A nanocomposite consisting of reduced graphene oxide and electropolymerized β-cyclodextrin for voltammetric sensing of levofloxacin.

A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with a nanocomposite prepared from polymerized β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The modified GCE is shown to enable the voltammetric determination of traces of levofloxacin (LEV) by various electrochemical techniques. Experimental factors affecting the results including the amount of the substrates in preparation of the nanocomposite, accumulation time, the scan rate and pH value of the electrolyte were optimized.

Hybrid electrochemical and biological treatment of herbicidal ionic liquids comprising the MCPA anion.

The present study was focused on the application of an electrochemical oxidation process combined with biodegradation for the removal of novel Herbicidal Ionic Liquids (HILs) -promising protection plant products which incorporate herbicidal anions and ammonium cations. The influence of carbon chain length (n = 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18) in the dialkyldimethylammonium cations on electrochemical oxidation kinetics, degradation efficiency and biodegradation by activated sludge was investigated. It was established that the applied cation influenced the heterogeneous rate constant and diffusion coefficient of electrochemical oxidation.

Nitrofurantoin-Microbial Degradation and Interactions with Environmental Bacterial Strains.

The continuous exposure of living organisms and microorganisms to antibiotics that have increasingly been found in various environmental compartments may be perilous. One group of antibacterial agents that have an environmental impact that has been very scarcely studied is nitrofuran derivatives. Their representative is nitrofurantoin (NFT)-a synthetic, broad-spectrum antibiotic that is often overdosed.

Towards more Durable Electrochemical Capacitors by Elucidating the Ageing Mechanisms under Different Testing Procedures.

Electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) commonly denoted supercapacitors are rechargeable energy storage devices with excellent power and energy delivery metrics intermediate to conventional capacitors and batteries. High-voltage aqueous electrolyte based EDLCs are particularly attractive due to their high-power capability, facile production, and environmental advantages. EDLCs should last for thousands of cycles and evaluation of future cell chemistries require long-term and costly galvanostatic cycling.

Polypyrrole⁻Nickel Hydroxide Hybrid Nanowires as Future Materials for Energy Storage.

Hybrid materials play an essential role in the development of the energy storage technologies since a multi-constituent system merges the properties of the individual components. Apart from new features and enhanced performance, such an approach quite often allows the drawbacks of single components to be diminished or reduced entirely. The goal of this paper was to prepare and characterize polymer-metal hydroxide (polypyrrole-nickel hydroxide, PPy-Ni(OH)₂) nanowire arrays demonstrating good electrochemical performance.

Bio-inspired magnetite/lignin/polydopamine-glucose oxidase biosensing nanoplatform. From synthesis, via sensing assays to comparison with others glucose testing techniques.

Glucose monitoring has become a crucial part of diabetes care, and is also of importance in the food industry. However, the measurements are subject to certain limitations and errors. These may result from many factors, including the strip manufacturing process, inappropriate storage, temperature, coding, aging, etc.

Comparison of the electrospray ionization (ESI) responses of penicillins with ESI responses of their methanolysis products.

The electrospray ionization (ESI) responses, defined as the area of chromatographic peak of ion [+H] obtained upon HPLC/ESI-MS analysis, of three β-lactam antibiotics, namely penicillin G, ampicillin and carbenicillin have been compared with the ESI responses of their methanolysis products. It has been found that methanolyzed penicillin G has much higher ESI response than the penicillin G. Methanolyzed ampicillin also has higher ESI response than ampicillin; however, the effect is less pronounced than for penicillin.

Determination of dodecanol and ethoxylated fatty alcohols from environmental samples using diatomaceous earth as a green sorbent for solid-phase extraction.

This study describes the use of diatomaceous earth during solid-phase extraction as an efficient sorbent for separation and concentration of dodecanol and ethoxylated dodecanol containing 1-9 ethoxyl groups. The efficiency of different eluents was evaluated for model samples which allowed to select methanol and chloroform for tests with river water samples. During model experiments, it was observed that the recovery rates of specific compounds in the studied mixture were influenced by the character of the solvent used for desorption.

Production of wheat bread with spray-dried potato juice: Influence on dough and bread characteristics.

Spray-dried potato juice, a raw material with pro-health properties that have already been described in recent literature, was used to substitute a part of wheat flour in bread. Bread was chosen based on its popularity. This paper is a report on the results of this substitution.

Biological impact of octyl d-glucopyranoside based surfactants.

Development of many branches of industry has stimulated the search for new, effective surfactants with interesting properties. Potential use of alkyl glucose derivatives on a large scale, raises questions about the possible risks associated with their entry into the natural environment. To be able to evaluate this risk, the aim of the study was to determine the physicochemical properties of octyl d-glucopyranoside and its three derivatives: N-(octyl d-glucopyranosiduronyl)aspartic acid, N-(octyl d-glucopyranosiduronyl)glicyne and octyl d-glucopyranosiduronic acid.

Fragmentation studies of selected drugs utilized in palliative care.

The results of research on selected drugs used in palliative care are presented, including fentanyl, tramadol, metoclopramide, hyoscine butylbromide, midazolam, haloperidol, levomepromazine and clonazepam. Interpretation of their ESI mass spectra obtained by the use of a triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometer is given. As a result, fragmentation pathways described in the literature are complemented and presented with more details.

Biodegradation of clotrimazole and modification of cell properties after metabolic stress and upon addition of saponins.

Azole fungicides constitute an extensive group of potential emerging pollutants which can be found in natural environment. This study focuses on the biodegradation of clotrimazole and the characterization of cell surface properties of microorganisms capable of degradation of this compound. The influence of long-term contact of bacteria with clotrimazole and the impact of the addition of Saponaria officinalis extract on cell surface modification was also checked.

Hydroxyapatite coating on titanium endosseous implants for improved osseointegration: Physical and chemical considerations.

Background: For many years, hydroxyapatite (HA) has been used as a bioactive endosseous dental implant coating to improve osseointegration. As such, the coating needs to be of high purity, adequate thickness, crystalline, and of a certain roughness in order to stimulate rapid fixation and form a strong bond between the host bone and the implant. There are a number of ways of preparing the HA coating, resulting in various coating properties.

Correction: Graphene material preparation through thermal treatment of graphite oxide electrochemically synthesized in aqueous sulfuric acid.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C7RA01678F.].

Electrode Modified by Reduced Graphene Oxide for Monitoring of Total Thallium in Grain Products.

Grain products and the associated industry have a notable economic and social impact all over the world. The toxicological safety of grain products is a nutritional prerogative. This study focused on the determination of thallium content in grain product samples collected from a commercial brand commonly available in Poland.

Detection of the iron complexes with hydrolysis products of cephalexin and cefradine upon high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analysis.

Rationale: Cephalosporins (e.g. cephalexin, cefradine) are a major group of widely used β-lactam antibiotics.

Gas-phase relative stabilities of Tl-crown ether complexes and Rb-crown ether complexes.

The gas-phase stabilities of Tl-crown ether complexes and Rb-crown ether complexes were studied using the electrospray ionization-collision-induced dissociation-tandem mass spectrometry. Tl and Rb have identical ionic radii, thus a comparison of the properties of the crown ether complexes with these two cations seems to be justified. The selected crown ethers were 12C4 (it has a cavity smaller than the cation radius), 18C6 (it has a cavity of size similar to the cation radius), 24C8 (it has a cavity greater than the cation radius) and their conjugates.

Iron(III) phthalocyanine supported on a spongin scaffold as an advanced photocatalyst in a highly efficient removal process of halophenols and bisphenol A.

This study investigated for the first time the degradation of phenol, chlorophenol, fluorophenol and bisphenol A (BPA) by the novel iron phthalocyanine/spongin hybrid material under various process conditions: hydrogen peroxide and UV irradiation. The heterogeneous catalyst, iron phthalocyanine/spongin (SFe), was produced by an adsorption process. The product obtained was investigated by a variety of spectroscopic techniques - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (C NMR) - as well as elemental and thermal analysis.

Safe and recyclable lithium-ion capacitors using sacrificial organic lithium salt.

Lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) shrewdly combine a lithium-ion battery negative electrode capable of reversibly intercalating lithium cations, namely graphite, together with an electrical double-layer positive electrode, namely activated carbon. However, the beauty of this concept is marred by the lack of a lithium-cation source in the device, thus requiring a specific preliminary charging step. The strategies devised thus far in an attempt to rectify this issue all present drawbacks.

Sustainable Carbon/Carbon Supercapacitors Operating Down to -40 °C in Aqueous Electrolyte Made with Cholinium Salt.

Cholinium chloride at a concentration of 5 mol kg in water is proposed as a low-cost and environmentally friendly aqueous electrolyte, enabling extension of the operating range of carbon/carbon supercapacitors (SCs) down to -40 °C. This solution has a pH close to neutrality (pH 6.1) and high conductivity of 88 mS cm at 24 °C.

Determination of Dodecanol and Short-Chained Ethoxylated Dodecanols by LC-MS/MS (with Electrospray Ionization) After Their Derivatization (with Phenyl Isocyanate).

Abstract: This report describes the application of LC-MS/MS for the separation of dodecanol (COH) and homogenous fatty alcohols ethoxylated (AE) containing a dodecyl moiety and 1-9 ethoxy groups. These ethoxylates and free alcohol were derivatized for LC-MS/MS analysis with phenyl isocyanate (PIC). The derivatives of analytes with PIC were separated using a C18 column.

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometric study of thallium complexes with nucleosides.

The complexes between Tl, K, and nucleosides were studied by using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. It was found that for complexes of 1:1 stoichiometry, thallium complexes with cytidine were the most abundant and thallium complexes with guanosine were the second most abundant ones. The relative abundances of cytidine-Tl to cytidine-K complexes depended on stoichiometry (at higher stoichiometry the potassium complexes were more abundant).

Environmental biodegradation of halophenols by activated sludge from two different sewage treatment plants.

Halophenols make a group of aromatic compounds that are resistible to biodegradation by environmental microorganisms. In this study, the biodegradation of 4-bromo-, 4-chloro- and 4-fluorophenols was studied with two types of activated sludges (from a small rural plant and from a bigger municipal plant) as an inoculum. Because of their wide use, surfactants are present in the wastewater and inhibitors enhance the biodegradation of different pollutants; the influence of natural surfactants on halophenols' biodegradation was also tested.

Removal of hazardous non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs from aqueous solutions by biosorbent based on chitin and lignin.

The use of chitin modified with kraft lignin as an effective sorbent of ibuprofen and acetaminophen is described for the first time. It was determined how the parameters (contact time, pH, mass of sorbent and temperature) influence the effectiveness of the adsorption process. The adsorption kinetics were calculated using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order (types 1-4) and intra-particle diffusion models, and thermodynamic parameters were determined.