Electrochemical reduction and voltammetric determination of metronidazole at a nanomaterial thin film coated glassy carbon electrode

Simple and sensitive electrochemical method for the determination of metronidazole, based on a nanostructured film coated glassy carbon electrode (GCE), is described. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) was dispersed into water in the presence of a hydrophobic surfactant to give very stable and homogeneous MWNT suspension, and a MWNT-film coated GCE was achieved via evaporating solvent. Metronidazole yields a well-defined reduction peak whose potential is −0.71 V at the MWNT-film coated GCE in pH 9.0 Britton-Robinson buffer. Compared with bare GCE, the MWNT-film modified GCE significantly enhances the reduction peak current of metronidazole. All the experimental parameters were optimized for the determination of metronidazole. The detection limit is 6×10⁻⁹ mol/l at 2 min accumulation. This method has been successfully used to determine metronidazole in the drugs. Furthermore, results obtained by the proposed method have been compared with spectrophotometric method.     

Identification of a chemical indicator of the rupture of 1,4-β-glycosidic bonds of cellulose in an oil-impregnated insulating paper system

In this study, headspace gas chromatography/mass spectrometry has been used to assess the volatile by-products generated by the ageing of oil-impregnated paper insulation of power transformers. Sealed-glass ampoules were used to age under oxidative conditions 0.5-g specimens of insulating paper in 9 mL of inhibited mineral oil in a temperature range of 60–120 °C and moisture of 0.5, 1 and 2% (w/w). A linear relationship between one of the oil-soluble degradation by-products, i.e. methanol, and the number of ruptured 1,4-β-glycosidic bonds of cellulose, regardless of the type of paper (ordinary Kraft or thermally-upgraded (TU) Kraft paper), was established for the first time in this field. Ageing at 130 °C of model compounds of the Kraft paper constituents (α-cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) and two cellulosic breakdown by-products (D-(+)-glucose and 1,6-anhydro-β-d-glucopyranose) confirmed that the α-cellulose degradation was mostly responsible for the presence of this molecule in the system. Furthermore, additional 130 °C-tests with six different papers and pressboard samples under a tight control of initial moisture indicated that at least one molecule of methanol is formed for each rupture of 1,4-β-glucosidic bond of the molecular chains. Stability tests showed that the ageing indicator is stable under the oxygen and temperature conditions of open-breathing transformers. The presence of methanol was detected in 94% of oil samples collected from over than 900 in-service pieces of equipment, confirming the potential for this application. Lastly, the tests have shown that oil-oxidation by-products and TU-nitrogenous agents modify the methanol partitioning coefficients in the paper/oil/air system, which makes their study essential over a range of field conditions encountered by power transformers. Results are presented and discussed in comparison with 2-furfuraldehyde, which is the current reference in the domain.     

Organic–inorganic nanocomposites prepared from fluoro-aramid and silica

Fluoro-aramid-based sol/gel-derived nanocomposites were synthesized by condensing a mixture of 4,4′-(hexafluoro-isopropylidene)dianiline and 1,3-phenylenediamine with terephthaloylchloride (TPC) in dimethylacetamide. TPC was added in slight excess to produce amide chains with carbonyl chloride end groups and then replaced with alkoxy groups using aminophenyltrimethoxysilane to develop bonding with the silica network. Mechanical, dynamic mechanical thermal, water absorption and morphological measurements were carried out on the thin hybrid films. Increase in the tensile strength and modulus was observed as compared to pristine polyamide. The thermal decomposition temperature was found in the range of 400–500 °C. The water absorption was found to be reduced with higher silica content. The glass transition temperature and the storage moduli increased with increasing silica concentration. The maximum increase in the T _g value (345 °C) was observed with 20 wt% silica. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the uniform distribution of silica in the matrix with an average particle size ranging from 8 to 50 nm.     

Electrothermal volatilization of aluminum as 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-benzoylpyrazolone[5] chelate for gaseous sample introduction in ICP-AES

Based on gaseous compound introduction as 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-benzoylpyrazolone[5](PMBP) chelate of aluminum by electrothermal vaporization in ICP-AES, a method for determination of trace aluminum was developed. Trace aluminum was vaporized at temperature of 1000 degrees C, and the vaporization behavior of aluminum chelate was detailedly investigated. Under the optimum conditions, the detection limit of aluminum was 0.6 ng ml(-1), and the relative standard deviation for 0.1 mug ml(-1) aluminum was 4.7% (n=8). The proposed method was applied to the determination of trace aluminum in rice flour reference materials, and the results well agreed with the reference values.     

新型紫外衍生试剂用于D-氨基酸的毛细管电泳分离

采用一种新型紫外衍生试剂对乙酰氨基苯磺酰氟(PAABS-F)作为柱前衍生试剂,成功地对19种标准D-氨基酸和甘氨酸进行了衍生和毛细管电泳分离。详细研究了各种分离条件对毛细管电泳分离的影响。实验结果表明:采用20 mmol/L硼砂(pH 9.3),126 mmol/L十二烷基硫酸钠,8 mmol/Lβ-环糊精和20mmol/L NaC l时分离结果最佳,16 m in内实现了20种氨基酸的基线分离。     

酞菁锰-表面活性剂薄膜电极的电化学表征及其对三氯乙酸的电化学催化作用的研究

将酞菁锰（ＭｎＰｃ）掺入阳离子表面活性剂双十二烷基二甲基溴化铵（ＤＤＡＢ）的氯仿溶液，并涂布于热解石墨电极表面，待氯仿挥发后即制得ＭｎＰｃ－ＤＤＡＢ薄膜电极。循环伏安实验表明，在ＫＢｒ溶液中，该薄膜电极有两对还原氧化峰，第一对峰的Ｅｐｃ１＝－０．２７Ｖ，Ｅｐａ１＝０．０１Ｖ；第二对峰的Ｅｐｃ２＝－０．７６Ｖ，Ｅｐａ２＝－０．６２Ｖ（ｖｓ．ＳＣＥ）。本文着重探讨了第二对峰的电化学行为，估计了该体系的电荷传递扩散系数Ｄｃｔ和表观非均相电极反应速率常数Ｋ０′等电化学参数，并可将该薄膜电极用于催化三氯乙酸的电化学还原。     

无水醋酸镍与水杨醛肟固相配位反应的热化学研究

用新型的具有恒定温度环境的反应热量计，以６ｍｏｌ·ｄｍ－３ＨＣｌ溶液为量热溶剂，分别测定了ＨＳＡＯ，Ｎｉ（Ａｃ）２和Ｎｉ（ＳＡＯ）２，ＨＡｃ先后溶于该溶剂的溶解焓．设计了一个新的热化学循环，计算得到该配位反应的反应焓ΔｒＨ＝－８６．０７５ｋＪ·ｍｏｌ－１，并估算出了ΔｆＨ［Ｎｉ（ＳＡＯ）２，２９８Ｋ］＝－４０１．３３６ｋＪ·ｍｏｌ－１．     

Sol-Gel and Ultrafine Particle Formation via Dielectric Tuning of Inorganic Salt-Alcohol-Water Solutions

Under some conditions, inorganic salts can be as good precursors for sol-gel-type processing as those obtained from expensive metalloorganic precursors such as alkoxides. In this work, the formation of monodispersed hydrous zirconia microsphere particles (particularly nanosized) and gels was achieved in solutions of zirconyl chloride dissolved in alcohol-water mixed solvents. The dielectric property of the mixed alcohol-water solvent directly affects the nucleation and growth of zirconia clusters/particles in homogeneous solutions. A lower dielectric constant of mixed solvent corresponds to a lower solubility of inorganic solute and, thus, a shorter induction period for nucleation as well as higher solid particle growth kinetics. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) was used to monitor the homogeneous nucleation and growth processes, while final particles and gels were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-temperature X-ray diffraction (HTXRD). The sol-gel processes in the mixed solvent system can be adjusted using the processing parameters, including the initial inorganic salt concentration (C), alcohol/aqueous medium volume ratio of the mixed solution (RH), incubation temperature (T), incubation time (t), concentration of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), and ammonia neutralization. Monodispersed submicron and nanoscale (<100 nm) zirconia microspheres/powders were successfully synthesized under conditions of high RH (5) and using HPC (molecular weight of 100,000, 2.0x10(-3) g/cm(3)) and ammonia neutralization. Initial salt concentration affects the particle size significantly. Gel materials were obtained under conditions of low RH (1.0). Microstructure and transparency of gels changed significantly from low (0.05 M) to high (0.2 M) concentration of the metal salt. We have also demonstrated that monodispersed particle production can be achieved not only at low temperatures (<100 degrees C) but also at room temperature using an inorganic salt precursor. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.