Micropipette

This method relies on the simple principle that the flow of ions into an electrolyte-filled micropipette as it nears a surface is dependent on the distance between the sample and the mouth of the pipette [211] (figure B 1.19.40). The probe height can then be used to maintain a constant current flow (of ions) into the micropipette, and the technique fiinctions as a non-contact imaging method. Alternatively, the height can be held constant and the measured ion current used to generate the image. This latter approach has, for example, been used to probe ion flows tlirough chaimels in membranes. The lateral resolution obtainable by this method depends on the diameter of the micropipette. Values of 200 nm have been reported. 

Figure Bl.19.40. The scanning ion-conductance microscope (SICM) scans a micropipette over the contours of a surface, keepmg the electrical conductance tlirough the tip of the micropipette constant by adjusting the vertical height of the probe. (Taken from [211], figure 1.)...

Figure Bl.19.41. Schematic of tire scanning micropipette molecule microscope. (Taken from [212], figure 1.)...

For dealing with smaller volumes of solution, micropipettes, often referred to as syringe pipettes, are employed. These can be of a push-button type, in which the syringe is operated by pressing a button on the top of the pipette the plunger travels between two fixed stops and so a remarkably constant volume of liquid is delivered. Such pipettes are fitted with disposable plastic tips (usually of polythene or polypropylene) which are not wetted by aqueous solutions, thus helping to ensure constancy of the volume of liquid delivered. The liquid is contained entirely within the plastic tip and so, by replacing the tip, the same pipette can be employed for different solutions. Such pipettes are available to deliver volumes of 1 to 1000 pL, and the delivery is reproducible to within about 1 per cent. 

Apparatus. Prepared silica gel plates. Chromatographic tank (see Fig. 8.6). Drummond (or similar) micropipette. 

Procedure. Pour the developing solvent into the chromatographic tank to a depth of about 0.5 cm and replace the lid. Take a prepared plate and carefully spot 5 pL of each indicator on the origin line (see Section 8.6, under Sample application) using a micropipette. Allow to dry, slide the plate into the tank and develop the chromatogram by the ascending solvent for about 1 h. Remove the plate, mark the solvent front and dry the plate in an oven at 60 °C for about 15 min. Evaluate the R value for each of the indicators using the equation... 

The solution of the sample to be analysed (1-100 pL) is introduced by inserting the tip of a micropipette through a port in the outer (water) jacket, and into the gas inlet orifice in the centre of the graphite tube. The graphite cylinder is then heated by the passage of an electric current to a temperature... 

To obtain the calibration standards, take aliquots ranging from 50 /xL to 300 juL As, from the working standard solution, using an Eppendorf micropipette. Add the appropriate microlitre quantities to the reaction vessel of the vapour generation system, together with 10 mL of hydrochloric acid (AM), delivered from a calibrated dispenser. 

The patch-clamp technique is based on the formation of a high resistance seal (109-10lon) between the tip of a glass micropipette and the cell membrane it touches (gigaohm-seal). This technique allows recordings of ionic currents through single ion channels in the intact cell membrane and in isolated membrane patches at a... 

In the first step, lipid model membranes have been generated (Fig. 15) on the air/liquid interface, on a glass micropipette (see Section VIII.A.1), and on an aperture that separates two cells filled with subphase (see Section VIII.A.2). Further, amphiphilic lipid molecules have been self-assembled in an aqueous medium surrounding unilamellar vesicles (see Section VIII.A.3). Subsequently, the S-layer protein of B. coagulans E38/vl, B. stearother-mophilus PV72/p2, or B. sphaericus CCM 2177 have been injected into the aqueous subphase (Fig. 15). As on solid supports, crystal growth of S-layer lattices on planar or vesicular lipid films is initiated simultaneously at many randomly distributed nucleation... 

FIG. 17 Schematic illustration of the setup for a tip-dip experiment. First glycerol dialkyl nonitol tetraether lipid (GDNT) monolayers are compressed to the desired surface pressure (measured by a Wilhehny plate system). Subsequently a small patch of the monolayer is clamped by a glass micropipette and the S-layer protein is recrystallized. The lower picture shows the S-layer/GDNT membrane on the tip of the glass micropipette in more detail. The basic circuit for measurement of the electric features of the membrane and the current mediated by a hypothetical ion carrier is shown in the upper part of the schematic drawing. 

In a different context, a micropipette has been applied to monitor the current through a single-ion channel in a biological membrane. The patch-clamp technique invented by Sackmann and Neher [119] led to their Nobel Prize in medicine. The variations in channel current with voltage, concentration, type of ions, and type of channels have been explored. While the functions of specific channels, in particular their ionic selectivity, have been well known, only a handful of channels have the internal geometry and charge distribution determined. The development of a theory to interpret the mass of channel data and to predict channel action is still lacking. 

In order to indicate the accuracy that can be obtained from a capillary pipette, one may refer to the so called Sahli pipette, which is approximately 80 mm from mark to tip. This pipette is used as a washout pipette and can measure samples which are readily reproducible to 1 part in 80, since it is a relatively simple thing for the eye to see 1 mm. On the other hand, if one places a bulb in the tube, and cuts the bore down at the mark by 30%, then this would decrease the error by a factor of 4. It is thus practicable to sample from a micropipette, which is used as a washout pipette, with greater accuracy than one can sample from a conventional macro pipette, which delivers 1 ml by blowout, or to deliver. Figures5 and 6 illustrate various designs of micropipets (13,14). 

Most electrochemical studies at the micro-ITIES were focused on ion transfer processes. Simple ion transfer reactions at the micropipette are characterized by an asymmetrical diffusion field. The transfer of ions out of the pipette (ejection) is controlled by essentially linear diffusion inside its narrow shaft, whereas the transfer into the pipette (injection) produces a spherical diffusion field in the external solution. In contrast, the diffusion field at a microhole-supported ITIES is approximately symmetrical. Thus, the theoretical descriptions for these two types of micro-ITIES are somewhat different. 

The theory has been verified by voltammetric measurements using different hole diameters and by electrochemical simulations [13,15]. The plot of the half-wave potential versus log[(4d/7rr)-I-1] yielded a straight line with a slope of 60 mV (Fig. 3), but the experimental points deviated from the theory for small radii. Equations (3) to (5) show that the half-wave potential depends on the hole radius, the film thickness, the interface position within the hole, and the diffusion coefficient values. When d is rather large or the diffusion coefficient in the organic phase is very low, steady-state diffusion in the organic phase cannot be achieved because of the linear diffusion field within the microcylinder [Fig. 2(c)]. Although no analytical solution has been reported for non-steady-state IT across the microhole, the simulations reported in Ref. 13 showed that the diffusion field is asymmetrical, and concentration profiles are similar to those in micropipettes (see... 

No steady-state theory for kinetically controlled heterogeneous IT has been developed for micropipettes. However, for a thin-wall pipette (e.g., RG < 2) the micro-ITIES is essentially uniformly accessible. When CT occurs via a one-step first-order heterogeneous reaction governed by Butler-Volmer equation, the steady-state voltammetric response can be calculated as [8a]... 

The use of micropipette electrodes for quantitative voltammetric measurements of ion transfer (IT) and electron transfer (ET) reactions at the ITIES requires knowledge of geometry of the liquid interface. For the micrometer-sized micropipettes, both the orifice radius and the thickness of the pipette wall can be measured microscopically. A typical error of the microscopic determination of a radius was estimated to be 0.5/am for a micropipette and 1 /am for a microhole [24]. 

Another parameter essential for quantitative applications of micropipettes is the internal ohmic resistance, R. It is largely determined by the solution resistance inside the narrow shaft of the pipette, and can be minimized by producing short (patch-type) pipettes. The micropipette resistance has been evaluated from AC impedance measurements. Beattie et al. measured the resistance of micropipettes filled with aqueous KCl solutions (0.01, 0.1, and 1 M) [18b]. The value obtained for a 3.5/am-radius pipette was within the range from 10 to 10 As expected, the tip resistance was inversely proportional to the concentration of KCl in the filling solution. In ref. 18b, the effect of pipette radius on the tip resistance was evaluated using a constant concentration of KCl. The pipette resistance varied inversely with the tip radius. The iR drop was found to be 4.5-8 mV for the pipette radii of 0.6 to 19/rm when 10 mM KCl was used. 

Since the mass-transfer coefficient at a micropipette is inversely proportional to its radius, the smaller the pipette the faster heterogeneous rate constants can be measured. Micrometer-sized pipettes are too large to probe rapid CT reactions at the ITIES. Such measurements require smaller (nm-sized) pipettes. Nanopipettes are also potentially useful as SECM tips (see Section IV.D) because they can greatly improve spatial resolution of that technique. The fabrication of nanopipettes was made possible by the use of a micro-processor-controlled laser pipette puller capable of puling quartz capillaries [26]. Using this technique, Wei et al. produced nanopipettes as small as 20 nm tip radius and employed them in amperometric experiments [9]. 

To increase the mass transfer rate, Tokuda et al. [7] carried out normal and differential pulse voltammetry at micropipettes and extracted the rate constant values within the... 

Alternatively, a higher rate of mass transport in steady-state measurements with a larger UME can be obtained by using it as a tip in the scanning electrochemical microscope (SECM). The SECM has typically been employed for probing interfacial ET reactions [29]. Recently, micropipettes have been used as SECM probes (see Section IV.B below) [8b,30]. Although the possibility of probing simple and assisted IT at ITIES by this technique was demonstrated, no actual kinetic measurements have yet been reported. 

Studies of electron transfer (ET) at micro-ITIES are scarce. Solomon and Bard first observed the ET between TCNQ (in DCE) and ferrocyanide (in water) at a micro-ITIES supported by micropipettes [5]. The pipette was used as a SECM probe for electrochemical imaging. The current was controlled by the rate of the bimolecular ET reaction at the micro-ITIES... 

Quinn et al. studied ET at micro-ITIES supported by micropipettes or microholes [16]. The studied systems involved ferri/ferrocyanide redox couple in aqueous phase and ferrocene, dimethylferrocene, or TCNQ in either DCE or o-nitrophenyl octyl ether. Sigmoidal, steady-state voltammograms were obtained for ET at the water-DCE interface supported at a micropipette. The semilogarithmic plot of E versus log[(/(j — /)//] was... 

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