Selective extraction and preconcentration of ultra-trace amounts of arsenic(V) ions using carbon nanotubes as a novel sorbent

In the present study, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as solid phase extraction sorbent were developed for preconcentration of arsenic(V) species prior to graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) determination. Arsenic(V) was selectively sorbed on the packed column with MWCNTs within a pH 9.5 in the presence of 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethyl amino phenol (5-Br-PADAP). The adsorbed species was then desorbed with 1 mL of 2.0 M HNO₃. Experimental parameters including pH, sample volume and flow rate, type, volume and concentration of eluent that influence the recovery of the arsenic(V) species were optimised. Under the optimised conditions, the calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.2–10.0 µg L^?1 with detection limit of 0.016 µg L^?1. The relative standard deviations (RSD) for seven replicate determinations at 1.0 µg L^?1 level of arsenic was 6.69%. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of arsenic in water samples and certified reference material (NIST RSM 1643e).     

Order Parameter of a Nanometre-Scale S-Wave Superconducting Grain in Quantum Tunnelling Process： Frequency Space Analysis

A nano-scale s-wave superconducting grain, coupled to a normal metallic contact through a tunnelling junction, is placed in an external magnetic field. We suppose that effect of this quantum tunnelling on the Fourier transform of the order parameter is in the form of a small additive correction to the BCS order parameter. At the first order approximation in terms of this correction term and by using an instanton method, the related Green functions （in frequency space） are obtained. By establishing a self-consistent configuration an analytic formula for the order parameter is also found. We also show that a departure from superconductivity can be captured by this formula. This change of state is indeed a manifestation of a quantum transition induced by quantum fluctuations. In this sense, this is an advantage of our simple method which, like other more elaborate methods, can detect a quantum transition in the state of the grain.     

Dust-acoustic solitary waves in a two-temperature electrons with charge fluctuations and nonisothermal ions

In this paper, a modified Korteweg–de Vries (mKdV) equation and Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation at critical ion density are derived for dusty plasmas consisting of hot dust fluid, nonisothermal ions and two-temperature electrons. The charge fluctuation dynamics of the dust grains has also been considered. It has been shown that the presence of a second component of electrons modifies the nature of dust acoustic (DA) solitary structures. The effects of two-temperature electrons, obliqueness and external magnetic field on the properties of DA solitary waves are discussed. Numerical investigations show that there exists only rarefactive solitary waves.     

Theory and simulation of cavity quantum electro-dynamics in multi-partite quantum complex systems

The cavity quantum electrodynamics of various complex systems is here analyzed using a general versatile code developed in this research. Such quantum multi-partite systems normally consist of an arbitrary number of quantum dots in interaction with an arbitrary number of cavity modes. As an example, a nine-partition system is simulated under different coupling regimes, consisting of eight emitters interacting with one cavity mode. Two-level emitters (e.g. quantum dots) are assumed to have an arrangement in the form of a linear chain, defining the mutual dipole–dipole interactions. It was observed that plotting the system trajectory in the phase space reveals a chaotic behavior in the so-called ultrastrong-coupling regime. This result is mathematically confirmed by detailed calculation of the Kolmogorov entropy, as a measure of chaotic behavior. In order to study the computational complexity of our code, various multi-partite systems consisting of one to eight quantum dots in interaction with one cavity mode were solved individually. Computation run times and the allocated memory for each system were measured.     

Effect of phosphomolybdic acid on the catalytic behavior of bifunctional Pt-Cr/nanocrystalline Y zeolite in hydroisomerization of n-octane

In this study, Y zeolite nanocrystals were synthesized without an organic template and were used as a support for bifunctional nanocatalysts in the hydroisomerization of n-octane. Different types of catalysts were synthesized by loading Pt, Cr, and phosphomolybdic acid (HPMo) on Y zeolite nanocrystal supports and were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis. The Cr-Pt/HPMo-Y nanocatalyst with a surface area of approx. 600 m²/g showed the best performance in the hydroisomerization of n-octane. The optimization of n-octane hydroisomerization over bifunctional nanocatalysts supported on nanocrystalline Y zeolite, in the presence of H₂ gas, was applied based on the response surface methodology (RSM) and Box–Behnken design (BBD) template. The effect of three different process variables on the yield of iso-alkanes as the purpose process was determined. Experiments were carried out using a fixed-bed microreactor under different ranges of weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) (A = 0.5–1.5 hr⁻¹), H₂ to n-C₈ molar ratio (B = 1:1–3:1), and reaction temperature (C = 200–300°C). The RSM proved that the temperature variable had the greatest impact on the hydroisomerization reaction yield.     

Novel platinum(II) selective membrane electrode based on 1,3-bis(2-cyanobenzene)triazene

A plasticized poly (vinyl chloride) membrane electrode based on 1,3-bis(2-cyanobenzene)triazene (CBT) for highly selective determination of platinum(II) (in PtCl₄²⁻ form) is developed. The electrode showed a good Nernstian response (29.8 ± 0.3 mV decade⁻¹) over a wide concentration range (1.0 × 10⁻⁶ to 1.0 × 10⁻² mol L⁻¹). The limit of detection was 5.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. The electrode has a response time of about 40 s, and it can be used for at least 1 month without observing any considerable deviation from Nernstian response. The proposed electrode revealed an excellent selectivity toward platinum(II) ion over a wide variety of alkali, alkaline earth, transition, and heavy metal ions, and it could be used in the pH range of 3.2-5.1. The practical utility of the electrode has been demonstrated by its use in determination of platinum ion in, alloy, tap, mineral and river water samples.     

Quantum Entanglement and Correlation Lengths of a S-wave Superconductors in the Presence of a Weak Constant External Potential

By considering a s-wave Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductor, as a many body system, subject to a weak constant external potential, U, using perturbed linearized Gorkov equations at zero temperature and calculating perturbed Green’s functions up to the first approximation, we obtain the two-particle space-spin density matrix of the system. Then, we investigate the effect of the potential on bipartite entanglement (via concurrence) of electron spins of a Cooper pair and also quantum discord in terms of the potential and the relative distance of electrons of a Cooper pair, r. At some fixed values of r, concurrence is zero and does not change until U increases and receives to a special value. Specially, quantum entanglement length and quantum correlation length (in which quantum discord becomes zero) with respect to the potential are derived. We result that by increasing the potential, these lengths are increased. At higher values of U, quantum correlation length is not very sensitive to changes in U. Finally, the relation between these lengths is given.     

Self-assembled multilayers of transition-metal-terpyridinyl complexes; formation, and characterization

Layer-by-layer (LBL) growth of terpyridinyl ligands with a range of metal ions is reported. Monolayers of mercaptophenyl terpyridine on gold were used to initiate LBL assembly by complexing the first layer of metal ions. Tetra-2-pyridinylpyrazine was used as a linking ligand between subsequent metal ion layers. The assembly of the terpyridines with 21 different metals was evaluated using UV absorbance spectroscopy, variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, and atomic force microscopy. Successful LBL growth appears to depend on the ionic radius of the metal ion. Metals that formed multilayered LBL structures were primarily limited to a small range of effective ionic radii between 66 and 73 pm. Metal ions with smaller ionic radii usually formed initial layers but seldom exhibited consistent LBL growth, while ions with radii larger than 73 nm generally did not demonstrate any evidence of LBL growth.     

Design of Low-Complexity and High-Speed Coplanar Four-Bit Ripple Carry Adder in QCA Technology

Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) technology is a suitable technology to replace CMOS technology due to low-power consumption, high-speed and high-density devices. Full adder has an important role in the digital circuit design. This paper presents and evaluates a novel single-layer four-bit QCA Ripple Carry Adder (RCA) circuit. The developed four-bit QCA RCA circuit is based on novel QCA full adder circuit. The developed circuits are simulated using QCADesigner tool version 2.0.3. The simulation results show that the developed circuits have advantages in comparison with existing single-layer and multilayer circuits in terms of cell count, area occupation and circuit latency.