Este trabalho descreve uma metodologia eletroanalítica, utilizando voltametria adsortiva de onda quadrada, que foi aplicada com êxito na determinação direta de resíduos de dexametasona em águas naturais brutas utilizadas no abastecimento público do Estado do Ceará, Brasil. Os limites de detecção obtidos variaram entre 7,47 × 10-9 e 1,80 × 10-8 mol L-1 para as três matrizes de águas naturais brutas avaliadas. Os valores percentuais médios de recuperação (98,86% ± 0,72), repetibilidade (0,32% ± 0,05) e reprodutibilidade (0,91% ± 0,20) foram significativos, reafirmando a sensibilidade do procedimento. A energia dos orbitais LUMO e as cargas atômicas de Mülliken foram calculadas usando o funcional BLYP/DNP. Os resultados teóricos, aliados aos critérios de diagnóstico da voltametria de onda quadrada, indicam que o mecanismo redox da dexametasona está associado a processos de redução quase-reversível e irreversível dos grupos cetona localizados em C-20 e C-3, respectivamente.

This paper describes an electroanalytical methodology using square-wave adsorptive voltammetry, which has been successfully applied for the direct determination of dexamethasone residues in raw natural waters used for the public supply of the Ceará State, Brazil. The obtained detection limits ranged from 7.47 × 10-9 to 1.80 × 10-8 mol L-1 for the three matrices of raw natural waters evaluated. High percentages of average recovery (98.86% ± 0.72), repeatability (0.32% ± 0.05) and reproducibility (0.91% ± 0.20) were obtained in these samples, reaffirming the sensitivity of the procedure. Energy of the LUMO orbitals and Mülliken’s atomic charges were calculated using the functional BLYP/DNP. The theoretical results allied to the diagnostic criteria of the square-wave voltammetry indicate that the dexamethasone redox mechanism is associated to the quasi-reversible and irreversible reduction process of the ketone groups located at C-20 and C-3, respectively.

A study of the mobility of n-doped wurtzite III-Nitrides is reported. We have determined the nonequilibrium thermodynamic state of the III-Nitrides systems driven far away from equilibrium by a strong electric field in the steady state, which follows after a very fast transient. The dependence of the mobility (which depends on the nonequilibrium thermodynamic state of the sample) on the electric field strength is derived, which decreases with the strength of electric field. We analyzed the contributions to the mobility arising out of the different channels of electron scattering, namely, the polar optic, deformation, piezoelectric, interactions with the phonons, and with impurities. The case of n-InN, n-GaN, and n-AlN have been analyzed: as expected the main contribution comes from the polar-optic interactions in these strongly polar semiconductors. The other interactions are in decreasing order, the deformation acoustic, the piezoelectric, and the one due to impurities.

We contribute here a theoretical study of the electron mobility in n-doped GaN, InN, and AlN at moderate to high electric fields. We solve the set of coupled nonlinear integro-differential equations of evolution to obtain the steady-state values of the basic intensive nonequilibrium thermodynamic variables for the three materials. The regions with ohmic and non-ohmic behavior in the electron drift velocity dependence on the electric field strength are characterized in the three nitrides. The electron mobility is calculated, and it is shown that the larger corresponds to InN, and the smaller to AlN.