On the surface modification of microchannels for microcapillary electrophoresis chips

This paper presents systematic investigation of the microchannel surface properties in microCE chips. Three popular materials for microCE chips, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), quartz, and glass, are used. The zeta potentials of these microchannels are calculated by measuring the EOF velocity to evaluate the surface properties after surface modification. The hydrophobic PDMS is usually plasma-treated for microCE applications. In this study, a new method using a high-throughput atmospheric plasma generator is adopted to treat the PDMS surface under atmospheric conditions. In this approach, the cost and time for surface treatment can be significantly reduced compared with the conventional vacuum plasma generator method. Experimental results indicate that new functional groups could be formed on the PDMS surface after treatment, resulting in a change in the surface property. The time-dependent surface property of the plasma-treated PDMS is then measured in terms of the zeta potential. Results show that the surface property will reach a stable condition after 1 h of plasma treatment. For glass CE chips, two new methods for changing the microchannel surface properties are developed. Instead of using complicated and time-consuming chemical silanization procedures for CE channel surface modification, two simple and reliable methods utilizing organic-based spin-on-glass and water-soluble acrylic resin are reported. The proposed method provides a fast batch process for controlling the surface properties of glass-based CE channels. The proposed methods are evaluated using PhiX-174 DNA maker separation. The experimental data show that the surface property is modified and separation efficiency greatly improved. In addition, the long-term stability of both coatings is verified in this study. The methods proposed in this study show potential as an excellent solution for glass-based microCE chip surface modification.     

Characterization of polyethylene glycol-modified proteins by semi-aqueous capillary electrophoresis

A new program to characterize polyethylene glycol-modified (PEGylated) proteins is outlined using capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). PEGylated ribonuclease A and lysozyme were selected as examples. Five separation procedures were compared to select out the mixed buffer of acetonitrile-water (1:1, v/v) at pH 2.5 as the best to characterize the PEGylated proteins without sample pretreatment. Polyethylene oxide (PEO) with a high molecular mass of 8 x 10(6) was applied to rinse the capillary to form a dynamic coating which would decrease the undesirable proteins adsorbed to the inner wall of the silica. The electroosmotic flow (EOF) mobility of the five procedures was determined, respectively. It is found that acetonitrile is mainly responsible for the good resolution of PEGylated proteins with the help of PEO coating in the semi-aqueous system. The low EOF mobility and current in the semi-aqueous system might also have some responsibility for the high resolution. The semi-aqueous procedure described in this paper also demonstrates higher resolution of natural proteins than aqueous ones.     

Chiral separation of amino acids derivatized with fluoresceine-5isothiocyanate by capillary electrophoresis and laser-induced fluorescence detection using mixed selectors of beta-cyclodextrin and sodium taurocholate

Chiral separation of 20 pairs of amino acids derivatized with fluoresceine-5-isothiocyanate (FITC) by capillary electrophoresis and laser-induced fluorescence detection was studied using the mixture of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) and sodium taurocholate (STC) as selector. Resolution was considerably superior to that obtained by using either beta-CD or STC alone. The molar ratio of beta-CD to STC of about 2:3 was found to be critical to achieve maximum separation. At this beta-CD-to-STC ratio, chiral separation occurred at really low total concentration of beta-CD and STC (<0.1 mM). Other impacting factors were investigated including the total concentration of beta-CD and STC, pH, and capillary conditioning procedure between two successive runs. Using a running buffer of 80 mM borate containing 20 mM beta-CD and 30 mM STC at pH 9.3, all of the 20 pairs of FITC-amino acid enantiomers were baseline resolved. The resolutions of the most pairs of the amino acid enantiomers (17 of 20) were higher than 3.0, only three pairs gave a resolution lower than 3.0 but higher than 1.90 (beta-phenylserine, pSer). The highest resolution reached 14.58 (Glu). Two derivatives of beta-CD, 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-CD (HP-beta-CD) and heptakis(2,6-di-O-methyl)-beta-CD (DM-beta-CD) were also explored. HP-beta-CD showed similar cooperative effect with STC, while DM-beta-CD together with STC led to poorer chiral separation.     

Electrostatic layer-by-layer assembled carbon nanotube multilayer film and its electrocatalytic activity for O2 reduction

Multilayer films of shortened multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) are homogeneously and stably assembled on glassy carbon electrodes with the layer-by-layer (LBL) method, based on electrostatic interaction of positively charged poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and negatively charged and shortened MWNTs. The film assembly and electrochemical property as well as the electrocatalytic activity toward O2 reduction of the MWNT multilayer film are studied. Scanning electron microscopy, the quartz crystal microbalance technique, ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry are used for characterization of film assembly. Experimental results revealed that film growth is uniform, almost with the same coverage of the MWNTs in each layer, and that the assembled MWNTs are mainly in the form of small bundles or single tubes on the electrodes. Electrochemical studies indicate that the LBL assembled MWNT films possess a remarkable electrocatalytic activity toward O2 reduction in alkaline media. This property, combined with the well-dispersed, porous and conductive features of the MWNT film illustrated with the LBL method, suggests the potential application of the MWNT film for constructing an efficient alkaline air electrode for energy conversions.     

14‐Membered Cyclopeptides from Paliurus ramosissimus and P. hemsleyanus

Six 14‐membered cyclopeptide alkaloids, i.e., ramosines A–C, mucronine J, and lotusines A and D, were isolated from the roots of Paliurus ramosissimus, and an additional four, hemsines A–D, from the roots of P. hemsleyanus. Among these, ramosines A–C ( 1, 5 , and 6 , resp.) and hemsines A and B ( 7 and 8 , resp.) are new bases of the amphibine‐B type, and hemsines C and D ( 9 and 10 , resp.) are new integerrine‐type alkaloids. Additionally, ramosine C ( 6 ) represents the first 14‐membered cyclopeptide alkaloid possessing a substitution (? OH) at C(13′). Their structural elucidations were based on spectral analysis and molecular‐modeling studies. Pronounced solvent effects in the ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR spectra of these two types of alkaloids were observed.     

Decreasing the detection limits to ppq levels for high purity silicon analysis by instrumental neutron activation analysis with kilogram sampling weight

The amount of silicon sample used in instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) is generally less than twenty grams and the detection limits are in the range of ppb to ppt. The detection limits can be decreased further in several ways. Increasing neutron flux density, extending irradiation period and/or using more effective detector can improve the detection limits to some extent. Increasing sample weight, however, is a more feasible way to decrease the detection limits by a factor of hundreds with no new investment in existing irradiation/counting systems. In this work, two 8-inch high-purity silicon samples were analyzed by INAA to evaluate the validity and limitations of this concept in respect to neutron flux inhomogeneity, neutron shielding and -ray counting efficiency.     

激光诱导击穿光谱(LIBS)技术在低碳钢铁冶金行业的应用

激光诱导击穿光谱技术(Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy,简称LIBS)是一种基于激光等离子体的发射光谱技术,具有样品制备简单,分析迅速,多元素同时分析,现场在线和远程分析等独特优势,已在钢铁冶金领域取得了越来越广泛的应用与发展。综述了近年来LIBS技术在钢铁冶金领域的应用研究进展,从冶金生产的全流程进行介绍,包括矿石、熔融钢水/铁水、钢铁产品及炉渣和废气分析。同时,还总结了LIBS技术在钢铁冶金领域应用的优点和缺点,并对该技术的应用前景及未来发展方向进行展望。     

粉末压片-X荧光光谱法测定过磷酸钙中硫含量

硫是过磷酸钙中重要营养指标之一,为准确快速测定过磷酸钙中硫的含量,试验采用粉末压片-X荧光光谱法,将过磷酸钙试样充分干燥后研磨至粒度小于74 μm,采用硼酸镶边,在压力18 Mpa条件下保压30 s,制成样片。通过在过磷酸钙样品中添加不同质量的纯物质硫酸钙（质量分数范围1.52 %～17.21 %）,经过专用混匀设备混合均匀后,与试样压片相同条件下压制标准样片,作为过磷酸钙中硫的标准样品,建立硫标准曲线,曲线线性相关系数R2为0.9995,采用经验系数法校正干扰,建立了粉末压片-波长色散X射线荧光光谱法测定过磷酸钙中硫含量的方法, 方法检出限为0.002 %。对3个不同硫含量的过磷酸钙样品采用本实验方法重复测量7次,RSD在1.4 %~3.1 %,方法精密度性好,同时用高温燃烧红外光谱法和电感耦合等离子发射光谱法对比,三者测量结果相对极差小于2.0 %,测量结果无显著性差异。此方法不需要对样品进行熔融或溶解,样品制备简单,数据准确度和稳定性好,分析效率高,适合大批量样品中硫的测定。     

Synthesis of PNIPAAm-g-P4VP Microgel as Draw Agent in Forward Osmosis by RAFT Polymerization and Reverse Suspension Polymerization to Improve Water Flux

Microgels have unique and versatile properties allowing their use in forward osmosis areas as a draw agent. In this contribution, poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) was synthesized via RAFT polymerization and then grafted to a poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) crosslinking network by reverse suspension polymerization. P4VP was successfully obtained by the quasiliving polymerization with the result of nuclear magnetic resonance and gel permeation chromatography characterization. The particle size and particle size distribution of the PNIPAAm-g-P4VP microgels containing 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt% P4VP were measured by means of a laser particle size analyzer. It was found that all the microgels were of micrometer scale and the particle size was increased with the P4VP load. Inter/intra-molecular-specific interactions, i.e., hydrogen bond interactions were then investigated by Fourier infrared spectroscopy. In addition, the water flux measurements showed that all the PNIPAAm-g-P4VP microgels can draw water more effectively than a blank PNIPAAm microgel. For the copolymer microgel incorporating 20 wt% P4VP, the water flux was measured to be 7.48 L∙m⁻²∙h⁻¹.     

Hamiltonian Systems and Darboux Transformation Associated with a 3 × 3 Matrix Spectral Problem

Starting from a 3 × 3 matrix spectral problem, we derive a hierarchy of nonlinear equations. It is shown that the hierarchy possesses bi-Hamiltonian structure. Under the symmetry constraints between the potentials and the eigenfunctions, Lax pair and adjoint Lax pairs including partial part and temporal part are nonlinearied into two finitedimensional Hamiltonian systems (FDHS) in Liouville sense. Moreover, an explicit N-fold Darboux transformation for CDNS equation is constructed with the help of a gauge transformation of the spectral problem.