Microfabricated ISEs: critical comparison of inherently conducting polymer and hydrogel based inner contacts

A rigorous side by side comparison of miniature planar potassium-selective electrodes with hydrogel and potassium hexacyanoferrate(II)/(III) doped polypyrrole (PPy/FeCN) based inner contacts is presented. The planar electrodes were manufactured by screen printing as four- and five-site arrays on ceramic substrates. These electrode arrays were incorporated into a flow-through cell, which could accommodate nine electrode sites. Two identical flow cells were connected in series and the effect of the inner contacts on the analytical performance of the respective electrodes has been critically evaluated. The time necessary to reach steady state conditions has been determined and the effect of experimental parameters (temperature, ambient light intensity, CO₂, and O₂ concentration of the sample) on the potential stability of the electrodes was analyzed. At controlled temperature, the drift of the planar potassium electrodes with hydrogel and PPy/FeCN solid contact were 0.11±0.02 mV h⁻¹ and 0.03±0.007 mV h⁻¹, respectively. The experimental data proved that there is no aqueous film formation between the PPy/FeCN film and the potassium-selective solvent polymeric membrane.     

Estimates for systematic empirical corrections of consistent 4–21G ab initio geometries and their correlations to total energy group increments

The structural parameters of the completely relaxed 4–21G ab initio geometries of more than 30 basic organic compounds are compared to experimental results. Some ranges for systematic empirical corrections, which relate 4–21G bond distances to experimental parameters, are associated with total energy increments. In general, for the currently feasible comparisons, the following corrections can be given which relate calculated distances to experimental r_g parameters and calculated angles to r_s-structures For CC single bond distances, deviations between calculated and observed parameters (r_g) are in the ranges of ?0.006(2) to ?0.010(2) Å for normal or unstrained hydrocarbons; ?0.011(3) to ?0.016(3) Å for cyclobutane type compounds; and +0.001(5) to +0.004(4) Å for CH₃ conjugated with CO. For CO single bonds the ranges are ?0.006(9) to +0.002(3) Å for CO conjugated with CO; and ?0.019(3) to ?0.027(9) Å for aliphatic and ether compounds. A very large and exceptional discrepancy exists for the highly strained ethylene oxide, r_s — r_e = ?0.049(5) Å and in CH₃OCH₃ and C₂H₅OCH₃ the r_s — r_e differences are ?0.029(5), ?0.040(10) and ?0.025(10) Å. Some of these discrepancies may also be due to deficiencies of the microwave substitution method caused by atomic coordinates close to inertial planes. For CN bonds, two types of NCH₃ corrections are from +0.005(6) to ?0.006(6) and from ?0.009(2) to ?0.014(6) Å; and the range for NCO is +0.012(3) to +0.028(4) Å. For isolated CC double bonds the range is + 0.025(2) to +0.028(2) Å. For conjugated CC double bonds the correction is less positive (+0.014(1) Å for benzene). For CO double bonds the corrections are ?0.004(3) to +0.003(3) Å. For bond angles of type HCH, CCH, CCC, CCO, CCO, OCO, NCO and CCC the corrections are of the order of magnitude about 1–2° (or better). Angles centered at heteroatoms are less accurate than that, when hydrogen atoms are involved. Differences in HOC and NHC angles were found in a range of ?2.3(5)° to ?6.2(4)°.     

Potentiometric detection in flow analysis

Special aspects of ion-selective electrodes relevant to applications in flow-through systems are discussed. The predominant role of the dynamic response characteristics of the sensor, especially in flow-injection analysis, is emphasized. Indirectly, these characteristics can affect the linear response range, the detection limit and the selectivity properties of the sensors. As examples, flow-injection methods are described for the determination of fluoride in rain-water samples and of potassium ion activity in blood sera.     

Electron-diffraction study of hydrogen isotope effects in cyclohexane

The electron-diffraction data for cyclohexane and perdeuterated cyclohexane were analyzed and the results were compared. It was found that r_g(C-C) = 1.535 Å (±0.002) for both compounds; r_g (C-H) = 1.116 Å (±0.004) and r_g(C-D) = 1.109 Å (±0.003). Observed hydrogen isotope effects in mean amplitudes agree very well with calculated ones. The C-C bond distance of cyclohexane is in good agreement with some of the previous studies, which is of importance in view of a recent scaling controversy involving this parameter.     

Separation of phenylthiohydantoin amino acids by capillary electrochromatography

Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) was employed as a rapid and high-efficiency method for the isocratic separation of all 20 important phenylthiohydantoin (PTH) amino acids, the end products of Edman degradation during N-terminal protein sequencing. For this purpose, 75 microm ID fused-silica capillaries were packed with standard 3 microm Hypersil octadecyl silica (ODS) particles using a two-step column fabrication process, which represents a fast, reliable and efficient means of producing long-term stable columns. The influence of solvent composition, pH, type of buffer cation, buffer concentration, and temperature on retention behavior of PTH amino acids was investigated. Same-day and day-to-day reproducibility of the retention times (over a period of two months) were found to be better than 3%. When comparing this new technique with traditional reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) methods applied in automated protein sequenators, CEC shows essentially shorter separation times and superior resolution.     

Chiral anion exchangers applied to capillary electrochromatography enantioseparation of oppositely charged chiral analytes: investigation of stationary and mobile phase parameters

Weak anion-exchange (WAX) type chiral stationary phases (CSPs) based on tert.-butyl carbamoyl quinine as chiral selector (SO) and different types of silica particles (porous and non-porous) as chromatographic support are evaluated in packed capillary electrochromatography (CEC). Their ability to resolve the enantiomers of negatively charged chiral analytes, e.g., N-derivatized amino acids, in the anion-exchange mode and their electrochromatographic characteristics are described in dependence of several mobile phase parameters (pH, buffer type and concentration, organic modifier type and concentration) and other experimental variables (electric field strength, capillary temperature). The inherent "zwitterionic" surface character of such silica-based WAX type CSPs (positively charged SO and negatively charged residual silanols) allows the reversal of the electroosmotic flow (EOF) towards the anode at pH values below the isoelectric point (pI) of the modified surface, whereas a cathodic EOF results at pH values above the pI. Since for negatively charged analytes also an electrophoretic transport increment has to be considered, which can be either in or against the EOF direction, several distinct modes of elution have been observed under different stationary phase and mobile phase conditions: (i) co-electrophoretic elution of the negatively charged solutes with the anodic EOF in the negative polarity mode, (ii) counter-electrophoretic elution with the cathodic EOF in the positive polarity mode, and (iii) electrophoretically dominated elution in the negative polarity mode with a cathodic EOF directed to the injection end of the capillary. Useful enantioseparations of chiral acids have been obtained with all three modes. Enantioselectivity values as high as under pressure-driven conditions and theoretical plate numbers up to 120000 per meter could be achieved under electrically driven conditions. A repeatability study yielded RSD values below 2% for retention times and RSD values in the range of 5-10% for theoretical plate numbers and resolution, thus clearly establishing the reliability of the investigated anion-exchange type CEC enantioseparation methods.     

Shear-induced morphology transition and microphase separation in a lamellar phase doped with clay particles

We report on the influence of shear on a nonionic lamellar phase of tetraethyleneglycol monododecyl ether (C12E4) in D2O containing clay particles (Laponite RD). The system was studied by means of small-angle light scattering (SALS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) under shear. The SANS experiments were conducted using a H2O/D2O mixture of the respective scattering length density to selectively match the clay scattering. The rheological properties show the familiar shear thickening regime associated with the formation of multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) and a shear thinning regime at higher stresses. The variation of viscosity is less pronounced as commonly observed. In the shear thinning regime, depolarized SALS reveals an unexpectedly strong variation of the MLV size. SANS experiments using the samples with lamellar contrast reveal a change in interlamellar spacing of up to 30% at stresses that lead to MLV formation. This change is much more pronounced than the change observed, when shear suppresses thermal bilayer undulations. Microphase separation occurs, and as a consequence, the lamellar spacing decreases drastically. The coincidence of the change in lamellar spacing and the onset of MLV formation is a strong indication for a morphology-driven microphase separation.     

Perfluoro anion-exchange polymeric films on glassy carbon electrodes

Solutions of the perfluoro anion-exchange membrane TosHex® in a solvent mixture composed of methanol + isopropanol + water (1:1:1) were prepared and applied in coating glassy carbon electrodes. The evaporated films were used to accumulate the Fe(CN) ₆ redox couple on the electrode surface. The magnitude of the electrochemical response of the loaded films is comparable with that for Nafion® incorporated cationic redox species. The multicharged Fe(CN) ₆ couple accumulated in Tosflex® film causes an ion cross-linking of the polymeric backbone, thus decreasing ion transport in the film substantially.     

Novel cinchona alkaloid carbamate C9-dimers as chiral anion-exchange type selectors for high-performance liquid chromatography

Nine new quinine (QN) carbamate C9-dimers (QN-X-QN), with different aliphatic and cyclic spacers (X), have been synthesized and immobilized onto porous silica gel for HPLC. The chiral discriminating behavior of these "dimeric" anion-exchange type chiral stationary phases (CSPs) has been investigated in detail, to elucidate the role of the presence of a second QN subunit on the chiral selector (SO), as well as the influence of the structure and length of the spacer, on the overall chiral recognition of a set of N-derivatized amino acids and other acidic drugs. The bulkiness of the intermediate spacer tuned the chiral recognition abilities of these SOs, with the 1,3-adamantylen-derived CSP being the one that led to the best separations. Shorter spacers reduced the chiral discrimination abilities of the "dimeric" selectors, with the n-hexylen bridge being the most favorable distance to allow a nearly independent interaction of the two QN subunits with the racemic analytes. The comparison to five "monomeric" CSPs showed that the "dimeric" ones usually retain the chiral analytes more strongly, though the enantioseparation is not improved. Nevertheless, the exceptional resolution abilities of dimeric SOs with a trans- 1,2-diaminocyclohexylen-bridge for the separation of DNP-derivatives of amino acids and certain acidic drugs of therapeutical interest (e.g., profens) seemed to be superior to most of the other CSPs.