Investigating mechanical response of single chain polystyrene particles by scanning probe techniques

Single chain polystyrene particles were obtained by dilute solution casting method. The sample with both single chain polystyrene particles and multi-chain (more than 1000 molecular chains) polystyrene particles was obtained by a little more concentrate solution. Force modulation technique showed that single chain polystyrene particles were softer than multichain polystyrene particles. On the other hand, nanoindentation experiments on multi-chain particles and bulk polystyrene manifested that the elastic modulus of multi-chain polystyrene particles was very close to that of bulk polystyrene. Therefore, it was concluded that single chain polystyrene particles were softer than bulk polystyrene,which indicated that the density of intrachain entanglement points in the single chain polystyrene particles was not as large as that of the interchain entanglement points in the bulk state.

Recent development of tip modification techniques in chemical force microscope

A review is given on the recent development of scanning probe microscope (SPM) tip modification techniques for chemical force microscope, including the preparation and application of SPM tip modified by self-assembled monolayer, atomic force microscope (AFM) tip modified by biological molecule, scanning tunneling microscope tip modified by electrochemical method, AFM tip modified by carbon nanotube.

Characterization of the structural and functional changes of hemoglobin in dimethyl sulfoxide by spectroscopic techniques

Circular dichroism (CD), fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to explore the effect of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on the structure and function of hemoglobin (Hb). The native tertiary structure was disrupted completely when the concentration of DMSO reached 50% (v/v), which was determined by loss of the characteristic Soret CD spectrum. Loss of the native tertiary structure could be mainly caused by breaking the hydrogen bonds, between the heme propionate groups and nearby surface amino acid residues, and by disorganizing the hydrophobic interior of this protein. Upon exposure of Hb to 52% DMSO for ca. 12 h in a D2O medium no significant change in 1652 cm(-1) band of the FTIR spectrum was produced, which demonstrated that alpha-helical structure predominated. When the concentration of DMSO increased to 57%: (1) the band at 1652 cm(-1) disappeared with the appearance of two new bands located at 1661 and 1648 cm(-1); (2) another new band at 1623 cm(-1) was attributed to the formation of intermolecular beta-sheet or aggregation, which was the direct consequence of breaking of the polypeptide chain by the competition of S=O groups in DMSO with C=O groups in amide bonds. Further increasing the DMSO concentration to 80%, the intensity at 1623 cm(-1) increased, and the bands at 1684, 1661 and 1648 cm(-1) shifted to 1688, 1664 and 1644 cm(-1), respectively. These changes showed that the native secondary structure of Hb was last and led to further aggregation and increase of the content of 'free' amide C=O groups. In pure DMSO solvent, the major band at 1664 cm(-1) indicated that almost all of both the intermolecular beta-sheet and any residual secondary structure were completely disrupted. The red shift of the fluorescence emission maxima showed that the tryptophan residues were exposed to a greater hydrophilic environment as the DMSO content increased. GO-binding experiment suggested that the biological function of Hb was disrupted seriously even if the content of DMSO was 20%. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Study of cupric hexacyanoferrate-modified platinum electrodes using probe beam deflection and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance techniques

The ion exchange mechanism accompanying the oxidation/reduction processes of cupric hexacyanoferrate-modified platinum electrodes in different aqueous electrolyte solutions has been studied by means of in situ probe beam deflection and the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance technique. The results demonstrate that the charge neutrality of the film during the reoxidation/reduction process is accomplished predominantly by the movement of cations, but anions and/or solvent are also participator(s). Moreover, in KHC8H4O4 (potassium biphthalate) solution, the EQCM data obtained from chronoamperometry experiment are more complicated than those in KCl and K2SO4 solutions. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF KALMAN FILTERING, SYNCHRONOUS EXCITATION AND NUMERICAL DERIVATIVE TECHNIQUES IN FLUOROMETRY

The performance of Kalman filtering, synchronous excitation and numerical derivative techniques for the resolution of overlapping emission spectra in spectrofluorimetry was studied. The extent of spectrum overlap was quantitatively described by the separation degree D(s), defined as the ratio of the peak separation to the full width at half-maximum of the emission spectrum of the interferent. For the system of Rhodamine B and Rhodamine 6G with a large D(s) of about 0.4, both Kalman filtering and synchronous techniques are able to resolve the overlapping spectra well and to give satisfactory results while the derivative spectra are still overlapped with each other. Moreover, the sensitivities are greatly decreased in derivative techniques. For more closely spaced spectra emitted by the complexes of Al and Zn with 7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulphonic acid (Ferron)-hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, the synchronous excitation technique cannot completely separate the overlapping peaks, although it increases the separation degree from 0.25 in the conventional spectra to 0.37 in the synchronous spectra. On the other hand, Kalman filtering is capable of resolving this system. When the Al/Zn intensity ratio at the central wavelength of Al was > 1, however, the accuracy and precision of the estimates for Zn concentration produced by the Kalman filter became worse. In this event, the combination of synchronous excitation and Kalman filtering can much improve the analytical results.

ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WAVELENGTH POSITIONING ACCURACY IN MULTICOMPONENT ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES FOR THE CORRECTION OF LINE INTERFERENCES IN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA ATOMIC EMISSION-SPECTROMETRY

The present paper reports some definite evidence for the significance of wavelength positioning accuracy in multicomponent analysis techniques for the correction of line interferences in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Using scanning spectrometers commercially available today, a large relative error, DELTA(A) may occur in the estimated analyte concentration, owing to wavelength positioning errors, unless a procedure for data processing can eliminate the problem of optical instability. The emphasis is on the effect of the positioning error (deltalambda) in a model scan, which is evaluated theoretically and determined experimentally. A quantitative relation between DELTA(A) and deltalambda, the peak distance, and the effective widths of the analysis and interfering lines is established under the assumption of Gaussian line profiles. The agreement between calculated and experimental DELTA(A) is also illustrated. The DELTA(A) originating from deltalambda is independent of the net analyte/interferent signal ratio; this contrasts with the situation for the positioning error (dlambda) in a sample scan, where DELTA(A) decreases with an increase in the ratio. Compared with dlambda, the effect of deltalambda is generally less significant.

WAVELENGTH POSITIONING ERRORS AND TRUE DETECTION LIMIT IN RELATION TO MULTICOMPONENT ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES FOR THE CORRECTION OF LINE INTERFERENCES IN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA ATOMIC EMISSION-SPECTROMETRY

The present paper deals with the evaluation of the relative error (DELTA(A)) in estimated analyte concentrations originating from the wavelength positioning error in a sample scan when multicomponent analysis (MCA) techniques are used for correcting line interferences in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. In the theoretical part, a quantitative relation of DELTA(A) with the extent of line overlap, bandwidth and the magnitude of the positioning error is developed under the assumption of Gaussian line profiles. The measurements of eleven samples covering various typical line interferences showed that the calculated DELTA(A) generally agrees well with the experimental one. An expression of the true detection limit associated with MCA techniques was thus formulated. With MCA techniques, the determination of the analyte and interferent concentrations depend on each other while with conventional correction techniques, such as the three-point method, the estimate of interfering signals is independent of the analyte signals. Therefore. a given positioning error results in a larger DELTA(A) and hence a higher true detection limit in the case of MCA techniques than that in the case of conventional correction methods. although the latter could be a reasonable approximation of the former when the peak distance expressed in the effective width of the interfering line is larger than 0.4. In the light of the effect of wavelength positioning errors, MCA techniques have no advantages over conventional correction methods unless the former can bring an essential reduction ot the positioning error.

IMPROVEMENT OF SELECTIVITY WITH NUMERICAL DERIVATIVE TECHNIQUES IN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA ATOMIC EMISSION-SPECTROMETRY

One of the most attractive features of derivative spectrometry is its higher resolving power. In the present power, numerical derivative techniques are evaluated from the viewpoint of increase in selectivity, the latter being expressed in terms of the interferent equivalent concentration (IEC). Typical spectral interferences are covered, including flat background, sloped background, simple curved background and various types of line overlap with different overlapping degrees, which were defined as the ratio of the net interfering signal at the analysis wavelength to the peak signal of the interfering line. the IECs in the derivative spectra are decreased by one to two order of magnitudes compared to those in the original spectra, and in the most cases, assume values below the conventional detection limits. The overlapping degree is the dominant factor that determines whether an analysis line can be resolved from an interfering line with the derivative techniques. Generally, the second derivative technique is effective only for line overlap with an overlapping degree of less than 0.8. The effects of other factors such as line shape, data smoothing, step size and the intensity ratio of analyte to interferent on the performance of the derivative techniques are also discussed. All results are illustrated with practical examples.

Study of the carbonaceous deposits formed on a Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst in methane dehydro-aromatization by using TG and temperature-programmed techniques

Carbonaceous deposits formed during the temperature-programmed surface reaction (TPSR) of methane dehydro-aromatization (MDA) over Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts have been investigated by TPH, TPCO2 and TPO, in combination with thermal gravimetric analysis (TG). The TPO profiles of the coked catalyst after TPSR of MDA show two temperature peaks: one is at about 776 K and the other at about 865 K. The succeeding TPH experiments only resulted in the diminishing of the area of the high-temperature peak, and had no effect on the area of the low-temperature peak. On the other hand, the TPO profiles of the coked catalyst after succeeding TPCO2 experiments exhibited obvious reduction in the areas of both the high-and low-temperature peaks, particularly in the area of the low-temperature peak. On the basis of TPSR, TPR and TPCO2 experiments and the corresponding TG analysis, quantitative analysis of the coke and the kinetics of its burning-off process have been studied. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.