Selective determination of airborne hexavalent chromium using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A new method for determining ultra-trace levels of hexavalent chromium in ambient air has been developed. The method involves a 24-h sampling of air into potassium hydroxide solution, followed by silica gel column separation of chromium (VI), then preconcentration by complexation and solvent extraction. The chromium (VI) complex was dissolved in nitric acid. The resultant chromium ions were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) using a dynamic reaction cell (DRC) with ammonia as the reactive gas to reduce polyatomic interferences. The interconversion of chromium in potassium hydroxide solution and air sample matrix were investigated under ambient conditions. It was found that there was no conversion of chromium (VI) into chromium (III) species. However, it was observed that some chromium (III) species were converted into chromium (VI) species. For a KOH solution containing 100 μg l⁻¹ of chromium (III) species, the rate of conversion was found to be 3% after 24 h exposure, 8% after 48 h, 10% after 72 h and no further conversion was observed thereafter. However, in a solution containing air sample matrix, 9.3% of chromium (III) converted to chromium (VI) within 6 h, and during the course of a 11-day exposure period, 13% (range 8–17%) of chromium (III) converted to chromium (VI). The method detection limit (MDL) for chromium (VI) in potassium hydroxide solution (0.025 M) was found to be 2×10⁻² μg l⁻¹. This is equivalent to 0.2 ng m⁻³ (for 23 m³ air sampled into 200 ml of KOH solution over a 24-h period). The recovery of spiked chromium (VI) from solutions containing air sample matrix was 95±9% (n=8). Matrix related interferences were estimated to be less than 10% based on recovery studies. The concentration of airborne chromium (VI) in Sydney residential areas was found to be less than 0.2 ng m⁻³, however, in industrial areas the concentrations ranged from 0.2 to 1.3 ng m⁻³ using this analytical procedure.     

Nonisothermal crystallization and melting behavior of the copolymer derived from p-dioxanone and poly(ethylene glycol)

Nonisothermal crystallization and melting behaviors of poly(p-dioxanone)(PPDO)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG) with mole ratios of 80:20 and 30:70, has been studied by differential scanning calorimeter using various cooling rates. Crystallization behavior of each crystallizable segments of the copolymer was compared with the corresponding segment of homopolymer. For a given composition, the crystallization process began at higher temperature when the slower scanning rates were used. The kinetics of the PPDO segments and the PEG segments in the copolymers under nonisothermal crystallization conditions were analyzed by Ozawa equation and also the crystallization results of the copolymer segments were compared with the corresponding homopolymers. The results showed that the Ozawa equation fails to describe the whole crystallization process of the copolymer segments along with PPDO homopolymer, but describes the crystallization behavior of the PEG homopolymer. Crystallization activation energy and absolute crystallinity values were estimated from the cooling scans (using Kissinger’s method) and fusion endotherms of the subsequent heating scans, respectively.     

The application ofclean to crystallographic problems

It is suggested that the radio astronomical technique of image reconstruction calledclean could be profitably used in crystallography to improve sharpened Patterson maps andE-maps. The method is here generalized to handle the symmetries which arise in crystallographic maps. Simulations on model one and two dimensional structure are presented to illustrate the power of the method.     

Polymerization of acrylonitrile initiated by a manganese(III) acetate glycerol redox system

The kinetics of polymerization of acrylonitrile(AN) initiated by manganese(III) acetate in the presence of glycerol was investigated in the temperature range of 30–40°C. The effect of varying the concentrations of glycerol, sulfuric acid, acetic acid, metal ion, and monomer on the rate was studied. A suitable reaction scheme and rate expression have been proposed. Termination was mutual and was caused by the combination of two growing polymer radicals.     

Modeling diffusion in miscible polymer blend films

Recent experiments designed to probe polymer transport in the bulk and in the vicinity of surfaces have examined the interdiffusion of multilayer sandwiches of isotopically labeled polymers. The measured time dependent concentration profiles normal to the surface are typically fit to Fick's law, with a single fitting parameter, the mutual binary diffusion coefficient (MBDC). The resulting MBDCs are found to vary over a broad range of film thicknesses and time, with the time dependence being viewed as a unique signature of the reptation mechanism of long chain motion, and the thickness dependence being attributed to the slowing down of chain dynamics near surfaces. Since the experiments are conducted at finite concentration, the MBDC, which is a product of the bare mobility and the concentration derivative of the chemical potential, could be dominated by the time and thickness dependence of this second term (which is ignored in Fick's law). To quantify this conjecture we consider the more rigorous Cahn formulation of the diffusion problem in terms of chemical potential gradients. We use square gradient theory to evaluate chemical potentials, and fit the resulting time dependent concentration profiles to the analytical solution of Fick's law. By thus mimicking the experimental analysis we find that the apparent MBDCs vary with time as t(-1/2) at short times, in good agreement with existing experiments. We show that this time dependence reflects the system's desire to minimize concentration gradients, a fact ignored in Fick's law. Since these arguments make no reference to the mechanism of chain motion, we argue that the time dependence of MBDC derived from interdiffusion experiments does not provide unequivocal support for the reptation mechanism of long chain transport. The MBDC values, which also vary with the degree of confinement, are predicted to increase with decreasing thickness for model parameters corresponding to experimental systems. In contrast, since the experimental fits yield an opposite trend, we suggest that the bare mobility of the chains decreases strongly with decreasing thickness. These findings strongly support the idea that the chains are "pinned" irreversibly to the surfaces, in good agreement with other, independent experiments.     

Dynamics of (H(-), H(2)) collisions: a time-dependent quantum mechanical investigation on a new ab initio potential energy surface

A global analytical potential energy surface for the ground state of H(3)(-) has been constructed by fitting an analytic function to the ab initio potential energy values computed using coupled cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples [CCSD(T)] method and Dunning's augmented correlation consistent polarized valence triple zeta basis set. Using this potential energy surface, time-dependent quantum mechanical wave packet calculations were carried out to calculate the reaction probabilities (P(R)) for the exchange reaction H(-)+H(2)(v, j)-->H(2)+H(-), for different initial vibrational (v) and rotational (j) states of H(2), for total angular momentum equal to zero. With increase in v, the number of oscillations in the P(R)(E) plot increases and the oscillations become more pronounced. While P(R) increases with increase in rotational excitation from j=0 to 1, it decreases with further increase in j to 2 over a wide range of energies. In addition, rotational excitation quenches the oscillations in P(R)(E) plots.     

Structural and bonding investigation of an unbridged donor-acceptor complex 1-(2,2′-bipyrimidine)-1-(t-butyl)-2, 3-bis(trimethylsilyl) -2,3-dicarba-1-galla-closo-heptaborane(6)

The reaction between thecloso-gallacarborane, 1-(t-C₄H₉)-1-Ga-2,3-(SiMe₃)₂-2,3-C₂B₄H₄ (1), and 2,2-bipyrimidine in a molar ratio of 11 in dry benzene produced the unbridged donor-acceptor complex 1-(2,2-C₈H₆N₄)-1-(t-C₄H₉)-1-Ga-2,3-(SiMe₃)₂-2, 3-C₂B₄H₄ (2) as a pale-yellow crystalline solid in 81% yield. The spectroscopic data of2 are almost identical to those of the bridged species 1,1-(2,2-C₈ H₆N₄)-[1-(t-C₄H₉)-1-Ga-2,3-(SiMe₃)₂-2,3-C₂ B₄H₄]₂ (3). However, the single-crystal X-ray structure of2 reveals that the complex consists of only one distorted gallacarborane unit and a bipyrimidine molecule, that acts as a bidentate ligand. The apical gallium in2 is displaced further away from the centroidal position above the carborane than it is in 1. Despite the steric hindrance imposed by the bulky trimethylsilyl groups on the cage carbons, the Ga-C_(t-buty) bond is tilted toward the cage carbon atoms. Complex2 crystallizes in the monoclinic space groupP2₁ witha=11.279 (3),b=10.060 (3),c=11.911 (3) Å,=94.94 (2)°,V=1346.5 (6) ų,Z=2,D _x=1.24g cm^–3, (MoK) F(000)= 528, andT=220 K. Full-matrix least-squares refinement for2 converged at R=0.036 andRw= 0.045 for 3032 observed reflections. Molecular orbital calculations showed that antibonding interactions between the gallium and carborane cage carbons, induced by base complexation, are a contributing factor to the gallium's slip distortion that is found in2.