A Systematic Literature Review of Rammed Earth Walls

Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering - Rammed earth structures consist of soil piers, natural materials, and water, which are hammered in thin layers in a container. Rammed earth walls are the...     

Effect of Ozone as a Disinfectant on Microbial Load and Chemical Quality of Raw Wheat Germ

ABSTRACT

While raw seed sprouts can threaten consumers’ health by foodborne pathogens, thermal or chemical disinfection of sprouts may cause some negative effects; instead, ozone can be a good alternative treatment. This study investigated the effect of nine ozone treatments (2000, 4000, and 6000 ppm within 1, 2, and 4 h) on wheat germ chemical compositions and microbial flora. The results indicated that ozonation with 2000 ppm during 4 h was the optimized treatment with the greatest effect on decreasing the microbial load while it had the minimum effect on antioxidant properties, lipid oxidation, and moisture content of raw wheat germ.     

Synthesis and Ex-Situ characterizations of diamond-like carbon coatings for metallic bipolar plates in PEM fuel cells

Metallic bipolar plates can significantly increase the power density of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells; however, they require corrosion-protection coatings with desirable physical and chemical properties. In this study, diamond-like carbon (DLC) film coatings are investigated as such coatings potentially for metallic-based bipolar plates, with the focus on the relation between the processes and properties of the coatings under different coating deposition conditions of Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Depsoition (PECVD) method. Various characterization techniques are applied to study the adhesion, structure, morphology, wettability, corrosion, and electrical resistivity of the film coatings. XPS, EDAX, and SEM analyses are used to identify the ratio of sp³ (diamond-like) and sp² (graphite-like) bonds in the coatings, surface elements, and surface morphology, respectively. Potentiodynamic polarization test is utilized to investigate the corrosion behaviors of substrates with and without DLC coatings. Further, the electrical resistivity of the DLC films is measured by the four-point probe method. The results indicate that higher deposition power along with the absence of argon gas results in more sp³ than sp² bonds in the coating, and the electrical resistivity is increased accordingly. The coating films deposited from methane (CH₄) exhibit superior adhesion to the stainless steel (SS316) substrates over those generated from acetylene (C₂H₂) gas. Coating films deposited on the metallic substrates change the surface wettability appreciably. Further, polarization tests show that coatings generated with a low power of 250 W and higher argon gas percentage of 30% provide better anti-corrosion protection for metallic-based bipolar plates.     

Hydrothermal Synthesis of a Nano-sized Mercury(II) N–N–O Donor Coordination Compound

A novel nano-structures mercury(II) coordination compound, [Hg (HPCIH) I₂] (1), (“HPCIH” is the abbreviation of 2-pyridinecarbaldehyde isonicotinoyl hydrazone) has been synthesized by a hydrothermal method that produces the coordination compound at nano size. The new nanostructure was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction elemental analysis and IR spectroscopy. Compound 1 was structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction and the single-crystal structure of this complex shows that each mercury(II) center is five coordinated with two N-donor and one O-donor atoms from “HPCIH” ligand and two iodo anions. Self-assembly of this complexes is realized by CH····I, I····I and π–π stacking interactions. The supramolecular features in these complexes are controlled by weak directional intermolecular interactions.     

Oxidative stability of purified common Kilka (Clupeonella cultiventris caspia) oil as a function of the bene kernel and hull oils

Oxidative stability of the purified common Kilka triacylglycerols (PKO) as affected by 1–8% w/w of bene kernel (BKO) and hull (BHO) oils was studied and compared with that of 100 mg kg^?1 of BHT and α‐tocopherol. Lipid oxidation was measured by monitoring peroxide value till the minute 80 (PV₈₀, meq kg^?1) and also by determining the oxidative stability index at 60 °C (OSI₆₀, h). In the Rancimat test, the OSI₆₀ of the PKO (1.66 h) was significantly increased by some of the added antioxidants, and the BKO 8% (7.98 h) had the highest antioxidant activity with no significant differences among the BHT, α‐tocopherol and the BHO 8%. Furthermore, an exponential regression curve with a good coefficient of determination (R² > 0.94) was observed between the changes in the PV₈₀ and OSI₆₀ values of the PKO.     

Exploring the role of natural gas power plants with carbon capture and storage as a bridge to a low-carbon future

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Natural gas combined-cycle (NGCC) turbines with carbon capture and storage (CCS) could be an important source of low-carbon electricity in the future....