Continuous Determination of Trace Amounts of Humic Acid in Natural Water by Chemiluminescence Method

A chemiluminescence (CL) method for the determination of humic acid (HA) based on the oxidation of HA with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of formaldehyde in alkaline solution is described. This method is sensitive and selective for the determination of HA in natural water. HA produces strong CL in the oxidation of HA with MnO₄⁻, Br₂, ClO⁻, and Cr₂O₇²⁻, and the H₂O₂. HA-H₂O₂-HCHO system is suitable for the determination of HA because of its high sensitivity and high selectivity. The detection limit was 50 ppb and relative standard deviation for five measurements of 0.5 ppm (w/w) HA was 1.8%. Cations such as Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Fe3⁺ and anions such as PO₄³⁻, NO₃⁻, CO₃²⁻, SO₄²⁻, Cl⁻, and Y⁻ (EDTA-Na) did not interfere with the determination of HA. Addition of Mn(II) increased the CL intensity. The concentration of HA in natural water determined with this method is in good agreement with that determined by fluorometric analysis.     

A new method for the measurement of trace amounts of HONO in the atmosphere using an air-dragged aqua-membrane-type denuder and fluorescence detection

A new method for the measurement of trace amounts of HONO has been developed. Nitrous acid in the ambient air is absorbed in an aqueous solution by an air-dragged aqua-membrane-type denuder. The absorbed nitrite is reacted with 2,3-diaminonaphthalene, and the formed 1-naphthotriazol is measured using a fluorescence method. The calibration curve of HONO shows a straight line from 0 to 4000 ppt, and the detection limit is estimated to be 8.1 ppt calculated as being three times of the base line noise. The time resolution, which is defined as the time required to become a constant value by changing from 0 to ca. 1000 ppt was 2 min. The present method is not affected by NO(2), NO, SO(2), O(3) NH(3) or mixtures of these gases and organic nitrate, organic carboxylic acids, alcohols and aldehydes. The determination results of HONO concentrations in the ambient air by the present method are in good agreement with those by the annular denuder system and the differential optical absorption method.     

NCN pincer palladium complexes: their preparation via a ligand introduction route and their catalytic properties

A wide range of NCN pincer palladium complexes, [4-tert-butyl-2,6-bis(N-alkylimino)phenyl]chloropalladium (alkyl = n-butyl, benzyl, cyclohexyl, tert-butyl, adamantyl, phenyl, 4-methoxyphenyl), were readily prepared from trans-(4-tert-butyl-2,6-diformylphenyl)chlorobis(triphenylphosphine)palladium via dehydrative introduction of the corresponding alkylimino ligand groups (ligand introduction route) in excellent yields (71-98%). NMR studies on this route for forming pincer complexes revealed the intermediacy of [4-tert-butyl-2,6-bis(N-alkylimino)phenyl]chlorobis(triphenylphosphine)palladium which is in equilibrium with the corresponding NCN pincer complexes via coordination/dissociation of the intramolecular imino groups and triphenylphosphine ligands. A series of chiral NCN pincer complexes bearing pyrroloimidazolone units as the trans-chelating donor groups, [4-tert-butyl-2,6-bis{(3R,7aS)-2-phenylhexahydro-1H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazol-1-on-3-yl}phenyl]chloropalladium, were also prepared from the same precursor via condensation with proline anilides in high yields. The catalytic properties of the NCN imino and the NCN pyrroloimidazolone pincer palladium complexes were examined in the Heck reaction and the asymmetric Michael reaction to demonstrate their high catalytic activity and high enantioselectivity.     

Selective photocatalytic oxidation of light alkanes over alkali-ion-modified V2O5/SiO2; kinetic study and reaction mechanism

Alkali-ion-modified silica-supported vanadium oxides are photocatalysts available in the field of photooxidation of light alkanes using molecular oxygen. The photooxygenated reaction was promoted over the catalyst under irradiation at steady state. Acetone formation on the photooxidation of propane was investigated over a rubidium-ion-modified silica-supported vanadium oxide that is the most effective catalyst. The kinetic analysis demonstrated that the rate-determining step is the reaction of propane on the lattice oxygen of the photoexcited VO4Rb species to yield the vanadium isopropoxide species. It was suggested that the photocatalytic active sites are occupied by photogenerated acetone during photoreaction at 333 K. Heating the photocatalyst bed drastically enhanced not only product yield but also the selectivity to propionaldehyde that is a minor product in the photooxidation at 333 K. The product distribution of photoassisted oxidation of propane was described by Boltzmann's distribution of stabilization energy of the intermediates: an isopropoxide-like one for the precursor of acetone and an n-propoxide-like one for the precursor of propionaldehyde.     

Production of Hydrogen from Methane by a CO2 Emission-Suppressed Process: Methane Decomposition and Gasification of Carbon Nanofibers

Catalytic methane decomposition into hydrogen and carbon nanofibers and the oxidations of carbon nanofibers with CO₂, H₂O and O₂ were overviewed. Supported Ni catalysts (Ni/SiO₂, Ni/TiO₂ and Ni/carbon nanofiber) were effective for the methane decomposition. The activity and life of the supported Ni catalysts for methane decomposition strongly depended on the particle size of Ni metal on the catalysts. The modification of the catalysts with Pd enhanced the catalytic activity and life for methane decomposition. In particular, the supported Ni catalysts modified with Pd showed high turnover number of hydrogen formation at temperatures higher than 973 K with a high one-pass methane conversion (>70%). However, sooner or later, every catalyst completely lost their catalytic activities due to the carbon layer formation on active metal surfaces. In order to utilize a large quantity of the carbon nanofibers formed during methane decomposition as a chemical feedstock or a powdered fuel for heat generation, they were oxidized with CO₂, H₂O and O₂ into CO, synthesis gas and CO₂, respectively. In every case, the conversion of carbon was greater than 95%. These oxidations of carbon nanofibers recovered or enhanced the initial activities of the supported Ni catalysts for methane decomposition.     

Collapse of coherent quasiparticle states in theta-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 observed by optical spectroscopy

Optical conductivity measurements on the organic metal theta-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 revealed that the system crosses over rapidly from a coherent quasiparticle state to an incoherent state with temperature. Despite the metallic temperature dependence of resistivity, a well-defined Drude peak at low temperatures turns into a far-infrared peak with temperature. The peak energy shifts to higher frequencies and, simultaneously, the spectral weight is transferred to high frequencies beyond the electron band width. These characteristics imply that theta-(BEDT-TTF)2I3, so far believed to be a typical metal, is in fact a strongly correlated electron system with "bad-metal" character.     

Hot electron distribution function with LO phonon kink in n-GaAs

LO phonon kink in the hot electron distribution function has been observed for the first time by photoluminescence measurement in n-GaAs. A detailed comparison between the experiment and the calculation is made on the distribution function and electron mean energy.     

A Cocatalyst that Stabilizes a Hydride Intermediate during Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution over a Rhodium‐Doped TiO2 Nanosheet

The hydrogen evolution reaction using semiconductor photocatalysts has been significantly improved by cocatalyst loading. However, there are still many speculations regarding the actual role of the cocatalyst. Now a photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction pathway is reported on a cocatalyst site using TiO₂ nanosheets doped with Rh at Ti sites as one‐atom cocatalysts. A hydride species adsorbed on the one‐atom Rh dopant cocatalyst site was confirmed experimentally as the intermediate state for hydrogen evolution, which was consistent with the results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In this system, the role of the cocatalyst in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is related to the withdrawal of photo‐excited electrons and stabilization of the hydride intermediate species; the presence of oxygen vacancies induced by Rh facilitate the withdrawal of electrons and stabilization of the hydride.