ascribed to a higher concentration of bacteria in the biodegradation liquor. The minimal sample pretreatment and relatively low cost of analysis by the isotachophoretic method used here make it a good alternative to existing methods of carboxylic acids analysis.     

Principle of a new immunoassay based on electrophoretic mobility of poly(styrene/alpha-tert-butoxy-omega-vinylbenzyl-polyglycidol) microspheres: application for the determination of helicobacter pylori IgG in blood serum

The principle of a novel latex diagnostic test for the determination of antibodies against Helicobacter pylori in blood sera is described. The test is based on the measurement of the electrophoretic mobility of the microspheres with immobilized H. pylori antigens. The electrophoretic mobility of these microspheres depends on the concentration of the antibodies against H. pylori in suspending medium. Particles with hydrophilic polyglycidol in the surface layer were used for the test. The microspheres were obtained by an emulsifier-free emulsion copolymerization of styrene and alpha-tert-butoxy-omega-vinylbenzyl-polyglycidol macromonomer (D(n) = 220 nm, diameter polydispersity factor D(w)//D(n) = 1.02). Activation of polyglycidol hydroxyl groups with cyanuric chloride allowed for covalent immobilization of H. pylori antigens. The fraction of H. pylori not specifically adsorbed onto the microspheres was negligible. Changes of the electrophoretic mobility of the microspheres with the surface concentration of the covalently immobilized H. pylori antigens Gamma = (1.6 +/- 0.3) . 10(-3) g m(-2) were suitable for the detection of the antibodies in the sera of patients with titer in the range (determined by the indirect ELISA test) from 1:500 to 1:32 000.     

Micro- and Nanosecond Pulses Used in Doxorubicin Electrochemotherapy in Human Breast and Colon Cancer Cells with Drug Resistance

(1) Background: Pulsed electric field (PEF) techniques are commonly used to support the delivery of various molecules. A PEF seems a promising method for low permeability drugs or when cells demonstrate therapy resistance and the cell membrane becomes an impermeable barrier. (2) Methods: In this study, we have used doxorubicin-resistant and sensitive models of human breast cancer (MCF-7/DX, MCF-7/WT) and colon cancer cells (LoVo, LoVoDX). The study aimed to investigate the susceptibility of the cells to doxorubicin (DOX) and electric fields in the 20–900 ns pulse duration range. The viability assay was utilized to evaluate the PEF protocols’ efficacy. Cell confluency and reduced glutathione were measured after PEF protocols. (3) Results: The obtained results showed that PEFs significantly supported doxorubicin delivery and cytotoxicity after 48 and 72 h. The 60 kV/cm ultrashort pulses × 20 ns × 400 had the most significant cytotoxic anticancer effect. The increase in DOX concentration provokes a decrease in cell viability, affected cell confluency, and reduced GSSH when combined with the ESOPE (European Standard Operating Procedures of Electrochemotherapy) protocol. Additionally, reactive oxygen species after PEF and PEF-DOX were detected. (4) Conclusions: Ultrashort electric pulses with low DOX content or ESOPE with higher DOX content seem the most promising in colon and breast cancer treatment.     

Antimicrobial properties of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles studied by flow cytometry and related techniques

This work reports the effect of silver bionanoparticles (Bio(AgNPs) synthesized by Actinobacteria CGG 11n on selected Gram (+) and Gram (–) bacteria. Flow cytometry, classical antibiogram method and fluorescent microscopy approach was used for evaluation of antimicrobial activity of Bio(AgNPs) and their combination with antibiotics. Furthermore, the performed research specified the capacity of flow cytometry method as an alternative to the standard ones and as a complementary method to electromigration techniques. The study showed antibacterial activity of both BioAgNPs and the combination of antibiotics/BioAgNPs against all the tested bacteria strains in comparison with a diffusion, dilution and bioautographic methods. The synergistic effect of antibiotics/BioAgNPs combination (e.g. kanamycin, ampicillin, neomycin and streptomycin) was found to be more notable against Pseudomonas aeruginosa representing a prototype of multi‐drug resistant “superbugs” for which effective therapeutic options are very limited.     

Thermal evolution of ladder-like silsesquioxanes during formation of black glasses

Heat capacity of single-crystal samples of five chalcogenides (LiInS₂, LiInSe₂, LiGaS₂, LiGaSe₂, and LiGaTe₂) was measured with DSC in a temperature range from 180 to 460 K. The data for LiInS₂ and LiInSe₂ were compared with the literature data and shown to agree with the results of adiabatic calorimetry (Gmelin and Hönle in Thermochimica Acta 269: 575–590, 1995) better than with other DSC data (Kühn et al. in Cryst Res Technol 22: 265–269, 1987). Besides, the high-temperature fitting polynomial for C _P(T) published about 30 years ago for LiInS₂ is wrong. LiGaS₂, LiGaSe₂, and LiGaTe₂ were measured for the first time.