Determination of selenium in infant foods using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with direct slurry sample introduction

Slurry sampling electrothermal atomic absorption (SS ETAAS) was applied to the development of a sensitive and precise method for selenium determination in infant foods without sample pretreatment. Suspensions prepared in a medium containing 0.1% Triton X-100, 0.5 or 5% v/v concentrated HNO₃ were directly introduced into the furnace. The accuracy of the procedure was confirmed by analysis of a standard reference material and comparison with hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometric (HGAAS) procedure. The characteristic mass is 44 pg and detection limit 0.43 μg·l⁻¹.     

o-Phenylenediamine as a New Catalyst in the Highly Regioselective Conversion of Epoxides to Halohydrins with Elemental Halogens – A Reinvestigation

Summary. In contrast to a previous report, o-phenylenediamine is not a catalyst in the ring opening reaction of epoxides by means of bromine or iodine. The o-phenylenediamine is just a reactant which reacts with iodine to give phenazine-2,3-diamine and hydrogen iodide, or with bromine to give a mixture of brominated and polymerized products as well as hydrogen bromide. The hydrogen halogenides are in fact the real epoxide ring opening reactants.     

Solvation of bivalent transition metalcations. II. Heats of transfer of metal perchlorates between water and several amides

Heats of solution of acetonitrile, solvated or hydrated perchlorates, Mn(ClO₄)₂·6AN, Co(ClO₄)₂·6AN, Ni(ClO₄)₂·6AN, Cu(ClO₄)₂·4AN, Cu(ClO₄)₂·6H₂O, Zn(ClO₄)₂·6AN, and Zn(ClO₄)₂·6H₂O have been determined in NMF, DMF, DMA, and water. Complete or almost complete exchange of AN and water molecules in amides is inferred from the visible spectra determinations. The heats of transfer of perchlorate anion from water to DMA and NMF have been obtained from separately determined heats of solution of NaBPh₄, AsPH₄Cl·H₂O, NaClO₄, NaCl, and SiPh₄ in the respective solvents. The heats of transfer of cations from water to amides have been determined from the above data and the heats of solvation of cations using literature data for the heats of hydration.     

Synthesis and characterization of goethite and goethite-hematite composite: experimental study and literature survey

Aging of synthetic goethite at 140 degrees C overnight leads to a composite material in which hematite is detectable by M?ssbauer spectroscopy, but X-ray diffraction does not reveal any hematite peaks. The pristine point of zero charge (PZC) of synthetic goethite was found at pH 9.4 as the common intersection point of potentiometric titration curves at different ionic strengths and the isoelectric point (IEP). For the goethite-hematite composite, the common intersection point (pH 9.4), and the IEP (pH 8.8) do not match. The electrokinetic potential of goethite at ionic strengths up to 1 mol dm(-3) was determined. Unlike metal oxides, for which the electrokinetic potential is reversed to positive over the entire pH range at sufficiently high ionic strength, the IEP of goethite is rather insensitive to the ionic strength. A literature survey of published PZC/IEP values of iron oxides and hydroxides indicated that the average PZC/IEP does not depend on the degree of hydration (oxide or hydroxide). Our material showed a higher PZC and IEP than most published results. The present results confirm the allegation that electroacoustic measurements produce a higher IEP than the average IEP obtained by means of classical electrokinetic methods.     

The Smearing Out of the Thermal Initial Conditions Created in a Planck Era

In this paper the quantum heat transport in a Planck gas in the presence of the potential (other than the thermal one) is investigated. The new quantum heat transport equation which generalizes our potential-free QHT is developed. The thermal wave solution of QHT for a Planck gas is obtained and a condition for distortionless propagation of thermal wave is formulated. It is argued that the initial conditions of the Beginning (i.e., at t=0) are smeared in the time scale of the Planck time.     

Vibrational studies of hexagonal bronze systems: phonon calculation and high pressure induced phase transformation

Hexagonal bronzes and valence‐balanced hexatungstates (VBHT) have attracted great attention for presenting rich polymorphism and displaying superconductor or ferroelectric properties. In the present work, structural and vibrational properties of RbBi_1/3W_8/3O₉ (RBW) crystal (VBHT type) were investigated by high‐pressure Raman scattering experiments. The results suggest the existence of a reversible pressure‐induced structural phase transition at about 4 GPa. This transformation is most likely related to rotations of octahedral units along the c‐axis with no abrupt changes of apical O W O bonds length. In order to get further understanding of RBW vibrational properties, we performed phonon calculations, by using classical lattice dynamics, in the related hexagonal structure of the K_0.26WO₆ system. These calculations revealed that most of vibrational properties of K_0.26WO₆ are governed by tubular ‘like’ vibrations of the hexagonal cavity, which resemble similar vibrations of tubular nanostructures. The pressure dependence of Raman modes is understood in terms of calculated phonon eigenvectors at ambient pressure. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vinylic Substitution of Chlorine in the Reaction of 2,3,5,6-Tetrachloro-1,4-Benzoquinone with Cyclohexylamine in Acetonitrile Solvent

The reaction of 2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone with cyclohexylamine in acetonitrile has been studied spectrophotometrically. The mechanism of the reaction is a concerted vinylic substitution of Cl atoms. Kinetics and activation parameters are reported. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Experimental investigation on using the piezoelectric and electromagnetic vibration absorbers in milling

The paper presents an active control system that counteracts the development of chatter vibration. The vibration amplitude depends on the dynamic properties of the machine tool, cutting tool and work-piece. In the paper we analyze the case when the loss of machining stability is caused by the work-piece. The proposed active control system employs electromagnet or piezoelectric actuator to suppress vibration during milling. The active control introduces damping into the system, thereby raising the critical depth of cut and reducing forced vibration amplitude. It enables stable cutting under a much wider range of cutting parameters that for the uncontrolled system. Cutting tests are performed on JAFO FYN-50 machine with mill DIN 845 B-25 K-N HSS to demonstrate an effectiveness of the proposed systems.