Determination of sulphate content of anionic surfactants: sodium di-2-ethylhexyl sulphosuccinate

A simple nephelometric method for the determination of sulphates in the anionic surfactant Aerosol-OT is described. The method is based on the formation and stabilization of a barium sulphate dispersion in a water-alcohol mixture and measurement of the turbidity at 650 nm. Beer's law is followed for sodium sulphate concentrations in Aerosol-OT ranging from 0 to 7000 microg/g. The lower determination limit is about 100-200 microg/g and the reproducibility about 5% for typical commercial Aerosol-OT samples. The method can also be used for other anionic surfactants by adjusting the water-ethanol ratio of the solvent.     

Combined bond-polarization basis sets for accurate determination of dissociation energies. II. Basis set superposition error as a function of the parent basis set

The effect of the parent basis set on the basis set superposition error caused by bond functions is investigated systematically. An important difference between BSSE at the SCF and correlated levels is pointed out. Three new basis sets are defined, denoted 6-311 + G(d,p)B, 6-311 + G(2d,p)B, and 6-311 + G(2df,p)B. BSSE for the first-row hydrides seems to increase uniformly with increasing atomic number of the central atom. Expansion of the valence part of the basis set from 6-31G to 6-311G, as well as adding f functions, has a significant effect on the BSSE. Additional BSSEs incurred by bond functions are less than or equal to 1 kcal/mol for the 6-311 + G(2df,p)B basis set. For the dissociation energies of the first-row hydride species, agreement with experiment within only a few kcal/mol can be obtained even without resorting to isogyric reaction cycles. For high-quality calculations, adding bond functions seems to have definite advantages over expanding the polarization space beyond the [2d1f] level.     

Comparison of experimental and calculated relative sensitivity coefficients for spark-source mass-spectrometry of metals

Sensitivity calibration has been performed for the spark-source mass-spectrometric analysis of iron, copper and aluminium matrices, with standard reference materials. The experimental relative sensitivity coefficients, corrected for discrimination effects in the mass spectrometer, are compared with values obtained with various empirical approaches to calculate relative sensitivity coefficients for an r.f. spark. The best correlation found is only of the order of 50%.     

The determination of pd,pt, au,ag and ir in copper by neutron activation analysis

The determination of palladium, platinum and gold in copper metal by neutron activation analysis is described. The matrix activity was separated from the noble metals by cation-exchange adsorption. Gold was extracted; palladium and platinum were precipitated. The precipitates were counted with a low-energy photon detector. The gold results were checked by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Silver, iridium, selenium, antimony and arsenic were also determined simultaneously.     

Chemical microcharacterization of ultrathin iodide conversion layers and adsorbed thiocyanate surface layers on silver halide microcrystals with time-of-flight SIMS.

The technique of imaging time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and dual beam depth profiling has been used to study the composition of the surface of tabular silver halide microcrystals. Analysis of individual microcrystals with a size well below 1 microm from a given emulsion is possible. The method is successfully applied for the characterization of silver halide microcrystals with subpercent global iodide concentrations confined in surface layers with a thickness below 5 nm. The developed TOF-SIMS analytical procedure is explicitly demonstrated for the molecular imaging of adsorbed thiocyanate layers (SCN) at crystal surfaces of individual crystals and for the differentiation of iodide conversion layers synthesized with KI and with AgI micrates (nanocrystals with a size between 10 and 50 nm). It can be concluded that TOF-SIMS as a microanalytical, surface-sensitive technique has some unique properties over other analytical techniques for the study of complex structured surface layers of silver halide microcrystals. This offers valuable information to support the synthesis of future photographic emulsions.     

Combined bond polarization function basis sets for accurate ab initio calculation of the dissociation energies of AHn molecules (A=LI to F)

An alternative route toward developing basis sets for post-Hartree-Fock calculations, the hybrid bond polarization function method, is investigated. Two new basis sets, denoted 6-31G(d, p)+ B and 6-31 + G(d,p)+B, are defined for the first-row hydrides. The dissociation energies of the first-row hydride species in their respective ground states are computed using full fourth-order Møller-Plesset theory, and compared with results obtained with large polarized basis sets containing no bond functions. It is shown that results are competitive even with basis sets as large as 6-311++G(3df,3pd), while computation times are reduced by a factor of 4 to 20. On empirical grounds, the basis set superposition error should be neglected entirely.     

Comparison of mono- and polyatomic primary ions for the characterization of organic dye overlayers with static secondary ion mass spectrometry

Organic carbocyanine dye coatings have been analyzed by time-of-flight static secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-S-SIMS) using three types of primary ions: Ga(+) operating at 25 keV, and Xe(+) and SF(5) (+) both operating at 9 keV. Secondary ion yields obtained with these three primary ions have been compared for coatings with different layer thickness, varying from (sub)-monolayer to multilayers, on different substrates (Si, Ag and AgBr cubic microcrystals). For (sub)-monolayers deposited on Ag, Xe(+) and SF(5) (+) primary ions generate similar precursor ion intensities, but with Ga(+) slightly lower precursor ion intensities were obtained. Thick coatings on Ag as well as mono- and multilayers on Si produce the highest precursor and fragment ion intensities with the polyatomic primary ion. The yield difference between SF(5) (+) and Xe(+) can reach a factor of 6. In comparison with Ga(+), yield enhancements by up to a factor of 180 are observed with SF(5) (+). For the mass spectrometric analysis of dye layers on AgBr microcrystals, SF(5) (+) again proves to be the primary ion of choice.     

Analysis of organic quaternary ammonium salts by LAMMA

Summary The application of the laser microprobe mass analyser (LAMMA) to several acyclic quaternary ammonium salts with aliphatic and aromatic substituents was investigated. The LAMMA spectra share some typical features with the ones, obtained by mass spectrometric (MS) analysis using soft ionisation techniques, e. g. the intact cations are detected as well as the iminium ions, issued from their decomposition. However, as a result of the abundant fragmentation and because of the presence of additional characteristic peaks, LAMMA spectra become largely comparable to the ones, recorded on a conventional MS with electron impact-ionisation and sample introduction by direct probe, though it is well known that the latter method induces thermal degradation of these salts and consequently only allows for the detection of the corresponding decomposition products.

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Analyse organischer quarternärer Ammoniumsalze mittels LAMMA

Zusammenfassung Die Anwendung des Laser-Mikrosonden-Massen-Analysators (LAMMA) zur Charakterisierung verschiedener acyklischer quarternärer Ammonium-salze mit aliphatischen und aromatischen Substituenten wurde untersucht. Die LAMMA-Spektren zeigen charakteristische Merkmale jener Spektren, die durch weiche Ionisierungstechniken in der Massenspektrometrie erhalten werden: z. B. werden intakte Kationen sowie Imin-Ionen detektiert. Als Folge der weitgehenden Fragmentierung und wegen zahlreicher zusätzlicher Peaks sind LAMMA-Spektren jenen Spektren sehr ähnlich, die durch Elektronenstoß-Ionisation und Direkteinführung der Probe erzeugt werden. Allerdings ist bekannt, daß die letztere Methode einen starken Abbau von Salzen bewirkt und daher nur den Nachweis von Zerfallsprodukten zuläßt.

     

Laser microprobe mass spectrometry of quaternary phosphonium salts: Direct versus matrix-assisted laser desorption

The use of laser microprobe mass spectrometry (LMMS) for the structural characterization of thermolabile quaternary phosphonium salts has been evaluated. A comparison has been made between LM mass spectra obtained by direct analysis of “neat” organic salts and the corresponding “matrix-assisted” LM mass spectra. Main limitations of LMMS for the direct analysis of neat organic salts (i.e., no matrix) result from (1) formation of artifact ions that originate from thermal degradation and surface recombination reactions and (2) poor shot-to-shot reproducibility of the spectra. Dilution of the organic salts in a suitable, UV-absorbing matrix (e.g., nicotinic acid) significantly enhances the quality of the LM mass spectra. Improvements are: (1) an increase of the ion yield of preformed cations, (2) reduction or elimination of thermal decomposition and other deleterious surface reactions, and (3) a much better shot-to-shot spectral reproducibility. An interesting analytical feature is that these LM mass spectra, which contain only a few matrix peaks, can be obtained for subnanogram amounts of sample. The results also show that triphenylphosphonium salts with polycyclic aromatic substituents can be used as “molecular thermometers” to probe both the temperatures experienced by the sample molecules during the laser-induced desorption ionization process and the internal energies of the desorbed ion species. In this way, quaternary phosphonium salts can be used for evaluating whether improvements have been achieved by applying different sample treatments. Comparison of four different matrices (i.e., nicotinic acid, ammonium chloride, glycerol, and 3-nitrobenzylalcohol) indicates that the effectiveness of a matrix to reduce thermal degradation and to decrease the internal energies of the ions depends on the UV-absorption characteristics and the volatilization/sublimation temperature of the matrix material.