Ammonia removal using activated carbons: effect of the surface chemistry in dry and moist conditions

The effect of surface chemistry (nature and amount of oxygen groups) in the removal of ammonia was studied using a modified resin-based activated carbon. NH3 breakthrough column experiments show that the modification of the original activated carbon with nitric acid, that is, the incorporation of oxygen surface groups, highly improves the adsorption behavior at room temperature. Apparently, there is a linear relationship between the total adsorption capacity and the amount of the more acidic and less stable oxygen surface groups. Similar experiments using moist air clearly show that the effect of humidity highly depends on the surface chemistry of the carbon used. Moisture highly improves the adsorption behavior for samples with a low concentration of oxygen functionalities, probably due to the preferential adsorption of ammonia via dissolution into water. On the contrary, moisture exhibits a small effect on samples with a rich surface chemistry due to the preferential adsorption pathway via Brønsted and Lewis acid centers from the carbon surface. FTIR analyses of the exhausted oxidized samples confirm both the formation of NH4+ species interacting with the Brønsted acid sites, together with the presence of NH3 species coordinated, through the lone pair electron, to Lewis acid sites on the graphene layers.

Analysis of the Kondo effect in ferromagnetic atomic-sized contacts

Atomic contacts made of ferromagnetic metals present zero-bias anomalies in the differential conductance due to the Kondo effect. These systems provide a unique opportunity to perform a statistical analysis of the Kondo parameters in nanostructures since a large number of contacts can be easily fabricated using break-junction techniques. The details of the atomic structure differ from one contact to another so a large number of different configurations can be statistically analyzed. Here we present such a statistical analysis of the Kondo effect in atomic contacts made from the ferromagnetic transition metals Ni, Co, and Fe. Our analysis shows clear differences between materials that can be understood by fundamental theoretical considerations. This combination of experiments and theory allows us to extract information about the origin and nature of the Kondo effect in these systems and to explore the influence of geometry and valence in the Kondo screening of atomic-sized nanostructures.

Effect of commercial amino acids on iron nutrition of tomato plants grown under lime-induced iron deficiency

The objective of this work was to study the effect of root and foliar application of two commercial products containing amino acids from plant and animal origin on iron (Fe) nutrition of tomato seedlings cultivated in two nutrient media: lime and normal nutrient solutions. In the foliar-application experiment, each product was sprayed with 0.5 and 0.7 mL L–1 2, 7, 12, and 17 d after transplanting. In the root application experiment, 0.1 and 0.2 mL L–1 of amino acids products were added to the nutrient solutions. In both experiments, untreated control plants were included as well. Foliar and root application of the product containing amino acids from animal origin caused severe plant-growth depression and nonpositive effects on Fe nutrition were found. In contrast, the application of the product from plant origin stimulated plant growth. Furthermore, significantly enhanced root and leaf FeIII-chelate reductase activity, chlorophyll concentration, leaf Fe concentration, and FeII : Fe ratio were found in tomato seedlings treated with the product from plant origin, especially when the amino acids were directly applied to the roots. These effects were more evident in plants developed under lime-induced Fe deficiency. The positive results on Fe uptake may be related to the action of glutamic acid, the most abundant amino acid in the formulation of the product from plant origin.

Water reduction in waste-activated sludge by resettling and filtration in batch. Phase (1): pilot-scale experiments to optimize performance

This article describes an effective procedure for reducing the water content of excess sludge production from a wastewater treatment plant by increasing its concentration and, as a consequence, minimizing the volume of sludge to be managed. It consists of a pre-dewatering sludge process, which is used as a preliminary step or alternative to the thickening. It is made up of two discontinuous sequential stages: the first is resettling and the second, filtration through a porous medium. The process is strictly physical, without any chemical additives or electromechanical equipment intervening. The experiment was carried out in a pilot-scale system, consisting of a column of sedimentation that incorporates a filter medium. Different sludge heights were tested over the filter to verify the influence of hydrostatic pressure on the various final concentrations of each stage. The results show that the initial sludge concentration may increase by more than 570% by the end of the process with the final volume of sludge being reduced in similar proportions and hydrostatic pressure having a limited effect on this final concentration. Moreover, the value of the hydrostatic pressure at which critical specific cake resistance is reached is established.

Kinetic Analysis and Pollutant Evolution During Thermal Degradation of Printed Circuit Boards Considering the Effect of Metals

Paper submitted to the 7th International Symposium on Feedstock Recycling of Polymeric Materials (7th ISFR 2013), New Delhi, India, 23-26 October 2013.

Quantum anomalous Hall effect in graphene coupled to skyrmions

Skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures, characterized by a topological winding number N, that occur spontaneously in some magnetic materials. Recent experiments have demonstrated the capability to grow graphene on top Fe/Ir, a system that exhibits a two-dimensional skyrmion lattice. Here we show that a weak exchange coupling between the Dirac electrons in graphene and a two-dimensional skyrmion lattice withN = ±1 drives graphene into a quantum anomalous Hall phase, with a band gap in bulk, a Chern number C = 2N, and chiral edge states with perfect quantization of conductance G = 2N e2 h . Our findings imply that the topological properties of the skyrmion lattice can be imprinted in the Dirac electrons of graphene.