Potentially fatal electrolyte imbalance caused by severe hydrofluoric acid burns combined with inhalation injury: A case report

BACKGROUND Hydrofluoric acid(HF)is one of the most common causes of chemical burns.HF burns can cause wounds that deepen and progress aggressively.As a result,HF burns are often severe even if they involve a small area of the skin.Published cases of HF burns have mostly reported small HF burn areas.Few cases of HF inhalation injury have been reported to date.CASE SUMMARY A 24-year-old man suffered from extensive hydrofluoric acid burns covering 60%of the total body surface area(TBSA),including deep second degree burns on 47%and third degree burns on 13%of the TBSA,after he fell into a pickling pool containing 15%HF.Comprehensive treatments were carried out after the patient was admitted.Ventricular fibrillation occurred 9 times within the first 2 h,and the lowest serum Ca2+concentration was 0.192 mmol/L.A dose of calcium gluconate(37 g)was intravenously supplied during the first 24 h,and the total amount of calcium gluconate supplementation was 343 g.Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(ECMO)was applied for 8 d to handle the acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS)induced by the HF inhalation injury.The patient was discharged after 99 d of comprehensive treatment,including skin grafting.CONCLUSION Extensive HF burns combined with an inhalation injury led to a potentially fatal electrolyte imbalance and ARDS.Adequate and timely calcium supplementation and ECMO application were the keys to successful treatment of the patient.

Treatment of hydrofluoric acid exposure to the eye

AIM: To review the current evidence of the treatment of hydrofluoric acid(HF) exposure to the human cornea.METHODS: A comprehensive manual search of the literature was conducted through the Ovid interface to assess the mechanism and efficacy of each irrigator through a variety of clinical cases and experimental studies.· RESULTS: Ocular exposure to HF is extremely damaging to the eye and swift recognition and decontamination with an appropriate agent forms the basis of treatment. Although there are various decontamination solutions that have efficacy against the corrosive action of HF, irrigation with Hexafluorine proved to be the most safe and effective treatment for the eye.CONCLUSION: In conclusion emergency departments could benefit from the availability of Hexafluorine for the treatment of HF ocular burns in patients.

Surface Characterization of Titanium Implants Treated in Hydrofluoric Acid

The results of XPS measurements of commercially pure titanium cp-Ti) before and after chemical treatment are presented. We have measured XPS spectra of core levels (Ti 2p, O 1s, C 1s, F 1s) and valence bands of coarse-grained cp-Ti before and after standard acid treatment accepted in dentistry (in 1% HF and 40% HF for 1 min). It is found, that acid treatment of cp-Ti reduces the content of hydrocarbons increasing the surface energy and bio-compatibility of Ti-implants. On the other hand, it is fixed that oxygen concentration on the surface of the acid treated cp-Ti is much higher than for the untreated sample, because the acid treatment removes the contaminated surface layers, increases their reactivity, provides a better passivation and formation of thick protecting TiO2 layer.

Evaluation of zirconia–porcelain interface using X-ray diffraction

The aim of this study was to determine if accelerated aging of porcelain veneering had an effect on the surface properties specific to a tetragonal-to-monoclinic transformation（TMT） of zirconia restorations. Thirty-six zirconia samples were milled and sintered to simulate core fabrication followed by exposure to various combinations of surface treatments including as-received（control）,hydrofluoric acid（HF）, application of liner plus firings, application of porcelain by manual layering and pressing with firing, plus accelerated aging. The quantity of transformed tetragonal to monoclinic phases was analyzed utilized an X-ray diffractometer and one-way analysis of variance was used to analyze data. The control samples as provided from the dental laboratory after milling and sintering process had no TMT（X m5 0）. There was an effect on zirconia samples of HF application with TMT（X m5 0.8%） and liner plus HF application with TMT（X m5 8.7%）. There was an effect of aging on zirconia samples（no veneering） with significant TMT（X m5 70.25%）. Both manual and pressing techniques of porcelain applications reduced the TMT（manual, X m5 4.41%, pressing,X m5 11.57%）, although there was no statistical difference between them. It can be concluded that simulated applications of porcelain demonstrated the ability to protect zirconia from TMT after aging with no effect of a liner between different porcelain applications.The HF treatment also caused TMT.

SF₆Byproducts in High-Humidity Environment: an Experimental Evaluation between 200^oC and 500^oC

Abstract: In the occurrence of arc discharges, spark discharges, corona discharges and overheated faults in electrical equipment, SF 6would be decomposed to complicated byproducts, such as SO2 , H2S and HF. Analyzing these byproducts is an effective method to judge the internal operation condition of electric equipment. In order to study characters of SF6byproducts at different temperature of overheated faults in the electric equipment, a series of overheated faults of electric equipment were simulated. SF6is very stable and not significantly decomposed at 200oC, 250oC and 300oC. SF6is significantly decomposed to SO2, H2S and HF at 350oC. The concentration of SO2, H2S and HF was 7.2, 1.6 and 1.9 μL/L after heating for 5 hours in environment of SF6with 3616 μL/L water, and it was increased to 23.0, 3.0 and 1.2 μL/L 3 hours later. SF6is more easily to be decomposed and decomposed more rapidly at higher temperature. The concentration of SO2, H2S and HF was 62.2, 15.6 and 3.6 μL/L after heating for 5 hours in environment of SF6with 4064 μL/L water, and it was increased to 91.4, 25.2 and 2.3 μL/L 3 hours later. SF6will be decomposed to format HF, which is strongly corrosive and whose concentration is likely to decrease when it is above a certain concentration.

Synthesis and Fluorescence Properties of Europium-Substituted Lanthanum Orthophosphate and Condensed Phosphates

Mixtures of lanthanum oxide, europium oxide, and phosphoric acid were heated with various ratios of P/(La + Eu) and Eu/(La + Eu). The obtained phosphates were estimated using XRD patterns, FT-IR spectra, and SEM images. The fluo-rescence spectra and resistance against hydrofluoric acid were estimated as functional properties of these phosphate materials. The condensed phosphates showed a strong peak at 615 nm and high resistance against hydrofluoric acid.

Synthesis and Fluorescence Properties of Europium-Lanthanum-Calcium Orthophosphates and Condensed Phosphates

Mixtures of lanthanum oxide, europium oxide, calcium carbonate, and phosphoric acid were heated with various ratios of P/(Eu + La + Ca) and La/Ca. Europium ratio was settled at Eu/(Eu + La + Ca) = 0.03. The obtained phosphates were estimated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectra, and scanning electron micrograph (SEM) images. The fluorescence spectra and resistance against hydrofluoric acid were estimated as functional properties of these phosphate materials. The mixture of lanthanum and calcium phosphates were formed from XRD patterns and IR spectra. Samples prepared in P/(Eu + La + Ca) = 2 and 3 had large particles in SEM images. The condensed phosphates showed a strong peak at 615 nm and high resistance against hydrofluoric acid.

Refractive index sensor based on tapered PCF in-line interferometer

A simple and compact refractive index sensor is demonstrated by tapering a photonic crystal fiber （PCF） in-line interferometer. The PCF is spliced between two single-mode fibers and tapered via hydrofluoric acid etching. Its sensitivity in liquid is more than an order of magnitude larger than the untapered one. By optimizing the etching process, we can fabricate more uniformly and thinly tapered PCF interferometers with higher sensitivity in the future.

Fabrication of grating structures on silicon carbide by femtosecond laser irradiation and wet etching

A method for fabricating deep grating structures on a silicon carbide （SIC） surface by a femtosecond laser and chemical-selective etching is developed. Periodic lines corresponding to laser-induced structure change （LISC） are formed by femtosecond laser irradiation, and then the SiC material in the LISC zone is removed by a mixed solution of hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid to form grating grooves. Grating grooves with a high-aspect ratio of approximately 25 are obtained. To obtain a small grating period, femtosecond laser exposure through a phase mask was used to fabricate grating structures with a 1.07 μm period on the surface of the SiC.

High Sensitive Refractive Index Sensor Based on Cladding Etched Photonic Crystal Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

A high sensitive refractive index sensor based on the cladding etched photonic crystal fiber (PCF) Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is proposed, which is spliced a section of photonic crystal fiber between two single modes fibers (SMFs).The interference fringe of the MZI shifts with the variation of the ambient refractive index (RI). It is found that the RI sensitivity slightly decrease with an increase in the interference length. The sensitivities of MZI with 35inm PCF, 40mm PCF, and 45mm PCF are 106.19nm/RIU, 93.33nm/RIU, and 73.64nm/RIU, respectively, in the range of 13.33 to 1.381. After etched, the RI sensitivity of the MZI could be improved obviously. The RI sensitivities of the MZI with 35 mm PCF are up to 211.53nm/RIU and 359.37nm/RIU when the cladding diameter decreases to 112(im and 91 pm, respectively. Moreover, the sensor is insensitive to temperature, and the measured sensitivity is only 9.21 pm/℃ with the range from 20℃ to 500℃. In addition, the sensor has advantage of simple fabrication, low cost, and high RI sensitivity.

Bragg grating chemical sensor with hydrogel as sensitive element

A novel fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based chemical sensor using hydrogel, a swellable polymer, as sensitive element is demonstrated. The sensing mechanism relies on the shift of Bragg wavelength due to the stress resulted from volume change of sensitive swellable hydrogel responding to the change of external environment. A polyacrylamide hydrogel fiber grating chemical sensor is made, and the experiments on its sensitivity to the salinity are performed. The sensitivity is low due to the less stress from the shrinking or swelling of hdrogels. Reducing the cross diameter of the grating through etching with hydrofluoric acid can greatly improve the sensitivity of the sensor.