The antioxidant activity of teas measured by the FRAP method adapted to the FIA system: optimising the conditions using the response surface methodology.

This study proposes a FRAP assay adapted to FIA system with a merging zones configuration. The FIA system conditions were optimised with the response surface methodology using the central composite rotatable design. The optimisation parameters studied were: the carrier flow rate, the lengths of the sample and reagent loops, and reactor length. The conditions selected in accordance with the results were: carrier flow rate of 1.00 ml/min, length of the loops 18.2 cm and length of the reaction coil 210.1 cm. The detection and quantification limits were, respectively, 28.6 and 86.8 µmol/l Fe(2+), and the precision was 1.27%. The proposed method had an analytical frequency of 30 samples/h and about 95% less volume of FRAP reagent was consumed. The FRAP assay adapted to the FIA system under the optimised conditions was utilised to determine the antioxidant activity of tea samples.

Preparation and characterization of activated carbon from a new raw lignocellulosic material: flamboyant (Delonix regia) pods.

Activated carbons were prepared from flamboyant pods by NaOH activation at three different NaOH:char ratios: 1:1 (AC-1), 2:1 (AC-2), and 3:1 (AC-3). The properties of these carbons, including BET surface area, pore volume, pore size distribution, and pore diameter, were characterized from N(2) adsorption isotherms. The activated carbons obtained were essentially microporous and had BET surface area ranging from 303 to 2463 m(2) g(-1).(13)C (CP/MAS and MAS) solid-state NMR shows that the lignocellulosic structures were completely transformed into a polycyclic material after activation process, thermogravimetry shows a high thermal resistance, Boehm titration and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy allowed characterizing the presence of functional groups on the surface of activated carbons. Scanning electron microscopy images showed a high pore development. The experimental results indicated the potential use of flamboyant pods as a precursor material in the preparation of activated carbon.

Simultaneous determination of the textile dyes in industrial effluents by first-order derivative spectrophotometry.

A first-order derivative spectrophotometric method for the simultaneous determination of three textile dyes, Procion Yellow HE4R, Procion Red HE7B and Remazol Black 5 (RB5), has been developed. The effects of pH, heating and ionic strength of the solution on the absorption spectra of the dyes were investigated. The wavelengths selected for the measures of the derivative signals of HE4R (395 nm), HE7B (604 nm) and RB5 (659 nm) presented these coefficients of linear correlation: 0.9978, 0.9992 and 0.9999, and these detection limits: 0.180, 0.317 and 0.0233 mg L(-1), respectively. The reliability and reproducibility of the method were tested and showed recovery values of 95.7 to 109%. The proposed method was applied for the determination of dyes in binary and ternary mixtures of textile effluents and showed an estimate of the loss of dyes for the effluents between 6.67 and 28.9%.

Square wave voltammetry in the determination of Ni2+ and Al3+ in biological sample.

In this contribution, the amounts of Ni (nickel) and Al (aluminum) in tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus) were determined using square wave voltammetry (SWV) with glassy carbon working microelectrode with a mercury thin film, platinum counter electrode, and Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Ni was studied through the formation of the dimethylglyoxime-Ni (Ni-DMG) complex, while Al was studied through the formation of the Alizarin R-Al complex. The detection limit found for Ni-DMG and Alizarin R-Al complexes were 1.70 x 10(-7) and 1.0 x 10(-8) mol L(-1), respectively. The voltammetric anodic curves for the Alizarin R-Al complex were recorded over the potential range from -0.8 to -0.05 V while the voltammetric cathodic curve for the Ni-DMG complex was recorded over the potential range from -0.7 to -1.2 V. These methods detected low concentrations of Ni and Al in biological samples efficiently.