Reversed-Flow Gas Chromatography as a Tool for Studying the Interaction between Aroma Compounds and Starch.

The versatile technique of reversed-flow gas chromatography was introduced to calculate physicochemical quantities for the interaction between aroma compounds and starch. Adsorption, adsorption/desorption, and surface reaction rate constants as well as surface diffusion coefficients for the vapors of aroma compounds over the different starch surfaces were calculated in the temperature range of 303.15-333.15 K. Enthalpies of adsorption between -45.5 and -109.0 kJ mol-1 and enthalpies of physicochemical interaction between 6.8 and 47.4 kJ mol-1 were also calculated for all the systems studied. From the obtained results, it is concluded that the interaction forces between aroma compounds and starch correspond to weak energy bonds such as hydrogen bonds and dipole-dipole interactions. For all the systems studied, except for the system heptanal/potato, physical sorption of aroma compounds on starch granules was indicated according to the calculated activation energies.

Study of the influence of surfactants on the activity coefficients and mass transfer coefficients of methanol in aqueous mixtures by reversed-flow gas chromatography.

This work focuses on the influences of surfactants on the activity coefficients, γ, of methanol in binary mixtures with water, as well as on the mass transfer coefficients, kc, for the evaporation of methanol, which is a ubiquitous component in the troposphere, from mixtures of methanol with water at various surfactant's and methanol's concentrations. The technique used is the Reversed-Flow Gas Chromatography (R.F.G.C.), a version of Inverse Gas Chromatography, which allows determining both parameters by performing only one experiment for the kc parameter and two experiments for the γ parameter. The kc and γ values decrease in the presence of the three surfactants used (CTAB, SDS, TRITON X-100) at all methanol's and surfactant's concentrations. The decrease in the methanol's molar fraction, at constant number of surfactant films leads to a decrease in the kc and γ values, while the decrease in the surfactant's concentration, at constant methanol's molar fraction leads to an increase in both the kc and γ parameters. Mass transfer coefficients for the evaporation of methanol at the surfactant films, are also calculated which are approximately between 4 and 5 orders of magnitude larger than the corresponding mass transfer coefficients at the liquid films. Finally, thicknesses of the boundary layer of methanol in the mixtures of methanol with water were determined. The quantities found are compared with those given in the literature or calculated theoretically using various empirical equations. The precision of the R.F.G.C. method for measuring γ and kc parameters is approximately high (94.3-98.0%), showing that R.F.G.C. can be used with success not only for the thermodynamic study of solutions, but also for the interphase transport.

Kinetic study of aggregation of milk protein and/or surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions by sedimentation field-flow fractionation.

Milk proteins are able to facilitate the formation and stabilization of oil droplets in food emulsions. This study employed Sedimentation Field-Flow Fractionation (SdFFF) to monitor changes in particle size distribution of freshly prepared emulsions with varying weight contributions of sodium caseinate (SC) and whey protein concentrate (WPC). The effect of the addition of Tween 80 (T) on the initial droplet size was also investigated. The results indicated that emulsifying ability follows the order Tween 80>WPC>SC, with corresponding weight average droplet diameter of 0.319, 0.487 and 0.531µm respectively, when each of the above emulsifiers was used solely. The stability of sodium caseinate emulsions was studied at 30.5 and 80.0°C by measuring the particle size distribution for a period of 70h. Emulsions withstood the temperatures and exhibited an initial increase in particle size distribution caused by heat-induced droplet aggregation, followed by a decrease to approximately the initial droplet size. The rate of droplet aggregation depends on the severity of thermal processing, as revealed by the kinetics of particle aggregation during aging at different temperatures. Comparison of the experimental rate constants found from SdFFF, with those determined theoretically gives invaluable information about the oil droplet stability and the aggregation mechanism. Based on the proposed mechanistic scheme various physicochemical quantities, which are very important in explaining the stability of oil-in-water emulsions, were determined. Finally, the advantages of SdFFF in studying the aggregation of the oil-in-water droplets, in comparison with other methods used for the same purpose, are discussed.

New approaches to the kinetic study of alcoholic fermentation by chromatographic techniques.

The kinetics of the fermentation process has gained increasing interest, not only in the scientific community, but in the industrial world as well. Information concerning the improvement of batch fermentation performance may potentially be valuable for the designing of scale-up processes. Intensive studies have been conducted with the use of various chromatographic techniques, such as conventional gas chromatography, reversed-flow gas chromatography (RFGC), high-performance liquid chromatography, field-flow fractionation and others. In the present study, specific focus is placed on the employment of RFGC, a method that can successfully be applied for the determination of physicochemical quantities, such as reaction rate constants and activation energies, at each phase of the alcoholic fermentation. In contrast to conventional chromatographic techniques, RFGC can lead to substantial information referring to the evaluation of fermentation kinetics at any time of the process. Moreover, gravitational field-flow fractionation, a sub-technique of field-flow fractionation, presents the ability to monitor the proliferation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells through their elution profiles that can be related to the different cell growth stages. The combination of the two techniques can provide important information for kinetic study and the distinction of the growth phases of yeast cell proliferation during alcoholic fermentations conducted under different environmental conditions.

Kinetic study of oxygen adsorption over nanosized Au/γ-Al2O3 supported catalysts under selective CO oxidation conditions.

O2 adsorption is a key process for further understanding the mechanism of selective CO oxidation (SCO) on gold catalysts. Rate constants related to the elementary steps of O2 adsorption, desorption and surface bonding, as well as the respective activation energies, over a nanosized Au/γ-Al2O3 catalyst, were determined by Reversed-Flow Inverse Gas Chromatography (RF-IGC). The present study, carried-out in a wide temperature range (50-300 °C), both in excess as well as in the absence of H2, resulted in mechanistic insights and kinetic as well as energetic comparisons, on the sorption processes of SCO reactants. In the absence of H2, the rate of O2 binding, over Au/γ-Al2O3, drastically changes with rising temperature, indicating possible O2 dissociation at elevated temperatures. H2 facilitates stronger O2 bonding at higher temperatures, while low temperature binding remains practically unaffected. The lower energy barriers observed, under H2 rich conditions, can be correlated to O2 dissociation after hydrogenation. Although, H2 enhances both selective CO reactant's desorption, O2 desorption is more favored than that of CO, in agreement with the well-known mild bonding of SCO reactant's at lower temperatures. The experimentally observed drastic change in the strength of CO and O2 binding is consistent both with well-known high activity of SCO at ambient temperatures, as well as with the loss of selectivity at higher temperatures.

Estimation of the Hamaker constants by sedimentation field-flow fractionation.

van der Waals forces are one of several forces that control the adhesion between two materials. These forces are important to quantify in adhesion studies because they are always present and are always attractive. The major problem in calculating the van der Waals interaction between colloidal particles is that of evaluating the Hamaker constant. Hence, an accurately determined Hamaker constant for a given material is needed when interfacial phenomena such as adhesion are discussed in terms of the total potential energy between a particle and a substrate. In this paper, a new simple and accurate methodology for the estimation of the Hamaker constant is introduced. The results are in good agreement with those values found in literature.

Time distribution of adsorption entropy of gases on heterogeneous surfaces by reversed-flow gas chromatography.

The reversed-flow gas chromatography (RF-GC) technique has been applied to measure the adsorption entropy over time, when gaseous pentane is adsorbed on the surface of two solids (gamma-alumina and a silica supported rhodium catalyst) at 393.15 and 413.15K, respectively. Utilizing experimental chromatographic data, this novel methodology also permits the simultaneous measurement of the local adsorption energy, epsilon, local equilibrium adsorbed concentration, c(s)(*), and local adsorption isotherm, theta(p, T, epsilon) in a time resolved way. In contrast with other inverse gas chromatographic methods, which determine the standard entropy at zero surface coverage, the present method operates over a wide range of surface coverage taking into account not only the adsorbate-adsorbent interaction, but also the adsorbate-adsorbate interaction. One of the most interesting observations of the present work is the fact that the interaction of n-pentane is spontaneous on the Rh/SiO(2) catalyst for a very short time interval compared to that on gamma-Al(2)O(3). This can explain the different kinetic behavior of each particular gas-solid system, and it can be attributed to the fact that large amounts of n-C(5)H(12) are present on the active sites of the Rh/SiO(2) catalyst compared to those on gamma-Al(2)O(3), as the local equilibrium adsorbed concentration values, c(s)(*), indicate.

Estimation of the particle-wall interaction energy in sedimentation field flow fractionation.

A new sedimentation field flow fractionation (SdFFF) method is presented for the estimation of the total potential energy of interaction between colloidal particles and the channel wall. The method is based on the variation of the mean cloud thickness in SdFFF due to the variation of the suspension's ionic strength. It requires only two SdFFF experiments at two different ionic strengths and at a constant acceleration field. The found values are compatible with those calculated from the various forms of equations of the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory.

Inverse gas chromatographic investigation of the effect of hydrogen in carbon monoxide adsorption over silica supported Rh and Pt-Rh alloy catalysts, under hydrogen-rich conditions.

Selective CO oxidation (SCO) has attracted scientific and technological interest due to its application to the operation of proton electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEM-FCs). CO adsorption, being an elementary step of SCO, is studied over silica supported monometallic Rh and Rh0.50 + Pt0.50 alloy catalysts, under various hydrogen atmospheres, namely: 25% H2 + 75% He, 50% H2 + 50% He and 75% H2 + 25% He carrier gas mixture compositions. The investigation of CO adsorption is done by utilizing reversed-flow gas chromatography (RF-GC). As a result rate constants for the adsorption (k1), desorption (k(-1)) and irreversible CO binding (k2) over the studied catalysts as well as the respective activation energies are determined. The variation of the rate constants and the activation energies against the nature of the used catalyst (monometalic or alloy) and the amount of hydrogen in the carrier gas gives useful information for the selectivity as well as the activity of CO oxidation over group VIII noble metals. At low temperatures and under H2-rich conditions compatible with the operation of PEM fuel cells the activity of the monometallic and the alloy catalysts is expected to be similar, however the selectivity of Rh0.50 + Pt0.50 alloy catalyst is expected to be higher, making Pt-Rh alloy catalyst as a better candidate for CO preferential oxidation (PROX). The low energy barrier values found in the present work, most likely are referred to high surface amounts of CO. The desorption barriers determined are in any case much lower than the respective activation energies found for CO desorption in the absence of hydrogen indicating a H2-induced desorption, which can explain the observed in the literature rate enhancement of SCO oxidation.

New gas chromatographic instrumentation for studying the action of sulfur dioxide on marbles.

Reversed-flow gas chromatography, which is a sub-technique of inverse gas chromatography, is an experimental arrangement simulating a simple model for the action of air pollutants on buildings and monuments, in laboratory scale. By using a commercial gas chromatograph and an appropriate mathematical analysis, kinetic parameters such as rate constants for adsorption k1, adsorption/desorption kR and surface reaction k2, as well as surface diffusion coefficients Dgamma, deposition velocities Vd and reaction probabilities gamma of SO2 on marble surfaces at different temperatures (303.15-353.15 K) in the presence or in the absence of protective materials (an acrylic copolymer, Paraloid B-72 or a siloxane, CTS Silo 111) were calculated. From the above mentioned physicochemical quantities the ability of the examined materials to minimize the dry deposition of SO2 on marble is carrying out and a possible mechanism for the interaction between SO2 and Paraloid B-72 was suggested. Both materials (CTS SILO 111 and Paraloid B-72) are good enough for protecting marble against SO2 at low temperatures (303.15-323.15), while at high temperatures (333.15-353.15), siloxane seems to protect marble better than acrylic copolymer.

Determination of diffusion coefficients by gas chromatography.

Gas chromatography (GC), apart from the qualitative and quantitative analysis of gaseous mixtures, offers many possibilities for physicochemical measurements, among which the most important is the determination of diffusion coefficients of gases in gases and liquids and on solids. The gas chromatographic techniques used for the measurement of diffusion coefficients, namely the methods based on the broadening of the chromatographic elution peaks, and those based on the perturbation of the carrier gas flow-rate, are reviewed from the GC viewpoint, considering their running though the history, the experimental arrangement and procedure, the appropriate mathematical analysis and the main results with brief discussions. The experimental data on diffusion coefficients, determined by the various gas chromatographic techniques, are compared with those quoted in the literature or estimated by the known empirical equations predicting diffusion coefficients. This comparison permits the calculation of the precision and accuracy of the techniques applied to the measurement of diffusion coefficients.

Study of the influence of surfactants on the transfer of gases into liquids by inverse gas chromatography.

The experimental technique of the reversed-flow version of inverse gas chromatography was applied for the study of effects of surfactants in reducing air-water exchange rates. The vinyl chloride (VC)-water system was used as a model, which is of great importance in environmental chemistry. Using suitable mathematical analysis, various physicochemical quantities were calculated, among which the most significant are: Partition coefficients of the VC gas between the surfactant interface and the carrier gas nitrogen, as well as between the bulk of the water + surfactant solution and the carrier gas nitrogen, overall mass transfer coefficients of VC in the liquid (water + surfactant) and the gas (nitrogen) phases, water and surfactant film transfer coefficients, nitrogen, water and surfactant phase resistances for the transfer of VC into the water solution, relative resistance of surfactant in the transfer of VC into the bulk of solution, exchange velocity of VC between nitrogen and the liquid solution, and finally the thickness of the surfactant stagnant film in the liquid phase, according to the three phase resistance model. From the variation of the above parameters with the surfactant's concentration, important conclusions concerning the effects of surfactants on the transfer of a gas at the air-liquid interface, as well as to the bulk of the liquid were extracted. An interesting finding of this work was also that by successive addition of surfactant, the critical micelle concentration of surfactant was obtained, after which follows a steady-state for the transfer of the gas into the water body, which could be attributed to the transition from mono- to multi-layer state.

Surface energy of solid catalysts measured by inverse gas chromatography.

The time separation of experimental surface energy on Pt-Rh bimetallic catalysts, together with the time-independent rate constants for adsorption and desorption of O(2), CO, and CO(2) on them, is described, applying the reversed-flow version of inverse gas chromatography. The standard free energy of adsorption DeltaG(z.plims;) and its probability density function over time, together with the geometrical mean of the London parts of the total surface free energy (gamma(L)(1)gamma(L)(2))(1/2) of the adsorbed probe and the solid surface, accompanied by the relevant probability density functions over time are also calculated. The time-resolved phenomena lead to quite varying values of DeltaG(z.plims;), (gamma(L)(1)gamma(L)(2))(1/2), and the distribution functions as time passes, their maximum values being given by the catalyst containing a Pt:Rh = 3:1 weight ratio of the active phase for all adsorbed gases. The conclusion is reached that the surface energy measured as described can be used as a good measure for catalyst characterization.

A new gas chromatographic methodology for the estimation of the composition of binary gas mixtures.

The relatively new technique of reversed-flow gas chromatography (RFGC) is used to determine the diffusion coefficients of pure gases into gas mixtures (D(mix)(exp)). The pure gases are CO and CO(2), and the mixtures consist of H(2) and He in various volume percentage compositions. A linear regression analysis of D(mix)(exp) of CO and CO(2) in various mixtures of H(2) and He against the percentage composition (X(H2) or X(He)) of the mixtures at different temperatures results in an empirical equation relating D(mix)(exp) to the corresponding theoretical values of the diffusion coefficients of CO and CO(2) in the pure gases H(2) and He, as they are calculated from the Fuller-Schettler-Giddings equation. The empirical equation shows that the diffusion coefficient of an analyte gas in a gas mixture is the partial sum of its diffusion coefficients in the component gases, therefore making possible the determination of the mole fractions of the components of the mixture. The found percentage volume compositions are very close to those determined independently by routine gas chromatography, indicating that the proposed RFGC methodology could be successfully applied to the accurate determination of the volume composition of binary gas mixtures.