Studies on peri urban farming in Zambia have not adequately tackled the issues pertaining to heavy metal contaminated wastewater irrigation farming. The study investigated heavy metal contamination of water, soils and...Studies on peri urban farming in Zambia have not adequately tackled the issues pertaining to heavy metal contaminated wastewater irrigation farming. The study investigated heavy metal contamination of water, soils and crops at two peri urban areas in Zambia. Two study sites were New Farm Extension in Mufulira Town in the Copperbelt Province and Chilumba Gardens in Kafue Town in Lusaka Province. The heavy metals investigated were lead, copper, cobalt, nickel and chromium. These heavy metals were found to be higher than acceptable limits in wastewater used to irrigate crops and there are potential human health risks associated with consumption of heavy metal contaminated food crops which have implications on the livelihoods of people. Samples of water, soil and crops were collected and analysed for lead (Pb), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) using the Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS). The data on heavy metals was analysed using mean, standard error and T-test. The results indicated that the levels of heavy metals in wastewater, soil and food crops were above acceptable limits at two study sites. It can be concluded that there was heavy metal contamination of wastewater, soil and food crops at the two peri-urban areas in Zambia. The study highlighted the actual levels of heavy metal contaminant uptake in food crops consumed by the peri urban population. The information from this study can be used by the relevant authorities to develop appropriate measures for monitoring and control of heavy metal contamination in wastewater irrigation farming systems in peri urban areas inZambia.展开更多
High pure and ultrapure Aluminum is increasingly used in highly corrosion resistant applications or to replace copper in conductive parts such as high voltage cable and transformers due to their higher electrical cond...High pure and ultrapure Aluminum is increasingly used in highly corrosion resistant applications or to replace copper in conductive parts such as high voltage cable and transformers due to their higher electrical conductivity properties. Ultrapure Aluminum is also used in semiconductors industry. Hence, the market demands innovative refining technologies, which consume less energy, take less time and lead to higher resource efficiencies. The most common methodology to produce ultrapure Aluminum is zone refining, based on the principle of fractional crystallization. Zone refining is however a very time-consuming process. In order to achieve a purity of 6N, several passes along the crucible with each full day treatment must be carried out. Also this method cannot be conducted continuously. This paper presents first time a new and eco-efficient method, which offers high potential to meet the mentioned multi-dimensional demands. Firstly, distribution coefficients of main impurities in Aluminum—a deciding factor to forecast and assess the removal behavior of impurities-were studied theoretically as a function of temperature using thermo-chemical calculation in FactSageTM. Secondly, the innovative method using a rotating and gas cooled crystallizer (“cooled finger”) was developed to validate the principle. The influencing process parameters such as temperature gradient, cooling gas flow rate, etc. were experimentally investigated and the theoretical results could be verified.展开更多
The effect of heat treatment on microstructure and tensile properties as well as wear behavior on TC21 (Ti-6Al-2Sn-2Zr-3Mo-1Cr-2Nb-Si, wt.%) Ti-alloy was investigated. The samples were solution treated at 900°C f...The effect of heat treatment on microstructure and tensile properties as well as wear behavior on TC21 (Ti-6Al-2Sn-2Zr-3Mo-1Cr-2Nb-Si, wt.%) Ti-alloy was investigated. The samples were solution treated at 900°C for 15 min followed by furnace cooling to 800°C with a cooling rate 1°C/min and holding for 20 min, then the samples cooled down to room temperature either using water quenching (WQ) or air cooling (AC). Consequently, aging treatment was applied at 575°C for 4 hr. The microstructure feature showed a secondary α phase (αs) precipitated in residual β phase due to the step cooling from 900°C to 800°C inside furnace as well as the aging treatment. The highest wear rate was obtained for WQ samples due to increasing in volume fraction of αp (58%). However, the lowest wear rate was reported for WQ + Aging samples due to the high hardness. Optimum mechanical properties of the studied TC21 Ti-alloy were obtained for AC + Aging condition. A better combination of hardness, tensile properties, and wear resistance was achieved for AC + Aging samples, although their wear resistance was found to be slightly lower than that of WQ + Aging samples.展开更多
Thermo-chemical technique was used to synthesize Cu-Al2O3, nanocomposite powders. The process was carried out by addition of Cu powder to aqueous solution of aluminum nitrate. Afterwards, a thermal treatment at 850℃ ...Thermo-chemical technique was used to synthesize Cu-Al2O3, nanocomposite powders. The process was carried out by addition of Cu powder to aqueous solution of aluminum nitrate. Afterwards, a thermal treatment at 850℃ for 1 hr was conducted to get insitu powders of CuO and stable alumina (Al2O3, ). The CuO was reduced in hydrogen atmosphere into copper powder. The nanocomposite powders of both copper and alumina were thoroughly mixed, cold pressed into briquettes and sintered at 850℃ in hydrogen atmosphere. The x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) were used to characterize the structure of the obtained powders. The results showed that alumina nanoparticles (20 nm) and ultra fine copper crystallite (200 nm) were obtained. SEM and EDS showed that the alumina particles were uniformly dispersed within the copper crystallite matrix. The structure also revealed formation of a third phase (CuAlO2) at copper-alumina interface. The hardness and density results showed that the gain in hardness was found to be dependent on the alumina contents rather than on the relative densities. The alumina content up to 12.5% resulted in an increase of 47.9% in hardness and slight decrease (7.6%) in relative densities. The results of compression tests showed considerable increase in compression strength (67%) as alumina content increased up to 12.5%. The compression strength showed further increase in compression strength (24%) as strain rates were increased from 10-4 s to 10s. Strain hardening and strain rate parameters “n” and “m” have shown positive values that improved the total strain and they can be used to predict formability of the nanocomposite.展开更多
Electrochemical characteristics of covellite (CuS) are of importance from flotation and metallurgical point of view, as well as due to its potential application in solid state solar cells and in photocatalytic reactio...Electrochemical characteristics of covellite (CuS) are of importance from flotation and metallurgical point of view, as well as due to its potential application in solid state solar cells and in photocatalytic reactions. Also, the compound CuS appears as an intermediary product or a final product in electrochemical oxidation reactions of chalcocite (Cu2S) which exhibits supercapacitor characteristics. Natural copper mineral covellite has been investigated in inorganic sulfate acid electrolytes, as well as in strong alkaline electrolyte. Physical properties of covellite were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the active surface was examined by optical and electron microscopy (EM) before and after oxidation in galvanostatic regime. Different electrochemical methods (galvanostatic, potentiostatic, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy - EIS) have been used. The capacitance of around 21 Fcm-2 (geometric area), serial resistance of about 90 Ωcm2 and leakage resistance of about 1200 Ωcm2 have been measured in 1 M H2SO4. The addition of cupric ions in sulfate electrolyte leads to the significant increasing of the capacitance, but having the increase of self-discharge as a negative side phenomenon. The capacitance of around 6.7 Fcm-2 (geometric area), serial resistance of about 80 Ωcm2 and leakage resistance of about 380 Ωcm2 have been measured in 6 M KOH.展开更多
High-intensity ultrasonic vibration was focused on the tip of conical steel specimens to induce severe plastic deformation at room temperature. We found, for the first time, that grain size smaller than 200 nm was obt...High-intensity ultrasonic vibration was focused on the tip of conical steel specimens to induce severe plastic deformation at room temperature. We found, for the first time, that grain size smaller than 200 nm was obtained. Furthermore, the sharp tip of the conical specimen became umbrella-shaped or disk-shaped. The tip size changed from 0.5 mm diameter to a disk about 5 mm diameter, representing a large amount of plastic deformation in the metal at the tip of the conical specimen.展开更多
Over the past decade extensive development of advanced high strength steel (AHSS) was driven by the demand from the automotive industry for stronger materials that can enable lightweighting to meet increasing fuel eff...Over the past decade extensive development of advanced high strength steel (AHSS) was driven by the demand from the automotive industry for stronger materials that can enable lightweighting to meet increasing fuel efficiency requirements. However, achievement of higher strength in many AHSS grades comes with reductions in ductility, leading to geometric constraints on formability and limiting their application. In this paper, a 3rd Generation AHSS with a compelling property combination of high tensile strength of ~1200 MPa and total elongation > 40% was used for laboratory and stamping studies. Various auto related laboratory tests were done including tensile testing, 180 degree bending, bulge testing, and cup drawing to estimate the steel’s formability under different applied conditions. Additionally, since laboratory testing provides only an estimation of the potential stamping response, the 3rd Generation AHSS sheet was stamped into B-pillars under industrial stamping conditions. Non-destructive and destructive analysis of the resulting stampings were done to evaluate the microstructural and property changes occurring during stamping. Significant strengthening of material in the stamped part is attributed to the structural changes through the complex Nanophase Refinement and Strengthening mechanism.展开更多
The corrosion inhibition properties of 2,6-diphenylpiperidin-4-one (DPP) (1A) and 2,6-diphenyldihydro-2H-thiopyran-4(3H)-one (DPDT) (1B) for mild steel in 1 M phosphoric acid were studied using weight loss, potentiody...The corrosion inhibition properties of 2,6-diphenylpiperidin-4-one (DPP) (1A) and 2,6-diphenyldihydro-2H-thiopyran-4(3H)-one (DPDT) (1B) for mild steel in 1 M phosphoric acid were studied using weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic techniques. The effect of temperature on the corrosion behavior of mild steel has been examined in the temperature range 303 - 328 K. The inhibition efficiency increases with increasing inhibitor concentration but decreases with increasing temperature. Potentiodynamic polarization studies indicated the mixed nature of inhibitors. The adsorption of the inhibitors on mild steel surface obeyed the Langmuir adsorption isotherms. The density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6- 31G (d) basis set level was performed on 1A and 1B to investigate the correlation between molecular structure and the corresponding inhibition efficiency (%). The quantum chemical parameters such as EHOMO, ELUMO, the energy gap (E), hardness (η), softness (S), dipole moment (μ), electron affinity (A), ionization potential (I), the absolute electronegativity (χ), the fraction of electron transferred (N), electrophilicity index (ω), the back-donation (EBack-donation) and Mulliken population analysis have been calculated.展开更多
This paper examines the use of corrosion inhibitors in order to protect the reinforcement of concrete. For this purpose mortar specimens were constructed with or without corrosion inhibitors and were partially immerse...This paper examines the use of corrosion inhibitors in order to protect the reinforcement of concrete. For this purpose mortar specimens were constructed with or without corrosion inhibitors and were partially immersed in sodium chloride. Corrosion inhibitors were used as admixture into concrete and were sprayed on the external surface of mortar specimens. In all mortar specimens, electric junction between reinforcements was achieved. The methods that were used for the evaluation of the reinforcement corrosion in concrete, included half-cell potential measurements, polarization curves of reinforced rebars and mass loss of the reinforcement. Finally, the durability of concrete after the use of corrosion inhibitors was also examined.展开更多
Atmosphere, earth and water compose the environment. The presence of heavy metals in the environment has grown because of their large employment in some industrial and agricultural activities. Although these metals ar...Atmosphere, earth and water compose the environment. The presence of heavy metals in the environment has grown because of their large employment in some industrial and agricultural activities. Although these metals are terrestrial products, they flow into the sea through effluents and sewage or are directly discharged from industries placed on the seawater front. It should be considered that metals concentrations vary widely according to different seawater latitudes and depths and can be strongly influenced by fresh water discharges from heavily polluted rivers. In this review recent studies on heavy metal pollution in marine ecosystems and their organisms will be presented. Metal speciation, bioaccumulation in biota, as well as abiotic and biotic factors affecting their bioavailability will be reviewed. Moreover, the use of bioindicator organisms for the biomonitoring of heavy metal toxicity and their ecological effects will be defined. Many marine invertebrate species fulfill the following criteria: Sensitivity to a wide range of chemicals (especially to heavy metals), cost-effectiveness for repeatable tests, readily interpretable biological consequences of pollution. Among the most important marine invertebrates used as bioindicators, the sea urchin embryo is one of the most suitable, especially to assess metal/heavy metal pollution.展开更多
Metal-matrix composites (MMCs) are attracting considerable interest worldwide because of their superior mechanical and tribological properties. This study describes multifactor-based experiments that were applied to r...Metal-matrix composites (MMCs) are attracting considerable interest worldwide because of their superior mechanical and tribological properties. This study describes multifactor-based experiments that were applied to research and investigates Aluminum matrix composite reinforced with 5, 10 & 15 wt% Alumina particles. Mechanical mixing technique was used for fabrication. Sintering was carried out in a vacuum furnace at 600°C for 1 hr. The effects of Alumina percentage on the density, microstructure, both electrical & thermal conductivities, hardness and compression strength was investigated. The results showed that sample containing 5 wt% Alumina is near-fully dense. Also it has the highest hardness and compression strength.展开更多
The environmental pollution with some heavy metals for twenty four surface soil samples collected from Qarun Lake and Wadi El Rayan region in Faiyum, Egypt utilizing X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy was measured....The environmental pollution with some heavy metals for twenty four surface soil samples collected from Qarun Lake and Wadi El Rayan region in Faiyum, Egypt utilizing X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy was measured. The concentrations of 13 elements Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Rb, Y, Ba, Pb, Sr, Ga, V and Nb were determined. The elemental concentrations were compared with the normal values and other studies in different locations from the world. The correlation between elements appears that pollution inside the investigated lake and Wadi result from different sources of contamination present inside them. The results establish a database reference of radioactivity background levels around these regions.展开更多
Soil contamination with heavy metals has become a world-wide problem, leading to the loss in agricultural productivity. Plants have a remarkable ability to take up and accumulate heavy metals from their external envir...Soil contamination with heavy metals has become a world-wide problem, leading to the loss in agricultural productivity. Plants have a remarkable ability to take up and accumulate heavy metals from their external environment and it is well known that high levels of heavy metals affect different physiological and metabolic processes. Brassinosteroids are considered as the sixth class of plant hormones and they are essential for plant growth and development. These compounds are able of inducing abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In this paper, information about brassinosteroids and plant responses to heavy metal stress is reviewed.展开更多
Anand, the milk capital of India, is a developing city with increasing vehicles and developmental activities going on at a fast pace. This study attempts to investigate the zinc and chromium concentration in street du...Anand, the milk capital of India, is a developing city with increasing vehicles and developmental activities going on at a fast pace. This study attempts to investigate the zinc and chromium concentration in street dust, suspended particulate matter and in foliar dust deposits. Ten sampling locations were selected based on the traffic density on the roads and different anthropogenic activity. Sampling was carried out in the dry months of January to March 2011. The range of Zn and Cr was 16.82 - 108.29 ppm and 118 - 151.5 ppm in the street dust respectively. Zn concentration in Suspended particulate matter lies in the range of 12.41 to 86 ppm and Cr concentration between 75 to 130 ppm. The range of Cr in foliar deposited dust varied from 79.54 ppm to 31 ppm. Whereas, for Zn maximum concentration was in S10 which is 42.34 ppm and minimum was in site S9, 23.73 ppm. ANOVA single factor showed that at 0.05 level of significance site wise variation of zinc and chromium concentration in SPM, Street dust and foliar deposited dust was not significant signifying similar source of contamination. Which is further strengthened by the good positive correlation found between the Zn and Cr concentration of street dust, leaf deposited dust and SPM. The Contamination Factor in the sites where metal concentration was high was 1.24 in S10 and 1.06 in S5 for Zn. For chromium the value of CF was 1.77 in S10 and 1.67 in S5. These values indicate that street dust is moderately contaminated with respect to zinc and chromium.展开更多
In situ amendments are a promising approach to enhance removal of metal contaminants from diverse environments including soil, groundwater and sediments. Apatite and chitin were selected and tested for copper, chromiu...In situ amendments are a promising approach to enhance removal of metal contaminants from diverse environments including soil, groundwater and sediments. Apatite and chitin were selected and tested for copper, chromium, and zinc metal removal in marine sediment samples. Microbiological, molecular biological and chemical analyses were applied to investigate the role of these amendments in metal immobilization processes. Both apatite and chitin promoted microbial growth. These amendments induced corresponding bacterial groups including sulfide producers, iron reducers, and phosphate solubilizers;all that facilitated heavy metal immobilization and removal from marine sediments. Molecular biological approaches showed chitin greatly induced microbial population shifts in sediments and overlying water: chitin only, or chitin with apatite induced growth of bacterial groups such as Acidobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Epsilonproteobacteria, Firmicutes, Planctomycetes, Rhodospirillaceae, Spirochaetes, and Verrucomicrobia;whereas these bacteria were not present in the control. Community structures were also altered under treatments with increase of relative abundance of Deltaproteobacteria and decrease of Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Nitrospirae. Many ?of these groups of bacteria have been shown to be involved in metal reduction and immobilization. Chemical analysis ?of pore and overlying water also demonstrated metal immobilization primarily under chitin treatments. X-Ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) spectra showed more sorbed Zn occurred over time in both apatite and chitin treatments (from 9% - 27%). The amendments improved zinc immobilization in marine sediments that led to significant changes in ??the mineralogy: easily mobile Zn hydroxide phase was converted to an immobile Zn phosphate (hopeite). In-situ amendment of apatite and chitin offers a great bioremediation potential for marine sediments contaminated with heavy metals.展开更多
Three alluvial soil samples with different textures were artificially polluted with chloride solutions of Cd, Pb, Co and chromate solution for Cr. The aqua-regia extracted concentration ranges in the artificially poll...Three alluvial soil samples with different textures were artificially polluted with chloride solutions of Cd, Pb, Co and chromate solution for Cr. The aqua-regia extracted concentration ranges in the artificially polluted soils were 1134 - 1489 mg·kg-1 for Pb, 854 - 938 mg·kg-1 for Cr, 166 - 346 mg·kg-1 for Co and 44 - 54 mg·kg-1 for Cd. The aqua-regia extracted metals were the highest in the spiked clay soil due to its high adsorption capacity. Rock phosphate (PR), lime-stone (LS) and Portland-cement (Cem) were mixed with the spiked soils at 1% and 2% rates (w/w) and incubated at 30 C for 2, 7, 14, 30, 60, 150 and 360 days. The extracted DTPA metals significantly decreased with different magnitudes with increasing the incubation period accompanied by increases in both pH and EC. The data showed that cement (Cem) treatment dropped the DTPA-Pb from @ 1000 to @ 400 mg·kg-1 in all the studied soils (60% decrease) in the first 2 months while it gradually decreased from 400 to 200 mg·kg-1 (20% decrease) in the next 10 months. Limestone (LS) and rock phosphate (PR) materials were relatively less effective in lowering DTPA-Pb after 12 months of incubation. The data showed also that cement (Cem) treatment was the most effective one in lowering DTPA-Cd by @ 60% as compared to the un-amended soils after 12 months of soil incubation. Extractable DTPA-Co and Cr showed consistent decreases with time down to nearly 50% of un-amended soils due to the effect of the added amendments after 12 months of incubation with superior reductions for the cement treatment in all the investigated soils. The statistical analysis confirmed that in all the studied metals and treatment, cement treatment (Cem) was significantly the most effective in lowering the DTPA extracted metals as indicated from LSD test. It was found that up to 73% and 57% of the applied Pb and Cd, respectively, were fixed by only 1% cement. However, the present study showed that from the practical and economic points of view, that 1% Cement was the best treatment to展开更多
Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) coatings have attracted significant attention due to their low friction coefficient, high degree of hardness, chemical inertness, and high wear resistance as well as and their many possible u...Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) coatings have attracted significant attention due to their low friction coefficient, high degree of hardness, chemical inertness, and high wear resistance as well as and their many possible uses in metallurgical, aeronautical, and biomedical applications. However, DLC has low adhesion strength to metallic substrates. Carbonitriding was performed before DLC deposition to improve this adherence. Different concentration of nitrogen in the gas mixture was used during the carbonitriding of Ti6Al4V alloy. DLC films were subsequently grown from methane using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The samples were characterized with Raman scattering spectroscopy, nanoindentation, and tribological tests. Films from 80.0% N2 had the best friction coefficient (0.07) and a critical load of ~22 N. In the scratching test, these films had adhesive failure and they completely detached from the substrate only in the end of the tests. SEM images show carbonitring promoted a significant increase in the surface defects (homogeneously distributed) but without the presence of microcracks. EDX analysis indicated that nitrogen element was diffused throughout the thickness of the samples. Hydrogen and carbon atoms from carbonitriding formed a diffusion-barrier layer that can be used as the first step for DLC deposition. This carbonitriding can also provide a carbide layer, which serves as the precursor for the nucleation and growth of DLC films.展开更多
Grain refining process plays a significant role in preventing columnar and coarse grains and it encourages fine grain formation. Although Al-Ti-B master alloys use widely as aluminium grain refiners, there are several...Grain refining process plays a significant role in preventing columnar and coarse grains and it encourages fine grain formation. Although Al-Ti-B master alloys use widely as aluminium grain refiners, there are several problems in their applications. So, this kind of master alloys use less than last. Because of great properties of Al-Ti-C refiners, they can be considered as suitable candidates for use instead of Al-Ti-B master alloys. In recent years, Al-Ti-C refiners have attracted huge attention among researchers. In this paper, Al-3Ti-1C master alloy is prepared with a melting reaction method. This method involves adding graphite powder and fine titanium particles into superheated pure aluminium. Then microstructure of this master alloy is studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and its phases are distinguished by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). In the next part, 200 ppm of Al-3Ti-1C master alloy is added to pure aluminium and its refining efficiency is compared with the condition in which TiC powders are added to aluminium melt directly. It is found that the fading time for both Al-3Ti-1C and TiC powder is about 15 minutes and in overall, grain refining efficiency of Al-3Ti-1C is more than TiC powders in 60 minutes.展开更多
Metals are the main components of the Earth’s mass and are characterized by high thermal and electrical conductivity as well as high reflectivity of electromagnetic fields. Finely divided metals are efficient catalys...Metals are the main components of the Earth’s mass and are characterized by high thermal and electrical conductivity as well as high reflectivity of electromagnetic fields. Finely divided metals are efficient catalysers and this indicates the relevance of surfaces when their ratio to volume becomes large. This is a characteristic of fractal aggregates and their constituent monomers (spheroidal or other) in the micrometer to nanometer scales. Exotic fern shaped aggregates are also produced. All aggregates exhibit large ratios of surface to volume. Condensation of metallic vapours allows to obtain particle sizes much smaller than those obtained via grinding techniques and far superior in purity. Exotic alloys of non miscible metals have been obtained at the micrometer scale. Thermal and laser evaporation methods of metals followed by condensation are described. Low gravity aggregation experiments were also carried out on aircraft in parabolic flight.展开更多
The effect of bio-glass (45S5) addition on the physical properties of Mg-5Zn matrix composite has been investigated. Powder metallurgy method was used to fabricate the composite by mixing, compacting and followed by s...The effect of bio-glass (45S5) addition on the physical properties of Mg-5Zn matrix composite has been investigated. Powder metallurgy method was used to fabricate the composite by mixing, compacting and followed by sintering. Mg-5 wt% Zn was reinforced with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 wt% of bio-glass (BG). The physical properties such as density and porosity were determined using a pcynometer. Corrosion resistance was studied by immersion test. The results showed that porosity of the sintered sample decreased for the Mg-5 wt% Zn reinforced with 5 wt% of bio-glass. However, above 5 wt% of bio-glass, the porosity increased. The result also showed that corrosion resistance of Mg-5 wt% Zn increased as the amount of bio-glass increased.展开更多
文摘Studies on peri urban farming in Zambia have not adequately tackled the issues pertaining to heavy metal contaminated wastewater irrigation farming. The study investigated heavy metal contamination of water, soils and crops at two peri urban areas in Zambia. Two study sites were New Farm Extension in Mufulira Town in the Copperbelt Province and Chilumba Gardens in Kafue Town in Lusaka Province. The heavy metals investigated were lead, copper, cobalt, nickel and chromium. These heavy metals were found to be higher than acceptable limits in wastewater used to irrigate crops and there are potential human health risks associated with consumption of heavy metal contaminated food crops which have implications on the livelihoods of people. Samples of water, soil and crops were collected and analysed for lead (Pb), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) using the Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS). The data on heavy metals was analysed using mean, standard error and T-test. The results indicated that the levels of heavy metals in wastewater, soil and food crops were above acceptable limits at two study sites. It can be concluded that there was heavy metal contamination of wastewater, soil and food crops at the two peri-urban areas in Zambia. The study highlighted the actual levels of heavy metal contaminant uptake in food crops consumed by the peri urban population. The information from this study can be used by the relevant authorities to develop appropriate measures for monitoring and control of heavy metal contamination in wastewater irrigation farming systems in peri urban areas inZambia.
文摘High pure and ultrapure Aluminum is increasingly used in highly corrosion resistant applications or to replace copper in conductive parts such as high voltage cable and transformers due to their higher electrical conductivity properties. Ultrapure Aluminum is also used in semiconductors industry. Hence, the market demands innovative refining technologies, which consume less energy, take less time and lead to higher resource efficiencies. The most common methodology to produce ultrapure Aluminum is zone refining, based on the principle of fractional crystallization. Zone refining is however a very time-consuming process. In order to achieve a purity of 6N, several passes along the crucible with each full day treatment must be carried out. Also this method cannot be conducted continuously. This paper presents first time a new and eco-efficient method, which offers high potential to meet the mentioned multi-dimensional demands. Firstly, distribution coefficients of main impurities in Aluminum—a deciding factor to forecast and assess the removal behavior of impurities-were studied theoretically as a function of temperature using thermo-chemical calculation in FactSageTM. Secondly, the innovative method using a rotating and gas cooled crystallizer (“cooled finger”) was developed to validate the principle. The influencing process parameters such as temperature gradient, cooling gas flow rate, etc. were experimentally investigated and the theoretical results could be verified.
文摘The effect of heat treatment on microstructure and tensile properties as well as wear behavior on TC21 (Ti-6Al-2Sn-2Zr-3Mo-1Cr-2Nb-Si, wt.%) Ti-alloy was investigated. The samples were solution treated at 900°C for 15 min followed by furnace cooling to 800°C with a cooling rate 1°C/min and holding for 20 min, then the samples cooled down to room temperature either using water quenching (WQ) or air cooling (AC). Consequently, aging treatment was applied at 575°C for 4 hr. The microstructure feature showed a secondary α phase (αs) precipitated in residual β phase due to the step cooling from 900°C to 800°C inside furnace as well as the aging treatment. The highest wear rate was obtained for WQ samples due to increasing in volume fraction of αp (58%). However, the lowest wear rate was reported for WQ + Aging samples due to the high hardness. Optimum mechanical properties of the studied TC21 Ti-alloy were obtained for AC + Aging condition. A better combination of hardness, tensile properties, and wear resistance was achieved for AC + Aging samples, although their wear resistance was found to be slightly lower than that of WQ + Aging samples.
文摘Thermo-chemical technique was used to synthesize Cu-Al2O3, nanocomposite powders. The process was carried out by addition of Cu powder to aqueous solution of aluminum nitrate. Afterwards, a thermal treatment at 850℃ for 1 hr was conducted to get insitu powders of CuO and stable alumina (Al2O3, ). The CuO was reduced in hydrogen atmosphere into copper powder. The nanocomposite powders of both copper and alumina were thoroughly mixed, cold pressed into briquettes and sintered at 850℃ in hydrogen atmosphere. The x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) were used to characterize the structure of the obtained powders. The results showed that alumina nanoparticles (20 nm) and ultra fine copper crystallite (200 nm) were obtained. SEM and EDS showed that the alumina particles were uniformly dispersed within the copper crystallite matrix. The structure also revealed formation of a third phase (CuAlO2) at copper-alumina interface. The hardness and density results showed that the gain in hardness was found to be dependent on the alumina contents rather than on the relative densities. The alumina content up to 12.5% resulted in an increase of 47.9% in hardness and slight decrease (7.6%) in relative densities. The results of compression tests showed considerable increase in compression strength (67%) as alumina content increased up to 12.5%. The compression strength showed further increase in compression strength (24%) as strain rates were increased from 10-4 s to 10s. Strain hardening and strain rate parameters “n” and “m” have shown positive values that improved the total strain and they can be used to predict formability of the nanocomposite.
基金The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Ministry of Education and Science,Government of the Republic of Serbia through the Project No.172 060:“New approach to designing materials for energy conversion and storage”.
文摘Electrochemical characteristics of covellite (CuS) are of importance from flotation and metallurgical point of view, as well as due to its potential application in solid state solar cells and in photocatalytic reactions. Also, the compound CuS appears as an intermediary product or a final product in electrochemical oxidation reactions of chalcocite (Cu2S) which exhibits supercapacitor characteristics. Natural copper mineral covellite has been investigated in inorganic sulfate acid electrolytes, as well as in strong alkaline electrolyte. Physical properties of covellite were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the active surface was examined by optical and electron microscopy (EM) before and after oxidation in galvanostatic regime. Different electrochemical methods (galvanostatic, potentiostatic, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy - EIS) have been used. The capacitance of around 21 Fcm-2 (geometric area), serial resistance of about 90 Ωcm2 and leakage resistance of about 1200 Ωcm2 have been measured in 1 M H2SO4. The addition of cupric ions in sulfate electrolyte leads to the significant increasing of the capacitance, but having the increase of self-discharge as a negative side phenomenon. The capacitance of around 6.7 Fcm-2 (geometric area), serial resistance of about 80 Ωcm2 and leakage resistance of about 380 Ωcm2 have been measured in 6 M KOH.
文摘High-intensity ultrasonic vibration was focused on the tip of conical steel specimens to induce severe plastic deformation at room temperature. We found, for the first time, that grain size smaller than 200 nm was obtained. Furthermore, the sharp tip of the conical specimen became umbrella-shaped or disk-shaped. The tip size changed from 0.5 mm diameter to a disk about 5 mm diameter, representing a large amount of plastic deformation in the metal at the tip of the conical specimen.
文摘Over the past decade extensive development of advanced high strength steel (AHSS) was driven by the demand from the automotive industry for stronger materials that can enable lightweighting to meet increasing fuel efficiency requirements. However, achievement of higher strength in many AHSS grades comes with reductions in ductility, leading to geometric constraints on formability and limiting their application. In this paper, a 3rd Generation AHSS with a compelling property combination of high tensile strength of ~1200 MPa and total elongation > 40% was used for laboratory and stamping studies. Various auto related laboratory tests were done including tensile testing, 180 degree bending, bulge testing, and cup drawing to estimate the steel’s formability under different applied conditions. Additionally, since laboratory testing provides only an estimation of the potential stamping response, the 3rd Generation AHSS sheet was stamped into B-pillars under industrial stamping conditions. Non-destructive and destructive analysis of the resulting stampings were done to evaluate the microstructural and property changes occurring during stamping. Significant strengthening of material in the stamped part is attributed to the structural changes through the complex Nanophase Refinement and Strengthening mechanism.
文摘The corrosion inhibition properties of 2,6-diphenylpiperidin-4-one (DPP) (1A) and 2,6-diphenyldihydro-2H-thiopyran-4(3H)-one (DPDT) (1B) for mild steel in 1 M phosphoric acid were studied using weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic techniques. The effect of temperature on the corrosion behavior of mild steel has been examined in the temperature range 303 - 328 K. The inhibition efficiency increases with increasing inhibitor concentration but decreases with increasing temperature. Potentiodynamic polarization studies indicated the mixed nature of inhibitors. The adsorption of the inhibitors on mild steel surface obeyed the Langmuir adsorption isotherms. The density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6- 31G (d) basis set level was performed on 1A and 1B to investigate the correlation between molecular structure and the corresponding inhibition efficiency (%). The quantum chemical parameters such as EHOMO, ELUMO, the energy gap (E), hardness (η), softness (S), dipole moment (μ), electron affinity (A), ionization potential (I), the absolute electronegativity (χ), the fraction of electron transferred (N), electrophilicity index (ω), the back-donation (EBack-donation) and Mulliken population analysis have been calculated.
文摘This paper examines the use of corrosion inhibitors in order to protect the reinforcement of concrete. For this purpose mortar specimens were constructed with or without corrosion inhibitors and were partially immersed in sodium chloride. Corrosion inhibitors were used as admixture into concrete and were sprayed on the external surface of mortar specimens. In all mortar specimens, electric junction between reinforcements was achieved. The methods that were used for the evaluation of the reinforcement corrosion in concrete, included half-cell potential measurements, polarization curves of reinforced rebars and mass loss of the reinforcement. Finally, the durability of concrete after the use of corrosion inhibitors was also examined.
文摘Atmosphere, earth and water compose the environment. The presence of heavy metals in the environment has grown because of their large employment in some industrial and agricultural activities. Although these metals are terrestrial products, they flow into the sea through effluents and sewage or are directly discharged from industries placed on the seawater front. It should be considered that metals concentrations vary widely according to different seawater latitudes and depths and can be strongly influenced by fresh water discharges from heavily polluted rivers. In this review recent studies on heavy metal pollution in marine ecosystems and their organisms will be presented. Metal speciation, bioaccumulation in biota, as well as abiotic and biotic factors affecting their bioavailability will be reviewed. Moreover, the use of bioindicator organisms for the biomonitoring of heavy metal toxicity and their ecological effects will be defined. Many marine invertebrate species fulfill the following criteria: Sensitivity to a wide range of chemicals (especially to heavy metals), cost-effectiveness for repeatable tests, readily interpretable biological consequences of pollution. Among the most important marine invertebrates used as bioindicators, the sea urchin embryo is one of the most suitable, especially to assess metal/heavy metal pollution.
文摘Metal-matrix composites (MMCs) are attracting considerable interest worldwide because of their superior mechanical and tribological properties. This study describes multifactor-based experiments that were applied to research and investigates Aluminum matrix composite reinforced with 5, 10 & 15 wt% Alumina particles. Mechanical mixing technique was used for fabrication. Sintering was carried out in a vacuum furnace at 600°C for 1 hr. The effects of Alumina percentage on the density, microstructure, both electrical & thermal conductivities, hardness and compression strength was investigated. The results showed that sample containing 5 wt% Alumina is near-fully dense. Also it has the highest hardness and compression strength.
文摘The environmental pollution with some heavy metals for twenty four surface soil samples collected from Qarun Lake and Wadi El Rayan region in Faiyum, Egypt utilizing X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy was measured. The concentrations of 13 elements Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, Rb, Y, Ba, Pb, Sr, Ga, V and Nb were determined. The elemental concentrations were compared with the normal values and other studies in different locations from the world. The correlation between elements appears that pollution inside the investigated lake and Wadi result from different sources of contamination present inside them. The results establish a database reference of radioactivity background levels around these regions.
文摘Soil contamination with heavy metals has become a world-wide problem, leading to the loss in agricultural productivity. Plants have a remarkable ability to take up and accumulate heavy metals from their external environment and it is well known that high levels of heavy metals affect different physiological and metabolic processes. Brassinosteroids are considered as the sixth class of plant hormones and they are essential for plant growth and development. These compounds are able of inducing abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In this paper, information about brassinosteroids and plant responses to heavy metal stress is reviewed.
文摘Anand, the milk capital of India, is a developing city with increasing vehicles and developmental activities going on at a fast pace. This study attempts to investigate the zinc and chromium concentration in street dust, suspended particulate matter and in foliar dust deposits. Ten sampling locations were selected based on the traffic density on the roads and different anthropogenic activity. Sampling was carried out in the dry months of January to March 2011. The range of Zn and Cr was 16.82 - 108.29 ppm and 118 - 151.5 ppm in the street dust respectively. Zn concentration in Suspended particulate matter lies in the range of 12.41 to 86 ppm and Cr concentration between 75 to 130 ppm. The range of Cr in foliar deposited dust varied from 79.54 ppm to 31 ppm. Whereas, for Zn maximum concentration was in S10 which is 42.34 ppm and minimum was in site S9, 23.73 ppm. ANOVA single factor showed that at 0.05 level of significance site wise variation of zinc and chromium concentration in SPM, Street dust and foliar deposited dust was not significant signifying similar source of contamination. Which is further strengthened by the good positive correlation found between the Zn and Cr concentration of street dust, leaf deposited dust and SPM. The Contamination Factor in the sites where metal concentration was high was 1.24 in S10 and 1.06 in S5 for Zn. For chromium the value of CF was 1.77 in S10 and 1.67 in S5. These values indicate that street dust is moderately contaminated with respect to zinc and chromium.
文摘In situ amendments are a promising approach to enhance removal of metal contaminants from diverse environments including soil, groundwater and sediments. Apatite and chitin were selected and tested for copper, chromium, and zinc metal removal in marine sediment samples. Microbiological, molecular biological and chemical analyses were applied to investigate the role of these amendments in metal immobilization processes. Both apatite and chitin promoted microbial growth. These amendments induced corresponding bacterial groups including sulfide producers, iron reducers, and phosphate solubilizers;all that facilitated heavy metal immobilization and removal from marine sediments. Molecular biological approaches showed chitin greatly induced microbial population shifts in sediments and overlying water: chitin only, or chitin with apatite induced growth of bacterial groups such as Acidobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Epsilonproteobacteria, Firmicutes, Planctomycetes, Rhodospirillaceae, Spirochaetes, and Verrucomicrobia;whereas these bacteria were not present in the control. Community structures were also altered under treatments with increase of relative abundance of Deltaproteobacteria and decrease of Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Nitrospirae. Many ?of these groups of bacteria have been shown to be involved in metal reduction and immobilization. Chemical analysis ?of pore and overlying water also demonstrated metal immobilization primarily under chitin treatments. X-Ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) spectra showed more sorbed Zn occurred over time in both apatite and chitin treatments (from 9% - 27%). The amendments improved zinc immobilization in marine sediments that led to significant changes in ??the mineralogy: easily mobile Zn hydroxide phase was converted to an immobile Zn phosphate (hopeite). In-situ amendment of apatite and chitin offers a great bioremediation potential for marine sediments contaminated with heavy metals.
文摘Three alluvial soil samples with different textures were artificially polluted with chloride solutions of Cd, Pb, Co and chromate solution for Cr. The aqua-regia extracted concentration ranges in the artificially polluted soils were 1134 - 1489 mg·kg-1 for Pb, 854 - 938 mg·kg-1 for Cr, 166 - 346 mg·kg-1 for Co and 44 - 54 mg·kg-1 for Cd. The aqua-regia extracted metals were the highest in the spiked clay soil due to its high adsorption capacity. Rock phosphate (PR), lime-stone (LS) and Portland-cement (Cem) were mixed with the spiked soils at 1% and 2% rates (w/w) and incubated at 30 C for 2, 7, 14, 30, 60, 150 and 360 days. The extracted DTPA metals significantly decreased with different magnitudes with increasing the incubation period accompanied by increases in both pH and EC. The data showed that cement (Cem) treatment dropped the DTPA-Pb from @ 1000 to @ 400 mg·kg-1 in all the studied soils (60% decrease) in the first 2 months while it gradually decreased from 400 to 200 mg·kg-1 (20% decrease) in the next 10 months. Limestone (LS) and rock phosphate (PR) materials were relatively less effective in lowering DTPA-Pb after 12 months of incubation. The data showed also that cement (Cem) treatment was the most effective one in lowering DTPA-Cd by @ 60% as compared to the un-amended soils after 12 months of soil incubation. Extractable DTPA-Co and Cr showed consistent decreases with time down to nearly 50% of un-amended soils due to the effect of the added amendments after 12 months of incubation with superior reductions for the cement treatment in all the investigated soils. The statistical analysis confirmed that in all the studied metals and treatment, cement treatment (Cem) was significantly the most effective in lowering the DTPA extracted metals as indicated from LSD test. It was found that up to 73% and 57% of the applied Pb and Cd, respectively, were fixed by only 1% cement. However, the present study showed that from the practical and economic points of view, that 1% Cement was the best treatment to
基金The authors are very grateful to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico(CNPq)Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo(FAPESP)for the financial support.
文摘Diamond-like Carbon (DLC) coatings have attracted significant attention due to their low friction coefficient, high degree of hardness, chemical inertness, and high wear resistance as well as and their many possible uses in metallurgical, aeronautical, and biomedical applications. However, DLC has low adhesion strength to metallic substrates. Carbonitriding was performed before DLC deposition to improve this adherence. Different concentration of nitrogen in the gas mixture was used during the carbonitriding of Ti6Al4V alloy. DLC films were subsequently grown from methane using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The samples were characterized with Raman scattering spectroscopy, nanoindentation, and tribological tests. Films from 80.0% N2 had the best friction coefficient (0.07) and a critical load of ~22 N. In the scratching test, these films had adhesive failure and they completely detached from the substrate only in the end of the tests. SEM images show carbonitring promoted a significant increase in the surface defects (homogeneously distributed) but without the presence of microcracks. EDX analysis indicated that nitrogen element was diffused throughout the thickness of the samples. Hydrogen and carbon atoms from carbonitriding formed a diffusion-barrier layer that can be used as the first step for DLC deposition. This carbonitriding can also provide a carbide layer, which serves as the precursor for the nucleation and growth of DLC films.
文摘Grain refining process plays a significant role in preventing columnar and coarse grains and it encourages fine grain formation. Although Al-Ti-B master alloys use widely as aluminium grain refiners, there are several problems in their applications. So, this kind of master alloys use less than last. Because of great properties of Al-Ti-C refiners, they can be considered as suitable candidates for use instead of Al-Ti-B master alloys. In recent years, Al-Ti-C refiners have attracted huge attention among researchers. In this paper, Al-3Ti-1C master alloy is prepared with a melting reaction method. This method involves adding graphite powder and fine titanium particles into superheated pure aluminium. Then microstructure of this master alloy is studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and its phases are distinguished by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). In the next part, 200 ppm of Al-3Ti-1C master alloy is added to pure aluminium and its refining efficiency is compared with the condition in which TiC powders are added to aluminium melt directly. It is found that the fading time for both Al-3Ti-1C and TiC powder is about 15 minutes and in overall, grain refining efficiency of Al-3Ti-1C is more than TiC powders in 60 minutes.
文摘Metals are the main components of the Earth’s mass and are characterized by high thermal and electrical conductivity as well as high reflectivity of electromagnetic fields. Finely divided metals are efficient catalysers and this indicates the relevance of surfaces when their ratio to volume becomes large. This is a characteristic of fractal aggregates and their constituent monomers (spheroidal or other) in the micrometer to nanometer scales. Exotic fern shaped aggregates are also produced. All aggregates exhibit large ratios of surface to volume. Condensation of metallic vapours allows to obtain particle sizes much smaller than those obtained via grinding techniques and far superior in purity. Exotic alloys of non miscible metals have been obtained at the micrometer scale. Thermal and laser evaporation methods of metals followed by condensation are described. Low gravity aggregation experiments were also carried out on aircraft in parabolic flight.
文摘The effect of bio-glass (45S5) addition on the physical properties of Mg-5Zn matrix composite has been investigated. Powder metallurgy method was used to fabricate the composite by mixing, compacting and followed by sintering. Mg-5 wt% Zn was reinforced with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 wt% of bio-glass (BG). The physical properties such as density and porosity were determined using a pcynometer. Corrosion resistance was studied by immersion test. The results showed that porosity of the sintered sample decreased for the Mg-5 wt% Zn reinforced with 5 wt% of bio-glass. However, above 5 wt% of bio-glass, the porosity increased. The result also showed that corrosion resistance of Mg-5 wt% Zn increased as the amount of bio-glass increased.
