Gravimetric determination of zirconium with a new azopyrazolone derivative

3-Methyl-5-oxo-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolin-4-ylazo-2'-(6',8'-naphthalenedisulfonic acid) (disodium salt) is proposed as a new reagent for the gravimetric determination of zirconium. The precipitate formed at pH 1–1.5 can be weighed directly and there are few interferences.     

Stability studies of transition-metal linkage isomers using quantum mechanical methods. Groups 11 and 12 transition metals

Several hypotheses to elucidate the linkage isomer preference of the thiocyanate (SCN(-)) ion have been offered. For complexes with small coordination numbers (i.e., 1 and 2) and groups 11 (Cu-triad) and 12 (Zn-triad) metals, different levels of theory and a variety of basis sets have been employed to study linkage isomerism. Similar results are obtained for all density functionals tested, pure and hybrid. Overall, good agreement, vis-à-vis experimentally identified linkage isomers, is achieved for ab initio techniques, whereas semiempirical quantum mechanical methods show a bias toward S-ligated isomers. Despite the seeming ease for the a priori prediction of the most stable thiocyanate isomers using acid/base principles, this research highlights the sensitivity of quantitative calculations of transition-metal linkage isomerism to the choice of basis set and electron correlation, particularly with post-Hartree-Fock treatments.     

Bioaccumulation of thorium and uranyl ions on Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The efficiency of the yeast suspension ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae was studied in the decontamination of radioactive residual waste waters and in the biological behavior of the levuric mass. The effect of reaction time on the amino acid content in the supernatant and on the concentration of radioactive ions was also investigated. The reaction of yeast with the toxic agent showed that the living matter behaves differently from the chemical components of the cell. The yeast had the tendency to aggregate in the presence of radioactive ions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Polarometrische bestimmung von zirkonium(IV) mit tartrazin

A new polarimetric procedure has been developed for the rapid determination of zirconium in the presence of tartrazin as reagent This determination is possible in the presence of uranium.     

The sorption of some radiocations on microporous titanosilicate ETS-10

The microporous titanosilicate ETS-10 synthesized from gel with following molar composition: 1.0 Na₂O: 1.49 SiO₂ : 0.2 TiO₂ : 0.6 KF : 1.28 HCl : 39.5 H₂O was subjected to sorption of radioactive cations ¹¹⁵Cd²⁺, ²⁰⁴Hg²⁺, ⁶⁰Co²⁺ and ¹³⁷Cs⁺ (M) from aqueous solution, in the absence of ionic competition. The uptake of these cations on the ETS-10 was compared by means of the distribution coefficient (K_d) versus contact time and sorption capacity (R) at equilibrium. The FT-IR spectra of M-ETS-10 sorption products exhibit a modification of the absorption band, principally at 381 cm^-1.     

Effect of Wearing Surgical Face Masks on Gas Detection from Respiration Using Photoacoustic Spectroscopy

Wearing surgical face masks is among the measures taken to mitigate coronavirus disease (COVID-19) transmission and deaths. Lately, concern was expressed about the possibility that gases from respiration could build up in the mask over time, causing medical issues related to the respiratory system. In this research study, the carbon dioxide concentration and ethylene in the breathing zone were measured before and immediately after wearing surgical face masks using the photoacoustic spectroscopy method. From the determinations of this study, the C₂H₄ was established to be increased by 1.5% after one hour of wearing the surgical face mask, while CO₂ was established to be at a higher concentration of 1.2% after one hour of wearing the surgical face mask, when the values were correlated with the baseline (control).     

Calibration with relativistic and low velocity ions of a CR39 nuclear track detector

We present experimental results on the calibration of the CR9 nuclear track detector, manufactured by the Intercast Europe Co., of Parma (Italy). The calibration was performed with several ions of different kinetic energies: from 50 keV protons to 11.3 A GeV gold ions; β=v/c ranges from about 4·10⁻³ to about 1. We find that a single curve of the reduced etch rate p versus Restricted Energy Loss is able to describe all data. Furthermore the data are consistent with about 100% contribution of the nuclear energy loss to the CR39 response. This type of CR39 is used in the MACRO experiment at the Gran Sasso Laboratory.     

Thermal stability of alkoxy monolayers grafted on Si(1 1 1)

Direct grafting of organic monolayers on Si is of prime interest in order to give specific properties to a silicon surface. However, for microelectronics applications, this possibility is hampered by the limited stability of the grafted layers. It has been previously established that alkyl layers attached to Si surfaces through Si-C bonds become unstable at 250-300 °C, by desorption of alkenes. Changing the nature of the bonding to the surface might allow one to circumvent this desorption pathway and increase the layer stability. In our work, decanol and decyl aldehyde are reacted with the Si(1 1 1)-H surface at ∼100 °C during 20 h in order to obtain alkoxy monolayers. FTIR measurements performed in ATR geometry show that the grafted molecule surface coverage is on the order of 33% after reaction with decanol and 50% after reaction with decyl aldehyde. Characterization by AFM essentially reveals that the morphology of the grafted surfaces is unaffected as compared to that of Si-H surfaces. However, the edges of the terraces at alcohol-grafted surfaces exhibit some pitting, probably due to the presence of water in the grafting liquid. Thermal stability studies show that alkoxy chains progressively disappear from the Si surface between 200 and 400 °C. From the CH₂/CH₃ ratio in the CH region (2760-3070 cm⁻¹), it appears that the chains undergo progressive dissociation by C-C bond breaking before their complete disappearance from the surface. Therefore, the thermal behaviour of alkoxy monolayers appears quite distinct from that of alkyl monolayers that tend to leave the surface in a much narrower temperature range (250-350 °C), essentially via breaking of the Si-C bonds.     

Structure and growth kinetics of the oxidation process of Fe(001) whisker surfaces over a 10-decade pressure range

Fe(001) surfaces of whiskers of good crystalline quality were oxidized in a pressure range from 10^? 7 mbar to 1 bar at different temperatures. Epitaxial Fe₃O₄ and FeO thin films with negligible strain were grown depending on the oxidation temperatures. The kinetics of the oxide thickness growth was measured and compared with the predictions of the Fromhold–Cook theory for oxidation of metals. Some discrepancies were found and a possible explanation is presented.