Bistable diverter valve in microfluidics

Bistable diverter valves are useful for a large number of no-moving-part flow control applications, and there is a considerable interest in using them also in microfluidics, especially for handling small pressure-driven flows. However, with decreasing Reynolds number, the Coanda effect—on which the flow diverting effect depends—becomes less effective. Authors performed a study, involving flow visualisation, PIV experiments, measurements of the flow rates, and numerical flowfield computations, aimed at clarifying behaviour of a typical fluidic valve at low Reynolds numbers. A typical fluidic valve originally developed for high Re operation was demonstrated to be useful, though with progressively limited efficiency, down to surprisingly low Re values as small as Re = 800. Also observed was a previously not reported discontinuation in the otherwise monotonic decrease in performance at Re between 1,500 and 2,000.     

Monolithic columns based on a poly(styrene-divinylbenzene-methacrylic acid) copolymer for capillary liquid chromatography of small organic molecules

A very simple and readily performed method is described for the preparation of poly(styrene-divinylbenzene-methacrylic acid) monolithic columns for capillary liquid chromatography. The effect of the methacrylic acid content on the morphological and chromatographic properties has been investigated. Methacrylic acid is shown to be essential for isocratic separations of small organic analytes by capillary liquid chromatography. Column efficiencies of about 28,000 theoretical plates/m have been obtained for all the test compounds. The batch-to-batch and run-to-run repeatability of the retention times is better than 1.5%.     

Immobilized stationary phase on the basis of polyethylene glycol cross-linked with pluriisocyanates of the Desmodur type

Summary The preparation of an immobilized stationary phase based on Carbowax 20M is described. The stationary phase cross-linking was carried out with Desmodur N 75 or Desmodur L 75, pluriisocyanates. The properties of the prepared stationary phases are compared.     

Experimental investigation of helicity in turbulent swirling jet using dual-plane dye laser PIV technique

This paper reports a new method of generating two light sheets using a dye laser system and the use of this dual-plane dye laser system to analyse average helicity and energy dissipation in a turbulent swirling flow. The dual-plane PIV system that was used in this study consisted of three cameras and a single frequency Nd:YAG laser, which was used to generate two parallel light sheet planes with differing wavelengths(colour). The method of generating two different light sheet wavelengths using a single laser source is an innovative and new technique. Stereoscopic PIV measurements were obtained in one plane with the use of two CCD cameras, and standard PIV measurements were obtained in the other plane with the use of one CCD camera. The light scattered by the particles on two different light sheets were separated using appropriate optical filters. The measurements obtained were used to estimate the components of the velocity gradient tensor. The tensor components were then used to determine the average vorticity components and helicity quantities of the fluid that was investigated. To determine the average turbulent kinetic energy dissipation, the continuity equation was used to infer the out-of-plane gradient of the out-of-plane velocity. From the analysis of the results, it was found that regions with high helicity were correlated with regions of high turbulent kinetic energy dissipation.     

Development of a solid-phase extraction with capillary liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for analysis of estrogens in environmental water samples

Capillary liquid chromatography (cLC) hyphenated with tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) was used to separate and quantitate trace concentrations of five estrogens in aqueous samples. New C(18)-based sorption materials bound to the silica support by monomeric and polymeric mechanisms were compared and tested for solid-phase extraction (SPE) of selected analytes with respect to optimization of their preconcentration yield. Application of an endcapped, monomer-bound preconcentration Discovery DSC-18Lt column under the optimized conditions provides yields in the range from 95 to 100% with a high repeatability (n=3, RSD≤7.2%). Using the electrospray ionization in the positive mode (ESI+), the cLC-MS-MS system (the Zorbax SB C18 capillary column and a binary mobile phase of acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% formic acid in both the components) was optimized to attain a sufficient retention of the early eluting estriol, a satisfactory resolution of the analytes and the maximum sensitivity of the determination. Both the isocratic and gradient elution were used and the optimized gradient method permitted analyses of aqueous environmental samples in 14 min within a linearity range from 6.1 to 25.0 (LOQ of analytes) to 500 ng/L and with a very good linearity (r>0.9981) for all the estrogens studied. The detection limits are in the range from 3.0 to 6.8 ng/L (1 μL injection volume). Six environmental water samples were analyzed and the studied estrogens were found in the Vltava river sample collected in Prague (13.2 ng/L for 17β-estradiol) and in the inlet to the wastewater treatment plant in Prague, at an overall concentration of 371.4 ng/L.     

Supercritical fluid chromatography as a tool for enantioselective separation; A review

Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) has become popular in the field of enantioselective separations. Many works have been reported during the last years. This review covers the period from 2000 till August 2013. The article is divided into three main chapters. The first one comprises a basic introduction to SFC. The authors provide a brief explanation of general principles and possibilities of this method. The advantages and drawbacks are also listed. Next part deals with chiral separation systems available in SFC, namely with the commonly used chiral stationary phases. Properties and interaction possibilities of the chiral separation systems are described. Recent theoretical papers are emphasized in this chapter. The last part of the paper gives an overview of applications of enantioselective SFC in analytical chemistry, in both analytical and preparative scales. Separation systems and conditions are summed up in tables so that they provide a helpful tool for analysts who search for a particular method of analysis.     

Characterization of new R-naphthylethyl cyclofructan 6 chiral stationary phase and its comparison with R-naphthylethyl β-cyclodextrin-based column

Derivatized cyclofructans have been recently introduced as a new class of chiral selectors with great application potential. In this study, a R-naphthylethyl-functionalized cyclofructan 6 based chiral stationary phase (RN CF6 CSP) was used for separation of substituted binaphthyl catalysts in the normal phase HPLC mode. Dominant interaction types that play a role in the separation mechanism were revealed by a linear free energy relationship (LFER) method. In order to evaluate the contribution of the substituent on the cyclofructan structure to retention, the R-naphthylethyl-functionalized β-cyclodextrin (RN CD) CSP was chosen for comparison. Retention factors of 46 widely different solutes, with known solvation parameters, were determined on each of the columns under the same mobile phase compositions used for the enantiomeric separations. The LFER results showed that hydrogen bond acidity and polarity/polarizibility have the greatest impact on retention and enantioresolution on the RN CF6 CSP. The equal influence of the naphthylethyl substituent on the both CSPs was also confirmed while the effects of the basic cyclofructan versus cyclodextrin structures were different. The addition of trifluoroacetic acid to the hexane/propane-2-ol mobile phase was negligible on the RN CF6 CSP for the majority of atropoisomers except for one with ionizable functional groups. The RN CF6 column was shown to be more suitable for enantioseparation of the binaphthyl catalysts than the RN CD column. Higher retention offered by the latter CSP had no positive effect on the enantioresolution.