Migration of 99Tc in a Weak Loess Aquifer: A Field Column Experiment

The migration of ⁹⁹Tc in a weak loess aquifer was investigated in-situ with undisturbed aquifer medium columns. The columns were obtained horizontally at a depth of 3236 m in an Underground Research Facility (URF). Quartz containing ³H (HTO) and ⁹⁹Tc (in the form of ⁹⁹TcO₄ ^-) was introduced into one end of the columns and the columns were covered tightly. Aquifer water was introduced into the columns directly from an experimental shaft in the UFR. Effluents from the columns were collected and the activity of ³H and ⁹⁹Tc were determined with a liquid scintillation analyzer. The breakthrough curves of ³H and ⁹⁹Tc indicate that ⁹⁹Tc migrates a little faster than that ³H does in the aquifer.     

New results on photoion pair formation from application of the velocity imaging photoionisation coincidence technique

The velocity imaging photoionisation coincidence (VIPCO) technique is shown to be a powerful tool for studies of ion pair formation. Sequential mechanisms are demonstrated for some three-body ion pair formation reactions. Observation of a new type of reaction producing one negatively and two positively charged ions plus an electron is reported.     

The effect of gamma-irradiation of anthracite coal and oil bitumen

Anthracite coal and oil bitumen were submitted to γ-radiation at a total dose of 1 MGy and the radiation-processed samples were studied by FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The coal samples were studied also by TGA coupled with FT-IR spectroscopy of the evolved gases. Thermal analysis has revealed a completely different behavior of the radiolyzed samples in comparison to the unirradiated samples. Both for coal and bitumen significantly less volatile fraction was released during the TGA and in both cases a significant increase in the amount of carbon coke produced at 800-900 °C was observed. The radiation processed bitumen increased significantly its ethyl acetate insolubles content. These results were interpreted in terms of extensive crosslinking and coalification of the samples under the action of γ-radiation. The results of this study have been applied to the carbonization process of terrestrial sedimentary organic matter which is commonly attributed to the action of heat flux from the depth of the Earth but which may be also due to the action of natural radiation. Other application of the results of the present study is to the complex organic matter present on the surfaces of comets and meteorites. This complex matter was formed by exposure of simple precursors to a field of high energy radiation for millions or billions of years and is consequently transformed into coal-like and bitumen-like matter. The same arguments apply to the carbon grains present in the interstellar and circumstellar medium. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

New integrated measurement protocol using capillary electrophoresis instrumentation for the determination of viscosity, conductivity and absorbance of ionic liquid-molecular solvent mixtures

The low vapor pressure and the versatility of the physico-chemical properties of ionic liquids make them really attractive as an alternative for conventional molecular solvents. The knowledge of their physico-chemical properties (viscosity, conductivity, miscibility with organic solvents and anion-cation interactions) has appeared mandatory for better targeting their applications, although it is generally still lacking or incomplete.This work promotes capillary electrophoresis instrumentation as an integrated apparatus for measurement of viscosity, conductivity and absorbance of pure ionic liquids and ionic liquid-molecular solvent mixtures. Compared to current conventional techniques, the assets of this instrumentation for this purpose are the combined availability of a pressure delivery system, power supply, diode array absorbance detector and thermoregulation device, allowing unattended, automatic and easy operation, involving minimum sample handling. Most importantly, the required sample volume can be reduced to about 50 μL, making this protocol very cost-effective. A protocol was optimized with respect to time, sample consumption and data reliability for the determination of these physico-chemical parameters. Ionic liquids selected for method development and validation differed in the nature of their cation (butyl- and ethyl-methylimidazolium) and anion (trifluoromethanesulfonate and bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide). Various molecular solvents were mixed with these ionic liquids (acetonitrile, methanol, dimethylformamide and trifluoroethanol) and the same physico-chemical properties were determined by optimized methods. The knowledge of these data should be of great support in various application areas, including the development of new separation media for capillary electrophoresis and chromatographic techniques.     

Comparative study of the catalytic properties of V2O5, Nb2O5 and Ta2O5 in the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde

The selectivity of the oxides under consideration to the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde is shown to increase in the sequence V₂O₅–Nb₂O₅–Ta₂O₅. The same sequence corresponds to the decrease in specific activity. The activation energy of the reaction is 12 kcal/mol for V₂O₅, 14 kcal/mol for Nb₂O₅ and 22 kcal/mol for Ta₂O₅.

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, V₂O₅–Nb₂O₅–Ta₂O₅. . : V₂O₅ 12 /, Nb₂O₅ 14 / Ta₂O₅ 22 /.

     

Hydrophilic polymer membranes containing carboxylic groups—I. Acrylic acid—methyl methacrylate—glycidyl methacrylate copolymers

Copolymers of acrylic acid, methyl methacrylate and glycidyl methacrylate have been synthesized and converted into cross-linked hydrophilic membranes by successive treatments with heat, alkali solution and acidic solution. The copolymerization was carried out in solution using tetrahydrofuran and p-dioxane as solvents. The polymer was obtained as a clear viscous solution at yields of approximately 95%. The polymerization was stopped before gelation took place. This gelation resulted from the reaction of epoxy and carboxylic groups of the polymeric chain. The polymerization time ranged from 3.5 to 7 hr depending on the content of the glycidyl methacrylate in the feed. The monomer mixture consisted of 25–45 mol% of acrylic acid, 40–70 mol% of methyl methacrylate and 2.5–15 mol% of glycīdyl methacrylate. With increasing content of acrylic acid, the membranes became soft and elastic; with decreasing content, they became brittle and hydrophobic. The swelling of the cured polymeric film increased with increase in the acrylic acid content of the monomer mixture and decreased with increasing glycidyl methacrylate content. Dialysis runs were conducted with sodium chloride, urea and a series of ethylene glycols with molecular weights up to 600. The permeability coefficients through the membranes for the ethylene glycols were similar to those through a commercial cellulose membrane (Cuprophane). The permeability proportional to $\text{(permeant molecular wt)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$. The membranes showed very low permeabilities to sodium chloride compared with those of commercial nonionic membranes. This appears to be due to the ionic exclusion mechanisms expected for ion exchange membranes.     

Electron spin echo as a tool for investigation of surface structure of finely dispersed fractal solids

The ESE method was successfully used for investigating the texture of the adsorbents and catalysts. Equations were obtained for the kinetics of ESE signal decay due to dipole-dipole interaction between motionless paramagnetic centers distributed uniformly on the fractal surface of solid.

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Experimental and computational studies of the structure and vibrational spectra of pyridinium-betaine of squaric acid

The FTIR spectra of pyridinium-betaine of squaric acid in 4000-100 cm(-1) frequency region in solid state were measured. In addition, the structure and harmonic vibrational frequencies of this molecule were theoretically evaluated using restricted Hartree-Fock and B3LYP density functional methods. The computed vibrational frequencies are used to determine the types of molecular motions associated with each of the experimental bands observed. Comparison with the experimental spectra provides important information about the ability of these computational methods to describe the vibrational modes in these highly polar strained ring compounds.     

Biomimetic dyes as affinity chromatography tools in enzyme purification

Affinity adsorbents based on immobilized triazine dyes offer important advantages circumventing many of the problems associated with biological ligands. The main drawback of dyes is their moderate selectivity for proteins. Rational attempts to tackle this problem are realized through the biomimetic dye concept according to which new dyes, the biomimetic dyes, are designed to mimic natural ligands. Biomimetic dyes are expected to exhibit increased affinity and purifying ability for the targeted proteins. Biocomputing offers a powerful approach to biomimetic ligand design. The successful exploitation of contemporary computational techniques in molecular design requires the knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of the target protein, or at least, the amino acid sequence of the target protein and the three-dimensional structure of a highly homologous protein. From such information one can then design, on a graphics workstation, the model of the protein and also a number of suitable synthetic ligands which mimic natural biological ligands of the protein. There are several examples of enzyme purifications (trypsin, urokinase, kallikrein, alkaline phosphatase, malate dehydrogenase, formate dehydrogenase, oxaloacetate decarboxylase and lactate dehydrogenase) where synthetic biomimetic dyes have been used successfully as affinity chromatography tools.