准晶体的研究进展

准晶体是一种介于晶体和非晶体之间的固体。按照其准周期维数的分类方法分为一维、二维、三维准晶体,具有力学性能、电学性能和磁性能。利用其优良的性能特点,可将其应用于表面改性材料和结构材料增强相中。对准晶体的基础研究主要在其原子结构测定、形成因素、成分预测、单质组元的寻找和物理性质的有效调控等方面;而应用研究主要包括其薄膜技术和微纳米化的研究等。     

Lipid profiling of human plasma from peritoneal dialysis patients using an improved 2D (NP/RP) LC-QToF MS method

An improved online two-dimensional liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (2D LC-QToF MS) system was developed for the lipid profiling of human plasma, in which different lipid classes were separated by the first dimensional normal-phase (NP) LC and different lipid molecular species were separated by the second dimensional reversed-phase (RP) LC. This 2D LC-QToF MS system was built based on a ten-port, two-position valve as the interface, the conditions of which had been optimized and discussed in detail. As two loops were used to trap and transfer the first dimensional elute to the second dimension separately, this new interface suppressed the sample band broadening in the first dimensional column, increased the recovery and repeatability of 2D LC interface, and offered the possibility for the realization of not-stop-flow NP/RP 2D LC system. Finally, 190 endogenous lipid species out of 10 lipid classes were determined within a single run from the plasma of peritoneal patients. This method was also applied to identify the difference in lipid profile between plasma from peritoneal dialysis patients with bad volume status and peritoneal dialysis patients with good volume status. The discovery of 30 potential biomarkers would be helpful to the malnutrition, inflammation, and atherosclerosis syndrome investigation.     

Development of monolith-based stir bar sorptive extraction and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for sensitive determination of ten sulfonamides in pork and chicken samples

A highly sensitive method was developed for the simultaneous determination of ten sulfonamides in pork and chicken samples by monolith-based stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The samples were freeze-dried and extracted by acetonitrile, then enriched and further extracted by SBSE which was based on poly(vinylphthalimide-co-N,N-methylenebisacrylamide) monolith (SBSE-VPMB) as coating. To achieve optimum extraction performance of SBSE for sulfonamides, several parameters, including pH value and ionic strength in the sample matrix and extraction and desorption time, were investigated in detail. Under the optimal conditions, the limits of detection (S/N?=?3) for target sulfonamides were 1.2–6.1 ng/kg in pork and 2.0–14.6 ng/kg in chicken, respectively. Real samples spiked at the concentration of 0.5 and 5.0 μg/kg showed recoveries above 55 % and relative standard deviations below 12 %. At the same time, the extraction performances of target sulfonamides on SBSE-VPMB were compared with other SBSE based on porous monolith and commercial SBSE.

Magnetic separation of heavy metal ions and evaluation based on surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy: Copper(II) ions as a case study

A new approach was developed for the magnetic separation of copper(II) ions with easy operation and high efficiency. p‐Mercaptobenzoic acid served as the modified tag of Fe₂O₃@Au nanoparticles both for the chelation ligand and Raman reporter. Through the chelation between the copper(II) ions and carboxyl groups on the gold shell, the Fe₂O₃@Au nanoparticles aggregated to form networks that were enriched and separated from the solution by a magnet. A significant decrease in the concentration of copper(II) ions in the supernatant solution was observed. An extremely sensitive method based on surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy was employed to detect free copper(II) ions that remained after the magnetic separation, and thus to evaluate the separation efficiency. The results indicated the intensities of the surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy bands from p‐mercaptobenzoic acid were dependent on the concentration of copper(II) ions, and the concentration was decreased by several orders of magnitude after the magnetic separation. The present protocol effectively decreased the total amount of heavy metal ions in the solution. This approach opens a potential application in the magnetic separation and highly sensitive detection of heavy metal ions.     

Sensitive monitoring of penicillin antibiotics in milk and honey treated by stir bar sorptive extraction based on monolith and LC‐electrospray MS detection

In the present study, a convenient and sensitive method for determination of six penicillin antibiotics (amoxicillin, ampicillin, penicillin G, oxacillin, cloxacillin, and dicloxacillin) in milk and honey samples was developed. Milk and honey samples were diluted with water, then directly treated by stir bar sorptive extraction based on poly (vinylimidazole‐divinylbenzene) monolithic material as coating. The analytes were analyzed by LC/ESI‐ MS/MS. Several extraction parameters including extraction and desorption time, pH value, and ionic strength in sample matrix were investigated in detail. Under the optimized extraction conditions, the calculated detection limits for the target compounds were as low as 0.23–2.66 ng/kg in milk and 0.18–1.42 ng/kg in honey, respectively. Good linearity was obtained for analytes with the correlation coefficients (R²) above 0.997. Excellent method reproducibility was achieved in terms of intraday and interday precisions, indicated by the RSDs of <5.0 and <10.0%, respectively. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of penicillin antibiotics residues in different milk and honey samples.     

Graphene grafted silica‐coated Fe3O4 nanocomposite as absorbent for enrichment of carbamates from cucumbers and pears prior to HPLC

In this paper, a novel graphene (G) grafted silica‐coated Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite was fabricated by the chemical bonding of G onto the surface of silica‐coated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. Some carbamates (metolcarb, carbaryl, pirimicarb, and diethofencarb) in cucumber and pear samples were enriched by this nanocomposite prior to their determination by HPLC with UV detection. Experimental parameters that may affect the extraction efficiency were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, a linear response was achieved in the concentration range of 0.5–100.0 ng/g for metolcarb, carbaryl, and diethofencarb, and 1.0–100 ng/g for pirimicarb with the correlation coefficients (r) ranging from 0.9956 to 0.9984. The LOD (S/N = 3) of the method were found to be in the range from 0.08 to 0.2 ng/g. The RSDs were in the range from 2.4 to 5.8%. The results indicated that the G grafted silica‐coated Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite was stable and efficient for magnetic SPE and has a great application potential for the preconcentration of other organic pollutants from real samples.     

An interesting two‐phase solvent system and its use in preparative isolation of aconitines from aconite roots by counter‐current chromatography

Two‐phase solvent system plays crucial role in successful separation of organic compounds using counter‐current chromatography (CCC). An interesting two‐phase solvent system, composed of chloroform/ethyl acetate/methanol/water, is reported here, in which both phases contain sufficient organic solvents to balance their dissolving capacities. Adjusting the solvent system to get satisfactory partition coefficients (K values) for target compounds becomes relatively simple. This solvent system succeeded in sample preparation of aconitine (8.07 mg, 93.69%), hypaconitine (7.74 mg, 93.17%), mesaconitine (1.95 mg, 94.52%) from raw aconite roots (102.24 mg, crude extract), benzoylmesaconine (34.79 mg, 98.67%) from processed aconite roots (400.01 mg, crude extract), and yunaconitine (253.59 mg, 98.65%) from a crude extract of Aconitum forrestii (326.69 mg, crude extract).     

New monolithic stir-cake-sorptive extraction for the determination of polar phenols by HPLC

A novel porous monolith has been prepared and used as a sorbent in stir-cake-sorptive extraction (SCSE). The monolithic material was prepared by in-situ copolymerization of allyl thiourea (AT) and divinylbenzene (DB) in the presence of dimethylformamide as a porogen solvent. To optimize the polymerization conditions, different monoliths with different ratios of functional monomer to porogenic solvent were prepared, and their extraction efficiency was investigated in detail. The monolith was characterized by elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and infrared spectroscopy. Analysis of polar phenols in environmental water samples by a combination of ATDB-SCSE and HPLC with diode-array detection was selected as a model for the practical application of the new sorbent. Several extraction conditions, including extraction and desorption time, pH, and ionic strength of the sample matrix were optimized. The results showed that the new monolith had high affinity for polar phenols and could be used to extract them effectively. Under the optimum conditions, low detection (S/N?=?3) and quantification (S/N?=?10) limits were achieved for the phenols, within the ranges 0.18–0.90 and 0.59–2.97 μg L^?1, respectively. The linearity of the method was good, and the method enabled simple, practical, and low-cost extraction of these analytes. The distribution coefficients between ATDB and water (K _ATDB/W) were calculated for the phenolic compounds and compared with K _O/W. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of the compounds in three environmental water samples, with acceptable recovery and satisfactory repeatability.

Selective DNA detection at Zeptomole level based on coulometric measurement of gold nanoparticle-mediated electron transfer across a self-assembled monolayer

A selective DNA sensing with zeptomole detection level is developed based on coulometric measurement of gold nanoparticle (AuNPs)-mediated electron transfer (ET) across a self-assembled monolayer on the gold electrode. After immobilization of a thiolated hairpin-structured DNA probe, an alkanethiol monolayer was self-assembled on the resultant electrode to block [Fe(CN)6 ]-3-/4in a solution from accessing the electrode. In the presence of DNA target, hybridization between the DNA probe and the DNA target breaks the stem duplex of DNA probe. Consequently, stem moiety at the 3′-end of the DNA probes was removed from the electrode surface and made available for hybridization with the reporter DNA-AuNPs conjugates (reporter DNA-AuNPs). The thiolated reporter DNA matches the stem moiety at the 3′-end of the DNA probe. AuNPs were then enlarged by immersing the electrode in a growth solution containing HAuCl 4 and H2O2 after the reporter DNA-AuNPs bound onto the electrode surface. The enlarged AuNPs on the electrode restored the ET between the electrode and the [Fe(CN)6]3 -/4- , as a result, amplified signals were achieved for DNA target detection using the coulometric measurement of Fe(CN)6 3- electro-reduction by prolonging the electrolysis time. The quantities of ET on the DNA sensor increased with the increase in DNA target concentration through a linear range of 3.0 fM to 1.0 pM when electrolysis time was set to 300 s, and the detection limit was 1.0 fM. Correspondingly, thousands of DNA (zeptomole) copies were detected in 10L samples. Furthermore, the DNA sensor showed excellent differentiation ability for single-base mismatch.