Study of DyFe12−xMx compounds by57Fe and161Dy Mössbauer spectroscopy

DyFe_12?xM_x (M=Si,Ti,Cr) were studied with⁵⁷Fe and¹⁶¹Dy Mössbauer spectroscopy. The deduced coupling constants J_RFe of these compounds are about equal. It is found that Si is substituting one particular Fe-site, while Cr is substituting Fe randomly. In DyFe₁₀Si₂ two Fe-sites favour a c-axis anisotropy, while the third one favours the basal plane.     

Comparison of various liquid chromatographic methods involving UV and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometric detection for the efficient trace analysis of phenylurea herbicides in various types of water samples

The performance of mass spectrometric (MS) detection and UV detection in combination with reversed-phase liquid chromatography without and with the use of coupled column RPLC (LC-LC) has been compared for the trace analysis of phenylurea herbicides in environmental waters. The selected samples of this comparative study originated from an inter-laboratory study. For both detection modes, a 50 mm x 4.6 mm I.D. column and a 100 mm x 4.6 mm I.D. column packed with 3 microm C18 were used as the first (C-1) and second (C-2) column, respectively. Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry was performed on a magnetic sector instrument. The LC-LC-MS analysis was carried out on-line by means of direct large volume (11.7 ml) injection (LVI). The performance of both on-line (LVI, 4 ml of sample) and off-line LC-LC-UV (244 nm) analysis was investigated. The latter procedure consisted of a solid-phase extraction (SPE) of 250 ml of water sample on a 500 mg C18 cartridge. The comparative study showed that LC-LC-MS is more selective then LC-LC-UV and, in most cases, more sensitive. The LVI-LC-LC-MS approach combines direct quantification and confirmation of most of the analytes down to a level of 0.01 microg/l in water samples in less then 30 min. As regards LC-LC-UV, the off-line method appeared to be a more viable approach in comparison with the on-line procedure. This method allows the screening of phenylurea's in various types of water samples down to a level of at least 0.05 microg/l. On-line analysis with LVI provided marginal sensitivity (limits of detection of about 0.1 microg/l) and selectivity was sometimes less in case of surface water samples. Both the on-line LVI-LC-LC-MS method and the LC-LC-UV method using off-line SPE were validated by analysing a series of real-life reference samples. These samples were part of an inter-laboratory test and contained residues of herbicides ranging from 0.02 to 0.8 microg/l. Beside good correlation between the methods the data agreed very well with the true values of the samples.     

Automated sample clean-up and fractionation of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in human milk using NP-HPLC with column-switching

A method has been developed for the automated sample pretreatment of organochlorine pesticides (OCP's) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) in extracts of human milk. This work was part of a regular monitoring program presently carried out at our institute. In this program several hundreds of human milk samples have to be analyzed for the occurrence of PCB's and OCP's. With a normal bore straight phase HPLC system, utilizing column switching we are able to separate the fat from the compounds of interest and, moreover, complete separation of the PCB fraction from the OCP's can be achieved. Under the conditions used to separate the PCB fraction from intefering OCP's column-switching is essential since the retention times for the OCP's vary from 4 minutes for hexachlorobenzene (HCB) to more than 2 hours for dieldrin. 1 ml of an extract containing 45 mg of fat is injected on the first (pre)column, the fat is retained on this column and the early eluting HCB, the PCB fraction, and the DDT complex are transferred to the second (analytical) column. Compounds eluting later than p,p′-DDT are collected directly from the precolumn. Meanwhile, the PCB fraction is separated from the rest of the OCP's on the analytical column. Contrary to conventional gravity-controlled chromatography or solid phase extraction the clean-up process can be monitored on-line by UV-detection, thus rendering a fast and reliable optimization of the system. The OCP-fractions collected from the LC are pooled before they are transferred to a high resolution gas chromatograph equipped with a large volume option. The PCB-fraction is injected directly in a HRGC equipped with a concurrent solvent evaporation injection device. The limits of detection for the OCP's (HCB, α-,β- and γ-HCH, β-Hepo (heptachlorepoxide), dieldrin, p,p′-DDE, o,p′-DDT p,p′-DDT and TDE) and the PCB's investigated are at sub-ppb level (fat basis); the recoveries vary from 80 to 100%.     

Effect of organic matter content in the trace analysis of triazines in various types of soils with GC-NPD

Summary Recent work demonstrated that the combination of microwave assisted solvent extraction (MASE) and capillary gas chromatography with selective nitrogen detection (GC-NPD) is a viable approach for the efficient determination of triazine herbicides in soils. However, for soils with a high organic matter content or the injection of more concentrated extracts to obtain lower LOD's the performance of gas chromatographic analysis of uncleaned extracts is hampered. This results in both a decrease of the chromatographic response of analytes and a decrease in the life time of the column due to coextracted matrix substances. The effect of various types of soils on the chromatographic analysis of triazine herbicides was studied. It appeared that for the investigated samples with an organic matter content below 5% processing of uncleaned extracts is possible. Samples with a higher organic matter content required a cleanup step. A rapid procedure on 100 mg silica cartridges has been developed using solvents compatible with the MASE extracts and the instrumental analysis. Beside the testing with different standard soils, about 120 samples of an ongoing monitoring program involving three different types of soil (organic matter content: 3–37%) were analysed. The selected compounds atrazine, desethylatrazine, desisopropyl-atrazine and simazine could be assayed in the various soil types to a level of at least 2 μg kg⁻¹. For soil samples with a high organic matter content (>5%), the rapid cleanup procedure allowed the trace analysis of the triazines and considerably increased the life time of the capillary column. Recoveries at levels from 2 to 50 μg kg⁻¹ ranged from 70 to 100% with RSDs ranging from 5.1 to 9.5%. Confirmation of positive samples was carried out by gas chromatography mass spectrometry.     

Column-switching RPLC for the trace-level determination of ethylenethiourea in aqueous samples

Summary Column-switching with two C18 separation columns combined with UV detection at 233 nm has been used to determine ETU in ground water samples. The direct assay of ETU (limit of detection, 1 ppb) takes less than 10 min. For the determination of ETU down to a level of 0.1 ppb, preconcentration of ETU is achieved by a liquid-liquid extraction procedure allowing the analysis of at least 12 water samples per day.For both methods (1-ppb and 0.1-ppb level), the overall recovery (96 and 82%), the repeatability (4.5 and 4.3%) and the reproducibility (5.0 and 7.9%) are satisfactory (n=18 and 28, respectively). More than one hundred samples of ground water were analysed during a 10-month period; over 0.1 ppb of ETU (range, 0.1–300 ppb) was found in 30% of the samples tested.     

An internal surface reversed phase column for the effective removal of humic acid interferences in the trace analysis of mecoprop in soils with coupled-column RPLC-UV

In the development of a screening method for the determination of residues of mecoprop in soils involving coupled-column RPLC-UV (228 nm) the cleanup performance of a 5 μm GFF-II internal surface reversed phase (ISRP, Pinkerton) analytical column (50 × 4.6 mm I.D.) as a first column was investigated. In comparison to an analytical C18 column the ISRP column substantially improved the separation between acidic analyte and co-extracted humic substances. Under the selected coupled-column conditions soil extracts obtained after hydrolysis with an aqueous alkaline solution, acidifying and centrifugation could be analyzed directly allowing the determination of mecoprop in soils to a level of about 0.02 mg/kg. A rapid concentration step on a 100 mg C18 solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridge was adopted into the procedure providing a limit of detection (S/N = 3) of 0.01 mg/kg of mecoprop in soil. The method was validated by analyzing freshly spiked soil samples and samples with aged residues. In case of freshly spiked samples the overall recovery was 87% (n = 18, spiked level 0.02–8.0 mg/kg) with a repeatability of 6.8% and a reproducibility of 8.3%. No significant decrease of the recovery was observed for samples with aged residues (n = 15, spiked level 0.1 and 8.0 mg/kg) during a storage of 29 days in the refrigerator at about 4 °C; a storage of 67 days provided a mean recovery of 76% (n = 14, spiked level 8.0 mg/kg). Received: 4 May 1998 / Revised: 11 July 1998 / Accepted: 18 July 1998     

Flux line lattice symmetries in the borocarbide superconductor LuNi2B2C

We compare the results of small angle neutron scattering on the flux line lattice (FLL) obtained in the borocarbide superconductor LuNi₂B₂C with the applied field along the c- and a-axes. For H‖c the temperature dependence of the FLL structural phase transition from square to hexagonal symmetry was investigated. Above 10 K the transition onset field. H ₂(T), rises sharply, bending away from H _c2(T) in contradiction to theoretical predictions of the two merging. For H‖a a first order FLL reorientation transition is observed at H _tr=3–3.5 kOe. Below H _tr the FLL nearest neighbor direction is parallel to the b-axis, and above H _tr to the c-axis. This transition cannot be explained using nonlocal corrections to the London model.     

Application of HPLC column-switching in pesticide residue analysis

Summary An overview is given of the applicability of HPLC with column-switching in pesticide residue analysis. The main advantage of HPLC with column-switching is the enhancement of both sensitivity and selectivity combined with a high potential for automation. The selection of optimal conditions such as column dimensions, mobile phase compositions and multi step gradient elution is discussed.