Determination of trace elements in biological materials using tetramethylammonium hydroxide for sample preparation

A method to prepare milk powder, bovine liver and bovine muscle samples for analysis by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) is proposed. Samples are mixed with a small amount of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and a stable and homogeneous slurry is produced in ca. 2 h with heating at 60–70 °C. After such sample preparation and dilution with water, trace elements are determined in certified reference materials. Pyrolysis and atomisation temperatures are optimised for each element, and several modifiers are investigated. External calibration is used for every analyte. Limits of detection (LODs), precision and accuracy are reported for Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr, Cu and Ag and compared with those obtained after conventional acid digestion. The main advantages of the proposed method are the simplicity of sample preparation and the longer lifetime of the graphite tube.     

Characterization and electrochemical investigation of boron-doped mesocarbon microbead anode materials for lithium ion batteries

The structure and anodic performance of boron-doped and undoped mesocarbon microbeads (MCMBs) have been comparatively studied and the results obtained by XPS, XRD, SEM, Raman spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements are discussed. It is found that boron doping introduces a depressed d ₀₀₂ spacing and the larger amount of "unorganized carbon", which induces vacancy formation in the graphite planes and leads to a quite different morphology from that of the undoped material. Electrochemical charge/discharge cycle tests indicated that after boron doping the lithium intercalation was carried through at a somewhat higher potential, being attended by greater irreversible capacity loss. Electronic Publication     

金属离子掺杂对TiO2光催化性能的影响

TiO₂光催化反应过程涉及光生电荷、电荷迁移、电荷在TiO₂表面的反应和溶液体相反应4个顺序相接并相互影响的步骤.在TiO₂中掺杂金属离子对以上4个步骤均有重要影响,合理的掺杂可有效地提高其光催化性能.本文综合了国内外此方面的最新研究成果,从提高TiO₂光催化性能和优化光催化反应的角度出发,在材料吸光能力、电荷扩散、表面反应、粒径和晶型等方面,全面地分析总结了金属离子掺杂的影响效果和规律性认识,并对TiO₂基光催化材料的金属离子掺杂改性研究的未来发展方向提出了建议.文中还简要介绍了相关的掺杂方法和材料表征手段.     

N-TiO2/ZnO复合纳米管阵列的掺杂机理及其光催化活性

以ZnO纳米柱阵列为模板, 采用溶胶-凝胶法制备出TiO2/ZnO和N掺杂TiO2/ZnO的复合纳米管阵列. 扫描电镜(SEM)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)和紫外-可见漫反射吸收光谱(UV-Vis)的结果表明: 两种阵列的纳米管均为六角形结构, 直径约为100 nm, 壁厚约为20 nm; 在N-TiO2/ZnO复合纳米管阵列中, 掺入的N离子主要是以N-Ox、N-C和N-N的形式化学吸附在纳米管表面, 仅有少量的N离子以取代式掺杂的方式占据TiO2晶格O的位置; 表面N物种形成的表面态能级和取代式掺杂导致带隙的窄化, 增强了纳米管阵列的光吸收效率, 促进了光生载流子的分离. 光催化实验结果表明, N离子的掺杂有利于N-TiO2/ZnO复合纳米管阵列光催化活性的提高.     

La2O3对Ni/γ-Al2O3甲烷化催化剂的助催化作用

我国将稀土作为助剂引入镍基甲烷化催化剂,大大提高了催化剂的活性和热稳定性,并已投入工业应用［1－3］．稀土对不同镍催化剂反应性能及其作用机理的研究已有一些报导［3－7］．谢有畅等观察到镍负载在经单层La2O3改性的γ－Al2O3表面,其晶粒要比没有La2O3时小得多．Rotgerink等认为添加La后反应速率的增加不只是由于几何效应,而是La对甲烷化本身有促进作用,单位镍表面的活性是随La含量不同而改变的,活性增加的同时表观活化能也增加［5］．作为助剂的La2O3在氢还原和反应过程中的变化及其作用的研究和讨论较少,目前一般认为添…     

新型介孔分子筛KIT-1加氢脱硫催化剂的研究

制备了新型的结构排列无序的介孔分子筛KIT-1和负载Ni, Mo的KIT-1加氢脱硫催化剂。实验结果表明MoO3较易分散在KIT-1的表面,而NiO则容易在其表面形成小晶粒。与以MCM-41和NaY分子筛为载体的Ni, Mo催化剂相比, KIT-1负载催化剂具有较高的加氢脱硫催化活性,因为KIT-1载体具有相互交错的三维孔道结构, 有利于反应物和产物的扩散, 而不容易受孔道堵塞的影响。     

Study on the anodic reaction of Ni in an alkaline solution by transient pH detection based on scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM)

The anodic reaction of Ni in an alkaline solution was studied by the tip–substrate voltammetry mode of scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). A platinum microdisc electrode was selected as the tip electrode, which functioned as a pH sensor with transient response capability. The pH value of the solution near the Ni electrode surface varied while the Ni substrate oxidation reaction occurred, and the pH variation could be detected by the tip faradic current. The cyclic voltammogram results showed that two types of hydroxides: i.e. α‐Ni(OH)₂ and β‐Ni(OH)₂ were formed during Ni oxidation in the lower potential region. In the proceedings of α‐Ni(OH)₂ → γ‐NiOOH and β‐Ni(OH)₂ → β‐NiOOH, the process of OH^? concentration decrease in the solution was ahead and behind of electron transfer in the solid phase, respectively. These results indicate that the OH^? adsorption process occurs as an elementary step in the former reaction and the H⁺ diffusion process from the inner to the outer layer of the solid phase occurs as a subsequent step in the latter reaction. The results also revealed that the oxide film on the Ni surface has a two‐layer structure. The real potential of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on the Ni surface with different cycles is also analyzed in the paper. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ion pair generation rates near planar3H and63Ni electron capture detector foils

The ion-pair generation rate (ionization topography) in plasmas from⁶³Ni and particularly Ti³H₄ foils, as used in electron capture detectors, was measured at room temperature using large, parallel plates of low backscattering ability in nitrogen gas of varying density. For one atmosphere pressure, the fall-off of ion pair formation as calculated from the exponential region equalsN ₀·e ^–0.19d for⁶³Ni andN ₀·e ^–1.4d for³H (whereN ₀ is the initial ionization rate immediately adjacent to the foil andd is the distance from the foil in mm). The experimentally measured half ranges (distances from the foil within which 50% of all possible ion pairs are created) are 2.7 mm for⁶³Ni and 0.27 mm for³H. The half ranges calculated from the exponential region where there is less interference from electron backscattering, are 3.7 and 0.5 mm, respectively. The latter values are considered closer to the true, unimpeded ionization topography near planar⁶³Ni and³H foils.Material taken from doctoral thesis     

Fast screening of anabolic steroids and other banned doping substances in human urine by gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

A fast and sensitive method for the comprehensive screening of anabolic agents and other banned doping substances using gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) with an external ionization ion trap mass spectrometer is presented. The method takes advantage of the resolving power of MS/MS to eliminate background interferences, thus speeding up the chromatographic analysis. For each compound, different fragmentation reactions were studied and their collision energies optimized to obtain the best sensitivity in terms of their signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). A dramatic reduction in overall analysis time was achieved compared with other common approaches. More than 50 substances could finally be monitored in less than 7.4 min with detection limits (S/N >3) lower than 0.5 ng ml(-1) for most of the compounds with special sensitivity requirements according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). A validation procedure for qualitative analysis was performed. The selectivity of the method showed that no interfering peaks were observed at the retention time of the analytes. Good intermediate precision, below 25% for most of the compounds, and robustness were observed. The optimized method was successfully applied to analyse more than 100 real human urine samples with optimum sensitivity and specificity rates.