To what extent can an uncertainty calculation be general?

 It is argued that results of uncertainty calculations in chemical analysis should be taken into consideration with some caution owing to their limited generality. The issue of the uncertainty in uncertainty estimation is discussed in two aspects. The first is due to the differences between procedure-oriented and result-oriented uncertainty assessments, and the second is due to the differences between the theoretical calculation of uncertainty and its quantication using the validation (experimental) data. It is shown that the uncertainty calculation for instrumental analytical methods using a regression calibration curve is result-oriented and meaningful only until the next calibration. A scheme for evaluation of the uncertainty in uncertainty calculation by statistical analysis of experimental data is given and illustrated with examples from the author's practice. Some recommendations for the design of corresponding experiments are formulated.     

Synthesis of 3-amino-5-nitrobenzaldehyde oxime and its conversion into 3,4-bis(3-amino-5-nitrophenyl)furoxan and isomeric 3(4)-(3-amino-5-nitrophenyl)-4(3)-nitrofuroxans

The oxime of the hitherto unknown 3-amino-5-nitrobenzaldehyde was synthesized by the reaction of 3-amino-5-nitrobenzaldehyde phenylhydrazone with excess of (NH₂OH)₂·H₂SO₄. The oxime obtained was used as the starting compound for the synthesis of novel diaryl- and arylnitrofuroxans. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 12, pp. 2232–2235, December, 1997.     

High pressure FTIR study of intramolecular hydrogen bonding and conformation of a small peptide in solution

Effect of pressure on conformational equilibria of a small peptide N-acetyl-l-Pro-l-Leu-Gly-NH₂ in a chloroform solution has been studied by FTIR spectroscopy. Absorption in the NH stretching region was measured at pressures in the 1–1080 bar range and at 296 K, and decomposed into component bands by least-squares fitting. Intensity ratios of bands which were assigned to a hydrogen-bond-free conformer and intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded conformers with 10- and 13-membered hydrogen bonded rings, respectively, were examined as a function of pressure. It was found that the conformer with the 13-membered ring has definitely smaller partial molar volume than the other two conformers which have nearly the same volume with each other. On the basis of a simple dielectric model, we have shown that the conformer with the 13-membered hydrogen-bonded ring has a considerably large dipole moment which is consistent with the α-helical structure suggested by the previous variable-temperature FTIR study.     

Quantitative aspects of gradient HPLC of copolymers from styrene and ethyl methacrylate

Summary Prerequisite of quantitative evaluation in chromatography is equivalence of sample composition and detector signal. This includes complete retention and proper elution of all sample constituents. In polymer HPLC, complete retention requires a poor starting eluent, a sufficiently active column, and a low ratio of injection volume to column volume. On small pore columns, insufficient retention caused the polymer to elute either in the interstitial volume (sample exclusion), together with the sample solvent, or immediately after the solvent plug.Stat-copoly(styrene/ethyl methacrylate) samples are more difficultly retained thanstat-copoly(styrene/acrylonitrile) specimes. With the former copolymer it could be shown that incomplete retention did not cause sample demixing. In order to gain complete retention, non-exclusion HPLC of polymers should be performed with columns whose solvent volume is at least 50 times as large as the injection volume. This consequence is of practical importance in chromatographic cross-fractionation where rather large volumes of SEC eluate are injected into the apparatus for gradient HPLC.     

Advances in two-dimensional GC with glass capillary columns

A versatile two-dimensional gas chromatograph is described, consisting of 2 separate ovens, one intermediate trap, an auxiliary inlet, and the necessary hardware to effect off-line switching according to the principle of Deans. The unit has been designed for use with high resolution glass capillary columns. The performance of individual instrumental components was critically evaluated. Results showed that low dead volume glass to metal connections were required in the manifold and detector lines to minimize extra-column effects. The mass of the intermediate trap must be low to allow rapid heating. Operational parameters are discussed and examples of some applications are shown.     

Crown-containing butadienyl dyes 8. Structures and complexation of chromogenic dithia-15(18)-crown-5(6) ethers

The structures of new butadienyl dyes of the benzothiazole series containing the dithia-15-crown-5 (2a) or dithia-18-crown-6 (2b) fragments were established by X-ray diffraction. Complexation of dyes 2a,b with Hg²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, Ag⁺, Zn²⁺, and alkaline-earth cations in aqueous-acetonitrile solutions was studied by spectrophotometry. At a high percentage of water in solutions (P _w ≈ 50%), these dyes have a very low ability to bind Pb²⁺ cations (logK < 2) and virtually do not bind Cd²⁺, Zn²⁺, and alkaline-earth cations. At the same time, these dyes form stable 1: 1 complexes with Hg²⁺ and Ag⁺ cations at all P _w. The stability constants of complexes with the Ag⁺ cation increase with increasing P _w because the free energy of hydration of this cation is much lower than the free energy of solvation in acetonitrile. In the P _w range from 0 to 75%, the stability constants of the complexes of dyes 2a,b with the Hg²⁺ cation are larger than those of the corresponding complexes with the Ag⁺ cation by more than four orders of magnitude. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 90–96, January, 2006.     

Surface modification of low density polyethylene (LDPE) film by low pressure O2 plasma treatment

In this work, low pressure glow discharge O₂ plasma has been used to increase wettability in a LDPE film in order to improve adhesion properties and make it useful for technical applications. Surface energy values have been estimated using contact angle measurements for different exposure times and different test liquids. In addition, plasma-treated samples have been subjected to an aging process to determine the durability of the plasma treatment. Characterization of the surface changes due to the plasma treatment has been carried out by means of Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to determine the presence of polar species such as carbonyl, carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. In addition to this, atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis has been used to evaluate changes in surface morphology and roughness. Furthermore, and considering the semicrystalline nature of the LDPE film, a calorimetric study using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been carried out to determine changes in crystallinity and degradation temperatures induced by the plasma treatment. The results show that low pressure O₂ plasma improves wettability in LDPE films and no significant changes can be observed at longer exposure times. Nevertheless, we can observe that short exposure times to low pressure O₂ plasma promote the formation of some polar species on the exposed surface and longer exposure times cause slight abrasion on LDPE films as observed by the little increase in surface roughness.     

Investigation on the Performance of Supported Molybdenum Carbide for the Partial Oxidation of Methane

The performance of uspported and unsupported molybdenum carbide for the partial oxidation of methane (POM) to syngas was investgated.An evaluation of the catalysts indicates that bulk molybdenum carbied has a higher methane conversion during the initial stage but a lower selectivity to CO and H2/CO ratio in the products.The rapid deactivation of the catalyst is also a significant problem.However,the supported molybdenum carbide catalyst shows a much higher methane conversion,increased selectivity and significantly improved catalytic stability.The characterization by XRD and BET specific area measurements depict an improved dispersion of molybdenum carbide when using alumina as a carrier.The bulk or the supported molybdenum carbide exists in the β-Mo2C phase,while it is transformed into molybdenum dioxide postcatalysis which is an improtant cause of molybdenum carbide deactivation.     

Physicochemical characterization of biological glass coatings

Metallic implants are widely used in orthopaedic surgery but metal release has been reported by several authors. High metallic ion concentration in surrounding tissues may play a major role in therapeutic failure. We have investigated in vivo and in vitro two biological glasses (BVA and BVH) used as coatings of metal implants. Physicochemical characterization was made by several complementary methods, particularly particle induced x‐ray emission (PIXE) and energy‐dispersive x‐ray spectroscopy (EDXS) associated with electronic microscopy. Analyses clearly show the differences of behaviour between both glasses. The BVA glass is bioactive, i.e. it develops a direct chemical bond between prosthesis and bone by the formation of a calcium phosphate layer at its surface. These structural and compositional modifications are caused by hydrolysis of the glass. After its dissolution BVA glass is replaced by bone, which ensures better integration of the implant in the bone site. The BVH glass is not bioactive and is used as a cement to isolate the metal implant from the biological environment, but the coating disaggregates with implantation time and glass grains migrate through the bony lacuna network. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

溶液酸度在线检测装置的研制

研制了酸度在线检测装置，并应用于溶液酸度在线检测，溶液酸度在线检测装置，设有防污过滤器，自动采样器，蠕动泵，小型管道ｐＨ传感器和控制电路等，其特点为防污除油，随机自动采样，定时检测，全部管道化，可单独使用和计算机控制系统联网，适用于溶液酸在线分析，测定精度〈ｐＨ０．０５。