Removal of Cr(III, VI) by quaternary ammonium and quaternary phosphonium ionic liquids functionalized silica materials

A series of silica-based organic–inorganic hybrid materials were prepared by the sol–gel process for Cr(III) and Cr(VI) adsorption. These silica materials generally had high surface areas, good physical–chemical stability and high thermal stability. Trialkylmethylammonium bis 2,4,4-trimethylpentylphosphinate ([A336][C272]) and trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium bis 2,4,4-trimethylpentylphosphinate (Cyphos IL 104) were explored as porogens to prepare porous silica and as extractants to extract chromium ions. Cyphos IL 104 and [A336][C272] functionalized silica sorbents (SG-2, SG-5) can be effectively used for the removal of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions by adjusting pH values, whereas trialkylmethylammonium chloride (Aliquat 336) and bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinic acid (Cyanex 272) functionalized silica sorbents (SG-3, SG-4) can only be used for the removal of the single chromium species, Cr(VI) or Cr(III).

Novel Potentiometric Membrane Sensor for the Determination of Trace Amounts of Chromium(III) Ions

A plasticized Cr3+ ion sensor by incorporating 2,3,8,9-tetraphenyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododeca-1,3,7,9-tetraene (TTCT) ionophore exhibits a good potentiometric response for Cr3+ over a wide concentration range (1.0×10-6-1.0×10-1 M) with a slope of 19.5 mV per decade. The sensor response is stable for at least three months. Good selectivity for Cr3+ in comparison with alkali, alkaline earth, transition and heavy metal ions, and minimal interference are caused by Li+, Na+, K+, Co2+, Hg2+, Ca2+, Pb2+ and Zn2+ ions, which are known to interfere with other chromium membrane sensors. The TTCT-based electrode shows a fast response time (15 s), and can be used in aqueous solutions of pH 3 - 5.5. The proposed sensor was used for the potentiometric titration of Cr3+ with EDTA and for a direct potentiometric determination of Cr3+ content in environmental samples.

Characterization of a Laser-Discrete Quenched Steel Substrate/Chromium System by Dissolving Coatings

A laser-discrete quenched steel (LDQS) substrate/as-deposited chromium (top high-contraction (HC) and underlying low-contraction (LC) chromium) system was investigated by dissolving coatings in order to reveal the mechanism that the service life of the coated parts is largely improved using the hybrid technique of laser pre-quenching plus chromium post-depositing. It was found that the surface characteristics of the substrate, LC and HC chromium layer can be simultaneously revealed owing to the dissolution edge effect of chromium coatings. Moreover, the periodical gradient morphologies of the LDQS substrate are clearly shown: the surfaces of laser transformation-hardened regions are rather smooth; a lot of fine micro-holes exist in the transition zones; there are many micro-dimples in the original substrate. Furthermore, the novel method of dissolving coatings with sharp interfaces may be used to reveal the structural features of a substrate/coating system, explore the effect of the substrate on the initial microstructure and morphologies of coatings, and check the quality of the coated-parts.

Variation Of Flexural Strength Of Cement Mortar Attacked By Sulfate Ions

Under the environment of seawater, durability of concrete materials is one of the chief factors considered in the design of structures. The decrease of durability of structures is induced by the evolution of micro-damage due to the erosion of chlorine and sulfate ions, which is characterized by the reduction of modulus, strength, and toughness of the material. In this paper, the variation of the flexural strength of cement mortar under sulfate erosion is investigated. The results obtained in present work indicate that the erosion time, concentration of sulfate solution, and water-to-cement ratio will significantly affect the flexural strength. Crown Copyright (c) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the tensile behaviors of a hard chromium coating plated on a steel substrate with periodic subsurface inclusions

The tensile behaviors of a hard chromium coating plated on a steel substrate with periodic laser pre-quenched regions have been investigated by experimental and theoretic analysis. In the experiment, three specimens are adopted to study the differences between homogeneous and periodic inhomogeneous substrates as well as between periodic inhomogeneous substrate of relatively softer and stiffer materials. The unique characteristics have been observed in the specimen of periodic inhomogeneous substrate under quasi-static tension loading. With the periodic laser pre-quenched regions being treated as periodic subsurface inclusions (PSI), the unique stress/strain pattern of the specimen is obtained by analytical modeling and FEM analysis, and the mechanisms accounting for the experimental results is preliminarily illustrated.

Characteristics of the interface of a laser-quenched steel substrate and chromium electroplate

The interface of a laser-discrete-quenched steel substrate and as-deposited chromium electroplate was investigated by ion beam etching, dissolving-substrate-away and using a Vickers microhardness tester, in an attempt to reveal the mechanism that the service life of the chromium-coated parts is increased by the duplex technique of laser pre-quenching plus chromium post-depositing. The laser quenching of the steel substrate can reduce the steep hardness gradient at the substrate/chromium interface and improve the load-bearing capacity of chromium electroplate. Moreover, the laser quenching prior to plating has an extremely great effect on the morphologies and microstructure of the substrate/chromium interface: there is a transient interlayer at the original substrate/chromium interface while there is not at the laser-quenchedzone/chromium interface; the near-substrate surface microstructure and morphologies of the free-standing chromium electrodeposits, whose substrate was dissolved away with nital 30% in volume, inherit the periodically gradient characteristics of the laser-discrete-quenched substrate surface. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Degradation failure features of chromium-plated gun barrels with a laser-discrete-quenched substrate

The effect of substrate laser-discrete quenching on the degradation failure of chromium-plated gun barrels was metallurgically investigated. The results show that substrate laser-discrete quenching changes the failure patterns of chromium coatings during firing, and some periodic through-thickness cracks in the fired chromium coatings are justly located at original substrate zones between two adjacent laser-quenched tracks. Moreover, chromium coatings and the laser-quenched zones on the substrate are simultaneously degraded in microstructure and property during firing. Furthermore, the periodic structure of the laser-discrete-quenched steel (LDQS) substrate near the breech remains after firing, and the hardness of the fired laser-quenched zones is still higher than that of original substrates. The specific failure features were utilized to illustrate the mechanism of the extended service life of chromium-plated gun barrels with the LDQS substrate. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Study on the ions' behavior in an electron cyclotron resonance plasma

The energy, velocity, angle distribution of ions in magnetoactive electron cyclotron resonance plasma have been studied with a two-dimension hybrid mode. The dependence of these distribution functions versus position and pressure are discussed. Our simulation results are in good agreement with many experimental measurements. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Ablation of hydrogen isotopic spherical pellet due to the impact of energetic ions of the respective isotopes

The ablation rate of a hydrogen isotopic spherical pellet G(is) due to the impact of energetic ions of the respective isotopes and its scaling law are obtained using the transsonic neutral-shielding model, where subscript s might refer to either hydrogen or deuterium. Numerical results show that if E0s/E0e2 greater-than-or-equal-to 1.5, G(is)/G(es) greater-than-or-equal-to 20%, where E0s and E0e are the energy of undisturbed ion and electron, respectively, and G(es) is the ablation rate of a pellet due to the impact of electrons. Hence, under the NBI heating, the effect of the impact of energetic ions on the pellet ablation should be taken into consideration. This result also gives an explanation of the observed enhancement of pellet ablation during NBIH.

Variation of flexural strength of cement mortar attacked by sulfate ions

Under the environment of seawater, durability of concrete materials is one of the chief factors considered in the design of structures. The decrease of durability of structures is induced by the evolution of micro-damage due to the erosion of chlorine and sulfate ions, which is characterized by the reduction of modulus, strength, and toughness of the material. In this paper, the variation of the flexural strength of cement mortar under sulfate erosion is investigated. The results obtained in present work indicate that the erosion time, concentration of sulfate solution, and water-to-cement ratio will significantly affect the flexural strength. Crown Copyright (c) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Universal quantum computation with trapped ions in thermal motion by adiabatic passage

We propose a universal quantum computation scheme for trapped ions in thermal motion via the technique of adiabatic passage, which incorporates the advantages of both the adiabatic passage and the model of trapped ions in thermal motion. Our scheme is immune from the decoherence due to spontaneous emission from excited states as the system in our scheme evolves along a dark state. In our scheme the vibrational degrees of freedom are not required to be cooled to their ground states because they are only virtually excited. It is shown that the fidelity of the resultant gate operation is still high even when the magnitude of the effective Rabi frequency moderately deviates from the desired value.

Nonlinear laser focusing using a conical guide and generation of energetic ions

Using conventional methods, a laser pulse can be focused down to around 6-8 mu m, but further reduction of the spot size has proven to be difficult. Here it is shown by particle-in-cell simulation that with a hollow cone an intense laser pulse can be reduced to a tiny, highly localized, spot of around 1 mu m radius, accompanied by much enhanced light intensity. The pulse shaping and focusing effect is due to a nonlinear laser-plasma interaction on the inner surface of the cone. When a thin foil is attached to the tip of the cone, the cone-focused light pulse compresses and accelerates the ions in its path and can punch through the thin target, creating highly localized energetic ion bunches of high density.

Multistaged acceleration of ions by circularly polarized laser pulse: Monoenergetic ion beam generation

A multiple-staged ion acceleration mechanism in the interaction of a circularly polarized laser pulse with a solid target is studied by one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. The ions are accelerated from rest to several MeV monoenergetically at the front surface of the target. After all the plasma ions are accelerated, the acceleration process is repeated on the resulting monoenergetic ions. Under suitable conditions multiple repetitions can be realized and a high-energy quasi-monoenergetic ion beam can be obtained.