Ion-selective electrode for gallium determination in nickel alloy, fly-ash and biological samples

A poly(vinyl chloride)-based membrane of 2,9-dimethyl-4,11-diphenyl-1,5,8,12-tetraazacyclotetradeca-1,4,8,11-tetraene (DDTCT) with sodium tetraphenyl borate (STB) as an anion excluder and dibutyl phthalate (DBP), dibutyl butylphosphonate (DBBP), tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEP) and tributyl phosphate (TBP) as plasticizing solvent mediators was prepared and investigated as a Ga(III)-selective electrode. The best performance was observed with the membrane having the ligand-PVC-DBP-STB composition 1:4:1:1, which worked well over a wide concentration range (1.45 × 10⁻⁶ to 0.1 mol L⁻¹) with a Nernstian slope of 28.7 mV per decade of activity between pH 4.0 and 10.0. This electrode showed a fast response time of 12 s and was used over a period of 100 days with good reproducibility (s = 0.3 mV). The selectivity coefficients for monovalent, divalent and trivalent cations indicate excellent selectivity for Ga(III) ions over a large number of cations. Anions such as Cl⁻ and SO₄²⁻ do not interfere and the electrode also works satisfactorily in partially water-alcohol medium. The practical utility of the membrane sensor has also been observed in solutions contaminated with detergents, i.e., cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and sodium dodecyl sulfate and used for the determination of gallium in nickel alloy, fly-ash and biological samples.     

Synthetic Crystalline Calcium Silicate Hydrate (I): Cation Exchange and Caesium Selectivity

Summary.  Solid crystalline calcium silicate hydrate (I) synthesized from equimolar amounts of Ca and Si under hydrothermal conditions at 120°C shows cation exchange properties towards divalent metal cations such as Ni, Cu, Cd, or Hg. It also exhibits caesium selectivity in the presence of Na⁺. The exchange capacity and selectivity of the solid can be increased by 10 and 28%, respectively, upon substitution of 0.01 mol of the Ca²⁺ in its structure by Na⁺. The ability of metal cation uptake by the solid was found to obey the order Ni²⁺ > Hg²⁺ > Cu²⁺ > Cd²⁺. The different affinities of calcium silicate hydrate (I) towards these ions can be used for their separation from solutions and also in nuclear waste treatment. The mechanism of the exchange reaction is discussed. Received June 11, 2001. Accepted September 10, 2001     

Indirect atomic absorption and atomic emission spectrometric determination of antazoline,hydralazine and amiloride hydrochlorides and quinine sulphate

Ion-association complexes of antazoline HCl [I], hydralazine HCl [II], amiloride HCl [III] and quinine sulphate [IV] with [Co(SCN)₄]^2– and [Co(NO₂)₆]^3– were precipitated and the excess unreacted cobalt complex was determined. A new method using atomic emission and atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of the above drugs in pure solutions and pharmaceutical preparations is given. The drugs can be determined in the ranges 0.3–3.0, 0.19–1.96, 0.3–3.0, and 0.78–7.82 mg/25 ml solutions of I, II, III, and IV, respectively, with mean relative standard deviations of 0.65–2.03 % and recovery values of 95.76–101.2% indicating high precision and accuracy.     

Corrosion inhibition of zinc in aqueous acidic media using a novel synthesized Schiff base – an experimental and theoretical study

Abstract

The kinetics of H₂ production during Zn corrosion in 0.5?M HCl without and with various additives of N,N'-bis-(1-hydroxyphenylimine)-2,5-thiophenedicarboxaldehyde (HPTD) was studied using gasometry and electrochemical techniques. The surface of the corroded Zn samples was investigated using SEM and Optical Profilometry. The rate of H₂ production (RHP) increased with the immersion time and temperature. Presence of HPTD mitigated RHP due to an adsorption process. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that HPTD had a good inhibitive effect. Polarization data proved that HPTD acted as a surface-active mixed-type inhibitor. Some thermodynamic parameters were deduced and discussed. Theoretical calculations were also conducted to corroborate the capability of HPTD to protect Zn surface from corrosion process.     

Musa sp. Leaves Extract Ameliorates the Hepato-Renal Toxicities Induced by Cadmium in Mice

Heavy metals intoxication causes several health problems that necessitate finding new protective and therapeutic approaches. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Musa sp. leaves extract (MLE) on hepato-renal toxicities induced by cadmium (Cd) in male mice. The phytochemical screening, metal chelating activity (MCA), and the median lethal dose (LD₅₀) of MLE were determined. Fifty CD-1 male mice were used and intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected with MLE (1000 to 5000 mg/kg b.wt) for MLE LD₅₀ determination. Another 50 mice were used for evaluating the effect of MLE on Cd toxicity. Blood samples were collected for hematological, liver, and kidney functions assessments. Liver tissue homogenates were used for determination of oxidant/antioxidant parameters. Liver and kidney tissues were harvested for histopathological and molecular investigations. MLE showed potent in vitro antioxidant activities. The MCA and LD₅₀ of the MLE were 75 µg/mL and 3000 mg/kg b.wt, respectively. MLE showed beneficial therapeutic activity against hepato-renal toxicities in Cd-intoxicated mice, evidenced by improving the hematological, biochemical, histopathological, and molecular alterations.     

The behavior of viscous flow near a corner singularity studied by an appropriate integral method

An integral method is proposed in order to study the solution behavior of viscous flow problems near a corner singularity. The method involves a partial analytical resolution, which gives rise to many advantages. An expansion over the operator eigenfunctions is introduced instead of discretization. Accuracy is increased, especially for problems with singular boundaries. The resulting algebraic system is well conditioned. Last, but not least, the number of surface unknowns is reduced compared with classical boundary-element methods. The above advantages largely outweigh the more elaborate preparatory steps needed. Both the proposed method and the boundary-element method are applied to the study of the flow field inside a circular cylinder, in order to evaluate the performance of the latter near the corner.     

Applications of ion associates for the microdetermination of vardenafil using atomic emission spectrometry

A simple, accurate, precise and sensitive method has been developed for the determination of Vardenafil (Vd) using direct coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. The ion associates formed as a result of the reaction of vardenafil with ammonium reineckate, Mn(II) and Co(II) thiocyanates and sodium cobaltinitrite are precipitated. The solubility of the solid complexes under the optimum conditions of pH and ionic strength was studied. Saturated solutions of each ion associate at different temperatures under the optimum precipitation conditions were prepared, and the metal ion content in the supernatant was determined. The solubility products were thus calculated at different temperatures, and the thermodynamic parameters ΔH, ΔG and ΔS were calculated. The method has been used for the determination of vardenafil (1.36–68.32 μg·mL⁻¹) in pure solutions and in Levitra tablets.     

A spectral domain approach to modelling of EM scattering for Synthetic Aperture Radar target recognition

A Fourier-based technique for electromagnetic (EM) wave reconstruction with application to polarimetric airborne and spaceborne radar data exploitation is presented. The method is different from conventional modelling techniques for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) applications as a result of the full electromagnetic treatment of field interactions with the scatterer, the possibility of introducing new and controllable feature classes for target classification, and accurate decomposition of the source impulse response function that avoids potential errors (e.g. loss of coherent information) associated with the spherical phase approximations. The capability of extracting scatterer information such as the coherent radar cross section (RCS) is explored.     

Performance of merging lines with uneven buffer capacity allocation: the effects of unreliability under different inventory-related costs

Central European Journal of Operations Research - This simulation study investigates whether machine efficiency, mean time to failure (MTTF) and mean time to repair (MTTR) significantly affect the...     

Mesenchymal Stem Cells: a Promising Therapeutic Tool for Acute Kidney Injury

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a rapid loss of renal function. It has high mortality rates. Still, renal replacement therapy is considered the best solution...