James D Ingle | PubMed Health

PubMed2005

Evaluation of redox indicators for determining sulfate-reducing and dechlorinating conditions.

An in situ methodology based on covalently bonded redox indicators has been developed for determining when sulfate-reducing conditions exist in environmental samples. Three immobilized redox indicators [thionine (Thi, formal potential at pH 7 (E(0')7) equals 52 mV), cresyl violet (CV, E(0')7 = -81 mV), and phenosafranine (PSaf, E(0')7 = -267 mV)] were tested for their response to sulfide in synthetic solutions and under sulfate-reducing conditions in wastewater slurries. The byproduct of the sulfate-reducing process, sulfide, was found to couple well to CV in the concentration range of 1-100 microM total sulfide ([S(-II)]) and the pH range of 6-8. Thi, the indicator with the highest formal potential, reacts rapidly with sulfide at levels well below 1 microM while PSaf, the indicator with the lowest formal potential, does not couple to sulfide at levels in excess of 100 microM [S(-II)]. The degree of reduction of the indicators (i.e., the fraction of cresyl violet oxidized) in contact with a given level of sulfide can be modeled qualitatively with an equilibrium expression for [S(-II)]-indicator based on the Nernst equation assuming that rhombic sulfur is the product of sulfide oxidation. In a groundwater sample with dechlorinating microbes, reduction of Thi and partial reduction of CV correlated with dechlorination of TCE to cis-DCE.

Benzoxazines↗

PubMed2003

The SLIM spectrometer.

A new spectrometer, here denoted the SLIM (simple, low-power, inexpensive, microcontroller-based) spectrometer, was developed that exploits the small size and low cost of solid-state electronic devices. In this device, light-emitting diodes (LED), single-chip integrated circuit photodetectors, embedded microcontrollers, and batteries replace traditional optoelectronic components, computers, and power supplies. This approach results in complete customizable spectrometers that are considerably less expensive and smaller than traditional instrumentation. The performance of the SLIM spectrometer, configured with a flow cell, was evaluated and compared to that of a commercial spectrophotometer. Thionine was the analyte, and the detection limit was approximately 0.2 microM with a 1.5-mm-path length flow cell. Nonlinearity due to the broad emission profile of the LED light sources is discussed.

Journal Article↗