Microstructure and photocatalytic activity of suspension plasma sprayed TiO2 coatings on steel and glass substrates

In this study, TiO 2 coatings were deposited by suspension plasma spraying (SPS) from a commercial TiO 2 nanoparticle suspension on two different substrates: a standard stainless steel and a Pyrex glass. Coatings were sprayed on both substrates with an F4-MB monocathode torch; a Triplex Pro tricathode torch was also used to spray coatings just on the stainless steel substrates. Spraying distance and cooling were varied.The anatase content in the coatings, determined by XRD, ranged from 32 to 72 wt% A significant amount of anatase to rutile transformation was found to occur during cooling. Examination of the microstructure revealed that the coating microstructure was bimodal, involving a non-molten region consisting mainly of anatase nanoparticle agglomerates and a molten region. The glass substrate coatings displayed a segregated phase distribution, particularly when the surface to be coated was cooled. Photocatalytic activity was determined by a methylene blue test.The experimental data fitted well to a first-order kinetic. All the coatings exhibited high photocatalytic activity in comparison with that of a commercial sol-gel coating. However, unlike much of the previous research, photocatalytic activity did not correlate with the anatase content determined by XRD. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education (MAT2009-14144-C03-01), by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID-600200-2009-5) and by the European Commission in the frame of the Interreg IV B Sudoe programme (Eliare: SOE1/P1/F169).Bannier, E.; Darut, G.; Sánchez, E.; Denoirjean, A.; Bordes, M.; Salvador Moya, MD.; Rayón Encinas, E.... (2011). Microstructure and photocatalytic activity of suspension plasma sprayed TiO2 coatings on steel and glass substrates. Surface and Coatings Technology. 206(2):378-386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2011.07.039S378386206

Single Top Production as a Window to Physics Beyond the Standard Model

Production of single top quarks at a high energy hadron collider is studied as a means to identify physics beyond the standard model related to the electroweak symmetry breaking. The sensitivity of the $s$-channel $W^*$ mode, the $t$-channel $W$-gluon fusion mode, and the \tw mode to various possible forms of new physics is assessed, and it is found that the three modes are sensitive to different forms of new physics, indicating that they provide complimentary information about the properties of the top quark. Polarization observables are also considered, and found to provide potentially useful information about the structure of the interactions of top.Comment: References added and minor discussion improvements; results unchanged; Version to be published in PR

Microstructure and photocatalytic activity of APS coatings obtained from different TiO2 nanopowders

In recent years, intense research has shown that thermal spray techniques, especially atmospheric plasma spraying (APS), can be used to obtain nanostructured TiO2 coatings with effective photocatalytic activity. This study compares the photocatalytic activity of APS coatings obtained from different powders: two nanostructured TiO2 powders produced by spray-drying of two TiO2 nanosuspensions with different solids contents, one spray-dried powder obtained from a suspension comprising a mixture of submicronic and nanometric TiO2 particles and finally one commercial, nanostructured, TiO2 spray-dried powder. All powders were characterised by XRD, FEG-ESEM, granule size distribution, and a flowability evaluation. Feedstock powders were then deposited on austenitic stainless steel coupons using APS. Hydrogen or helium was used as secondary plasma gas. Coating microstructure and phase composition were characterised using FEG-ESEM and XRD techniques; coating anatase content was quantified by the Rietveld method. A significant amount of anatase to rutile transformation was found to take place during the plasma spraying process. In general, the coatings had a bimodal microstructure characterised by the presence of completely fused areas in addition to non-molten areas consisting of agglomerates of anatase nanoparticles. Results also showed that anatase content and porosity of the coatings largely depend on the secondary plasma gas nature, as well as on the characteristics of the feedstock. Finally the photocatalytic activity of the coatings was determined by measuring the degradation of methylene blue dye in an aqueous solution. A reasonably good fit of a first-order kinetic model to the experimental data was found for all coatings. The values of the kinetic constant were related to feedstock characteristics as well as to plasma spraying conditions. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Bordes, MC.; Vicent, M.; Moreno, A.; Moreno, R.; Borrell Tomás, MA.; Salvador Moya, MD.; Sanchez, E. (2013). Microstructure and photocatalytic activity of APS coatings obtained from different TiO2 nanopowders. Surface and Coatings Technology. 220:179-186. doi:10.1016/j.surfcoat.2012.08.059S17918622

A complete one-loop description of associated tW production at LHC and an estimate of possible genuine supersymmetric effects

We compute, in the MSSM framework, the sum of the one-loop electroweak and of the total QED radiation effects for the process $pp \to t W+X$, initiated by the parton process $bg\to tW$. Combining these terms with the existing NLO calculations of SM and SUSY QCD corrections, we analyze the overall one-loop supersymmetric effects on the partial rates of the process, obtained by integrating the differential cross section up to a final variable invariant mass. We conclude that, for some choices of the SUSY parameters and for relatively small final invariant masses, they could reach the relative ten percent level, possibly relevant for a dedicated experimental effort at LHC.Comment: Title changed. Final version published in Eur. Phys. J.

The fully differential single-top-quark cross section in next-to-leading order QCD

We present a new next-to-leading order calculation for fully differential single-top-quark final states. The calculation is performed using phase space slicing and dipole subtraction methods. The results of the methods are found to be in agreement. The dipole subtraction method calculation retains the full spin dependence of the final state particles. We show a few numerical results to illustrate the utility and consistency of the resulting computer implementations.Comment: 37 pages, latex, 2 ps figure

Polarized Single Top Quark Production in e\gamma Collision and Anomalous Wtb Couplings

We investigate the potential of $e\gamma$ collisions to probe anomalous $Wtb$ couplings via the polarized single top quark production process $e^{+} \gamma \to t \bar{b} \bar{\nu_{e}}$. We find 95% confidence level limits on the anomalous coupling parameters $F_{2L}$ and $F_{2R}$ with an integrated luminosity of $500 fb^{-1}$ and $\sqrt{s}=0.5, 1$ and 1.5 TeV energies. The effects of top quark spin polarization on the anomalous $Wtb$ couplings are discussed. It is shown that polarization leads to a considerable improvement in the sensitivity limits.Comment: published versio

Spread of a SARS-CoV-2 variant through Europe in the summer of 2020.

Following its emergence in late 2019, the spread of SARS-CoV-21,2 has been tracked by phylogenetic analysis of viral genome sequences in unprecedented detail3–5. Although the virus spread globally in early 2020 before borders closed, intercontinental travel has since been greatly reduced. However, travel within Europe resumed in the summer of 2020. Here we report on a SARS-CoV-2 variant, 20E (EU1), that was identified in Spain in early summer 2020 and subsequently spread across Europe. We find no evidence that this variant has increased transmissibility, but instead demonstrate how rising incidence in Spain, resumption of travel, and lack of effective screening and containment may explain the variant’s success. Despite travel restrictions, we estimate that 20E (EU1) was introduced hundreds of times to European countries by summertime travellers, which is likely to have undermined local efforts to minimize infection with SARS-CoV-2. Our results illustrate how a variant can rapidly become dominant even in the absence of a substantial transmission advantage in favourable epidemiological settings. Genomic surveillance is critical for understanding how travel can affect transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and thus for informing future containment strategies as travel resumes. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited