Development and characterisation of a Y2Ti2O7-based glass-ceramic as a potential oxidation protective coating for titanium suboxide (TiOx)

A silica-based glass-ceramic, with Y₂Ti₂O₇ as the major crystalline phase, is designed, characterised and tested as an oxidation-protective coating for a titanium suboxide (TiO_x) thermoelectric material at temperatures of up to 600 °C. The optimised sinter-crystallisation treatment temperatures are found to be 1300 °C and 855 °C for a duration of 30 min, and this treatment leads to a glass-ceramic with cubic Y₂Ti₂O₇ and CaAl₂Si₂O₈ as crystalline phases. An increase of ~270 °C in the dilatometric softening temperature is observed after devitrification of the parent glass, thus further extending its working temperature range.Excellent adhesion of the glass-ceramic coating to the thermoelectric material is maintained after exposure to a temperature of 600 °C for 120 h under oxidising conditions, thus confirming the effectiveness of the T1 glass-ceramic in protecting the TiO_x material.     

Nickel phosphonate MOF as efficient water splitting photocatalyst

A novel microporous two-dimensional(2D)Ni-based phosphonate metal-organic framework(MOF;denoted as IEF-13)has been successfully synthesized by a simple and green hydrothermal method and fully characterized using a combination of experimental and computational techniques.Structure resolution by single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that IEF-13 crystallizes in the triclinic space group Pi having bi-octahedra nickel nodes and a photo/electroactive tritopic phosphonate ligand.Remarkably,this material exhibits coordinatively unsaturated nickel(II)sites,free-P0₃H₂and-P0₃H acidic groups,a C0₂accessible microporosity,and an exceptional thermal and chemical stability.Further,its in-deep optoelectronic characterization evidences a photoresponse suitable for photocatalysis.In this sense,the photocatalytic activity for challenging H₂generation and overall water splitting in absence of any co-catalyst using UV-Vis irradiation and simulated sunlight has been evaluated,constituting the first report for a phosphonate-MOF photocatalyst.IEF-13 is able to produce up to 2,200 fimol of H₂per gram using methanol as sacrificial agent,exhibiting stability,maintaining its crystal structure and allowing its recycling.Even more,170μmol of H₂per gram were produced using IEF-13 as photocatalyst in the absence of any co-catalyst for the overall water splitting,being this reaction limited by the 0₂reduction.The present work opens new avenues for further optimization of the photocatalytic activity in this type of multifunctional materials.     

Crystallization of progesterone polymorphs using polymer-induced heteronucleation (PIHn) method

Progesterone is a natural hormone steroid used in humans for several treatments and in livestock for artificial insemination, which exhibits two polymorphic forms at ambient conditions: form 1 and form 2. Form 2 is metastable and more soluble than form 1; however, it is not suitable to use as powder raw material because it transforms into form 1 by the effects of grinding. A polymorphic screening of progesterone based on polymer-induced heteronucleation method was performed as an alternative to prepare the metastable form. Polyvinyl alcohol, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), dextran, gelatin, polyisoprene (PI) and acrylonitrile-butadiene (NBR) copolymer were used. Crystals were prepared from 0.5, 10 and 40?mg/mL solutions in acetone at room temperature by solvent evaporation. The samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microcopy and attenuated total reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. Form 1 was nucleated from 40?mg/mL solutions on the six polymers and from 10?mg/mL solutions on PI and NBR. The mixture of form 1 and form 2 was obtained from 10?mg/mL solution on HPMC, dextran and gelatin and from 0.5?mg/mL solution crystallizations. Therefore, the polymeric devices, which crystallized the metastable and more soluble polymorph (2) of progesterone, would be a promissory alternative for the pharmaceutical applications.     

A New Hand-Held Microsystem Architecture for Biological Analysis

This paper presents a hand-held microsystem based on new fully integrated magnetoresistive biochips for biomolecular recognition (DNA hybridization, antibody antigen interaction, etc.). Magnetoresistive chip surfaces are chemically treated, enabling the immobilization of probe biomolecules such as DNA or antibodies. Fluid handling is also integrated in the biochip. The proposed microsystem not only integrates the biochip, which is an array of 16times16 magnetoresistive sensors, but it also provides all the electronic circuitry for addressing and reading out each transducer. The proposed architecture and circuits were specifically designed for achieving a compact, programmable and portable microsystem. The microsystem also integrates a hand-held analyzer connected through a wireless channel. A prototype of the system was already developed and detection of magnetic nanoparticles was obtained. This indicates that the system may be used for magnetic label based bioassays     

Epithelial marker genes are expressed in cultured embryonic rat lung and in vivo with similar spatial and temporal patterns

Explants of embryonic lung are often used to characterize lung growth, bronchial tree pattern, and cell differentiation. Most investigators culture lungs for 3-7 days in defined media lacking, e.g., added growth factors or hormones. If growth and differentiation are comparable to that in vivo, these cultures show considerable promise for identifying developmental regulatory molecules and target genes, and for elucidating molecular responses. We used in situ hybridization and RT-PCR to compare times and sites of expression of mRNAs of six epithelial genes in cultured and uncultured fetal rat lungs. These genes, expressed in distal lung of adult rats, are surfactant proteins (SP) A, B, and C; LAR, a receptor-type tyrosine phosphatase; Clara cell secretory protein (CC10, CCSP); and T1alpha. SP-A, SF-B, LAR, and CC10 are expressed by both Clara and Type II cells in adult animals. SP-C and T1alpha are unique markers for Type II and Type I cells, respectively. SP-C, LAR, and T1alpha are expressed before the lung is explanted (Day 13.5); SP-A, -B, and CC10 mRNAs are first detected later. The onset of expression is similar in vivo and in vitro. Although the patterns of expression differ for each mRNA, their sites of expression in culture match those in vivo relative to the bronchial tree. The explanted embryonic lung appears to be an excellent experimental model.     

Simultaneous sulfide and acetate oxidation under denitrifying conditions using an inverse fluidized bed reactor

BACKGROUND: Simultaneous removal of sulfur, nitrogen and carbon compounds from wastewaters is a commercially important biological process. The objective was to evaluate the influence of the CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio on the sulfide oxidation process using an inverse fluidized bed reactor (IFBR). RESULTS: Three molar ratios of CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? (0.85, 0.72 and 0.62) with a constant S^2?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.13 were evaluated. At a CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.85, the nitrate, acetate and sulfide removal efficiencies were approximately 100%. The N₂ yield (g N₂ g^?1 NO₃^?‐N consumed) was 0.81. Acetate was mineralized, resulting in a yield of 0.65 g inorganic‐C g^?1 CH₃COO^?‐C consumed. Sulfide was partially oxidized to S⁰, and 71% of the S^2? consumed was recovered as elemental sulfur by a settler installed in the IFBR. At a CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio of 0.72, the efficiencies of nitrate, acetate and sulfide consumption were of 100%, with N₂ and inorganic‐C yields of 0.84 and 0.69, respectively. The sulfide was recovered as sulfate instead of S⁰, with a yield of 0.92 g SO₄^2?‐S g^?1 S^2? consumed. CONCLUSIONS: The CH₃COO^?/NO₃^? molar ratio was shown to be an important parameter that can be used to control the fate of sulfide oxidation to either S⁰ or sulfate. In this study, the potential of denitrification for the simultaneous removal of organic matter, sulfide and nitrate from wastewaters was demonstrated, obtaining CO₂, S⁰ and N₂ as the major end products. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Microstructural and textural characterization of a hot-rolled IF steel

The present paper reports the experimental results on the microstructural and textural characterization of a hot-rolled IF steel. The IF steel was hot-rolled in multiple passes in the austenitic field (1,070 °C) followed by air-cooling. SEM, TEM, and LOM were used to image the microstructure of the material. The global texture was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The mesotexture of selected regions was investigated by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Results show the presence of a diffuse (nearly random) and weak texture in the hot-band that consists of recrystallized polygonal grains and subgrains. The fraction of boundaries with misorientations comprised in the interval 2° ≤ ψ < 15° was found to be lower than 5%. It can be concluded that these low angle boundaries and the presence of subgrains can be associated to the existence of a few areas softened by recovery during or after hot rolling in austenitic field.     

Knowledge extraction for production management

A procedure and underlying algorithm for extracting knowledge from production and inventory databases to support engineering management activities is described. The process searches for, detects and isolates behaviour patterns inherent in the data. It relates these patterns to production irregularities, suggests connections with specific causes and helps propose possible corrective or preventive actions. The approach is based on a four-phase procedure: (1) the decision-maker focuses on the subject or difficulty at issue, represented by a target concept; (2) the KEDB algorithm, based on a machine learning approach, processes the relevant database and provides knowledge characterizing and classifying the target concept; (3) the output is interpreted in Pareto fashion as a series of possible circumstances explaining the target concept behaviour; and (4) based on these causes, the decision-maker decides on possible corrective actions to improve the situation, or preventive actions to forestall unfavourable conditions. A case study based on an actual quality control database is detailed.