Preconcentration of Trace Elements in Water for Speciation Studies

Trace element speciation has recently become one of the most important problems in water analysis. Proper combination of preconcentration techniques with instrumental determination methods is essential to speciation analysis, because sensitivity and selectivity of direct determination methods are generally lacking. The present paper describes such preconcentration techniques as filtration, centrifugation, flotation and sorption, which have been developed in the author's laboratory for the speciation of heavy metals in river and pond waters by electron microscopy, X-ray microanalysis and chemical analysis. The application of freeze concentration to the speciation of silica in high-purity waters is also discussed.     

Sol-Gel processing of silica nanoparticles and their applications

Recently, silica nanoparticles (SNPs) have drawn widespread attention due to their applications in many emerging areas because of their tailorable morphology. During the last decade, remarkable efforts have been made on the investigations for novel processing methodologies to prepare SNPs, resulting in better control of the size, shape, porosity and significant improvements in the physio-chemical properties. A number of techniques available for preparing SNPs namely, flame spray pyrolysis, chemical vapour deposition, micro-emulsion, ball milling, sol-gel etc. have resulted, a number of publications. Among these, preparation by sol-gel has been the focus of research as the synthesis is straightforward, scalable and controllable. Therefore, this review focuses on the recent progress in the field of synthesis of SNPs exhibiting ordered mesoporous structure, their distribution pattern, morphological attributes and applications. The mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) with good dispersion, varying morphology, narrow size distribution and homogeneous porous structure have been successfully prepared using organic and inorganic templates. The soft template assisted synthesis using surfactants for obtaining desirable shapes, pores, morphology and mechanisms proposed has been reviewed. Apart from single template, double and mixed surfactants, electrolytes, polymers etc. as templates have also been intensively discussed. The influence of reaction conditions such as temperature, pH, concentration of reagents, drying techniques, solvents, precursor, aging time etc. have also been deliberated. These MSNPs are suitable for a variety of applications viz., in the drug delivery systems, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), biosensors, cosmetics as well as construction materials. The applications of these SNPs have also been briefly summarized.     

Mechanically strong and stiff supramolecular polymers enabled by fiber reinforced long-chain alkane matrix

Fiber-reinforced-concrete (FRC) mechanism refers short discrete fibers that are uniformly distributed and randomly oriented, which offers an effective way to improve the mechanical performance of concrete. In the design of supramolecular polymers, an analogous concept of FRC appears to have been considered very rarely-although fibrous structure has been frequently observed/generated during the supramolecular polymerization. In this work, we apply the alkane thermosets, octadecane (C₁₈H₃₈) and tetracosane (C₂₄H₅₀), taking the role of “concrete”, and the low-molecular-weight monomer with long alkyl chains as the essential “fiber” component, to fabricate the “fiber reinforced supramolecular polymer”. Very much like FRC mechanism in material science, the resulting fiber reinforced supramolecular polymer thus exhibit unusually high mechanical strength and stiffness, which is unprecedented in the conventional supramolecular strategy.     

考虑溯源系统应用的优质农产品双渠道供应链决策研究

优质农产品溯源系统的引入,既能提升有效供给、缩短流通时间,又能降低流通中的数量损耗和价值损失,由此带来了双渠道供应链系统在投资、销售、定价等方面的系列决策问题。考虑制造商开辟电子渠道、从溯源系统降低流通损耗和提高质量出发,分别构建制造商主导型的双渠道供应链决策模型。通过对比分析应用前后各成员在投资、定价及销售方面的最优策略,得到相关的核心边界值。数值仿真结果表明:核心边界值主要与双重损耗的改善程度及其他参数相关,各成员及系统接受溯源系统的应用成本不同,应用成本对各渠道销量的影响程度亦不相同,但各成员调整定价的应用成本边界值是一致的。     

Diseño automático de tableros óptimos de puentes de carretera de vigas artesa prefabricadas mediante algoritmos meméticos híbridos

This paper deals with the minimum cost automatic design of precast bridge decks made of U-beams and an upper slab. It uses a hybrid memetic algorithm that combines the population search of solutions by genetic algorithms and a search by variable neighborhood. This algorithm is applied to a bridge made of two isostatic U-beams of 20-40 m of span and a width of 12 m. This example has 40 discrete variables. The evaluation module takes into account the service and ultimate limit states usually considered for these structures, i.e. flexure, shear, torsion, cracking, deflections, etc. The use of the memetic algorithm requires its previous calibration. Each of the heuristics is run 12 times, obtaining information about the minimum and average values, as well as the scatter. The parametric study showed a good correlation for the cost, the number of strands and the steel and concrete quantities with the span length. Savings have been found between 8 and 50% compared to other structures really executed. The presented procedure allows the practical application to the real design and its adaptation to the precast process.     

气相色谱-质谱法对鲜水果中5种保鲜剂残留量的同时测定

建立了气相色谱-质谱法(GC-MS)同时测定鲜水果中对羟基苯甲酸甲酯、对羟基苯甲酸乙酯、乙萘酚、4-苯基苯酚和联苯醚5种保鲜剂的分析方法。鲜水果样品经乙醚超声提取、浓缩后,活性炭柱净化,选择离子模式(SIM)下测定,外标法定量。在优化条件下,5种保鲜剂的线性范围为0.2～4.0 mg/L,相关系数(r2)大于0.991,联苯醚的检出限为0.05 mg/kg,其余4种保鲜剂的检出限均为0.1 mg/kg。5种保鲜剂的加标回收率为80.4%～104.5%,相对标准偏差(RSD)为1.2%～6.4%。该方法简便、快速、试剂价廉易得,且能消除鲜水果样品中色素等杂质的干扰,具有较高的准确度和精密度,适用于鲜水果中上述5种防腐保鲜剂残留量的测定。     

混凝土搅拌车搅拌筒磨损数值分析

混凝土运输过程中搅拌筒的磨损一直是一种常见潜在危害,磨损严重时会导致叶片失效,对搅拌的质量和出料匀质性产生影响。通过实验获取搅拌筒内部的磨损费时费力,因此有必要采取一种数值分析方法对搅拌筒的磨损进行预测并提出改进。本文采用摩擦磨损实验的方法来标定颗粒与搅拌筒之间的Archard磨损常数,采用JKR接触模型表征混凝土的流动性能,采用离散元方法(DEM)对搅拌筒筒体及叶片磨损进行预测分析。通过法向接触能量与切向接触能量的对比,证明搅拌筒中的磨损主要为伴有冲击作用的磨粒磨损,搅拌车搅拌筒中搅拌叶片顶部的磨损较为严重。针对磨损比较严重的叶片顶部进行改进,采用T型耐磨结构等改进叶片结构,叶片顶部结构改进后搅拌筒使用寿命能得到明显提升。     

Fracture characteristics of concrete subjected to impact loading

This paper takes concrete as a four-phase composite made of the intact matrix and three mutually perpendicular groups of penny-shaped micro-cracks. The intact matrix is assumed to be elastic,homogeneous and isotropic,and the micro-cracks are penny-shaped. Combined with the failure mechanism of concrete subjected to impact loading,a dynamic constitutive model for concrete is developed based on Mori-Tanaka's average stress concept and Eshelby's equivalent inclusion theory. Experimental results show that concr...     

Hydrothermal formation of tobermorite studied by in situ X‐ray diffraction under autoclave condition

Hydrothermal formation of tobermorite from a pre‐cured cake has been investigated by transmission X‐ray diffraction (XRD) using high‐energy X‐rays from a synchrotron radiation source in combination with a newly designed autoclave cell. The autoclave cell has a large and thin beryllium window for wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction; nevertheless, it withstands a steam pressure of more than 1.2 MPa, which enables in situ XRD measurements in a temperature range of 373 to 463 K under a saturated steam pressure. Formation and/or decomposition of several components has been successfully observed during 7.5 h of reaction time. From the intensity changes of the intermediate materials, namely non‐crystalline C–S–H and hydroxylellestadite, two pathways for tobermorite formation have been confirmed. Thus, the newly developed autoclave cell can be used for the analyses of reaction mechanisms under specific atmospheres and temperatures.