Synthesis and characterization of Sr3Al2O6：Eu2＋, Dy3＋ phosphors prepared by sol-gel-combustion processing

A type of red luminescent Sr3Al2O6:Eu2+, Dy3+ phosphor powder is synthesised by sol-gel-combustion processing, with metal nitrates used as the source of metal ions and citric acid as a chelating agent of metal ions. By tracing the formation process of the sol-gel, it is found that it is necessary to reduce the amount of NO3- by dropping ethanol into the solution for forming a stable and homogeneous sol-gel. Thermogravimetric and Differential Scanning Calorimeter Analysis, x-ray diffractionmeter, scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy are used to investigate the luminescent properties of the as-synthesised Sr3Al2O6:Eu2+, Dy3+. The results reveal that the Sr3Al2O6 crystallises completely when the combustion ash is sintered at 1250 C. The excitation and the emission spectra indicate that the excitation broadband lies mainly in a visible range and the phosphors emit a strong light at 618 nm under the excitation of 472 nm. The afterglow of (Sr0.94Eu0.03Dy0.03)3Al2O6 phosphors sintered at 1250 ℃ lasts for over 1000 s when the excited source is cut off.     

Phytochemical Profile of Antibacterial Agents from Red Betel Leaf (Piper crocatum Ruiz and Pav) against Bacteria in Dental Caries

Based on data from The Global Burden of Disease Study in 2016, dental and oral health problems, especially dental caries, are a disease experienced by almost half of the world’s population (3.58 billion people). One of the main causes of dental caries is the pathogenesis of Streptococcus mutans. Prevention can be achieved by controlling S. mutans using an antibacterial agent. The most commonly used antibacterial for the treatment of dental caries is chlorhexidine. However, long-term use of chlorhexidine has been reported to cause resistance and some side effects. Therefore, the discovery of a natural antibacterial agent is an urgent need. A natural antibacterial agent that can be used are herbal medicines derived from medicinal plants. Piper crocatum Ruiz and Pav has the potential to be used as a natural antibacterial agent for treating dental and oral health problems. Several studies reported that the leaves of P. crocatum Ruiz and Pav contain secondary metabolites such as essential oils, flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, tannins, and phenolic compounds that are active against S. mutans. This review summarizes some information about P. crocatum Ruiz and Pav, various isolation methods, bioactivity, S. mutans bacteria that cause dental caries, biofilm formation mechanism, antibacterial properties, and the antibacterial mechanism of secondary metabolites in P. crocatum Ruiz and Pav.     

Mn4+掺杂的新型铝酸盐红色长余辉材料

用高温固相法合成了红色长余辉发光材料LiAl₅O₈:Mn⁴⁺,Li₅AlO₄:Mn⁴⁺,LiAlO₂:Mn⁴⁺,发现前两种材料有红色余辉,这方面并没有报道过,并对这两种材料的发光性能作了研究,指明了不同基质中发光强弱不同原因。对不同Mn⁴⁺掺杂浓度的材料做了浓度依赖关系研究,确认Mn⁴⁺的发光是²E→⁴A₂的跃迁。Mn⁴⁺的发光是个宽带谱,材料在紫外区有强的吸收,发射谱范围可达620~770nm,峰值在675nm。对长余辉机制进行了探讨。     

镉(Ⅱ)的共振散射光谱研究及应用

由于镉在环境中具有高毒性和生物蓄积性,对人体和环境会产生巨大的危害,因而测定其在环境中的浓度是十分必要的。本研究基于镉（Ⅱ）-蛋白质-刚果红体系的共振瑞利散射和共振非线性散射光谱建立了测定环境水样中微量镉（Ⅱ）的新方法。在pH=4的BR缓冲溶液中,镉（Ⅱ）与牛血清白蛋白溶液及刚果红溶液反应生成三元离子缔合络合物,使该体系中的共振瑞利散射（RRS）、二级散射（SOS）和倍频散射（FDS）信号明显增强,其最大散射波长分别位于波长560 nm（RRS）、690 nm（SOS）和352 nm（FDS）处。在优化的实验条件下,ΔI与镉（Ⅱ）浓度在一定范围内呈现良好的线性关系,检出限分别为0.31 μg/L（RRS）、0.29 μg/L（SOS）、0.34 μg/L（FDS）。将该方法用于实验室废水、涪江河水和农夫山泉中镉（Ⅱ）的测定,水样中镉（Ⅱ）的回收率在93.2%~107.7%之间,相对标准偏差在0.8%~3.1%之间,取得了较理想的结果。     

Use of Microwave Maceration in Red Winemaking: Effect on Fermentation and Chemical Composition of Red Wines

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of microwave treatment of crushed grapes on the yeast population of the must and on the development of alcoholic fermentation, as well as on the extraction of different compounds from the grapes such as polysaccharides and amino acids that can affect the organoleptic quality and stability of the wine. This study demonstrated for the first time the effect of the microwave treatment of grapes on native yeast species and their diversity, producing an increase in fermentation kinetics and a decrease in the lag phase. The microwave treatment produced a positive effect on the extraction of amino acids and polysaccharides from the grapes, resulting in significantly higher amounts of the main amino acids of the must and some major volatile compounds in the treated samples. The polysaccharides most affected by the microwave treatment were the PRAGs, the main polysaccharides liberated from grapes during the maceration.     

Revisiting catechol derivatives as robust chromogenic hydrogen donors working in alkaline media for peroxidase mimetics

Colloidal noble metal-based nanoparticles are able to catalyze oxidation of chromogenic substrates by H₂O_2, similarly to peroxidases, even in basic media. However, lack of robust chromogens, which work in high pH impedes their real applications. Herein we demonstrate the applicability of selected catechol derivatives: bromopyrogallol red (BPR) and pyrogallol (PG) as chromogenic substrates for peroxidase-like activity assays, which are capable of working over wide range of pH, covering also basic values. Hyperbranched polyglycidol-stabilized gold nanoparticles (HBPG@AuNPs) were used as model enzyme mimetics. Efficiency of several methods of improving stability of substrates in alkaline media by means of selective suppression of their autoxidation by molecular oxygen was evaluated. In a framework of presented studies the impact of borate anion, applied as complexing agent for PG and BPR, on their stability and reactivity towards oxidation mediated by catalytic AuNPs was investigated. The key role of high concentration of hydrogen peroxide in elimination of non-catalytic oxidation of PG and improvement of optical properties of BPR in alkaline media containing borate was underlined. Described methods of peroxidase-like activity characterization with the use of BPR and PG can become universal tools for characterization of nanozymes, which gain various applications, among others, they are used as catalytic labels in bioassays and biosensors.     

Nile Red and Nile Blue: Applications and Syntheses of Structural Analogues

Nile red and Nile blue are highly fluorescent and photostable organic dyes from the benzo[a]phenoxazine family. They have been used as histological stains for imaging lysosomes and lipids in vitro. The dyes’ high quantum yields and solvent‐dependent optical properties make them ideal scaffolds for the development of pH probes and local polarity indicators. Reviews of the literature in this area are scarce with only one review ever published in 2006. It has been 10 years since and the field has evolved. This review aims to expand upon topics covered by the previous reviewers and to report on recent advances in the literature. As authors, we hope to convey a sense of scope and to spark renewed interest in this useful niche of dye chemistry.     

Comparative study between two fabricated potentiometric sensors to enhance selectivity towards ferrous ions

Electroanalytical methods are highly selective for measuring electrical quantities including the charge, potential and current with their relation to chemical parameters. They are widely applied in various fields such as biochemical analysis, industrial quality control and environmental monitoring. They have many advantages over other techniques in that they are not time consuming and are specific for certain oxidation states of certain elements which give these techniques high selectivity and sensitivity features. This paper is based on two parts: the first part describes the fabrication of screen‐printed electrodes (SPEs) modified with methyl red as electroactive material, while second part describes the preparation and characterization of Fe(II)–methyl red complex using various spectroscopic tools, the complex being used for the construction of carbon paste electrodes (CPEs). The two proposed electrodes were successfully applied for the determination of Fe(II) in water and pharmaceutical (pharovit) samples. The electrodes under investigation show potentiometric response for Fe(II) in the concentration range 8.0 × 10^?7–1.0 × 10^?2 and 5.0 × 10^?7–1.0 × 10^?2 M at 25°C for SPE and CPE, respectively, and the electrode response is independent of pH in the range 1.5–7.0. These sensors show Nernstian slopes of 29.1 ± 0.2 and 29.7 ± 0.16 mV decade^?1 with detection limit values of 8.0 × 10^?7 and 5.0 × 10^?7 M for SPE and CPE, respectively. These electrodes show fast response time of 6 and 4 s and exhibit a lifetime of 100 and 30 days for SPE and CPE, respectively. The mechanism of chemical reaction between modifier and Fe(II) on the SPE surface was studied using infrared spectra, scanning electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis. The proposed potentiometric method was validated according to the IUPAC recommendations. The results obtained using the proposed sensors were comparable with those obtained with inductively coupled plasma analysis.     

Carbon Paste Composite with Co3O4 as a New Electrochemical Sensor for the Detection of Allura Red by Reduction

The detection of Allura red (AR) by electrochemical reduction using a different electrode from the conventional mercury electrode is presented. A carbon paste with cobalt (II, III) oxide composite electrode (CoO_x/CPE) is reported for the first time for the detection of AR. Moreover, others dyes such as tartrazine (TZ), sunset yellow (SY), amaranth (AM), Ponceaut 4‐R (P‐4R), and Sudan (SD) as well as pharmaceutical agents such as paracetamol (PMC) that are present in samples that contained AR did not show a reduced signal between 0.0 and ?0.3 V, which is the potential range where AR reduction was observed. The surface electroactivity was studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The presence of CoO_X increased the cathodic peak current for AR by more than 50 % and 65 % via CV and square wave voltammetry (SWV), respectively, compared with an unmodified carbon paste electrode. Under the optimal parameters, (pH=3.0, accumulation time (t_ACC)=60 s and accumulation potential (E_ACC)=0.50 V), the detection limit for AR was 0.05 μmol L^?1. The new sensor was sensitive and stable for the detection of AR. Moreover, it was easily manufactured and very convenient for food samples such as soft and isotonic drinks as well as chili sauce.