An N2: CH4: H2O DC glow discharge plasma probed by optical and electric techniques: significance to the radiation chemistry of Titan's upper atmosphere in the presence of meteoritic water

This paper presents optical and electrical measurements on plasma generated by DC excited glow discharges in mixtures composed of 95% N2, 4.8% CH4 and 0.2% H2O at pressures varying from 1.064 mbar to 4.0 mbar. The discharges simulate the chemical reactions that may occur in Titan's atmosphere in the presence of meteorites and ice debris coming from Saturn's systems, assisted by cosmic rays and high energy charged particles. The results obtained from actinometric optical emission spectroscopy, combined with the results from a pulsed Langmuir probe, show that chemical species CH, CN, NH and OH are important precursors in the synthesis of the final solid products and that the chemical kinetics is essentially driven by electronic collision processes. It is shown that the presence of water is sufficient to produce complex solid products whose components are important in prebiotic compound synthesis. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Metallomic study on plasma samples from Nile tilapia using SR-XRF and GFAAS after separation by 2D PAGE: initial results

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Plasma immersion ion implantation of nitrogen into H13 steel under moderate temperatures

Ion implantation of nitrogen into samples of tempered and quenched H13 steel was carried out by plasma immersion technique. A glow discharge plasma of nitrogen species was the ion source and the negative high voltage pulser provided 10-12 kV, 60 mu s duration and 1.0-2.0 kHz frequency, flat voltage pulses. The temperatures of the samples remained between 300 and 450 degrees C, sustained solely by the ion bombardment. In some of the discharges, we used a N-2 + H-2 gas mixture with 1:1 ratio. PIII treatments as long as 3, 6, 9 and up to 12 h were carried out to achieve as thickest treated layer as possible, and we were able to reach over 20 mu m treated layers, as a result of ion implantation and thermal (and possibly radiation enhanced) diffusion. The nitrogen depth profiles were obtained by GDOS (Glow Discharge Optical Spectroscopy) and the exact composition profiles by AES (Auger Electron Spectroscopy). The hardness of the treated surface was increased by more than 250%, reaching 18.8 GPa. No white layer was seen in this case. A hardness profile was obtained which corroborated a deep hardened layer, confirming the high efficacy of the moderate temperature PIII treatment of steels. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Infrared spectroscopy investigation of various plasma-deposited polymer films irradiated with 170 keV He+ ions

This work illustrates the advantages of using p-polarized radiation at an incidence angle of 70 degrees in contrast to the conventional unpolarized beam at normal (or near-normal) incidence for the infrared spectroscopic study of polycarbosilane, polysilazane and polysiloxane thin films synthesized by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and subsequently irradiated with 170 keV He+ ions at fluences from 1 x 10(14) to 1 x 10(16) cm(-2). Several bands not seen using the conventional mode could be observed in the polarized mode. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Selenium fractionation from plasma, muscle and liver of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

This paper presents the results obtained from selenium fractionation in plasma, muscle and liver samples of Nile tilapia's (Oreochromis niloticus) after protein separation. The plasma, muscle and liver proteome was obtained by 2D-PAGE, and selenium in protein spots was qualitatively and quantitatively determined by synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). The fluorescence spectra indicated the presence of selenium in three protein spots of plasma, two of muscle and one of liver. Selenium was found to be distributed mainly in proteins with a molar mass smaller than 57.0 kDa and with pI in the range of 5.9-9.6, with one exception in the plasma sample, which presented protein with a molar mass of 60.0 kDa. After acid mineralization of the protein spots, a GFAAS determination of the concentration of selenium bound to these proteins indicated a range of 1.35-6.82 mg per g of protein. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Determinação de manganês e zinco em spots protéicos de plasma de tilápia do Nilo (Oreochromis niloticus) por SR-XRF e GFAAS após separação por 2D-PACE

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Estudo de temperatura de plasma de álcool através de espectroscopia de emissão natural radical C2*

Non-intrusive methods of diagnosis, such as spectral analysis of the radiation emitted by the system, have been used as a viable alternative for determining the temperature of combustion systems. Among them, the determination of temperature by natural emission spectroscopy has the advantage of requiring relatively simple experimental devices. Once Chemiluminescent species are formed directly in the excited state, the collection and recording of radiation emission spectrum is enough to determine the temperature (CARINHANA, 2008). In this study we used the process of making direct comparisons between the experimental spectra obtained in the laboratory from the plasma of alcohol, and the theoretical spectra plotted from a computer program developed at the IEAv. The objective was to establish a fast and reliable method to measure the rotational temperature of the radical C2*. The results showed that the temperature of the plasma, which in turn can be taken as the rotational temperature of the system, is proportional to the pressure. The temperature values ranged from ca. 2300 ~ 2500 K at a pressure of 19 mmHg to 3100 ~ 3500 K for the pressure of 46 mmHg. The temperature values are somewhat smaller when we consider the theoretical spectrum as a Lorentzian curve. The overlap of the spectra was better when using the profile curve, but still were not exactly superimposed. The solution to improve the overlap of the theoretical with the experimental spectra is the use of a curve that has the convolution of two profiles analyzed: Lorentzian and Gaussian. This curve is called the Voigt profile, which will also be implemented by programmers and studied in a next work

Tetraethylortossilicate plasma thin film with hydrophilic and hydrophobic characteristics: Use on passive mixers

This work aims to obtain plasma thin film composites with hydrophobic/hydrophilic alternated regions, which are useful for the production of miniaturized mixers. These regions were acquired by two different strategies: either the codeposition of TEOS and HFE plasma thin films or the exposition of TEOS plasma films to ultraviolet radiation (UVA and UVC). These films were characterized by several chemical and physical techniques. The refractive indexes vary from 1.4 to 1.7; infrared and photoelectron spectroscopy detect Si-O-Si and CHn species. Silicone-like structures with high or low number of amorphous carbon microparticles and with fluorinated organic clusters were produced. Cluster dimensions were in the 1-5 mm range and they are made of graphite or COF (carbon/oxygen/fluorine) compounds. Scanning electron and optical microscopy showed rough surfaces. Water contact angles were 90º; however, for TEOS films that value changed after 6 hr of UVC exposure. Moreover, after UV exposure, organic polar compounds could be adsorbed in those films and water was not. The passive mixer performance was simulated using the FemLab 3.2® program and was tested with 20 nm thick films on a silicon wafer, showing the capacity of these films to be used in such devices.