Magnetic field-regulated glow discharge sputtering for enhanced depth-profiling and antibacterial analysis of Ag-doped TiN coating.

A novel satellite-like magnetic field-regulated (SLM) configuration is developed to enhance the depth-profiling and antibacterial analysis of Ag-doped TiN coating on Al substrate (Ag:TiN/Al) using glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS). COMSOL simulations reveal that the SLM configuration produces a unique magnetic field distribution through an antiparallel pole arrangement with six-fold symmetry. This creates a distinctive central circular magnetic field, which effectively controls electron motion, enhances central sputtering, and minimizes the edge effect, thereby improving depth-profiling performance.

Stabilizing the Fe Species of Nickel-Iron Double Hydroxide via Chelating Asymmetric Aldehyde-Containing THB Ligand for Long-Lasting Water Oxidation.

Nickel-iron layered double hydroxides (NiFe LDHs) are considered as promising substitutes for precious metals in oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, most of the reported NiFe LDHs suffer from poor long-term stability because of the Fe loss during OER resulting in severe inactivation. Herein, a dynamically stable chelating interface through in situ transformation of asymmetric aldehyde-ligand (THB, 1,3,5-Tris(3'-hydroxy-4'-formylphenyl)-benzene) modified NiFe LDHs to anchor Fe and significantly enhance the OER stability is reported.

Confocal micro-X-ray fluorescence analysis for difference identification of ceramic samples.

A nondestructive analytical method for difference identification is required in the research fields such as forensic science or archeology. An X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis is one of feasible techniques for this purpose. Micro-XRF using an X-ray micro-beam gives elemental distributions by scanning the samples.

Studies of Dopamine Oxidation Process by Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry.

An atmospheric pressure glow discharge ionisation source was constructed and utilized to study the dopamine (DA) oxidation process coupling with mass spectrometry. During the DA oxidation process catalysed by polyphenol oxidase (PPO), six cationic intermediates were directly detected by the atmospheric pressure glow discharge mass spectrometry (APGD-MS). Combined with tandem mass spectrometry, the structures of the dopamine semiquinone radical (DASQ) and leukodopaminochrome radical (LDAC) intermediates and structures of the isomers of dopaminochrome (DAC) and 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) were further characterised with the introduction of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine 1-oxyl (TEMPO) and deuterium oxide (DO) to APGD-MS.

CTAB Enhanced Room-Temperature Detection of NO Based on MoS-Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanohybrid.

A new NO nanohybrid of a gas sensor (CTAB-MoS/rGO) was constructed for sensitive room-temperature detection of NO by 3D molybdenum disulfide (MoS) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO), assisted with hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). In comparison with MoS and MoS/rGO, the BET and SEM characterization results depicted the three-dimensional structure of the CTAB-MoS/rGO nanohybrid, which possessed a larger specific surface area to provide more active reaction sites to boost its gas-sensing performance. Observations of the gas-sensing properties indicated that the CTAB-MoS/rGO sensor performed a high response of 45.

Efficient identification of raw and ripe tung oil using headspace GC-MS.

To differentiate between the raw type and ripe type of tung oil, it is important to distinguish between the types of tung oil before its application. In the present work, an efficient headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) method was developed for identifying eight samples T1-T8, including the raw tung oil and ripe tung oil. The HS-GC-MS experiments results showed that octanoic acid existed only in ripe tung oil of T2, T4, T6, T8, not in raw tung oil of T1, T3, T5, T7.

Larmor Precession: Observation and Utilization for Boosting the Signal Intensity of Radio Frequency Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry.

A novel magnet array system was constructed to use Larmor precession for boosting the signal intensity of rf-GD-MS. The enhancement mechanism with four magnet array devices of a single-block magnet and 2 × 2, 3 × 2, and 3 × 4 magnet arrays was simulated and studied by COMSOL Multiphysics Software 5.4.

Signal Enhancement with Stacked Magnets for High-Resolution Radio Frequency Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry.

A method for signal enhancement utilizing stacked magnets was introduced into high-resolution radio frequency glow discharge-mass spectrometry (rf-GD-MS) for significantly improved analysis of inorganic materials. Compared to the block magnet, the stacked magnets method was able to achieve 50-59% signal enhancement for typical elements in YO, BSO, and BTN samples. The results indicated that signal was enhanced as the increase of discharge pressure from 1.

The Formation of Defect-Pairs for Highly Efficient Visible-Light Catalysts.

Highly efficient visible-light catalysts are achieved through forming defect-pairs in TiO nanocrystals. This study therefore proposes that fine-tuning the chemical scheme consisting of charge-compensated defect-pairs in balanced concentrations is a key missing step for realizing outstanding photocatalytic performance. This research benefits photocatalytic applications and also provides new insight into the significance of defect chemistry for functionalizing materials.

Carbon Disulfide Cosolvent Electrolytes for High-Performance Lithium Sulfur Batteries.

Development of lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries with high Coulombic efficiency and long cycle stability remains challenging due to the dissolution and shuttle of polysulfides in electrolyte. Here, a novel additive, carbon disulfide (CS), to the organic electrolyte is reported to improve the cycling performance of Li-S batteries. The cells with the CS-additive electrolyte exhibit high Coulombic efficiency and long cycle stability, showing average Coulombic efficiency >99% and a capacity retention of 88% over the entire 300 cycles.

Suppressing the dissolution of polysulfides with cosolvent fluorinated diether towards high-performance lithium sulfur batteries.

The dissolution and shuttle of polysulfides in electrolytes cause severe anode corrosion, low coulombic efficiency, and a rapid fading of the capacity of lithium-sulfur batteries. Fluorinated diether (FDE) was selected as a cosolvent in traditional ether electrolytes to suppress the dissolution of polysulfides. The modified electrolytes lead to a negligible solubility of polysulfides, as well as decreased corrosion of the lithium anode.

[Review on Analytical Methods of Doping Elements in Synthetic Crystals].

During the synthesis of crystal material, specific dopant can enhance the qualities and performance of crystals, while the types, concentrations and distributions of doping elements also have significant influence on the structures and properties of artificial crystals. Hence, it is very important to determine the concentrations of doping elements for further improving the crystal material formulas, crystal growth process, andits quality control. Currently, the analysis techniques for doping elements’ characterization include atomic spectrometry, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, inorganic mass spectrometry, electron probe microanalysis, etc.

[Quantitative surface analysis of Pt-Co, Cu-Au and Cu-Ag alloy films by XPS and AES].

In order to improve the quantitative analysis accuracy of AES, We associated XPS with AES and studied the method to reduce the error of AES quantitative analysis, selected Pt-Co, Cu-Au and Cu-Ag binary alloy thin-films as the samples, used XPS to correct AES quantitative analysis results by changing the auger sensitivity factors to make their quantitative analysis results more similar. Then we verified the accuracy of the quantitative analysis of AES when using the revised sensitivity factors by other samples with different composition ratio, and the results showed that the corrected relative sensitivity factors can reduce the error in quantitative analysis of AES to less than 10%. Peak defining is difficult in the form of the integral spectrum of AES analysis since choosing the starting point and ending point when determining the characteristic auger peak intensity area with great uncertainty, and to make analysis easier, we also processed data in the form of the differential spectrum, made quantitative analysis on the basis of peak to peak height instead of peak area, corrected the relative sensitivity factors, and verified the accuracy of quantitative analysis by the other samples with different composition ratio.

[Analytical figures of merit of Hildebrand grid and ultrasonic nebulizations in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission].

Hildebrand grid nebulizer is a kind of improved Babington nebulizer, which can nebulize solutions with high total dissolved solids. And the ultrasonic nebulizer (USN) possesses advantage of high nebulization efficiency and fine droplets. In the present paper, the detection limits, matrix effects, ICP robustness and memory effects of Hildebrand grid and ultrasonic nebulizers for ICP-AES were studied.

Growth of highly oriented hydroxyapatite arrays tuned by quercetin.

Crystal calls: the remarkable crystal modulation ability of quercetin (QUE) in highly oriented hydroxyapatite (HAp) array crystallization is reported. Organized HAp crystals were obtained by hydrothermal exchange of α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) precursor in solution with a progressive increase in QUE concentration. Experimental results revealed that QUE would be a potentially effective crystal modulation assistant.

[Mineralogical effect correction for pressed iron ore samples in wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis].

The possibility of correcting mineralogical effect for pressed powder pellets of iron ore samples was studied in wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis of major and minor elements with 10 Chinese iron ore CRMs. Two methods were applied to reduce the influence of mineralogical effect. The first one is to check 20 angles for every sample before measurement to correct peak shift; another method is replacing peak intensity with peak area of the analytical line to correct the shape distortion of the spectrum.

[Calculation of the contributions of scattering effects to the X-ray fluorescence intensities].

The contribution of scattering effects to the X-ray fluorescence intensity was studied for pure element samples, BaB binary samples and fused disk samples by theoretic calculation and experiment. Three scattering effects were considered in the present study, i. e.

[Study on the influence of excitation voltage and anode on the contribution of scattering effects to the intensity of X-ray fluorescence].

The influence of X-ray tube spectral distribution related to the X-ray tube voltage and target anode on the contribution of scattering effects to the intensity of fluorescence was studied by using some fused disk samples. Three scattering effects were considered. They are coherent scattering effect, incoherent scattering effect and primary fluorescence scattered into the direction of detector respectively.

[Analysis of films by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry].

As a quantitative method of film sample, the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique has been used extensively because it is non-destructive, fast and accurate. Moreover it could determine the concentration and thickness of film sample simultaneously. A review was given of the study on the quantitative method of films by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, in which the theoretical calculation of fluorescence intensity, the matrix effects and the methods for their correction, the sources of errors, the software for quantitative analysis, and the application of the method were summarized and discussed.

[Study of enhancement effects in X-ray fluorescence analysis for multi-layer samples].

The enhancement effects in X-ray fluorescence analysis for multi-layer samples were studied. A computer program was developed based on the theoretical equations for X-ray fluorescence intensity calculation and used to calculate the intensities of primary fluorescence and secondary fluorescence, the ratios of intensities of secondary fluorescence to primary fluorescence, and the portions of intensities of secondary fluorescence in total fluorescence for Fe Kalpha line in Zn/Fe and Fe/Zn film samples. It was found that the intensities of a characteristic line of an element in primary fluorescence and secondary fluorescence, the ratios of intensities of secondary fluorescence to primary fluorescence, and the portions of intensities of secondary fluorescence in total fluorescence were dependent not only on the thickness of the films but also on the position of the films in case of constant excitation conditions when multi-layer samples were tested by X-ray fluorescence analysis.