Determination of iron(II) with chemically-modified carbon-paste electrodes

The utility of carbon-paste electrodes modified with 2,2'-bipyridyl and Nafion for the differential pulse voltammetric determination of iron(II) in aqueous medium is demonstrated. The method is based on formation of the 2,2'-bipyridyl complex of iron(II) and its accumulation by the Nafion. The differential pulse voltammetric response of the accumulated complex is used as the analytical signal. The response was evaluated with respect to carbon-paste composition, preconcentration time, pH, iron(II) concentration and other variables. A 3-min accumulation period permits measurement of iron(II) down to 10(-8)M, and a relative standard deviation of 3.8% for 2 x 10(-6)M iron(II). Rapid and convenient chemical renewal allows use of a single modified carbon-paste electrode in multiple analytical measurements over several days. The proposed procedure was applied to the determination of iron in certified standard reference materials and trace iron in natural waters.     

烷基和烷基苯磺酸钠系列的反相高效液相色谱法

用移动相中含有磷酸二氢钠的反相高效液相色谱法分析了烷基磺酸钠和烷基苯磺酸钠。对前者用电导检测器直接进行检测(无抑制柱),后者用紫外检测器检测。对几种商品十二烷基苯磺酸钠的组分和微乳液中十二烷基磺酸钠的含量进行了测定。得到了满意的结果。     

Vibrational circular dichroism: a new spectroscopic tool for biomolecular structural determination

Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) in the past two decades has developed into a powerful new structural tool. A concise review of the applications of VCD to determine the structures of various biological molecules, namely peptides and proteins, nucleic acids and carbohydrates, is provided.     

Direct melting polycondensation and characterization of poly(ɛ-caprolactone-co-lactic acid)

A kind of biodegradable material, poly(ɛ-caprolactone-co-lactic acid) [P(CL-co-LA)] was synthesized via the direct melting polycondensation of lactic acid (LA) and ɛ-caprolactone (CL). The influences of the polycondensation time, and the catalyst type on the intrinsic viscosity of P(CL-co-LA) were also investigated. The results indicate that P(CL-co-dl-LA), with an intrinsic viscosity of 0.4733 dL/g, can be prepared by direct melting polycondensation with the molar ratio LA/CL = 3:7 at 180°C and 70 Pa for 12 h, using 0.5% (mass fraction) of SnCl₂ as the catalyst. Compared with lactide ring-opening polycondensation (ROP), the direct melting polycondensation of LA and CL is more practicable and simple. Translated from Journal of South China University of Technology, 2006, 34(7): 7–11 (in Chinese)     

TiO(2) porous electrodes with hierarchical branched inner channels for charge transport in viscous electrolytes.

Titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) photoelectrodes with micro/nano hierarchical branched inner channels have been prepared by an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) technique and assembled to form dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Excellent penetration of ionic-liquid electrolytes and enhanced light harvesting in the longer wavelength region are realized within the composite-structure electrode, thus a better fill factor (ff) of 75.3 % and higher conversion efficiency (eta) of 7.1 % are obtained for viscous ionic-liquid electrolytes compared to pure nanostructured films. Hierarchical branched channels in the photoanodes can efficiently improve the transport properties of redox-active species in viscous electrolytes, which is demonstrated by electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The incident monochromatic photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) shows that enhanced light scattering in the composite film is of benefit for light harvesting and thus for solar energy conversion efficiency.     

Microstructure and Ion Exchange in Stearic Acid Langmuir-Blodgett Films Studied by Fourier Transform Infrared-Attenuated Total Reflection Spectroscopy

Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR) spectra have been recorded of 11-layer Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of stearic acid deposited at various surface pressures (0.1, 15, and 35 mN/m), and the molecular orientation angles were evaluated quantitatively, which supplied insight into the molecular order with the alkyl chains tightly packed like crystal in the LB films deposited at the zero and higher surface pressures. These experimental results indicate that, in the Langmuir film as the precursor of LB films, stearic acid molecules self-aggregate to form two-dimensional crystalline domains already even at the zero surface pressure, which results in the inhomogeneity of monolayer. The analysis of dependence of nu(C=O) intensity on the surface pressure, surface density, and subphase temperature leads to the conclusion that the defects in LB films originate from the Langmuir film and be conserved upon deposition. Annealing below 50 degrees C and cooling could improve the monolayer homogeneity, and thus a defect-free or low-defect LB films can be deposited. Furthermore, ion exchange conducted in the LB films, on the other hand, confirms the existence of structure defects in LB films of stearic acid. The polar plane microstructure, lateral transport along the polar planes and the coordination types of stearic acid/cation system may be the rate-limiting process. The results have implication on the possible uses of stearic acid LB films as ion-exchange materials or sensors. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Biosynthesis of desosamine: construction of a new macrolide carrying a genetically designed sugar moiety

[formula: see text] The appended sugars in macrolide antibiotics are indispensable to the biological activities of these important drugs. In an effort to generate a set of novel macrolide derivatives, we have created a new analogue of methymycin and neomethymycin, antibiotics produced by Streptomyces venezuelae. This analogue 15 carrying a different sugar, D-quinovose, instead of D-desosamine, was constructed by taking advantage of targeted gene deletion combined with a specific pathway-independent C-3 reduction capability of the wild type S. venezuelae.     

涂敷法制作质谱场电离发射丝的方法及性能研究

本文介绍一种新的质谱场电离发射丝的制备方法——涂敷法,并研究了其制备机理及影响发射丝灵敏度的因素。此外,还对涂敷法制作的发射丝及高温活化法制作的发射丝进行了各项性能对比试验。最后,介绍了涂敷发射丝的应用效果。