Studies on state and structure of noble metals in electrocatalyst made by coprecipitation method

The electrocatalysts of Pt/C, PtRu/C and Ru/C were prepared by the impregnation method. The facet characterization, the dispersion and the particle size for the catalysts were determined by means of X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was also used to analyze the state and the valency of the noble metals. The results show that the particle size was in nanometer range and the binary metals have come into being an alloy. The platinum in the catalysts existed in zero valency. The valency of the ruthenium on the surface is different from that in the body, while the ruthenium on the surface existed in oxide-form. PtRu/C and Pt/C are of good activity to the electrooxidation of hydrogen except Ru/C. PtRu/C is more tolerant of CO than Pt/C, and CO is only adsorbed on Pt.

Quantitative sample injection for capillary electrophoresis

An apparatus including a rotary-type injector was designed for quantitative sample injection in capillary electrophoresis (CE), in which both pressurized flow and electroosmotic flow were used to drive the background electrolyte solution. A relative standard deviation of peak area of lower than 1% was achieved by using this apparatus. The effects of back-pressure regulator, restrictor, and applied voltage on separation efficiency and resolution were investigated. The utility of this apparatus in both micro-HPLC and pressurized capillary electrochromatography (pCEC) was also demonstrated.

Determination of arsenic species by capillary zone electrophoresis with large-volume field-amplified stacking injection

Determination of arsenic species by large-volume field amplified stacking injection-capillary zone electrophoresis (LV-FASI-CZE) is reported in this paper. Whole column injection was employed. The optimum buffer pH for the separation of weak acids was discussed. It was found that the optimum buffer to analyze the stacked arsenate (As(V)), monomethylarsonate (MMA), and dimethylarsinate (DMA) was 25 mm phosphate at pH 6.5. However, the optimum buffer to analyze the concentrated arsenite (As(III)) was 20 mm phosphate - 10 mm borate at pH 9.28. The limits of detection of the method developed were 0.026 mg/L for As(III), 0.023 mg/L for As(V), 0.043 mg/L for MMA, and 0.018 mg/L for DMA. An enrichment factor of 34-100 for several arsenic species was obtained. In the end, this method was applied to determine the arsenic concentration in the environmental reference materials to show the usefulness of the method developed.

Article: Overview of Analytical Methodologies for Sea Water Analysis: Part I-Metals

A comprehensive, critical and up-to-date review of analytical methods developed during the last decade for metals present in sea water is presented. Separate sections are devoted to singular and multimetal determinations. Furthermore, a critical comparison of relative merits or demerits of a particular procedure is made in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and precision. Various aspects of analysis of sea water samples for metals are summarized, and the future trends are discussed.

Analytical intercomparison results from the 1990 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission open-ocean baseline survey for trace metals: Atlantic Ocean

“Dissolved” (< 0.4 μm filtered) and “total dissolvable” (unfiltered) trace element samples were collected using “clean” sampling techniques from four vertical profiles in the eastern Atlantic Ocean on the first IOC Trace Metals Baseline expedition. The analytical results obtained by 9 participating laboratories for Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Se on samples from station 4 in the northeast Atlantic have been evaluated with respect to accuracy and precision (intercomparability). The data variability among the reporting laboratories was expressed as 2 × SD for a given element and depth, and was comparable to the 95% confidence interval reported for the NASS seawater reference standards (representing analytical variability only). The discrepancies between reporting laboratories appear to be due to inaccuracies in standardization (analytical calibration), blank correction, and/or extraction efficiency corrections.Several of the sampling bottles used at this station were not adequately pre-cleaned (anomalous Pb results). The sample filtration process did not appear to have been a source of contamination for either dissolved or particulate trace elements. The trace metal profiles agree in general with previously reported profiles from the Atlantic Ocean. We conclude that the sampling and analytical methods we have employed for this effort, while still in need of improvement, are sufficient for obtaining accurate concentration data on most trace metals in the major water masses of the oceans, and to enable some evaluation of the biogeochemical cycling of the metals.

Interference effects in the extraction of trace metals from estuarine waters

We have found that a commonly used complexation and solvent extraction technique (using mixed dithiocarbamates/Freon/HNO3) does not always extract Cd, Co, Cu and Ni from estuarine samples with the same efficiency as from Milli-Q water. For samples collected from the Derwent Estuary (Australia), the reduced extraction efficiency only occurred for unfiltered samples, but low extraction efficiencies were also observed for a (filtered) riverine certified reference material (SLRS-3) suggesting that the effect may be widespread. We have not been able to identify the reason for the low extraction efficiency and, although it is strongly correlated with the presence of high concentrations of suspended solids, dissolved organic matter and particulate iron, we have no experimental evidence to directly link any of these parameters to the effect. It is possible that similar effects may occur in other techniques which rely on a preconcentration step prior to analysis and that some literature values of heavy metals in estuarine waters may be low. We propose a modification of the standard complexation/solvent extraction method which overcomes these difficulties without adding significantly to the time taken for analyses.

Anodic Stripping Voltammetry at Bismuth-Coated and Uncoated Carbon Microdisk Electrodes:Application to Trace Metals Analysis in Flood Samples

This article reports on the performance of a bismuth-coated carbon microdisk electrode (BiFμE) for the determination of trace heavy metals by anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV). The BiFμE was prepared by electrodeposition of a metallic bismuth film onto the microdisk, by applying an in-situ electroplating procedure. To test the performance of the BiFμE, ASV measurements were performed on synthetic solutions containing Cd2+, Pb2+, and Cu2+ as target ions. The results indicated that cadmium and lead gave well-defined ASV peaks with no interference, and their quantitative determination could be carried out straightforwardly. In particular, linear calibration curves over the range 5.0 x 10-8-1.0 x 10-6M for both ions, and detection limits of 7.8 and 2.9 nM, for cadmium and lead, respectively, after applying a 60 sec preconcentration step, were obtained. The reproducibility was also satisfactory, the relative standard deviation (RSD) being within 2.5% for both ions. Copper, instead, gave an ASV response that. in most experimental conditions, overlapped with that of bismuth. This circumstance made the determination of copper at the BiFμE difficult. Since the latter element could be detected reliably at the uncoated carbon microdisk electrode (CμE), both BiFμE and CμE were employed, respectively, for the determination of lead and copper ions in drinking water, wine, and tomato sauce.

Sorption of metals on humic acid

The sorption on humic acid (HA) of metals from an aqueous solution containing Hg(II). Fe(III), Pb, Cu, Al, Ni, Cr(III), Cd, Zn, Co and Mn, was investigated with special emphasis on effects of pH, metal concentration and HA concentration. The sorption efficiency tended to increase with rise in pH, decrease in metal concentration and increase in HA concentration of the equilibrating solution. At pH 2.4. the order of sorption was: Hg Fe Pb Cu=Al Ni Cr=Zn=Cd=Co=Mn. At pH 3.7. the order was: Hg and Fe were always most readily removed, while Co and Mn were sorbed least readily. There were indications of competition for active sites (CO2H and phenolic OH groups) on the HA between the different metals. We were unable to find correlations between the affinities of the eleven metals to sorb on HA and their atomic weights, atomic numbers, valencies, and crystal and hydrated ionic radii. The sorption of the eleven metals on the HA could be described by the equation Full-size image (1K), where Y = % metal removed by HA; X = mgHA; and A and B are empirical constants

Heavy Metals in Soil and Crops of an Intensively Farmed Area: A Case Study in Yucheng City, Shandong Province, China

lThe study was supported by the Knowledge Innovation Foundation of the institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resource, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 200906002) and Key Directional Project of Knowledge Innovation of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KSCX2-YW-N-46-01). The authors would like to thank to Luke Driskell for his kind help and hard work on English language polishing of the article.

Robust Tris-Cyclometalated Iridium(III) Phosphors with Ligands for Effective Charge Carrier Injection/Transport: Synthesis, Redox, Photophysical, and Electrophosphorescent Behavior

With the target to design and develop new functionalized green triplet light emitters that possess distinctive electronic properties for robust and highly efficient phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDs), a series of bluish-green to yellow-green phosphorescent tris-cyclometalated homoleptic iridium(III) complexes [Ir(ppy-X)(3)] (X=SiPh3, GePh3, NPh2, POPh2, OPh, SPh, SO2Ph, Hppy=2-phenylpyridine) have been synthesized and fully characterized by spectroscopic, redox, and photophysical methods

A soluble nonionic surfactant as electron injection material for high-efficiency inverted bottom-emission organic light emitting diodes

A soluble nonionic surfactant, polyethylenimine 80% ethoxylated (PEIE) solution, was used as the electron injection material in inverted bottom-emission organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). The transparent PEIE film was formed on indium-tin-oxide cathode by simple spin-coating method and it was found that the electron injection was greatly enhanced. The devices with PEIE electron injection layer had achieved significant enhancement in luminance and efficiency. The maximum luminance reached 47 000 cd/m(2), and the maximum luminance efficiency and power efficiency arrived at 19.7 cd/A and 10.6 lm/W, respectively.

Cesium hydroxide doped tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum as an effective electron injection layer in inverted bottom-emission organic light emitting diodes

We demonstrate highly efficient inverted bottom-emission organic light-emitting diodes (IBOLEDs) by using cesium hydroxide (CsOH) doped tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq(3)) as the electron injection layer on indium tin oxide cathode, which could significantly enhance the electron injection, resulting in a large increase in luminance and efficiency. The maximum luminance, current efficiency, and power efficiency reach 21 000 cd/cm(2), 6.5 cd/A, and 3.5 lm/W, respectively, which are 40%-50% higher in efficiency than that of IBOLEDs with cesium carbonate (Cs2CO3) doped Alq(3) as the electron injection layer, where the efficiencies are only 4.5 cd/A and 2.2 lm/W.

Injection, Transport, Absorption and Phosphorescence Properties of a Series of Blue-Emitting Ir(III) Emitters in OLEDs: a DFT and Time-Dependent DFT Study

Quantum-chemistry methods were explored to investigate the electronic structures, injection and transport properties, absorption and phosphorescence mechanism of a series of blue-emitting Ir(III) complexes {[(F-2-ppy)(2)Ir(pta -X/pyN4)], where F-2-ppy = (2,4-difluoro)phenylpyridine; pta = pyridine-1,2,4-triazole; X = phenyl(1); p-tolyl (2); 2,6-difluororophenyl (3); -CF3 (4), and pyN4 = pyridine-1,2,4-tetrazolate (5)}, which are used as emitters in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The mobility of hole and electron were studied computationally based on the Marcus theory. Calculations of Ionization potentials (IPs) and electron affinities (EAs) were used to evaluate the injection abilities of holes and electrons into these complexes.

Efficient inverted top-emitting organic light-emitting diodes using ultrathin MoO3/C-60 bilayer structure to enhance hole injection

Efficient inverted top-emitting organic light-emitting diodes with aluminum (Al) as both the cathode and semitransparent anode are investigated. It is found that introduction of the ultrathin molybdenum trioxide (MoO3)/fullerene (C-60) bilayer structure between the low work function Al top anode and the hole-transporting layer dramatically enhances the device performance as compared to the devices with sole MoO3 or C-60 buffer layer. The ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicate that the hole injection barrier between Al anode and hole-transporting layer is effectively reduced via strong dipole effect at Al/MoO3/C-60 interfaces with its direction pointing from Al to C-60.

Highly efficient inverted top-emitting organic light-emitting diodes using a lead monoxide electron injection layer

By introducing an effective electron injection layer (EIL) material, i.e., lead monoxide (PbO), combined with the optical design in device structure, a high efficiency inverted top-emitting organic light-emitting diode (ITOLED) with saturated and quite stable colors for different viewing angles is demonstrated. The green ITOLED based on 10-(2-benzothiazolyl)-1, 1, 7, 7-tetramethyl-2, 3, 6, 7-tetrahydro-1H, 5H, 11H-[1] benzopyrano [6, 7, 8-ij] quinolizin-11-one exhibits a maximum current efficiency of 33.8 cd/A and a maximum power efficiency of 16.6 lm/W, accompanied by a nearly Lambertian distribution as well as hardly detectable color variation in the 140 forward viewing cone. A detailed analysis on the role mechanism of PbO in electron injection demonstrates that the insertion of the PbO EIL significantly reduces operational voltage, thus greatly improving the device efficiency.