Publications by authors named "Xin-sheng Chai"

Determining the methanol partition coefficient (K) in octanol/water system is important to assess the risk of its impact to humans and the environment. In this paper, we report a novel method for the determination of the K of methanol with headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC), using a three-phase equilibrium-based phase ratio variation approach. Three headspace vials with different phase ratios [(1) 0.

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This paper reports on a new method for simultaneously determining the amphiphobicities of material surface by a dual-indicator assisted headspace gas chromatography. After adding 40 μL of both methanol-water and toluene-oil droplets on the sample surface for 20 s, the sample was turned vertically (to remove water and oil) and then placed in a headspace vial. The amount of methanol and toluene in the residual water and oil adhered to material surface was quantified using headspace gas chromatography.

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This paper reports a new method for the determination of sludge water content by a multiple headspace extraction gas chromatographic (MHE-GC) method. It is based on measuring the GC signals for the water vapor in a sample vial from the first five headspace extractions, from which the water content in the sludge sample can be extrapolated according to the established calculation equation. The results show that the method has a good repeatability (the relative standard deviation is less than 1%) and accuracy.

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This paper reported a headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) for the determination of denitrifying enzyme activity in soil samples. It was based on measuring the NO signal in a set of closed/air-free vials containing soil samples that incubated at the designated conditions. The results showed that the method has a good measurement precision (RSD < 5.

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This paper reported a new method for the determination of the water distribution in sludge. It was based on a multiple headspace extraction (MHE) procedure to step-wise remove the water vapor from a closed vial containing a sludge sample, followed by a gas chromatographic measurement (GC). By plotting the GC signal of water vapor vs.

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This paper reported a novel method for the determination of total phosphorus (TP) content in soil and sludge by a headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) method. It was based on a reaction between the soluble phosphate in the digestion solution and calcium oxalate solid to form a calcium phosphate precipitate and release oxalate ions, which can react with permanganate to form carbon dioxide, which was then measured by HS-GC. The results showed the complete conversion of phosphate (meanwhile to free oxalate ions in calcium oxalate) in 15 min at 60 °C.

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This paper describes a headspace gas chromatographic (HS-GC) method for the in-situ determination of the observed yield coefficient (Y) of aerobic activated sludge from domestic wastewater treatment plants. It is based on the measurement of oxygen and carbon dioxide in samples that have been incubated in headspace vials for relatively short periods of time. The method has good precision (the relative standard deviation < 5.

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This paper reports on a headspace gas chromatographic method (HS-GC) for the accurate determination of dissolved oxygen (DO) in domestic and industrial wastewater. It was based on GC measurement of oxygen in the headspace gas that is released from the dissolved oxygen in a liquid sample in a closed vial. The results show that the relative standard deviation of the method in quintuplicate testing was < 2.

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This study reported a new headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) for simultaneously determining the degree of deacetylation (DD) and the degree of substitution (DS) in carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS), which were based on HS-GC measuring the amounts of CO released from both the bicarbonate decomposition suppressed by -NH and the reaction between the bicarbonate and the acidified carboxymethyl and amino groups in CMCS. The results showed that the present method has a good measurement precision (RSD < 2.55%) and accuracy (relative differences <5.

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This paper reports on an automated temperature-programmed headspace GC technique for the determination of gelatinization temperature of starch. 1-butanol was used as a tracer and added to the starch-solution for the test. Based on measuring the GC signal of 1-butanol in the headspace with the temperature increasing, two transition points (corresponding to the onset temperature and the ending temperature of starch gelatinization) were observed by plotting the GC signal of 1-butanol vs.

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A full-cellulose derived hydrogel, composed of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC), was successfully manufactured and immobilized with Pd/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles for the dechlorination of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol. The NFC-reinforced CMC hydrogels with or without loading of bimetallic nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Transmission electron microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray, and X-ray diffraction analyses. The effect of amounts of NFC on the loading capacity of Pd/Fe, mechanical properties and specific Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface areas of NFC-reinforced CMC hydrogel was also investigated.

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In this study, a dual-wavelength spectroscopic method for rapid determination of organic matter in sludge was developed. The contents of the organic matter were calculated by determining the consumption of potassium dichromate (KCrO) based on the production of trivalent chromium ions (Cr). Cr could be determined by subtracting the absorption at 800 nm (spectral interference) from the absorption at 650 nm (only contributed by Cr).

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Herein, we report a rapid screening method for evaluating the hydrocarbon contamination in paper samples by headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC). This method was based on conducting the near-complete migratable release of hydrocarbons from a paper matrix to the headspace in 35 min at 98 °C. By programming the GC column temperature, other co-existing volatile organic compounds in the sample can be effectively separated from the migratable hydrocarbons.

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This study demonstrated a novel method for determining the melting point (MP) of industrial grade alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) wax by an automated headspace gas chromatographic (HS-GC) technique, in which methanol was used as the tracer. It was based on measuring the GC signal of methanol released from an aqueous solution during the temperature increasing. When the temperature of AKD MP reached, the AKD granules floated on the surface aqueous solution was liquidized and completely isolated the methanol transfer from the solution to the headspace.

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We report a simple and automated headspace gas chromatographic technique for the determination of the softening point of rosin. A lumpy solid of rosin is added into a headspace vial, then an automated stepwise temperature ramping and headspace sampling was performed at each temperature stage and gas chromatography measurement. By plotting the gas chromatography signal for an impurity in rosin versus the temperature, a transition point (corresponding to the rosin softening point) was determined.

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This paper reports on the modeling, prediction and evaluation approaches of methanol release from bleached chemi-thermo mechanical pulp (BCTMP) board during storage. A pseudo-first order desorption kinetics model of methanol release was established for describing the desorption behavior of methanol from BCTMP, , , in which the desorption constant () and rate constant ( ) were well described by van't Hoff and Arrhenius equations. Based on the simulation experiments at various temperatures, the desorption activation energy of methanol and its adsorption enthalpy is calculated and is 53.

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This work reports on a simple method for the determination of lysine content by an in situ sample pretreatment and headspace gas chromatographic measurement (HS-GC) technique, based on carbon dioxide (CO) formation from the pretreatment reaction (between lysine and ninhydrin solution) in a closed vial. It was observed that complete lysine conversion to CO could be achieved within 60 min at 60 °C in a phosphate buffer medium (pH = 4.0), with a minimum molar ratio of ninhydrin/lysine of 16.

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This paper reports on a high-throughput headspace gas chromatographic method (HS-GC) for the determination of nitrite content in water sample, based on GC measurement of cyclohexene produced from the reaction between nitrite and cyclamate in a closed vial. The method has a relative standard deviation of <3.5%; The differences between the results of the nitrite measurements obtained by this method and those of a reference method were less than 5.

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We report on a headspace gas chromatographic method for determining the content of 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol in polyamideamine epichlorohydrin resin solution. It was based on quantitatively converting 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol to formaldehyde by periodate oxidation in a closed headspace sample vial at a room temperature for 10 min, and then to methanol by borohydride reduction at 90°C for 40 min followed by the headspace gas chromatographic measurement. The results showed that the present method has an excellent measurement precision (relative standard deviation < 2.

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This work investigated the biological activities and nitrogen and phosphorus removal during the anabaena flos-aquae biofilm growth on the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) carriers, in different nutrient form mediums. The study showed that the production of dehydrogenase activity (DHA) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) can reach 40.4 g/(h·m) and 115 × 10 g/m in an 11-day period, respectively, indicating that the anabaena flos-aquae biofilm had high biological activities.

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In this study, we reported on the nano-scale nickel/iron particles loaded in carboxymethyl/nanofibrillated cellulose (CMC/NFC) hydrogel for the dechlorination of o-dichlorobenzene (DCB) in aqueous solution. The biodegradable hydrogel may provide an ideal supporting material for fastening the bimetallic nano-scale particles, which was examined and characterized by TEM, SEM-EDX, FT-IR and BET. The performance of the selected bimetallic particles was evaluated by conducting the dechlorination of DCB in the solution under different reaction conditions (e.

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This paper reports on an ionic-liquid assisted headspace gas chromatographic (HS-GC) for the determination of the content of alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) in its latex samples, in which the GC system was equipped with a thermal conductivity detector (TCD). The method was based on the AKD hydrolysis conducted in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (ionic-liquid) added medium at 100°C for 10min in a closed headspace sample vial, and the measured CO (the resulting product of the hydrolysis) by HS-GC. The results showed that the present method has a good measurement precision (RSD <2.

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In this study, a reutilization of caustic lye during cold caustic extraction (i.e., CCE) process to produce high-purity dissolving pulp and high-concentrated hemicellulose solution was proposed.

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This paper reports on a new method for the determination of swelling capacity of superabsorbent polymers by a volatile tracer-assisted headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC). Toluene was used as a tracer and added to the solution for polymers swelling test. Based on the differences of the tracer partitioned between the vapor and hydrogel phase before and after the polymer's swelling capacity, a transition point (corresponding to the material swelling capacity) can be observed when plotting the GC signal of toluene vs.

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This study reports on a headspace-based gas chromatography (HS-GC) technique for determining the degree of substitution (DS) of cationic guar gum during the synthesis process. The method is based on the determination of 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride in the process medium. After a modest pretreatment procedure, the sample was added to a headspace vial containing bicarbonate solution for measurement of evolved CO by HS-GC.

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