Adsorption mechanism of ester phosphate on baryum titanate in organic medium. Preliminary results on the structure of the adsorbed layer

The purpose of this work is to evidence the adsorption mechanism and the structure of commercial phosphate ester surfactant stabilized BaTiO$_3$ in organic suspension, and to relate these characteristics to rheological behaviour. Binders and plasticizers are omitted to reduce the number of system components. Firstly adsorption isotherm were determined by inductively coupled argon plasma technique and interpretated based on transmission electron microscopy and $^{31}$P nuclear magnetic resonance studies. Preliminary rheological measurements were then performed and related to suspension structure. Structure of the adsorption layer is critically discussed.L'objectif de cette étude est la compréhension du mécanisme d'adsorption d'agents dispersants phosphatés dans des suspensions organiques de BaTiO$_3$, ainsi que la caractérisation de la structure, et du comportement rhéologique de ces suspensions. Liants et plastifiants ne sont pas utilisés, afin de réduire le nombre de composants dans le système. Dans un premier temps, l'isotherme d'adsorption est établie par dosage en émission plasma, puis interprétée sur la base de résultats de Microscopie Eloctronique à Transmission, et de spectroscopie par Résonance Magnétique Nucléaire du $^{31}$P. Des mesures rhéologiques préliminaires sont effectuées pour caractériser la structure des suspensions

Phase separation of Undercooled Copper Alloys

International audienc

Undercooling and demixing of copper-based alloys

Since the beginning of materials science research under microgravity conditions immiscible alloys have been an interesting subject. New possibilities to investigate such systems are offered by containerless processing techniques. Of particular interest is the ternary system Cu-Fe-Co, and its limiting binaries, Cu-Co and Cu-Fe. They all show a metastable miscibility gap in the regime of the undercooled melt. Within the ESA-MAP project "CoolCop", different aspects of this alloy have been investigated; results obtained so far are reported here

Stochastic Modelling of Coherent Phenomena in Strongly Inhomogeneous Media.

A procedure of numerical simulation for coherent phenomena in multiply scattering media is developed on the basis of the juxtaposition of a Monte Carlo stochastic method with an iterative approach to the solution of the Bethe- Salpeter equation. The time correlation function and the interference component of coherent backscattering are calculated for scalar and electromagnetic fields. The results of simulation are in good agreement with experimental results, as well as with theoretical results obtained by generalizing the Milne solution

Impacts of land use on hydrodynamic properties and pore architecture of volcanic soils from the Mexican Highlands

International audienceVolcanic soils are important resources because of their unique mineralogical and physical characteristics, and allophanic Andosols represent some of the world's most fertile soils. However, their unique properties can be lost when cultivated. Most soils in the Central Valley, Mexico, are derived from volcanic materials. This valley encompasses one of the largest water supply systems in the world by volume, but is affected by soil degradation and deforestation. Sustainably managing volcanic soils requires understanding how land use affects their hydrodynamic properties. Gas adsorption and mercury intrusion porosimetry, water retention curves, tension infiltrometry and X-ray tomography were used to describe pore structure characteristics. Two volcanic soils (one Andosol and one derived from indurated tuff-Tepetates), three land uses (maize monoculture, maize-wheat rotation and fallow) and two horizons (Ap and A2 for maize monoculture and maize-wheat rotation) were studied. Tillage affected topsoil by increasing the sand fraction by 38% and decreasing total porosity and macroporosity by 23% and 40% respectively. Macropore size was reduced and the number of isolated macropores was higher in the tilled layer under maize, compared with untilled subsoil. The plot under maize-wheat rotation had lower allophane content, and saturated hydraulic conductivity was reduced by nearly an order of magnitude and water retention by half, compared with maize and fallow plots. Compared with Andosols, Tepetates showed differences in mineralogical composition with lower contents of amorphous compounds and in its porous network characteristics with twice the total and percolating macroporosity compared with the maize plot. Its high content of organic carbon (3.5%) seemed beneficial for its hydrodynamic properties. Sustainable agricultural management of these volcanic soils requires reducing mechanised tillage, avoiding periods when soil is bare, not applying maize-wheat rotation and applying maize-fallow rotation allowing natural vegetation growth