Preconcentration and Separation Procedures for the Spectrochemical Determination of Platinum and Palladium

Low concentrations of Pt and Pd in industrial (µgg^–1 level) and environmental samples (ngg^–1 level) together with the complexity of the matrix causing many interferences during the determination of noble metals often require elaboration and application of pre-concentration/matrix separation procedures before detection of the analyte. Different pre-concentration/matrix separation procedures applied prior to the determination of Pt and Pd by atomic spectrometric techniques are reviewed and critically compared taking into account potential interferences. The methods studied are divided into 5 groups including precipitation and coprecipitation, liquid–liquid extraction, solid phase extraction, electrochemical pre-concentration and biosorption. The main analytical problems occuring during sample preparation and storage are discussed.     

Crystal structure of Mg0.65Sc0.35Dx deuterides studied by X-ray and neutron powder diffraction

The structural properties of the Mg_0.65Sc_0.35D_x deuterides have been investigated by X-ray and neutron powder diffraction at different deuterium content (0?x?2.2 D/f.u.). The metallic phase adopts a pseudo-CsCl structure (Pm-3m space group (SG); a=3.5921(2) Å) that transforms upon hydrogenation into a face centered cubic (FCC) phase involving an elongation of the c-axis, a shrinkage of the a-axis and a re-ordering of the metallic atoms. The fully hydrided compound (2.2 D/f.u.) adopts a cubic structure (Fm-3m SG; a=4.8087(7) Å) and deuterium is located in fully occupied tetrahedral sites and partially filled (24%) octahedral sites. Upon desorption, a two-phase domain appears with coexistence of a hydrogen-rich (1.55 D/f.u.) and a hydrogen-poor (0.85 D/f.u.) phase (Fm-3m SG; a=4.7598(3) and 4.6936(3) Å, respectively). All deuterium atoms are located in the tetrahedral sites with different occupancy factors: 77% for the H-rich phase and 43% for the H-poor phase. The appearance of a plateau in the pressure-composition-isotherm curve measured at 573 K confirms this two-phase behavior. The structural properties of the Mg_0.65Sc_0.35D_x system are discussed and compared with other body centered cubic (BCC) alloys adopting the same structure.     

低于300℃时两种氧化铈材料对稀燃阶段NOx存储性能的影响

研究了低于300 ℃时两种氧化铈对稀燃阶段NO_x存储性能的影响,催化剂由2%（w）Pt/Al₂O₃（PA）与CeO₂-X（X=S,I）机械混合制备. X射线衍射（XRD）,BET表面积和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）用于表征材料的物理结构. X射线光电子能谱（XPS）和H₂程序升温还原（H₂-TPR）用于表面Ce³⁺和活性氧定量. 原位漫反射傅里叶变换红外光谱（in-situ DRIFTS）用于分析表面NO_x吸附物种. 相比于CeO₂-I,CeO₂-S 具有优良的物理化学性能,包括高比表面积、丰富的空隙结构、较高的抗老化能力及表面Ce³⁺浓度. 因而,Pt/Al₂O₃+CeO₂-S 表现出优异的NO_x存储能力. 此外,PA+CeO₂-X（X=S,I）上存在Pt 与CeO₂之间的相互作用,可提高表面氧物种的活性进而促进NO氧化及NO_x存储. PA+CeO₂-S上的这种相互作用要强于PA+CeO₂-I. 研究表明,表面Ce³⁺浓度和活性氧含量对NO_x存储起到重要作用. 然而经过水热处理后,Pt 与老化的氧化铈（ACS,ACI）之间的相互作用降低,并且两种氧化铈NO_x存储性能显著下降. 另外,与PA+ACS（ACI）相比,PA+PACS（PACI）样品NO_x存储能力得到改善,这归因于表面氧物种活性增加能促进硝酸盐的形成.     

Effect of hydrocolloids on starch thermal transitions,as measured by DSC

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to analyze the influence of different hydrocolloids (xanthan, guar, and locust bean gums, carboxymethylcellulose and sodium alginate) on the gelatinization of corn starch in systems with starch concentration ranging between 0.1 and 0.7 g starch/g mixture. The reduction of available water produced a shift in gelatinization temperature, especially of the conclusion temperature. The effect was more marked for ionic hydrocolloids. The influence of hydrocolloids on glass transition temperature (T _g) of gelatinized starch suspensions and on the glass transition temperature of the maximally freeze-concentrated solute/unfrozen water matrix (T _g) was also studied.T _g onset values ranged between –4.5 and –5.5C for corn starch pastes with and without hydrocolloids. Those hydrocolloids that increased the viscosity of the unfrozen matrix inhibited additional ice formation during thawing (devitrification).Starch concentration and final heating temperature were found to be relevant factors affecting the kinetics of amylopectin retrogradation during frozen storage at –4C. Xanthan gum failed to prevent amylopectin retrogradation; this observation could be attributed to the fact that gums act outside the starch granule, while amylopectin retrogradation takes place within the granule.     

Developments on carbon dioxide reduction: Their promise,achievements, and challenges

CO₂ reduction processes continue to be developed for electrosynthesis, energy storage applications, and environmental remediation. A number of promising materials have shown high activity and selectivity to target reduction products. However, the progress has been mainly at a small laboratory scale, and the technical challenges of large scale CO₂ reduction have not been considered adequately. This review covers recent advancements in catalyst materials and cell designs. The leading materials for CO₂ reduction to a number of useful products are presented with their corresponding cell and reactor designs. The latest efforts to progress to industrially relevant scales are discussed, along with the challenges that must be met for carbon dioxide reduction to be a viable route for mass scale production.     

Electrochemical Characteristics of Mg0.9Ti0.1-xZrxNi （x=0.02, 0.04, 0.06） Alloys

Mg-based hydrogen storage alloys Mg0.9Ti0.1-xZrxNi (x=0.02, 0.04, 0.06) were successfully prepared by means of mechanical alloying (MA). The effects of Zr addition on the discharge capacity and the cycle performance of the Mg-based electrodes were also studied. It was found that the discharge capacities were improved with addition of a small amount of Zr and the cycle performances of the alloy were stabilized with the addition of Ti. The effects of surface modification or coating on the properties of Mg0.9Ti0.06Zr0.04Ni were also studied. The results indicated that coating with graphite improved both the discharge capacity and cycle life of the amorphous Mg0.9Ti0.06Zr0.04Ni electrode.     

Preparation and Characterization of Microencapsulated Hexadecane Used for Thermal Energy Storage

Polyurea microcapsules about 2.5μm in diameter containing phase change material for thermal energy storage application were synthesized and characterized by interfacial polycondensation method with toluene-2,4-diisocyanate and ethylenediamine as monomers in an emulsion system. Hexadecane was used as a phase change material and OP, which is nonionic surfactant, and used as an emulsifier. The chemical structure and thermal behavior of the microcapsules were investigated by FTIR and thermal analysis respectively. The results show encapsulated hexadecane has a good potential as a solar energy storage material.     

Influence of Cycle Temperatures on the Thermochemical Heat Storage Densities in the Systems Water/Microporous and Water/Mesoporous Adsorbents

The adsorption equilibrium of water on microporous adsorbents (zeolites of NaA-, NaY- and NaX-type as well as their ion exchanged forms) and on mesoporous adsorbents (different silica gels and composite material i.e. silica gel + salt hydrate) has been studied experimentally and theoretically. Using the Dubinin theory of pore filling the characteristic curves of the adsorption systems and other relevant dependences such as isotherms, isobars, isosteres and the curve of the differential heat of adsorption were calculated. For all systems investigated the adsorption were calculated. A_ads and the desorption potential A_des of the closed heat storage system were estimated. These values define the working range of the adsorption/desorption cycle and allow to calculate the specific heat storage density Δ h_sp. On the basis of Δ h_sp the different adsorbents were compared in order to select the optimal porous storage material for a given application. The presented experimental and theoretical investigations show that the adsorption systems water-zeolite and water-composites are promising working pairs for thermochemical heat storage processes for hot tap water supply and space heating of single family dwellings. The advantage of the water-composite system is the low desorption temperature (solar energy) the main shortcoming the low temperature lift. The advantage of the water zeolite system is the high temperature lift, the shortcoming are the relative high desorption temperatures.     

The detection of oxygen in magneto-optical layers with SIMS

The detection of oxygen in magneto-optical layers is of fundamental importance for the characterization of the stability of RE-TM material. The magnetic properties are directly influenced by oxide formation. Oxygen depth profiles are carried out by using the SIMS technique. A comparison with magnetic measurements showed a clear conformity. We were able to study the oxidation behaviour of various layers at room temperature and at higher values up to 250° C for several hours. It could be shown that aluminum is a successful material for the protection of RE-films against oxidation. The difficulties of translating SIMS counting rates into concentration values were overcome by using EPMA. Specially prepared reference samples were measured by this technique and could then be used as standard samples for SIMS.     

Sorption equilibrium of methanol on new composite sorbents “CaCl<Subscript>2</Subscript>/silica gel”

This paper presents experimental data on methanol sorption on new composite sorbents which consist of mesoporous silica gels and calcium chloride confined to their pores. Sorption isobars and XRD analysis showed the formation of a solid crystalline solvate CaCl₂⋅2MeOH at low methanol uptake, while at higher uptake the formation of the CaCl₂–methanol solution occurred. The solution confined to the silica pores showed the sorption properties similar to those of the CaCl₂–methanol bulk solution. Calorimetric and isosteric analyses showed that the heat of methanol sorption depends on the methanol uptake, ranging from 38±2 kJ/mol for the solution to 81±4 kJ/mol for the solid crystalline phase CaCl₂⋅2MeOH. The above mentioned characterizations allowed the evaluation of the methanol sorption and the energy storage capacities, clearly showing that the optimal applications of these new composite sorbents are the methanol removal from gaseous mixtures, heat storage and sorption cooling driven by low temperature heat.