Response surface methodology for the optimization of the ultrasonic-assisted rhamnolipid treatment of oily sludge

This study investigates the recovery of oily sludge using ultrasound-assisted rhamnolipids and uses oil recovery yield as an evaluation index. The Box–Behnken response surface method was employed to investigate the individual and interactive effects of four different operating factors: frequency, dosage, liquid–solid ratio, and stirring speed. The model optimization results showed that the order of degree of influence of these four factors is frequency > liquid–solid ratio > dosage > stirring speed. The mathematical model predicted the highest oil recovery yield as 92.27%, which was highly accurate (in the 95% confidence interval) as from the experimental results, the highest oil recovery yield was 89.95% under optimal reaction conditions (frequency = 25.58 kHz, dosage = 150.45 mg/L, liquid–solid ratio = 4.1:1 mL/g, and stirring speed = 407 rpm). Thus, the deviation from the prediction model was only 2.32%, indicating that this method provides a theoretical basis for the treatment of oily sludge and can be implemented for practical application in Huaidong in the Xinjiang Province.     

Sol-Emulsion-Gel Synthesis of Shaped Powders in the System BaO-TiO2

Shaped tetragonal barium titanate (BaTiO₃) particles were prepared by the sol-emulsion-gel method with systematic variation of the concentration of a non-ionic surfactant in the organic phase (oil phase) of water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions above or below the critical micelle concentration (CMC). An acetate-based sol with equivalent oxide ratio BaO : TiO₂ = 1 : 1 was selected for the study. Micelle formation of the surfactant and their self-aggregation apparently played an important role in controlling the shape and size of the droplets and accordingly shape and size of the final barium titanate particles resulting therefrom. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that with low concentration of the surfactant (2–5 vol%) ill-formed spheres were obtained. Spherical particles were formed with increasing the surfactant concentration to 7 vol%. At 12 vol% of the surfactant, rod-like particles were first found to form, which with further increase in surfactant concentration to 15–20 vol%, gradually transformed to cube-like/lamellar type particles. Attempts have been made to explain the various particle shapes in terms of surfactant aggregation.     

超细二氧化锆的制备和表征

通过研究不同干燥条件下制得的二氧化锆的织构和结构，发现在超临界干燥过程中附加一定的惰性气体压力能够防止或大大减小凝胶在干燥过程中的收缩，从而可提高ＢＥＴ表面积，和普通空气中干燥得到的二氧化锆相比，超临界干燥得到的二氧化锆的孔结构大为改善。同时ＢＥＴ表面积地增大。     

A simple statistical mechanical theory for the mutual solubility of fluid mixtures of water and organic solvents under high pressure

A simple statistical mechanical theory is presented to explain phase diagrams of fluid mixtures with both a lower critical solution temperature and an upper critical solution temperature under pressure. By postulating a temperature dependence for the interaction free energy parameter of the constituent molecules and a pressure dependence for the excess volume, phase diagrams with both lower critical solution temperature, and upper critical solution temperature and their pressure dependence can be reproduced by quadratic surfaces in temperature-concentration-pressure space. The topological aspects of the observed phase diagrams in this space have been related to our theoretical model, and the thermodynamical meaning of the topologies has been interpreted based on our model. Experimental data for the mutual solubility of water and 2-butanol under pressure and that of water and 3-methylpyridine with added salts have been analyzed quantitatively and theoretical parameters are determined.     

水溶性聚合物和两亲聚合物18.2—丙烯酰胺基烷磺酸类两亲单体

２－丙烯酰胺基烷磺酸的溶解行为和胶体化学性质明显随烷基长短而异，由于手性碳原子的存在，与其相邻亚甲基的质子峰在ＨＮＭＲ谱上清楚地发生分裂，研究了２－丙烯酰胺基十六烷磺酸（ＡＭＣ１６Ｓ）在水／二氧六环混合溶剂中的聚合动力学和胶体化化学性质，发现聚合速度和所得聚合物分子量均均在水／二氧六环体积比为１～１／２时出现最小值，临界胶束浓度随混合溶剂中二氧六环含量的增加而增加，当水／二氧六环体积比为１／２～１     

Micellization of dodecyldimethylethyl- ammonium bromide in aqueous solution

Specific conductivity of aqueous solutions of dodecyldimethylethylammonium bromide has been determined in the temperature range of 15-40°C. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) and ionization degree of the micelles, b, were determined from the data. Thermodynamic functions, such as standard Gibbs free energy, ΔG _m°, enthalpy, ΔG _m°, and entropy, ΔG _m°, of micellization, were estimated by assuming that the system conforms to the mass action model. The change in heat capacity upon micellization, ΔG _m°, was estimated from the temperature dependence of ΔG _m°. An enthalpy-entropy compensation phenomenom for the studied system has been found. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Convective instability of a zinc sulfate solution in a cell with horizontal plane-parallel electrodes

The Rayleigh-Bénard convective instability in a cell with horizontal zinc electrodes is considered. The space between the electrodes is filled with a ZnSO₄ solution. The linear plot of the difference between the zinc deposition currents (I) in the cases where the anode is the upper or lower electrode vs. the square root of the zinc deposition current in the absence of convection is found experimentally. It is shown that the critical Rayleigh number can be determined by an extrapolation of this plot.Translated from Elektrokhimiya, Vol. 41, No. 2, 2005, pp. 247–249.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Tomashova, Teplitskaya, Grigin, Davydov.     

The Al-Zn-Ga Phase Diagram Part II

The first part of this paper presented five experimental isopletic cuts in the Al-Zn-Ga ternary phase diagram. On these cuts, two isobaric ternary invariant reactions were determined and a significant retrograde miscibility of Ga in a α′_SS solid solution was observed. In the second part, the two isobaric invariant reactions are studied more precisely. In particular, the composition of the invariant phases are given and the Ga miscibility in the α_SS ternary solid solution is studied. Isothermal sections are established. The results confirm the existence of a vanishing point in the liquidus area, conjugated with a ternary critical point at about 290°C. A general perspective shape of the equilibria in the diagram is proposed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Determination of critical micelle concentration of bile acid salts by micro-calorimetric titration

Critical micelle concentrations (CMC) of sodium salts of cholic, deoxycholic and chenodeoxycholic acids in phosphate buffer (pH 7.92) have been determined from microcalorimetric titration curves. The obtained values of 18.4±0.6, 5.3±0.2 and 7.0±0.2 mM, respectively, for Na cholate, Na deoxycholate and Na chenodeoxycholate are close to literature values obtained by other methods. CMC values for secondary micelles were also obtained. This microcalorimetric titration method gives highly reproducible results and rapid determination of CMC values of bile acid salts.     

Dynamical symmetry analysis of ionization and harmonic generation of atoms in bichromatic laser pulses

Recently the effect of the relative phase ? in a high‐intensity (～10¹⁴ W/cm²) two‐color (bichromatic) CW laser with frequencies ω and 2ω on the high‐order harmonic generation (HHG) was studied within the framework of the non‐Hermitian quantum mechanics (NHQM) [Phys Rev A 2004, 69, 043404/1]. Here we emphasize the study of symmetries in bichromatic HHG spectra within the framework of the conventional Hermitian QM, and in particular by taking the duration of the laser pulse into consideration (an effect that has not been included in the non‐Hermitian studies due to the time asymmetry problem in NHQM). The phase dependence of HHG and intense‐field ionization probability in a 1D Xe atom with symmetric field‐free potential and symmetric initial wave function were studied numerically and analytically. From simulations based on a single‐particle response it can be seen that the HHG spectra is symmetric with respect to inversion in the relative phase between the two colors ? only if ionization is forbidden in the system and the laser pulse is an adiabatic one. The HHG spectra is symmetric with respect to a π‐shift in ? whenever the laser pulse is an adiabatic one, either for bound or open (ionized) systems. The ionization probability is symmetric both to inversion or π‐shift in ?; the component probabilities (right‐ and left‐ionization probabilities) have the same ?‐dependence, up to a shift of π. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005