An ultrafiltration membrane, prepared with MSU-type mesoporous silica: Preparation and specific filtration behavior

We report preparation and the singular filtration properties of an ultrafiltration membrane made with MSU-type mesoporous silica that exhibits cylindrical pores aligned mostly normal to the support. This membrane supported on tubular commercial macroporous alumina supports was prepared by the interfacial growth mechanism between stable silica-surfactant hybrid micelles made of the association of silica oligomers with polyethyleneoxide-based (PEO) surfactants and sodium fluoride, a well-known silica condensation catalyst. It appears that the combined effect of the silica nature of the membrane, whose surface charge can be easily adjusted by changing the pH and the non-connected cylindrical shape of the pores provides a new behavior in the retention properties, as proved by the filtration of polyoxyethylene polymers (PEO) with different molecular weights. Depending on the filtration conditions, a rejection rate of 80 % and a steep cut-off at 2,000 Da can be obtained or, on the reverse, polymers three times bigger than the pore diameter can diffuse through the membrane. This new filtration mechanism, which opens up new modes of separation modes, is explained in the light of both topology of the porous network and pH-dependent interactions between PEO polymers and silica porous media. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preconcentration and determination of mercury(II) at a chemically modified electrode containing 3-(2-thioimidazolyl)propyl silica gel

A mercury-sensitive chemically modified graphite paste electrode was constructed by incorporating modified silica gel into a conventional graphite paste electrode. The functional group attached to the (3-chloropropyl) silica gel surface was 2-mercaptoimidazole, giving a new product denoted by 3-(2-thioimidazolyl)propyl silica gel, which is able to complex mercury ions. Mercury was chemically adsorbed on the modified graphite paste electrode containing 3-(2-thioimidazolyl)propyl silica (TIPSG GPE) by immersion in a Hg(II) solution, and the resultant surface was characterized by cyclic and differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry. One cathodic peak at 0.1 V and other anodic peak at 0.34 V were observed on scanning the potential from -0.1 to 0.8 V (0.01 M KNO3; ν = 2.0 mV s-1 νs. Ag/AgCl). The anodic peak at 0.34 V show an excellent sensitivity for Hg(II) ions in the presence of several foreign ions. A calibration graph covering the concentration range from 0.02 to 2 mg L-1 was obtained. The detection limit was estimated to be 5 μg L-1. The precision for six determinations of 0.05 and 0.26 mg L-1 Hg(II) was 3.0 and 2.5% (relative standard deviation), respectively. The method can be used to determine the concentration of mercury(II) in natural waters contaminated by this metal. 2005 © The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry.

Effect of silica coating on flexural strength of fiber posts

Purpose: Fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) posts can be air-abraded to obtain good attachment to the resin cement. This study tested the effect of silica coating on the flexural strength of carbon, opaque, and translucent quartz FRC posts. Materials and Methods: Six experimental groups of FRC posts (n = 10 per group) were tested, either as received from the manufacturer or after chairside silica coating (30-μm CoJet-Sand). Results: There was no significant difference in the flexural strength of nonconditioned (504 to 525 MPa) and silica-coated (514 to 565 MPa) specimens (P > .05) (analysis of variance). The type of post did have a significant effect on flexural strength (P < .05). Conclusion: Chairside silica coating did not affect the flexural strength of both carbon and quartz FRC posts.

Preparation of a silica gel modified with 2-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole for adsorption of metal ions and electroanalytical application

Silica gel with a specific area of 382 m2 g-1 and an average pore diameter of 60 Å was chemically modified with 2-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole, for the purpose of selective adsorption of heavy metals ions and possible use as a chemically modified carbon paste electrode (CMCPE). The following properties of this functionalized silica gel are discussed: selective adsorption of heavy metal ions measured by batch and chromatographic column techniques, and utilization as preconcentration agent in a chemically modified carbon paste electrode (CMCPE) for determination of mercury(II). The chemical selectivity of this functional group and the selectivity of voltammetry were combined for preconcentration and determination. ©2006 Sociedade Brasileira de Química.

Microtensile bond strength of a resin cement to silica-coated and silanized in-ceram zirconia before and after aging

Purpose: This study compared the microtensile bond strength of resin-based cement (Panavia F) to silica-coated, silanized, glass-infiltrated high-alumina zirconia (In-Ceram Zirconia) ceramic in dry conditions and after various aging regimens. Materials and Methods: The specimens were placed in 1 of 4 groups: group 1: dry conditions (immediate testing without aging); group 2: water storage at 37°C for 150 days; group 3: 150 days of water storage followed by thermocycling (× 12,000, 5°C to 55°C); group 4: water storage for 300 days; group 5: water storage for 300 days followed by thermocycling. Results: Group 1 showed a significantly higher microtensile bond strength value (26.2 ± 1 MPa) than the other aging regimens (6.5 ± 1, 6.2 ± 2, 4.5 ± 1, 4.3 ± 1 MPa for groups 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively) (P < .01). Conclusion: Satisfactory results were seen in dry conditions, but water storage and thermocycling resulted in significantly weaker bonds between the resin cement and the zirconia.

Resin microtensile bond strength to feldspathic ceramic: Hydrofluoric acid etching vs tribochemical silica coating

This study aimed to compare the microtensile bond strength of resin cement to alumina-reinforced feldspathic ceramic submitted to acid etching or chairside tribochemical silica coating. Ten blocks of Vitadur-α were randomly divided into 2 groups according to conditioning method: (1) etching with 9.6% hydrofluoric acid or (2) chairside tribochemical silica coating. Each ceramic block was luted to the corresponding resin composite block with the resin cement (Panavia F). Next, bar specimens were produced for microtensile testing. No significant difference was observed between the 2 experimental groups (Student t test, P> .05). Both surface treatments showed similar microtensile bond strength values.

Defect-induced photoluminescence of powdered silica glass

Visible photoluminescence was generated in standard soda-lime-silica glass powder, mechanically milled in a high-energy attrition mill. The broad emission band maximum shows a linear dependence on the exciting wavelength, suggesting the possibility to tune the PL emission. The photoluminescence was attributed to defect generation related to unsatisfied chemical bonds due to the high surface area. Raman scattering and ultraviolet-visible optical reflectance measurements corroborate this assertion. Transmission electron microscopy measurements indicate that the powder is composed by nanocrystallites with about 10-20 nanometers immersed in an amorphous media.

Distribution of carabid beetles in agroecosystems across spatial scales - A review

The review focuses on the questions (1) how does the spatial heterogeneity of landscape influences carabid biodiversity, and (2) what are the main factors causing this biodiversity across nested spatial scales (study point - plant association - landscape level). The analysis of recent literature indicates that the spatial distribution of carabids differs at various spatial scales, and the factors responsible for the distribution are different. At the study point level most of the communities exhibit high variability of population density and diversity, which has no correlations with soil, and sometimes, vegetation, parameters. Most of the factors that contribute to formation of the communities are stochastic, simply because patches of a factor are much smaller than the size of a distinct carabid community. At the level of plant association, soil factors begin to play the role in driving the communities. At this level, litter depth, micro-climate and vegetation composition are the main factors. At the landscape level, geological factors, such as topography, landscape geochemistry, and history are playing important roles. As a conservation measure, spatial heterogeneity should be kept at all spatial scales at the same time to maintain carabid biodiversity in agricultural areas.

Concentration of Cu(II) and Cd(II) from natural river water by Adsorption on a Modified Silica Surface

A high surface area silica gel (737 ± m2 g-1) was synthesized modified through a two-step reaction with a 4-amino-2-mercaptopyrimidine ligand and applied to Cu(II) and Cd(II) adsorption from an aqueous medium. The modified material was characterized by FTIR, which showed that attachment of the molecule occurred via thiol groups at 2547 and 2600 cm-1, and by elemental analysis that indicated the presence of 0.0102 mmol of ligand. The data from adsorption experiments were adjusted to a modified Langmuir equation and the maximum adsorption capacity was 6.6 and 3.8 μmol g-1 for Cu(II) and Cd(II), respectively. After adjusting several parameters, the material was applied in the preconcentration of natural river water using a continuous flow system before and after sample mineralization, and the results showed a 10-fold enrichment factor. The proposed method was validated through preconcentration and analysis of certified standard reference material (1643e), whose results were in agreement with the values provided by the manufacturer.

Silica coating on alumina ceramic: comparison of three chairside air-abrasion devices working for different times and distances.

This study evaluated, by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and EDS, the effect of different strategies for silica coating (sandblasters, time and distance) of a glass-infiltrated ceramic (In-Ceram Alumina). Forty-one ceramic blocks were produced. For comparison of the three air-abrasion devices, 15 ceramic samples were divided in three groups (N.=5): Bioart, Microetcher and Ronvig (air-abrasion parameters: 20 s at a distance of 10 mm). For evaluation of the time and distance factors, ceramic samples (N.=5) were allocated in groups considering three applied times (5 s, 13 s and 20 s) and two distances (10 mm and 20 mm), using the Ronvig device. In a control sample, no surface treatment was performed. After that, the micro-morphologic analyzes of the ceramic surfaces were made using SEM. EDS analyzes were carried out to detect the % of silica on representative ceramic surface. ANOVA and Tukey tests were used to analyze the results. One-way ANOVA showed the silica deposition was different for different devices (P=0.0054). The Ronvig device promoted the highest silica coating compared to the other devices (Tukey test). Two-way ANOVA showed the distance and time factors did not affect significantly the silica deposition (application time and distance showed no statistical difference). The Ronvig device provided the most effective silica deposition on glass-infiltrated alumina ceramic surface and the studied time and distance for air-abrasion did not affect the silica coating.

A generalized Riemann- Stieltjes integral on time scales and discontinuous dynamical equations

This paper is concerned with a generalization of the Riemann- Stieltjes integral on time scales for deal with some aspects of discontinuous dynamic equations in which Riemann-Stieltjes integral does not works. © 2011 Academic Publications.

Shear bond strength of resin cement bonded to alumina ceramic after treatment by aluminum oxide sandblasting or silica coating

Purpose: To evaluate the shear bond strength and bond durability between a dual-cured resin cement (RC) and a high alumina ceramic (In-Ceram Alumina), subjected to two surface treatments. Materials and Methods: Forty disc-shaped specimens (sp) (4-mm diameter, 5-mm thick) were fabricated from In-Ceram Alumina and divided into two groups (n = 20) in accordance with surface treatment: (1) sandblasting by aluminum oxide particles (50 μm Al 2O 3) (SB) and (2) silica coating (30 μm SiO x) using the CoJet system (SC). After the 40 sp were bonded to the dual-cured RC, they were stored in distilled water at 37°C for 24 hours. After this period, the sp from each group were divided into two conditions of storage (n = 10): (a) 24 h-shear bond test 24 hours after cementation; (b) Aging-thermocycling (TC) (12,000 times, 5 to 55°C) and water storage (150 days). The shear test was performed in a universal test machine (1 mm/min). Results: ANOVA and Tukey (5%) tests noted no statistically significant difference in the bond strength values between the two surface treatments (p= 0.7897). The bond strengths (MPa) for both surface treatments reduced significantly after aging (SB-24: 8.2 ± 4.6; SB-Aging: 3.7 ± 2.5; SC-24: 8.6 ± 2.2; SC-Aging: 3.5 ± 3.1). Conclusion: Surface conditioning using airborne particle abrasion with either 50 μm alumina or 30 μm silica particles exhibited similar bond strength values and decreased after long-term TC and water storage for both methods. © 2011 by The American College of Prosthodontists.

Absolute continuity and existence of solutions to dynamic inclusions in time scales

We provide some properties for absolutely continuous functions in time scales. Then we consider a class of dynamical inclusions in time scales and extend to this class a convergence result of a sequence of almost inclusion trajectories to a limit which is actually a trajectory of the inclusion in question. We also introduce the so called Euler solution to dynamical systems in time scales and prove its existence. A combination of the existence of Euler solutions with the compactness type result described above ensures the existence of an actual trajectory for the dynamical inclusion when the setvalued vector field is nonempty, compact, convex and has closed graph. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

Scales, Universality and Finite-Range Correction in Three-body Systems

The scale invariance manifested by the weakly-bound Efimov states implies that all the Efimov spectrum can be merged in a single scaling function. By considering this scaling function, the ratio between two consecutive energy levels, E3 (N+1) and E3 (N), can be obtained from a two-body low-energy observable (usually the scattering length a), given in units of the three-body energy level N. The zero-ranged scaling function is improved by incorporating finite range corrections in first order of r0/a (r0 is the potential effective range). The critical condition for three-identical bosons in s-wave, when the excited E3 (N+1) state disappears in the 2 + 1 threshold, is given by √E2/E3 (N) ≈ 0.38+0.12(r0/a). © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

Study of adsorption and preconcentration by using a new silica organomodified with [3-(2,2′-dipyridylamine)propyl] groups

In this work, a silica surface chemically modified with [3-(2,2′-dipyridylamine)propyl] groups, named [3-(2,2′- dipyridylamine)propyl]silica (Si-Pr-DPA) was prepared, characterized, and evaluated for its heavy metal adsorption characteristics from aqueous solution. To our knowledge, we are the first authors who have reported the present modification. The material was characterized using infrared spectroscopy, SEM, and NMR 29Si and 13C solid state. Batch and column experiments were conducted to investigate for heavy metal removal from dilute aqueous solution by sorption onto Si-Pr-DPA. From a number of studies the affinity of various metal ions for the Si-Pr-DPA sorbent was determined to follow the order Fe(III) > Cr(III) >> Cu(II) > Cd(II) > Pb(II) > Ni(II). Two standard reference materials were used for checking the accuracy and precision of the method. The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of environmental samples. This ligand material has great advantage for adsorption of transition-metal ions from aqueous medium due to its high degree of organofunctionalization associated with the large adsorption capacity, reutilization possibility, and rapidity in reaching the equilibrium. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.