Surfactant-nanotube interactions in water and nanotube separation by diameter: atomistic simulations

A non-destructive sorting method to separate single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) by diameter was recently proposed. By this method, SWNTs are suspended in water by surfactant encapsulation and the separation is carried out by ultracentrifugation in a density gradient. SWNTs of different diameters are distributed according to their densities along the centrifuge tube. A mixture of two anionic surfactants, namely sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) and sodium cholate (SC), presented the best performance in discriminating nanotubes by diameter. Unexpectedly, small diameter nanotubes are found at the low density part of the centrifuge tube. We present molecular dynamics studies of the water-surfactant-SWNT system to investigate the role of surfactants in the sorting process. We found that surfactants can actually be attracted towards the interior of the nanotube cage, depending on the relationship between the surfactant radius of gyration and the nanotube diameter. The dynamics at room temperature showed that, as the amphiphile moves to the hollow cage, water molecules are dragged together, thereby promoting the nanotube filling. The resulting densities of filled SWNT are in agreement with measured densities.

Chemical process to separate iron oxides particles in pottery sample for EPR dating

Ancient potteries usually are made of the local clay material, which contains relatively high concentration of iron. The powdered samples are usually quite black, due to magnetite, and, although they can be used for thermoluminescene (TL) dating, it is easiest to obtain better TL reading when clearest natural or pre-treated sample is used. For electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements, the huge signal due to iron spin-spin interaction, promotes an intense interference overlapping any other signal in this range. Sample dating is obtained by dividing the radiation dose, determined by the concentration of paramagnetic species generated by irradiation, by the natural dose so as a consequence, EPR dating cannot be used, since iron signal do not depend on radiation dose. In some cases, the density separation method using hydrated solution of sodium polytungstate [Na(G)(H(2)W(12)O(40))center dot H(2)O] becomes useful. However, the sodium polytungstate is very expensive in Brazil: hence an alternative method for eliminating this interference is proposed. A chemical process to eliminate about 90% of magnetite was developed. A sample of powdered ancient pottery was treated in a mixture (3:1:1) of HCI, HNO(3) and H(2)O(2) for 4 h. After that, it was washed several times in distilled water to remove all acid matrixes. The original black sample becomes somewhat clearer. The resulting material was analyzed by plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), with the result that the iron content is reduced by a factor of about 9. In EPR measurements a non-treated natural ceramic sample shows a broad spin-spin interaction signal, the chemically treated sample presents a narrow signal in g= 2.00 region, possibly due to a radical of (SiO(3))(3-), mixed with signal of remaining iron [M. lkeya, New Applications of Electron Spin Resonance, World Scientific, Singapore, 1993, p. 285]. This signal increases in intensity under -gamma-irradiation. However, still due to iron influence, the additive method yielded too old age-value. Since annealing at 300 degrees C, Toyoda and Ikeya IS. Toyoda, M. Ikeya, Geochem. J. 25 (1991) 427-445] states that E `(1)-signal with maximum intensity is obtained, while annealing at 400 degrees C E`(1)-signal is completely eliminated, the subtraction of the second one from 300 degrees C heat-treated sample isolate E`(1)-like signal. Since this is radiation dose-dependent, we show that now EPR dating becomes possible. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Removal of phenol in high salinity media by a hybrid process (activated sludge plus photocatalysis)

The degradation of phenol by a hybrid process (activated sludge + photocatalysis) in a high salinity medium (50 g L-1 of chloride) has been investigated. The sludge used from a municipal wastewater facility was adapted to the high salt concentrations prior to use. The photocatalytic conditions were optimized by means of a factorial experimental design. TiO2 P25 from Degussa was used as the photocatalyst. The initial phenol concentration was approximately 200 mg L-1 and complete removal of phenol and a mineralization degree above 98% were achieved within 25 h of treatment (24 h of biological treatment and I h of photocatalysis). From HPLC analyses, five hydroxylated intermediates formed during oxidation have been identified. The main ones were catechol and hydroquinone, followed by 1,2,4-benzenetriol, 2-hydroxy- 1,4-benzoquinone, and pyrogallol, in this order. No formation of organochlorine compounds was observed. Therefore, the proposed hybrid process showed itself to be suited to treat phenol in the presence of high contents of salt. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A rapid and reliable bonding process for microchip electrophoresis fabricated in glass substrates

In this report, we describe a rapid and reliable process to bond channels fabricated in glass substrates. Glass channels were fabricated by photolithography and wet chemical etching. The resulting channels were bonded against another glass plate containing a 50-mu m thick PDMS layer. This same PDMS layer was also used to provide the electrical insulation of planar electrodes to carry out capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection. The analytical performance of the proposed device was shown by using both LIF and capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection systems. Efficiency around 47 000 plates/m was achieved with good chip-to-chip repeatability and satisfactory long-term stability of EOF. The RSD for the EOF measured in three different devices was ca. 7%. For a chip-to-chip comparison, the RSD values for migration time, electrophoretic current and peak area were below 10%. With the proposed approach, a single chip can be fabricated in less than 30 min including patterning, etching and sealing steps. This fabrication process is faster and easier than the thermal bonding process. Besides, the proposed method does not require high temperatures and provides excellent day-to-day and device-to-device repeatability.