Spectrographic analysis of boron nitride for trace impurities

A d.c. arc emission spectrographic method has been developed for the determination of nine trace impurities in boron nitride. The charge for exciting the sample contains equal quantities of boron nitride and graphite (containing 2% NaF as carrier and 1% La(2)O(3) as an internal standard). The method is useful in the determination of impurities in the range 2-1000 ppm, with a mean relative standard deviation of 13%.     

Intradiffusion and viscosity measurements in acidified iron(III) chloride solutions at 25°C

Intradiffusion of species in acidified (using eithe hydrochloric or perchloric acid) iron(III) chloride solutions has been studied using labeled iron(III), chloride and water. Comparison with data for iron(III) perchlorate has enabled the influence of complexed species upon the diffusion to be ascertained. The chloro-iron species formed have larger diffusion coefficients than the free iron(III) ion as would be expected from their lower net charge. Simple diffusion models have been employed to enable estimates of the diffusion of the complexed species and of the free chloride diffusion coefficients to be obtained. These are discussed in relation to literature data for similar systems. In addition esitmates of the effective hydration of the iron(III) species in solutions have been obtained from the diffusion data. These are discussed in relation to two other trivalent metal salt systems, chromium chloride and lanthanum chloride; the overall hydration of the three cations is virtually identical.     

Molecular dynamic simulations of self-assembled alkylthiolate monolayers on an Au(III) surface

Molecular dynamics simulations incorporating explicit gold atoms in the simulations have been carried out for alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers chemisorbed on the Au(III) surface. The structural properties of the monolayer are evaluated for two force fields: one in which the Au--S--C bond is fixed (FF I), and the other in which it is flexible (FF II). The influence of these force fields on the structural properties of HS(CH2)14CH3 on the structured Au surface is compared at different temperatures. FF I yields greater tilt angles and a smaller film thickness when compared with FF II. Both of the force fields predict that the tilt angles do not follow a monotonic decrease with temperature but show minima around 200 K. Simulations carried out at different chain lengths at 300 K reveal that FF II predicts a greater film thickness than FF I; however, the difference is within 1 A.     

Coimmobilization of urease and glutamate dehydrogenase in electrochemically prepared polypyrrole-polyvinyl sulfonate films

Immobilization of urease and glutamate dehydrogenase enzymes in electrochemically prepared polypyrrole-polyvinyl sulfonate films (PPY-PVS) was carried out using physical adsorption and electrochemical entrapment techniques. Detailed studies on optimum pH, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and scanning electron microscopy of the enzymes in the immobilized state were conducted. The value of the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant was experimentally determined to be 2.5 and 2.7 for physically adsorbed and electrochemically entrapped urease in PPY-PVS films, respectively.     

Nanostructured Iron Oxide Platform for Impedimetric Cholesterol Detection

A nanostructured iron oxide (NanoFe₃O₄, particle size ca. 25 nm and roughness ca. 21 nm) film deposited onto a hydrolyzed indium‐tin‐oxide (ITO) coated glass plate has been used to immobilize cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) to fabricate an impedimetric cholesterol sensor. Electrochemical studies reveal that surface charged Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles provide better conformation for ChOx loading resulting in enhanced electron transfer between ChOx and the electrode. Impedimetric response studies of the ChOx/NanoFe₃O₄/ITO bioelectrode exhibit improved linearity (2.5–400 mg/dL), low detection limit (0.25 mg/dL), fast response time (25 s), high sensitivity (86 Ω/mg dL^?1/cm^?2) and a low value of the Michaelis‐Menten constant (K_m, 0.8 mg/dL) with a regression coefficient of 0.997.