Reversed phase liquid chromatographic determination of organic acids using on-line complexation with copper(II) ion

Development of novel paper-based supercapacitor electrode material by combining copper-cellulose fibers with polyaniline

Along with the developing of flexible electronics, there is a strong interest in high performance flexible energy storage materials. As natural carbohydrate polymer, cellulose fibers have potential applications in the area due to their biodegradability and flexibility. However, their conductive and electrochemical properties are impossible to meet the demands of practical applications. In this study, cellulose fibers were combined with polyaniline to develop novel paper-based supercapacitor electrode material. Cellulose fibers were firstly coordinated to Cu(II) and subsequently involved in polymerization of polyaniline. Not only the mass loading of polyaniline was significantly increased, but also an impressive area specific capacitance (2767 mF/cm2 at 1 mA/cm2) was achieved. The developed strategy is efficient, environmentally friendly, and has implications for the development of cellulosic paper-based advanced functional materials.

Separation of inorganic anions on reversed-phase C18 columns with a phosphomolybdate mobile phase

Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) is the most widely used chromatographic method. In addition to hydrophobic interactions, additional interactions such as electrostatic interactions may participate in the retention behaviour of an analyte. This makes it possible to use RP-HPLC for many types of analyte. We describe a simple method for separating inorganic anions on a C18 column, in which retention of inorganic anions is almost entirely due to electrostatic interactions. This leads to rapid separations as well as higher theoretical plate numbers. We used 2 mM phosphoric acid containing a low concentration of disodium molybdate as the mobile phase, which allows UV detection of non-UV-absorbing anions. With this method, we determined eight inorganic anions including several non-UV-absorbing anions photometrically at 220 nm. The detection limits of the examined eight inorganic anions calculated at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 were between 0.3 and 10 μM. The detector response was linear over three orders of magnitude of inorganic anion concentration. The proposed RP-HPLC/UV method was successfully applied to determine inorganic anions in some water samples.

Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis for identification and quantification of antimicrobial compounds in distillery wastewater

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Analyze and identify 4 levels of small molecule compounds in distillery wastewater.

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Simple method for quantification of five antimicrobial compounds.

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Column temperature affected the lactic and succinic acid chromatographs significantly.

A high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) method was developed to analyze and identify small molecule compounds in distillery wastewater. According to identification confidence levels, 4 levels of compounds were identified. The five antimicrobial compounds (lactic acid, succinic acid, acetophenone, cinnamic acid, and phenyllactic acid), which shown in high concentrations, were at the highest level of confidence (level 1, confirmed structure). Thus, a rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed to simultaneously quantify these antimicrobial compounds. The analysis was performed in the selective reaction monitoring (SRM) mode via the electrospray ionization (ESI) source operating in the negative ionization mode. Linear calibration curves were obtained over the concentration range of 50–1000.0 ng/mL for succinic acid, acetophenone, cinnamic acid, phenyllactic acid, and 375–7500 ng/mL for lactic acid. Precision and recovery of the analytes were all satisfactory (relative standard deviation < 10%). The validated method was successfully applied to quantitative analysis of the five antimicrobial compounds in distillery wastewater.•

Analyze and identify 4 levels of small molecule compounds in distillery wastewater.

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Simple method for quantification of five antimicrobial compounds.

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Column temperature affected the lactic and succinic acid chromatographs significantly.

Extraction of valuable metals from discarded AMOLED displays in smartphones using Bacillus foraminis as an alkali-tolerant strain

With the alarming rate of e-waste generation, resource recovery from secondary metal sources is essential for sustainable resource utilization and to prevent the release of potentially toxic elements into the environment. In the current study, the first-time extraction of Ag, Mo, and Cu from active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) screens of discarded smartphones have been achieved using organic acids produced by Bacillus foraminis cultured on a modified Horikoshi medium. The influences of initial pH, inoculation size, and pulp density on the bioleaching process were evaluated over six-day experiment. Maximum extraction of Ag, Mo, and Cu (100, 56.8, and 41.4%) at optimal values of three investigated factors was obtained over a 12-day bioleaching experiment. A diverse assemblage of organic acid was produced in the optimized bioleaching condition, including tartaric (12.1 mM), formic (49.8 mM), acetic (21.5 mM), lactic (78.5 mM), citric (2.7 mM), and propionic (69.6 mM) acid. The contact angle analysis highlighted more hydrophobicity of powder after the bioleaching. FTIR and CHNO data also confirmed the role of bioleaching in the powder wettability alteration. The sequential extraction method revealed high mobility of In, Fe, Co, Cu, Cr, and Mo and low mobility of Ag. The results exhibited high tolerance of alkali-tolerant bacteria to potentially toxic elements and its superior performance in the bioleaching of discarded mobile screens at high pulp density.

Validation and Application of a Derivatization-Free RP-HPLC-DAD Method for the Determination of Low Molecular Weight Salivary Metabolites

Saliva is an interesting, non-conventional, valuable diagnostic fluid. It can be collected using standardized sampling device; thus, its sampling is easy and non-invasive, it contains a variety of organic metabolites that reflect blood composition. The aim of this study was to validate a user-friendly method for the simultaneous determination of low molecular weight metabolites in saliva. We have optimized and validated a high throughput, direct, low-cost reversed phase liquid chromatographic method with diode array detection method without any pre- or post-column derivatization. We indexed salivary biomolecules in 35 whole non-stimulated saliva samples collected in 8 individuals in different days, including organic acids and amino acids and other carbonyl compounds. Among these, 16 whole saliva samples were collected by a single individual over three weeks before, during and after treatment with antibiotic in order to investigate the dynamics of metabolites. The concentrations of the metabolites were compared with the literature data. The multianalyte method here proposed requires a minimal sample handling and it is cost-effectiveness as it makes possible to analyze a high number of samples with basic instrumentation. The identification and quantitation of salivary metabolites may allow the definition of potential biomarkers for non-invasive "personal monitoring" during drug treatments, work out, or life habits over time.

Fabrication of liquid–liquid self-assembled Ag arrays on disposable screen-printed electrodes and their application in the identification and analysis of the adsorption behavior of organic carboxylates through in situ electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman scattering

A disposable Ag array@screen-printed electrode (SPE) was fabricated for the identification and analysis of the adsorption behavior of organic carboxylates in in situ electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman scattering (EC-SERS).

Reversed phase ion-pair chromatographic separation of sugar alcohols by complexation with molybdate ion

In this study, we developed a simple and sensitive reversed phase ion-pair chromatographic method for the analysis of C4-C6 sugar alcohols. The method is based on the on-line complexation of sugar alcohols with molybdate ion. The resulting dinuclear anionic complexes can be separated on a reversed-phase C18 column using tetrabutylammonium chloride as an ion-pairing reagent. The mobile phase (pH 3.1) consisted of 0.1 mM disodium molybdate, 1 mM hydrochloric acid and 0.4 mM tetrabutylammonium chloride - 10% v/v methanol. By complexing with molybdate ion, sugar alcohols can be detected by their UV absorption at 247 nm with high resolution and sensitivity. The quantification limits of the examined sugar alcohols calculated at S/N = 10 were 0.1 mM for erythritol and xylitol and 0.01 mM for arabitol, sorbitol, mannitol and dulcitol. The detector response was linear over three orders of magnitude of sugar alcohol concentration. The proposed method was successfully applied to measure sugar alcohols in health drinks, eyedrops and mouthwashes.

Simultaneous determination of alcohols including diols and triols by HPLC with ultraviolet detection based on the formation of a copper(II) complex

We developed a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method with ultraviolet detection using on-line complexation with Cu(II) ion for analysis of five alcohols including diols and triol (methanol, ethanol, 1,2-propanediol, 1,3-propanediol, and glycerol). The Cu(II) ion concentration in the mobile phase had a great influence on the peak areas of these alcohols, but not on their retention times. Column temperature (25-40°C) and pH of the mobile phase did not affect the separation of analytes. The optimum separation conditions were determined as 5 mM CuSO₄ , 3 mM H₂ SO₄ , and 3 mM NaOH at 30°C. The ratio of the peak areas for three alcohols (methanol, 1,2-propanediol, and glycerol) was in good agreement with that calculated from the obtained stability constants, molar absorption coefficients for the 1:1 Cu(II) complexes with the three alcohols, and the injected molar quantities. This fact strongly suggests that the observed high-performance liquid chromatography signals resulted from formation of the 1:1 Cu(II)-alcohol complexes. Using the proposed method, these five alcohols in spirit, liquid for electronic cigarette, mouthwash, and nail enamel remover samples were successfully analyzed with only a simple pretreatment.