Sorption properties of freshly precipitated alumogels

The influence of the pH of precipitation and the ionic medium nature on the composition, surface charge, and kinetic sorption characteristics of aluminum oxyhydroxides formed by alkaline hydrolysis of an aqueous solution of aluminum nitrate was studied. The methods of drop titration with alkali, argentometric titration, point of zero charge, and indicator reactions of heterogeneous hydrolysis were used. The composition of the freshly precipitated hydrogels of aluminum(iii) oxyhydroxide, rate constants of heterogeneous hydrolysis of the IrCl₆ ^2– ions as indicator reactions, and the pH of the point of zero charge were determined. The rate of indicator reactions (as for other oxyhydroxide hydrogels) depends strongly on the pH of precipitation. However, it is lower than the rates characteristics of iron(iii) and chromium(iii) oxyhydroxides obtained under similar conditions. The pH of the point of zero charge for the alumogels in a chloride medium is 8.3 and that in a sulfate medium is 9.5.     

Fibers and 3D mesh scaffolds from biodegradable starch-based blends: production and characterization

The aim of this work is the production of fibers from biodegradable polymers to obtain 3D scaffolds for tissue engineering of hard tissues. The scaffolds required for this highly demanding application need to have, as well as the biological and mechanical characteristics, a high degree of porosity with suitable dimensions for cell seeding and proliferation. Furthermore, the open cell porosity should have adequate interconnectivity for a continuous flow of nutrients and outflow of cell metabolic residues as well as to allow cell growth into confluent layers. Blends of corn starch, a natural biodegradable polymer, with other synthetic polymers (poly(ethylene vinyl alcohol), poly(epsilon-caprolactone), poly(lactic acid)) were selected for this work because of their good balance of properties, namely biocompatibility, processability and mechanical properties. Melt spinning was used to produce fibers from all the blends and 3D meshes from one of the starch-poly(lactic acid) blends. The experimental characterization included the evaluation of the tensile mechanical properties and thermal properties of the fibers and the compression stiffness, porosity and degradation behavior of the 3D meshes. Light microscopy picture of 3D meshes.     

New Method to Calculate Thermodynamic and Transport Properties of a Multi-Temperature Plasma: Application to N2 Plasma

Multi-temperature thermal plasmas have often to be considered to account for the nonequilibrium effects. Recently André et al. have developed the calculation of concentrations in a multi-temperature plasma by artificially separating the partition functions into a product by assuming that the excitation energies are those of the lower levels (electronic, vibration, and rotation). However, at equilibrium, differences, increasing with temperature, can be observed between partition functions calculated rigorously and with their method. This paper presents a modified method where it has been assumed that the preponderant rotational energy is that of the vibrational level v=0 of the ground electronic state and the preponderant vibrational energy is that of the ground electronic state. The internal partition function can then be expressed as a product of series expressions. At equilibrium for N ₂ and N ₂ ⁺ partition functions the values calculated with our method differ by less than 0.1% from those calculated rigorously. The calculation has been limited to three temperatures: heavy species T_h , electrons T_e , and vibrational T _v temperatures. The plasma composition has been calculated by minimizing the Gibbs free enthalpy with the steepest descent numerical technique. The nonequilibrium properties have been calculated using the method of Devoto, modified by Bonnefoi and Aubreton. The ratio =T_e/T_h was varied between 1 and 2 as well as the ratio _v =T _v /T _h for a nitrogen plasma. At equilibrium the corresponding equilibrium transport properties of Ar and N ₂ are in good agreement with those of Devoto and Murphy except for T>10,000 K where we used a different interaction potential for N–N ⁺ . The effects of _v and _e on thermodynamic and transport properties of N ₂ are then discussed.     

Characterisation of raw materials for production of ceramics

The aim of this paper is to characterize some raw materials used for ceramics material production. Five samples of clay have been analyzed. It has been carried out a patterned sampling in a quarry in Rosarno (South Italy). Chemical-physical properties on clay samples are determined. Test pieces have been prepared and physical properties after firing are determined by DSC thermal analysis, XRD analysis and X-ray fluorescence. It is important to note the high amount of Fe₂O₃. The mixture principally contains quartz, illite and oligoclase. It has been observed the colour and the shape after firing: predominant colour is red. In this case the clay has been used in mixtures covered with glazes. The colour of internal clay is hidden by opaque of glazes. The analysed raw materials can be used in a slip for single fired red tiles. The A2sp clay produces best ceramics at 1000°C.     

Synthesis,structure, and magnetic properties of the cobalt(<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">II</Emphasis>) 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate layered coordination polymer

The reaction of Co(NO₃)₂·6H₂O with 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (H₃btc, trimesic acid) in DMF at 100 °C afforded the coordination polymer [Co₃(dmf)₆(btc)(Hbtc)(H₂btc)]··9H₂O (1) (dmf is N,N′-dimethylformamide, DMF). According to the X-ray diffraction study, the metal-organic coordination polymer is composed of planar honeycomb (6,3) networks, in which the organic benzenetricarboxylate anions and the inorganic Co²⁺ cations play a role of three-connected nodes. Disordered water molecules are intercalated between the layers. A study of the magnetic properties showed the presence of a weak antiferromagnetic coupling between the Co²⁺ ions (S = 3/2). Dedicated to Academician G. A. Abakumov on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 1719–1723, September, 2007.     

Structural and electrochemical studies of annealed LiNiVO4 thin films

We prepared stoichiometric lithium nickel vanadate amorphous thin films by using r.f. magnetron sputtering under controlled oxygen partial pressure. The amorphous films were heated at various temperatures, 300–600 °C, for 8 h. The as‐deposited and annealed thin films were characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, nuclear reaction analysis, Auger electron spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The electrochemical behavior of the various films was studied by the galvanostatic method. The cells were tested in a liquid electrolyte at room temperature, with lithium metal used as the counter and reference electrode. The best electrochemical storage value was obtained with the thin film annealed at 300 °C, which showed superior capacity and small capacity loss during cycling. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tribological properties of ormosil coatings

Transparent plastics are not scratch resistant. The damage leads to a loss of optical properties. Coatings prepared using either tetraethoxysilane or colloidal silica particles embedded in glymo is a way to avoid these disadvantages. Tribological experiments are carried out to better understand the surface modification due to a sliding friction. It is shown that the wear track is not directly related to usual mechanical properties such as Young's modulus and the hardness of the coating. The different stages leading to material loss are discussed in term of particle removal and debris circulation (accumulation or elimination) through the friction track. The mechanical properties of the film combined with the film to substrate adhesion are expected to play an important role as it can be deduced from results obtained as a function of the coating composition.     

New palladium nanoclusters. Synthesis,structure, and catalytic properties

The reduction of palladium(ii) carboxylates Pd₃(OCOR)₆ (R = Me, Et, CHMe₂, CMe₃) with hydrogen in alcohol solutions containing 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and subsequent oxidation with oxygen gave new palladium nanoclusters, mainly particles with a nearly spherical metal core and an average size of 18 . Based on elemental analysis, NMR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and EXAFS, nanoclusters were described by the idealized formula Pd₁₄₇phen₃₂O₆₀(OCOR)₃₀. The specimens contained up to 25% smaller 55-atomic Pd clusters with a 10 metal core. New nanoclusters catalyze hydrogenation of alkynes and alkenes, reduction of nitriles with formic acid, oxidation of aliphatic and benzylic alcohols, oxidative esterification of ethylene and propylene, and disproportionation of benzyl alcohol into toluene and benzaldehyde.     

ADSORPTION OF 2,4-DICHLOROBENZOXYACETIC ACID ONTO HYPERCROSSLINKED RESIN MODIFIED BY PHENOLIC HYDROXYL GROUP (AM-1)

INTRODUCTIONAdsorption has been considered to be the best available technology for removing organics from water in the USSafe Drinking Water Act[1]. Due to many drawbacks of activated carbon[2-7], the most widely used adsorbent,hypercrosslinked polymeric adsorbents developed by Tsyurupa and Davankov[8] have been increasingly viewedas an alternative to activated carbon for selective removal of specific organic substances from contaminatedwater[9-12], and series of researches have been do…     

钙钛矿型CaSiO_3解压缩和重压缩过程的分子动力学模拟

用分子动力学模拟方法 (MD)研究了 3 0 0K时钙钛矿型CaSiO3 ,从高压到负压的解压缩过程 .MD模拟获得的P V关系与实验数据相近 ,与已报道的MD模拟数据基本一致 ,所得体积模量也在实验数据分布范围内 .减压缩和重压缩的MD模拟数据与实验结果相似 .钙钛矿型CaSiO3 解压缩成非晶态时 ,存在两个结构破坏阶段 :破坏硅氧八面体和破坏钙氧二十面体 .当钙氧二十面体被破坏后 ,重压缩不能得到钙钛矿型结构 .只要钙氧二十面体未被破坏 ,重压缩可恢复钙钛矿型结构 .本研究得到的结果尚未见相关报道 .由MD模拟数据计算了CaSiO3 系统的红外光谱 ,分析这些数据可知钙钛矿型CaSiO3 解压缩非晶化是一个二阶软模相变 .研究表明钙钛矿型CaSiO3 结构存在一个等容的亚稳极限 ,其解压缩非晶化是一个受动力学控制的亚稳状态 .