Cr(VI) Removal from Aqueous Solution Using a Magnetite Snail Shell

© 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. In this study, magnetic snail shell (MSS) prepared by impregnating of iron oxide onto snail shell (SS) powder was used for removing Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. Among six different mass ratios of Fe/SS powder studied, the MSS25 produced at a ratio of 25% achieved the highest Cr(VI) adsorption capacity. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the adsorption isotherm, kinetics, and mechanism of Cr(VI) onto MSS25. The results illustrated that adsorption of Cr(VI) onto MSS25 reached equilibrium after 150 min at pH 3. The adsorption kinetics could be well described by the pseudo-second order model (R2 = 0.986). The Langmuir model (R2 = 0.971) was the best-fitting model that described the adsorption isotherm of Cr(VI) onto MSS25. The maximum adsorption capacity was 46.08 mg Cr(VI) per gram of MSS25. Ion exchange, electrostatic attraction, and adsorption-coupled reduction were determined as the main adsorption mechanisms of Cr(VI) onto MSS25. The high percentages of CaCO3 and Fe3O4 found in the MSS25 structure made a significant contribution to the Cr(VI) adsorption process

Prototype edge-grown nanowire sensor array for the real-time monitoring and classification of multiple gases

The monitoring and classification of different gases using a single resistive semiconductor sensor are challenging because of the similar response characteristics. An array of separated sensors can be used as an electronic nose, but such arrays have a bulky structure and complex fabrication processes. Herein, we easily fabricated a gas-sensor array based on edge-grown SnO2 nanowires for the real-time monitoring and classification of multiple gases. The array comprised four sensors and was designed on a glass substrate. SnO2 nanowires were grown on-chip from the edge of electrodes, made contact together, and acted as sensing elements. This method was advantageous over the post-synthesis technique because the SnO2 nanowires were directly grown from the edge of the electrodes rather than on the surface. Accordingly, damage to the electrode was avoided by alloying Sn with Pt at a high growth temperature. The sensing characteristics of the sensor array were further examined for different gases, including methanol, isopropanol, ethanol, ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and hydrogen. Radar plots were used to improve the selective detection of different gases and enable effective classification

The Role of Anisotropy in Distinguishing Domination of Néel or Brownian Relaxation Contribution to Magnetic Inductive Heating: Orientations for Biomedical Applications

Magnetic inductive heating (MIH) has been a topic of great interest because of its potential applications, especially in biomedicine. In this paper, the parameters characteristic for magnetic inductive heating power including maximum specific loss power (SLPmax), optimal nanoparticle diameter (Dc) and its width (ΔDc) are considered as being dependent on magnetic nanoparticle anisotropy (K). The calculated results suggest 3 different Néel-domination (N), overlapped Néel/Brownian (NB), and Brownian-domination (B) regions. The transition from NB- to B-region changes abruptly around critical anisotropy Kc. For magnetic nanoparticles with low K (K Kc) are opposite. The decreases of the SLPmax when increasing polydispersity and viscosity are characterized by different rates of d(SLPmax)/dσ and d(SLPmax)/dη depending on each domination region. The critical anisotropy Kc varies with the frequency of an alternating magnetic field. A possibility to improve heating power via increasing anisotropy is analyzed and deduced for Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles. For MIH application, the monodispersity requirement for magnetic nanoparticles in the B-region is less stringent, while materials in the N- and/or NB-regions are much more favorable in high viscous media. Experimental results on viscosity dependence of SLP for CoFe2O4 and MnFe2O4 ferrofluids are in good agreement with the calculations. These results indicated that magnetic nanoparticles in the N- and/or NB-regions are in general better for application in elevated viscosity media

Design and fabrication of effective gradient temperature sensor array based on bilayer SnO2/Pt for gas classification

Classification of different gases is important, and it is possible to use different gas sensors for this purpose. Electronic noses, for example, combine separated gas sensors into an array for detecting different gases. However, the use of separated sensors in an array suffers from being bulky, high-energy consumption and complex fabrication processes. Generally, gas sensing properties, including gas selectivity, of semiconductor gas sensors are strongly dependent on their working temperature. It is therefore feasible to use a single device composed of identical sensors arranged in a temperature gradient for classification of multiple gases. Herein, we introduce a design for simple fabrication of gas sensor array based on bilayer Pt/SnO2 for real-time monitoring and classification of multiple gases. The study includes design simulation of the sensor array to find an effective gradient temperature, fabrication of the sensors and test of their performance. The array, composed of five sensors, was fabricated on a glass substrate without the need of backside etching to reduce heat loss. A SnO2 thin film sensitized with Pt on top deposited by sputtering was used as sensing material. The sensor array was tested against different gases including ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, acetone, ammonia, and hydrogen. Radar plots and principal component analysis were used to visualize the distinction of the tested gases and to enable effective classification

Efficient recovery-based error estimation for the smoothed finite element method for smooth and singular linear elasticity

[EN] An error control technique aimed to assess the quality of smoothed finite element approximations is presented in this paper. Finite element techniques based on strain smoothing appeared in 2007 were shown to provide significant advantages compared to conventional finite element approximations. In particular, a widely cited strength of such methods is improved accuracy for the same computational cost. Yet, few attempts have been made to directly assess the quality of the results obtained during the simulation by evaluating an estimate of the discretization error. Here we propose a recovery type error estimator based on an enhanced recovery technique. The salient features of the recovery are: enforcement of local equilibrium and, for singular problems a ¿smooth + singular¿ decomposition of the recovered stress. We evaluate the proposed estimator on a number of test cases from linear elastic structural mechanics and obtain efficient error estimations whose effectivities, both at local and global levels, are improved compared to recovery procedures not implementing these features.Stephane Bordas would like to thank the partial financial support of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Leverhulme Trust for his Senior Research Fellowship Towards the next generation surgical simulators as well as the financial support for Octavio A. Gonzalez-Estrada and Stephane Bordas from the UK Engineering Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) under grant EP/G042705/1 Increased Reliability for Industrially Relevant Automatic Crack Growth Simulation with the eXtended Finite Element Method. Stephane Bordas also thanks partial financial support of the European Research Council Starting Independent Research Grant (ERC Stg grant agreement No. 279578) and the FP7 Initial Training Network Funding under grant number 289361 "Integrating Numerical Simulation and Geometric Design Technology, INSIST". This work has been carried out within the framework of the research project DPI2010-20542 of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Spain). The financial support from Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, PROMETEO/2012/023 and Generalitat Valenciana are also acknowledged.González Estrada, OA.; Natarajan, S.; J.J. Ródenas; Nguyen-Xuan, H.; Bordas, S. (2013). Efficient recovery-based error estimation for the smoothed finite element method for smooth and singular linear elasticity. Computational Mechanics. 52(1):37-52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00466-012-0795-6S3752521Liu GR, Dai KY, Nguyen TT (2006) A smoothed finite element method for mechanics problems. 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Efficacy of iron fortification compared to iron supplementation among Vietnamese schoolchildren

The effect of iron fortification is generally assumed to be less than iron supplementation; however, the magnitude of difference in effects is not known. The present study aims to compare the efficacy of these two strategies on anaemia and iron status. After screening on low Hb, 425 anaemic children in six primary schools in Tam Nong district of Phu Tho province were included in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial comparing two groups receiving iron fortified instant noodles or iron supplementation for 6 months and a control group, with children in all groups having been dewormed. Blood samples were collected before and after intervention for haemoglobin, serum ferritin (SF), serum transferrin receptor (TfR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and haemoglobinopathies analysis. Regression analysis was used to assess the effect of iron fortification and iron supplementation on haemoglobin concentration, SF, TfR, body iron, and anaemic status as outcome variables. The improvement of haemoglobin, SF, and body iron level in the group receiving iron fortification was 42% (2.6 g/L versus 6.2 g/L), 20% (23.5 μg/L versus 117.3 μg/L), and 31.3% (1.4 mg/kg versus 4.4 mg/kg) of that in the iron supplementation group. The prevalence of anaemia dropped to 15.1% in the control group, with an additional reduction of anaemia of 8.5% in the iron supplementation group. The additional reduction due to iron fortification was 5.4%, which amounts to well over 50% of the impact of supplementation. In conclusion, the efficacy of iron fortification based on reduction of prevalence of anaemia, and on the change in haemoglobin level, is about half of the maximum impact of supplementation in case of optimal compliance. Thus, in a population of anaemic children with mild iron deficiency, iron fortification should be the preferred strategy to combat anaemia