• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.1097-1103
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• 2007

We report a novel method to synthesize nanocomposites composed of titania nanoparticles and phosphotungstate ions with various composition ratios ranging from W/Ti = 12/10 to 12/500 by inducing the electrostatic interaction between the positively charged protonated titania sol-particles and the negatively charged phosphotungstate anions to flocculate and precipitate. The precipitates showed varied features depending on the composition. The precipitate from the tungsten-richest W/Ti = 12/10 reaction is amorphous in its powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman spectroscopy data. This material shows the Type II adsorption characteristics in its N2-adsorption isotherm, but with quite low surface area of 34 m2/g. To the contrary, the precipitates from the titanium-richer reactions (W/Ti = 12/50- 12/500) are composed of anatase nanoparticles of 2-6 nm by XRD, TEM and Raman and show the Type I adsorption characteristics. The surface area linearly increases with the titanium content from 131 m2/g for W/ Ti = 12/50 to 228 m2/g for 12/500. The precipitate from the reaction with the intermediate composition W/Ti = 12/20 is composed of anatase nanoparticles and does not have any pore accessible to N2. With the wide variety of the physical properties of the precipitates, the present method can be a novel, viable means to tailor synthesis of nanocomposite materials. A formation mechanism of the precipitates is based on the electrostatic interactions between the titania nanoparticles and phosphotungstate ions.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.547-548
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• 2010

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.3088-3092
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• 2013

A novel PVC membrane sensor for perindopril based on perindopril-phosphotungstate ion pair complex was prepared. The influence of membrane composition (i.e. percent of PVC, plasticizer, ion-pair complex, and kind of plasticizer), inner solution, pH of test solution and foreign cations on the electrode performance was investigated. The optimized membrane demonstrates Nernstian response ($30.9{\pm}1.0$ mV per decade) for perindopril cations over a wide linear range from $9.0{\times}10^{-7}$ to $1{\times}10^{-2}$ M at $25^{\circ}C$. The potentiometric response is independent of the pH in the range of 4.0-9.5. The proposed sensor has the advantages of easy preparation, fast response time. The selectivity coefficients indicate excellent selectivity for perindopril over many common cations (e.g., $Na^+$, $K^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Ni^{2+}$, rhamnose, maltose, glycine and benzamide. The practical applications of this electrode was demonstrated by measuring the concentrations of perindopril in pure solutions and pharmaceutical preparations with satisfactory results.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1762-1767
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• 2008

Image contrast of whole bacteria was compared in Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli depending on pre-stain suspension liquids by energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy. The two bacterial strains were suspended in three most commonly used liquids for negative staining (triple distilled water [DW], phosphate-buffered saline [PBS], and nutrient broth [NB]) and directly observed without staining or stained with neutralized potassium phosphotungstate (PTA), respectively. Even though in low contrast, unstained bacteria were observed owing to their inherent electron density and cell shape in zero-loss (elastic scattering) images. After being suspended in PBS, unstained bacteria appeared to have higher contrast and more refined periphery than DW-suspended ones, and extracellular appendage structures such as fimbriae and flagella could be discerned. The unstained bacteria appeared to be invariably surrounded with electron-lucent precipitates, possibly from PBS. As far as delineation of the structures, the combination of DW or PBS suspension with subsequent staining provided the most satisfactory results, as evidenced by the high contrast of bacterial morphology and appendage structures. However, after being suspended in NB and stained with PTA, bacteria often had too high contrast or poor staining, with electron-dense aggregates around the bacteria. These results suggest that suspension with concentrated organic aliquots including broth media before PTA staining could deteriorate image contrast, and should be used only in dilute form for visualizing bacterial morphology and appendage structures. Moreover the contrast enhancement of unstained bacteria by salt granules would be advantageous in demonstrating bacterial sorption of environmental particles like heavy metals, maintaining minimal contrast for cell imaging.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.90-92
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• 2010

Staining profiles and bacterial morphology were compared in Xanthomonas citri pv. citri by a transmission electron microscopy. Four types of negative staining regimes were employed depending on culture media and heavy metal stains. The bacterial cells grown on LB agar media often appeared clustered on the supporting film. Meanwhile, individual bacterial cells could be readily found on the preparations from LB broth media. Typical rod-shaped cells (ca. $1\;{\mu}m$ in length) and their flagella were observed in either 2% uranyl acetate (UA) or 2% neutralized potassium phosphotungstate (PTA) staining. The UA-stained bacteria often showed relatively intact cell morphology and rather positively stained cells with a thin electron-dense stain depth around bacteria. The PTA-stained bacteria were characterized by the wrinkled cell surface where the stain was entrapped in grooves. In addition, distinct electron-dense stain depth was evident around the PTA-stained preparations. Numerous fimbriae could be mostly observed from the PTA-stained preparations of the two culture media, but not from the UA-stained preparations.