Nanostructure-based electrochemical sensor for determination of glutathione in hemolysed erythrocytes and urine

A sensitive and selective electrochemical method was developed for the determination of glutathione (GSH) in hemolysed erythrocyte using vinylferocene modified carbon nanotubes paste electrode (VFMCNTPE). The results indicate that the electrode is efficient in terms of its electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of GSH, leading to a reduced overpotential by more than 470 mV. Also, the values of catalytic rate constant (k), and diffusion coefficient (D) for GSH were calculated. The electrocatalytic oxidation peak current of GSH showed two linear dynamic ranges with a detection limit of 0.09 μM GSH. The linear calibration ranges were obtained between 0.2–4.0 and 4.0–250.0 μM GSH using square wave voltammetry (SWV) method. The proposed method was also examined as a selective, simple and precise electrochemical sensor for the determination of GSH in real samples such as urine and hemolysed erythrocyte.     

On the Use of Amperometry for Real Time Assessment of Drug‐Release Profile from Therapeutic Nanoparticles

A simple electrochemical method was used to directly assess the drug‐release profile. The method is based on the multiple pulse amperometric measurement of the oxidation and reduction of doxorubicin released from liposome at a MWCNTs‐modified glassy carbon electrode (MWCNT‐GCE). The released doxorubicin was detected at +0.60 and ?0.60 V by two different oxidation and reduction processes, respectively. The third potential pulse (?1.00 V) was applied for the regeneration of MWCNT‐GCE. The main advantage of this method is that there is no need for any operation for the quantitative analysis during the release of the drug from nanoparticles.     

Effect of Ni loadings on the activity and coke formation of MgO-modified Ni/Al_2O_3 nanocatalyst in dry reforming of methane

MgO-modified Ni/Al2O3 catalysts with different Ni loadings were prepared and employed in dry reforming of methane （DRM）. The effect of Ni loadings on the activity and coke formation of Ni/MgO-A1203 catalysts were investigated. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, SEM, TPO and TPR techniques. The obtained results showed that increasing nickel loading decreased the BET surface area and increased the catalytic activity and amount of deposited carbon. In addition, the effect of gas hourly space velocity （GHSV） and feed ratio were studied.     

Polyaniline-Supported Zinc Oxide (ZnO) Nanoparticles: An Active and Stable Heterogeneous Catalyst for the Friedel–Crafts Acylation Reaction

We report herein the synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles incorporating a polyaniline (PANI) matrix in aqueous medium and its catalytic performance toward Friedel–Crafts acylation reactions. The acylation reactions demonstrate that polyaniline/nano-ZnO composites are very active catalysts and are able to activate the reactant at ambient temperature. The obtained nanocatalyst was characterized by Fourier transform–infrared, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, X-ray diffraction, and particle-size analysis techniques. The catalyst was reusable for five cycles without appreciable loss in activity.     

Prussian Blue Nanoparticles Self Assembling on Electrochemically Reduced Graphene Oxide Modified GC Electrode for Sensitive Hydrogen Peroxide Detection

A facile, fast, and convenient route was suggested for the fabrication of Prussian blue nano particles (PBNPs) assembled on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) modified glassy carbon electrode (PBNPs|RGO|GCE). RGO was electrodeposited on the surface of GCE and the prepared RGO|GCE was immersed into a ferric‐hexacyanoferrate(III) solution and PBNPs were assembled on the RGO|GCE for a certain period of time. The PBNPs film thickness can be easily controlled by adjusting the assembling duration. The developed PBNPs|RGO|GCE was successfully used for determining hydrogen peroxide, with a linear response over the concentration range 0.5‐400 μM, a good accuracy and precision, detection limit 0.44 μM, and sensitivity 1168 mA M^?1 cm^?2.     

Transport and Energy Deposition of hot Electrons through the Shock Ignition pre Compressed Target

Shock ignition as an alternative scheme of the laser fusion has the potential of achieving efficient implosion. However, hot electrons produced in result of ignitor‐corona interaction may penetrate deep into the fuel making the compression less effective. Transport and energy deposition of hot electron beam into the dense pre compressed of HiPER target by means of Monte Carlo approach are discussed considering the influence of real density and electron beam characteristics. The target parameters before igniting the hot spot have been extracted from a fluid code and used as the initial profile for Monte Carlo simulations. In comparison with simplified step like density profile, electrons penetrate slightly deeper in the case of real shaped density profile. In addition, deposition zone of a broad spectrum electron beam is wider while, monoenergetic electrons depose their energy locally resulting more maximum energy deposition value. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Intramolecular Charge Interactions as a Tool to Control the Coiled‐Coil‐to‐Amyloid Transformation

Under the influence of a changed environment, amyloid‐forming proteins partially unfold and assemble into insoluble β‐sheet rich fibrils. Molecular‐level characterization of these assembly processes has been proven to be very challenging, and for this reason several simplified model systems have been developed over recent years. Herein, we present a series of three de novo designed model peptides that adopt different conformations and aggregate morphologies depending on concentration, pH value, and ionic strength. The design strictly follows the characteristic heptad repeat of the α‐helical coiled‐coil structural motif. In all peptides, three valine residues, known to prefer the β‐sheet conformation, have been incorporated at the solvent‐exposed b, c, and f positions to make the system prone to amyloid formation. Additionally, pH‐controllable intramolecular electrostatic repulsions between equally charged lysine (peptide A) or glutamate (peptide B) residues were introduced along one side of the helical cylinder. The conformational behavior was monitored by circular dichroism spectroscopic analysis and thioflavin T fluorescence, and the resulting aggregates were further characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Whereas uninterrupted α‐helical aggregates are found at neutral pH, Coulomb repulsions between lysine residues in peptide A destabilize the helical conformation at acidic pH values and trigger an assembly into amyloid‐like fibrils. Peptide B features a glutamate‐based switch functionality and exhibits opposite pH‐dependent folding behavior. In this case, α‐helical aggregates are found under acidic conditions, whereas amyloids are formed at neutral pH. To further validate the pH switch concept, peptide C was designed by including serine residues, thus resulting in an equal distribution of charged residues. Surprisingly, amyloid formation is observed at all pH values investigated for peptide C. The results of further investigations into the effect of different salts, however, strongly support the crucial role of intramolecular charge repulsions in the model system presented herein.     

Preparation and thermal treatment of Pd/Ag composite membrane on a porous α-alumina tube by sequential electroless plating technique for H2 separation

Pd/Ag/α-Al2O3 composite membranes were prepared by sequential electroless plating technique. The prepared membranes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spec-troscopy, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy techniques (ICP-AES). Effects of annealing time, Ag content, and air treatment on the hydrogen permeation flux and morphology of the alloys were investigated. The results of the investigation showed that the prepared type of tube had a good potential as substrate for membrane preparation. In addition, a uniform defect-free alloy was prepared by annealing at 550 ℃ in H2 atmosphere. The permeation results showed an increase in H2 permeation flux by increasing the Ag content and the annealing time. In addition, the air treatment of the prepared membranes at 400 ℃ for 1 h changed the morphology of the alloy and substantially enhanced the hydrogen flux.     

Strongly non-local modelling of dislocation transport and pile-up

The purpose of this work is the continuum modelling of transport and pile-up of infinite discrete dislocation walls driven by non-local interaction and external loading. To this end, the underlying model for dislocation wall interaction is based on the non-singular Peierls–Nabarro (PN) model for the dislocation stress field. For simplicity, attention is restricted to walls consisting of single-sign dislocations and to continuous wall distributions on a single glide plane. In this context, the influence of strongly non-local (SNL; long-range) interaction, and its approximation as weakly non-local (WNL; short-range) are studied in the context of interaction- and external-load-driven wall pile-up at a boundary. The pile-up boundary is modelled via a spatially dependent dislocation mobility which decreases to zero at the boundary. The pile-up behaviour predicted by the current SNL-based continuous wall distribution modelling is consistent with that predicted by discrete wall distribution modelling. Both deviate substantially from the pile-up behaviour predicted by WNL-based continuous wall distribution modelling. As such, it is clearly essential to account in continuum models for the intrinsic SNL character of the interaction between same-sign dislocations ‘close’ to the boundary. Gradient-based WNL ‘approximation’ of this interaction is not justified.     

On-line electrochemically controlled in-tube solid phase microextraction of inorganic selenium followed by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

In this work, for the first time, a rapid, simple and sensitive microextraction procedure is demonstrated for the matrix separation, preconcentration and determination of inorganic selenium species in water samples using an electrochemically controlled in-tube solid phase microextraction (EC-in-tube SPME) followed by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS). In this approach, in which EC-in-tube SPME and HG-AAS system were combined, the total analysis time, was decreased and the accuracy, repeatability and sensitivity were increased. In addition, to increases extraction efficiency, a novel nanostructured composite coating consisting of polypyrrole (PPy) doped with ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) was prepared on the inner surface of a stainless-steel tube by a facile electrodeposition method. To evaluate the offered setup and the new PPy-EGDMA coating, it was used to extract inorganic selenium species in water samples. Extraction of inorganic selenium species was carried out by applying a positive potential through the inner surface of coated in-tube under flow conditions. Under the optimized conditions, selenium was detected in amounts as small as 4.0 parts per trillion. The method showed good linearity in the range of 0.012–200 ng mL⁻¹, with coefficients of determination better than 0.9996. The intra- and inter-assay precisions (RSD%, n = 5) were in the range of 2.0–2.5% and 2.7–3.2%, respectively. The validated method was successfully applied for the analysis of inorganic selenium species in some water samples and satisfactory results were obtained.