Spectrophotometric Determination of Copper in Waste Water Using Liquid–Liquid Extraction in a Flow-Injection System

A flow-injection procedure for the determination of copper in waste water is described. The procedure is based on the formation of an ion-pair between tetrabutylammonium and the tetrathiocyanatocuprate(II) anion. This ion-pair is extracted with chloroform, and the absorbance of the organic phase is measured at 485nm. Concentrations of copper 0.4mg L^–1 can be detected with a linear application range of between 0.5 and 25mg L^–1, a relative standard deviation of 2.3% (0.8mg L^–1, n=10) and a sampling frequency of 30h^–1. Under the proposed working conditions, only Ni(II) and Pd(II) interfere at molar ratios Ni(II)/Cu(II) 50 and Pd(II)/Cu(II) 100.     

Properties of the atomic form factor: Applications and shell structure

A relationship between the atomic form factor, F(k), and its first derivative, both at the origin, is presented. A new function f(k), related in a simple way to F(k), has been studied and some applications have been performed. They led us to find lower bounds to F(k) for all k and to other quantities such as the charge density at the origin, ρ(0), and radial expectation values. Finally, interesting effects on the Laplacian of f(k) due to the atomic shell structure were found. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Direct 1H, 13C, and 15N NMR Study of Lanthanum(III), Thulium(III), and Ytterbium(III) Complex Formation with Nitrate and Isothiocyanate

An ¹H, ¹³C, and ¹⁵N NMR study has been completed for the complexes of La(III), Tm(III), and Yb(III) with nitrate and isothiocyanate in aqueous solvent mixtures. Signals for four complexes are observed for both the Tm³⁺–NO₃ ^– and Yb³⁺–NO₃ ^– solutions, with the species identified as the mono-, di-, tetra-, and either the penta - or hexanitrato. These results are consistent with those determined for the nitrate complexes of the Ce(III)–Eu(III) metal ions. The chemical shifts for the Tm(III) and Yb(III) nitrate complexes indicate a pseudocontact binding mechanism prevails. The complexes of diamagnetic La(III) with NO₃ ^– produce three signals in the ¹⁵NO₃ ^– spectra, with assignments paralleling those observed with the paramagnetic lanthanides. Three complexes are formed in the La³⁺–NCS^– solutions, with signals assigned to the mono-, di-, and triisothiocyanato species.     

Compensation of the siphoning effect in nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis by vial lifting

Increasing the sample load in nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis through the use of wide-bore capillaries is a good way to scale up analytical separations to semipreparative level. However, obtaining high efficiency requires the use of special instrumentation to eliminate siphoning. When wide-bore capillaries are employed, relatively large solvent volumes are transported from inlet to outlet vial, and due to the difference in liquid levels a siphoning flow from outlet to inlet is established. Siphoning induces a deviation from the plug-like flow profile and adversely affects the separation efficiency. In this study the use of wide-bore capillaries in nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis was examined with compensation for siphoning by lifting of the inlet vial. The inlet vial is raised at a speed appropriate for maintaining equal levels of liquid in the inlet and outlet vials. The optimal lift rate was determined empirically from a series of runs in which the lift rate was varied. As well, a simple theoretical model was devised for the calculation of lift rates. The model was successfully applied for the 200 microm and 320 microm ID capillaries but for the 530 microm ID capillary the predicted optimal lift rate was too low. Evidently this was because the theory was unable to account for the effect of siphoning on the migration times. Three model compounds, bumetanide, furosemide and ethacrynic acid, were separated using an acetonitrile-ethanol mixture (50:50, v/v) with potassium acetate (1 mM) or ammonium acetate (5 mM) as electrolyte. Good separation of bumetadine and ethacrynic acid was obtained even with a 530 microm ID capillary when the lift rate was carefully optimized. Without elimination of siphoning the peaks would not have been detectable. The viscosities and electrical conductivities of the electrolyte solution measured at different temperatures showed that viscosity as well as conductivity decreased with increasing temperature. The temperature dependence of the conductivity was used to estimate the temperature inside the CE capillary.     

Nitromethane as solvent in capillary electrophoresis

Nitromethane has several properties that make it an interesting solvent for capillary electrophoresis especially for lipophilic analytes that are not sufficiently soluble in water: freezing and boiling points are suitable for laboratory conditions, low viscosity leads to favourable electrophoretic mobilities, or an intermediate dielectric constant enables dissolution of electrolytes. In the present work we investigate the change of electrophoretically relevant analyte properties - mobilities and pKa values - in nitromethane in dependence on the most important experimental conditions determined by the background electrolyte: the ionic strength, I, and the pH. It was found that the mobility decreases with increasing ionic strength (by, e.g. up to 30% from I = 0 to 50 mmol/L) according to theory. An appropriate pH scale is established by the aid of applying different concentration ratios of a buffer acid with known pKa and its conjugate base. The mobility of the anionic analytes (from weak neutral acids) depends on the pH with the typical sigmoidal curve in accordance with theory. The pKa of neutral acids derived from these curves is shifted by as much as 14 pK units in nitromethane compared to water. Both findings confirm the agreement of the electrophoretic behaviour of the analytes with theories of electrolyte solutions. Separation of several neutral analytes was demonstrated upon formation of charged complexes due to heteroconjugation with chloride as ionic constituent of the background electrolyte.     

Evaluating the Removal of the Antibiotic Cephalexin from Aqueous Solutions Using an Adsorbent Obtained from Palm Oil Fiber

This study aimed to understand the adsorption process of cephalexin (CPX) from aqueous solution by a biochar produced from the fiber residue of palm oil. Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Boehm titration, and the point of zero charge were used to characterize the morphology and surface functional groups of the adsorbent. Batch tests were carried out to evaluate the effects of the solution pH, temperature, and antibiotic structure. The adsorption behavior followed the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order model with a maximum CPX adsorption capacity of 57.47 mg g⁻¹. Tests on the thermodynamic behavior suggested that chemisorption occurs with an activation energy of 91.6 kJ mol⁻¹ through a spontaneous endothermic process. Electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding represent the most likely adsorption mechanisms, although π–π interactions also appear to contribute. Finally, the CPX removal efficiency of the adsorbent was evaluated for synthetic matrices of municipal wastewater and urine. Promising results were obtained, indicating that this adsorbent can potentially be applied to purifying wastewater that contains trace antibiotics.     

Automorphism Group of k((t)):¶Applications to the Bosonic String

This paper is concerned with the formulation of a non-pertubative theory of the bosonic string. We introduce a formal group G which we propose as the “universal moduli space” for such a formulation. This is motivated because G establishes a natural link between representations of the Virasoro algebra and the moduli space of curves. Received: 26 March 1999 / Accepted: 10 September 2000     

A Direct Carbon-13 and Nitrogen-15 NMR Study of Praseodymium(III)- and Neodymium(III)-Isothiocyanate Complex Formation in Aqueous Solvent Mixtures

Multinuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic studies of the trivalent lanthanide complexes with isothiocyanate have been completed for the praseodymium(III) and neodymium(III) ions. In water–acetone–Freon mixtures, at temperatures low enough to slow ligand exchange, usually –85 to –125°C for isothiocyanate, separate carbon-13 and nitrogen-15 NMR signals can be observed for free anion and NCS^- in each metal–ion complex. For both metal ions, ¹⁵N NMR signals are observed for four complexes, displaced about +1500 ppm downfield from free NCS^- for Pr³⁺ and about +2000 ppm for Nd³⁺. In the ¹³C NMR spectra, only three peaks are observed for the complexes of both metal anions, with signal overlap obscuring the resonance for the fourth complex. However, the metal ion coordination numbers, obtained by integration of the resonance signals, are comparable in the ¹⁵N and ¹³C spectra, approaching a maximum value of about 3. These spectral data indicate the formation of Ln(NCS)²⁺ through Ln(NCS) ₄ ^1- occurs for both lanthanides in these solvent systems, a result also observed previously for Ce³⁺, Sm³⁺, and Eu³⁺ in our laboratory. Attempts to study these complexes in water–methanol were unsuccessful, due to the inability to achieve low enough temperatures to slow ligand exchange sufficiently. Results for NCS^- and Cl^- competitive-binding studies by ³⁵Cl NMR for both metal ions will also be described.     

Resolution in capillary electrophoresis with nonaqueous methanol as solvent: theoretical prediction and experimental confirmation.

The resolution of the analytes was predicted from their known pKa* values and actual mobilities in nonaqueous methanolic solutions according to theory taking longitudinal diffusion as the only cause for peak dispersion. This leads to an equation of the resolution as a function of the pH*, as both selectivity and efficiency are dependent on the pH of the buffer. The experimentally obtained resolution values were in acceptable agreement with the predicted theoretical ones in most cases. This was demonstrated for substituted benzoic acids as analytes. The pKa* values needed for the calculation of the resolution were derived from the pH* dependence of the effective mobility. The pH* scale in methanol was based on conventional pKa* values of acetic acid and chloroacetic acid taken from the literature.     

Description of correlated densities for few‐electron atoms by simple functional forms

Simple analytical functional forms for the electron density of two‐ and three‐electron atoms which reproduce fairly the correlated (exact) values are presented. The procedure is based on the fitting of an auxiliary f(r) function which has adequate properties for this purpose and can be extended to more complex atoms. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 71: 443–454, 1999