Analysis of wax esters in edible oils by automated on-line coupling liquid chromatography-gas chromatography using the through oven transfer adsorption desorption (TOTAD) interface

An automated method for the direct analysis of wax esters in edible oils is presented. The proposed method uses the TOTAD (through oven transfer adsorption desorption) interface for the on-line coupling of normal phase liquid chromatography and gas chromatography. In this fully automated system, the oil with C32 wax ester as internal standard and diluted with heptane is injected directly with no sample pre-treatment step other than filtration. The proposed method allows analysis of different wax esters, and is simpler and faster than the European Union Official Method, which is tedious and time-consuming. The obtained results closely match the certified values obtained from the median of the analytical results of the inter-labs certification study. Relative standard deviations of the concentrations are less than 5%. The method is appropriate for routine analysis as it is totally automated.     

含蜡原油降凝剂与石蜡作用机理的研究进展与探讨

高分子降凝剂产品已广泛应用于原油的开采和输送工艺中,但是,对降凝剂降凝机理认识的不足制约了降凝剂的开发和应用.降凝剂与油品中石蜡的相互作用决定其降凝机理.本文综述了近年来人们在研究降凝剂与石蜡作用机理方面所使用的研究方法和所取得的进展,并深入探讨了降凝剂与石蜡的具体作用方式.对于含蜡原油,降凝剂主要通过与石蜡的共晶、吸附作用使蜡晶结构更紧凑,并促进小蜡晶聚集成较大尺寸的聚集体,从而大大降低蜡.油界面积,破坏蜡晶三维网络的形成,宏观上表现为原油凝点降低,低温流动性改善.     

肯基亚克盐下油田8033井地面管线堵塞机理的研究

通过堵塞物的分离和组分分析,探讨了哈萨克斯坦肯基亚克盐下油田8033井地面管线的堵塞机理。利用有机溶剂对其堵塞物进行了分离,各组分的含量如下:无机杂质2.78%,正庚烷沥青质0.12%,胶质4.76%,蜡33.25%。利用X射线衍射分析技术分析了无机物杂质的组成,其中的石英成分高达85.9%。利用高温气相色谱技术分析了蜡样的碳数构成,其中C40以上的蜡成分约占50%。通过堵塞物样品粘温曲线的测定,研究了堵塞物样品的流变特性,并确定了其析蜡点温度为65℃。实验结果表明,盐下油藏8033井地面管线的堵塞原因主要是由于在地面温度下原油中高碳蜡的析出,并与无机杂质协同作用,加剧了堵塞物的形成。据此提出了现场解除堵塞物的措施以及今后生产过程中需要采取的预防措施。     

Development of a microfluidic paper-based analytical device for the determination of salivary aldehydes

A low cost, disposable and easy to use microfluidic paper-based analytical device (μPAD) was developed for simple and non-invasive determination of total aldehydes in saliva with a potential to be used in epidemiological studies to assess oral cancer risk. The μPAD is based on the colour reaction between aldehydes (e.g. acetaldehyde, formaldehyde), 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone (MBTH) and iron(III) to form an intense blue coloured formazan dye. The newly developed μPAD has a 3D design with two overlapping paper layers. The first layer comprises 15 circular detection zones (8 mm in diameter), each impregnated with 8 μL of MBTH, while the second layer contains 15 reagent zones (4 mm in diameter). Two μL of iron(III) chloride are added to each one of the second layer zones after the addition of sample to the detection zones in the first layer. All hydrophilic zones of the μPAD are defined by wax printing using a commercial wax printer.     

Understanding wax screen-printing: A novel patterning process for microfluidic cloth-based analytical devices

In this work, we first introduce the fabrication of microfluidic cloth-based analytical devices (μCADs) using a wax screen-printing approach that is suitable for simple, inexpensive, rapid, low-energy-consumption and high-throughput preparation of cloth-based analytical devices. We have carried out a detailed study on the wax screen-printing of μCADs and have obtained some interesting results. Firstly, an analytical model is established for the spreading of molten wax in cloth. Secondly, a new wax screen-printing process has been proposed for fabricating μCADs, where the melting of wax into the cloth is much faster (∼5 s) and the heating temperature is much lower (75 °C). Thirdly, the experimental results show that the patterning effects of the proposed wax screen-printing method depend to a certain extent on types of screens, wax melting temperatures and melting time. Under optimized conditions, the minimum printing width of hydrophobic wax barrier and hydrophilic channel is 100 μm and 1.9 mm, respectively. Importantly, the developed analytical model is also well validated by these experiments. Fourthly, the μCADs fabricated by the presented wax screen-printing method are used to perform a proof-of-concept assay of glucose or protein in artificial urine with rapid high-throughput detection taking place on a 48-chamber cloth-based device and being performed by a visual readout. Overall, the developed cloth-based wax screen-printing and arrayed μCADs should provide a new research direction in the development of advanced sensor arrays for detection of a series of analytes relevant to many diverse applications.     

Influence of Oil Content in Paraffins on the Behavior of Wax Emulsions: Wetting and Rheology

In this study, effect and correlation of alkyl chain length (C8, C10, C12, C14, and C16) and concentration of n-alkyl sulfate acid used as representative Br?nsted acid-combined-surfactant catalysts on dehydration esterification of oleic acid with 1-octanol as typical substrates are researched. CMC of the series surfactant are measured by surface tension method. The results indicate that alkyl chain length as well as concentration of catalyst plays an important role in determining conversion of esterifications. Appropriate chain length surfactant and concentration should be chosen for the combined-surfactant catalyzed reaction.     

A rapid,straightforward, and print house compatible mass fabrication method for integrating 3D paper‐based microfluidics

Three‐dimensional (3D) paper‐based microfluidics, which is featured with high performance and speedy determination, promise to carry out multistep sample pretreatment and orderly chemical reaction, which have been used for medical diagnosis, cell culture, environment determination, and so on with broad market prospect. However, there are some drawbacks in the existing fabrication methods for 3D paper‐based microfluidics, such as, cumbersome and time‐consuming device assembly; expensive and difficult process for manufacture; contamination caused by organic reagents from their fabrication process. Here, we present a simple printing–bookbinding method for mass fabricating 3D paper‐based microfluidics. This approach involves two main steps: (i) wax‐printing, (ii) bookbinding. We tested the delivery capability, diffusion rate, homogeneity and demonstrated the applicability of the device to chemical analysis by nitrite colorimetric assays. The described method is rapid (<30 s), cheap, easy to manipulate, and compatible with the flat stitching method that is common in a print house, making itself an ideal scheme for large‐scale production of 3D paper‐based microfluidics.     

Novel, simple and low-cost alternative method for fabrication of paper-based microfluidics by wax dipping

Paper-based microfluidic devices are an alternative technology for fabricating simple, low-cost, portable and disposable platforms for clinical diagnosis. Hereby, a novel wax dipping method for fabricating paper-based microfluidic devices (μPADs) is reported. The iron mould for wax dipping was created by a laser cutting technique. The designed pattern was transferred onto paper by dipping an assembly mould into melted wax. The optimal melting temperature and dipping time were investigated. The optimal melting temperature was in the range of 120-130 °C, and the optimal dipping time was 1 s. The whole fabrication process could be finished within 1 min without the use of complicated instruments or organic solvents. The smallest hydrophilic channel that could be created by the wax dipping method was 639 ± 7 μm in size. The reproducibility of the μPAD fabrication for hydrophilic channel width of the test zone and sample zone was 1.48% and 6.30%, respectively. To verify the performance of the μPAD, multiple colorimetric assays for simultaneous detection of glucose and protein in real samples were performed. An enzymatic assay and the bromocresol green (BCG) method were conducted on the paper device to determine the presence of glucose and protein in a test solution. The results of the assays were not significantly different from those of the conventional methods (p > 0.05, pair t-test and one-way ANOVA method). The wax dipping provides a new alternative method for fabricating lab-on-paper devices for multiple clinical diagnostics and will be very beneficial for developing countries.     

Analysis of wax solubility of rubber vulcanizates using wax solution in toluene and molten wax

Wax is commonly used as an antidegradant for rubber materials by formation of an impervious barrier. Wax solubilities in natural rubber (NR), styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR), and butadiene rubber (BR) vulcanizates were measured using wax solution in toluene and molten wax. Wax solubilities using molten wax were much higher than those using wax solution in toluene. The wax solubility of NR vulcanizate was higher than those of SBR and BR. Parameters influencing wax solubility were the solvent swell, rubber fraction and filler type as well as the rubber type. Molecular weight distribution of the dissolved wax was different from that of the raw wax; the dissolved waxes with lower molecular weights were relatively higher than the raw ones. We believe that wax solubility and molecular weight distribution of the dissolved wax can be widely used for determining the wax type and content.     

Evaluation of glass capillary columns for geochemical analysis

Summary Glass capillary columns prepared according to well established methods (whiskers formation, sodium chloride and barium carbonate deposition, persilylation and stationary phase bonding) are evaluated in terms of their efficiency, residual activity and thermostability. The better performance is obtained with the persilylation method. Columns (0.25 mm×20m) coated with 0.15 m of SE-52 provided 4400 theoretical plates per meter and proved to be the most versatile in geochemical analysis. High temperature separations of alkanes, sterols and wax esters are exemplified.Presented at the 14th International Symposium on Chromatography London, September, 1982