New fire‐protective intumescent coatings for wood

Polyurethane coatings are highly flammable, and because of their widespread applications on different substrates (wood, steel, and building materials), there is a need to increase their fire‐safety properties. Intumescent additives sharply suppress the flammability properties of polyurethane coatings. Two problems accompany intumescent additives: their high loading percentage and incompatibility with polyurethane coatings. In this research, we succeeded in increasing the compatibility by mixing intumescent additives with a butyl acrylate polymer and in lowering the flame‐retardant additive loading (up to 20%) by incorporating newly modified montmorillonite. The flammability properties of the new intumescent coatings were characterized with a cone calorimeter. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Photocatalytic degradation of methyl tert‐butyl ether (MTBE) in contaminated water by ZnO nanoparticles

BACKGROUND: Over the past several decades methyl tert‐butyl ether (MTBE) as additive to gasoline, intended to either boost ratings of fuel or to reduce air pollution, has been accepted worldwide. Since MTBE has high water solubility, the occurrence of fuel spills or leaks from underground storage tanks or transferring pipeline has led to the contamination of natural waters. In this study the degradation of aqueous MTBE at relatively high concentrations was investigated by a UV‐visible/ZnO/H₂O₂ photocatalytic process. The effects of important operational parameters such as pH, amount of H₂O₂, catalyst loading and irradiation time were also investigated. Concentration of MTBE and intermediates such as tert‐butyl formate and tert‐butyl alcohol were measured. RESULTS: Time required for complete degradation increased from 20 to 150 min when the initial concentration was increased from 10 to 500 mg L^?1. The first‐order rate constants for degradation of MTBE were estimated to be 0.183–0.022 min^?1 as the concentration increased from 10 to 500 mg L^?1. Study of the overall mineralization monitored by total organic carbon analysis showed that at an initial concentration of 100 mg L^?1 MTBE complete mineralization was obtained after 100 min under UV‐visible/ZnO/H₂O₂ photocatalysis. CONCLUSION: The data presented in this paper clearly indicated that UV‐visible/ZnO/O₂ as an advanced oxidation process provides an efficient treatment alternative for the remediation of MTBE‐contaminated waters. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Alginate polyelectrolyte ionotropic gels

The kinetics and mechanism of exchange of Ni²⁺ by H⁺ ions in ionotropic nickel alginate polymembrane gels of capillary structure have been studied by pH-metric and conductimetric techniques. The rate of exchange conforms to; rate=k ₁ [nickel alginate] [H⁺]- k _–1 [alginic acid] [Ni²⁺] with k ₁=6.34×10^–2dm³mol^–1s^–1 and k _–1=8.83×10^–4 s^–1 at 20°C, respectively. The activation parameters have been evaluated and a mechanism consistent with the kinetic data is discussed.     

Error rate for optimal follower tone-jamming

The performance of a countermeasure technique in the presence of the optimal follower multitone jammer is evaluated for frequency-hopped spread spectrum (FHSS) communications. It is shown that, with a certain probability, the optimal jammer will have dual tones in a frequency channel     

Study of Lateral Spread of Ions Emitted from 2.3 kJ Plasma Focus with Hydrogen and Nitrogen Gases

The characteristics of ion beams of hydrogen and nitrogen with different filling pressures emitted from the plasma focus device of 2.3 kJ energy are investigated. CR-39 SSNTDs are employed for the registration of tracks of ions. The exposed detectors are etched in 6N NaOH solution at 70°C and then examined with an optical microscope. The ion flux is estimated to be of the order of 10^5–6 tracks/cm². The flux with the radial position does not exhibit any regular pattern of variation.     

Comparing the Effects of Different Daily and Sub-Daily Downscaling Approaches on the Response of Urban Stormwater Collection Systems

Water Resources Management - Change in the spatiotemporal pattern of precipitation is one the most important effects of climate change. This may result in considerable changes in urban flooding and...     

Multi-criteria Decision-making Approach for Environmental Impact Assessment to Reduce the Adverse Effects Of Dams

Water Resources Management - Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) of development projects are necessary to minimize negative impacts and maximize benefits. The objective of this paper is to...     

Lung nodules detection using semantic segmentation and classification with optimal features

Neural Computing and Applications - Lung cancer is a deadly disease if not diagnosed in its early stages. However, early detection of lung cancer is a challenging task due to the shape and size of...     

Current Understandings on Magnesium Deficiency and Future Outlooks for Sustainable Agriculture

The productivity of agricultural produce is fairly dependent on the availability of nutrients and efficient use. Magnesium (Mg²⁺) is an essential macronutrient of living cells and is the second most prevalent free divalent cation in plants. Mg²⁺ plays a role in several physiological processes that support plant growth and development. However, it has been largely forgotten in fertilization management strategies to increase crop production, which leads to severe reductions in plant growth and yield. In this review, we discuss how the Mg²⁺ shortage induces several responses in plants at different levels: morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular. Additionally, the Mg²⁺ uptake and transport mechanisms in different cellular organelles and the role of Mg²⁺ transporters in regulating Mg²⁺ homeostasis are also discussed. Overall, in this review, we critically summarize the available information about the responses of Mg deficiency on plant growth and development, which would facilitate plant scientists to create Mg²⁺-deficiency-resilient crops through agronomic and genetic biofortification.     

Effect of SiO2 Addition on Chromium Transitions in Borate Glasses

Silicon - Melt-quenching technique was used to prepare borosilicate glasses of composition xSiO2- (75-x) B2O3–24.7Li2O-0.3Cr2O3 (x = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mol%). With...