Water adsorption in hydrophilic zeolites: experiment and simulation

We have measured experimental adsorption isotherms of water in zeolite LTA4A, and studied the regeneration process by performing subsequent adsorption cycles after degassing at different temperatures. We observed incomplete desorption at low temperatures, and cation rearrangement at successive adsorption cycles. We also developed a new molecular simulation force field able to reproduce experimental adsorption isotherms in the range of temperatures between 273 K and 374 K. Small deviations observed at high pressures are attributed to the change in the water dipole moment at high loadings. The force field correctly describes the preferential adsorption sites of water at different pressures. We tested the influence of the zeolite structure, framework flexibility, and cation mobility when considering adsorption and diffusion of water. Finally, we performed checks on force field transferability between different hydrophilic zeolite types, concluding that classical, non-polarizable water force fields are not transferable.

How relevant is the origin of human capital for immigrant wages? Evidence from Spain

The objective of this article is to analyse the role played by the different components of human capital in the wage determination of immigrants in the Spanish labour market. Using microdata from the Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes, we find that human capital of immigrants acquired in Spain presents higher returns than human capital obtained in home countries, reflecting the limited international transferability of the latter. This result is reinforced by the strong heterogeneity observed in wage returns to different kinds of human capital across immigrants from different origins and, in particular, by the fact that immigrants with the higher returns to human capital acquired in their home countries are those coming from other developed countries and Latin America, the two regions more similar to Spain in terms of development and/or culture.