HPLC–QTOF–MS/MS-based rapid screening of phenolics and triterpenic acids in leaf extracts of Ocimum species and their interspecies variation

Species of genus Ocimum are traditionally used for their medicinal and flavoring properties. These are rich sources of essential oils and found as an ingredient in many Ayurvedic preparations and food products. Phenolics and triterpenic acids are the medicinally active compounds mainly concentrated in the leaves of Ocimum species. This study aimed to develop an efficient and reliable analytical method for the rapid screening and characterization of phenolics and triterpenic acids in the leaf extracts of 6 Ocimum species using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–ESI–QTOF–MS/MS). A total of 50 compounds were identified and characterized on the basis of their accurate MS and MS/MS information, out of which 23 compounds were confirmed by authentic standards. Identified compounds include 28 flavonoids, 4 propenyl phenol derivatives, 2 triterpenic acids, 11 phenolic acids, and 5 phenolic acid esters. The developed method was applied to study the interspecies variation of identified compounds. Significant variation in the distribution of identified phenolics and triterpenic acids was observed among studied Ocimum species. Hence, the established method provides an effective and reliable tool for screening and characterization of phytoconstituents in Ocimum species.     

Accelerating Oxygen‐Reduction Catalysts through Preventing Poisoning with Non‐Reactive Species by Using Hydrophobic Ionic Liquids

Developing cost‐effective electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a prerequisite for broad market penetration of low‐temperature fuel cells. A major barrier stems from the poisoning of surface sites by nonreactive oxygenated species and the sluggish ORR kinetics on the Pt catalysts. Herein we report a facile approach to accelerating ORR kinetics by using a hydrophobic ionic liquid (IL), which protects Pt sites from surface oxidation, making the IL‐modified Pt intrinsically more active than its unmodified counterpart. The mass activity of the catalyst is increased by three times to 1.01 A mg^?1_Pt@0.9 V, representing a new record for pure Pt catalysts. The enhanced performance of the IL‐modified catalyst can be stabilized after 30 000 cycles. We anticipate these results will form the basis for an unprecedented perspective in the development of high‐performing electrocatalysts for fuel‐cell applications.     

质谱法精密测定重水中的氢同位素丰度

介绍了用高分辨气体质谱计精密测定重水中氢同位素丰度的分析方法．实验自制了一套重水分解系统,以金属铀作还原剂,在一定的温度下还原重水为氘气．采用低温活性碳作为吸收剂,将样品分解、制备成气体试样,用高分辨气体质谱计测定重水中氢同位素丰度．该方法测定高浓度（〉99％）重水的氘丰度,测量结果的相对标准偏差不大于0．02％。     

Sonochemical temperature controlled synthesis of pellet-, laminate- and rice grain-like morphologies of a Cu(II) porous metal–organic framework nano-structures

Nano-structures of the Cu(II) metal–organic framework, {Cu(BDT)(DMF)·CH₃OH·0.25DMF}_n (1), which BDT²⁻ is 1,4-benzeneditetrazolate, have been synthesized by the reaction of H₂BDT with Cu(NO₃)₂·6H₂O via ultrasonic irradiation in three different temperatures, which causes different morphologies. The products were characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. This study demonstrates that sonochemistry is a suitable method for preparation of metal–organic framework nano-structures and temperature is an effective parameter on morphologies of Cu(II) metal–organic framework nano-structures.     

Study of low temperature ferromagnetism,surface paramagnetism and exchange bias effect in α-Fe1.4Ga0.6O3 oxide

The compound α-Fe_1.4Ga_0.6O₃ has been prepared by mechanical alloying of α-Fe₂O₃ and β-Ga₂O₃ and subsequent heating under vacuum condition. X-ray diffraction, Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopy confirmed stabilization of the material in rhombohedral phase. A remarkable change in the magnetic ordering has been found by substitution of non-magnetic Ga atoms in α-Fe₂O₃. The ferromagnetism in α-Fe_1.4Ga_0.6O₃ is found to be more soft and enhanced in comparison to α-Fe₂O₃. The samples also exhibited features of exchange bias, low temperature surface paramagnetism, and suppression of Morin transition. Nano-sized grains and alloying process of the material affected these features up to certain extent. The results of magnetic measurements are highly interesting for designing metal doped α-Fe₂O₃ based ferromagnet for room temperature applications.     

Mode theory of three-layer cylindrical waveguides and its application to aurum(Au)/polystyrene(PS)-coated terahertz hollow waveguides

In this paper, we present a generic mode theory for the three-layer cylindrical waveguides consisting of three arbitrary material mediums. Based on derived eigenvalue equations of the TE, TM, and hybrid modes, the mode conditions of metal/dielectric-coated terahertz hollow waveguides are extracted. In addition, we quantitatively describe both the effective refractive indexes and the loss characteristics of the aurum/polystyrene-coated terahertz hollow waveguides operating at the TE₀₁, TM₀₁, and HE₁₁ modes. It is indicated that the loss coefficient of the TE₀₁ mode can be much lower than that of the TM₀₁, and HE₁₁ modes, and, especially, can tend to that of the terahertz wave in air. So the TE₀₁ mode is very significant for the hollow waveguides in term of low loss propagating of the terahertz wave. We expect these results to enable a variety of new long-distance THz applications in sensing, detecting and communicating.     

Wood species identification using improved active shape model

In this paper, we propose a robust wood species identification scheme by using color wood surface images. First, a novel wood image acquirement system is devised, and the wood color image is converted into a V₁V₂I color-base image. Second, the corresponding grey histograms for V₁ and V₂ are established. Third, an improved active shape model is used to fulfill the curve deformation of the histogram curve of the standard specimen. This active shape model will then converge to the histogram curve of the test specimen. Finally, wood recognition is performed by comparing the initial and final active shape models with the histogram curve of the test specimen. We have experimentally proved that this scheme improves the mean recognition accuracy to approximately 90% for 5 wood species and that it can also be applied to the Gaussian noisy images. Moreover, the recognition accuracy can be further improved by combining this scheme with the texture feature recognition.     

Biaxial Q-shearing of 27Al 3QMAS NMR spectra: Insight into the structural disorder of framework aluminosilicates

In this contribution, we present the application potentiality of biaxial Q-shearing of ²⁷Al 3QMAS NMR spectra in the analysis of structural defects of aluminium units in aluminosilicates. This study demonstrates that the combination of various shearing transformations of the recorded ²⁷Al 3QMAS NMR spectra enables an understanding of the broadening processes of the correlation signals of disordered framework aluminosilicates, for which a wide distribution of ²⁷Al MAS NMR chemical shifts and quadrupolar parameters (i.e., second-order quadrupolar splitting and quadrupole-induced chemical shifts) can be expected. By combining the suitably selected shearing transformation procedures, the mechanisms of the formation of local defects in aluminosilicate frameworks, including Al/Si substitution effects in the next-nearest neighbouring T-sites, variations in bond angles, and/or variations in the physicochemical nature of charge-balancing counter-ions, can be identified. The proposed procedure has been extensively tested on a range of model aluminosilicate materials (kyanite, γ-alumina, metakaolin, analcime, chabazite, natrolite, phillipsite, mordenite, zeolite A, and zeolite Y).     

拉曼光谱分析青铜器本体中锈蚀产物

青铜器锈蚀研究能够揭示出青铜器腐蚀机理, 为制定科学的保护措施提供重要的参考资料。目前, 青铜器锈蚀研究主要从其外部锈蚀产物入手, 通过锈蚀组成结构分析, 探讨其腐蚀机理。本文选择了保存较好青铜器本体样品进行了内部锈蚀情况研究。首先采用金相制备技术, 通过打磨、抛光和超声清洗处理后, 制备了断面相组织形态清晰的24件秦早期青铜器青铜本体样品。然后利用共聚焦显微拉曼光谱仪对样品夹杂物进行了光谱学研究, 发现其物相为PbCO3和PbO及Cu2O, 都属于常见的青铜合金腐蚀产物。样品金相组织中圆形或者大面积无规则亮灰色区域为Cu2O, 反映出青铜器表面不仅易于形成一定厚度Cu2O锈蚀层, 在相界之间也容易发生氧化反应生成Cu2O, 存在合金内部和外部同时发生腐蚀生成赤铜矿锈蚀的情况。此外, 拉曼光谱分析显示黑灰色物质主要为铅腐蚀产物——PbCO3和PbO, 反映出铅元素的腐蚀过程: Pb→PbO→PbCO3。在铸造态青铜合金组织中, 铅一般呈近圆形颗粒状态分布在相界之间。青铜器内部分布的铅颗粒在土壤埋藏环境中会发生氧化反应生成PbO, 再与地下水中溶解的CO2－3发生化学反应生成比较稳定的PbCO3。结果表明: 外界腐蚀因素(水、溶解氧和碳酸根等)能够通过合金中相界间通道进入青铜器内部, 在相界表面逐步发生反应形成以金属氧化物为主的腐蚀产物。     

机械抛光铜金属表面对罗丹明的荧光增强效应

应用激光光谱学方法,研究了铜表面Rh6G分子的荧光增强效应对于金属衬底表面所形成的氧化层的依赖关系,探索了由于空气氧化而形成的氧化层在表面荧光增强效应中的重要意义和作用机理.实验采用罗丹明6G荧光探针分子,在532 nm连续光激发下,研究机械抛光铜金属衬底在经历不同氧化时间,对吸附其表面的Rh6G分子的荧光增强效果.研究结果表明,适当控制金属样品表面的氧化时间,金属铜表面对若丹明分子的荧光发射表现出猝灭和增强效应.金属氧化层起到了隔离荧光分子与金属表面的作用,减弱了由于激发态荧光分子向金属转移非辐射能量和在金属表面诱导反向偶极子而产生的荧光猝灭效应,从而提高了纯金属铜表面荧光增强辐射行为.因此在微纳金属衬底的荧光增强效应研究中,采用适当的实验手段,精确控制隔离层间距,是表面增强光谱获取的重要途径之一.