Beneficial effect of boron on the structural and magnetostrictive behavior of Fe77Ga23 alloy

Alloys of Fe₇₇Ga₂₃B_x (x=0, 0.025, 0.050, 0.075 and 0.1) were heat treated at 1000 °C/10 h and characterized for microstructural features and magnetostriction. The study indicates that the parent alloy consists of three phases viz. A2 as the major phase and L1₂ and DO₃ as minor phases. However, the volume fraction of L1₂ and DO₃ decreases with B addition and as a result magnetostriction improves. The decrease in volume fraction of these phases is attributed to B-segregation to the grain boundary, which seems to prevent the formation of these phases. The alloy with x=0.1, however, exhibits an additional Fe₂B phase and consequently its presence leads to the re-emergence of the DO₃ phase, affecting the magnetostriction.     

Treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater by ultrasound-dispersed nanoscale zero-valent iron particles

Petroleum refineries release wastewater, which is rich in organic pollutants and cannot be treated easily. This study presents the treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater using nanoscale zero valent iron (NZVI) in the presence of ultrasonication. NZVI characteristics were analyzed using SEM and XRD. The influence of NZVI dosage and initial pH on % chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction was studied. From the results, it can be inferred that a dosage of 0.15 g/l and an initial pH are optimum for the effective degradation of effluents. The degradation data were found to follow first order kinetics. The results indicate that using NZVI in combination with ultrasonication is an efficient method for the treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater.     

Growth of multiwalled carbon nanotube arrays by chemical vapour deposition over iron catalyst and the effect of growth parameters

Multiwalled carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays were grown by catalytic thermal decomposition of acetylene, over Fe-catalyst deposited on Si-wafer in the temperature range 700-750 °C. The growth parameters were optimized to obtain dense arrays of multiwalled CNTs of uniform diameter. The vertical cross-section of the grown nanotube arrays reveals a quasi-vertical alignment of the nanotubes. The effect of varying the thickness of the catalyst layer and the effect of increasing the growth duration on the morphology and distribution of the grown nanotubes were studied. A scotch-tape test to check the strength of adhesion of the grown CNTs to the Si-substrate surface reveals a strong adhesion between the grown nanotubes and the substrate surface. Transmission electron microscopy analysis of the grown CNTs shows that the grown CNTs are multiwalled nanotubes with a bamboo structure, and follow the base-growth mechanism.     

Microstructure and Mössbauer studies on magnetostrictive Tb0.3Dy0.7Fe1.95 − x Nb x (x = 0, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.075)

³⁵Cl NQR measurements were carried out between 77 and 209 K for 3-chlorothiophene, which has a glass transition in a stable crystalline state. An NQR signal with full widths of about 100 kHz at half maximum was observed in this temperature range. The spin-lattice relaxation time T ₁ was measured at the peak frequencies. The activation energy Δε _a obtained from the results of the T ₁ measurements showed a good agreement with those estimated from calorimetric measurements.