Sharif Digital Repository

Nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly being used in different branches of science and in industrial applications; however, their rapid detection and characterization at low concentration levels have remained a challenge; more specifically, there is no single technique that can characterize the physicochemical properties of NPs (e.g. composition and size). In this work we have developed a colorimetric sensor array for defining the physicochemical properties of NPs in aqueous solution with ultra-low concentrations (e.g. 10-7g ml-1 for gold NPs). Various NPs were readily identified using a standard chemometric approach (i.e. hierarchical clustering analysis), with no misclassifications over 400... 

Active behavior in skeletal muscle soft tissue is affected by electrical, chemical and mechanical parameters. More realistic model of skeletal muscle demands detailed formulation which is able to involve other parameters in addition to mechanical ones. In this paper a new formulation for considering Ca2+ level (as the most important chemical factor) along with mechanical parameters in force producing process of skeletal muscle is introduced and validated comparing simulated results with some experimental data. Prepared skeletal muscle behavior is able to predict the maximum generated force in muscle according to the concentration of intracellular Ca2+ level and muscle contraction velocity... 

In this paper, we consider the bacterial point-to-point communication problem with one transmitter and one receiver by considering the ligand receptor binding process. The most commonly investigated signalling model, referred to as the Level Scenario (LS), uses one type of a molecule with different concentration levels for signaling. An alternative approach is to employ multiple types of molecules with a single concentration level, referred to as the Type Scenario (TS). We investigate the trade-offs between the two scenarios for the ligand receptor from the capacity point of view. For this purpose, we evaluate the capacity using numerical algorithms. Moreover, we derive an upper bound on the... 

In this paper, we present a simple platform for colorimetric detection of glutathione using gold nanorods (AR ∼ 6.5 ± 0.2) as a plasmonic sensor. The functional mechanism of the sensor is based on shifts of longitudinal plasmon resonance during selective transverse overgrowth induced by preferential binding of glutathione at the nanorod tips. Under the optimum conditions, a calibration curve showed two linear regimes at the range of 50 nM to 20 μM of glutathione with a detection limit as low as 40 nM. The nanosensor maintains relatively high selectivity for determination of glutathione in the presence of several other amino acids. However, cysteine at similar concentration levels strongly... 

An attempt was made to combine μ-solid phase extraction and headspace single drop microextraction techniques and use their advantages for trace determination of some volatile organic compounds in aqueous samples. After performing the two-step preconcentration approach, the desired analytes were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A resorcinol-formaldehyde-based xerogel was used as the extraction medium in the μ-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) method. Then, the extracted BTEX was eluted with a rather large amount of methanol. To remove the laborious process including solvent evaporation and further reconstitution, which is usually accompanied by loss of analytes and accuracy,... 

This study aims to elucidate the impact of salinity on the interactions governing the adsorption of polar aromatic oil compounds onto calcite. To this end, molecular dynamics simulations were employed to assess adsorption of a model polar organic molecule (deprotonated benzoic acid, benzoate) on the calcite surface in NaCl brines of different concentration levels, namely, deionized water (DW), low-salinity water (LS, 5000 ppm), and sea water (SW; 45,000 ppm). Calcite was found to be completely covered by several well-ordered water layers. The top hydration layer is very compact and prevents direct adsorption of benzoates onto the substrate. Instead, Na+ ions form a distinct positively... 

A novel method based on microextraction in packed syringe (MEPS), as a sample preparation technique in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed using a polypyrrole (PPy) nanowires network as the extracting medium. The PPy nanowires network was prepared using a soft template technique and its characterization was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The use of micelles in this methodology has an important role in the shape of the growing polymer. The pyrrole monomer was introduced into cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelles and this has led to the formation of nanowires with diameters ranging from 30 to 60 nm. The bulk PPy prepared without... 

Titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide was employed as a metal oxide sol-gel precursor to prepare ceramic composite nanofibers by the electrospinning system. To facilitate this process and obtain the desired nanofibers with higher aspect ratios and surface area, poly(vinylpyrrolidone) was added to the sol of titania. Four ceramic nanofibers sheets based on titania were prepared while each sheet contained different transition metals such as Fe-Mn, Fe-Ni, Fe-Co, and Fe-Mn-Co-Ni. The scanning electron microscope images showed good homogeneity for all the prepared ceramic composites with a diameter range of 100-250 nm. The sorption efficiency was investigated by a micro-solid-phase extraction setup in... 

In the current study, electrospun-based ionic liquid (IL) doped polyamide (PA) nanofibers were prepared and used as the coating material of solid phase microextration device in the fiber geometry. Addition of IL, decyl-3-methylimidazolium mono bromate, increased the conductivity of the PA solution facilitating the electrospining process. The scanning electron microscopy images of decyl-3-methylimidazolium mono bromated/polyamide nanofibers showed the decreased diameter of the nanofibers in the range of 35–160 nm compared to the PA nanofiber. The factors affecting the structure of nanofibers (e.g. ratio of decyl-3-methylimidazolium mono bromate to PA, coating time and applied voltage) were... 

A headspace adsorptive microextraction technique was developed using a novel polyaniline-nylon-6 (PANI-N6) nanofiber sheet, fabricated by electrospinning. The homogeneity and the porosity of the prepared PANI-N6 sheet were studied using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nanofibers diameters were found to be around 200nm. The novel nanofiber sheet was examined as an extracting medium to isolate some selected chlorobenzenes (CBs), as model compounds, from aquatic media. The extracted analytes were desorbed using μL-amounts of solvent and eventually an aliquot of extractant was injected into gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Various parameters affecting the extraction and... 

A novel method based on microextraction in packed syringe (MEPS) as sample preparation technique coupled off-line with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was developed using electrospun nanofibers as sorbent. For electrospinning of polypyrrole/polyamide-based nanofiber, a homogeneous solution containing nylon 6, ferric chloride and pyrrole monomer was prepared and then was drawn into a 2.5-mL syringe. By applying a voltage of 13akV between the needle of the syringe and an aluminum-foil collector, the nanofibers could be formed on the surface of the collector. The prepared sheet was used as the sorbent for MEPS to analyze some selected organophosphorous pesticides. Important parameters... 

Novel unbreakable solid phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coatings were fabricated by electrospinning method in which the polymeric solution was converted to nanofibers using high voltages. Four different polymers, polyurethane (PU), polycarbonate (PC), polyamide (PA) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were prepared as the fiber coatings on thin stainless steel wires. The extraction efficiencies of new coatings were investigated by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) of some environmentally important chlorobenzenes from aqueous samples followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Among them, PU showed a prominent efficiency. Effects of coating time and polymer... 

In this study, organic aerogels were synthesized by the sol-gel polycondensation of mixed cresol with formaldehyde in a slightly basic aqueous solution. Carbon aerogels and xerogels are generated by pyrolysis of organic aerogels. The novel sol-gel-based micro-solid-phase extraction sorbent, resorcinol-formaldehyde xerogel, was employed for preconcentration of some selected herbicides. Three herbicides of the aryloxyphenoxypropionate group, clodinafop-propargyl, haloxyfop-etotyl, and fenoxaprop-P-ethyl, were extracted from aqueous samples by micro-solid-phase extraction and subsequently determined by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. The effect of different parameters influencing the... 

A micro-SPE technique was developed by fabricating a rather small package including a polypropylene membrane shield containing the appropriate sorbent. The package was used for the extraction of some triazine herbicides from aqueous samples. Solvent desorption was subsequently performed in a microvial and an aliquot of extractant was injected into GC-MS. Various sorbents including aniline-ortho-phenylene diamine copolymer, newly synthesized, polypyrrole, multiwall carbon nanotube, C18 and charcoal were examined as extracting media. Among them, conductive polymers exhibited better performance. Influential parameters including extraction and desorption time, desorption solvent and the ionic... 

A novel solid phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was fabricated by electrospinning method in which a polymeric solution was converted to nanofibers using high voltages. A thin stainless steel wire was coated by the network of polymeric nanofibers. The polymeric nanofiber coating on the wire was mechanically stable due to the fine and continuous nanofibers formation around the wire with a three dimensional structure. Polyamide (nylon 6), due to its suitable characteristics was used to prepare the unbreakable SPME nanofiber. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of this new coating showed a diameter range of 100-200nm for polyamide nanofibers with a homogeneous and porous surface... 

A headspace solid-phase dynamic extraction (HS-SPDE) technique was developed by the use of polypyrrole (PPy) sorbent, electropolymerized inside the surface of a needle, as a possible alternative to solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Thermal desorption was subsequently, employed to transfer the extracted analytes into the injection port of a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The PPy sorbent including polypyrrole-dodecyl sulfate (PPy-DS) was deposited on the interior surface of a stainless steel needle from the corresponding aqueous electrolyte by applying a constant deposition potential. The homogeneity and the porous surface structure of the coating were examined using the... 

An electro membrane extraction (EME) methodology was utilized to study the isolation of some environmentally important pollutants, such as chlorophenols, from aquatic media based upon the electrokinetic migration process. The analytes were transported by application of an electrical potential difference over a supported liquid membrane (SLM). A driving force of 10 V was applied to extract the analytes through 1-octanol, used as the SLM, into a strongly alkaline solution. The alkaline acceptor solution was subsequently analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) detection. The parameters influencing electromigration, including volumes and pH of the donor and... 

Reinforced polydiphenylamine (PDPA) nanocomposite was synthesized by oxidation of diphenylamine in 4molL-1 sulfuric acid solution containing a fixed amount of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The surface characteristic of PDPA and PDPA/CNT nanocomposites was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The prepared PDPA/CNT nanocomposite was used as an extraction medium for microextraction in packed syringe (MEPS) of selected pesticides from aquatic environment. The effect of CNT doping level and the presence of surfactant on the extraction capability of nanocomposite was investigated and it was revealed that when 4% (w/w) of CNT in...