Borax Research Articles

Green, Cost-Effective Simultaneous Assay of Chloramphenicol, Methylparaben, and Propylparaben in Eye-Drops by Capillary Zone Electrophoresis.

A green, cost-effective, and simple capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of chloramphenicol, methylparaben, and propylparaben in eye-drops. With sodium tetraborate as background electrolyte (BGE), the apparent mobilities of chloramphenicol, methylparaben, and propylparaben increased and analysis time reduced when pH of BGE increased from 8.5 to 10.0 and concentration of BGE decreased from 40 mM to 15 mM, but complete separation of chloramphenicol from other matrix components was achieved only with sodium tetraborate concentration at 30 mM or higher and at pH = 9.3 or lower. The most suitable electrophoretic conditions for the intended application were a 30 mM sodium tetraborate solution, pH 9.3 as BGE, working voltage set at 25 kV, and UV detection at 280 nm at the cathodic extremity of the capillary. The final method was validated and proved to be reliable for assay of chloramphenicol, methylparaben, and propylparaben in eye-drops.

Electrochemical Investigation of Cathodic Deposition of Mo Coating from Oxofluoride Molten Salt and Characterization

Adherent, thick, nonporous metallic molybdenum (Mo) coating was successfully obtained on two different kinds of substrates Cu and 316L stainless steel by molten salt electrolysis from a eutectic mixture containing potassium molybdate (K2MoO4), sodium tetraborate (Na2B4O7) and potassium fluoride (KF). Cyclic voltammetric analysis of the molten mixture in the temperature range 800 °C–920 °C revealed that the presence of both KF and Na2B4O7 were necessary for cathodic discharge of MoO4 −2 to Mo via two-step processes. It also confirmed that the reduction of Mo(VI) species was a diffusion controlled process and higher temperature favored the cathodic deposition up to 860 °C and thereafter it decreased. X-ray diffraction (XRD) of coatings confirmed about the deposition of single phase body centered cubic (bcc) Mo. The Mo coating thickness, microstructure and substrate/coating interface integrity were investigated in detail from cross-section FESEM images.

Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of methylene blue on rice husk ash straw Composites

In this paper, corn straw in Jilin area was used as the base material, and the corn straw was modified by the alkaline solution system formed by urea trisodium phosphate sodium tetraborate, then the residue of rice husk burning in power plant was added. The rice husk ash / straw composite material was made by spin coating evaporation process, and the adsorption performance of methylene blue in wastewater was explored, and the linear regression analysis was carried out by Origin software The kinetic equation was obtained by regression fitting. The experimental results showed that: when the ratio of rice husk ash and straw was 1:2, the adsorption performance of methylene blue in wastewater was the highest, the adsorption rate was 96.3%, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 578.0mg/g; at the same time, it was found that the kinetic model was in line with the pseudo second order adsorption kinetic model, indicating that the adsorption process of methylene blue in wastewater by rice husk ash / straw composite was mainly chemical reaction.

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ ОСМОЛЯЛЬНОСТИ И ИЗОГИДРИЧНОСТИ ГЛАЗНЫХ КАПЕЛЬ ЭКСТЕМПОРАЛЬНОГО ИЗГОТОВЛЕНИЯ

Aim. Analysis of osmolality and isohydricity of eye drops of extemporaneous manufacture for compliance with the requirements of the normative documents. Materials and Methods. The object of study was eye drops of extemporaneous manufacture according to formulations and technologies of the normative documents. To control determination of the permissible limits of osmolality, model eye drops with sodium chloride at concentration of 0.6%, 0.9%, 2.0% were manufactured. Osmolality of the eye drops was determined by a pharmacopeian method using МТ-5 thermoelectric milliosmometracryoscope. pH was measured by a method of ionometry using HANNA microprocessor pH/C meter. The results were statistically processed. Results. It was found that eye drops 2%, 3% collargol and 1% sodium thiosulfate solution do not comply with the normative parameters by osmolality. Such drops as 0.2% ascorbic acid; combined eye drops containing riboflavin, ascorbic acid and boric acid; riboflavin, ascorbic acid and glucose did not comply with the normative parameters by pH value. These drops have a strong shift of pH towards acidity. The value of pH was below 3.5. On the contrary, eye drops containing sodium hydrocarbonate, sodium tetraborate have an exceeding shift towards alkalinity with pH more than 8.5. Thus, the conducted study showed the necessity of introduction of certain changes to the composition of the above mentioned eye drops after consultation with ophthalmologists. Conclusion. In the work, technological and analytical study of osmolality and isohydricity of some official compositions of eye drops encountered in extemporaneous manufacture, was conducted. Using modern pharmacopeian methods, the mentioned parameters of eye drops were determined and compared with the normative parameters recommended by the governmental quality standards of General Pharmacopeia Monograph (GPM) «Ophthalmic Dosage Forms», and the necessity for correction of certain formulations of eye drops is shown.

Self-ordered nanospike porous alumina fabricated under a new regime by an anodizing process in alkaline media

High-aspect ratio ordered nanomaterial arrays exhibit several unique physicochemical and optical properties. Porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) is one of the most typical ordered porous structures and can be easily fabricated by applying an electrochemical anodizing process to Al. However, the dimensional and structural controllability of conventional porous AAOs is limited to a narrow range because there are only a few electrolytes that work in this process. Here, we provide a novel anodizing method using an alkaline electrolyte, sodium tetraborate (Na2B4O7), for the fabrication of a high-aspect ratio, self-ordered nanospike porous AAO structure. This self-ordered porous AAO structure possesses a wide range of the interpore distance under a new anodizing regime, and highly ordered porous AAO structures can be fabricated using pre-nanotexturing of Al. The vertical pore walls of porous AAOs have unique nanospikes measuring several tens of nanometers in periodicity, and we demonstrate that AAO can be used as a template for the fabrication of nanomaterials with a large surface area. We also reveal that stable anodizing without the occurrence of oxide burning and the subsequent formation of uniform self-ordered AAO structures can be achieved on complicated three-dimensional substrates.

Carbon dots for ratiometric fluorescence detection of morin

The B,N dual-doped carbon dots (B,N-CDs) for ratiometric fluorescence detection the morin were prepared from sodium tetraborate and polyethyleneimine through the single-step hydrothermal method. The B,N-CDs exhibited the optimum excitation and emission wavelength at 340 nm and 467 nm, respectively. Interestingly, the intensities of emission peak at 467 nm of B,N-CDs reduced meanwhile a new peak emerged at 560 nm with the continuous addition of morin, which revealed the ratio fluorescence characteristic between F560nm/F467nm and morin concentration with the linearity range and detection limit of 14.5–32.5 μmol/L and 0.3 μmol/L (S/N = 3), respectively. The interference of common antibiotics and remedies could be ignored when the concentration of morin was detected by the B,N-CDs, which demonstrating the outstanding selectivity. Furthermore, the proposed fluorescence method is used to detect morin in urine with recoveries are 99.8–104.5%. The results of this research indicate the feasibility and practicality of B,N-CDs as an effective fluorescent probe for the determination of morin.

Influence of CaO on the structure of zinc sodium tetra borate glasses containing Cu2+ ions

A set of sodium tetra borate glasses doped with Cu2+ ions, with formula xCaO-(40-x)ZnO-59Na2B4O7-1CuO where x=0, 10, 20, 30 & 40 mol% were successfully prepared. The decrease in the density values of the glasses with the composition revealed the conversion of BO4 to BO3 units. Several physical and optical parameters were evaluated using density and optical absorption spectra. Of the expected four parallel and perpendicular resonance signals, three signals were clearly resolved in the EPR spectra, the fourth parallel component merged with the perpendicular ones. The spin-Hamiltonian parameter values confirmed the Cu2+ ions are in tetragonally distorted in octahedral sites. Deconvoluted spectra were drawn to extract the hidden peak positions in the FTIR and Raman spectra and residue graphs were used to find their accuracy. The fraction of BO4 groups (N4) values was calculated from the FTIR spectra and the N4 values supported the conversion of BO4 to BO3 units.

Optimization of Cu and Zn co-doped PEO titania coatings produced in a novel borate-based electrolyte for biomedical applications

Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation is gaining an increasing interest as surface modification technique for the fine tuning of both the chemical composition and the morphology of the surface of medical devices. Here, we propose a novel alkaline electrolyte, mainly composed of sodium tetraborate, to produce compact coatings with a high surface porosity and a Cu- and Zn-doped titania microstructure. A systematic exploration of the process parameters led to the identification of the optimal conditions to produce highly homogeneous coatings with micrometric pores and the doping of the outermost oxide layers. The obtained coatings show optimal chemical and topographical features for potential use for bone-contact applications.

Приманки на основе борной кислоты для борьбы с рыжим домовым муравьём

For control of the Pharaoh ant, liquid baits based on 5–6 % boric acid or sodium tetraborate, with a high content of food attractant and an agent that prevents drying, are effective. The death of workers, queens and brood occurs within 2–4 weeks. In laboratory conditions, when colonies of the Pharaoh ant feed with such baits, depletion of the colony was noted by the 4th week of the experiment (death of queen was 75–100 %, and critical decrease in the number of live workers and brood was occured). Dry boric baits do not significantly affect the viability of ant colonies. Solutions of sodium tetraborate in glycerol are ineffective due to the lack of food attractants, the death of workers is comparable to that obtained in the variant with starving control. The mechanism of action and sterilizing properties of boric acid and sodium tetraborate for insects are discussed.

Extraction of extracellular polymeric substances from dam lake fresh sediments derived from crystalline bedrock

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by microorganisms have a key role in the sedimentary compartment, e.g. promoting aggregation and biostabilisation of sediment particles and increasing chemical reactivity at the water/sediment interface. Therefore, proper extraction methods are needed to study this EPS matrix. In this work, nine extraction methods based on physical (centrifugation, sonication), chemical (sodium hydroxide, sodium pyrophosphate, sodium tetraborate), and both chemical and physical (cation exchange resins, i.e. CER) treatments and their combinations, as well as the solid:liquid ratio used for extraction, were compared based on the quantity and compositions of extracted EPS. The organic carbon extracted was quantified and the nature of biochemical macromolecules (proteins, polysaccharides, and humic-like compounds) was evaluated using colorimetric methods. The amount of ATP was used as an indicator of cell lysis and showed contamination with intracellular materials in EPS extracted with chemical methods. Moreover, chemical extraction presented a large quantity of impurities due to non-removal of reactant salts by ultracentrifugation. For the nine methods tested, humic-like substances represented the main fraction of the extracted EPS, but for chemical extraction, the presence of humic materials from the sediment organic fraction was due to non-specific extraction of the EPS fraction. Therefore, chemicals methods are not recommended to extract EPS from sediment. Despite their low extraction efficiency, physical methods and CER, i.e. ‘soft’ extraction methods, are preferred using a solid:liquid ratio 1:40.

Capillary Electrophoresis Separation of Artepillin C: Determination in Brazilian Green Propolis.

Propolis is important in complementary and alternative medicine having well-known therapeutic applications. Artepillin C, a main component of Brazilian (green) propolis, has attracted great attention for its anticancer action. Consequently, the synthesis of artepillin C has been reported but, due to the limited yield and elevated costs, this biomolecule is largely produced from Brazilian propolis. We report the capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation of artepillin C in Brazilian propolis also comparing the results with those of HPLC-UV-MS. Optimal separation was obtained with a simple buffer constituted of sodium tetraborate 30 mM pH 9.2 and detection at 210 nm. Artepillin C and the polyphenols of propolis were fully separated with a voltage gradient of 30 to 8 kV and a current of 300 μA for a total run of 50 min. The sensitivity of CE-UV was 22 times greater than HPLC-UV and 100 times more than HPLC-MS with also a stronger reduction in the run time and a greater robustness and reproducibility. The development of CE as an effective and reliable method for the analysis of artepillin C is desired as the standardized quality controls are essential before propolis or its biomolecules can be adopted routinely in nutraceuticals, food ingredients and therapeutic applications.

Study on a novel buffer system to separate and quantify glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and the mechanism between its key constituents and HbA1c

In this article, a simple capillary electrophoresis (CE) method was developed to analyze the glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in light of the goal to monitor the long-term blood glucose concentration on diabetic patients, and it is the first time to report the binding constant of sodium tetraborate (Na2B4O7) and HbA1c in CE system. It is also found that the addition of Spermidine (Spd) can inhibit electroosmotic flow (EOF) well, thereby improving the resolution of the analytes. And a Spd concentration of a few mM is proper to provide perfect resolutions. Finally, the performance of the developed CE method was validated by analyzing actual blood specimens, of which the value of HbA1c was found to be close to the results of Sebia's CE method, showing an acceptable ability to separate hemoglobin forms. We expect this method will provide an inspiration to investigate hemoglobins (Hbs).

Improving the strength and resistance of cement composites to the external environment by utilizing complex additives

The article discusses the influence of complex additives on the strength and resistance of cement composites to environmental impacts. One of the additives - PFM-NLK (concrete modifier)- a factory fabricated mixture of a superplasticizer with the addition of air-retaining and water proofing substances. Another one is a complex additive containing a superplasticizer, sodium tetraborate and boric acid.Common denominator is the content of the superplasticizer. It allows reducing the W / C ratio of the mixture thereby increasing the density and strength of the composite, and, accordingly, its frost and corrosion resistance. PFM-NLK water-proofing and air-retaining substances additionally work toward the formation of a material structure with increased frost resistance. The components of the other additive, boric acid and sodium tetraborate, form a borate buffer system, which leads to the softening of the “chemical impact” and thus further increases the corrosion resistance. The research findings revealed the effectiveness of complex additives and substantiated the regularity that if each factor is separatelyfacilitative forproperty improvement, then, when they are combined, the effect is multiplied. The PFM-NLKcomponents, when combined, contribute to obtaining a material structure with high frost resistance. An additive containing a hyper-plasticizer, boric acid and sodium tetraborate leads to an increase in strength and acid resistance.

Simultaneous determination of four phenolic acids in traditional Chinese medicine by capillary electrophoresis-chemiluminescence.

Chlorogenic, ferulic, vanillic, and caffeic acids are phenolic acids found in natural drugs. They possess the biological activities of scavenging free radicals and inhibiting thrombus formation. Phenolic acids can inhibit the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein, as well as have anti-inflammatory effects. This paper reports for the first time a capillary electrophoresis–chemiluminescence (CE–CL) method for the simultaneous determination of the four phenolic acids found in traditional and proprietary Chinese medicine, including Lycium chinense Miller, Shuanghuanglian oral liquid, and Taraxacum mongolicum granules. Capillary electrophoretic separation was performed on a self-assembled CE–CL device with an uncoated fused-silica capillary (66 cm effective length, 50 μm i.d.), and the background electrolyte was composed of 3.0 × 10−5 M Ag(iii) (pH = 12.01), 3.0 mM luminol (pH = 9.20), and 10 mM sodium tetraborate solution. The injection time was 12 s (under gravity) and the separation voltage was 22 kV. The combination of solid-phase extraction (SPE) and CE–CL improves the sensitivity. Under optimal conditions, calibration graphs displayed a linear range between 0.625 and 20.0, 1.000 and 30.0, 0.150 and 1.50, and 0.045 and 1.00 μg mL−1 for chlorogenic, ferulic, vanillic, and caffeic acid, respectively. The detection limit ranged from 0.014 to 0.300 μg mL−1. The practicality of using the proposed method to determine the four target analytes in traditional Chinese medicine was also validated, in which recoveries ranged from 90.9% to 119.8%. Taken together, these results indicate that the developed method is sensitive and reliable. Furthermore, the method was successfully applied to real traditional Chinese medicine samples.

Whole-rock trace element analyses via LA-ICP-MS in glasses produced by sodium borate flux fusion

Abstract Trace elements provide crucial information about the origin and evolution of the Earth. One common issue regarding their analyses is the reduced analyte recovery during hot plate acid digestion for some geological samples. To overcome this, alkali fluxes (e.g., Lithium borate) have been used to produce an homogeneous synthetic glass that can be used then for both X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). In this sense, we developed a method for LA-ICP-MS whole rock trace element analyses in glasses prepared by mixing high-purity sodium tetraborate and rock powders at high-temperature. We selected six international reference materials including peridotite (JP-1), basalt (BRP-1), kimberlite (SARM-39), pyroxenite (NIM-P), diorite (DR-N) and andesite (JA-1). Glasses were produced in a fully automatic fusion machine with step heating. Run products analyses were carried out on a Thermo® Element2 SF-ICP-MS coupled to a New Wave Research® Nd:YAG (213 nm) laser ablation system and on a Thermo® Element XR ICP-MS coupled to an Analyte G2 (193 nm) LA system. Results show that glasses are homogeneous and there is good agreement (generally > 90%) between our data and literature values for most trace elements, including large ion lithophile elements (LILE), high-field strength elements (HFSE) and rare-earth elements (REE).

Treatment of water-based ink wastewater by a novel magnetic flocculant of boron-containing polysilicic acid ferric and zinc sulfate

Polysilicic acid ferric and zinc sulfate containing boron (PSBFZ) flocculants were prepared through reaction of sodium silicate, ferric trichloride, zinc sulfate and sodium tetraborate. A new type of magnetic flocculant PSBFZ-Fe3O4 was prepared through a simple method of solid state reaction at room temperature. The as-prepared PSBFZ and magnetic PSBFZ-Fe3O4 were used in treating water-based ink wastewater. The influence parameters (such as dosage, time, pH and temperature) on the removal rate of decolorization, turbidity and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were investigated. The results showed the products were suitable for neutral and basic water. When the dosage of PSBFZ-Fe3O4 was 0.3 g/L, the turbidity removal rate and the decolorization rate could reach 98.0 % and 98.5 % at room temperature, respectively. Through recycling by a magnet, the magnetic PSBFZ-Fe3O4 flocculants residues could be easily separated from the wastewater which makes the reusing of magnetic flocculants become possible.

Effect of Deep Cryogenic Treatment on Corrosion Properties of Various High-Speed Steels

The aim of the study was to evaluate the corrosion properties of three different grades of high-speed steel following a heat treatment procedure involving deep cryogenic treatment after quenching and to investigate how these properties are connected to the microstructure and hardness of the material. The hardness of steels was measured, and microstructural properties were determined through observation of the metallographically prepared steels using scanning electron microscopy. These studies were complemented corrosion evaluation by the use of corrosion potential measurement and linear polarization measurement of steels in a sodium tetraborate buffer at pH 10. The results showed that the deep cryogenic procedure of high-speed steel changed the microstructure and consequently affected the hardness of the investigated steels to different extents, depending on their chemical composition. Corrosion studies have confirmed that some high-speed steels have improved corrosion properties after deep cryogenic treatment. The most important improvement in corrosion resistance was observed for deep cryogenically treated high-speed steel EN 1.3395 (M3:2) by 31% when hardened to high hardness values and by 116% under lower hardness conditions. The test procedure for differentiating corrosion properties of differently heat-treated tool steels was established alongside the investigation.

Cyclodextrins as mobile phase additives in open-tubular admicellar electrochromatography for achiral and chiral separations

Native cyclodextrins (α-, β- and γ-CD) which are traditional chiral selectors in capillary electrophoresis were studied in open-tubular admicellar electrochromatography (OT-AMEC) using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as dynamic stationary pseudophase. The initial mobile phase was 0.2 mM CTAB in 25 mM sodium tetraborate (pH 9.2), which forms admicelles (bilayer) at the solid surface/liquid interface inside the capillary. Different molar ratios of [CD]:[CTAB], i.e., 0:1 to 2:1 for [α-CD]:[CTAB] and [β-CD]:[CTAB] and 0:1 to 20:1 for [γ-CD]:[CTAB] in the mobile phase were investigated. An increase in the CD concentration decreased the magnitude of the electroosmotic flow (EOF). This suggests that CDs increase the critical surface aggregation concentration of CTAB, reducing the amount of free CTAB available to aggregate at the solid surface/liquid interface. At a molar ratio of 1.5:1 for α-CD, 2:1 for β-CD and 20:1 for γ-CD, the EOF changed from anodic to cathodic in direction. This suggests that no admicelles were formed under these conditions. Consequently, the retention factors (k) of the tested analytes (dichlorprop, fenoprop, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, propranolol, verapamil, hexanophenone, verapamil and valerophenone) decreased until k = 0 (no admicelles or stationary pseudophase). We observed a change in the migration orders of the analytes because of the resulting change in the effective electrophoretic mobility. Finally, we achieved chiral separation of mecoprop and dichlorprop in OT-AMEC with α- or β-CD in the mobile phase, which was not possible in electrokinetic chromatography using the same α- or β-CD concentration in the background solution. The chiral separation was aided by the retention caused by the dynamic stationary pseudophase.

Production of foamed glass-ceramics using furnace bottom ash and glass

This research has produced foamed glass-ceramics from coal fired power station furnace bottom ash (FBA) and soda-lime-silica glass. The as-received FBA was wet milled with different additions of glass. The resultant slurry was dried and formed into a powder. The powder was pressed and sintered at a range of temperatures with additions of a fluxing agent (sodium tetraborate decahydrate), a bubble stabilising additive (tri-sodium phosphate) and a bloating agent (calcium carbonate) and this produced foamed FBA-glass-ceramics. The effect of glass content and sintering temperature on the properties of the sintered ceramic foams are reported. A range of potential applications including thermal insulation and biological filters for water and wastewater treatment are discussed. The research demonstrates that it is possible to engineer the properties of FBA derived glass-ceramic foams by careful control of the composition and processing conditions in order to transform a problematic waste into commercially interesting materials.

Synergistic effect of Jatropha curcas seed oil and sodium tetraborate treatment on wood resistance to fungal attacks: case of Ayous (Triplochiton scleroxylon), a high value commercial wood species in tropical Africa

ABSTRACT This study evaluated the synergistic effect of Jatropha curcas seed oil and sodium tetraborate as a preservative of Triplochiton scleroxylon wood against four selected fungi species. The experimental design consisted of seven treatments with different concentrations of sodium tetraborate and J. curcas seed oil at a concentration of 4000 μg/l in all treatments, except the control. Mycelia growth of the different fungi was measured daily in vitro for 4 days. Wood blocks of T. scleroxylon of 25 × 15 × 5 mm with 25% moisture content each were exposed to the 4 fungi for 16 weeks and weight loss was measured. As compared to the control, all the treatments influenced mycelia growth. Treatment with Jatropha seed oil was effective in reducing significantly the mycelia growth (P < .05). The higher the sodium tetraborate concentration, the lower the mycelium growth. Untreated samples gave highest weight loss of 25.15 ± 0.01% with Scopulariopsis sp., while treated samples yielded the lowest weight loss with values of 0.74 ± 0.01, 0.33 ± 0.01, 0.32 ± 0.01, and 0.07 ± 0.06 with Scopulariopsis sp., Poria placenta, Penicilium sp. and Mucor graphium, respectively. The combination of J. curcas seed oil and sodium tetraborate is a potential eco-friendly wood protectant against fungal attacks.