Electrocatalytic oxidation of dopamine by ferrocene in lipid film cast on a glassy carbon electrode

The ferrocene-lipid film electrode was successfully prepared by means of casting the solution of ferrocene and lipid in chloroform onto a glassy carbon (GC) electrode surface. Ferrocene saved in the biological membrane gave a couple of quasi-reversible peaks of cyclic voltammogram. The electrode displays a preferential electrocatalytic oxidation of dopamine (DA). The effect of electroccatalytic oxidation of DA depends on the solution pH and the negative charge lipid is in favor of catalytic oxidation of DA. The characteristic was employed for separating the electrochemical responses of DA and ascorbic acid (AA). The electrode was assessed for the voltammetric differentiation of DA and AA. The measurement of DA can be achieved with differential pulse voltammetry in the, presence of high concentration of AA. The catalytic peak current was proportional to the concentration of DA in the range of 1 x 10(-4)-3 x 10(-3) mol/L.

ELECTROOXIDATION OF A CHLORIDE COMPLEX OF PLATINUM(II) AT A GLASSY-CARBON ELECTRODE

The electro-oxidation of PtCl42- was studied on a glassy carbon (GC) electrode. A Pt(IV) complex was formed on the electrode surface through coordination to the oxygen atom of an oxide functional group on the electrode, which results in its deactivation. The ferri/ferrocyanide redox couple was used as a probe to examine the activity of the GC electrode. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was employed to characterize the platinum on the electrode surface, and showed that the oxidation state of the Pt element changes depending on the electrochemical treatment of GC electrode. The platinum complex on the surface of the GC electrode can be transformed to Pt-0 by cycling the electrode between -0.25 and +1.65 V/SCE in 0.1 M H2SO4 solution. The above procedure can be used to disperse platinum ultramicroparticles on the surface of a GC electrode.

Electrochemical fabrication and electronic behavior of polypyrrole nano-fiber array devices

Electrochemically active Polypyrrole (PPy) nano-fiber array device was fabricated via electrochemical deposition method using aluminum anodic oxide (AAO) membrane as template. After alkaline treatment electrochemically active PPy nano-fiber lost electrochemical activity, and became electrochemically inactive PPy. The electronic properties of PPy nano-fiber array devices were measured by means of a simple method. It was found that for an indium-tin oxide/electrochemically inactive PPy nano-fiber device, the conductivity of nano-fiber increased with the increase of voltage applied on the two terminals of nano-fiber. The electrochemical inactive PPy nano-fiber might be used as a nano-fiber switching diode. Both Au/electrochemically active PPy and Au/electrochemically inactive PPy nano-fiber devices demonstrate rectifying behavior, and might have been used for further application as nano-rectifiers. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All tights reserved.

Simultaneous electrochemical determination of dopamine, uric acid and ascorbic acid using palladium nanoparticle-loaded carbon nanofibers modified electrode

Palladium nanoparticle-loaded carbon nanofibers (Pd/CNFs) were prepared by electrospinning and subsequent thermal treatment processes. Pd/CNFs modified carbon paste electrode (Pd/CNF-CPE) displayed excellent electrochemical catalytic activities towards dopamine (DA), uric acid (UA) and ascorbic acid (AA). The oxidation overpotentials of DA, UA and AA were decreased significantly compared with those obtained at the bare CPE. Differential pulse voltammetry was used for the simultaneous determination of DA, UA and AA in their ternary mixture.

Rapid label-free detection of metal-induced Alzheimer's amyloid beta peptide aggregation by electrochemical method

Amyloid beta peptide plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Metal ions are highly enriched in cerebral amyloid deposits in AD and are proposed to be able to mediate A beta conformation. Therefore, a rapid, low-cost, and sensitive detection of metal-induced A beta aggregation and their relation to AD is clearly needed for the clinical diagnosis and treatment. In this report, we study metal-induced A beta aggregation by a rapid, label-free electrochemical method and monitor both the aggregation kinetics and the morphology in the absence or presence of Zn (II) and Cu (II).

Electrochemical characteristic of LaNi-based hydrogen storage alloys

Effect of purity of alloy components on the electrode performance of LaNi2 alloys was investigated. The results showed the purity of components had less effect on discharge capacity and self-discharge of LaNi2 alloys. Partial substitution of Al or Mn for Ni greatly improved discharge properties of LaNi2-xAlx, or LaNi2-yMny alloys as negative electrodes in MFl-Ni battery, 0.15less than or equal toxless than or equal to0.25; 0.15less than or equal toyless than or equal to0.25. In addition, surface treatment of LaNi1.8Al0.2 alloy electrode was performed by polymerizing cis-butenedioate with Co-60- gamma -ray radiation, which. had better affect on self-discharge and cycle life of the alloy electrodes at low temperature(-28 C-degrees).

Electrochemical Study of the Self-exchange between Viologen-thiol Self assembled Monolayers and Alkanethiol Gold Electrodes

The preparation and cyclic voltammetric behaviors of self assembled monolayers (SAMs) containing electroactive viologen group have been investigated. Treatment of this viologen SAM with solutions of alkanethiols remits in replacing the electroactive third, shifting negatively its formal potentials and decreasing its heterogeneous elixtron transfer constants along with the immersion time. The aim of the work is to understand the exchange regularity of the mixed SANK on gold electrode surface.

STM investigation of HOPG superperiodic features caused by electrochemical pretreatment

The surface topography of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) which has been subjected to anodized treatment at a low potential (less positive) has been exhaustively studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Characterization of graphite surface has revealed that a small percentage of the surface (5%-10%) shows superperiodic features. In this case, the typical topographical features are triangular networks with the observed periodicities in the plane ranging from approximately 26 to 240 nm with peak-to-peak amplitudes out of the plane extending from 7 to 35 Angstrom. We show that this triangular network can be attributed to the injection of electrolyte and solvent in the earliest stages of oxidation of the basal HOPG electrode surface. A simple model is proposed to explain this phenomenon.

INVESTIGATION OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL-BEHAVIOR OF TRYPTOPHAN BY IN-SITU CIRCULAR DICHROIC SPECTROELECTROCHEMISTRY

The electrochemical redox processes of tryptophan were studied by in situ circular dichroic (CD) spectroelectrochemistry with a long optical path length thin-layer cell. The oxidation of tryptophan at low concentrations in basic aqueous solution is a two-electron irreversible electrochemical process which results from an irreversible subsequent chemical reaction. A method of treatment of CD spectral data for the irreversible electrochemical reaction is suggested, from which the values E(p/2) = 0.46 V, alphan(alpha) = 0.313 and k0 = 2.4 x 10(-4) cm s-1 (the standard heterogeneous reaction rate constant for tryptophan oxidation) were obtained.

AMPEROMETRIC FLOW-INJECTION ANALYSIS OF HYDRAZINE BY ELECTROCATALYTIC OXIDATION AT COBALT TETRAPHENYLPORPHYRIN MODIFIED ELECTRODE WITH HEAT-TREATMENT

Chemically modified electrodes prepared by treating the cobalt tetraphenylporphyrin modified glassy-carbon electrode at 750-degrees (HCME) are shown to catalyze the electrooxidation of hydrazine. The oxidation occurred at +0.63 V vs. Ag/AgCl (saturated potassium chloride) in pH 2.5 media. The catalytic response is evaluated with respect to solution pH, potential scan-rate, concentration dependence and flow-rate. The catalytic stability of the HCME is compared with that of the cobalt tetraphenylporphyrin adsorbed glassy-carbon electrode. The stability of the HCME was excellent in acidic solution and even in solutions containing organic solvent (50% CH3OH). When used as the sensing electrode in amperometric detection in flow-injection analysis, the HCME permitted sensitive detection of hydrazine at 0.5 V. The limit of detection was 0.1 ng. The linear range was from 50 ng to 2.4-mu-g. The method is very sensitive and selective.

Electron Beam Surface Treatment. Part I: Surface Hardening of AISI D3 Tool Steel

The effects of electron beam surface hardening treatment on the microstructure and hardness of AISI D3 tool steel have been investigated in this paper. The results showed that the microstructure of the hardened layer consisted of martensite, a dispersion

An extension of the Quasicontinuum Treatment of Multiscale Solid Systems to Nonzero Temperature

Covering the solid lattice with a finite-element mesh produces a coarse-grained system of mesh nodes as pseudoatoms interacting through an effective potential energy that depends implicitly on the thermodynamic state. Use of the pseudoatomic Hamiltonian in a Monte Carlo simulation of the two-dimensional Lennard-Jones crystal yields equilibrium thermomechanical properties (e.g., isotropic stress) in excellent agreement with ``exact'' fully atomistic results.

Effects of heat-treatment processes on the electroless Ni-B coating and its natural aging mechanism

A Ni-B coating was prepared with EN using potassium borohydride reducing agent. The as-plated micro-structure of the coating was confirmed from XRD to be a mixture of amorphous and supersaturated solid solution. Three kinds of phase transformation were observed from the DSC curve. Different from the previous works, the formation of Ni4B3 and Ni2B was found during some transformation processes. The key factors which influence the variation of micro-hardness and micro-structure in deposits are the formation, the size and amount of Ni3B, Ni4B3 and Ni2B. Aging of the deposits treated under some heat treatment conditions occurred at room temperature. Changes of the micro-hardness indicated aging phenomena evidently. the natural aging phenomena are concerned with various kinds of decomposition of borides, especially with Ni4B3 phase. The extent of natural aging depends on the formation and the quantity of Ni(4)B3 and Ni2B.