A simple method for determination of erythritol,maltitol, xylitol,and sorbitol in sugar‐free chocolates by capillary electrophoresis with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection

In this work, a novel and simple analytical method using capillary electrophoresis (CE) with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C⁴D) is proposed for the determination of the polyols erythritol, maltitol, xylitol, and sorbitol in sugar‐free chocolate. CE separation of the polyols was achieved in less than 6 min, and it was mediated by the interaction between the polyols and the borate ions in the background electrolyte, forming negatively charged borate esters. The extraction of the polyols from the samples was simply obtained using ultra‐pure water and ultrasonic energy. Linearity was assessed by calibration curves that showed R² varying from 0.9920 to 0.9976. The LOQs were 12.4, 15.9, 9.0, and 9.0 μg/g for erythritol, maltitol, xylitol, and sorbitol, respectively. The accuracy of the method was evaluated by recovery tests, and the obtained recoveries varied from 70 to 116% with standard deviations ranging from 0.2 to 19%. The CE‐C⁴D method was successfully applied for the determination of the studied polyols in commercial samples of sugar‐free chocolate.     

Modeling a halogen dance reaction mechanism: A density functional theory study

Since the discovery of the halogen dance (HD) reaction more than 60 years ago, numerous insights into the mechanism have been unveiled. To date however, the reaction has not been investigated from a theoretical perspective. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to model the potential energy surface linking the starting reagents to the lithiated products for each step in the mechanism using a thiophene substrate. It was found that the lithium‐halogen exchange mechanism is critical to understand the HD mechanism in detail and yielded the knowledge that S_N2 transition states (TS) are favored over the four‐center type for the lithium‐bromine exchange steps. The overall driving force for the HD is thermodynamics, while the kinetic factors tightly control the reaction path through temperature. The S_N2 lithium‐bromide TS are barrierless, except the second, which is the limiting step. Finally, the model for the HD is discovered to be a pseudo‐clock type, due to a highly favorable bromide catalysis step and the reformation of 2‐bromothiophene. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Liquid-phase oxidation with hydrogen peroxide of benzyl alcohol and xylenes on Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 – CaWO4

A W-containing apatite (W/HAp) catalyst was prepared following a hydrothermal synthesis route and served as a model catalyst. Crystallographic analysis indicated that the resulting material contained hydroxyapatite, Ca_10−3xW_x(PO₄)₆(OH)₂, W-hydroxyapatite, calcium tungstate, CaWO₄, and tricalcium phosphate, Ca₃(PO₄)₂. The catalyst was investigated in liquid phase oxidation of benzyl alcohol and xylenes using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant. For comparison, commercial calcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite and CaWO₄ were tested in the same reaction. Calcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite appeared as inactive and decomposed hydrogen peroxide non-selectively. A moderate activity but low hydrogen peroxide efficiency was observed for the CaWO₄ phase. In contrast, the W/HAp catalyst showed a reasonable activity and a better hydrogen peroxide efficiency in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol and xylenes. This new W/HAp catalyst showed, after six cycles, losses of the activity below 15% compared to the fresh catalyst with no effect on the selectivity. It is noteworthy that ICP-OES analyses showed no tungsten leaching that is the main advantage of this catalyst.     

Development of a carbon‐nanoparticle‐coated stirrer for stir bar sorptive extraction by a simple carbon deposition in flame

Stir bar sorptive extraction is an environmentally friendly microextraction technique based on a stir bar with various sorbents. A commercial stirrer is a good support, but it has not been used in stir bar sorptive extraction due to difficult modification. A stirrer was modified with carbon nanoparticles by a simple carbon deposition process in flame and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry. A three‐dimensional porous coating was formed with carbon nanoparticles. In combination with high‐performance liquid chromatography, the stir bar was evaluated using five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as model analytes. Conditions including extraction time and temperature, ionic strength, and desorption solvent were investigated by a factor‐by‐factor optimization method. The established method exhibited good linearity (0.01–10 μg/L) and low limits of quantification (0.01 μg/L). It was applied to detect model analytes in environmental water samples. No analyte was detected in river water, and five analytes were quantified in rain water. The recoveries of five analytes in two samples with spiked at 2 μg/L were in the range of 92.2–106% and 93.4–108%, respectively. The results indicated that the carbon nanoparticle‐coated stirrer was an efficient stir bar for extraction analysis of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.     

Polyaniline‐coated cigarette filters as a solid‐phase extraction sorbent for the extraction and enrichment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in water samples

Polyaniline coated cigarette filters were successfully synthesized and used as a solid‐phase extraction sorbent for the extraction and preconcentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples. The polyaniline helped to enhance the adsorption ability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the sorbent through π–π interactions. The high porosity and large surface area of the cigarette filters helped to reduce backpressure and can be operated with high sample flow rate without loss of extraction efficiency. The developed sorbent was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The parameters that affected the extraction efficiencies, i.e. polymerization time, type of desorption solvent and its volume, sample flow rate, sample volume, sample pH, ionic strength, and organic modifier were investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the method was linear over the range of 0.5–10 μg/L and a detection limit of 0.5 ng/L. This simple, rapid, and cost‐effective method was successfully applied to the preconcentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from water samples. The developed method provided a high enrichment factor with good extraction efficiency (85–98%) and a relative standard deviation <10%.     

Polyimide‐coated magnetic nanoparticles as a sorbent in the solid‐phase extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in seawater samples

Magnetic polyimide poly(4,4′‐oxydiphenylene‐pyromellitimide) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and developed for the solid‐phase extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in seawater samples. The aromatic rings of polyimide coating provided a good adsorption capacity (28.3–42.5 mg/g) for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons because of the π–π stacking interaction. The developed method was used as a simple, fast, and efficient extraction and preconcentration technique for the trace analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The high chemical, physical and thermal stability, excellent reusability, and good magnetic properties are the merits of the sorbent. High preconcentration factors (41–63) were obtained. The sorbent was also characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry. After optimizing several appropriate extraction parameters, the results indicated that the extraction recoveries of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were in the range of 61.6–94.7%, with relative standard deviations between 2.9 and 5.4%, the calibration graph was linear in the concentration range of 1–100 μg/L (r > 0.9991) with limit of detection in the range of 0.15–0.19 μg/L (n = 3). Seawater samples were analyzed as real samples and good recoveries (68.5–99.5%) were obtained at different spiked values.     

PVA-SiO_2复合物改性棉纤维及其吸油性能

首先以棉纤维为主要原材料,通过一步浸渍将聚乙烯醇-二氧化硅粒子(PVA-SiO_2)复合物涂覆在棉纤维表面;然后对其进行疏水改性,制得一种超疏水吸油材料。通过扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和水接触角(WCA)测试对改性纤维的表面结构及润湿性进行了分析表征。研究了PVA和SiO_2纳米粒子的质量分数对纤维吸油性能的影响,并评价了改性纤维的疏水性、润湿耐受性、吸油速率和重复使用性能。结果表明:棉纤维经过PVA-SiO_2复合物涂覆后具有稳定的超疏水性,吸油量比改性前显著提高,对正己烷、甲苯和氯仿的吸油量分别提高了47%、18.6%和26.2%。     

Preparation of gelatin/poly(vinyl alcohol) film modified by methyl methacrylate and gamma irradiation

The properties of gelatin–polyvinyl alcohol (G–PVA) blend films were improved by methyl methacrylate (MMA) and γ irradiation for a practical viewpoint. The films were prepared by the casting method, modified by glycerol and MMA monomer, and their mechanical properties were also studied. The gelatin-based films were successfully prepared using γ irradiation (3.1 kGy) and gelatin: PVA = 97:3 (w/w) as optimized. Tensile properties of the films were studied and thermal properties of the films were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis and dynamic mechanical analysis pointed out that MMA treated both gelatin films, and G–PVA blend films showed less thermal degradation than untreated films. In addition, structural and morphological features of the gelatin-based films were examined by Fourier transform infrared and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The ultimate results of the present study showed remarkable enhancement in tensile properties (> 40%) and a reduction in elongation at break of the films, thanks to the MMA addition and γ irradiation.     

新型多孔芳香骨架材料用于硝基爆炸物的检测

采用付玫瑰苯胺与对苯二甲醛通过希夫碱偶联反应制备了新型的多孔芳香骨架材料.经过FTIR,TGA,PXRD,SEM,TEM和Ar吸附等分析方法对多孔芳香骨架材料的成键方式和骨架结构进行了表征.分析结果显示,该多孔芳香骨架材料具有优异的热稳定性(350℃仅失重5%)和溶剂稳定性,其Langmuir比表面积约为472m~2/g.紫外光谱和荧光光谱测试分析表明,该材料在苯、甲苯和氯苯等芳香化合物环境中无明显的荧光强度变化.然而在硝基爆炸物环境中会发生灵敏的、专一的荧光淬灭现象.该多孔材料可应用于硝基爆炸物的检测.     

Mn-Al和Cu-Mn-Al复合氧化物催化苯甲醇选择氧化反应

用溶胶-凝胶法制备了不同组成的Mn-Al和Cu-Mn-Al复合氧化物两组催化剂,用于苯甲醇选择氧化反应.用X射线衍射(XRD)、N2物理吸附(BET)、扫描电镜(SEM)、H_2程序升温还原(H_2-TPR)、O_2程序升温脱附(O_2-TPD)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)技术对催化剂进行了结构表征,考察了催化剂组成对催化活性的影响.结果表明:以甲苯为溶剂,O_2为氧化剂,353 K反应5 h,Mn_2Al和Cu_(0.3)Mn_(0.7)Al_2催化剂上的苯甲醇转化率分别为36.6%和40.9%,苯甲醛选择性均为100%.进一步研究表明:催化剂活性与其H2还原性和O_2吸附性有关,高活性的催化剂吸附氧多,生成的活性氧易参与反应.