Optochemical Sensor for Ammonia Based on a Lipophilized pH Indicator in a Hydrophobic Matrix

Abstract

An optical sensor for the determination of ammonia in water based on ion pairing has been investigated. A pH-sensitive dye is immobilized as an ion pair in a silicone matrix. The colour of the dye changes from yellow to blue depending on the concentration of ammonia in the sample solution. This change is reversible. The concentration of ammonia can be determined by measuring the transmittance at a given wavelength.

All measurements were performed with a dual-beam optical meter. The measurement range was from 5.9 × 10^?7 to 1 × 10^?3 M (0.01 to 17 mg/l) in 0.1 M phosphate buffer of pH 8. The detection limit was 10 μg/l. The response times at a flow rate of 2.5 ml/min were 4 min for t₉₀ and 10 min for t₁₀₀ at a change from 41.9 to 82.5 μM ammonia and 12 min for t₉₀ and 48 min for t₁₀₀ at a change from 160 to 0 μM ammonia. The operational lifetime of the ammonia sensor was limited to a period of a few days only. A continuous decrease in baseline signal and relative signal change was observed over the whole measurement. The storage stability was more than 10 months (dry). With respect to possible application of the ammonia sensor to environmental analysis, the influence of pH, typical interferences, such as amines and various detergents on the sensor response was investigated. No interference due to pH was observed in the range from pH 5 to pH 9. With methyl- and ethylamine the response was not completely reversible. The sensor was affected by cationic detergents, but not by anionic or neutral detergents.     

GasChromatography of Amino Acids as their N-Trifluoroacetyl Methyl Esters and Comparison with the Ion-exchange Method in Maize and Oats

A method for the preparation of N-trifluoroacetyl methyl esters of amino acids has been developed, permitting the separation and determination of 20 amino acids by temperature-programmed gas chromatography on two columns. The method was applied to the analysis of the amino acids in hydrolyzed maize and in hydrolyzed oats, where a direct comparison was made with the ion-exchange method.     

Metal complex with terpyrindine derivative ligand as highly selective colorimetric sensor for iron(Ⅲ)

A new metal complex[MnL₂]（NO₃）₂·CH₃CN（1） was synthesized by reaction of 4’-4-（l,2,4-triazol-l-yl）phenyl -2,2’:6’,2"-terpyridine（L） with manganese nitrate.The structure of the complex was determined by X-ray crystallography.The results of UV-vis studies showed that the complex exhibits colorimetric sensing ability for Fe³⁺,which can be observed by naked eye.     

Friedel-Crafts Polymers. 8. Friedel-Crafts Polycondensation of β-Resorcylic Acid or Resorcinol with p-Xylylene Dichloride,p,p′-Dichloromethyldiphenyl Ether,and p,p′-Dichloroacetyldiphenyl Ether

Friedel-Crafts polycondensation of β-resorcylic acid (BRA) with p-xylylene dichloride (PXDC) or 4,4′-dichloromethyldiphenyl ether (DDE) in dioxane could be effected without simultaneous decarboxylation of BRA. The similar polycondensation of BRA with PXDC, DDE, or 4,4′-dichloroacetyldiphenyl ether (DADE) in nitrobenzene or in the absence of solvent at 150°C was associated with decarboxylation of BRA. Polymers having structures isomeric with those of the polycondensation product of BRA formed with subsequent in situ decarboxylation were prepared by Friedel-Crafts polycondensation of resorcinol with the above dichlorides. All the polymer samples were characterized, and those with related structures were compared. The ion-exchange properties of the polymer sample prepared from BRA and DDE in dioxane were studied.     

Design and Performances of a Carbon Monoxide Sensor Using Mid-Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy Technique at 4.6 µm

Based on infrared absorption spectroscopy technique, a carbon monoxide sensor was developed using the fundamental absorption band of carbon monoxide molecule at the wavelength around 4.6 µm. The developed sensor consists of pulse-modulated wideband incandescence, open ellipsoid light-collector gas-cell, dual-channel detector, and control and signal-processing module. With the prepared standard carbon monoxide gas sample, sensing characteristics on carbon monoxide were investigated using the sensor. Experimental results reveal that the limit of detection is about 10 ppm, the relative error at the limit of detection point is less than 14%, and that is less than 7.8% within the low concentration range of 20～180 ppm. The maximum absolute errors of 50 min long-term measurement on the 0 and 14 ppm CO gas samples are about 3 and 3.17 ppm, respectively, and the standard deviations are as small as 0.18 and 1.25 ppm, respectively. Compared with the reported carbon monoxide detection systems utilizing quantum cascaded lasers and distributed feedback lasers, the proposed sensor shows potential applications in carbon monoxide detection under the circumstances of coal-mine and environmental protection, by virtue of high performance, low cost, simple optical structure, and so on.     

A novel fluorescent sensor for hydrophobic amines in aqueous solution

A novel fluorescent tweezer was designed and synthesised to sense hydrophobic amines in aqueous solution. Association of the guest was driven by both hydrophobic effect and electrostatic interactions, with the hydrophobic interactions being dominant. The affinity and selectivity of the sensor for amine-based stimulants are reported.     

表面等离子共振传感器的原理与进展

表面等离子共振光谱(Surface Plasmon Resonance,SPR)是近年来得到快速发展的一门技术。它是一种无标记的、可用于实时定量检测某些固定于传感芯片上的组分与被结合物种间的绑定亲合度(binding affinity)、且可用于对相对小量物质进行检测的重要手段。由于它可方便地研究不同生物或化学物种的有关反应与动力学问题,因此具有重要的实用意义,受到广泛关注和重视。本文对有关等离子共振现象的形成及其作为敏感检测手段的机制、原理和改进等问题作了简要的介绍。     

Single Beacon Cruise Positioning Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks

Node localization is important in WSNs （Wireless sensor networks） applications. We present a new cruise positioning algorithm, where a single beacon node cruises an entire network, broadcasting its position periodically with fixed signal strength. Meawhile, an unknown node obtains the location and the corresponding distance of the beacon node. Two possible position coordinate sets for the unknown node can then be calculated, and the coordinate mean of the point set with a small variance is an unbiased estimator of the unknown node＇s coordinate. The positioning algorithm＇s computation is simple, positioning accuracy is not limited by a physical distance measuring tool, and there are no restrictions on the path of motion, which makes it more realistic. An algorithm simulation is presented to compare the original and cruise location algorithm. Numerical results show that the cruise localization algorithm can achieve good positioning accuracy.     

Scrupulous recognition of biologically important acids by fluorescent “turn off-on” mechanism of thaicalix reduced silver nanoparticles

Water dispersible silver nanoparticles(AgNps) were prepared using thiacalix[4]arene tetrahydrazide(TCTH) as a reducing and stabilizing agent.TCTH-AgNps were characterized by surface plasmon resonance(SPR),transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray(EDX).Relatively uniform 20 nm spherical particles of TCTH-AgNps were efficiently formed over a pH range of 5-9 and from 10-40 ℃.The interaction behavior of TCTH-AgNps with different amino acids was investigated using spectrophotometry and spectrofluorimetry.Among the amino acids tested,only tryptophan and histidine showed fluorescence quenching and fluorescence enhancement,respectively.The linear detection range by Stern-Volmer plot was 5 nmol/L to 0.48 μmol/L for tryptophan and 4 nmol/L to 0.54 μmol/L for histidine.TCTH-AgNps were able to effectively reduce the levels of gram-positive bacteria,gram-negative bacteria,and fungi.These properties argue for the potential use of TCTH-AgNps as detectors of histidine and tryptophan and as antibiotics.     

Effect of incoherent scattering on three-terminal quantum Hall thermoelectrics

A three-terminal conductor presents peculiar thermoelectric and thermal properties in the quantum Hall regime: it can behave as a symmetric rectifier and as an ideal thermal diode. These properties rely on the coherent propagation along chiral edge channels. We investigate the effect of breaking the coherent propagation by the introduction of a probe terminal. It is shown that chiral effects not only survive the presence of incoherence but they can even improve the thermoelectric performance in the totally incoherent regime.