A Free-Standing Boron-Doped Diamond Grid Electrode for Fundamental Spectroelectrochemistry.

Spectroelectrochemistry (SEC) is a powerful technique that enables a variety of redox properties to be studied, including formal potential (), thermodynamic values (Δ, Δ, Δ), diffusion coefficient (), electron transfer stoichiometry (), and others. SEC requires an electrode which light can pass through while maintaining sufficient electrical conductivity. This has been traditionally composed of metal or metal oxide films atop transparent substrates like glass, quartz, or metallic mesh.

Quantification of Hydrogen Isotopes Utilizing Raman Spectroscopy Paired with Chemometric Analysis for Application across Multiple Systems.

Online and real-time analysis of a chemical process is a major analytical challenge that can drastically change the way the chemical industry or chemical research operates. With analyses, a new and powerful understanding of chemistry can be gained; however, building robust tools for long-term monitoring faces many challenges, including compensating for instrument drift, instrument replacement, and sensor or probe replacement. Accounting for these changes by recollecting calibration data and rebuilding quantification models can be costly and time-consuming.

Iodine and Carbonate Species Monitoring in Molten NaOH-KOH Eutectic Scrubber via Dual-Phase Raman Spectroscopy.

Molten hydroxide scrubbing of off-gas vapors is a potential process to improve safety during the operation of generation IV molten salt nuclear reactors (MSRs). MSRs produce off-gases that can be vented by the reactor core and treated via off-gas scrubbers. Molten hydroxide scrubbers focus on capturing volatile iodine radionuclides, and they can also be used to capture aerosols and particulates and to neutralize acidic species.

A versatile and low-cost chip-to-world interface: Enabling ICP-MS characterization of isotachophoretically separated lanthanides on a microfluidic device.

Microfluidics offer novel and state-of-the-art pathways to process materials. Microfluidic systems drastically reduce timeframes and costs associated with traditional lab-scale efforts in the area of analytical sample preparations. The challenge arises in effectively connecting microfluidics to off-chip analysis tools to accurately characterize samples after treatment on-chip.

Design and optimization of a fused-silica microfluidic device for separation of trivalent lanthanides by isotachophoresis.

Elemental analysis of rare earth elements is essential in a variety of fields including environmental monitoring and nuclear safeguards; however, current techniques are often labor intensive, time consuming, and/or costly to perform. The difficulty arises in preparing samples, which requires separating the chemically and physically similar lanthanides. However, by transitioning these separations to the microscale, the speed, cost, and simplicity of sample preparation can be drastically improved.

In Situ Spectroscopic Analysis and Quantification of [Tc(CO)] in Hanford Tank Waste.

The quantitative conversion of nonpertechnetate [Tc(CO)] species in nuclear waste storage tank 241-AN-102 at the Hanford Site is demonstrated. A waste sample containing the [Tc(CO)] species is added to a developer solution that rapidly converts the nonemissive species into a luminescent complex, which is detected spectroscopically. This method was first demonstrated using a [Tc(CO)] sample of nonwaste containing matrix to determine a detection limit (LOD), resulting in a [Tc(CO)] LOD of 2.

In Situ Quantification of [Re(CO)] by Fluorescence Spectroscopy in Simulated Hanford Tank Waste.

A pretreatment protocol is presented that allows for the quantitative conversion and subsequent in situ spectroscopic analysis of [Re(CO)] species in simulated Hanford tank waste. In this test case, the nonradioactive metal rhenium is substituted for technetium (Tc-99), a weak beta emitter, to demonstrate proof of concept for a method to measure a nonpertechnetate form of technetium in Hanford tank waste. The protocol encompasses adding a simulated waste sample containing the nonemissive [Re(CO)] species to a developer solution that enables the rapid, quantitative conversion of the nonemissive species to a luminescent species which can then be detected spectroscopically.

Optically Transparent Thin-Film Electrode Chip for Spectroelectrochemical Sensing.

A novel microfabricated optically transparent thin-film electrode chip for fluorescence and absorption spectroelectrochemistry has been developed. The working electrode was composed of indium tin oxide (ITO); the quasi-reference and auxiliary electrodes were composed of platinum. The stability of the platinum quasi-reference electrode was improved by coating it with a planar, solid state Ag/AgCl layer.

GOx signaling triggered by aptamer-based ATP detection.

Aptamer based ATP binding leads to the release of the co-factor FAD, which acts as a trigger to 'turn-on' the activity of apo-GOx and thus generates a measurable response.