In-situ measurement of mineral phase transition and kinetics in roasting process of Bayan Obo mixed rare earth concentrate by sodium carbonate

In this study, the Bayan Obo rare earth concentrates mixed with Na₂CO₃ were used for roasting research. The phase change process of each firing stage was analyzed. The kinetic mechanism model of the continuous heating process was calculated. This study aims to recover valuable elements and optimize the production process to provide a certain theoretical basis. Using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry, the reaction process and the existence of mineral phases were analyzed. The variable temperature XRD and thermogravimetric method were used to calculate the roasting kinetics. The phase transition results show that carbonate-like substances first decompose into fine mineral particles, and CaO, MgO, and SiO₂ react to form silicates, causing hardening. Further, REPO₄ and NaF can directly generate CeF₃ and CeF₄ at high temperatures, and a part of CeF₄ and NaF forms a solid solution substance Na₃CeF₇. Rare earth oxides calcined at a high temperature of 750 °C were separated to produce Ce_0.6Nd_0.4O_1.8, Ce₄O₇, and LaPrO_3+x. Then, BaSO₄, Na₂CO₃, and Fe₂O₃ react to form barium ferrite BaFe₁₂O₁₉; the kinetic calculation results show that during the continuous heating process, the apparent activation energy E reaches the minimum in the entire reaction stage in the temperature range of 440–524 °C, and the reaction order n reaches the maximum, which indicates that the decomposition product REFO significantly impacts the reaction system and reduces the activation energy. The mechanism function is F(α) = [?ln (1?α)]^1/3. The reaction order n reaches the minimum in the temperature range of 680–757 °C, and the apparent activation energy E is large. The difficulty of the reaction increases during the final stage. The reaction mechanism function is F(α) = [1?(1?α)^1/3]². Observing the entire reaction stage, the step of controlling the reaction rate changes from random nucleation to three-dimensional diffusion (spherical symmetry).     

Annealing temperature-dependent structural and electrical properties of (Ta2O5)1-x - (TiO2)x thin films,x ≤ 0.11

(Ta₂O₅)_1-x- (TiO₂)_x (TTO_x) thin films, with x = 0, 0.03, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.11, were deposited using magnetron direct current (DC) sputtering method onto the P/boron-silicon (1 0 0) substrates by varying areas of Tantalum and Titanium metallic targets, in oxygen environment at ambient temperature. The as-deposited thin films were annealed at temperatures ranging from 500 to 800 °C. Generally, the formation of the Ta₂O₅ structure was observed from the X-ray diffraction measurements of the annealed films. The capacitance of prepared metal– oxide– semiconductor (MOS) structures of Ag/TTO_x/p-Si was measured at 1 MHz. The dielectric constant of the deposited films was observed altering with varying composition and annealing temperature, showing the highest value 71, at 1 MHz, for the TTO_x films, x = 0.06, annealed at 700 °C. With increasing annealing temperature, from 700 to 800 °C, the leakage current density was observed, generally decreasing, from 10^?5 to 10^?8 A cm^?2, for the prepared compositions. Among the prepared compositions, films with x = 0.06, annealed at 800 °C, having the observed value of dielectric constant 48, at 1 MHz; and the leakage current density 2.7 × 10^?8 A cm^?2, at the electric field of 3.5 × 10⁵ V cm^?1, show preferred potential as a dielectric for high-density silicon memory devices.     

Sustainable phenolic thermosets coatings derived from urushiol

The over-exploitation of finite fossil resources and/or the increased environmental and sustainable awareness inspire scientists and technologists to search for inexpensive alternatives from renewable chemicals. Phenol formaldehyde (PF) resins, the oldest type of synthetic polymers with good mechanical properties and heat resistance, are widely used in the production of coatings, laminates, molding compositions, and glues. Here, biobased urushiol-derived PF resins were synthesized from the alkali-catalyzed reaction between urushiol and formaldehyde. The chemical compositions and molecular structures of resole resins were characterized by carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and their curing behaviors were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The as-prepared urushiol-derived resole resins had methylol (Ph−CH₂OH), ortho- and para-hemiformal groups (Ph−CH₂OCH₂OH), and the para−para/ortho−para/ortho−ortho links of methylene groups (Ph−CH₂−Ph), whereas the resole resins had low curing temperatures at about 100–113°C. Additionally, given the long side alkyl group moiety on the aromatic rings of urushiol, the films of cured urushiol-derived resole resins had low glass transition temperatures of 132 ± 2°C. Furthermore, the as-prepared urushiol-derived coatings exhibited excellent physical and mechanical properties.     

Adaptation to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Enhances Resistance of Oral Cancer Cells to Cisplatin by Up-Regulating Polymerase η and Increasing DNA Repair Efficiency

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response is an adaptive program to cope with cellular stress that disturbs the function and homeostasis of ER, which commonly occurs during cancer progression to late stage. Late-stage cancers, mostly requiring chemotherapy, often develop treatment resistance. Chemoresistance has been linked to ER stress response; however, most of the evidence has come from studies that correlate the expression of stress markers with poor prognosis or demonstrate proapoptosis by the knockdown of stress-responsive genes. Since ER stress in cancers usually persists and is essentially not induced by genetic manipulations, we used low doses of ER stress inducers at levels that allowed cell adaptation to occur in order to investigate the effect of stress response on chemoresistance. We found that prolonged tolerable ER stress promotes mesenchymal–epithelial transition, slows cell-cycle progression, and delays the S-phase exit. Consequently, cisplatin-induced apoptosis was significantly decreased in stress-adapted cells, implying their acquisition of cisplatin resistance. Molecularly, we found that proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) ubiquitination and the expression of polymerase η, the main polymerase responsible for translesion synthesis across cisplatin-DNA damage, were up-regulated in ER stress-adaptive cells, and their enhanced cisplatin resistance was abrogated by the knockout of polymerase η. We also found that a fraction of p53 in stress-adapted cells was translocated to the nucleus, and that these cells exhibited a significant decline in the level of cisplatin-DNA damage. Consistently, we showed that the nuclear p53 coincided with strong positivity of glucose-related protein 78 (GRP78) on immunostaining of clinical biopsies, and the cisplatin-based chemotherapy was less effective for patients with high levels of ER stress. Taken together, this study uncovers that adaptation to ER stress enhances DNA repair and damage tolerance, with which stressed cells gain resistance to chemotherapeutics.     

Radiation- and Photo-Induced Oxidation Pathways of Methionine in Model Peptide Backbone under Anoxic Conditions

Within the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by cellular metabolisms, hydroxyl radicals (HO^•) play an important role, being the most aggressive towards biomolecules. The reactions of HO^• with methionine residues (Met) in peptides and proteins have been intensively studied, but some fundamental aspects remain unsolved. In the present study we examined the biomimetic model made of Ac-Met-OMe, as the simplest model peptide backbone, and of HO^• generated by ionizing radiation in aqueous solutions under anoxic conditions. We performed the identification and quantification of transient species by pulse radiolysis and of final products by LC-MS and high-resolution MS/MS after γ-radiolysis. By parallel photochemical experiments, using 3-carboxybenzophenone (CB) triplet with the model peptide, we compared the outcomes in terms of short-lived intermediates and stable product identification. The result is a detailed mechanistic scheme of Met oxidation by HO^•, and by CB triplets allowed for assigning transient species to the pathways of products formation.     

Microstructural and mechanical properties assessment of transient liquid phase bonding of CoCuFeMnNi high entropy alloy

The transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding of CoCuFeMnNi high entropy alloy (HEA) was studied. The TLP bonding was performed using AWS BNi-2 interlayer at 1050 °C with the TLP bonding time of 20, 60, 180 and 240 min. The effect of bonding time on the joint microstructure was characterized by SEM and EDS. Microstructural results confirmed that complete isothermal solidification occurred approximately at 240 min of bonding time. For samples bonded at 20, 60 and 180 min, athermal solidification zone was formed in the bonding area which included Cr-rich boride and Mn₃Si intermetallic compound. For all samples, the γ solid solution was formed in the isothermal solidification zone of the bonding zone. To evaluate the effect of TLP bonding time on mechanical properties of joints, the shear strength and micro-hardness of joints were measured. The results indicated a decrement of micro-hardness in the bonding zone and an increment of micro-hardness in the adjacent zone of joints. The minimum and maximum values of shear strength were 100 and 180 MPa for joints with the bonding time of 20 and 240 min, respectively.