Silver(I)-selective coated-wire electrode based on an octahydroxycalix[4]arene derivative.

The performance of octahydroxycalix[4]arene derivative used as a neutral carrier for silver polymeric membrane electrode was studied. The sensor gave a good Nernstian response of 58 +/- 1 mV per decade for silver ion in the activity range 3.3 x 10(-6) to 3.3 x 10(-2) M Ag+. The limit of detection reached 2.1 x 10(-6) M Ag+ and exhibited high selectivity for silver ion against the alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal ions. The sensor can be used in wide pH range from 1.5 to 6.5. The response time of the sensor is less than 20 s. The potentiometric sensor was used as the indicator electrode in the titration of Ag+ ions by sodium chloride solution.     

Homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction of uranium(VI) using tri-n-octylphosphine oxide.

A simple and efficient method for the selective separation and preconcentration of uranium(VI) using homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction was developed. Tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) and tri-n-butylphosphate (TBP) were investigated as complexing ligands, and perfluorooctanoate ion (PFOA-) was applied as a phase separator agent under strongly acidic conditions. Under the optimal conditions ([PFOA-] = 1.7 x 10(-3) M, [TOPO] = 5.4 x 10(-4) M, [HNO3] = 0.3 M, [acetone] = 3.2% v/v) 10 microg of uranium in 40 ml aqueous phase could be extracted quantitatively into 8 microl of the sedimented phase. The maximum concentration factor was 5000-fold. However, an effort for the quantitative extraction using TBP was inefficient and the percent recovery was at most 56.7. The influence of the type and concentration of acid solution, optimum amount of the ligand, type and volume of the organic solvent, concentration of PFOA, volume of the aqueous sample and effect of different diverse ions on the extraction and determination of uranium(VI) were investigated. The proposed method was applied to the extraction and determination of uranium(VI) in natural water samples.     

Kinetic determination of silver ion by its perturbation on Belousov-Zhabotinskii oscillating chemical reaction using potentiometric method.

Silver ion can perturb the Belousov-Zhabotinskii (B-Z) oscillating chemical reaction. Therefore, the B-Z oscillating system was applied in the determination of silver ion by using a platinum wire as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric method. The amplitude of the potentiometric oscillation increased linearly in proportion to [Ag+] in the range of 9.42 x 10(-6) M to 2.54 x 10(-4) M, with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 under the optimum conditions. The obtained LOD (2sigma) was 8.85 x 10(-6) M and the relative standard deviation (RSD) for five measurements of 1 x 10(-4) M silver ion was 5%. The influence of some potentially interference was also investigated.     

Constructing a new optical sensor for monitoring ammonia in water samples using bis(acetylacetoneethylendiamine)-tributylphosphin cobalt(III) tetraphenylborate complex-coated triacetylcellulose.

A new ammonia optical sensor was designed using bis(acetylacetoneethylendiamine)tributylphosphin cobalt(III) tetraphenylborate complex, coated on transparent triacetylcellulose film as membrane. The change in the absorbance of the optode at the maximum wavelength of 408 nm was related to ammonia concentration in aqueous samples. A buffer solution with a pH of 9 (sodium borate-HCl) was used. The optode was fully regenerated in pH 2. The linear dynamic range for determination of ammonia was 3.3 x 10(-4) to 6.9 x 10(-3) mol l(-1) with a detection limit of 5.0 x 10(-5) mol l(-1) and a response time range of 4 - 6 min. This membrane was successfully applied for determination of ammonia in drinking water.     

Coated wire silver-ion selective electrode based on a N,N'-bis(2-thienylmethylene)-1,2-diaminobenzene.

A novel membrane coated platinum-wire electrode (MCPWE) based on N,N'-bis(2-thienylmethylene)-1,2-diaminobenzene (BTMD) for highly selective determination of Ag+ ion has been developed. The influences of membrane composition and pH on the potentiometric responses of electrode were investigated. The potentiometric responses are independent of the pH of the test solution in the range of 5.0 - 9.0. The electrode shows a linear response for Ag+ ion over the concentration range of 1.0 x 10(-60 to 1.0 x 10(-1) M with a lower detection limit of 6.0 x 10(-7) M. The electrode possesses a Nernstian slope of 59.7 mV decade(-1) and a fast response time of < or = 17 s and can be used for at least 2 months without any observable deviation. The proposed electrode displayed very good selectivity for Ag+ ion with respect to NH4+ and alkali, alkaline earth and some common transition metal ions. The practical utility of the electrode has been demonstrated by its use as the indicator electrode in the potentiometric titration of an AgNO3 solution with a NaI solution and in determination of the silver content of a developed radiological film.     

Simultaneous kinetic-spectrophotometric determination of hydrazine and acetylhydrazine in micellar media using the H-point standard addition method.

The H-point standard addition method (HPSAM), based on a spectrophotometric measurement for the simultaneous determination of hydrazine and acetylhydrazine, is described. This method is based on the difference between the rates of their reactions with N,N-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (DAB) in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in acidic media. The results showed that hydrazine and acetylhydrazine could be determined simultaneously in the range of 0.020 - 0.70 and 0.20 - 5.0 mg L(-1), respectively. Under the working conditions, the proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of hydrazine and acetylhydrazine in several synthetic mixtures and plasma and water samples.     

Some inequalities for the polar derivative of a polynomial

LetP(z) be a polynomial of degreen which does not vanish in |z|<1. In this paper, we estimate the maximum and minimum moduli of thekth polar derivative ofP(z) on |z|=1 and thereby obtain compact generalizations of some known results, which among other results, yields interesting refinements of Erdos-Lax theorem and a theorem of Ankeny and Rivlin.     

Optical properties of Fe-doped silica films on Si

Optical properties of Fe-doped silica films on Si were investigated by ellipsometric technique in the region 1-5 eV. Samples were produced by sol-gel method. Precursors were prepared by mixing tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) solution in ethanol and water with aqueous solution of Fe-chloride or Fe-acetate. The coating solution was deposited on Si substrates by spin on technique. The size of Fe-containing nanometric-sized particles depended on technology and varied from 20 to 100 nm. Optical response of complex hybrid samples SiO₂:Fe/Si was interpreted in a multi-layer model. In the inverse problem, the Maxwell equations were solved by transfer matrix technique. Dielectric function of Fe-doped silica layers was calculated in the model of effective media. Analysis of optical data has shown that various Fe-oxides formed. Experimental data for films obtained from precursors with Fe-acetate and annealed in hydrogen were well described by the model calculations taking into account a small contribution 1-5% of metal Fe imbedded in silica. The Fe/Fe-O contribution to optical response increased for samples grown from FeCl₃-precursor. Ellipsometric data for Fe-doped silica films on Si were interpreted taking into account the structural AFM studies as well as the results of magnetic measurements.     

Quotient probabilistic normed spaces and completeness results

We introduce the concept of quotient in PN spaces and give some examples. We prove some theorems with regard to the completeness of a quotient.     

The convex hull property and topology of hypersurfaces with nonnegative curvature

We prove that, in Euclidean space, any nonnegatively curved, compact, smoothly immersed hypersurface lies outside the convex hull of its boundary, provided the boundary satisfies certain required conditions. This gives a convex hull property, dual to the classical one for surfaces with nonpositive curvature. A version of this result in the nonsmooth category is obtained as well. We show that our boundary conditions determine the topology of the surface up to at most two choices. The proof is based on uniform estimates for radii of convexity of these surfaces under a clipping procedure, a noncollapsing convergence theorem, and a gluing procedure.