Fast poisons

The qualitative voltammetric behavior of methanol oxidation on Pt is very similar to that of formic acid. The voltammetry for the oxidation of methanol on Pt single crystals shows a clear hysteresis between the positive- and negative-going scans due to the accumulation of the poisoning intermediate at low potentials and its oxidation above 0.7 V (vs. RHE) [Lamy et al., 1982]. Additionally, the reaction is also very sensitive to the surface stmcture. The order in the activity of the different low index planes of Pt follows the same order than that observed for formic acid. Thus, the Pt(l 11) electrode has the lowest catalytic activity and the smallest hysteresis, indicating that both paths of the reaction are slow, whereas the Pt( 100) electrode displays a much higher catalytic activity and a fast poisoning reaction. As before, the activity of the Pt(l 10) electrode depends on the pretreatment of the surface (Fig. 6.17). 

Arsenic and its compounds are great poisons. They arc quite popular and have been a good subject for comedies such as "Arsenic and Old Lace." The nice thing about arsenic is that it is almost tasteless and it doesn t start to act until a half hour to an hour after it is taken. That way you can zap just oodles of people who would get off scot free if you used a fast poison like cyanide. Cyanide is terrific for individual hits but disappointing when working with groups. 

For instance, DMFC uses frequently PtRu alloys as the anode catalyst to prevent fast poisoning of the catalyst surface by CO molecules produced during methanol oxidation. 

Mass speetrometry has been used to eharaeterize mieroeystins using the method of fast-atom bombardment (FAB) ionization and MS/MS. Anatoxin-a has been analysed by MS in eombination with gas ehromatography in bloom and water samples, and in benthie eyanobaeterial material and stomaeh eontents of poisoned animals.Reeently, liquid ehromatography (LC) linked to MS has been employed to analyse mieroeystins, where FAB-MS and atmospherie-pressiire ionization (API-MS) have been used, and anatoxin-a, where thermospray (TSP-MS) was iised. ... 

As a group, the cyanides are among the most toxic and fast-acting poisons. (This is due to the cyanide ion which interferes with cellular oxidation.)... 

Many of the fission products formed in a nuclear reactor are themselves strong neutron absorbers (i.e. poisons ) and so will stop the chain reaction before all the (and Pu which has also been formed) has been consumed. If this wastage is to be avoided the irradiated fuel elements must be removed periodically and the fission products separated from the remaining uranium and the plutonijjm. Such reprocessing is of course inherent in the operation of fast-breeder reactors, but whether or not it is used for thermal reactors depends on economic and political factors. Reprocessing is currently undertaken in the UK, France and Russia but is not considered to be economic in the USA. 

Since oxidation of methanol is an electrocatalytic reaction with different adsorption steps, interactions of the adsorbed species with the metallic surface are important. Using platinum single-crystal electrodes, it has been proven that the electrooxidation of methanol is a surface-sensitive reaction. The initial activity of the Pt(llO) plane is much higher than that of the other low-index planes, but the poisoning phenomenon is so rapid that it causes a fast decrease in the current densities. The... 

In Venezuela, there is no official fast-track system. However, brief-mode registration is available for generic products for which a bioavailabilily study has been undertaken. Similarly, Malaysia has an abridged procedure for registration of products classified as non-scheduled poisons. This type of simplified procedure does not, in essence, differ from the use of less stringent registration requirements for certain categories of products as seen, for example, for herbal medicines in Australia and the Netherlands. 

In the development of analytical methods one has to consider also cases where a fast response is required, e.g. clinical and forensic chemists or toxicologists need methods which yield results in a few minutes or hours to allow a fast response in cases of poisoning. In this event, accurate quantitative results may be of less importance, but the time from sampling to result may be lifesaving, whereas the throughput (i.e. number of analyses per day) is not so much of concern. 

This relation is plotted as curve Bin Figure 12.11. Smith (66) has shown that the same limiting forms for are observed using the concept of effective dififusivities and spherical catalyst pellets. Curve B indicates that, for fast reactions on catalyst surfaces where the poisoned sites are uniformly distributed over the pore surface, the apparent activity of the catalyst declines much less rapidly than for the case where catalyst effectiveness factors approach unity. Under these circumstances, the catalyst effectiveness factors are considerably less than unity, and the effects of the portion of the poison adsorbed near the closed end of the pore are not as apparent as in the earlier case for small hr. With poisoning, the Thiele modulus hp decreases, and the reaction merely penetrates deeper into the pore. 

Optical sensors for oxygen measurement are attractive since they can be fast, do not consume oxygen and are not easily poisoned. The most common method adopted in construction is based on quenching of fluorescence from appropriate chemical species. The variation in fluorescence signal (I), or fluorescence decay time (x) with oxygen concentration [O2] is described by Stem-Volmer equation91 ... 

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