Highly efficient high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of xylene isomers and phthalate acid esters on a homemade DUT-67(Zr) packed column.

In this study, the baseline separations of xylene isomers and phthalate acid esters on a homemade DUT-67(Zr) packed column were achieved, respectively. The high selectivity for xylene isomers and phthalate acid esters was obtained with the increase in temperature and decrease in the retention time. The hydrophobicity of xylene isomers and phthalate acid esters resulted in the different separation time on the DUT-67(Zr) packed column. The relative standard deviation values of retention time, peak area, peak height, and half peak width for five repeat separation of the xylene isomers were 0.26-0.35, 2.11-2.26, 1.51-2.03, and 0.29-0.77%, and the values of the phthalate acid esters on DUT-67(Zr) column were 0.1-0.4, 4.4-5.2, 3.9-6.3, and 0.6-2.1%, respectively. The thermodynamic properties indicated that the separation of xylene isomers was controlled by ΔH and ΔS, but the separation of phthalate acid esters was mainly controlled by ΔS.

[Plant community patterns of piosphere in the Mu Us Sandland of China].

Piosphere is ubiquitous in drylands. Plant communities of ten paddocks were investigated along transects starting from watering points in the Mu Us Sandland. By using the method of regression and indirect gradient ordination, the richness of plant community and plant functional types were analyzed. The results showed that with the increase of distance from the watering points, the traits of the plant communities varied significantly. The coverage of the community, shrubs and grasses gradually increased and the coverage of forbs decreased with the distance increasing from the watering points. The patterns of the community richness and coverage suggested the grazing gradient surrounding the watering points. The piosphere is a breakthrough point to reveal the degradation pattern of rangeland and its driving forces in northern China.