Formation of Bi-Sb, Bi-Sn, and Bi-Sb-Sn Nanoclusters in Silica Xerogel Matrices from Mixed-Metal Oxide Precursors

Homogeneous mixed-metal oxides of the general formula (Bi/E/Si)O _x , where E represents a dopant element (E=Sb, Sn, or Sb/Sn), can be prepared using typical sol-gel processing techniques. Reduction of the in-situ Bi(III) and E ions by hydrogen affords nanocomposites of Bi-Sb, Bi-Sn, or Bi-Sb-Sn widely dispersed throughout the silica xerogel matrix. The materials prepared have high Bi-E metal loading of 52–60 wt. % containing Bi-E alloy nanoclusters of 12–15 nm average diameter. These results demonstrate a convenient method for the production of practical quantities of nanostructured bismuth alloy ceramic composites at high metal content.     

纳米晶掺钇硬质合金粉末的制备

采用高能球磨法制备了纳米晶掺Y硬质合金粉末。用XRD，SEM和DTA等分析检测手段，研究了纳米晶掺Y硬质合金粉末的结构、形貌和相的变化。结果表明：高能球磨45h，可获得晶粒尺寸约为8nm的掺Y硬质合金粉末；微量Y的加入，有利于硬质合金粉末晶粒的细化；在25～45h范围内，随着高能球磨时间的延长，粉末晶粒尺寸减小，且掺Y硬质合金粉末的晶粒尺寸比未掺Y的硬质合金粉末晶粒尺寸要细一倍；高能球磨25h，粉末中Co的X射线衍射峰消失。高能球磨掺Y硬质合金粉末的DTA曲线在626℃出现了1个尖锐的放热峰。高能球磨掺Y硬质合金粉末固结之后，其合金晶粒细小，机械性能较好。     

Probing the water coordination of protein-targeted MRI contrast agents by pulsed ENDOR spectroscopy.

A novel methodology based on electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy is used for the direct determination of the water coordination number (q) of gadolinium-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. Proton ENDOR spectra can be obtained at approximately physiological concentrations for metal complexes in frozen aqueous solutions either in the presence or absence of protein targets. It is shown that, depending on the structure of the co-ligand, the water hydration number of a complex in aqueous solution can be significantly different to when the complex is noncovalently bound to a protein. From the ENDOR spectra of the exchangeable protons, precise information on the metal-proton distance can be derived as well. These essential parameters directly correlate with the efficacy of MRI contrast agents and should therefore aid the development of novel, highly efficient compounds targeted to various proteins.     

Addition of α,α-dichloropropionitrile to unsaturated compounds under conditions of metallocomplex initiation

,-Dichloropropionitrile reacts with unsaturated compounds in the presence of complex initiating systems based on metal carbonyls. The systems based on iron pentacarbonyl are the most efficient.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 1595–1596, August, 1995.The work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 93-03-04497).     

Metal island coated polymer sensor for direct determination of the volume effect of chaotropic agents

A new optical sensor is presented, based on the analyte reaction resulting in swelling and shrinking of a thin polymer layer. Changing the concentration of ions in a new bisazide photo-cross-linked poly(vinylpyrrolidone) polymer results in a concentration-dependent volume change of the hydrated gel. The volume response of the sensor induced by different ions is fully reversible over more than 250 cycles. The response of the device depends on the type, the charge and the concentration of the ions. The sensor material is part of an optical thin film system which transforms the variations in volume of the polymer into spectral information. The steady state of the sensor response is obtained within 60 s. The response time is mainly limited by the pump rate, the back pressure and the total volume of the system but not by the swelling of the sensor polymer. A comparative study of ion effects has demonstrated a fundamental correlation of the polymer swelling properties with the Hofmeister series of chaotropic agents. Thus it is concluded that the photopolymer, which is solubilized in aqueous solutions by the interaction of its amide structure with the solvent, behaves like the backbone amide structure of proteins.     

A new biomaterial,hen egg shell membrane,to eliminate heavy metal ion from their dilute waste solution

The egg shell membrane (ESM) is an intricate lattice network of stable and water-insoluble fibers with high surface area. ESM accumulates and eliminates various heavy metal ions from dilute aqueous solution with high affinity and in short contact time, depending on pH and characteristics of the individual ion. Under certain conditions, the level of precious ions, Au, Pt, and Pd accumulation approaches 55, 25, and 22% of dry wt of ESM, respectively. Also uranium uptake 30% of that of ESM. Experiments suggested that ESM is promising to use for the purpose of removal/recovery of metals and water pollution control.     

Determination of heavy metal concentration in feed and permeate streams of polymer enhanced ultrafiltration process

Polymer enhanced ultrafiltration (PEUF) is a newly developed method for the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. This method was applied for the removal of mercury and cadmium with the presence of polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a water soluble polymer. After ultrafiltration experiments for metal–polymer mixtures, two separate streams, namely, retentate and permeate, former of which contains mainly metal–polymer complex and free polymer molecules while latter of which mainly contains free metal ions, were obtained. At the end of PEUF experiments, performance of operation was determined by concentration analyses which was achieved by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) applied in a different way for permeate and retentate streams considering the effect of presence of polymer. For mercury analysis, cold vapor AAS was applied. It was observed that the presence of PEI did not affect the atomic absorption signal when 10% HCl was added to the sample solutions. For calcium and cadmium, flame AAS was used. It was observed that change in PEI concentration results in change in measured concentration of calcium and cadmium. Therefore, two new approaches were developed for accurate measurement of concentrations of calcium and cadmium. It was also observed that presence of other metals did not affect the accuracy of the measurement of a particular metal in the concentration range studied.     

Phosphorus-containing podands

A number of monopodands havingo-diphenylphosphinyl terminal groups were synthesized by alkylating sodium derivatives of oligoethylene glycols witho-(bromomethyl)phenyldiphenylphosphine. The stability constants of the complexes of these ligands with alkali metal cations at 25 °C were determined conductometrically in a THF—chloroform solution (41, v/v). The complexing ability of monopodands with respect to the cations studied increases monotonically as the number of electron-donating sites increases (from 3 to 8) for all of the cations except Li⁺ and, to some extent, Na⁺. In the case of Li⁺ a smooth decrease in the stability of the complexes is observed. The monopodands obtained in this work differ drastically in this regard from their structural isomers, bis[o-(diphenylphosphinylmethyl)phenyl] ethers of oligoethylene glycols, which had been studied previously.For part 10, see ref. 1.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 952–956, May, 1993.     

The role of additional solvents in transition metal complex catalyzed asymmetric reductions in ionic liquid containing systems

When ionic liquids (ILs) are employed as solvents for transition metal complex (TMC) catalyzed reductions, a second solvent can be added to increase the efficiency of the catalytic cycle and the solubility of the reactant in the IL phase. Two industrially relevant asymmetric hydrogenations, the enantioselective reductions of methyl 2-acetamidoacrylate with Rh-EtDuPHOS and methyl acetoacetate with Ru-BINAP, were performed in different catalytic systems including 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate/ tetrafluoroborate as ILs. Product separation and TMC recycling was performed by extracting the product from the reaction mixture. This can be accomplished by cooling the system, by adding an excess of the second solvent or by adding a third solvent. A high solubility of the second solvent in the IL catalytic phase favors the reaction activity, but can induce leaching of the IL and TMC.