Effect of Temperature on Cd2+ Sorption by Mixed Oxides of Iron and Silicon

The current study focuses on the synthesis and sorption properties of two mixed oxides of iron and silicon prepared by physical mixing (M₁) and sequential precipitation methods (M₂). Both the mixed oxides were synthesized from equimolar ratios of Fe(OH)₃ and SiO₂ and characterized for surface area, EDX, XRD and PZC. The surface area, micropore volume and average pore width of the oxide M₁ were higher as compared to the oxide M₂. However, potentiometric titrations revealed that mixed oxide synthesized by this method had a very high capacity towards Cd²⁺ ions as compared to the mixed oxide M₁. Sorption of Cd²⁺ ions at pH 5 on mixed oxide, M₂ was found to increase with temperature in the range 288 to 318 K. Langmuir equation was found applicable to the sorption data with R²>0.99. Entropy (ΔS^?), enthalpy (ΔH^?) and free energy changes (ΔG^?) were calculated which revealed the process to be endothermic and spontaneous in nature.     

Kinetic and Equilibrium Studies of Chromium(III) Removal by Macroporous Ion Exchanger Amberlyst‐15 (H+)

Chromium(III) sorption on macroporous strong cation exchanger Amberlyst‐15 (H⁺) was studied as a function of time and temperature. The rate constant values for chromium(III) sorption were calculated both for film and particle diffusion processes. The temperature was found to have a positive effect on both the diffusional processes. From the rate constant values, the energy of activation was calculated using the well‐known Arrhenius equation. The high values of energy of activation confirmed the film diffusional nature of the process. Equilibrium data were explained with the help of Langmuir equation. Various thermodynamic parameters (ΔH^?, ΔS^? and ΔG^?) from chromium(III) exchange on the resin were calculated. The ΔG^? values were found to be negative while both the ΔH^? and ΔS^? were positive.     

pePC-SAFT: Modeling of polyelectrolyte systems: 1. Vapor–liquid equilibria

A molecular thermodynamic model for polyelectrolyte systems—called pePC-SAFT—is proposed. The effect of charged monomers within the polyelectrolyte chain is explicitly taken into account in the reference term by replacing the hard-chain contribution of the PC-SAFT model by a charged-hard-chain contribution. Moreover, counterion condensation is accounted for to determine the effective number of charges along the polyion as well as of free counterions. The electrostatic contribution of the free counterions is described by a Debye–Hückel term.     

Effect of substitution of K ions on the structural and electrical properties of nanocrystalline MgAl2O4 spinel oxide

Potassium substituted nanosized magnesium aluminates having a nominal composition Mg_1−xK_xAl₂O₄ where x=0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0 have been synthesized by the chemical co-precipitation method. The samples have been characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and dc electrical resistivity measurements. The XRD results reveal that the samples are spinel single phase cubic close packed crystalline materials. The calculated crystallite size ranges between 6 and 8 nm. The behaviour of the lattice constant seems to deviate from the Vegard's law. While X-ray density clearly increases, the bulk density and consequently, the percentage porosity do not exhibit a significant change on increasing the K⁺ content. The SEM micrographs suggest homogeneous distribution of the nanocrystallites in the samples. The dc electrical resistivity exhibits a typical semiconducting behaviour. Substitution of a Mg²⁺ ion by a K⁺ ion provides an extra hole to the system, which forms small polaron. Thermally activated hopping of these small polarons is believed to be the conduction mechanism in the Mg_1−xK_xAl₂O₄. The activation energy of hopping of small polarons has been calculated and found K⁺ ions content dependent.     

Adult survival in Partridge-Barton model of biological aging

A Monte Carlo simulation of the Partridge-Barton model is presented which in a limiting case gives extreme senescence in the sense of immediate death after sexual maturity.     

Bioconversion potential of Trichoderma viride HN1 cellulase for a lignocellulosic biomass Saccharum spontaneum

The industrialisation of lignocellulose conversion is impeded by expensive cellulase enzymes required for saccharification in bioethanol production. Current research undertakes cellulase production from pretreated Saccharum spontaneum through Trichoderma viride HN1 under submerged fermentation conditions. Pretreatment of substrate with 2% NaOH resulted in 88% delignification. Maximum cellulase production (2603 ± 16.39 U/mL/min carboxymethyl cellulase and 1393 ± 25.55 U/mL/min FPase) was achieved at 6% substrate at pH 5.0, with 5% inoculum, incubated at 35°C for 120 h of fermentation period. Addition of surfactant, Tween 80 and metal ion Mn⁺², significantly enhanced cellulase yield. This study accounts proficient cellulase yield through process optimisation by exploiting cheaper substrate to escalate their commercial endeavour.     

Effects of exponential volume fraction law on the natural frequencies of FGM cylindrical shells under various boundary conditions

In the present work, vibration characteristics of thin functionally graded cylindrical shells are studied under the influence of various boundary conditions. Fabrication of FGM cylindrical shell is carried out by using exponential volume fraction law. Strain- and curvature-displacements relationships are taken from Love’s thin shell theory. The frequency equation in the form of eigenvalue problem is obtained by adapting the Rayleigh-Ritz method. Characteristic beam functions are assumed to approximate the axial modal dependence. Effects of exponential volume fraction law on the natural frequencies of the FGM cylindrical shells for various boundary conditions are studied against circumferential wave number, length to radius ratio and thickness to radius ratio for different values of power law exponents. Results evaluated show good agreement with those available in the literature.     

Noether, partial Noether operators and first integrals for a linear system

We obtain Noether and partial Noether operators corresponding to a Lagrangian and a partial Lagrangian for a system of two linear second-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with variable coefficients. The canonical form for a system of two second-order ordinary differential equations is invoked and a special case of this system is studied for both Noether and partial Noether operators. Then the first integrals with respect to Noether and partial Noether operators are obtained for the linear system under consideration. We show that the first integrals for both the Noether and partial Noether operators are the same. This can give rise to further studies on systems from a partial Lagrangian viewpoint as systems in general do not admit Lagrangians.