Performance of direct dimethyl ether fuel cells at low temperature

The performance of direct dimethyl ether fuel cells (DDMEFC) is presented in this study at the relatively low temperature of 80 °C. At temperatures lower than 100 °C, since water exists as liquid but DME as a gas, it is difficult for them to use simultaneously as fuel for DDMEFCs even with the low solubility of DME in water at atmospheric pressure. It has been found that the use of an interdigitated flow field enhances the performance of DDMEFC by facilitating the phase mixing of DME and water. Palladium (Pd) catalyst is not nearly electrochemically active to the anode reaction of DDMEFC and platinum–ruthenium (Pt–Ru) catalyst has been found to be effective anode catalysts for DDMEFC at low temperature.     

Development of a luminol-based chemiluminescence flow-injection method for the determination of dichlorvos pesticide

A simple, fast chemiluminescence (CL) flow-injection method based on the reaction of luminol with H₂O₂ in the presence of a cationic surfactant (cyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTMAB) has been described for the direct determination of dichlorvos pesticide (DDVP). Under the optimal conditions, the CL intensity was linear to the DDVP concentration in the range of 0.02–3.1 μg ml⁻¹ (r=0.9998, n=10). The relative standard deviation was 3.4% at 0.35 μg ml⁻¹ (n=10), with a detection limit (3σ) of 0.008 μg ml⁻¹ DDVP. The possible reaction mechanism was also discussed. This method has been successfully applied to the determination of trace DDVP residue in vegetable sample and results have been compared with that of the UV method.     

Preconcentration of inorganic antimony(III) in environmental samples by PSTH-Dowex microcolumn and determination by FI-ETAAS

A flow injection on-line sorption preconcentration system has been synchronously coupled to an electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) system for the selective determination of trace amounts of Sb(III) in water, soil and plant. The determination was achieved by selective complexation and sorption of Sb(III) with [1,5-bis(2-pyridyl)-3-sulphophenyl methylene thiocarbonohydarzide (PSTH) immobilized on an anion-exchange resin (Dowex 1× 8-200)] at a wide range of pH, quantitative elution with 50 μl of 2 M HNO₃ and subsequent ETAAS detection. ETAAS determination of the analyte was performed in parallel with the preconcentration of the next sample. Using a preconcentration time of 60 s and a sample loading flow rate of 2.8 ml min⁻¹, an enhancement factor of 12 was obtained in comparison with direct injection of 50 μl aqueous solution, resulting in a sampling frequency of 31 samples h⁻¹. The detection limit (3 s) was 2 μg l⁻¹ and the precision was 3.1% (R.S.D.) for 11 replicate determinations at 10 μg l⁻¹. The accuracy of the proposed method was demonstrated by analyzing one certified sample and different spiked samples.     

Optimization of a flow injection analysis system for tartaric acid determination in wines

The objective of this work is the development and optimization of a method for tartaric acid analysis in wines that does not require any sample pre-treatment and with adequate accuracy. A flow injection analysis manifold with three channels, using a dialysis unit to eliminate sample matrix interferences and to accomplish on-line dilution, is proposed for the spectrophotometrical determination of tartaric acid in wines making use of its reaction with vanadate. The proposed method is fast, accurate, simple, economic and does not require any sample pre-treatment. Preliminary studies using factorial designs were performed to determine which operational parameters should be included in the optimization stage. The optimization was performed using a modified simplex algorithm with a response function that included sensitivity, deviation from linearity at low concentrations and residence time, used as an inverse measure of sampling rate. The most relevant analytical parameters of the method are presented, including a comparison between the results provided by the proposed method and by an alternative procedure in the analysis of a set of wine samples from Portugal, with tartaric acid values in the range 0.5–4 g l⁻¹.     

Determination of carbon dioxide in gaseous samples by gas diffusion-flow injection

A gas diffusion-flow injection system was developed for the determination of carbon dioxide in gaseous samples. The calibration was based on the use of either gaseous carbon dioxide or aqueous sodium carbonate standards. Gaseous carbon dioxide samples and gaseous or aqueous standards were injected directly into a donor stream of 1.0×10⁻⁴ M H₂SO₄. In the gas diffusion unit, carbon dioxide diffused through a PTFE membrane into an acceptor stream containing a mixed acid/base indicator. The absorbance of the acceptor stream was monitored spectrophotometrically at 554 nm. The calibration plot was linear over the range of 5.00×10² to 1.27×10⁴ μl l⁻¹ with a sample throughput of 28 h⁻¹ and 3.2% R.S.D. ([CO₂]=2.37×10³ μl l⁻¹, n=12). The detection limit was determined as 2.50×10² μl l⁻¹. The flow system was successfully applied to the analysis of several natural gaseous samples and the headspace of milk containers during storage. The flow injection results were found to be statistically indistinguishable at the 95% confidence level from those obtained by gas chromatography using thermal conductivity detection.     

The Efficiency of a Microcolumn of Rice Bran for On‐line Trace Enrichment in FI‐AAS,a Highly Selective System for On‐line Preconcentration and Determination of Copper

A flow injection flame atomic absorption spectrometry system incorporating a microcolumn of rice bran was designed, and its capability for on‐line trace enrichment of copper, cadmium and lead was studied. Analytes were deposited on the microcolumn by processing a standard or solution of analytes on the column. Injection of 250 μL of nitric acid (1 mol/L) then served to elute the retained species to FAAS. The procedure was successfully applied for determination of copper in tap water, well water and multivitamin tablets. The accuracy was assessed through recovery experiments and independent analysis by furnace‐AAS. A sample volume of 20 mL of copper resulted in a preconcentration factor of 96; precision value at the 20 μg/L was 4.1%.     

Medium Exchange Stripping Potentiometry for the Measurement of Labile Copper in White Wine

An efficient and effective procedure is described for the determination of the labile copper concentration in untreated white wine using medium exchange stripping potentiometry. Two rinse steps between the enrichment and stripping steps allowed measurement of labile concentration with good repeatability and reproducibility. The fraction of labile copper ranged from 13% to 91%, for 16 white wines, indicating the highly variable copper complexing character of the wine matrix. The methodology was applied to labile copper measurement during the oxidation of white wines.     

Novel Biomedical Sensors for Flow Injection Potentiometric Determination of Creatinine in Human Serum

Coated‐wire (CW) and tubular (Tu) type membrane sensors for creatinine are developed. These consist of creatinine tungstophosphate(CTP), creatinine molybdophosphate (CMP) and creatinine picrolonate (CPC) ion‐pair complexes as electroactive materials dispersed in plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) matrix membranes. Electrochemical evaluation of these sensors under static (batch) mode of operation reveals near‐Nernstian response with slopes of 62.9, 58.1, and 55.2 mV decade^?1 over the concentration range 1×10^?2–5.0×10^?6, 1×10^?2–7.5×10^?5, and 1×10^?2?3.1×10^?5 mol L^?1. The lower detection limits are 0.39, 3.49, and 2.20 μg mL^?1 creatinine with CTP, CMP and CPC membrane based sensors plasticized with o‐NPOE, respectively. Tubular and coated wire CTP membrane sensors are incorporated in flow‐through cells and used as detectors for flow injection analysis (FIA) of creatinine. The intrinsic characteristics of the detectors under hydrodynamic mode of operation in a low dispersion manifold are determined and compared with data obtained under static mode of operation. With 10^?2 mol L^?1 phosphate buffer of pH 4.5 as a carrier solution, the tubular and coated wire CTP detectors exhibit rapid response of 58.9 and 50.7 mV decade^?1 over the concentration range 1×10^?2–1×10^?5 mol L^?1 and detection limits of 0.39 μg mL^?1 and 0.85 μg mL^?1, respectively. Validation of the assay methods with the proposed sensors by measuring the lower detection limit, range, accuracy, precision, repeatability and between‐day‐variability reveals good performance characteristics confirming applicability for continuous determination of creatinine. The sensors are used for determining creatinine in human blood serum at an input rate of 40 samples per hour. No interferences are caused by creatine, most common anions, cations and organic species normally present in biological fluids. The results favorably compare with data obtained using the standard spectrophotometric method.     

Noncompetitive enzyme immunoassay for α-fetroprotein using flow injection chemiluminescence

A novel, direct noncompetitive flow injection enzyme immunoassay for α-fetoprotein (AFP) was developed by enhanced chemiluminescence detection. The method was based on off-line incubation of AFP and horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled anti-AFP, and then trapping of the unbound enzyme conjugate by an immunoaffinity column filled with AFP-modified Sepharose. The immunocomplex formed in incubation passed through the column and then was directly detected by a postcolumn chemiluminescence technique. The optimal conditions for the immunoassay procedure and chemiluminescence detection were established. At a 1:10 dilution of enzyme conjugate solution, the linear range for chemiluminescence detection of AFP was from 2.0 to 75 ng/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.993 and a coefficient of variation of 2.67% at 30 ng/mL. The detection limit was 0.5 ng/mL. This method was flexible, sensitive, and rapid. The immunoaffinity column of 200 μL could be repeatedly used 100 times without a single decrease. The whole assay time including the preincubation step was only 30 min for one sample.     

Chromium speciation and preconcentration using zirconium(IV) and zirconium(IV) phosphate chemically immobilized onto silica gel surface using a flow system and F AAS

A procedure for chromium speciation by F AAS using a flow system has been proposed. In this system, Cr(III) and Cr(VI) ions were adsorbed sequentially onto a mini-column packed with silica gel modified with zirconium phosphate and a mini-column packed with silica gel modified with zirconium oxide, respectively. The elution of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) was made with, respectively, nitric acid solution and tris(hydroxymethyl)methylamine (THAM) solution in reverse mode and determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry without interference of the matrix. Chemical and flow variables as well as concomitant ions were studied in the developed procedure. The enrichment factor for Cr(III) and Cr(VI) was 20.8 and 24.9, respectively, using a preconcentration time of 3.75 min. The limit of detection for Cr(III) and Cr(VI) was 1.9, and 2.3 μg l⁻¹, respectively. The precision of the method, evaluated as the relative standard deviation in solutions containing 100 μg l⁻¹ of chromium species, by analyzing a series of seven replicates, was lower than 3.0%. The accuracy was assessed through recovery experiments of water samples and using another methodology.