Multiple length-scale effects are demonstrated in indentation-strength measurements of a range of ceramic materials under inert and reactive conditions. Meso-scale effects associated with flaw disruption by lateral cracking at large indentation loads are shown to increase strengths above the ideal indentation response. Micro-scale effects associated with toughening by microstructural restraints...

2 Headspace sampling for gas chromatographic (GC) analysis has many advantages, the most important of which is the elimination of many interferences from the sample matrix. In addition to the standard methods for headspace sampling, the technique of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has found wide acceptance because it is simple and inexpensive. More recently, single-drop microextraction (SDME...

An efficient and environmentally friendly sample preparation method based on the application of hydrophobic 1-Hexylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate [Hpy][PF(6)] ionic liquid (IL) as a microextraction solvent was proposed to preconcentrate terazosin. The performance of the microextraction method was improved by introducing a common ion of pyridinium IL into the sample solution. Due to the presence...

A new, rapid and sensitive microextraction technique named vortex-assisted liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction (VALLLME) is proposed. The complete extraction process involves two steps. First, a vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction (VALLME) procedure was used to extract the analytes from a relatively large volume of sample (donor phase) to a small volume of organic solvent (intermedia...

The requirement to monitor the chemical quality of water has become one of the major issues in environmental analytics. Ionmobility spectrometry (IMS), a fast, sensitive method traditionally used in security and military applications, is also suitable for environmental analysis and detection of organic pollutants from aqueous matrices, when combined with advantageous methods to isolate analytes...

Until recently, sample preparation was carried out using traditional techniques, such as liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), that use large volumes of organic solvents. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) uses much less solvent than LLE, although the volume can still be significant. These preparation methods are expensive, time-consuming and environmentally unfriendly. Recently, a great effort has been ma...

Abbreviations: AIBN, 2,20-azo-bis-isobutyronitrile; ASE, Accelerated solvent extraction; CAR, Carboxen; DAD, Diode-array detector; DI-SPME, Direct-immersion solid-phase extraction; DSPE, Dispersive solid-phase extraction; EGDMA, Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate; ESE, Enhanced solvent extraction; ESI, Electrospray ionization; FD, Fluorescence detection; FLD, Fluorimetric detection; GC, Gas chromat...

Combination of solid-phase microextraction with gas chromatography enables rapid, repeated analysis of organic compounds in water. Fluazifop-p-butyl (FPB) (propanoic acid 2-[4-[[5-(trifluoromethyl)-2-pyridinyl]oxy]phenoxy] butyl ester) is the active substance in the herbicide Fusilade. Samples of distilled water were spiked with FPB in the laboratory and the analyte was isolated from the water ...

The use of laser desorption as a sample introduction method for solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has been investigated in this research project. Three different types of analytical instruments, mass spectrometry (MS), ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and gas chromatography (GC) were employed as detectors. The coupling of laser desorption SPME to these three instruments was constructed and desc...