A new approach to the decontamination of asbestos-polluted waters by treatment with oxalic acid under power ultrasound

A suspension of chrysotile asbestos fibres in aqueous 0.5M oxalic acid was subjected to power ultrasound with the aim to disrupt and detoxify the mineral by the leaching action of oxalic acid on its structural cations acting simultaneously with a vigorous acoustic cavitation. Sonication was performed in a "cavitating tube", a vertical hollow vibrating cylinder made of titanium, operating at 19.2 kHz and 150 W. Treatment lasted from 2.5 to 21 h. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the joint action of the chelating agent and ultrasound (though not of either when applied independently) mostly converted asbestos fibres into micrometric aggregates and nano-sized debris, whose morphology totally differed from asbestos fibres. When treated suspensions were filtered through CA membranes (pore size 0.20 microm), more than half of the asbestos went through the filter because it had either been brought in solution or dispersed in the form of extremely small particles. Most of the structural metal ions were brought into solution (ICP-AES). After the treatment the BET surface area of the recovered solid was tenfold greater than the original. The crystalline fraction of residual solids, though resembling the original sample in XRD, was shown by micro-Raman spectra to be made of antigorite, a polymorph form of serpentine. Furthermore, as the length of these antigorite fibrils lay outside the fibre range rated as a health hazard under worldwide regulations, our procedure can be employed for the decontamination of chrysotile-polluted waters and sediments.     

Multimodal imaging: an evaluation of univariate and multivariate methods for simultaneous EEG/fMRI

The combination of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been proposed as a tool to study brain dynamics with both high temporal and high spatial resolution. Multimodal imaging techniques rely on the assumption of a common neuronal source for the different recorded signals. In order to maximally exploit the combination of these techniques, one needs to understand the coupling (i.e., the relation) between electroencephalographic (EEG) and fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals.     

湍流的相干结构:推演方法和结果

本文讨论壁面湍流发展的相干结构的观点.在简要的历史文献综述后,我们回顾一些基本观点, 并且介绍相干结构的思想.基于大量主要是由实验所得的结果,本文通过广泛运用的事件检 测技术,探讨湍流边界层内部和外部区域发生的现象.我们从边界层内部区域发生的现象、 边界层外部大尺度运动的发展和涡结构动力学的角度来描述流动的现象.在文章的 第2部分,介绍从背景流动中推演出湍流相干结构的各种方法以及在各种方法框架下所得到的结果, 讨论速度梯度张量不变量、压力的Hessian矩阵分析和本征正交分解等方法.每一个过程 都有``相干结构'的特定的定义,满足恰当的数学构架,并可以对湍流数据做相干结构动力 学分析.这一工作可能会对当前流体动力学家在湍流研究中用到的最新理论和技术的传播有 所贡献.     

Green Deep Eutectic Solvents for Microwave-Assisted Biomass Delignification and Valorisation

Aiming to fulfil the sustainability criteria of future biorefineries, a novel biomass pretreatment combining natural deep eutectic solvents (NaDESs) and microwave (MW) technology was developed. Results showed that NaDESs have a high potential as green solvents for lignin fractionation/recovery and sugar release in the following enzymatic hydrolysis. A new class of lignin derived NaDESs (LigDESs) was also investigated, showing promising effects in wheat straw delignification. MW irradiation enabled a fast pretreatment under mild condition (120 °C, 30 min). To better understand the interaction of MW with these green solvents, the dielectric properties of NaDESs were investigated. Furthermore, a NaDES using the lignin recovered from biomass pretreatment as hydrogen bond donor was prepared, thus paving the way for a “closed-loop” biorefinery process.     

Playing construction with the monomer toy box for the synthesis of multi-stimuli responsive copolymers by reversible deactivation radical polymerization protocols

In this review article, we survey the 2016–June 2021 scientific literature on the synthesis of multi-stimuli responsive (MSR) polymers, the main focus being on reversible deactivation radical polymerization techniques (RDRPs, also known as controlled radical polymerizations). In fact, along more than 40 years of extensive research, RDRPs have boosted the synthesis of stimuli-responsive polymers. RDRPs are now robust, versatile, relatively user-friendly and even interconvertible, thus allowing control over composition, sequence, and topology of polymers. Such control can afford materials with well-defined responses to physical, chemical, and biological external stimuli. Furthermore, “click” reactions are used to combine macromolecular precursors or to introduce specific functional groups in the target structure. As a result, MSR polymers are obtained from diverse combinations of commercial or specially synthesized building blocks arranged at will into desired sequences and architectures. Thanks to this versatility, self-assembling polymeric structures are designed either to respond to triggers and perform specific applicative tasks, or to investigate the influence of structural variables on the responsivity of polymers. The “green” trend emerging in the field of responsive polymers and RDRPs is also briefly discussed.     

Phenylhydrazine–borane adduct—characterized in the solid state and in solution

The 1:1 phenylhydrazine–borane adduct, obtained from phenylhydrazine and sodium borohydride in acidic solution, was investigated by IR, NMR spectroscopy, and MS spectrometry. Ab initio MO calculations indicated the isomer in which the boron center is attached to the primary amino group as the more stable. This forecast was confirmed by solution‐state ¹H, ¹¹B, ¹³C, and ¹⁵N NMR spectroscopy, in agreement with the molecular structure in the solid state determined by X‐ray analysis. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 13:366–372, 2002; Published online in Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.10049     

CFD modelling of a spray deposition process of paint

The paint deposition process by spraying has been studied by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics in order to predict the final thickness of the coating and to determine theoretically the overspraying phenomenon. The VOF model has been used to describe the impact phenomena onto the wall and the Euler-Lagrange approach to simulate droplet trajectories on their way to the surface. Particular attention has been devoted to the prediction of the maximum diameter reached by an impinging droplet at the end of the spreading phase. This diameter is very important in the study of the paint processes because the high viscosity and the small surface tension of paints reduce the impingement practically only to the spreading phase. Two different configurations of atomizers have been considered. The air flux provides a finer atomisation of the liquid, gives to the droplets the necessary velocity to reach the wall, but is also the main cause of overspray since the small droplets tend to follow its deviation near the wall.