Determination of Zirconium, Niobium, Iron, Nickel, Copper and Manganese in Uranium Alloys-Emission Spectrometry

This method established an inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry method to determine the contents of zirconium, niobium, iron, nickel, copper and manganese in uranium and uranium alloy through the sample pretreatment, sample weighing, dissolution method, uranium separation method, interference test between coexisting elements, precision and recovery test. This method separated the uranium matrix, and avoided the influence of uranium matrix on zirconium, niobium, iron, nickel and manganese.

Nutrition in Herbal Plants Used in Saudi Arabia

Herbs are used for centuries by many people worldwide. This study derives insights into the use and content of herbs that are consumed among Saudi citizens. An online questionnaire was distributed to understand the basic information about Saudi citizens’ preference and daily patterns of herbal plants that are usually used as drinks. Moreover, concentrations of fourteen elements in twenty-one herbal plants that were indicated in the previous questionnaire were collected from the local market and then analyzed using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP). Mint leaves were significantly higher in most of the nutrients analyzed, and mint was the most popular drink among participants, followed by green tea and anise. Most of the citizens preferred to drink one cup only at home and believed that herbs are good for their health and potentially could help them to sleep better. The outcomes derived from this research could help future assessments of diet patterns among Saudi citizens.

Relación entre la composición florística y los nutrientes del suelo en comunidades de palmas del Chocó biogeográfico en Colombia y Ecuador

We studied the floristic composition of palm communities and their relation with soil nutrients in two localities of the Chocó biogeographic region to undestand (1) How soil nutrients vary between the two localities? (2) What is the relationship between soil nutrients and palm floristic composition? (3) What are the most important nutrients that explain the variation in floristic composition of palm communities? (4) How the abundance of the most abundant understory and canopy palm species varies along the concentration gradient of the most important nutrients? We established 20 transects (5 x 500 m) and identified all palm individuals of all growth stages. Soil samples were taken at each transect at the beginning, middle and end. Macronutrients (Al, Ca, Mg, K, P) were extracted with the Mehlich-III technique and their concentrations were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The concentration of nutrients was related to the floristic composition using Mantel, partial Mantel tests, linear regressions and non-metric multidimensional scaling. We found a total of 9158 individuals and 33 species of palms in the 5 ha covered by our transects. Species composition had a positive and significant correlation with soil nutrients (rM = 0.63-0.69) and with geographical distance between transects (rM= 0.71-0.75), whereas the soil nutrients were highly correlated with geographical distance (rM = 0.72). We found a small yet significant relationship between soil fertility and the abundance of undestorey palms, but no relationship with canopy palms. Our results demonstrate for the first time that soils play an important role in the composition of palm communities at local scales in the Chocó region, and that infertile and phosphorus-rich soils have the highest palm diversity.

Trace elements characterisation in floodplain soils underlain by crystalline rocks, akure, southwestern Nigeria

The results of the floodplain soils study on the spatial distribution of selected trace elements in top soils (0 – 30 cm) and sub soils (> 30 – 100 cm) near Ala River, Akure metropolis, are reported. The objectives of this study are to determine the concentration of trace elements in the top and bottom soils, and identify the possible enrichment sources of these elements in the floodplain area. Forty two samples (top soil 21; sub soil 21) were collected for the study. The samples were air dried at room temperature, disaggregated and sieved using 53 µg mesh size. The prepared samples were further digested using modified aqua regia of (1:1:1 HNO3: HCL: H2O). The digests were subjected to elemental analysis using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Emission Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The trace elements concentration in ppm exhibited the following distribution pattern. Cu range in ppm from 6.0 – 53.0 mean 27.43; Pb, 10.0 – 165.0, mean 58.43; Zn, 29.0 – 479.0 mean 223.1; Ni, 10.0 – 20.0, mean 14.86; Co, 16.0 – 33.0, mean 24.29; Mn, 250.0 – 1615.0, mean 983.29; Th 9.0 – 19.0, mean 14.43; V, 35.0 – 89.0, mean 73.05; La 26.0 – 84.0, mean 56.76 and Cr 11.0 – 60.0 mean 40.43. While the result for the sub soils range in ppm, Cu from 3.0 – 51.0, mean 21.24; Pb, 7.0 – 208.0, mean 56.33; Zn, 21.0 - 460.0. mean 149.14; Ni, 8.0 – 29.0, mean 13.76; Co, 12.0 – 37.0, mean 23.95; Mn, 138.0 – 2283.0, mean 806.43; Th 9.0 – 28.0, mean 17.48; V, 40.0 – 105.0, mean 68.71; La 25.0 – 96.0, mean 61.00 and Cr 12.0 – 58.0 mean 35.38. The results of both the top soils and sub soils showed higher concentration metal enrichment than the average shale values. The relative elemental mean concentration is such that Mn> Zn > V > La > Pb > Cr > Co > Cu > Th > Ni in that order. Elements such as Cu, Zn, Pb, V, Mn, Th and Cr had relatively moderate to very strong correlation coefficient (r = 0.54 0.97) with each other, which apparently indicate that these elements are of same source of enrichment in the floodplain. Pb, Zn, V, La, Th and Cr are elements that are of significant environmental concerns.

Elemental analysis as an important tool for fuels and biofuels quality control

Article presents normalized analytical methods for determination of elements in fuels and biofuels with emphasis on inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and their advantages and disadvantages. Analytical procedure applied for determination of 20 elements (Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Si, Sn, Ti, V and Zn) is described with elements of validation. Broad range of elemental analysis results of fuels (B0, B7 and B10) and pure FAME samples are described. Typical contents of selected elements are presented which allows discussion on the domestic fuel quality in regard to non-standardized parameters and their potential effect on combustion engines performance.