Supercritical fluid extraction-capillary gas chromatography: On-line coupling with a programmed temperature vaporizer

A simple and versatile system is described for the on-line coupling of SFE to capillary GC. The interfacing consists of a programmed temperature vaporizer (PTV) injector. With this injector it is possible to combine solute trapping, elimination of a high flow of extraction fluid, and quantitative transfer of solutes to the seperation column. The problems caused by impurities in the extraction fluid in on-line SFE-GC are discussed. Simple methods are described for the purification of commercially available carbon dioxide. The trapping efficiency of the PTV injector is studied. Applications of the SFE-PTV-GC system are given for the analysis of polymer anti-degradants, polar compounds, and samples with environmental relevance.     

Temperature-sensitive luminescence of tris (β-diketone) europium chelates for monitoring high-speed cationic photopolymerizations

The temperature-dependent luminescence of tris (β-diketone) chelates of europium was used for in situ temperature measurements during cationic photopolymerizations of vinyl ethers. These molecular-level luminescent probes provided a real-time, noninvasive method for monitoring temperature during these high-speed polymerizations. Two specific probes, tris (benzoyl-1, 1, 1-trifluoroacetone) europium and tris (1,1,1,5,5,5,-hexafluoroacetylacetone) europium, met several stringent spectral and performance requirements for application in our system. The luminescence from these probes exhibits a reproducible temperature dependence over a wide temperature range and is not sensitive to changes in viscosity. In situ temperature profiles obtained using this novel technique verified the importance of thermal effects during these highly exothermic photopolymerizations. These studies have demonstrated the utility of the tris(β-diketone) europium chelates for characterizing the temperature during high-speed photopolymerizations that cannot be monitored using conventional techniques. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

In situ FTIR diagnostics of the radio-frequency plasma decomposition of N2O

The decomposition of N₂O in a 13.56-MHz parallel-plate system was studied usingin situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Areas of two infrared absorption bands of N₂O recorded at 8 cm^–1 resolution were used to estimate relative gas-phase dissociation as a function of rf power and flow rate at 500 mT. Flow rate was found to strongly affect band areas over the range of powers investigated (10–90 W). The effect of rf power on band areas diminished above 40 W, probably due to poor plasma confinement. Distortion of the band shapes by the plasma permitted rotational temperatures to be estimated. Rotational temperature increased essentially linearly with power at constant flow rate, reaching 450 K at 80 W, but was independent of flow rate at constant power. Rotational temperatures were also found to depend on the temperature of the electrodes, which were heated by plasma exposure. No infrared-active product species were observed even under batch conditions where all N₂O was irreversibly dissociated. This lack of detectable products and a 50% pressure rise observed in a batch study suggest that N₂ and O₂ are the primary stable discharge products.     

Modifying the thermosensitivity of copolymers of sodium styrene sulfonate and<Emphasis Type="Italic"> N</Emphasis>-isopropylacrylamide with dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride

The interactions between copolymers of sodium styrene sulfonate (SSS) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM), anionic polyelectrolytes, and dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC), a cationic surfactant, were studied in aqueous solutions of various ionic strengths. The copolymers were found to be thermoresponsive, showing a lower critical solution temperature (LCST). The influence of the polymer composition, the surfactant concentration, and the ionic strength on the LCST was studied. The surfactant was found to interact strongly with the polymer, forming mixed polymer-surfactant micelles. The critical aggregation concentration (cac) of the polymer-surfactant system was found from fluorescence spectroscopy using pyrene as a fluorescent probe. A strong dependence of the anionic polyelectrolyte-cationic surfactant interactions on the structure of the ionic comonomer was observed.     

Membrane-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) sensors

MOSFET-sensors can be considered as membrane-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors. MOSFETs can be divided into ISFETs, GasFETs, BioFETs, these sensors being sensitive to ion, gas, biomolecules respectively and there is also a possibility to fabricate MOSFET reference electrode (RefFET). The development and theoretical treatment of various type of MOSFET-sensors are presented in this paper.     

Chemical diffusion of oxygen in tin dioxide: Effects of dopants and oxygen partial pressure

Tin dioxide SnO_2−δ is a pronounced n-type electron conductor due to its oxygen deficiency. This study investigates the rate of chemical diffusion of oxygen in SnO_2−δ single crystals, which is a crucial step in the overall stoichiometry change of the material. The chemical diffusion coefficient D^δ was determined from conductivity- and EPR-relaxation methods. The temperature dependence was found to be . The dependence on crystal orientation, dopant content and oxygen partial pressure was below experimental error. The latter observation leads to the conclusion that the chemical diffusion coefficient is close to the diffusion coefficient of oxygen vacancies. Along with the relaxation process resulting from the chemical diffusion of oxygen, additional processes were observed. One of these was attributed to complications in the defect chemistry of the material. The relevance of the results for the kinetics of drift processes of Taguchi sensors is discussed.     

A statistical model for the optimization of dsc performance in the evaluation of drugs for preformulation studies

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is a thermal analytical tool for preformulation studies. Extrapolated melting temperature (T_P) and heat of fusion (ΔH_f) can be used as parameters for optimizing the DSC performance. Two model pharmaceuticals acetaminophen and nicotinamide are used in this study. Using a factorial design for the experimental model and matrix analysis the results, the effect of sample mass, heating rate and the nitrogen flow rate were evaluated on the ΔH_f values and T_P values. Two levels for each of the procedural variables were used as a balanced experimental design with two sample sizes, two heating rates and two nitrogen flow rates. It was found that the change in the heating rate caused significant changes in the ΔH_f values but not the T_p values for acetaminophen. However, no significant effect was found for the T_p value but ΔH_f value was affected to a certain extent for nicotinamide.     

Detection of Tumor Necrosis Factor Gene by Piezoelectric Nucleic Acid Senosr

A piezoelectric nucleic acid sensor was constructed ofr detection of tumor necrosis factor gene.Two methods were employed for immobilization of nucleic acid probe on gold electrode of piezoelectric crystal.The results show that polyethyleneimine adbesion and glutaraldehyde cross-linking method has higher sensitivity,stability and selectivity than protein A method.The solid-phase nucleic acid hybridization of oligo unclecotides and tumor necrosis factor target gene sequence were monitorde using this sensor.Tumor necrosis factor gene sequence(580bp) was detected by this nucleic acid sensor for the first time.     

Influence of the heating conditions on the thermal and chemical behaviour of solid particles undergoing a fast endothermic decomposition

This paper deals with models describing the thermal and chemical behaviour of solid particles undergoing fast endothermic reactions under the influence of an external heat flux. The heat source temperature is supposed to be constant, to increase with time, or to deliver a simple thermal flash. It is shown that the pyrolysis conditions (reaction temperature, conversion, etc.) depend on the chemical characteristics of the reaction and also to a large extent on the external heating conditions. Relationships are proposed to take into account these parameters. The results are applied to the thermal decomposition of NaHCO₃. The pyrolysis of cellulose is finally chosen in order to show how these operating parameters can also affect the selectivity of a more complex reaction.     

Some non conventional devices with temperature control design and application

The development of a temperature control system based on semiconductor thermobatteries has been used in a set of devices for studying the martensitic transformation. The devices range from a simple stage for an optical microscope to a more elaborated system as a differential scanning calorimeter [1]. Here the attention is placed in this last system. The general problems of the temperature scanning calorimetry are reviewed from the signal theory point of view and the solutions applied to our system discussed. Some measurements are shown as an example of its application.