STUDIES ON THE PREPARATION OF ZINC-CONTAINING ACTIVATED CARBON FIBERS AND THEIR ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY

1. INTRODUCTION Microbial pollution will bring about various problems in industry and other vital fields, such as causing decomposing of materials, harming people抯 health. In order to reduce these problems, new antibacterial materials have been demanded. Recently, much attention has been paid to inorganic materials including zinc oxide [1~4]. These inorganic antibacterial materials are now substituting for organic materials to avoid releasing noxious organic molecules harmful to humans;…     

Synthesis, crystal structure and thermoelectric properties of a new carbide Zr2[Al3.56Si0.44]C5

A new quaternary layered carbide, Zr₂[Al_3.56Si_0.44]C₅, has been synthesized and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and thermopower and electrical conductivity measurements. The crystal structure was successfully determined using direct methods, and further refined by the Rietveld method. The crystal is trigonal (space group R3m, Z=3) with lattice dimensions of a=0.331059(5), c=4.09450(5) nm and V=0.38864(1) nm³. The final reliability indices calculated from the Rietveld refinement were R_wp=6.24%, R_p=4.21% and R_B=0.82%. The crystal structure is composed of electroconductive NaCl-type ZrC slabs separated by Al₄C₃-type [Al_3.56Si_0.44]C₃ layers. This material had thermoelectric properties superior to those of the ternary layered carbides Zr₂Al₃C₄ and Zr₃Al₃C₅, with the power factor reaching 7.6×10⁻⁵W m⁻¹ K⁻².     

Fermi-shuttle processes in the electron emission by ion impact: Contribution to radiation damages

Secondary electrons, formed in biological tissues by high-energy particle impact, significantly contribute to the fragmentation of small molecules and to single- and double-strand brakes in DNA. Differential spectra of electrons emitted in the collisions of decelerating swift ions are of vital importance for estimating ion impact radiation damages. We demonstrate that the so-called Fermi-shuttle-type acceleration mechanism can produce a significant enhancement in the emission of high-energy secondary electrons. Double differential cross-sections for electron emission, measured in the collisions of N⁺ and N₂⁺ ions with Ar targets at 750 keV/u impact energy, clearly show this effect. The measured cross-sections are in good agreement with the theoretical results of CTMC calculations. Multiple scattering contribution to the Ar spectra above 300 eV is proved to be significant.     

Preparation and electrochemical properties of Ag-modified TiO2 nanotube anode material for lithium–ion battery

TiO₂ nanotubes prepared by using a hydrothermal process were firstly coated with silver nanoparticles as the anode materials for lithium–ion batteries by the traditional silver mirror reaction. The physical properties of the as-synthesized samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopic. The as-prepared samples were used as negative materials for lithium–ion battery, whose charge–discharge properties, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cycle performance were examined in detail. The results showed that the Ag additive decreased the polarization of anode, and marvelously improved the high-rate discharge capacity and cycling stability of TiO₂ nanotubes.     

Tunable pores in mesoporous silica films studied using a pulsed slow positron beam

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) based on a pulsed slow positron beam was applied to study mesoporous silica films, synthesized using amphiphilic PEO–PPO–PEO triblock copolymers as structure-directing agents. The pore size depends on the loading of different templates. Larger pores were formed in silica films templated by copolymers with higher molecular-weights. Using 2-dimensional PALS, open porosity of silica films was also found to be influenced by the molecular-weight as well as the ratio of hydrophobic PPO moiety of the templates.     

Conformation and size of humic substances: Effects of major cation concentration and type,pH, salinity,and residence time

The macromolecular structure of humic substances (HS), i.e. molecular size, shape, conformation, and weight is believed to control key physico-chemical reactions in aquatic systems. However, these properties of HS are still deeply a matter of debate. Furthermore, they are affected by solution physico-chemical parameters such as ionic strength, pH, and chemical composition, etc. To better understand aggregation processes of HS in natural waters, the effects of cation concentration and type, water composition, and pH on the size and conformation of the Suwannee River Humic Acid (SRHA) were investigated with synthetic solutions. The size and the conformation of the SRHA in NaCl and CaCl₂ solutions at different concentrations (0.001–0.5 M) and pH (4.5–9.3) were determined using the photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. In addition, dissolved organic matter (DOM) samples collected from the Adour estuary along a salinity gradient were imaged by TEM. The average size of the SRHA measured by PCS increased with pH and ionic strength. This behavior was confirmed by TEM micrographs. The increase in pH and CaCl₂ engendered aggregation of the SRHA. Two aggregation steps were identified, a big increase in HS size occurred for small changes in CaCl₂ concentrations in the range <0.02 M CaCl₂, and a slight increase occured for higher concentrations in the range >0.02 M CaCl₂. The parallel analysis of SRHA by PCS and TEM allowed overcoming the limits for both techniques.Comparable results were found for the DOM samples from the Adour estuary (South West of France). The conformation and size of the HS network of these samples varied with the salinity gradient. TEM images demonstrated that, HS have a branched open network in freshwater whereas they have a more compacted and close network with increasing salinity.     

Synthesis, structural characterization and ferrimagnetic property of MnPS3 intercalated with nickel(II) cyclopolyamine complex cations

Two new intercalation compounds were prepared by the reactions of Ni(II) cyclopolyamine complex cations with a preintercalate Mn_1−xPS₃K_2x(H₂O)_y, respectively, through “ion exchange” process. Their structures were characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray powder diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. The lattice spacing increased 0.567 and 1.093 nm with respect to the pristine MnPS₃. Ferrimagnetism of the intercalates was confirmed by SQUID experiment with T_c at 40 and 33 K, respectively.     

Determination of halogens via molecules in the air–acetylene flame using high-resolution continuum source absorption spectrometry,Part II: Chlorine

As continuation of the work on fluorine, the second part of the studies of halogens in the air–acetylene flame attends to the determination of chlorine using high-resolution continuum source absorption spectrometry and molecular absorption. In case of chlorine, the diatomic InCl molecule proved to be a suitable species. For an excess of In in the flame, chlorine is converted to InCl which produces a distinctive band head at 267.24 nm that could be evaluated analytically. The influence of concentrated inorganic acids and metallic matrices on the absorption at this band head was tested. In all cases the signal proved to be unaffected, i.e., no spectral interferences were observed. However, serious chemical interferences were found in the presence of sulfuric and phosphoric acids, which could be partially eliminated by adding Ca in the form of nitrate. Moreover, nitric and hydrofluoric acids as well as Cu and Ga matrices also produced significant chemical interferences. Therefore, the method of standard additions should be used for calibration purposes. Concerning the limit of detection, a value of 3 mg L^− 1 was achieved for a measurement time of 5 s in the presence of 10,000 mg L^− 1 In. The calibration curve was linear up to a chlorine concentration of 1800 mg L^− 1. Three certified reference materials (BCR 151, HISS-1, and PACS-2) were analyzed to test the performance of the new method, yielding good precision and accuracy.     

Effective removal of chlorinated organic pollutants by bimetallic iron-nickel sulfide activation of peroxydisulfate

Chlorinated organic pollutants(COPs) have caused serious contaminants in soil and groundwater,hence developing methods to remove these pollutants is necessary and urgent.By a simple hydrothermal method,we synthesized the bimetallic iron-nickel sulfide(FeNiS) particles which exhibited excellent catalytic property of COPs removal.FeNiS was chosen as the peroxydisulfate(PDS) activator to removal COPs including 4-chlorophenol(4-CP),1,4-dichlorophenol(1,4-DCP) and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol(2,4,6-TCP).The results show that FeNiS can efficiently activate PDS to produce sulfate radical(SO_4~(·-)) which plays major role in the oxidative dechlorination and degradation due to its strong oxidizing property and the ability of producing hydroxyl radicals(~·OH) in the alkaline condition.Meanwhile,the Cl-abscised from COPs during the dechlorination can turn into the chlorine radicals and enhance the degradation and cause further mineralization of intermediate products.This bimetallic FeNiS catalyst is a promising PDS activator for removal of chlorinated organics.