Fast and Sensitive Voltammetric Method for the Determination of Rifampicin on Renewable Amalgam Film Electrode

In this work, a new sensitive voltammetric method for the determination of rifampicin without time-consuming preconcentration is presented. The objective was to develop a simple, fast and sensitive voltammetric procedure for the analysis of rifampicin in pharmaceutical products. The cyclic renewable mercury film silver-based electrode (Hg(Ag)FE) was applied as a working electrode for this purpose. The optimal conditions for the determination of rifampicin were defined, in terms of the composition of supporting electrolyte (including pH) and instrumental parameters (potential and time of deposition, step potential, pulse height). The method was validated resulting in a satisfactory linearity range of 0.4–250.0 µgmL−1; the limits of detection and quantification are 0.12 µgmL−1 and 0.4 µgmL−1, respectively; and the repeatability of the method expressed as RSD is 4.1% (n = 6) with a surface area of 10.9 mm2. The proposed method was successfully applied in the analysis of rifampicin in simple and composed pharmaceutical formulations.

Направление диффузионного потока галлия при осаждении на поверхность с регулярными массивами отверстий

Self-catalyzed growth of GaAs and GaP nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy is often performed on processed SiOx/Si(111) substrates with regular arrays of lithographically defined holes. Ga droplets form in the holes during Ga pre-deposition step in the absence of As supply. It was considered evident that the Ga diffusion flux in such a process is directed from the oxide surface into the holes. Here, we show that it is not always true and that the diffusion flux can change its direction depending on the growth conditions. Our model can be useful for modeling the incubation and growth times of group III droplets within the holes and explains long nucleation delays of the droplets.

Anomalous Influence of Salt Concentration on Deposition of Poly(l-Lysine)/Cellulose Sulfate Multilayers Evidenced by In Situ ATR-FTIR

The deposition of polyelectrolyte (PEL) multilayers (PEMs) of poly(l-lysine)/cellulose sulfate (PLL/CS) onto germanium (Ge) substrates depending on salt concentration (cS) and deposition step z at constant PEL concentration cPEL = 0.01 M and pH = 7.0 was studied. In situ ATR-FTIR spectroscopy was used for the quantitative determination of alternate PLL/CS deposition profiles (adsorbed amount versus z) and total deposited PEM amount. By varying cS from 0 M to 1.0 M, a maximum of deposited amount was obtained at 0.1 M, so that both no salinity (0 M) and high salinity (1.0 M) revealed deposited amounts that were far lower than for mean salinity (0.1 M). Furthermore, in situ ATR-FTIR allowed to determine the detailed modulation of the PEL composition during the consecutive PEM deposition, which was interpreted as being due to both diffusion of given PEL from the PEM interior towards the outermost region and release of the PEM upon contact with the bulk oppositely charged PEL solution. Finally, ex situ ATR-FTIR measurements on the PEL solutions after deposition of PEM-20 revealed the distinct release of PEL from the PEM solely for cS = 1.0 M, due to the highest mobility of PEL under high salt conditions. These studies help to prepare functional PEM coatings with defined thicknesses and morphologies for the passivation and activation of material surfaces in the biomedical and food field.

Impact of PECVD μc-Si:H deposition on tunnel oxide for passivating contacts

Passivating contacts are becoming a mainstream option in current photovoltaic industry due to their ability to provide an outstanding surface passivation along with a good conductivity for carrier collection. However, their integration usually requires long annealing steps which are not desirable in industry. In this work we study PECVD as a way to carry out all deposition steps: silicon oxide (SiOx), doped polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) and silicon nitride (SiNx:H), followed by a single firing step. Blistering of the poly-Si layer has been avoided by depositing (p+) microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H). We report on the impact of this deposition step on the SiOx layer deposited by PECVD, and on the passivation properties by comparing PECVD and wet-chemical oxide in this hole-selective passivating contact stack. We have reached iVoc > 690 mV on p-type FZ wafers for wet-chemical SiOx\(p+) μc-Si\SiNx:H with no annealing step.

Photochemical deposition of amorphous MoSx on one-dimensional NaNbO3–CdS heterojunction photocatalysts for highly efficient visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution

A novel ternary MoSx–CdS–NaNbO3 (MoSx–CN) photocatalyst was successfully fabricated through a two-step method (hydrothermal synthesis and photo-deposition step).

Atomistic Simulations of Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition

Plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) is a widely used, powerful layer-by-layer coating technology. Here, we present an atomistic simulation scheme for PEALD processes, combining the Monte Carlo deposition algorithm and structure relaxation using molecular dynamics. In contrast to previous implementations, our approach employs a real, atomistic model of the precursor. This allows us to account for steric hindrance and overlap restrictions at the surface corresponding to the real precursor deposition step. In addition, our scheme takes various process parameters into account, employing predefined probabilities for precursor products at each Monte Carlo deposition step. The new simulation protocol was applied to investigate PEALD synthesis of SiO2 thin films using the bis-diethylaminosilane precursor. It revealed that increasing the probability for precursor binding to one surface oxygen atom favors amorphous layer growth, a large number of –OH impurities, and the formation of voids. In contrast, a higher probability for precursor binding to two surface oxygen atoms leads to dense SiO2 film growth and a reduction of –OH impurities. Increasing the probability for the formation of doubly bonded precursor sites is therefore the key factor for the formation of dense SiO2 PEALD thin films with reduced amounts of voids and –OH impurities.

Cathodic Stripping Voltammetric Study for Determination of Inorganic Arsenic Species in Seaweed Gracilaria fisheri

A simple, rapid, selective and sensitive square wave cathodic stripping voltammetry (SWCSV) at a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) for the determination of As(III), As(V) and inorganic As(total) in seaweed was developed. The method was based on the formation of copper-arsenic intermetallic compound in the presence of HCl onto a HMDE at a constant potential of -0.40 V vs. Ag/AgCl in the deposition step, followed by the reduction of deposited compound to arsine at a potential of -0.78 V in the stripping step. In the system, only As(III) was directly measured, whereas inorganic As(total) was measured by reducing As(V) to As(III) using thiosulfate. In the deposition step, the use of 10 mg L-1 Cu(II) and 1 M HCl was recommended for the determination of 2 µg L-1 As(III) under the optimum instrumental variables obtained at 150 s for deposition time and 2000 rpm for stirring speed with the highest deposition efficiency of 16.15 and 88.49%, respectively. In the determination of As(V), two values of the highest reduction efficiency obtained using concentration of 40 mg L-1 thiosulfate, and reducing time at 300 s were 98.15% and 37.89%, respectively. In the measurement, the quantification limits of As(III) and As(V) were 0.46, and 1.62 µg L-1, respectively. The relative standard deviation (n=10) for 2 ug L-1 As(III) and As(V) were 5.20% and 2.57%, respectively. The proposed method was applied to the determination of inorganic arsenic species in seaweed Gracilaria fisheri.