Velocity and concentration fields in settling tank of non-interacting solid particles

Summary In this paper there is a synthetic presentation of the theoretical principles of the phase difference method for the simultaneous measurements of size, velocity and concentration of particles dispersed in fluid, its application to spherical glass particles free falling in water at rest, and the measured velocity and concentration fields of the particles in a settling tank model. Particles with diameter between 75÷150 m were used. The method used seems reliable in obtaining the necessary information to analyze the performance of settling tanks in relation to the influencing factors the particles settling.

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Sommario In questo articolo sono presentati in forma sintetica i principi teorici del metodo della differenza di fase per la misura simultanea di velocità, dimensione e concentrazione di particelle disperse in un fluido, ed un'applicazione di tale metodo al caso di particelle di vetro, di dimensioni fra i 75–150 m, disperse in acqua. Le misure effettuate sono relative alla sedimentazione di particelle in acqua in quiete ed ai campi di velocità e concentrazione delle particelle che si realizzano in un modello fisico di vasca di sedimentazione rettangolare. I risultati ottenuti sembrano confermare l'adeguatezza del metodo impiegato per analizzare l'efficienza delle vasche di sedimentazione in relazione ai fattori che influenzano la sedimentazione di particelle.

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This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education.     

Generation of 3-pyridyl biaryl systems via palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-couplings of aryl halides with 3-pyridylboroxin

The synthesis of 3-pyridyl biaryl systems can be readily achieved by means of palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reactions between aryl halides and 3-pyridylboroxin. A series of cross-couplings were conducted in order to investigate the scope and limitations of this protocol.     

Copper bronze catalyzed Heck reaction in ionic liquids

Heck reaction of aryl iodides and activated aryl bromides catalyzed by copper bronze in tetrabutylammonium bromide as solvent and tetrabutylammonium acetate as base was developed. The effective catalysts are Cu nanoparticles deriving from the reaction of iodobenzene with copper bronze. These nanoparticles are very stable in tetraalkylammonium salts, are easily recycled, and can be stored for months without a loss of catalytic efficiency. [reaction: see text]     

Dual ion-beam sputtering deposition of palladium-fluoropolymer nano-composites

The morphological (TEM) and chemical (XPS, ARXPS) characterizations of fluoropolymer films modified with palladium particles (CF_x(Pd)) are reported in this article. The films, which have different levels of metal content, have been deposited by ion beam co-sputtering a Teflon target and a palladium one. Composite films with a thickness of a few nanometers have also been deposited and analyzed. For all degrees of thickness, the analyses show the fluoropolymer nature of the hosting material, the nanoscopic character of metal domains, and their uniform distribution in the polymer matrix. The likely application of this ion sputter-deposited material in the sensor field has also been preliminary tested. PACS 81.05.Qk; 82.35.Np; 81.15.Cd; 79.60.Fr; 07.07.Df     

Special issue: nano-catalysts and nano-technologies for green organic synthesis

Catalysis by transition-metal nanoparticles has undergone an explosive growth during the past decade. This special issue presents the general trends in the current research in this field, the present situation concerning scope and limitations, as well as the future perspectives. Original contributions are also presented on the applications of nano-catalysts to the green synthesis.     

Segments and Hilbert schemes of points

Using results obtained from a study of homogeneous ideals sharing the same initial ideal with respect to some term order, we prove the singularity of the point corresponding to a segment ideal with respect to a degreverse term order (as, for example, the degrevlex order) in the Hilbert scheme of points in Pⁿ. In this context, we look into the properties of several types of “segment” ideals that we define and compare. This study also leads us to focus on the connections between the shape of generators of Borel ideals and the related Hilbert polynomial, thus providing an algorithm for computing all saturated Borel ideals with a given Hilbert polynomial.     

Characterization of raw and stabilized waste in relation to toxic metals mobility in realistic landfilling scenarios

Toxic metal release in simple leaching tests has been studied in this paper to assess waste behaviour in realistic landfilling scenarios. The waste is a galvanic sludge, raw or cement stabilized. Six different leachants were taken into account: distilled water, CO2-saturated solution, Olsen solution, Mehlich No. 3 solution, acid or alkaline soil circulating solution. Dynamic leaching tests of different duration were used for raw and stabilized waste. The results have shown that, with the exception of Mehlich No. 3 solution, when the waste comes into contact with waters of composition similar to that of the solutions studied, the potential environmental contamination should not be of concern.     

Functionalisation of carbon nanohorns

The functionalisation of single wall carbon nanohorns via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition has been achieved, and the products have been characterised by spectroscopy, microscopy and thermogravimetry.     

On Rational Varieties Smooth Except at a Seminormal Singular Point

We construct a class of projective rational varieties X of any dimension m ≥ 1, which are smooth except at a point O, with the projective space ? ^m as normalization, having smooth branches, and reduced projectivized tangent cone in O. The Hilbert function of X is considered and is explicitly computed when the point O is seminormal. Indeed, we study seminormality, obtaining necessary and sufficient conditions for O to be seminormal and show that in such case the tangent cone is reduced and seminormal.     

Analytical investigations of poly(acrylic acid) coatings electrodeposited on titanium-based implants: a versatile approach to biocompatibility enhancement

A polyacrylic acid film was synthesized on titanium substrates from aqueous solutions via an electroreductive process for the first time. This work was done in order to develop a versatile coating for titanium-based orthopaedic implants that acts as both an effective bioactive surface and an effective anti-corrosion barrier. The chemical structure of the PAA coating was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to evaluate the effect of annealing treatment on the morphology of the coatings in terms of their uniformity and porosity. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to measure ion concentrations in ion release tests performed on Ti-6Al-4V sheets modified with PAA coatings (annealed and unannealed). Results indicate that the annealing process produces coatings that possess considerable anti-corrosion performance. Moreover, the availability and the reactivity of the surface carboxylic groups were exploited in order to graft biological molecules onto the PAA-modified titanium implants. The feasibility of the grafting reaction was tested using a single aminoacid residue. A fluorinated aminoacid was selected, and the grafting reaction was monitored both by XPS, using fluorine as a marker element, and via quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements. The success of the grafting reaction opens the door to the synthesis of a wide variety of PAA-based coatings that are functionalized with selected bioactive molecules and promote positive reactions with the biological system interfacing the implant while considerably reducing ion release into surrounding tissues. Figure Vanadium release from bare Ti-6Al-4V sheets compared with the release from sheets coated with annealed and unannealed electrosynthesised PAA Dedicated to Professor P.G. Zambonin on the occasion of his 72nd birthday.