Thermal decomposition products of polyvinyl chloride

When plastics are involved in a fire they may yield toxic decomposition products. Some quantitative data on the decomposition products of plastics are available in the literature, but it is difficult to assess the danger from the different amounts of various products because of the absence of a suitable method of evaluation. The authors have proposed a method of evaluation based on pyrolysis followed by gas chromatographic analysis and have used it to assess toxicity from various thermal decomposition products of polyvinyl chloride. Hydrogen chloride was found to be the main toxic decomposition product.     

Preparation of Nickel Powders by Spray Pyrolysis of Nickel Formate

The preparation of nickel powders by the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis of Ni(HCOO)₂ was studied. Phase-pure nickel powder was obtained at as low as 350°C. HCOOH was a reducing source for nickel formation. Moreover, metallic nickel was obtained at a residence time as short as 0.1 s at 600°C. A broad range of particle morphologies, which included agglomerated nanoparticles, nonagglomerated submicrometer particles, hollow particles, and spherical dense particles, were obtained from Ni(HCOO)₂ pyrolysis and were shown to depend on the precursor solution and the operating condition.     

Separation of Am(III) from Eu(III) by extraction based on in situ extractant formation of dithiocarbamate derivatives

A new solvent-extraction technique based on in situ formation of dithiocarbamate derivatives in order to separate Am(III) from Eu(III) was carried out. In this technique, the extractant is formed during the extraction course by the reaction between the organic materials, which are needed to synthesize the extractant. The synthesis of extractant in in situ extractant-formation method was carried out as follows. Di-substituted amine, such as dioctylamine (DOA), dibenzylamine (DBzA) and so on, and carbon disulfide (CS₂) were mixed in organic solvents, such as nitrobenzene, to produce dioctylammonium dioctyldithiocarbamate (DOA⁺·DODTC⁻), dibenzylammonium dibenzyldithiocarbamate (DBzA⁺·DODTC⁻), or so on. These organic solutions are also the organic phase in the solvent extraction, whereas the aqueous phase is 1.00 mol/dm³ (H, Na)NO₃ solution. The elements of Am(III) and Eu(III) were extracted into organic phase from different hydrogen ion concentrations of aqueous phase. The SF of Am(III)/Eu(III) is 3.2 × 10⁴ at pH_eq = 6.25 in DOA–CS₂/nitrobenzene system. This separation technique of Am(III) from Eu(III) by extraction based on in situ extractant formation has the following advantages. (a) It is unnecessary to take the chemical stability of extractant into account for storage purpose, and (b) Am(III) can be completely separated from Eu(III) by a single extraction procedure.     

Thermal conductivity of BaPuO3 at temperatures from 300 to 1500 K

Polycrystalline specimens of barium plutonate, BaPuO₃, have been prepared by mixing the appropriate amounts of PuO₂ and BaCO₃ followed by reacting and sintering at 1600 K under the flowing gas atmosphere of dry-air. The sintered specimens had a single phase of orthorhombic perovskite structure and were crack-free. The Debye temperature of BaPuO₃ was determined from the sound velocity and lattice parameter measurements. The elastic moduli were also determined from the longitudinal and shear sound velocity. The thermal conductivity of BaPuO₃ was calculated from the measured density at room temperature, literature values of heat capacity, and thermal diffusivity measured by a laser flash method in vacuum. The thermal conductivity of BaPuO₃ was roughly independent of the temperature and was almost the same magnitude as that of BaUO₃. This was markedly lower than the conductivities of other perovskite type oxides and was about one-tenth that of UO₂ around room temperature. The temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of BaPuO₃ was found to be quite similar to that of BaUO₃.     

Fundamental study of the radiation monitoring system based on evaluation of DNA lesions

The biological dosemeter that measures biological responses to ionising radiation is useful for radiation protection. This paper presents the development and characterisation of a gamma ray irradiation dosimetry system based on real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) methodology. Real-time PCR is used to amplify and simultaneously quantify a targeted DNA molecule. If there are no limitations due to limiting substrates or reagents, at each extension step, the amount of DNA target is doubled, leading to exponential (geometric) amplification of the specific DNA fragment. The essential point of this assay is that DNA lesions caused by ionising radiation block DNA synthesis by DNA polymerase, resulting in a decrease in the amplification of a damaged DNA template compared with that of non-damaged DNA templates.     

A modified model for non-newtonian viscosity behavior of Aureobasidium pullulans culture fluid

The culture fluid of the fungus Aureobasidium pullulans and the exopolysaccharide solution obtained by removal of the microbial cells exhibit a marked shear dependence of viscosity. The viscosity in a high shear rate region was a little higher than that predicted by a non-Newtonian viscosity equation derived previously on the basis of the concept of traveling force. In a sample exhibiting such high shear rate dependence, a hydrodynamic effect based on the fluid structure of the binding of contacting polymers and suspended microbial cells on viscosity becomes comparatively significant. A model for the shear rate dependence of the viscosity is needed to elucidate the mechanism of the viscosity behavior. A term concerning the increase in viscosity caused by the binding of polymers and the microbial cells suspended in a medium was added to the previous viscosity equation. The experimental shear dependence of the viscosity was well simulated by the modified viscosity equation.     

Quantitative identification of unknown exposure pathways of phthalates based on measuring their metabolites in human urine

Humans are exposed to ubiquitous phthalates via multiple pathways. Exposures to phthalates have been estimated in some previous risk assessments in Japan based on point-of-contact measurement or scenario evaluation approaches. While the Japanese national government has regulated the use of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) and excluded several other phthalates from its regulation based on some of them, it is unclear whether such past exposure assessment studies fully assessed total human exposure to phthalates. In the present study, we measured their urinary metabolites, which show direct evidence of human exposure to phthalates. We recruited voluntary participants (N = 36) who agreed to donate urine samples, and measured the urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites using enzymatic deconjugation, solid-phase extraction, and high-performance liquid-chromatography isotope-dilution tandem mass spectrometry. We then derived the daily intakes of their respective phthalates based on steady state assumption and finally compared them with the corresponding estimated daily intakes of each phthalate via diet and air derived from previous exposure or risk assessments in Japan. These comparisons showed that exposures to dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, and di-n-butyl phthalate via diet and air accounted for less than half of their respective total exposures. On the other hand, it appears that dietary intake was more predictive for the total exposure to n-butyl-benzyl phthalate and DEHP. The probabilities that the log normal distribution of each phthalate daily intake estimated from the present study exceeds the corresponding tolerable daily intake were estimated to be less than 10(-4).     

铝酸钙水泥对焦宝石基喷涂料性能的影响

以焦宝石颗粒及细粉为主要原料，铝酸钙水泥为结合系统。分别研究了不同铝酸钙水泥含量对焦宝石基喷涂料性能的影响。结果表明．焦宝石基喷涂料的抗折强度随着铝酸钙水泥含量的增加呈上升趋势。但经过600℃、1000℃和1300℃烧结后的焦宝石基喷涂料的耐压强度随着铝酸钙水泥含量的增加呈先增加后减小的趋势。     

Carrier transport and structural properties of polysilicon films prepared by layer-by-layer technique

Polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films have been deposited on glass substrates by a layer-by-layer technique at very low temperature, 300°C, using fluorinated precursors. The electronic transport was characterized by Hall effect and conductivity measurements over a wide temperature range, 100 K to 400 K. The structure of the materials is a function of the film thickness. The measured Hall mobility increases as the thickness increases. The Hall mobility Arrhenius plot shows linear dependence with a negative slope over the temperature range examined, suggesting that carrier conduction is limited by grain boundary barriers.