Co-digestion of agricultural and industrial wastes

The efficiency of anaerobic digestion process is dependent on the type and composition of the material to be digested. This work examines the co-digestion of corn silage, beet pulp silage, carrot residues, and cheese whey in different configurations together with a glycerin fraction — the waste product of transestrification of oils (biodiesel production) in a 25 L bioreactor operated mesophically in a quasi-continuous mode. Co-digestion of corn silage with carrot residues appeared to be more effective than that with cheese whey resulting in the gas production rate equal to 5.9 L L⁻¹ d⁻¹ and 1.4 L L⁻¹ d⁻¹, respectively. The performed experiments showed that a combination of three substrates: corn silage, cheese whey, and glycerin fraction resulted in the highest methane content equal to 61 % and the biogas production rate of 1.8 L L⁻¹ d⁻¹.     

On the derivative of the associated Legendre function of the first kind of integer degree with respect to its order (with applications to the construction of the associated Legendre function of the second kind of integer degree and order)

The derivative of the associated Legendre function of the first kind of integer degree with respect to its order, , is studied. After deriving and investigating general formulas for μ arbitrary complex, a detailed discussion of , where m is a non-negative integer, is carried out. The results are applied to obtain several explicit expressions for the associated Legendre function of the second kind of integer degree and order, . In particular, we arrive at formulas which generalize to the case of (0 ≤ m ≤ n) the well-known Christoffel’s representation of the Legendre function of the second kind, Q _n (z). The derivatives and , all with m > n, are also evaluated.     

Bonding in β-diketiminate boron and its analogues

Bonding analysis in β-diketiminate boron and related systems has been performed. For the optimized geometries (MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ), the post-SCF electron density function has been produced and its topological parameters have been analyzed according to Atoms in Molecules Quantum Theory approach. The B–N bond has characteristics similar to those found for TM–ligand bonding. The symmetric character of the B–N interaction found for the β-diketiminate boron results from the fully π-electron delocalized character of the β-diketiminate moiety. If the π-electron system in NCCCN sequence of bonds is localized, the asymmetric B–N bonding is enforced. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The influence of mobile phase demixion on thin-layer chromatographic enantioseparation of ibuprofen and naproxen

In our earlier article we presented the results of tracing the enantioseparation of the two test analytes (ibuprofen and naproxen) by means of video densitometry and scanning densitometry. In that way we demonstrated an excellent performance of this combined approach to the thin-layer chromatographic detection in the area of enantioseparation. In this paper we study an impact of the four different mobile phases on the enantioseparation of the scalemic mixtures of ibuprofen and naproxen on the silica gel layers impregnated with L-arginine as chiral selector. The main component of all the investigated mobile phases is 2-propanol. Mobile phase 1 consists of pure 2-propanol, while mobile phases 2-4 contain, respectively, ca. 0.66, 1.32, and 1.98 g/L of glacial acetic acid in 2-propanol. Acetic acid is used to protonate L-arginine, as the involved retention mechanism consists of the ion pair formation between L-arginine in the cationic form and the chiral 2-arylpropionic acids (2-APAs), ibuprofen and naproxen, in the anionic form. It is shown that in the absence of glacial acetic acid no enantioseparation can be obtained. Then with adding of 0.66 g/L glacial acetic acid partial enantioseparation of the naproxen and ibuprofen antimers is obtained, with a simultaneous effect of the mobile phase demixion. With the amount of acetic acid increasing, the effect of demixion becomes increasingly perceptible. In that case the displacement effect is observed (and mathematically modeled), which results in compressing of the antimer pairs by the second front of mobile phase. The obtained results allow a deeper insight into the mechanism of enantioseparation with the two test 2-APAs. A combined impact of the crystalline chirality of silica gel and the molecular chirality of L-arginine on the vertical and the horizontal enantioseparation of ibuprofen and naproxen is also discussed.     

Coordination Chemistry of Diiodine and Implications for the Oxidation Capacity of the Synergistic Ag+/X2 (X=Cl,Br, I) System

The synergistic Ag⁺/X₂ system (X=Cl, Br, I) is a very strong, but ill‐defined oxidant—more powerful than X₂ or Ag⁺ alone. Intermediates for its action may include [Ag_m(X₂)_n]^m+ complexes. Here, we report on an unexpectedly variable coordination chemistry of diiodine towards this direction: ( A )Ag‐I₂‐Ag( A ), [Ag₂(I₂)₄]²⁺( A ^?)₂ and [Ag₂(I₂)₆]²⁺( A ^?)₂?(I₂)_x≈0.65 form by reaction of Ag( A ) ( A =Al(OR^F)₄; R^F=C(CF₃)₃) with diiodine (single crystal/powder XRD, Raman spectra and quantum‐mechanical calculations). The molecular ( A )Ag‐I₂‐Ag( A ) is ideally set up to act as a 2 e^? oxidant with stoichiometric formation of 2 AgI and 2 A ^?. Preliminary reactivity tests proved this ( A )Ag‐I₂‐Ag( A ) starting material to oxidize n‐C₅H₁₂, C₃H₈, CH₂Cl₂, P₄ or S₈ at room temperature. A rough estimate of its electron affinity places it amongst very strong oxidizers like MF₆ (M=4d metals). This suggests that ( A )Ag‐I₂‐Ag( A ) will serve as an easily in bulk accessible, well‐defined, and very potent oxidant with multiple applications.     

Saw-sedge <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cladium mariscus</Emphasis> as a functional low-cost adsorbent for effective removal of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid from aqueous systems

For the first time in the published literature, a study is described concerning the use of the saw-sedge Cladium mariscus (C. mariscus) for adsorption of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) from aqueous systems. Among the experiments carried out, the elemental composition of C. mariscus was determined (C = 48.0 %, H = 7.1 %, N = 0.95 %, S = 0.4 %), FTIR spectroscopic analysis was performed to confirm the chemical structure of the adsorbent, and porous structure parameters were measured: BET surface area (A _BET  = 0.6 m²/g), total pore volume (V _p  = 0.001 cm³/g) and average pore size (S _p  = 6.6 nm). It was shown that the effectiveness of removal of 2,4-D from aqueous systems using C. mariscus depends on parameters of the process: contact time, system pH, mass of sorbent, and temperature. Maximum adsorption was attained for a solution at pH = 3. Further increase in the alkalinity of the tested systems led to a reduction in the effectiveness of the process. The kinetic of adsorption of 2,4-D by C. mariscus was also determined, and thermodynamic aspects were investigated. The experimental data obtained correspond to a pseudo-second-order kinetic model of type 1. Additionally the negative values obtained for ΔHº indicate that the process is exothermic, and the negative values of ΔGº show it to be spontaneous. As the temperature of the system increases the spontaneity of adsorption is reduced, in accordance with the exothermic nature of the process.     

Safer Pyrotechnic Obscurants Based on Phosphorus(V) Nitride

The potential of phosphorus(V) nitride, P₃N₅ , as a replacement for red phosphorus, P_R, in pyrotechnic obscurants has been theoretically and experimentally investigated. P₃N₅ can be safely mixed with KNO₃ and even KClO₃ and KClO₄ . The corresponding formulations are surprisingly insensitive to friction and only mildly impact‐sensitive. P₃N₅ /KNO₃ pyrolants with ξ=20–80 wt % P₃N₅ burn 200 times faster than the corresponding mixtures based on P_R and generate a dense smoke. Hence obscurants based on P₃N₅ /KNO₃ have a figure of merit that by far exceeds that of current state‐of‐the‐art P_R‐based obscurants. Furthermore, unlike P_R, which slowly degrades in moist air to phosphoric acids and phosphine (PH₃), P₃N₅ is stable under these conditions and does not produce any acids or PH₃ . P₃N₅ is hence a safe, stable, and powerful replacement for P_R for use in insensitive munitions.     

Betaine and Carnitine Derivatives as Herbicidal Ionic Liquids

This study focused on the synthesis and subsequent characterization of herbicidal ionic liquids based on betaine and carnitine, two derivatives of amino acids, which were used as cations. Four commonly used herbicides (2,4‐D, MCPA, MCPP and Dicamba) were used as anions in simple (single anion) and oligomeric (two anions) salts. The obtained salts were subjected to analyzes regarding physicochemical properties (density, viscosity, refractive index, thermal decomposition profiles and solubility) as well as evaluation of their herbicidal activity under greenhouse and field conditions, toxicity towards rats and biodegradability. The obtained results suggest that the synthesized herbicidal ionic liquids displayed low toxicity (classified as category 4 compounds) and showed similar or improved efficacy against weed compared to reference herbicides. The highest increase was observed during field trials for salts containing 2,4‐D as the anion, which also exhibited the highest biodegradability (>75 %).     

Human exhaled air analytics: biomarkers of diseases

Over the last few years, breath analysis for the routine monitoring of metabolic disorders has attracted a considerable amount of scientific interest, especially since breath sampling is a non-invasive technique, totally painless and agreeable to patients. The investigation of human breath samples with various analytical methods has shown a correlation between the concentration patterns of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the occurrence of certain diseases. It has been demonstrated that modern analytical instruments allow the determination of many compounds found in human breath both in normal and anomalous concentrations. The composition of exhaled breath in patients with, for example, lung cancer, inflammatory lung disease, hepatic or renal dysfunction and diabetes contains valuable information. Furthermore, the detection and quantification of oxidative stress, and its monitoring during surgery based on composition of exhaled breath, have made considerable progress. This paper gives an overview of the analytical techniques used for sample collection, preconcentration and analysis of human breath composition. The diagnostic potential of different disease-marking substances in human breath for a selection of diseases and the clinical applications of breath analysis are discussed.