Ultrasound assisted preparation of calcium alginate beads to improve absorption of Pb+2 from water

Calcium alginate (CaAlg) beads were prepared using ultrasound for use in the removal of lead from natural and wastewaters by ion exchange. Ultrasound was applied in a batch mode with an ultrasonic bath or in a flow mode using an ultrasonic clamp-on device. For comparison purposes the synthesis was performed in batch mode in the absence of the ultrasound. The beads prepared using ultrasound showed a greater ion exchange capability which could be ascribed to a larger specific surface area as a result of surface roughening induced by cavitation.Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images revealed that the roughening was in the form of corrugation for the product with the best ion exchange capability obtained in the flow process where preformed CaAlg droplets were subjected to ultrasound during the setting process. These beads performed 11% better for lead removal than those synthesized in the absence of ultrasound.     

Study on the changes of ultrasonic parameters over supercritical Ni-Co electroplating process

This work discusses the influence of changes to ultrasound (US) parameters over the nickel cobalt (Ni-Co) metal thin film properties produced by supercritical CO₂ (SC-CO₂) electroplating. Additionally, Ni-Co films were produced by conventional electroplating and silent SC-CO₂ and compared against each other.The discussion on metal thin film properties revolves around variations to the bath type ultrasonic power (15 W and 20 W) and frequency (42 k Hz and 72 kHz) during experiments. The properties provided by the three electroplating processes and analyzed include: grain sizes, film elemental content analyses, surface microstructures, film hardness, corrosion resistance, surface roughness, crystalline structure and preferential growth, etc. From the results it was clear that quality of films produced by US-SC-CO₂ was improved compared to that of films produced by silent SC-CO₂, which itself was better than those produced by conventional electroplating. However, when US power was varied we observed a decline in the mechanical properties of the produced films.The combination of ultrasonic agitation with SC-CO₂ allows for improved mechanical properties such as: lower surface roughness, finer grain size and surface morphologies, increased corrosion resistance and film hardness. The ultrasound agitation applied to SC-CO₂ electroplating enhanced the formation of alloyed metal as ultrasonic agitation increased the electrolyte flowability during electroplating process resulting in increased mass transfer while at the same time achieving a surface cleaning effect which removed metal ions with poor adhesion and other unwanted particles. Moreover, application of ultrasonic agitation avoids the use of surfactants so only changes to the physical phenomena and no changes to the chemical composition of the deposited thin films were observed, meaning less pollution to the electrolyte and higher purity of the deposited films.The US-SC-CO₂ electroplating method described in this work effectively enhanced the mechanical properties of the deposited thin films compared to those produced by both silent SC-CO₂ and conventional electroplating processes.     

One-step ultrasonic synthesis of Co/Ni-catecholates for improved performance in oxygen reduction reaction

The inherent periodically arranged M−N_X, M−S_X and M−O_X units (M are usually Fe, Co, Ni, etc.) in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) can be promising active centers in electrocatalysis. In previous studies, MOFs were usually constructed by energy-consuming hydro- or solvo-thermal reactions. Ultrasonic synthesis is a rapid and environment-friendly technique when envisaging MOFs’ industrial applications. In addition, different synthetic pathways for MOFs may lead to difference in their microstructure, resulting in different electrocatalytic performance. Nevertheless, only a handful of MOFs were successfully prepared by ultrasonic synthesis and few were applied in electrochemical catalysis. Herein, we constructed Ni/Co-catecholates (Ni/Co-CATs) synthesized by one-step ultrasonic method (250 W, 40 KHz, 25 W/L, Ultrasonic clearing machine) and compared their performance in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with that of Ni/Co-CATs synthesized by hydrothermal method. Ni-CAT and Co-CAT prepared by ultrasonic showed the half-wave potential of −0.196 V and −0.116 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), respectively. The potentials were more positive than those prepared by hydro-thermal method. And they showed excellent electrochemical stability in neutral solution. The latter was only 32 mV lower than that of commercial Pt/C. The improved performance in ORR was attributed to higher specific surface area and mesopore volume as well as more structural defects generated in the ultrasonic synthesis process, which could facilitate their exposure of electrocatalytic active sites and their mass transport. This work gives some perspective into cost-effective synthetic strategies of efficient MOFs-based electrocatalysts.     

Nd∶YVO4/Nd∶GdVO4双波长激光器的功率均衡实验研究

实验研究了Nd∶YVO4/Nd∶GdVO4双波长激光器在不同抽运功率条件下,通过调节热沉温度达到功率均衡时的输出特性.实验结果表明:对于Nd∶YVO4/Nd∶GdVO4双波长激光器,当提高抽运功率,需要重新降低热沉温度达到功率均衡输出,降温幅度与抽运功率增加之比为11.23℃/W.与此同时,随着抽运功率和热沉温度的变化,双波长激光器的中心波长会出现小幅度的漂移,左峰波长随抽运功率增加的蓝移速率为0.056 nm/W,右峰波长随抽运功率增加的蓝移速率为0.054 nm/W.实验还发现功率均衡条件下激光器的输出总功率随抽运功率的增加而增加,拟合斜效率为8.7%,当抽运功率为5.58 W时,输出最大总功率达到115.7 mW.     

Ultrasound pre-fractured casein and in-situ formation of high internal phase emulsions

Traditional preparation of protein particles is usually complex and tedious, which is a major issue in the development of Pickering high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). In this study, a facile and in-situ method for the preparation of food-grade Pickering HIPEs was developed using ultrasound pre-fractured casein flocs. The ultrasonic-treated casein protein and resulting Pickering HIPEs were characterised using particle size distribution, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), cryo-SEM, and rheological measurement. The results indicated that pH values of casein and ultrasonic power level were key parameters for casein protein dispersion into nanoparticles to form o/w Pickering HIPEs. In optimal conditions, the hexagons of emulsion droplets were close together, and the emulsions formed with ultrasonic caseins exhibited gel-like behaviour. Additionally, ultrasonic microscale-sized caseins (about 25 μm) disappeared upon the use of high speed homogenisation during the formation of HIPEs, while the chemical distribution revealed by confocal laser scanning microscopy indicated that the dispersive nanoparticles from casein proteins were evidently absorbed on the interface of HIPEs (cryo-SEM). These findings prove that ultrasound is an effective tool to loosen casein flocs to induce the in-situ formation of stabilised Pickering HIPEs. Overall, this work provides a green and facile route to convert edible oil into a soft solid, which has great potential for applications in biomedical materials, 3D printing technology, and various cosmetics.     

A study on the spectral,microstructural, and magnetic properties of Eu–Nd double-substituted Ba0.5Sr0.5Fe12O19 hexaferrites synthesized by an ultrasonic-assisted approach

In this study, an examination on the spectral, microstructural, and magnetic characteristics of Eu–Nd double-substituted Ba_0.5Sr_0.5Fe₁₂O₁₉ hexaferrites (Ba_0.5Sr_0.5Nd_xEu_xFe_12−2xO₁₉ (x = 0.00–0.05) HFs) fabricated by an ultrasonic-assisted approach has been presented. An UZ SONOPULS HD 2070 ultrasonic homogenizer with frequency of 20 kHz and power of 70 W was used. The chemical bonding, structure and the morphology of the products were evaluated by Fourier-Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy, XRD (X-ray diffraction), scanning and transmission electron microscopy and techniques. The textural properties of the prepared nanomaterials were examined by using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The magnetic properties were studied using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) at room temperature (RT) and low temperature 10 K. The magnitudes of various magnetic parameters including M_s (saturation magnetization), M_r (remanence) and H_c (coercivity) were estimated and evaluated. The M-H loops revealed the hard ferrimagnetic nature for all products at both temperatures. The M_s and M_r values showed a decreasing tendency with increasing degree of Eu³⁺ and Nd³⁺ substitutions whereas H_c values displayed an increasing trend. At RT, M_s, M_r and H_c values lie in the ranges of 63.0–68.8 emu·g⁻¹, 24.6–39.2 emu·g⁻¹ and 2252.4–2782.1 Oe, respectively. At 10 K, the values of M_s, M_r and H_c lie between 87.5–97.1 emu·g⁻¹, 33.5–40.1 emu·g⁻¹ and 2060.6–2417.2 Oe, respectively. The observed magnetic properties make the prepared products promising candidates to be applied in the recording media.     

A statistical analysis of power-level-difference-based dual-channel post-filter estimator

By deriving the explicit expression of the probability density function (p.d.f.), this paper presents a statistical analysis of the power-level-difference-based dual-channel post-filter (PLD-DCPF) estimator. The derivation is based on the joint p.d.f. of the auto-spectra of a two-dimensional stationary Gaussian process with mean zero, where the theoretical expression is verified by numerical simulations. Using this theoretical p.d.f. expression, this paper studies the impacts of the correlative parameters on the amount of noise reduction and speech distortion. According to both the theoretical analysis results and the simulation results, four schemes are proposed to improve the performance of the traditional PLD-DCPF estimator.     

Identifying bacterial fragments on morphologically similar substrate using UAFM

The ultrasonic atomic force microscopy (UAFM) can be used effectively to map the elasticity of a surface. Using this technique we have demonstrated that biological fragments on a substrate can be easily identified which is otherwise difficult using only an AFM image. We have shown that AFM image can falsely interpret the surface morphological features on the substrate. We have taken the bacteria Pseudomonas sp. as a case study to demonstrate that UAFM technique is a powerful tool to study biological samples and differentiate morphological features on the substrate.     

Novel polyester/SiO2 nanocomposite membranes: Synthesis,properties and morphological studies

In this paper, a new type of soluble polyester/silica (PE/SiO₂) hybrid was prepared by the ultrasonic irradiation process. The coupling agent γ-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GOTMS) was chosen to enhance the compatibility between the polyester (PE) and silica (SiO₂). Furthermore, the effects of the coupling agent on the morphologies and properties of the PE/SiO₂ hybrids were investigated using UV-vis and FT-IR spectroscopies and FE-SEM. The densities and solubilities of the PE/SiO₂ hybrids were also measured. The results show that the size of the silica particle was markedly reduced by the introduction of the coupling agent, which made the PE/SiO₂ hybrid films become transparent. Furthermore, thermal stability, residual solvent in the membrane film and structural ruination of membranes were analyzed by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The effects of SiO₂ nanoparticles on the glass transition temperature (T_g) of the prepared nanocomposites were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Moreover, their mechanical properties were also characterized. It can be observed that the Young's moduli (E) of the hybrid films increase linearly with the silica content. The results obtained from gas permeation experiments with a constant pressure setup showed that adding SiO₂ nanoparticles to the polymeric membrane structure increased the permeability of the membranes.