Fuji Photo Film Company, Limited

Hirokazu Yuhki

Hiroshi Ohnishi

Fuminori Arai

Shigeru Yamaguchi

Kazuhiko Fujiwara

Sadao Kumazawa

A method of dissolving a powder material is disclosed in which the material is wholly dissolved and the existence of bubbles in the resultant solution is greatly minimized. An agitating blade stirs a liquid in an air-tight tank while the powder material is inserted into the liquid. The pressure is then reduced in the tank causing large bubbles to swell. The bubbles are destroyed by the agitating blade. The pressure reducing operation is then turned off so that the bubbles do not leave the tank through a pressure reduction port. The pressure reducing operation is then repeated a number of times to dissolve the powder material and to destroy bubbles.

Dissolving and deaerating method

A dry analytical element for use in detecting a specific component contained in a liquid, which element comprises one or more water permeable layers provided on a water impermeable support, at least one layer of the water-permeable layers containing a composition capable of interacting with said specific component contained in said liquid. The composition contains a leuco dye and a dispersion containing said leuco dye is incorporated in the water-permeable layer, which is formed by dissolving the leuco dye in a hydrophobic solvent containing an aliphatic higher alcohol and dispersing the resulting solution in a hydrophilic medium. The leuco dye has the formula: ##STR1## where R.sup.1 represents an unsubstituted or substituted aryl group, R.sup.2 represents an unsubstituted or substituted alkyl group, and R.sup.3 represents an unsubstituted or substituted aryl group. A process for producing said dry analytical element is also disclosed.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Hirokazu Yuhki