Metals doped carbon nanotubes and carbon nanocages (Co2-CNT(8, 0) and Sc2-C78) as catalysts of ORR in fuel cells.

The nano structures (CNT(8, 0) and C78) are doped with two Co and Sc metals in order to obtain the suitable catalysts to process the ORR. The effects of different solvents on ORR on Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0) and Sc-C78 are examined in benzene, methanol and water by polarizable continuum model. The ORR on Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0) and Sc-C-C-Sc-C78 are processed by two paths as follow: *OOH-Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0) → *OH-Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0)-*OH → *OH-Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0)→ *Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0) reactions and *OOH-Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0) → *OH-Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0)-*OH → *OH-Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0)→ *Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0) reactions. Results shown that the Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0) has higher potential than Sc-C-C-Sc-C78 for ORR in benzene, methanol and water. Over potential on Co-C-C-Co-CNT(8, 0) and Sc-C-C-Sc-C78 are lower than various metals based nano catalysts.

Estimation of source spectra profiles and simultaneous determination of polycomponent in mixtures from ultraviolet spectra data using kernel independent component analysis and support vector regression.

A method that use kernel independent component analysis (KICA) and support vector regression (SVR) was proposed for estimation of source ultraviolet (UV) spectra profiles and simultaneous determination of polycomponents in mixtures. In KICA-SVR procedure, the UV source spectra profiles were estimated using KICA, then the mixing matrix of the components were calculated using the estimated sources, and the calibration model was build using SVR based on the calculated mixing matrix. A simulated UV dataset of three-component mixtures was used to test the ability of KICA for estimating source spectra profiles from spectra data of mixtures. It was found that KICA has the potential power to estimate pure UV spectra profiles, and correlation coefficient of estimated sources correspond to the real adopted ones are better compared with that by FastICA and Infomax ICA. An UV dataset of polycomponent vitamin B was processed using the proposed KICA-SVR method. The results show that the estimated source spectra profiles are correlative with the real UV spectra of the components and chemically interpretable, and accurate results were obtained.

Rapid and ultrasensitive determination of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine derivatizated with 5-(4,6-dichloro-s-triazin-2-ylamino) fluorescein by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with laser-induced fluorescence detection.

This paper presents a micellar electrokinetic chromatography method with laser-induced fluorescence detection to analyze ephedrine (E) and pseudoephedrine (PE) after derivatizated with 5-(4,6-dichloro-s-triazin-2-ylamino) fluorescein. The optimum derivatization conditions were: 0.05 M Na2CO(3/NaHCO3 (pH 9.5), reaction time 30 min at 45 degrees C, molar ratio of DTAF to E and PE mixture 20:1. The baseline separation was achieved within 8 min with running buffer composed of 20 mM borate+20 mM SDS+15% acetonitrile (v/v) (adjusted pH 9.8), and applied voltage of 20 kV. Good linearity relationships (correlation coefficients: 0.9906 for E and 0.9941 for PE) between the peak heights and concentration of the analytes were obtained (2.5-50 ngmL(-1)). The detection limits for E and PE were 3.85 x 10(-4) and 1.41 x 10(-4)ngmL(-1), respectively, which indicated that the proposed method surpassed other chromatographic alternatives in terms of limit of detection by at least 10(3) folds. The method was applied to the analysis of the two alkaloids in ephedra herb plants and its preparations with recoveries in the range of 89.6-107.0%.

Separation and simultaneous determination of rutin, puerarin, daidzein, esculin and esculetin in medicinal preparations by non-aqueous capillary.

A simple method for the simultaneous determination of five bioactive components (rutin, puerarin, daidzein esculin and esculetin) in traditional medicinal preparations by non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis with UV detection has been developed for the first time. A running buffer composed of 15% acetonitrile, 2.5% acetic acid and 90 mM sodium cholate in methanol was found to be the most suitable for this separation. The limits of detection for five analytes were over the range of 0.050-1.216 microg ml(-1). The relative standard deviations (R.S.Ds.) of the migration times and the peak areas of the analytes were in the range of 1.3-2.9% and 2.2-2.7% (intraday), 1.7-1.9% and 2.8-3.6% (interday), respectively. In the tested concentration range, linear relationships (correlation coefficients: 0.9974 for rutin, 0.9976 for puerarin, 0.9981 for daidzein, 0.9972 for esculin and 0.9929 for esculetin) between peak areas and concentrations of the analytes were obtained. This method has been successfully applied to simultaneous determination of the five bioactive components with recoveries over the range of 89.4-107.4%.

Non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis for separation and simultaneous determination of fraxin, esculin and esculetin in Cortex fraxini and its medicinal preparations.

A non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis method has been developed for the separation and simultaneous determination of fraxin, esculin and esculetin in Cortex fraxini and its preparation for the first time. Optimum separation of the analytes was obtained on a 47 cm x 75 microm i.d. fused-silica capillary using a non-aqueous buffer system of 60 mM sodium cholate, 20 mM ammonium acetate, 20% acetonitrile and 3% acetic acid at 20 kV and 292 K, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the migration times and the peak heights of the three analytes were in the range of 0.23-0.28 and 2.12-2.60%, respectively. Detection limits of fraxin, esculin and esculetin were 0.1557, 0.4073 and 0.5382 microg/mL, respectively. In the tested concentration range, good linear relationships (correlation coefficients 0.9995 for fraxin, 0.9999 for esculin and 0.9992 for esculetin) between peak heights and concentrations of the analytes were observed. This method has been successfully applied to simultaneous determination of the three bioactive components with the recoveries from 90.2 to 109.2% in the five samples.

Application of non-aqueous micellar electrokinetic chromatography to the analysis of active components in radix Salviae miltiorrhizae and its medicinal preparations.

A simple, economical and effective non-aqueous micellar electrokinetic chromatography (NAMEKC) method was developed for simultaneous assay of three bioactive components (cryptotanshinone, tanshinone IIA and tanshinone I) in radix Salviae miltiorrhizae and its medicinal preparations for the first time. After optimization of separation conditions, a buffer of 140 mmol l(-1) sodium cholate (SC) in methanol was selected for the separation of the three tanshinones, but baseline separation of tanshinone I and tanshinone IIA in practical samples was not achieved. Therefore, second-order derivative electropherograms were applied for resolving overlapping peaks. Regression equations revealed good linear relationships (correlation coefficients 0.995-0.999) between peak heights in second-order derivative electropherograms and concentrations of the three analytes. The recoveries of three constituents ranged from 91.3 to 105.7%. The results indicated that baseline separation of the analytes was hard to be achieved in practical samples sometimes and second-order derivative electropherograms was applicable for the resolving and analysis of overlapping peaks.

Non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis for simultaneous separation and determination of three major active components in traditional medicinal preparations.

A simple and sensitive non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis method has been developed for simultaneous assay of three bioactive components (puerarin, daidzein and wogonin) in three traditional medicinal preparations for the first time. Optimum separation of the analytes was obtained on a 47 cm x 75 microm i.d. capillary using a non-aqueous buffer system of 20% acetonitrile, 25 mm ammonium acetate and apparent pH 9.00, with applied voltage and capillary temperature of 20 kV and 16 degrees C, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the migration times and the peak areas of the three analytes were in the ranges 2.5--4.0% and 3.2--3.9%, respectively. Detection limits of puerarin, daidzein and wogonin were 0.090, 0.145 and 0.090 microg mL(-1), respectively. In the tested concentration range, good linear relationships (correlation coef fi cients: 0.9998 for puerarin, 0.9998 for daidzein and 0.9978 for wogonin) between peak areas and concentrations of the analytes were observed. This method has been successfully applied to simultaneous determination of the three bioactive components with recoveries from 91.0 to 114.0%.

Investigation of the factors that induce analyte peak splitting in capillary electrophoresis.

Peak splitting has a detrimental effect on analyses by capillary electrophoresis. Many papers have reported it and several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the phenomenon. We investigated the electrophoretic behavior of an amphoteric analyte, levodopa, in phosphate buffer and observed a peak splitting phenomenon at moderate sample concentrations and under general analytical conditions, even without organic solvent. The dependence of effective mobility on pH was taken into account and pKa values of 2.30, 8.11, and 9.92 were obtained for levodopa. Then, we constructed pH-dependent distribution diagrams of levodopa and phosphate species present in aqueous solution and proposed that the most relevant factors contributing to peak splitting are the presence of ionizable groups in the analyte molecule and the occurrence of ionization, yielding charged species which interacted with buffer electrolyte species in a definite pH range to form complexes. This result is different from those presented in the literature and broadens our understanding of amphoteric analyte peak splitting.