39 research outputs found
Effect of high oxygen pressure annealing on superconducting Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4 thin films by pulsed laser deposition from Cu-enriched targets
We show that the quality of Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4 films grown by pulsed laser
deposition can be enhanced by using a non-stoichiometric target with extra
copper added to suppress the formation of a parasitic (Nd, Ce)2O3 phase. The
properties of these films are less dependent on the exact annealing procedure
after deposition as compared to films grown from a stoichiometric target. Film
growth can be followed by a 1 bar oxygen annealing, after an initial vacuum
annealing, while retaining the superconducting properties and quality. This
enables the integration of electron-doped cuprates with their hole-doped
counterparts on a single chip, to create, for example, superconducting
pn-junctions.Comment: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article
accepted for publication in Superconductor Science and Technology. The
publisher is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of
the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is
available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-2048/27/4/04401
Identification and quantification of microplastics in wastewater using focal plane array-based reflectance micro-FT-IR imaging
Microplastics (<5 mm) have been documented in environmental samples on a global scale. While these pollutants may enter aquatic environments via wastewater treatment facilities, the abundance of microplastics in these matrices has not been investigated. Although efficient methods for the analysis of microplastics in sediment samples and marine organisms have been published, no methods have been developed for detecting these pollutants within organic-rich wastewater samples. In addition, there is no standardized method for analyzing microplastics isolated from environmental samples. In many cases, part of the identification protocol relies on visual selection before analysis, which is open to bias. In order to address this, a new method for the analysis of microplastics in wastewater was developed. A pretreatment step using 30% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was employed to remove biogenic material, and focal plane array (FPA)-based reflectance micro-Fourier-transform (FT-IR) imaging was shown to successfully image and identify different microplastic types (polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon-6, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene). Microplastic-spiked wastewater samples were used to validate the methodology, resulting in a robust protocol which was nonselective and reproducible (the overall success identification rate was 98.33%). The use of FPA-based micro-FT-IR spectroscopy also provides a considerable reduction in analysis time compared with previous methods, since samples that could take several days to be mapped using a single-element detector can now be imaged in less than 9 h (circular filter with a diameter of 47 mm). This method for identifying and quantifying microplastics in wastewater is likely to provide an essential tool for further research into the pathways by which microplastics enter the environment.This work is funded by a NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) CASE studentship (NE/K007521/1) with contribution from industrial partner Fera Science Ltd., United Kingdom. The authors would like to thank Peter Vale, from Severn Trent Water Ltd, for providing access to and additionally Ashley Howkins (Brunel University London) for providing travel and assistance with the sampling of the Severn Trent wastewater treatment plant in Derbyshire, UK. We are grateful to Emma Bradley and Chris Sinclair for providing helpful suggestions for our research
Hard x-ray photoemission and density functional theory study of the internal electric field in SrTiO
Freshwater Sponges Have Functional, Sealing Epithelia with High Transepithelial Resistance and Negative Transepithelial Potential
Epithelial tissue — the sealed and polarized layer of cells that regulates transport of ions and solutes between the environment and the internal milieu — is a defining characteristic of the Eumetazoa. Sponges, the most ancient metazoan phylum [1], [2], are generally believed to lack true epithelia [3], [4], [5], but their ability to occlude passage of ions has never been tested. Here we show that freshwater sponges (Demospongiae, Haplosclerida) have functional epithelia with high transepithelial electrical resistance (TER), a transepithelial potential (TEP), and low permeability to small-molecule diffusion. Curiously, the Amphimedon queenslandica sponge genome lacks the classical occluding genes [5] considered necessary to regulate sealing and control of ion transport. The fact that freshwater sponge epithelia can seal suggests that either occluding molecules have been lost in some sponge lineages, or demosponges use novel molecular complexes for epithelial occlusion; if the latter, it raises the possibility that mechanisms for occlusion used by sponges may exist in other metazoa. Importantly, our results imply that functional epithelia evolved either several times, or once, in the ancestor of the Metazoa