Temperature dependence of second critical micelle concentration of dodecyldimethylbenzylammonium bromide in aqueous solution

The specific conductivity of dodecyldimethylbenzylammonium bromide (C12BBr) in aqueous solutions, in the temperature range of 15 to 40 °C, has been measured as a function of molality. The two breaks which were found on the conductivity against molality plots were attributed to the critical micelle concentration, cmc, and second critical micelle concentration, 2^nd cmc, respectively. The ratio of the slopes, S, of the three linear fragments on the plots, S2/S1 and S3/S1, was attributed to the degree of ionization of the micelles at cmc and 2^nd cmc respectively. It was shown that the values of the 2^nd cmc estimated above 27 °C are only apparent due to thermal disintegration of the micelles. In the temperature range of 15 to 27 °C, the values of the 2^nd cmc increase gradually and the plot of the 2^nd cmc against temperature is concave. The ratio of 2^nd cmc/cmc for C12BBr at 25 °C amounts to 15 and appears to be high compared to the literature values for other surfactants. For comparative purposes the cmc and 2^nd cmc values were also estimated conductometrically for decyldimethylbenzylammonium bromide (C10BBr) at 25 °C. The 2^nd cmc value for this surfactant is higher compared to the value for the C12 homologue by a factor of 2.6.The standard Gibbs free energies of micellization at cmc and at the 2^nd cmc were estimated from the experimental data for both surfactants at 25 °C.     

Alysis of the volatile constituents of food by headspace GC-MS with reversal of the carrier gas flow during sampling

A technique has been developed for performing headspace GC-MS analysis of volatile components of food, in which the carrier gas flow is reversed during sampling in order to overcome problems caused by the diffusion of substances not retained by the cold trap. Chromatographic profiles of volatile compounds from cheeses, obtained at room temperature, provide confirmation of the validity of the reversed flow technique, and the versatility of the system is evidenced by its successful application to both solid and liquid matrixes: the absence of any discrimination against the various components reveals its efficacy for compounds with a wide range of volatility. Addition of internal standards to the sample enables the use of the technique for quantitative analysis.     

Assessment of various carbon sources and nutrient feeding strategies for Panax ginseng cell culture

Ginseng (root of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) cells were cultivated on medium supplemented with various carbohydrates including sucrose, glucose, and fructose, at initial concentrations ranging from 10 to 110 g/L. Sucrose was shown to be the superior carbon source to the monosaccharides for ginseng cell growth and the optimal concentration was between 30 and 50 g/L. An increase in the initial concentration within this range increased the maximum cell density and growth index significantly, whereas much higher concentrations inhibited cell growth. Feeding of sucrose and some other medium components during the growth (fed-batch mode) was more effective in enhancing the cell growth and biomass productivity, increasing the growth index by more than 60–70% and biomass productivity by more than 50%.     

吸附伏安法测定表面活性剂的临界胶束浓度

以易溶于有机溶剂，微溶于水的氧化－还原指示剂中性红为探针，用吸附伏安法测定了阴离子表面活性剂的临界胶束浓度。测量的基本原理是：存在于表面活性剂溶液中的微量中性红在悬汞电极上的吸附伏安峰电流对表面活性剂浓度的曲线在临界胶束浓度处有一拐点。     

Hepatobiliary excretion and brain distribution of caffeine in rats using microdialysis

To investigate the pharmacokinetic mechanism of hepatobiliary excretion and brain distribution of caffeine, this study uses a method based on microdialysis technique and liquid chromatography that allows continuous and concurrent in vivo monitoring of extracellular caffeine in the blood, brain and bile of anesthetized rats following the administration of caffeine (3 or 10 mg/kg, i.v.) through the femoral vein. Dialysates of the blood, brain and bile were directly injected onto the liquid chromatographic system and no further clean-up procedures were required. The study design consisted of two groups of six rats in parallel: the rats of the control group received caffeine (3 or 10 mg/kg, i.v.) alone and those of the cyclosporine treated-group were injected cyclosporine (10 mg/kg, i.v.) 10 min prior to caffeine administration (3 or 10 mg/kg, i.v.). The decline of caffeine in the blood, brain striatum and bile suggested that caffeine had rapid exchange and equilibration between the peripheral compartment and the central nervous system. In addition, the results indicated that caffeine underwent hepatobiliary excretion and was distributed into brain. When cyclosporine was co-administered, the pharmacokinetic parameters were not significantly altered. The results of this study reveal that the pharmacokinetic mechanism of hepatobiliary excretion and brain distribution of caffeine might not relate to P-glycoprotein.     

Highly Thiocyanate‐Selective PVC Membrane Electrode Based on Lipophilic Ferrocene Derivative

A novel anion‐selective PVC membrane electrode based on bis‐[(3‐ferrocenyl)‐(2‐crotonic acid)] copper(II) complex [Cu(II)‐BFCA] as neutral carrier is described, which demonstrates excellent potentiometric response characteristics toward thiocyanate ion and anti‐Hofmeister selectivity sequence in following order: SCN^?>I^?>ClO >Sal^?>Br^?>NO >Cl^?≈NO >SO >SO . The electrode shows a near‐Nernstian response for thiocyanate ion in a wide range of 9.0×10^?7–1.0×10^?1 M with a detection limit 6.8×10^?7 M and a slope of ?59.1 mV/decade in pH 5.0 of phosphate buffer solution at 20 °C. The influences of lipophilic cationic and anionic additives on the response properties of the electrode were investigated. High sensitivity and wide linear dynamic range were observed for the electrode in the presence of hexadecyltrimethylammoniumborate (HTAB) as a lipophilic cationic additive. The electrode was successfully applied to the determination of thiocyanate ion in waste water and human saliva.     

Kinetics and mechanism in the decomposition of NH3 in a radio-frequency pulse discharge

Studies of time-resolved absorption spectra of transient species in the decomposition of NH₃ by an r.f. pulse discharge together with product analysis showed that the major radical formed was NH at concentrations of the order of 10^–6 mol dm^–3 (10⁵ molec. cm^–3). Possible mechanisms for the formation of the radical during the discharge and its decay following pulse cut-off were tested by computer simulation of the kinetic data. Following zero-order formation with rate coefficient 0.19±0.03 mol dm^–3 s^–1, the decay was second order in NH with rate coefficient 2.1±0.5×10⁹ mol^–1 dm³ s^–1 both for pure NH₃ and where NH₃/rare gas mixtures were investigated. The kinetic data are consistent with NH removal in a nonassociative radical-radical reaction proceeding via a short-lived collision complex, probably 2NH N₂H₂ N₂ + H₂.     

Mixed micellar systems of octyl β,d-glucopyranoside with a nonionic surfactant and a water-soluble polymer

We have made a comparative study between the micellar regions of the octyl -d-glucoside (OG)–tetraethylene glycol monododecyl ether and the OG–poly(ethylene glycol) 20,000 systems by means of surface tension and viscosimetric measurements. The incorporation of the tetraethylene glycol monododecyl ether nonionic surfactant in the OG micelles decreases the critical micelle concentration, whereas the presence of polymer increases it. The nonionic surfactant mixture exhibits nonideal mixing behaviour. The data fit to Rubinghs treatment with a value of –5.1, which implies a modest attraction between both surfactants. The surfactant–poly(ethylene glycol) 20,000 system does not form mixed micelles. The incorporation of polymer increases the critical micelle concentration of the surfactant. The viscosity for the surfactant–polymer system is higher than that for the pure polymer, demonstrating a surfactant-induced structuring.     

Influence of extractions on physicochemical characterization and bioactivity of Piper nigrum oils: Study on the non-isothermal decomposition kinetic

Black pepper oils have been investigated frequently in the recent years. However, there is a significant variation in physicochemical properties and bioactivity of oils depended on extraction techniques. In this study, the systemic investigation of four various extraction methods was performed to evaluate the physicochemical characterizations, antioxidant and antibacterial activity. The investigation of ¹H NMR, FTIR and UV–Vis spectra confirmed presence of non-volatile components in oils extracted through supercritical CO₂ and hexane-soaking extractions which induced their typical thermal properties. The isothermal behaviour of extracted oils related to evaporation was within range of 3.2–7.3% (w/w) at 27 °C. The SEM images of the black pepper confirmed different operation manners of mechanism between extractions using the solvents and heating process. The lowest MIC for both essential oils from conventional hidrodistillation and microwave-assisted hidrodistillation against two bacteria including E. coli and B. subtilis were found to be 137 µg mL⁻¹. The non-isothermal decomposition kinetics were investigated on the essential oil of microwave-assisted hydrodistillation extraction. The activation energies and pre-exponent factors of non-isothermal decomposition were found to be in range of 36.5–73.7 KJ mol⁻¹ and 4.98 × 10³–1.97 × 10⁸ s⁻¹, respectively, dependent on conversional fractions of the oil. The results revealed that chemical components, physicochemical properties and bioactivity of black pepper essential oils depended on the extraction techniques.