Understanding the solution behaviour of minor actinides in the presence of EDTA, carbonate and hydroxide ligands

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Inorganic Chemistry, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ic302260

"Hydrothermal wrapping" with poly(4-vinylpyridine) introduces functionality: pH-sensitive core-shell carbon nanomaterials

Negatively charged carbon nanoparticles (surface-phenylsulfonated) are "wrapped" in a poly(4-vinylpyridine) cationomer and hydrothermally converted into a pH-responsive core-shell nano-composite. With a "thin shell" this nano-material (ca. 20-40 nm diameter) is water-insoluble but readily dispersed into ethanol and deposited onto electrodes. Zeta-potential measurements suggest a point of zero charge (PZC) at ca. pH 4.5 with negative functional groups dominating in the more alkaline range and positive functional groups dominating in the acidic range. XPS data suggest carboxylate and pyridinium-like functional groups. This is further confirmed in voltammetric measurements for adsorbed cations (methylene blue) and adsorbed anions (indigo carmine). The specific capacitance reaches a maximum of 13 F g-1 at the PZC explained here tentatively by a "shell charging" effect within the nanoparticle shell. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry

Application of cognitive work analysis to explore passenger behaviour change through provision of information to help relieve train overcrowding

It is unrealistic to expect rail passengers to experience a comfortable journey while travelling in crowded trains. Given that passenger behaviour is one of the contributing factors of crowding, understanding and promoting changes in their behaviour would help moderate overcrowding. Therefore, this study aims to develop strategies to encourage passenger behaviour change. Focusing particularly on the provision of train occupancy information, Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) is applied to gain a systematic understanding about constraints of the behaviour in the rail system environment. Participant observations, staff interview, and online survey data were used to develop an Abstraction Hierarchy (AH), which was validated with two rail subject-matter experts. The output enhance our understanding about passenger behaviour while travelling in crowded conditions, and provide insights about how rail service providers could better assist passengers’ decision making to inform real behaviour change. The AH provides the foundation for how to reduce crowding by supporting passengers’ decision making so they can select less crowded trains or carriages