The perils of foreign intervention: the Nile perch disaster for Lake Victoria

The present study involved the use of a pilot scale water treatment plant to treat turbid surface water from a stream using processed Moringa oleifera seed and alum as primary coagulants. At low initial turbidity of 21.5 to 49.3 NTU, residual turbidities of 2.7, 1.8 and 1.4 NTU were achieved after treatment using Moringa oleifera, alum, and alum with Moringa oleifera as coagulant‐aid, respectively. For medium turbidities varying from 51.8 to 114 NTU, lowest residual turbidities of 2.9, 1.2 and 1.4 were achieved after treatment using Moringa oleifera, alum, and alum with Moringa oleifera as coagulant‐aid, respectively. For high turbidity varying from 163 to 494 NTU, minimum residuals of 1.4, 1.9 and 0.9 NTU were achieved after treatment using Moringa oleifera, alum, and alum with Moringa oleifera as coagulant‐aid, respectively. The proposed mechanism for turbidity removal by Moringa oleifera seed in this study is a combination of partial‐charge neutralization and micro‐bridging or an electrostatic patch mechanism based on the results of zeta potential measurements.     

油田采出水Zeta电位和中值粒径对絮凝效果条件研究

该研究依据动态电泳光散射理论进行Zeta电位测定,利用多个激光源的光束投射测定中值粒径,采用絮凝沉降测定胶体颗粒的絮凝体积及沉降速度.着重考察不同采出水添加剂、聚醚类破乳剂、杀菌剂1227、阻垢剂EDTMP、咪唑啉类缓蚀剂与聚合氯化铝(PAC)复配对颗粒聚集Zeta电位、中值粒径、絮凝体积、沉降速度与颗粒聚集之间的关系...     

Effect of potential cycling on structure and activity of Pt nanoparticles dispersed on different carbon supports

Platinum particles synthesized via the Bönnemann methods were dispersed on two different Vulcan XC72 carbon supports. One was used after thermal treatment at 400 °C under nitrogen atmosphere, the other after oxidation of its surface by acid leaching using diluted HNO₃ in water (1/3). Characterization of the carbon support indicated that HNO₃ treatment leads to the decrease of the BET surface and to the increase of the surface acidity of the carbon support. After dispersion of the platinum catalyst, TEM results indicated that the mean particle size was a little higher on the non-oxidized support (Pt/XC72) than that on the functionalized one (Pt/XC72_HNO3), being 2.5 and 2.0 nm, respectively. However, potential cycles from 0.05 to 1.25 V vs. RHE led to a higher increase of the particle size when catalyst is dispersed on the functionalized support, reaching after 400 potential cycles 5.5 nm against 4.0 nm with the non-functionalized one. The effect of the upper limit (1.0 and 1.25 V vs. RHE) of the potential cycles on the active surface area and on the activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (orr) was determined for both catalysts. Results indicated that the particle growth was not the main degradation process over the whole duration of the electrochemical experiments, but that dissolution/redeposition (Otswald ripening) was also involved. The predominant role of each degradation process depends on the number of cycles, on the upper potential limit and on the carbon surface state, and could be temporally separated. However, the lower activity towards orr was recorded for the (Pt/XC72_HNO3) cycled up to 1.0 V vs. RHE.     

铁盐预混凝对微滤膜污染的影响

针对混凝-微滤工艺, 为优化铁盐预混凝条件及揭示不同凝聚体特性对膜污染的影响, 分析了三氯化铁 (ferric chloride, FC) 和聚合硫酸铁 (polymeric ferric sulfate, PFS) 在不同投加量 (0.1、0.2、0.4、0.6 mmol/L) 和混凝pH (4.5、5.5、6.5、7.5) 条件下对水中天然有机物-腐植酸的去除率和膜污染的影响规律.实验结果表明:当酸性pH 4.5~5.5电性中和机理为主时, PFS低投药量 (0.1~0.2 mmol/L) 凝聚体颗粒大而密实, 膜过滤中通量下降缓慢, 膜污染程度轻, 此时聚铁水解产物的高电荷比单铁更有利于电中和;中性pH 6.5~7.5卷扫混凝时, FC高投药量 (0.4~0.6 mmol/L) 缓解膜污染的作用更明显, 此时单铁水解产物卷扫混凝形成凝聚体的颗粒粒径更大.可见, 混凝凝聚体颗粒大小与结构特性, 是膜污染的直接影响因素, 大而密实的颗粒有利于增加膜通量, 同时提高出水水质.     

聚四氟乙烯微孔膜亲水性与抗污性的关系研究

探讨错流过滤中聚四氟乙烯微孔膜亲水性与抗污性的关系。在聚四氟乙烯（PTFE）膜表面引入磺酸基（-SO3H）,通过扫描电镜（SEM）、傅里叶红外光谱（FTIR）、固体表面电位分析仪（SurPASS）等研究-SO3H含量对膜亲水性、Zeta电位、牛血清蛋白（BSA）静态吸附量及水通量的影响。结果表明：疏水的PTFE膜易吸附负离子,Zeta电位〈0,BSA吸附量高,水通量降幅大,抗污性差;经过亲水改性后,由于-SO3H的引入,膜表面不易吸附负离子,Zeta电位升高,BSA吸附量降低,水通量降幅小;随-SO3H含量增加,膜Zeta电位因-SO3H电离而降低,与负电性BSA之间的静电斥力增强,抗污性进一步提高。     

The spatial distribution of Zn during galvanic corrosion of a Zn/steel couple

The spatial distribution of Zn²⁺ during galvanic corrosion of a model Zn/steel couple in 0.01 M NaCl was investigated using a scanning zinc disk electrode. The couple had a coplanar arrangement of a steel substrate with an electroplated zinc layer at the center. During galvanic corrosion, the marked changes in the Zn²⁺ concentration were confined to a thin solution layer ca. 1.0 mm thick above the couple surface. In this thin solution layer above the zinc layer, a higher concentration region of Zn²⁺ in the range of 5-18 mM extended around the zinc layer in the solution during galvanic corrosion. Conversely, above the steel surface distant from the zinc layer, the surface concentration of Zn²⁺ was almost zero during galvanic corrosion. On this surface, the precipitation of zinc corrosion products due to the hydrolysis reaction of Zn²⁺ was observed. The distribution of the Zn²⁺ concentration supported that Zn²⁺ acted as a buffer that suppressed the increased pH due to the cathodic reaction on the steel surface near the zinc layer and almost no corrosion products formed there. The spatial distribution of Zn²⁺ is discussed in relation to the distributions of potential and pH and the surface morphology of the galvanic couple.     

Differences of behaviour in electrooxidation of 3,3′-dimethoxybenzidine and its N,N,N′,N′-tetraalkylated derivatives: a further example of potential inversion

The anodic oxidation of 3,3′-dimethoxybenzidine and its derivatives were studied by cyclic voltammetry, voltammetry at a rotating platinum electrode, chronopotentiometry and constant potential coulometry. The exhaustive oxidation of 3,3′-dimethoxybenzidine led at the potential of the first oxidation peak and second oxidation peak, respectively, to a stable cation radical salt (characterized by ESR spectroscopy) and to a quinone-diimine. Whereas, 3,3′-dimethoxy-N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylbenzidine afforded directly a dication salt owing to potential inversion 3,3′-dimethoxy-N,N,N′,N′-tetraethylbenzidine gave the corresponding soluble cation radical salt.     

Effect of complexation on the zeta potential of silica powder

The present paper deals with the surface charge properties and dispersion stability of aqueous silica suspension. The zeta potential was measured versus barium acetate and zinc acetate concentration, at pH 6.0. EDTA was used to chelate the bivalent metal ions, so that the charge of counterion was reduced. The complexation of bivalent counterions favors the increase of the negative zeta potential and the dispersion stability of aqueous silica suspension.     

Breakage of TiO2 agglomerates in electrostatically stabilized aqueous dispersions

Nanoparticles of metal oxides have applications as additives in thin nanocomposite films. For optical applications that include transparent films and coatings, nanoparticles should be uniformly dispersed in the polymer film. Most commercially available nanoparticles are large agglomerates about 1 μm in maximum dimensions composed of primary particles with sizes ranging from 5 to 50 nm. The large agglomerates scatter light and are not directly suitable for optical systems. Ultrasonication of liquid suspensions was used to prepare stable dispersions from commercial titania nanopowders. The mean diameter of sonicated titania nanopowders was correlated inversely to the specific energy. After a rapid initial size reduction, continued ultrasonication lead to insignificant reduction and even reagglomeration of the particles. Both erosion and fracture mechanisms were observed. None of the commercial nanopowders were successfully broken to their primary particle sizes. Reagglomeration of the dispersion could be prevented by electrostatic stabilization with nitric acid or ammonium hydroxide when its zeta potential value was less than − 30 mV or greater than + 30 mV.     

Desalination by electret technology

A purification process of making use of electret technology for efficient but cost effective deionization was discussed in this paper. Douglas MacGregor claimed that PTFE electret works as a means of ions separation for desalination due to the polarization of an electrolyte and ions migration under a permanent electrostatic field generated by a pair of electrets with opposite polarities. The electrostatic field attracts counter-ions to the charged solid surface, and thus generates a purified effluent in the mainstream. Theoretical and experimental analyses were made to investigate the practicality of desalination by electret technology. It is found that MacGregor's design is meaningful only for a dilute electrolyte or a system with very high surface charge density because the number of the counter-ions attracted to the surface is limited and cannot exceed that of the surface charges at the electret.