Extraction based on the flow-injection principle: Part 3. Fluorimetric Determination of Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) by the Thiochrome Method

The thiochrome method for determination of vitamin B₁ in pharmaceutical preparations has been adapted to a continuous flow system based on the flow-injection principle. The sample volume required for an analysis is about 150 /sml. For routine purposes a concentration range of 3 × 10^-4–6 × 10^-4 mg ml^-1 is used. Results obtained with the system agree well with results obtained manually. The consumption of organic phase is 2–3 ml/sample and the sampling rate is 30/h. A sampling rate of 70/h is easily attained if necessary. The relative standard deviation is about 1%.     

Extraction based on the flow-injection principle : Part I. Description of the Extraction System

An extraction system has been developed, essentially consisting of a pump, a rotary valve and a spectrophotometer. The sample, 12–25 μl, is introduced via the rotary valve into an aqueous stream (flow injection). The aqueous stream, containing the sample plug, is divided into small segments by an organic phase and led into a Teflon coil so that a regular pattern of the two phases is obtained. No air bubbles should be present. Separation of the two phases is achieved in a specially constructed fitting and the absorbance of the organic phase is measured. The construction and performance of the system are illustrated by analysis of caffeine samples. Up to 100 samples/h can be analysed with a relative precision of better than 1%.     

Extraction based on the flow-injection principle: Part 4. Determination of Extraction Constants

A new approach to the determination of extraction constants is described. The aqueous and organic phases, the former containing the counter ion, are pumped continuously as small segments through an extraction coil. The sample ion is introduced into the aqueous phase before it enters the coil, where the ion-pair extraction takes place (during 20 s). After leaving the extraction coil, a certain fraction of the organic phase is pumped through the flow-cell of the spectrophotometer. The extraction constants are calculated by slope analysis from the experimental data (absorbance and counter ion concentration). The constants usually agreed within ±0.1 (log units) with values obtained from batch experiments.     

Self-seeded, position-controlled InAs nanowire growth on Si: A growth parameter study

In this work, the nucleation and growth of InAs nanowires on patterned SiO(2)/Si(111) substrates is studied. It is found that the nanowire yield is strongly dependent on the size of the etched holes in the SiO(2), where openings smaller than 180?nm lead to a substantial decrease in nucleation yield, while openings larger than ≈500nm promote nucleation of crystallites rather than nanowires. We propose that this is a result of indium particle formation prior to nanowire growth, where the size of the indium particles, under constant growth parameters, is strongly influenced by the size of the openings in the SiO(2) film. Nanowires overgrowing the etched holes, eventually leading to a merging of neighboring nanowires, shed light into the growth mechanism.     

Direct Observation of the Molten State of Nanometer-sized Particles With an Atomic Force Microscope: A Feasibility Study

An atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to directly examine the physical state of nanometer-sized particles. The critical diameter of indium particles, where evidence of melting at room temperature was observed, was 7.8 ± 1.2nm. This conclusion is based on a method relying on the manipulation of particles in ambient air and at constant temperature. This method involves a simple set-up that permits a combination of both manipulation and imaging of individual particles. To determine whether a particle is molten, three criteria are used: the merging of particles to form bigger spherical particles, a tip-induced shape change, and the formation of nanofibers. All three criteria have been checked using other particle materials. An attempt at 56°C revealed oxidation of the indium particles as the major problem for melting investigation. Manipulations under high-purity nitrogen atmosphere support the validity of the findings. The use of the AFM to determine whether a nanoparticle is molten is, however, complicated by the oxidation issue.     

Automatic potentiometric two-phase titration in pharmaceutical analysis : Part 3. Titrimetric Identification of Drugs

The conditional acidity constant in a liquid-liquid two-phase system (pK^*_HA + value) can be used as an identity parameter for drug compounds. The pK^*_HA + value can be calculated if the phase ratio and the acidity and distribution constants are known. Selectivity is obtained mainly by the choice of the organic phase. An excess of hydrochloric acid is first added to the sample in the two-phase system. The hydrochloric acid and the sample are then titrated sequentially with sodium hydroxide. The proposed titration procedure makes it possible to calibrat the electrodes, determine the pK^*_HA + value(s), quantify one or more compounds, and check the performance of the electrodes in one and the same experimental run. Lidocaine was “identified” and assayed in different dosage forms such as ointment and solution for injection. The results were in agreement with those obtained by liquid chromatography.     

A microprocessor-controlled flow injection analyser for the determination of terbutaline sulphate

The determination is based on the reaction with 4-aminoantipyrine and potassium hexacyanoferrate(III). The system is automatic with a microcomputer controlling the sampler and injection valve, reading the output from the spectrophotometer and evaluating the result. The system is intended for drug analysis, and the matrix viscosity can vary considerably between different formulations without affecting peak area measurements.     

Semiconductor nanowires for novel one-dimensional devices

Low-dimensional semiconductors offer interesting physical phenomena but also the possibility to realize novel types of devices based on, for instance, 1D structures. By using traditional top-down fabrication methods the performance of devices is often limited by the quality of the processed device structures. In many cases damage makes ultra-small devices unusable. In this work we present a recently developed method for bottom-up fabrication of epitaxially nucleated semiconductor nanowires based on metallic nanoparticle-induced formation of self-assembled nanowires. Further development of the vapor–liquid–solid growth method have made it possible to control not only the dimension and position of nanowires but also to control heterostructures formed inside the nanowires. Based on these techniques we have realized a series of transport devices such as resonant tunneling and single-electron transistors but also optically active single quantum dots positioned inside nanowires displaying sharp emission characteristics due to excitons.