Axial Dispersion and Mass Transfer Controlled Simulation Study of Chromium (VI) Adsorption onto Tree Leaves and Activated Carbon

In this paper, the feasibility and efficacy of chromium (Cr(VI)) removal using three different kinds of tree leaves viz. Emblica officinalis, Azadirachta indica, Eucalyptus agglomerata, and the activated carbon is examined through batch and continuous flow experiments. Pretreatments were given to the selected tree leaf powders to remove the natural pigments and lignin present. Batch and continuous flow experiments have been conducted to study the kinetics of adsorption, effects of pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, bed depth, flow rate, and initial Cr(VI) concentration on Cr(VI) adsorption onto the selected adsorbents. The adsorption capacity is observed higher for Emblica officinalis followed by Eucalyptus agglomerata and Azadirachta indica. The adsorption equilibrium is reached in less than 30 min and the maximum Cr(VI) uptake occurred at pH 3.0 under the test conditions. The results are also compared with the commercially available activated carbon. A mathematical model incorporating diffusion, advection, and mass transfer mechanisms available in the literature has been simplified and is then tested to simulate the laboratory and literature data. A simple method for the determination of saturation Cr(VI) concentration along the length of column has been presented. The study reveals that the model incorporating the molecular diffusion and the mass transfer mechanisms simulates better the Cr(VI) adsorption onto tree leaf powders than the literature model and the advection term plays only a negligible role due to low flow rates applied during the experiments. The model parameters, i.e., axial dispersion coefficient, “DL” and the external mass transfer coefficient, “kf” are found in the order of 10?5–10?6?m2/s and 10?9–10?11?m/s, respectively.     

A split-aperture transmit beamforming technique with phase coherence grating lobe suppression

A small element-to-element pitch (~.5λ) is conventionally required for phased array ultrasound transducers to avoid large grating lobes. This constraint can introduce many fabrication difficulties, particularly in the development of highfrequency phased arrays at operating frequencies greater than 30 MHz. In this paper, a new transmit beamforming technique along with sign coherence factor (SCF) receive beamforming is proposed to suppress grating lobes in large-pitch phased-array transducers. It is based on splitting the transmit aperture (N elements) into N/K transmit elements and receive beamforming on all N elements to reduce the temporal length of the transmit grating lobe signal. Therefore, the use of synthetic aperture beamforming, which can introduce relative phase distortions between the echoes received over many transmit events, can be avoided. After each transmit-receive event, the received signals are weighted by the calculated SCF to suppress the grating lobes. After pulsing all sub-apertures, the RF signals are added to generate one line of the image. Simulated 2-way radiation patterns for different K values show that grating lobes can be suppressed significantly at different steering angles. Grating lobes can be suppressed by approximately 20 dB with K = 2 at steering angles greater than 25° and an element pitch greater than 0.75λ. A technique for determining the optimal transmit sub-apertures has been developed.     

Evaluation and Optimization of Effective Parameters on Zinc Sulfate Flotation by the Taguchi Method

In this research, optimization of effective parameters on zinc flotation of zinc sulfate obtained from the zinc sulfate process is investigated by the Taguchi method. Experiments were evaluated with regard to seven factors in two levels by a Taguchi L8 orthogonal array. The optimum conditions proposed by the model for zinc sulfate flotation tests are as follows: amount of collector and frother 100 g/t, flotation time of 30 min, pH = 9, S/L = 30/70, rotor speed = 1250 rpm and preparation time = 100 min. Under these conditions the zinc grade in the flotation product was 41.5 %, which is little different to the actual amount of 42 % from the flotation tests.     

A pseudo-differential MDAC with a gain-boosting inverter for pipelined ADCs

In this paper, a power-efficient pseudo-differential (PD) multiplying digital-to-analog converter (MDAC) is presented for pipelined analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). The proposed MDAC eliminates the explicit common-mode feedback circuit which is required in fully-differential configurations without any power penalty. Furthermore, a new class-AB gain-boosting inverter is proposed to be used in PD MDAC structures for further power saving. This inverter provides dynamic load current with no significant static power consumption and achieves high DC gain using a new gain-boosting technique. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed circuits, they are utilized in the realization of a 1.5-bit/stage 10 bit 100 MS/s pipelined ADC.     

Systematic Engineering of Uniform,Highly Efficient,Targeted and Shielded Viral‐Mimetic Nanoparticles

In the past decades, numerous types of nanomedicines have been developed for the efficient and safe delivery of nucleic acid‐based drugs for cancer therapy. Given that the destination sites for nucleic acid‐based drugs are inside cancer cells, delivery systems need to be both targeted and shielded in order to overcome the extracellular and intracellular barriers. One of the major obstacles that has hindered the translation of nanotechnology‐based gene‐delivery systems into the clinic has been the complexity of the design and assembly processes, resulting in non‐uniform nanocarriers with unpredictable surface properties and efficiencies. Consequently, no product has reached the clinic yet. In order to address this shortcoming, a multifunctional targeted biopolymer is genetically engineered in one step, eliminating the need for multiple chemical conjugations. Then, by systematic modulation of the ratios of the targeted recombinant vector to PEGylated peptides of different sizes, a library of targeted–shielded viral‐mimetic nanoparticles (VMNs) with diverse surface properties are assembled. Through the use of physicochemical and biological assays, targeted–shielded VMNs with remarkably high transfection efficiencies (>95%) are screened. In addition, the batch‐to‐batch variability of the assembled targeted–shielded VMNs in terms of uniformity and efficiency is examined and, in both cases, the coefficient of variation is calculated to be below 20%, indicating a highly reproducible and uniform system. These results provide design parameters for engineering uniform, targeted–shielded VMNs with very high cell transfection rates that exhibit the important characteristics for in vivo translation. These design parameters and principles could be used to tailor‐make and assemble targeted–shielded VMNs that could deliver any nucleic acid payload to any mammalian cell type.     

Controlling Nanoscale Thermal Expansion of Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides by Alloy Engineering

2D materials, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), graphene, and boron nitride, are seen as promising materials for future high power/high frequency electronics. However, the large difference in the thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) between many of these 2D materials could impose a serious challenge for the design of monolayer‐material‐based nanodevices. To address this challenge, alloy engineering of TMDs is used to tailor their TECs. Here, in situ heating experiments in a scanning transmission electron microscope are combined with electron energy‐loss spectroscopy and first‐principles modeling of monolayer Mo_1?xW_xS₂ with different alloying concentrations to determine the TEC. Significant changes in the TEC are seen as a function of chemical composition in Mo_1?xW_xS₂, with the smallest TEC being reported for a configuration with the highest entropy. This study provides key insights into understanding the nanoscale phenomena that control TEC values of 2D materials.     

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles and their applications as colorimetric probe for determination of Fe3+ and Hg2+ ions

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were prepared by a green method using Cordia myxa leaf extract. They were characterised by UV–vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and their X‐ray diffraction pattern. Their sizes were determined by scanning electron micrographs, transmission electron micrographs imaging and dynamic light scattering analysis. The shapes of nanoparticles were spherical or truncated triangular and their average size was determined to be 51.6 nm. Their solution was stable at least for one month. The prepared AgNPs were used as a selective chemical sensor for determination of iron(III) (only when Cl⁻ ions were present in the medium) and mercury(II) ions with detection limits of 0.084 and 0.037 nM, respectively. It was shown that the mechanism of these detections is through oxidation of Ag atoms by Fe³⁺ and Hg²⁺ ions.Inspec keywords: visible spectra, nanoparticles, transmission electron microscopy, nanofabrication, ultraviolet spectra, chemical sensors, scanning electron microscopy, silver, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, oxidationOther keywords: Ag, Cordia myxa leaf extract, iron(III) ions, mercury(II) ions, oxidation, scanning electron micrographs, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, silver nanoparticles, chemical sensor, dynamic light scattering analysis, transmission electron micrographs, X‐ray diffraction pattern, UV–vis spectroscopy, colorimetric probe, green synthesis     

Effect of addition of tin on the microstructure and machinability of α-brass

This study was aimed at developing lead-free brass alloys with the goal of substituting lead element with tin. For this purpose, lead-free alloys with tin were developed and the microstructure, hardness and machining behaviour of the Cu–30%Zn alloy was compared with Cu–30%Zn–x%Sn (x?= 1.2, 3.2, 5.4, 8, 11.4, 13.9, 17.4). The results showed that the addition of Sn to single-α phase brass led to the formation of duplex (α?+?β′) brass and then the formation of (β′?+?? ) brass both with increased hardness. In addition, the addition of Sn to Cu–30%Zn alloy led to the decrement of equivalent machining forces (F_m), surface roughness and also the promotion of chip fragmentation due to the formation of the β′ phase, which is an improvement in machinability.     

A study on the effects of Fex/Niy/MgO(1−x−y) catalysts on the volumetric and electrochemical hydrogen storage of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

The effects of various ratios of Fe/Ni/MgO and growth temperatures on yield, diameter and quality of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were studied. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) confirmed that the MWCNT yield depends on Fe/Ni ratio with the following order; Fe_0.5 Ni_0.5 > Fe > Fe_0.75 Ni_0.25 > Fe_0.25 Ni_0.75 > Ni. The results indicated that there is an optimum temperature (940 °C) for the MWCNT growth both from quality and quantity (yield) aspects as compared to other temperatures. Moreover, the changes on Fe/Ni to MgO ratio for the MWCNT growth revealed that Fe/Ni/MgO with the ratio of 17.5/17.5/65 had the highest quality and surface area as compared to the other ratios. The hydrogen storage capacities of MWCNTs grown on Fe/Ni/MgO with various ratios obtained by using volumetric technique were in ascending order as 17.5/17.5/65, 15/15/70, 12.5/12.5/75, 10/10/80, 20/20/60, 22.5/22.5/55 and 25/25/50. In addition, the defective sites and mean diameter of the MWCNTs influenced the desorption temperature of stored hydrogen. Hydrogen storage by using electrochemical technique showed that Fe/Ni/MgO with the ratio of 17.5/17.5/65 had the highest hydrogen storage capacity compared with the other ratios. Based on electrochemical analysis, there are two regimes for hydrogen adsorption on the MWCNTs, one at about 0.8 V and the other at 0.15 V. The study on two kinds of adsorption region showed that the ratio of hydrogen storage capacity at 0.8 V to hydrogen storage capacity at 0.15 V increased with the increasing of the mean diameter of MWCNTs. The ratio reached to maximum value for the MWCNTs grown on Fe/Ni/MgO with the ratio of 20/20/60 as compared to the other ratios.