Evidence of a bacterial carbonate coating on plaster samples subjected to the Calcite Bioconcept biomineralization technique

International audienceDegradation of historical buildings is mainly due to the intrusion of water which is the main vector of pollutants. Different types of surface treatment have been proposed to avoid or limit this effect. One alternative to chemical treatments is the use of the carbonatogenesis property of some bacteria. This bacterial production has been evidenced on concrete and on limestone samples in an aqueous environment. However, the carbonate production was measured indirectly and the experimental protocol was far from real conditions of use. In this paper, with the same protocol as an industrial one, and using a surface selective investigation method, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, we show the structural and morphological evolution of the carbonate coating produced on model plaster samples. This substrate was chosen in order to unambiguously detect the bacterial carbonate production

Solvent mediated inclusion of metal oxide into block copolymer nanopatterns: mechanism of oxide formation under UV-Ozone treatment

Uniform, periodic and ordered iron oxide nanopatterns can be generated by selective metal ion inclusion into microphase separated polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) block copolymer (BCP) thin films. After solvent mediated metal ion inclusion into the PEO block, an ultraviolet-ozone (UVO) treatment was used to remove the polymer and oxidize the metallic ions to their oxides. This paper provides an in-depth study of the UVO processing steps as a function of exposure time. Surface wettability, topography, morphology, compositional and interfacial changes were analysed by contact angle measurement, microscopic and spectroscopic techniques through the UVO treatment. It was found that the UVO treatment initially cross-links the polymer network followed by oxidation and removal of the polymer simultaneously. It was also found that if short UVO exposure times are used, a post calcination treatment can be used to generate similar patterns. The iron oxide nanopatterns created due to strong coordination bond between metallic ions and free electron pairs of O atoms in the PEO and these interactions are responsible for the final pattern mimicking the original self-assembled BCP morphology. The film thicknesses, surface roughness, the size/shape of the iron oxides and patterns, the amount of residual polymers were also investigated regarding the UVO exposure time

Study of dolomite dissolution at various temperatures – Evidence for the formation of nanocrystalline secondary phases at dolomite surface and influence on dolomite interactions with other minerals

International audienceIn most clay-rock geological formation studied for the storage of nuclear waste,pore water compositions are expected to be at equilibrium with carbonate minerals, which are always included in predictive models for pore water composition calculations [1]. Among the carbonates known to be present, dolomite may be problematic in the pore water composition calculation because its solubility spans a large range of values as a function of its crystallinity in thermodynamic databases. In addition, the composition of dolomite minerals observed in clay-rock formations such as Callovian-Oxfordian or Opalinus clay formation differs from this of a pure dolomite: the Ca/Mg stoichiometry is not ideal, and the minerals contain minor amounts of Fe and traces of many other elements [2]. To understand the influence of secondary phases precipitation during dolomite dissolution on pore water chemistry, the dissolution of monocrystals of dolomite were investigated at 25 °C and at 80 °C in a pH range 3 to 8 for various time periods (30 minutes to 21 days) in sealed PTFE reactors. Solution analyses evidenced a stoichiometric release of Ca and Mg in solution during dolomite dissolution. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Raman and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses did not evidence secondary Mg-bearing minerals precipitation, but revealed the formation of Fe-bearing particles on the dolomite surface. Morphological characterizations performed with Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)evidenced that the precipitation occurs along a specific crystallographic plane of the dolomite monocrystal. Thus, the precipitated nanoparticles clustered on specific surface sites, and are made of Fe-rich phases poorly crystallized (carbonates, oxides and hydroxides)

Study of dolomite dissolution at various temperatures – Evidence for the formation of nanocrystalline secondary phases at dolomite surface and influence on dolomite interactions with other minerals

International audienceIn most clay-rock geological formation studied for the storage of nuclear waste,pore water compositions are expected to be at equilibrium with carbonate minerals, which are always included in predictive models for pore water composition calculations [1]. Among the carbonates known to be present, dolomite may be problematic in the pore water composition calculation because its solubility spans a large range of values as a function of its crystallinity in thermodynamic databases. In addition, the composition of dolomite minerals observed in clay-rock formations such as Callovian-Oxfordian or Opalinus clay formation differs from this of a pure dolomite: the Ca/Mg stoichiometry is not ideal, and the minerals contain minor amounts of Fe and traces of many other elements [2]. To understand the influence of secondary phases precipitation during dolomite dissolution on pore water chemistry, the dissolution of monocrystals of dolomite were investigated at 25 °C and at 80 °C in a pH range 3 to 8 for various time periods (30 minutes to 21 days) in sealed PTFE reactors. Solution analyses evidenced a stoichiometric release of Ca and Mg in solution during dolomite dissolution. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Raman and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses did not evidence secondary Mg-bearing minerals precipitation, but revealed the formation of Fe-bearing particles on the dolomite surface. Morphological characterizations performed with Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)evidenced that the precipitation occurs along a specific crystallographic plane of the dolomite monocrystal. Thus, the precipitated nanoparticles clustered on specific surface sites, and are made of Fe-rich phases poorly crystallized (carbonates, oxides and hydroxides)

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements