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Amanda L Mifflin

Publications and source records attributed to Amanda L Mifflin.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Tracking oxytetracyline mobility across environmental interfaces by second harmonic generation.

This work examines the binding behavior of the antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) to mineral oxide/water interfaces in the presence and absence of organic functional groups using the interface-specific technique second harmonic generation (SHG). Studies show that OTC binding to fused quartz, methyl ester, carboxylic acid, and alkyl interfaces is fully reversible and highly dependent on solution pH, with appreciable adsorption occurring only at pH 8. Relative surface coverage at pH 8 is highest for the polar organic-functionalized surfaces, and surface saturation occurs for the methyl ester-functionalized fused quartz/water interface at 2 x 10(-5) M. Adsorption isotherm measurements indicate that the binding process is controlled by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions, with free energies of adsorption on the order of -40 kJ/mol for all interfaces studied. The results indicate that OTC transport in the environment will depend heavily on soil pH and composition and have implications for the development of bacterial antibiotic resistance.

Adsorption↗

Second harmonic generation phase measurements of Cr(VI) at a buried interface.

Surface second harmonic generation (SHG) phase measurements are carried out on methyl ester-functionalized fused quartz/water interfaces in the presence and absence of Cr(VI). The experiments are performed at pH 7, room temperature, and a chromate concentration of 10(-4) M, which corresponds to monolayer Cr(VI) coverage. The liquid/solid interface is probed from the fused quartz side by directing the probe light field at 580 nm onto the interface together with an SHG reference signal at 290 nm that is collinear with the fundamental. The phase difference of the SHG signals generated at the interface in the presence and absence of Cr(VI) is 85 degrees, which is consistent with SHG resonance enhancement observed for the surface-bound Cr(VI) near 290 nm. The optical arrangement discussed here does not require vacuum technology or optics that compensate for the dispersion of the fundamental and the second harmonic E-fields in the two condensed-phase media. This approach is general and can be applied for analyzing thermodynamic and kinetic data derived from SHG measurements of physical and chemical processes occurring at any buried interface.

Journal Article↗

Kinetic studies of chromium (VI) binding to carboxylic acid- and methyl ester-functionalized silica/water interfaces important in geochemistry.

Real-time kinetic measurements of hexavalent chromium binding to fused silica surfaces functionalized with carboxylic acid and methyl ester terminal groups are performed in situ using resonantly enhanced surface second harmonic generation (SHG) at pH 7 and 300 K. These functional groups were chosen because of their high abundance in humic acids and related biopolymers. Kinetic measurements are conducted in the submonolayer regime using chromate solution concentrations ranging from 1 x 10(-6) to 2 x 10(-5) M. The adsorption rates were analyzed using the standard Langmuir model and the Frumkin-Fowler-Guggenheim model. The desorption kinetics are consistent with a first-order process. These results indicate that hexavalent chromium mobility in carboxylic acid- and ester-rich soil environments increases with decreasing chromate concentrations. Based on the measured half-lives of the adsorbed Cr(VI) species, remobilization of bound hexavalent chromium due to natural or anthropogenic events that lower the chromate concentration in the aqueous phase can occur within minutes.

Adsorption↗

Control of carboxylic acid and ester groups on chromium (VI) binding to functionalized silica/water interfaces studied by second harmonic generation.

Resonantly enhanced surface second harmonic generation (SHG) measurements carried out at pH 7 and room temperature were performed to study how surface-bound carboxylic acid and methyl ester functional groups control the interaction of chromate ions with fused silica/water interfaces. These functional groups were chosen because of their high abundance in humic and fulvic acids and related biopolymers commonly found in soils. They were anchored to the silica surface using organosilane chemistry to avoid competing complexation processes in the aqueous solution as well as competitive adsorption of the organic compounds and chromate. The SHG experiments were carried out at room temperature and pH 7 while using environmentally representative chromate concentrations ranging from 1 x10(-6) to 2 x 10(-4) M. Chromate is found to bind to the acid- and ester-functionalized silica/water interfaces in a reversible fashion. In contrast to the plain silica/water interface, chromate binding studies performed on the functionalized silica/water interfaces show S-shaped adsorption isotherms that can be modeled using the Frumkin-Fowler-Guggenheim (FFG) model. This model predicts a coverage-dependent binding constant of K(ads) x exp(gtheta). Values for g are found to be 3.2(2), 2.1(2), and 1.3(2) for the carboxylic acid-, the ester-, and the nonfunctionalized silica/water interfaces, respectively, and are consistent with stabilizing lateral adsorbate-adsorbate interactions among the Cr(VI) species adsorbed to the functionalized surfaces. The FFG model allows for the parametrization of the solid-liquid partition coefficient and chromate retardation factors in silica-rich soil particles whose surfaces contain organic adlayers rich in carboxylic acid and methyl ester groups. The straightforward model presented here predicts that chromate retardation increases by up to 200% when carboxylic acid functional groups are present at the silica/water interface. Increases up to 50% are predicted for methyl ester-containing organic adlayers, and the retardation factor remains effectively near unity for the plain silica/water interface (no siloxanes present).

Adsorption↗