Optical emission studies of plasma induced by single and double femtosecond laser pulses

Double-pulse femtosecond laser ablation has been shown to lead to significant increase of the intensity and reproducibility of the optical emission signal compared to single-pulse ablation particularly when an appropriate interpulse delay is selected, that is typically in the range of 50–1000 ps. This effect can be especially advantageous in the context of femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy analysis of materials. A detailed comparative study of collinear double- over single-pulse femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy has been carried out, based on measurements of emission lifetime, temperature and electronic density of plasmas, produced during laser ablation of brass with 450 fs laser pulses at 248 nm. The results obtained show a distinct increase of plasma temperature and electronic density as well as a longer decay time in the double-pulse case. The plasma temperature increase is in agreement with the observed dependence of the emission intensity enhancement on the upper energy level of the corresponding spectral line. Namely, intensity enhancement of emission lines originating from higher lying levels is more profound compared to that of lines arising from lower energy levels. Finally, a substantial decrease of the plasma threshold fluence was observed in the double-pulse arrangement; this enables sensitive analysis with minimal damage on the sample surface.     

Liquid chromatographic/electrospray mass spectrometric determination (LC/ESI-MS) of chelerythrine and dihydrochelerythrine in near-critical CO2 extracts from real and spiked plasma samples

Two polar benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids, chelerythrine (CHE) and dihydrochelerythrine (DHCHE), were extracted at 35 °C and 10 MPa (15 MPa for real samples) from real and spiked plasma samples with acceptable recoveries (95.1% and 81.0%, respectively) using near-critical CO₂ modified with aqueous (1:1, v/v) methanol. The alkaloids were quantified by a liquid chromatographic/electrospray mass spectrometric (LC/ESI-MS) method on a Zorbax SB-CN column (75 mm × 4.6 mm, 3.5 μm particle size) using methanol (organic phase) and 50 mM ammonium formiate (aqueous phase) as a mobile phase. A linear gradient 0-1 min, isocratic at 60% organic phase (v/v); from 1.0 to 7.0 min, 60-71% organic phase (v/v); from 7.0 to 18.0 min, 71-60% organic phase (v/v) was applied. The limit of detection was 1.22 ng (3.50 pmol) for CHE and 0.95 ng (2.72 pmol) for DHCHE per 1 ml of the sample. The linearity of the calibration curves was satisfactory as indicated by coefficients of determination 0.9979 and 0.9995 for CHE and DHCHE, respectively. Repeatability and intermediate precision (average R.S.D.s) were 1.0-1.5%, accuracy was in the range 99.7-100.3%. Average recovery was 100.1% for both, standard solutions and spiked plasma extracts. Three samples of real rat plasma were extracted and analysed to test the method.     

A novel LIF-CE method for the separation of hyaluronan- and chondroitin sulfate-derived disaccharides: Application to structural and quantitative analyses of human plasma low- and high-charged chondroitin sulfate isomers

The report describes a rapid and simple CE method using LIF detection for the analysis of unsaturated disaccharides obtained from enzymatic depolymerization of plasma chondroitin sulfate (CS) isomers. The disaccharide reducing groups were labeled with 2-aminoacridone (AMAC). The fluorotagged products can be separated by reversed-polarity CE using a sodium acetate buffer, pH 3.8, in the presence of 0.05% methylcellulose. The choice of the appropriate electrophoretic conditions was performed after a deep analysis of the most important parameters affecting analyte separation. In particular, the effect of both run buffer concentration and pH on resolution, efficiency, migration times, and peak area was evaluated. The selected electrophoretic conditions allowed us to separate the CS isomers-derived Delta-disaccharides in less than 12 min, also resolving the nonsulfated disaccharides released from CS isomers from those released from hyaluronan (HA). Moreover, these conditions gave a good reproducibility of both the migration times (CV%, 0.25) and the peak areas (CV%, 1.4). Intra- and interassay CV were 5.37 and 7.23%, respectively, and analytical recovery was about 86%. The applicability of the above method to the quantitative and structural disaccharide analyses of plasma CS isomers was investigated. Data obtained from 44 healthy human subjects were compared with those obtained by a fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE) reference assay, by using the Passing and Bablok regression and Bland-Altman tests. The developed method could represent a good tool for an ultrasensitive analysis of CS isomers in biological samples from different sources, particularly when samples are available in very low amounts.     

Degradation of 4-Chlorophenol using a Gas–Liquid Gliding Arc Discharge Plasma Reactor

The gas–liquid gliding arc discharge plasma is used directly to study degradation and dechlorination of 4-Chlorophenol (4-CP) in solution. The typical AC waveforms of discharge voltage and current revealed that the discharge behavior was not definitely periodic. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) abatement of 4-CP solution with stainless steel electrode is higher than that with aluminum or brass electrode; When air was used as carrier gas the COD abated from 1,679.2 to 190 mg/L (i.e., 88.68% abatement) after 76 min plasma treatment; Increasing gas–liquid mixing rate could also increase the degradation of 4-CP; adding appropriate amounts of Fe²⁺ or iron chips to the solution were found to be favorable for 4-CP degradation. The main intermediates of 4-CP degradation are p-benzoquinone, hydroquinone, 4-chlorocatechol, p-chloronitrobenzene, and ring cleavage products (acetic acid, glycol, propanone, and others). Furthermore, possible pathways of 4-CP degradation in solution are proposed.     

Influence of the Excited States of Atomic Nitrogen N(<Superscript>2</Superscript>D), N(<Superscript>2</Superscript>P) and N(R) on the Transport Properties of Nitrogen. Part II: Nitrogen Plasma Properties

In this paper, the calculated values of the viscosity and thermal conductivity of nitrogen plasma are presented taking into account five (e, N, N⁺, N₂ and N₂⁺) or eight (e, N(⁴S), N(²P), N(²D), N(R), N⁺, N₂ and N₂⁺) species. The calculations are based on the supposition that the temperature dependent probability of occupation of the states is given by the Boltzmann factor. The domain for which the calculations are performed, is for p = 1 and 10 atm in the temperature range from 5,000 K to 15,000 K. Classical collision integrals are used in calculating the transport coefficients and we have introduced new averaged collision integrals where the weight associated at each interacting species pair is the probable collision frequency. The influence of the collision integral values and energy transfer between two different species is studied. These results are compared which those of published theoretical studies.     

Analytical Detectors Based on Microplasma Spectrometry

Miniaturizing all dimensions of apparatus, such as electronics and computers, is the current trend followed by scientists in various fields. The idea of Lab-on-a-Chip has significantly expanded and found its broad applications in analytical chemistry. Microplasmas can act as a sample excitation source and are the miniaturized versions of full-sized plasmas. These can be created in various forms, such as direct current, microwave induced, capacitively coupled and inductively coupled plasmas. Scaling down the size would reduce the amount of gases, liquids and consumables required, as well as the sample analysis time, which in turn would decrease the operating costs. Therefore, several research groups are involved in the development of microplasmas for utilisation in analytical instruments.     

Effects of Oxygen and Water Vapor on Volatile Organic Compounds Decomposition Using Gliding Arc Gas Discharge

The combined effects of oxygen and water vapor on three typical volatile organic compounds, i.e. tetrachloromethane, n-butane and toluene, decomposition efficiency under gliding arc gas discharge conditions are studied. The electron density and the density of the reactive radicals such as O and OH are modified by addition of oxygen and water vapor. Consequently, the decomposition process can be enhanced or suppressed, depending on the involved chemical structures and reaction channels. The addition of oxygen and water vapor suppresses the tetrachloromethane decomposition which indicates that this process is mainly controlled by the electron dissociation reactions. By contrast, the n-butane and toluene decompositions are enhanced, which shows that they can be mainly ascribed to the radical induced reactions. Especially, in a moist atmosphere the OH radicals are supposed to play the most important role in the n-butane decomposition process.     

Electron paramagnetic resonance study of amphiphiles partitioning behavior in desiccation-tolerant moss during dehydration

Desiccation tolerance is a crucial characteristic for desert moss surviving in arid regions. Desiccation procedure always induces amphiphiles transferring from the polar cytoplasm into lipid bodies. The behavior of amphiphiles transferring can contribute to the enhancement of desiccation tolerance and the reduction of plasma membrane integrity simultaneously. The effects of amphiphiles partitioning into the lipid phase during water loss has been studied for pollen and seeds using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. However, desiccation-tolerant high plants occur among mosses, several angiosperms and higher plants seeds or pollens. They have different strategies for survival in dehydration and rehydration. A desiccation-tolerant moss Tortula desertorum was used to investigate the behaviors of amphiphilic molecules during drying by spin label technology. There are small amount of amphiphilic probes partitioning into membrane during moss leaves dehydration, comparing with that in higher plants. Cytoplasm viscosity changed from 1.14 into glass state only dehydration less than 60 min. Moss leaves lost plasma membrane integrity slightly, from 0.115 to 0.237, occurred simultaneously with amphiphiles partition. The results showed the more advantages of mosses than higher plants in adapting fast dehydration. We propose that EPR spin label is feasible for studying the amphiphiles partitioning mechanisms in membrane protection and damage for desiccation-tolerant mosses.     

Determination of Total Reduced Thiol Levels in Plasma Using a Bromide Substituted Quinone

The exploitation of 2‐bromo‐1,4‐naphthoquinone (NQBr) as a selective redox label for the determination of reduced thiol functionalities (RSH) has been investigated. The system is selective for RSH functionality, giving distinct voltammetric signals for glutathione and cysteine but can also be adapted for broad spectrum thiol detection. Ion chromatographic protocols based on conductimetric detection enable total RSH analysis (protein and monomolecular moieties) within human plasma. Bromide released through the reaction can be easily quantified and integrated within normal IC measurements. The efficacy of the approach has been assessed and the response validated through comparison with the standard colorimetric technique.     

Multi-element Saha–Boltzmann and Boltzmann plots in laser-induced plasmas

A multi-element Saha–Boltzmann plot method is proposed for the determination of the temperature and the relative number density in laser-induced plasmas, assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium and stoichiometry conservation. The method has been applied to the characterization of a plasma generated with a Cu–Fe–Ni–Mn alloy, using a Nd:YAG laser in air at atmospheric pressure. Spectra of the local emissivity have been obtained by spatial deconvolution of the intensity spectra, obtained with spatial resolution. Saha–Boltzmann plots obtained from the emissivities of 58 spectral lines of Fe I, Fe II, Ni I, Ni II, Mn I and Mn II have been fitted to linear behavior with high correlation, which shows the validity of the equation proposed. Radial distributions of the temperature and number densities of neutral atoms and ions have been determined. The results obtained reinforce the initial considerations of local thermodynamic equilibrium and conservation of stoichiometry. The proposed equation can also be applied to only one ionization species (multi-element Boltzmann plot). Spatially-integrated measurements of the plasma emission have also been performed to show that, in this case, the application of the method to the line intensities provides the two different apparent temperatures for neutral atoms and ions.