Electrochemical Behavior and Determination of Uric Acid at Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Modified Gold Electrodes

The voltammetric behavior of uric acid was studied at a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) modified gold electrode. Uric acid can effectively accumulate at this electrode and produce an anodic peak at about 0.45 V (vs. SCE) in pH 5.0 sodium acetate buffer solutions (HAc-NaAc). The experimental parameters, such as solution pH, accumulation time, and amount of SWNT, were optimized for determination. Under the optimum conditions, the anodic peak current is linear to the uric acid concentration over the range of 1.0×10⁻⁷ M to 2.5×10⁻⁵ M with a correlation coefficient of 0.998. The detection limit was 5.0×10⁻⁸ M for 60 s accumulation. The electrode could be easily regenerated and exhibited good stability. A 5.0×10⁻⁶ M uric acid solution was measured ten times using the same electrode, and the relative standard deviation of the peak current was 1.3%. This method was successfully applied to the determination of uric acid in human urine samples, and the recovery was 97–99%. The feasibility for simultaneous determination of xanthine, ascorbic acid and uric acid was discussed. These species did not interfere with each other in a certain concentration range. The influence of some surfactants on the anodic peak was also examined.     

C12-2-En-C12•2Br与SDS混合水溶液的胶团化研究

与[C12H25N＋(CH3)2CH2]2•2Br－(简记为C12-2-C12•2Br)/ C12H25SO4Na(SDS)混合水溶液相比,随着联接链上乙氧基团(E)数目增加,[C12H25N＋(CH3)2]2C2H4(OC2H4)n•2Br－(简记为C12-2-En-C12•2Br, n=2,3)与SDS混合水溶液澄清区域明显增大. C12-2-E3-C12•2Br/SDS混合胶团化过程中二组分产生了协同效应,理论预测在澄清区域所能达到的最小临界胶团总浓度(cmcT,min)= 0.0339 mmol•L－1,对应的SDS在溶液体相中的摩尔分数(x2*)=0.447.当水溶液体相中SDS摩尔分数(x2)=0.5时,混合胶团总聚集数(NT)=36,混合胶团中SDS的摩尔分数(x2M)=0.43.     

Cellulose acetate and polyethersulfone blend ultrafiltration membranes. Part I: Preparation and characterizations

The overall objective of this investigation is to achieve high‐performance membranes with respect to flux and rejection characteristics, with an interplay of blending polymers having desired qualities. Thus, cellulose diacetate and polyethersulfone as candidate materials, in the presence of polyethylene glycol 600 as a pore forming agent, were blended in 100/0, 95/5, 90/10, 85/15, 80,20 and 75/25% compositions using N,N′‐dimethylformamide as solvent and membranes were prepared by the phase inversion technique. Polymer blend composition, additive concentration, and casting and gelation conditions were standardized for the preparation of asymmetric membranes with various pore statistics and morphology. These blend membranes were characterized for compaction in ultrafiltration experiments at 414 kPa pressure in order to attain steady state flux and is reached within 4–5 hr. The pure water flux was measured at 345 kPa pressure and is determined largely by the composition of polyethersulfone and additive concentration. The flux was found to reach the highest values of 66.5 and 275 1/(cm² hr) at 0 and 10 wt% additive concentrations respectively, at 25% SPS content of the blend. Membrane hydraulic resistance derived by measuring water flux at various transmembrane pressure and by using an algorithm was found to be inversely proportional to pure water flux. Water content is estimated by simple drying and weighing procedures and found proportional to pure water flux for all the membranes. The molecular weight cut‐offs (MWCOs) of different membranes were determined with proteins of different molecular weights and found to vary from 20–69 kDa (globular proteins) depending on the PEG and SPS content in the casting dope. Skin surface porosity of the membranes were analyzed by scanning the frozen membrane samples using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at different magnifications. The surface porosity is in direct correlation to the MWCO derived from solute retention experiments. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of interacting nanoparticles on the ordered morphology of block copolymer/nanoparticle mixtures

We investigated the effect of hard additives, that is, magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) and metal NPs, on the ordered morphology of block copolymers by varying the NP concentration. To characterize the structural changes of a block copolymer associated with different NP loadings, small-angle X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy were performed. Monodisperse maghemite (γ-Fe₂O₃) NPs (7 nm in diameter) and silver (Ag) NPs (6 nm in diameter) with surfaces modified with oleic acids were synthesized, and a cylinder-forming poly(styrene-block-isoprene) diblock copolymer was used as a structure-directing matrix for the NPs. As the NP concentration increased, domains of NP aggregates were observed for both magnetic and metal NPs. In the case of mixtures of cylinder-forming poly(styrene-block-isoprene) and Ag NPs with weak particle–particle interactions, random aggregates of Ag NPs were observed, and the ordered morphology of the block copolymer lost its long-range order with an increase in the NP concentration. However, regular, latticelike aggregates obtained with γ-Fe₂O₃ NPs, because of the strong interparticle interactions, induced an intriguing morphological transformation from hexagonal cylinders to body-centered-cubic spheres via undulated cylinders, whereas the neat block copolymer did not show such a morphological transition over a wide range of temperatures. The interplay between magnetic NPs and the block copolymer was also tested with magnetic NPs of different sizes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3571–3579, 2006     

铜(Ⅱ)-三氮唑偶氮络合物与脱氧核糖核酸相互作用的电化学行为

运用电化学方法研究了铜（Ⅱ）－三氮唑偶氮（2－[2,3,5-三氮唑偶氮]-5－二甲氨基苯甲酸，TZAMB）络合物与脱氧核糖核酸（DAN）的相互作用。在pH2.5(0.05mol/L）邻苯二甲酸氢钾（PBS）缓冲溶液中，DNA与Cu(Ⅱ）－TZAMB络合物形成一种电惰性结合物，使Cu（Ⅱ）－TZAMB络合物的还原峰电流减小。通过循环伏安法、盐效应以及紫外－可见吸收谱证实了是由Cu(Ⅱ）－TZAMB络合物与DNA形成一种插入式的电惰性结合物而使其峰电流下降。根据这种峰电流下降可以测定DNA，测定结果令人满意。     

Swelling behavior of ionically cross-linked polyampholytic hydrogels in varied salt solutions

Ionically cross-linked polyampholytic hydrogels were synthesized by redox copolymerization of acrylamide and an ionic complex of (N,N-diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate and acrylic acid (designated as PADA hydrogel). The swelling behavior of the hydrogels in water indicated that a minimal equilibrium swelling ratio is found when the molar ratio of anionic/cationic monomers was 1.55. In NaCl solution, the hydrogels exhibited the typical swelling behavior of conventional polyampholytic gels. Their equilibrium swelling ratios increased with an increase in the NaCl concentration. In solutions of multivalent ions (CaCl₂ and trisodium citrate solutions), the equilibrium swelling ratios of the hydrogels increased first and were then followed by a decrease with an increase in salt concentration. Interestingly, an unexpected abrupt swelling phenomenon was observed when the fully swollen hydrogels in salt solution were transmitted to pure water. The unique swelling behavior of PADA hydrogels depends not only on the molar ratio of the anionic/cationic monomers but also on the valency of the ions.     

Rheological Behavior for Mica-filled Polypropylene Composite Melts

The study on rheological properties of a series of mica-filled polypropylene (PP) composites was carried out. The influence of surface-treatment of mica particles on dynamic rheological behavior of the composites were dealt with. The viscosity (η) and dynamic modulus ( G‘ ) of the composite melts were higher than those of PP matrix, especially those for systems treated with silane, which was attributed to the interfacial adhesion enhancement. However, surface-treatment of mica by titanate resulted in lower η and G‘, as compared with the treatment by silane. The reason for this is believed to be the formation of the mono-molecular layer on the mica surface.     

Static ultrasonic oscillations induced degradation and its effect on the linear rheological behavior of novel propylene based plastomer melts

The ultrasonic degradation of novel propylene based plastomer (DP) melts with different melt viscosities was conducted in a “static” ultrasonic device where the samples were taken from various distances from the tip of an ultrasonic probe. The effects of ultrasonic time, oscillation temperature, ultrasonic intensity and the distance from the ultrasonic probe tip on the degradation behavior of DP melts as well as the ultrasonic degradation effect on the linear rheological behavior of DP melts were studied. The results show that the increase of initial melt viscosity of DP (higher molecular weight) has greater impact on the ultrasonic degradation of DP melt. The molecular weight and intrinsic viscosity of DP decrease with the increase of ultrasonic oscillation time and they approach to a limiting value. The molecular weight distribution of DP increases after ultrasonic degradation. Decreasing oscillation temperature and distance from probe tip and increasing ultrasonic intensity lead to an increase in the degradation of DP melt. The linear rheological behavior measurements of the samples obtained near the ultrasonic probe tip show that ultrasonic oscillations decrease the complex viscosity, zero shear viscosity, viscoelastic moduli, cross modulus, relaxation time and the slope of log G′ − log G″ for DP melts.     

Effect of polarization on the electrode behavior and microstructure of (La,Sr)MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> electrodes of solid oxide fuel cells

The electrode behavior and microstructure of freshly prepared (La_0.8Sr_0.2)_0.9MnO₃ (LSM) electrodes were investigated under various polarization conditions. The original, large agglomerates in freshly prepared LSM electrodes were broken down into sphere-shaped grains when exposed to cathodic or anodic current passage of 200 mA cm^–2 at 800 °C in air for 3 h. Microstructural changes under cathodic polarization could be related to the pronounced diffusion and migration of oxygen vacancies and Mn ions on the LSM surface and lattice expansion, while lattice shrinkage under oxidation conditions most likely contributes to the structural changes under anodic polarization. Such morphological changes were irreversible and were found to be beneficial to the performance of freshly prepared LSM electrodes. Freshly prepared LSM electrodes behaved very differently with respect to the cathodic and anodic current passage treatment.     

CuO超细粉体的形貌与红外特性研究

CuO作为一种多功能精细无机材料，在印染、陶瓷、玻璃及医药等领域的应用已有数十年的历史，作为催化剂的主要活性成分，近年来在氧化、加氢、C１化学合成、NOx还原、CO及碳氢化合物燃烧、精细化工等多种催化反应中也得到了广泛的应用。可以推测，当CuO材料的粒度达到纳米级时，将使它的功能更加独特，应用更为广泛。因此CuO纳米材料的制备方法、聚集状态、与其他组分或载体的作用状况及催化活性等成为当前功能材料发展的研究热点之一犤１～８犦。我们在前文中报道了直接热解Cu２（OH）２CO３所得CuO粒径小、分布均匀、比表面积大，…