Recent Progress in Active Mechanical Metamaterials and Construction Principles.

Active mechanical metamaterials (AMMs) (or smart mechanical metamaterials) that combine the configurations of mechanical metamaterials and the active control of stimuli-responsive materials have been widely investigated in recent decades. The elaborate artificial microstructures of mechanical metamaterials and the stimulus response characteristics of smart materials both contribute to AMMs, making them achieve excellent properties beyond the conventional metamaterials. The micro and macro structures of the AMMs are designed based on structural construction principles such as, phase transition, strain mismatch, and mechanical instability. Considering the controllability and efficiency of the stimuli-responsive materials, physical fields such as, the temperature, chemicals, light, electric current, magnetic field, and pressure have been adopted as the external stimuli in practice. In this paper, the frontier works and the latest progress in AMMs from the aspects of the mechanics and materials are reviewed. The functions and engineering applications of the AMMs are also discussed. Finally, existing issues and future perspectives in this field are briefly described. This review is expected to provide the basis and inspiration for the follow-up research on AMMs.

High pressure effects in high-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry.

RATIONALE: High-Field Asymmetric Waveform Ion Mobility Spectrometry (FAIMS) is an analytical technique based on the principle of non-linear electric field dependence of coefficient of mobility of ions for separation that was originally conceived in the Soviet Union in the early 1980s. Being well developed over the past decades, FAIMS has become an efficient method for the separation and characterization of gas-phase ions at ambient pressure, often in air, to detect trace amounts of chemical species including explosives, toxic chemicals, chemical warfare agents and other compounds. However the resolution of FAIMS and ion separation capability need to be improved for more applications of the technique. METHODS: The effects of above-ambient pressure varying from 1 to 3 atm on peak position, resolving power, peak width, and peak intensity are investigated theoretically and experimentally using micro-fabricated planar FAIMS in purified air. RESULTS: Peak positions, varying with pressure in a way as a function of dispersion voltage, could be simplified by expressing both compensation and dispersion fields in Townsend units for E/N, the ratio of electric field intensity (E) to the gas number density (N). CONCLUSIONS: It is demonstrated that ion Townsend-scale peak positions remain unchanged for a range of pressures investigated, implying that the higher the pressure is, stronger compensation and separation fields are needed within limits of air breakdown field. Increase in pressure is found to separate ions that could not be distinguished in ambient pressure, which could be interpreted as the differentials of ions' peak compensation voltage expanded wider than the dilation of peak widths leading to resolving power enhancement with pressure. Increase in pressure can also result in an increase in peak intensity.

Determination of n-alkanes contamination in soil samples by micro gas chromatography functionalized by multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

A new method for separation of 11 n-alkanes: octane, o-nonane, n-decane, n-undecane, n-dodecane, n-tridecane, n-tetradecane, n-pentdecne, n-hexadecath, heptadecane, n-octadecane in soil samples was developed. Kuderna-Danish (K.D.) concentrator enrichment prior to ultrasonic extraction and the silicone chromatography column purification and with gas chromatography flame ionization detection (GC-FID) could be used for n-alkanes determination. The micro channels of open tubular column were fabricated onto a silicon wafer to replace the quartz capillary chromatographic column. The column structure and analysis parameters that affected the column separation were investigated and optimized. Under optimal conditions, the extract reagent was centrifuged and collected. A silicone chromatography column and a K.D. concentrator were used for further clean-up and enrichment. Using this method, the limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) were obtained in the range of 0.03-0.15 and 0.1-0.5 mg kg(-1) in soil samples, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was under 12%. The optimized procedure that presented good analytical performance (with recoveries ranging from 56.5% to 89.2%), was successfully applied to determine n-alkane content in farmland soil samples adjacent to a highway. The results showed that the MWCNTs-functionalized column is capable of separating the alkane contaminations with high resolution in about 3 min, which is much shorter than that of GC-MS and other conventional analytical methods, demonstrating its great potential for rapid analysis.

A micro gas chromatography with separation capability enhanced by polydimethylsiloxane stationary phase functionalized by carbon nanotubes and graphene.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stationary phases functionalized with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene, respectively, for the columns in micro gas chromatography are presented in this paper. To exploit the merits of MWCNTs and graphene in terms of their high specific surface area, low surface energy and chemical inertness, experimental conditions for separation (heating rate and final temperature of temperature programming, flow rate of carrier gas and the volume of samples injection) are investigated, and separations of both polar and nonpolar compound mixtures under these conditions are performed. Compared with PDMS-only coated stationary phases, the functionalization of the phases with carbon nano-materials improves the performance of columns in separation, repeatability, stability and revolution significantly.

Comprehensive theoretical analysis and experimental exploration of ultrafast microchip-based high-field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) technique.

High-field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) has become an efficient technique for separation and characterization of gas-phase ions at ambient pressure, which utilizes the mobility differences of ions at high and low fields. Micro FAIMS devices made by micro-electromechanical system technology have small gaps of the channels, high electric field and good installation precision, as thus they have received great attentions. However, the disadvantage of relatively low resolution limits their applications in some areas. In this study, theoretical analysis and experimental exploration were carried out to overcome the disadvantage. Multiple scans, characteristic decline curves of ion transmission and pattern recognitions were proposed to improve the performance of the microchip-based FAIMS. The results showed that although micro FAIMS instruments as a standalone chemical analyzer suffer from low resolution, by using one or more of the methods proposed, they can identify chemicals precisely and provide quantitative analysis with low detection limit in some applications. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Determination of melamine in milk and dairy products by microchip-based high-field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry combined with solid-phase extraction.

This article presents a method for sensitive, fast and quantitative determination of melamine in milk and dairy products using high-field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS). The solid-phase extraction (SPE) technology was used for purification after the sample was extracted by organic solvents, and followed by the analysis of FAIMS. The measurement parameters and variables that affect the FAIMS detection have been investigated, and optimum conditions have been obtained as follows: the carrier gas flow rate is 1.6 L min(-1), the headspace sampler temperature is 150 °C, the pressure is 1 atm, and the humidity is 2.0 g m(-3). The results showed that the SPE-FAIMS method can detect melamine in samples with a concentration down to 0.1 mg kg(-1). The ion intensity has a linear relationship with melamine concentration in the range from 0.3 mg L(-1) to 25 mg L(-1), with a good linearity of 0.9975. The limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) are 0.1 mg kg(-1) and 0.3 mg kg(-1) in milk and dairy products, respectively, and the relative standard deviation is less than 8.0%. The results demonstrated that FAIMS has great potential as a powerful tool for food analysis and safety inspection.

Precise determination of nonlinear function of ion mobility for explosives and drugs at high electric fields for microchip FAIMS.

High-field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) separates ions by utilizing the characteristics of nonlinear ion mobility at high and low electric fields. Accurate ion discrimination depends on the precise solution of nonlinear relationships and is essential for accurate identification of ion species for applications. So far, all the nonlinear relationships of ion mobility obtained are based at low electric fields (E/N <65 Td). Microchip FAIMS (µ-FAIMS) with small dimensions has high electric field up to E/N = 250 Td, making the approximation methods and conclusions for nonlinear relationships inappropriate for these systems. In this paper, we deduced nonlinear functions based on the first principle and a general model. Furthermore we considered the hydrodynamics of gas flow through microchannels. We then calculated the specific alpha coefficients for cocaine, morphine, HMX, TNT and RDX, respectively, based on their FAIMS spectra measured by µ-FAIMS system at ultra-high fields up to 250 Td. The results show that there is no difference in nonlinear alpha functions obtained by the approximation and new method at low field (<120 Td), but the error induced by using approximation method increases monotonically with the increase in field, and could be as much as 30% at a field of 250 Td.

Novel magnetic beads based on sodium alginate gel crosslinked by zirconium(IV) and their effective removal for Pb²âº in aqueous solutions by using a batch and continuous systems.

Novel magnetic sodium alginate gel beads (Fe3O4@SA-Zr) were successfully prepared by using zirconium(IV) as crosslinking ions, and used as adsorbent for removal of Pb(2+) ions from aqueous solutions in batch and fixed-bed column systems. Fe3O4@SA-Zr was characterized by SEM, FT-IR, XRD and VSM. Fe3O4@SA-Zr had the macroporous structure, exhibited greater stability and possessed a sensitive magnetic response. More importantly, Fe3O4@SA-Zr exhibited high adsorption capacity, fast kinetics and high selectivity towards Pb(2+) ions. Experimental data was well described by Langmuir isotherm with a maximum adsorption capacity of 333.33 mg/g. FTIR and XPS indicated that the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of SA and hydroxyl groups binding to Fe and Zr species were involved in Pb(2+) adsorption. Fixed-bed column packed with Fe3O4@SA-Zr exhibited higher removal efficiency for Pb(2+)ions. Consequently, Fe3O4@SA-Zr with excellent absorbability, stability and reusability could be used as a promising adsorbent for Pb(2+) removal in wastewaters.

Health promotion and health education practice: nurses' perceptions.

AIM: This paper is a report of a study to explore nurses' perceptions of health promotion and health education practice in a Chinese provincial hospital. BACKGROUND: Health promotion and health education practices are based on universal constructs. Therefore, such practices should share common principles. To date, most nursing-related studies have been conducted in Europe or in North America. METHOD: A Husserlian phenomenological approach was adopted. Interviews were conducted in 2006 with a sample of eight nursing students and eight senior nurses. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed from Mandarin to English. Data analysis adhered to the framework developed by Giorgi. RESULTS: Reported health education and health promotion-related practices showed results similar to those reported in Europe and North America. Hospital-based nurses were often aware of what health promotion is, but did not have the scope or opportunity to implement it in practice. Instead, they were likely to conduct more limited forms of health education. Actual understanding of health promotion and health education constructs was high with most participants, underpinned by active clinical-based educational support. Some participants were able to conduct broader health promotion activities on a voluntary basis in their own communities. CONCLUSION: Health education and health promotion are universal health-related constructs. Thus, there is an expectation that all nurses will implement these in a similar fashion. Where possible, hospital-based nurses should strive to improve their health education practices and further embrace wider perspectives of health promotion practice.