Imprint lithography of pyramidal photonic pillars using hydrazine etching

An inexpensive method to produce a pyramidal-type 2D photonic structures in the silicon substrate was proposed. The method is based on the combination of imprint lithography and wet Si1 0 0 etching in water solution of hydrazine, which etches 1 1 1 faces much more slowly than others. Thermally grown SiO₂ mask for the hydrazine etching was used, because single Al mask cannot be well bonded to the substrate and tends to peel during the etching. It was revealed that transmittance in the infrared spectrum region of the patterned silicon decreases by about five times compared with that of flat silicon substrate and this decrease is almost independent of the angle of the incident beam. In the infrared region, decrease of transmittance of the patterned samples is directly proportional to the wave number. The shape of formed pyramids has strong influence on the transmittance. Decrease of the transmittance is much more rapid and larger in the case of sharpless pillars.     

Carboxylic fused furans for amino acid fluorescent labelling

Four carboxylic fused furans are presented as new fluorescent labels for the amino and hydroxyl functions of organic molecules. Various representative l-amino acids were chosen as models, labelled at their N-terminus and also at their side-chain. Fluorescent derivatives were obtained in high yields, and their absorption and emission properties were studied.     

Dielectric relaxation of polystyrene with side-chain- and chain-end-labels

Polystyrenes with different concentrations of side groups with cyano groups were prepared and complex dielectric constants were measured in the range of the glass transition temperature and the frequency range of 10^–2–10⁷ Hz.The GPC and DSC measurements showed that the molecular weight of these polystyrenes was about 10500 g/mole and the glass transition temperatures were 89.5°C for all samples.The dielectric relaxation spectra obtained for the side group polystyrene labels and also the chain-end polystyrene labels prepared before [9] were analyzed to find out the degree of coupling of the chain-end and side-group labels with the cooperative reorientation of the polymeric matrix. The analysis of the spectra was carried out using the analysis method developed by Mansour and Stoll [6].The results obtained showed that both end- and side-group labels are strongly coupled with the segmental reorientation and relax with relaxation times longer than that of the segments.The value of logf _m = (logf _m(label)) – logf _m(matrix)) was obtained from the recently designed comparison diagram suggested by Mansour and Stoll [6, 14]. The value of logf _m depends on the label length in the case of chain-end labels.It was surprising to find that the side groups relax slower than the segments by only 0.9 decades. These results obtained implied that the label relaxes through a multistep relaxation mechanism of the side and end groups and not through a diffusion mechanism of the whole chain. In addition, the effective lengths of the relaxing units were determined using the empirical equation obtained before in the case of rodlike molecules in polyisoprene [7].     

Preparation and Characterization of Mixed‐Valent Nickel Oxide/Nickel Hexacyanoferrate Hybrid Films and Their Electrocatalytic Properties

Polynuclear mixed‐valent nickel oxide and nickel hexacyanoferrate hybrid film was prepared on glassy carbon electrode by multiple scan cyclic voltammetry. The film growth was monitored using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM). The cyclic voltammogram of the nickel hexacyanoferrate film is characterized by single redox couple whereas nickel oxide/nickel hexacyanoferrate hybrid film exhibits two redox couples. Cyclic voltammetric features suggest that the charge transfer process in both films resembles that of surface‐confined redox species. In stronger basic solution (pH ≥9), nickel hexacyanoferrate film was gradually converted into nickel oxide film during potentiodynamic cycling. The peak potential of nickel oxide redox couple moved into more negative side with increasing pH of contacting solution whereas the peak potential of nickel hexacyanoferrate redox couple remains the same. Electrocatalytic behavior of hybrid film coated electrodes toward ascorbic acid, hydrazine and hydroxylamine was investigated using cyclic voltammetry technique. Analytical application of nickel oxide/nickel hexacyanoferrate hybrid film electrode was tested in amperometry and flow injection analysis.     

A New 4.0-Generation Dendrimer Phosphorescence Labeling Reagent and Its Application to Determination of Trace Alkaline Phosphatase by Affinity Adsorption Solid Substrate-room Temperature Phosphorimetry

A Triton X-100-4.0G-D （4.0G-D refers to a 4.0-generation dendrimer） was brought forward as a new phosphorescence labeling reagent. Two types of specific affinity adsorption （AA） reactions （direct method and sandwich method） were carried out between the labeling product of Triton X-100-4：0G-D-Wheat germ agglutinin （WGA） and alkaline phosphatase （ALP）, the product of AA reaction preserved the good characteristics of room temperature phosphorescence （RTP） of 4.0G-D and △Ip of the product was proportional to the content of ALP. According to the fact stated above, a new method for the determination of trace ALP by affinity adsorption solid substrate-room temperature phosphorimetry （AA-SS-RTP） was established on the basis of WGA labeled with the Triton X-100-4.0G-D. The detection limits were 0.20 ag·spot^-1 （corresponding concentration： 5.0×10^-16 g·mL^-1, namely 5.0×10^-18 mol·L^-1） for a direct method and 0.14 ag·spot^-1 （corresponding concentration： 3.5×10^-16 g·mL^-1, namely 3.5×10^-18 mol·L^-1） for a sandwich method, respectively. For their high sensitivity, good repeatability and high accuracy, the direct method and sandwich method have been successfully appfied to determine the content of ALP in human serum, and the results were coincided with the clinical detection results of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method by the Zhangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Meanwhile, the mechanism for the determination of trace ALP by AA-SS-RTP was discussed.     

ESR investigation on the phase transitions of DPPC vesicles in presence of high concentrations of Li+, Na+, K+ and Cs+

The partition of the spin label TEMPO in the hydrophobic region of di-palmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine unilamellar vesicles has been used to investigate the influence of high concentration (up 3M) of Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, and Cs⁺ on the phase transitions at 20–60°C. All of the above salts increase the permeation of TEMPO. The efficiency of monovalent cations in inducing the partition of the spin label in the hydrophobic environment of the bilayer increases in the order: Cs⁺+++. The disappearing of the pretransition and the downward shift of the main phase transition temperature from 37°C to 33.5°C is related to the increased permeation of TEMPO into the bilayer. The presence of salts in the bulk solution disturbs the hydration of the zwitterionic polar head of the DPPC molecules and changes the electrical interaction between the polar groups of the bilayer. This reduces the packing density of the lipid molecules and promotes the permeation of TEMPO.     

Kinetic spectrophotometric determination of hydrazine

A sensitive kinetic method for determining low levels of hydrazine has been described. The method is based on the measurement of the rate of the reaction between hydrazine and Mo(VI) in the presence of hydrochloric acid. The redox reaction was monitored spectrophotometrically at 710 nm. The variable-time and fixed-time methods were used. The calibration graph was linear for hydrazine concentrations of 1.0 × 10⁻⁴-1.4 × 10⁻² M, using the fixed-time method of analysis. The method is simple, rapid, precise, sensitive and widely applicable.     

Nickel pentacyanonitrosylferrate film modified aluminum electrode for electrocatalytic oxidation of hydrazine

The electrocatalytic oxidation of hydrazine at the aluminum electrode, modified by electroless deposition of nickel pentacyanonitrosylferrate (NiPCNF) on the surface of the electrode has been studied by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and rotating disk electrode voltammetry and the kinetics of the catalytic reaction were investigated. The results were explained using the theory of electrocatalytic reactions at chemically modified electrodes. It was found that a one-electron charge-transfer process is rate limiting and that the average values of the rate constant for the catalytic reaction and the diffusion coefficient, evaluated by different approaches, are 5.2×10³ M^–1s^–1 and 8.5×10^–6 cm²s^–1, respectively. Further examinations of the modified electrodes show that the modifying layers (NiPCNF) on the aluminum substrate have reproducible behavior and a high level of stability, after exposing them in air and hydrazine solutions for a long time. Electronic Publication     

Simultaneous Kinetic‐Spectrophotometric Determination of Hydrazine and its Derivatives by Partial Least Squares and Principle Component Regression Methods

Simultaneous kinetic‐spectrophotometric determination of a ternary mixture of hydrazine (HZ) and its derivatives by principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS) calibration is described. The methods were based on the difference observed in the reduction rate of iron(III) with HZ, thiosemicarbazide (TSCZ) and phenylhydrazine (PHZ) in the presence of 2,2′‐bipyridine (Bpy). The colored complex of [Fe(Bpy)₃]²⁺ was formed in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as micellar media, and then monitored at 520 nm. The results showed that simultaneous determination of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ could be performed in their concentration ranges of 1.0–70.0, 0.2–6.0 and 0.1–10.0 μg mL^?1, respectively. The root mean squares errors of prediction (RMSEP) of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ were 0.719, 0.164 and 0.105 (for PLS) 0.788, 0.166 and 0.993 (for PCR), respectively. Both methods (PCR and PLS) were validated using a set of synthetic sample mixtures and then applied for simultaneous determination of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ in water samples.     

Novel Water Soluble Fluorescent Trimethine Indocyanines Containing N-ρ-Carboxybenzyl Group

Indocyanine dyes as fluorescent labeling reagents have been used in bioanalysis1,2. Arylsulfonate indocyanine dyes 1d and 1e developed by Waggoner A. S. et al.3,4 have excellent fluorescent properties combined with good aqueous solubility, are a new generation of fluorescent label compounds for proteins, oligonucleotides and other compounds containing hydroxyl, mercaptol or primary amine groups5. However, photostability of these dyes has been a problem. Z. G. YAO et al.6 reported that p…