Bioleaching of sphalerite by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans cultured in 9K medium modified with pyrrhotite

Elective culture of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in 9K medium modified with pyrrhotite was studied. Bioleaching of flotation concentrate of sphalerite by the selected bacteria was carried out. The results show that the microorganisms cultured by pyrrhotite are a mixture of Acidithiobacillusferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, of which the capability to oxidize ferrous to ferric irons is enhanced by the high mass ratio of Fe to S in pyrrhotite. Three pyrrhotite samples were separated into various parts with corresponding S/Fe ratios by magnetic separation and were used to culture the elective bacteria as the substrate. The association of the cultures could provide a more rapid and complete oxidation of sphalerite than that of bacteria cultivated by conventional methods.     

Characterization of tricalcium phosphate solubilization by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia YC isolated from phosphate mines

The phosphate solubilizing characteristics of a strain YC, which was isolated from phosphate mines (Hubei, China), were studied in National Botanical Research Institute’s phosphate (NBRIP) growth medium containing tricalcium phosphate (TCP) as sole phosphorus (P) source. The strain YC is identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (S. maltophilia) based upon the results of morphologic, physiological and biochemical characteristics and 16S rRNA sequences analysis. The results show that the strain S. maltophilia YC can solubilize TCP and release soluble P in NBRIP growth medium. A positive correlation between concentration of soluble P and population of the isolate and a negative correlation between concentration of soluble P and pH in the culture medium are observed from statistical analysis results. Moreover, gluconic acid is detected in the culture medium by HPLC analysis. It indicates that the isolate can release gluconic acid during the solubilizing experiment, which causes acidification of the culture medium and then TCP solubilization. S. maltophilia YC has a maximal TCP solubilizing capability when using maltose as carbon source and ammonium nitrate as nitrogen source, respectively, in NBRIP growth medium. Foundation item: Project(2004CB619201) supported by the Major State Basic Research and Development Program of China; Project(Z200515002) supported by the Key Project Foundation of the Education Department of Hubei Province, China; Project(GCP200801) supported by the Open Research Fund of Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, China; Project(Q200811) supported by the Youths Science Foundation of Wuhan Institute of Technology, China     

Simultaneous electrogenerative leaching of chaicopyrite concentrate and MnO2

In order to enhance the electrogenerative leaching rate of chalcopyrite concentrate reasonably, the principle of generative process was applied to simultaneous leaching of chalcopyrite concentrate and MnO2. The results show that Cu^2＋ and Mn^2＋ in addition to electrical energy could be acquired in the simultaneous electrogenerative leaching process. The leaching cell has the open circuit potential of about 1.0 V and gains quantity of electricity of about 700 C. The optimum leaching rates of Cu^2＋ and Mn^2＋ are 23.10% and 22.1%, respectively after electrogenera- tive leaching for about 10 h under the present conditions.     

Isolation and characterization of Acidithiobacillus caldus from several typical environments in China

Six strains of moderately thermophilic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria were isolated from several different typical environments in China. The identities of the isolates were confirmed by analyses of their 16S rRNA genes, and some key physiological traits. The isolates are Gram negative, rod-shaped bacteria, their optimal temperature and pH value for growth are 45-50 ℃ and 2.5-3.5 respectively. They are autotrophic and used＇elemental sulfur, sodium thiosulfate and potassium tetrathionate as electron donor, while a little glucose stimulated their growth. 16S rDNA sequences analysis reveals that the strains are phylogenetically clustered to Acidithiobacillus caldus.     

Adsorption characteristics of thiobacillus ferrooxidans on surface of sulfide minerals

By using thiobacillus ferroxidans (T. f) from Qixiashan, Hubei Province, China, the adsorption characteristics of T. f on surface of sulfide mineral were studied. The influences of adsorption time, pH value, temperature, initial inoculated concentration of bacteria, concentration of sulfide mineral powder, and variety of minerals on the adsorption characteristics were firstly investigated by using the ninhydrin colorimetric method, and the changes of contact angles and Zeta potentials of mineral surface during the bacterial adsorption were then determined. The results show that when the leaching experiments are performed for a long time from several days to a month, the maximal quantity of adsorption of T f on the surface of pyrite is obtained under the following conditions: leaching for 20 d, pH value in range of 1–2 and temperature at 30 °C, respectively; when the bio-leaching experiments are performed for a shorter leaching time, the maximal quantity of adsorption is obtained under the conditions: bio-leaching for 2 h, at 2.4×10⁷ cell/mL of initial inoculated bacteria concentration, and at 10% of mineral powder concentration; and the adsorption quantities are different from one sulfide mineral to another, and the adsorption of T. f on the surface of sulfide minerals includes three phases: increasing phase, stationary phase and decreasing phase. Foundation item: Project(50321402) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; project (2004CB619204) supported by the National Key Fundamental Research and Development Program of China     

Scanner external calibration algorithm based on fixed point in robot remanufacturing system

This paper deals with the scanner exterior calibration algorithm when the scanner is arranged by the robot and the object scanned is fixed on a rotate device in the Robot Remanufacturing System. The method of calibrating the relationship between the scanner coordinate and the robot Tool₀, such as the rotation, R _x , R_y, R_z, and the transformation X, Y, Z is studied. The data of Tool₀ can be directly obtained from the relationship with the robot base-coordinate. So, the coordinate relationship between the scanner coordinate and the robot base coordinate can be easily gotten. This paper explains the basic algorithm theory, computing method, data collecting process and the resulted data in detail. The calibration algorithm is deduced under the orthogonal coordinate. Foundation item: Project (50075086; 50235030) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project (413270103) supported by National Basic Research Foundation of China; Project (2000-476) supported by the Ministry of Education for the Outstanding Teachers     

Influence of copper solvent extractant on microbial community structure of acidophilic microorganisms

The influence of different concentrations of copper solvent extractant ZJ 988 on the growth and activity of acidophilic microorganisms was studied and the microbial community structures were compared by 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis. The total bacteria numbers are reduced when 0.5% (volume fraction) extractant is added. The proportions of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidiphilium organovorum are increased, whereas the proportion of Leptospirillum ferriphilum is reduced. When the concentration of extractant is elevated to 1%, growth of all bacteria is inhibited. Clone library results reveal that the dominant bacteria in the culture solution with/without the extractant are At. ferrooxidans, A. organovorum and L. ferriphilum. The sensitivity order of the three bacteria to the extractant from the most to the least is found to be L. ferriphilum>At. ferrooxidans>A. organovorum.     

Leaching kinetics of low grade zinc oxide ore in NH3-NH4Cl-H2O system

The leaching kinetics of low grade zinc oxide ore in NH3-NH4Cl-H2O system was studied. The effects of ore particle size, reaction temperature and the sum concentration of ammonium ion and ammonia on the leaching efficiency of zinc were examined. The leaching kinetics of low-grade zinc oxide ore in NH3-NH4Cl-H2O system follows the kinetic law of shrinking-core model. The results show that diffusion through the inert particle pores is the leaching kinetics rate controlling step. The calculated apparent activation energy of the process is about 7.057 kJ/mol. The leaching efficiency of zinc is 92.1% under the conditions of ore particle size of 69μm, holding at 80℃ for 60 min, sum ammonia concentration of 7.5 mol/L, the molar ratio of ammonium to ammonia being 2：1, and the ratio （g/mL） of solid to liquid being 1：10.     

Bioleaching of chalcocite by mixed microorganisms subjected to mutation

Mixed microorganisms with elevated activity of chalcocite-leaching were screened by mutation methods. The original microorganisms collected from acid mine drainage of different sites were mixed and then treated with mutagens NO₂⁻, diethyl sulfate (DES), UV and their combinations, respectively. Five groups of mixed microorganisms with much stronger ore-leaching ability were obtained by screening on the leaching media. Among them, group E of mixed microorganisms (treated with 1% DES for 60 min) with the best performance on chalcocite-leaching, increases the content of Cu²⁺ by 101.4% in 20 d of leaching compared with the control culture. In addition, group E is more tolerant to Cu²⁺ in media than the control without mutation treatment. Analysis for the diversity of microbial clones indicates that half of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in group E are Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. These observations suggest that group E might have potentials for industrial application. Foundation item: Project(50321402) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project(2004CB619201) supported by the Major State Basic Research and Development Program of China     

Homology modeling and evolutionary trace analysis of superoxide dismutase from extremophile Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

The gene sod in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans may play a crucial role in its tolerance to the extremely acidic, toxic and oxidative environment of bioleaching. For insight into the anti-toxic mechanism of the bacteria, a three-dimensional (3D) molecular structure of the protein encoded by this gene was built by homology modeling techniques, refined by molecular dynamics simulations, assessed by PROFILE-3D and PROSTAT programs and its key residues were further detected by evolutionary trace analysis. Through these procedures, some trace residues were identified and spatially clustered. Among them, the residues of Asn38, Gly103 and Glu161 are randomly scattered throughout the mapped structure; interestingly, the other residues are all distinctly clustered in a subgroup near Fe atom. From these results, this gene can be confirmed at 3D level to encode the Fe-depending superoxide dismutase and subsequently play an anti-toxic role. Furthermore, the detected key residues around Fe binding site can be conjectured to be directly responsible for Fe binding and catalytic function. Foundation item: Project(2004CB619201) supported by the National Basic Research Program of China; Project (50321402) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Digital characterization and mathematic model of sodium penetration into cathode material for aluminum electrolysis

The sodium expansion curves of semi-graphitic cathode and TiB₂/C composite cathode with different TiB₂ contents were measured with the improved Rapoport-Samoilenko apparatus. The mathematic model of the sodium expansion was deduced on the basis of the experimental results. The sodium expansion parameter (a) and penetration rate factor (Q), were introduced into the model. The model was validated with the experimental sodium expansion curves self-measured and reported. The results show that the variation tendency of the sodium expansion parameter (a) and penetration rate factor (Q) is consistent with that of the experimental curves. The model is capable of not only conveniently judging the cathode quality, but also favorably establishing a unified standard of the resistance to sodium penetration of cathode. Foundation item: Project(2005CB623703) supported by the Major State Basic Research and Development Program of China; Project(2008AA030502) supported by the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China; Project(GUIKEJI0639032) supported by the Science Fund Project of Guangxi Province, China     

Fluorescence spectroscopy characteristics of humic acid by inoculating white-rot fungus during different phases of agricultural waste composting

The white-rot fungus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P. chrysosporium), was inoculated during different phases of agricultural waste composting, and its effect on the fluorescence spectroscopy characteristics of humic acid (HA) was studied. The results show that the emission spectra have a sharp peak at 400 nm and a broad shoulder with the maximum centered at 460 nm. The excitation spectra have two peaks and exhibit red shift (shift to longer wavelengths) at 470 nm. The synchronous scan spectra present a number of peaks and shoulders, and the peaks at shorter wavelengths disappear gradually and form a shoulder. At the final stage of composting, the fluorescence spectra have similar shapes, but the fluorescence intensities decrease. P. chrysosporium increases the degree of aromatization and polymerization of HA when it is inoculated during the second fermentation phase, while it does not produce an obvious change on the humification degree of HA when it is inoculated during the first fermentation phase. Compared with the fluorescence spectroscopy characteristics of HA from soil, the structure of HA from compost is simpler and the activity is higher. Foundation item: Project(2005CB724203) supported by the Major State Basic Research and Development Program of China; Project(IRT0719) supported by the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China; Projects(50608029, 50808073) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project(2007185) supported by the Environmental Protection Technology Research Program of Hunan Province, China     

Residual stresses within sprayed coatings

Some important developments of residual stress researches for coating-based systems were studied. The following topics were included the sources of residual stresses in coatings: error analysis of Stoney’s equation in the curvature method used for the measurement of coating residual stress, the modeling of residual stress and some analytical models for predicting the residual stresses in coatings. These topics should provide some important insights for the fail-safe design of the coating-based systems. Foundation item: Project(50235030) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project(2003AA331130) supported by the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China     

Development of magnetocaloric materials in room temperature magnetic refrigeration application in recent six years

Some magnetocaloric materials were used successfully in magnetic refrigeration application and became one of the critical parts of magnetic refrigeration technology whose delightful progresses were made worldwide in the past 30 years. At the same time, the research on giant magnetocaloric materials will accelerate the development of room temperature magnetic refrigeration. In this paper, the new theoretical and experimental investigations on magnetic materials in room temperature application were described, including Gd and its binary and ternary intermetallic compounds, Mn-based compounds, La(Fe_13−x M _x )-based compounds and manganites. Based on the analysis of hysteresis, corrosion, cost and heat process, the comparison between different families of magnetic materials was discussed. Further research of room temperature magnetic refrigerant was suggested. Foundation item: Project(50876082) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project (IRT0746) supported by the Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University     

Automatic brush-plating technology for component remanufacturing

An automatic brush-plating system was developed for component remanufacturing. With this system, Ni/nano-alumina composite coatings from an electrolyte containing 20 g/L nano-alumina particles were prepared. Microstructure, surface morphology, microhardness and wear resistance of automatically plated coating and manually plated coatings were investigated comparatively. The results show that the automatically plated coatings are relatively dense and uniform and have lower friction coefficient of 0.089 under lubricant condition, when compared with manually plated coatings with friction coefficient of 0.14. Foundation item: Project(50235030) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project(G1999065009) supported by the National Basic Research Program of China     

Screening, identification and desilication of a silicate bacterium

The strain Lv（1- z） isolated from the Henan bauxite was characterized by morphological observation, biochemical and physiological identification, and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The influences of temperature, initial pH value, the volume of medium, shaking speed and illite concentration on the desilicating ability of the strain Lv（1- z） were investigated. The results show that the bacterium is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium with oval endspores and thick capsule, but without flagellum. The biochemical and physiological tests indicate that the strain Lv（1- z） is similar to Bacillus rnucilaginosus. In GenBank the 16S rDNA sequence similarity of the strain Lv（1- z） and the B. rnucilaginosus YNUCC0001（AY571332） is more than 99%. Based on the above results, the strain Lv（1- z） is identified as B. rnucilaginosus. The optimum conditions for the strain L（1- z） to remove silicon from illite are as follows., temperature is 30℃ ;initial pH value is 7.5; medium volume in 200 mL bottle is 60 mL; shaking speed of rotary shaker is 220 r/m ; illite concentration is 1%.     

Electrochemical behavior of wound supercapacitors with propylene carbonate and acetonitrile based nonaqueous electrolytes

The activated carbon wound supercapacitors with TEABF₄/propylene carbonate (PC) and TEABF₄/acetonitrile (AN) electrolytes were prepared. The effects of the electrolyte and temperature on the capacitance behavior were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and constant current charge-discharge. Compared with the PC-based supercapacitor, the AN-based supercapacitor has higher capacitance and lower equivalent serial resistance (R _ES) at discharge currents ranging from 5 to 1 000 mA and 25 °C. Moreover, temperature effects are more prominent for PC-based supercapacitor than for AN-based supercapacitor. When the measurement temperature ranges from 60 °C to −40 °C the capacitance changes from 5.1 to 2.5 F and R _ES changes from 135 to 876 mΩ for the PC-based supercapacior, while the AN-based supercapacitor shows less change in capacitance and R _ES. Thus AN-based supercapacitor exhibits excellent power characteristics and temperature property. Foundation item: Project(20803095) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project(2008AA03Z207) supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China     

Synthesis and photophysical and electrochemical properties of new cyclometalated platinum complex containing oxadiazole ligand

A new cyclometalated platinum complex containing 2, 5-bis（naphthalene-1-yl）-1,3,4-oxadiazole ligand was synthesized and characterized. The UV-Vis absorptions and photoluminescent properties of the ligand and its platinum complex were investigated A characteristic metal-ligand charge transfer absorption peak at 439 nm in the UV spectrum and a strong emission peak at 625 nm in the photoluminescence spectrum were observed for this complex in dichloromethane. Cyclic voltammtry （CV） analysis shows that the EHOMO （energy level of the highest occupied molecular orbital） and ELUMO （energy level of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital） of the platinum complex are about -5.69 and -3.25 eV, respectively, indicating that the oxadiazole-based platinum complex has a potential application in electrophosphorescent devices used as a red-emitting material.     

Non-fragile delay-dependent H ∞ control of linear time-delay system with uncertainties in state and control input

The problem of designing a non-fragile delay-dependent H∞ state-feedback controller was investigated for a linear time-delay system with uncertainties in state and control input. First, a recently derived integral inequality method and Lyapunov-Krasovskii stability theory were used to derive new delay-dependent bounded real lemmas for a non-fragile state-feedback controller containing additive or multiplicative uncertainties. They ensure that the closed-loop system is internally stable and has a given H∞ disturbance attenuation level. Then, methods of designing a non-fragile H∞ state feedback controller were presented. No parameters need to be tuned and can be easily determined by solving linear matrix inequalities. Finally, the validity of the proposed methods was demonstrated by a numerical example with the asymptotically stable curves of system state and controller output under the initial condition of x（0）=[1 0 -1]^T and h=0.8 time-delay boundary.     

Kinetics of nickel leaching from roasting-dissolving residue of spent catalyst with sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid leaching process was applied to extract nickel from roasting-dissolving residue of a spent catalyst, the effect of different parameters on nickel extraction was investigated by leaching experiments, and the leaching kinetics of nickel was analyzed. The experimental results indicate that the effects of particle size and sulfuric acid concentration on the nickel extraction are remarkable; the effect of reaction temperature is mild; while the effect of stirring speed in the range of 400–1 200 r/min is negligible. Decreasing particle size or increasing sulfuric acid concentration and reaction temperature, the nickel extraction efficiency is improved. 93.5% of nickel in residue is extracted under suitable leaching conditions, including particle size (0.074–0.100) mm, sulfuric acid concentration 30% (mass fraction), temperature 80 °C, reaction time 180 min, mass ratio of liquid to solid 10 and stirring speed 800 r/min. The leaching kinetics analyses shows that the reaction rate of leaching process is controlled by diffusion through the product layer, and the calculated activation energy of 15.8 kJ/mol is characteristic for a diffusion controlled process. Foundation item: Project (50574101) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project (2003UDBEA00C020) supported by the Collaborative Project of School and Province of Yunnan Province, China