Inorganic Mixtures Research Articles

Effects of organic and inorganic contaminants and their mixtures on metabolic health and gene expression in developmentally exposed zebrafish.

Organic and inorganic chemicals co-occur in household dust, and these chemicals have been determined to have endocrine and metabolic disrupting effects. While there is increasing study of chemical mixtures, the effects of complex mixtures mimicking household dust and other environmental matrices have not been well studied and their potential metabolism disrupting effects are thus poorly understood. Previous research has demonstrated high potency adipogenic effects of residential household dust extracts using in vitro adipogenesis assays. More recent research simplified this to a mixture relevant to household dust and comprised of common co-occurring organic and inorganic contaminants, finding that these complex combinations often exhibited additive or even synergistic effects in cell models. This study aimed to translate our previous in vitro observation to an in vivo model, the developing zebrafish, to evaluate the metabolic effects of early exposure to organic and inorganic chemicals, individually and in mixtures. Zebrafish embryos were exposed from 1 day post fertilization (dpf) to 6 dpf, then metabolic energy expenditure, swimming behavior and gene expression were measured. Globally, we observed that most mixtures did not reflect the effects of individual chemicals; the BFR mixture produced a less potent effect when compared to the individual chemicals, while the PFAS and the inorganic mixtures seemed to have a more potent effect than the individual chemicals. Finally, the environmental mixture, mimicking household dust proportions, was less potent than the inorganic chemical mix alone. Additional work is necessary to better understand the mixture effect of inorganic and organic chemicals combined.

Comparative study on productivity of Hybrid Napier CO3 and CO4 with the application of organic and inorganic fertilizers

The present study aimed to assess the growth parameters, herbage yield and chemical composition of CO3 and CO4 (Pennisetum perpureum X Pennisetum americarnum) at the Livestock farm Eastern University, Sri Lanka from July to September 2018. Four different treatments; inorganic fertilizer 100%, Organic fertilizer 100%, Control and Inorganic+Organic fertilizer 1:1 (weight basis). Plant height, leaf length, number of tillers per clump, leaf area, yield and total ash content were measured at two-week intervals from the 4th week up to the 8th week and data were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The means were separated using Duncan’s multiple range test at 0.05 significance level. Results indicated that the productivity of CO3 is superior to CO4 in terms of growth and yield under (T4) CO3 with 1:1 mixture of inorganic and organic fertilizer. The highest (p<0.05) fresh matter yield of 18.07 t/ha, with a dry matter yield of 3.83 t/ha was recorded in the sole application of inorganic fertilizer. A similar yield was obtained in CO3 with the 1:1 inorganic and organic fertilizer mixture. CO3 showed the highest total ash content (18.44%) on dry matter basis. Hence, farmers can save half of the cost of inorganic fertilizer by using farmyard manure along with half of the recommended dose of inorganic fertilizer for fodder cultivation

The Impact of Binary Salt Blends’ Composition on Their Thermophysical Properties for Innovative Heat Storage Materials

Heat storage is an emerging field of research, and, therefore, new materials with enhanced properties are being developed. Examples of phase change materials that provide high heat storage are inorganic salts and salt mixtures. They are commonly used for industrial applications due to their high operational temperature and latent heat. These parameters can be modified by combining different types of salts. This paper presents the experimental study of the impact of the composition of binary salts on their thermophysical properties. Unlike the literature data, this article provides a detailed analysis of the phase change process in both directions: solid–liquid and liquid–solid. The results indicate that the highest latent heat was observed for a 70% NaNO3 content in the NaNO3–KNO3 mixture. Therefore, when this salt is used for heat storage, the most favorable choice is a 70:30 ratio, which provides the highest heat storage density and the lowest phase transition temperature. In the case of the NaNO3–NaNO2 mixture, the highest value of latent heat occurs for a ratio of 80:20, resulting in phase transition temperatures of 267.0 °C for the solid–liquid transition, and 253.5 °C for the liquid–solid transition. For heat storage applications, it is recommended to use pure NaNO2 salt instead of the NaNO3–NaNO2 mixture.

Heat dissipating multi-component inorganic mixture of iron with high-temperature dielectric behavior

Heat dissipating multi-component inorganic mixture of iron with high-temperature dielectric behavior

Preparation of ionic liquid-immobilized siloxane membranes by vapor-phase transport and anion exchange

Using the sol-gel method, we developed ionic liquid (IL)-immobilized siloxane membranes from ionic alkoxysilanes (silylated ILs). The developed membranes were adapted for the separation of inorganic and organic gases and organic liquid mixtures. In this study, we developed a new method for preparing IL-immobilized siloxane membranes using vapor-phase transport and anion exchange techniques. First, a siloxane membrane containing chloropropyl groups was prepared in a porous Al2O3 tube. The membrane was brought into contact and reacted with 1-methylimidazole vapor at 353 K. AgCl precipitation, and Cl 2p3/2 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the chloropropyl group was successfully converted into an imidazolium-type IL structure. Next, the membrane was immersed in aqueous HN(SO2CF3)2 to exchange the anion from Cl− to (CF3SO2)2N−. The change in permselectivity through the membranes before and after the vapor-phase transport and anion-exchange treatments was confirmed by steam/H2 and toluene/N2 separation tests. The developed techniques exhibit excellent potential for preparing a wide variety of IL-immobilized siloxane membranes.

The Technique of Inorganic Core Sand Shooting with Reduced Pressure in Venting System

The publication presents a new shooting technique with reduced pressure in venting system for manufacturing foundry cores using inorganic sand mixture with Cordis binder. Traditional technologies for producing casting cores using blowing methods, despite their undeniable advantages, including the ability to produce cores in series, also come with some disadvantages. The primary drawbacks of the process involve uneven compaction structure of the cores, with denser areas primarily located under the blow holes, and under-shooting defects, which often occur in regions away from the blow hole or in increased core cross-sectional areas. In an effort to improve core quality, a concept was developed that involves incorporating a reduced pressure in the core box venting system to support the basic overpressure process. The solutions proposed in the publication with a vacuum method of filling the cavities of multi-chamber core boxes solve a number of technical problems occurring in conventional blowing technologies. It eliminates difficulties associated with evacuating the sand from the chamber to the shooting head and into technological cavity and increases the uniform distribution and initial degree of compacting of grains in the cavity. The additive role of this “underpressure” support is to enhance corebox venting by eliminating 'air cushions' in crevices and structural elements that obstruct the flow of evacuated air. The publication presents the results of studies on core manufacturing using blowing methods conducted in three variants: classic overpressure, utilizing the core box filling phenomenon by reducing pressure, and an integrated approach combining both these methods.

Additive Water Uptake of the Mixtures of Urban Atmospheric HULIS and Ammonium Sulfate

AbstractThe hygroscopicity of atmospheric aerosols affect the global climate and human health. However, the hygroscopic behavior of mixtures of inorganic salts and organics in atmospheric aerosols have not been well characterized for ambient complex organic mixtures. Here, the hygroscopic growth of humic‐like substances (HULIS), which represent the complexity of organic aerosol compounds, from urban aerosols and their mixtures with ammonium sulfate were investigated with measurements from a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer and model analyses. The Zdanovskii–Stokes–Robinson (ZSR) relationship, which assumes that the water uptake of each component is additive, was examined for the mixtures. The dependence of the hygroscopicity parameters (κ) of the mixtures on the volume fraction of HULIS is generally represented by the ZSR relationship with the deviations of κ on average of 16% (4%–27% in different mixing ratios), and 0.03 (0.02–0.04) on absolute basis. An assumption of asphericity for the dry particles reduced the deviations (14%). Approximations for the surface tension depression by surfactants and surface‐bulk partitioning were predicted to account for the deviations to a small extent. Furthermore, a thermodynamic model for simplified compound systems showed that the non‐ideality of the solutions potentially explained the deviations from the ZSR relationship. The results of this study support the use of the ZSR relationship for organic‒inorganic mixtures as a practical approximation in atmospheric models, provide a guide for the uncertainty associated with this approximation, and suggest directions for future studies.

Tandem FRET: A Robust Mechanism for Efficient Fabrication of WLED Using an Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Mixture

Tandem FRET: A Robust Mechanism for Efficient Fabrication of WLED Using an Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Mixture

Microwave-assisted extraction of pectin from onion and garlic waste under organic, inorganic and dual acid mixtures

This study aims to investigate pectin extraction from garlic (GW) and onion waste (OW) by microwave-assisted (MAE) and sequential microwave assisted-hot acid extraction (MAHE) methods. All extractions were performed under three different media including organic acids [citric (CA) and acetic (AA)], inorganic acids [sulfuric (H2SO4) and hydrochloric (HCl)] and their mixtures. GW provided more pectin yields compared with OW. While the highest pectin yields from GW and OW by MAE in H2SO4 were respectively 24.62 ± 0.65 and 24.93 ± 0.59%, these yields under MAHE were 27.99 ± 0.36 and 28.43 ± 0.42%, respectively. Higher pectin yields and galacturonic acid (Gal-A) contents were mostly achieved in inorganic acids. However, degree of esterification (DE), methoxyl content (MeO) and equivalent weight (EW) values were higher for the pectins extracted under organic acids. Extraction of pectin from GW and OW was also accomplished in dual acidic media by MAE. Addition of inorganic acids to the organic acid solutions resulted in increasing pectin yields. The highest pectin yields from GW and OW under dual acid solutions were respectively 23.36 ± 0.66 and 21.88 ± 0.52%, and achieved in 1/3 HCl-H2SO4 and 1/3 CA-H2SO4 mixtures by MAE. While increasing inorganic acid contents in dual acid solutions resulted in enhanced Gal-A contents, increasing organic acid volume also generated higher DE and MeO values of the pectins. Obtained successful outcomes indicate that MAHE method could be used as an efficient extraction technique for the higher pectin yields, and utilization of organic-inorganic dual acid mixtures during MAE provides enhanced yields and controlled physicochemical properties of pectin.Graphical abstract

Utilization of Palm Oil Effualant and Empty Fruit Benches as a Fertilizer Marginal Oil Palm Fields at Talgaswella Estate, in the Low Country Wet Zone Agro-Ecological Zone of Sri Lanka


 Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) was first introduced to Sri Lanka, as a commercial crop, about 55 years ago and was first established in Galle District as a rain fed perennial cash crop. Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is identified as a problematic waste while releasing directly to the water streams. Both POME and Empty Fruit Benches (EFB) consists of all these required nutrients in higher proportions for oil palm plants. This study was carried out with the duel intentions (objectives) of finding a solution to the disposal of waste material accumulated in oil palm factories over many years and to improve the productivity of marginally yielding oil palm fields in Thalgaswella estate Talgaswella. The study was designed using RCBD and there are eleven treatments. Fertilizer/mixtures were prepared based of the Nitrogen amount (0.63 kg/palm/year) supplied from the recommended inorganic fertilizer mixtures and rest of the organic fertilizer mixtures were prepared with using different proportions of POME and EFB to balance Potassium (K) & Prosperous (P). A ten-year-old oil palm field was selected in year 2019 for this experiment and maintained the field for three years before the data collection. There were 33 plots, each containing six palm trees. Organic treatments included different quantities of Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB), Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME). Oil content of the fruits was analyzed at AEN oil palm factory using (Instrument-FOSS DA1650) in year 2023. All the data were analyzed with Minitab and mean separations were done using DMRT at α≤0.05 level. Results clearly show that the application of organic fertilizer to the oil palm cultivation gives significantly higher oil yield. These findings can help to improving the productivity of marginal oil palm cultivations, while providing a sustainable solution to the disposal of POME and EFB.
 
 Key words: Oil palm, Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), Empty Fruit Benches (EFB), Waste, productivity

Analysis of the benefits of adopting roof sandwich panels integrated with PCM versus PUR to mitigate energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions

The construction industry's thirst for power has skyrocketed on a global scale. A significant amount of this power is used for buildings' heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning needs (HVAC systems), which in turn ensure occupants' comfort. A sustainable future requires more zero-energy or green buildings to meet the massive global energy demand. This study explores the possibility of reducing air conditioning expenses while taking into account various roof systems referring to sheet panels integrated with thermal insulation or a phase change material. Within the context of the current investigation, four sheet panels made of acrylic, aluminium, galvanized iron, and polycarbonate were examined. In addition, aforementioned sheet panels were filled with either polyurethane (PUR) foam insulation or a form-stable phase change material of FS29, an organic and inorganic mixture. In order to ascertain the thermo-physical properties of FS29 PCM (in both its solid and liquid phases), as well as its latent heat, experiments were carried out. According to the findings, the roof with the acrylic PCM integrated roof (ACPIR) succeeds in the best annual air conditioning or energy cost savings (7.90 and 8.18 $/m2/year), the highest carbon emission mitigations (144.15 and 156.44 kg-CO2/year) and the shortest payback period (9 and 8.7 years), for India's composite and warm-humid climatic conditions.

Graphene-Based Electrochemical Sensing Platform for Rapid and Selective Ferulic Acid Quantification

Due to the multitude of physiological functions, ferulic acid (FA) has a wide range of applications in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. Thus, the development of rapid, sensitive, and selective detection tools for its assay is of great interest. This study reports a new electroanalytical approach for the quantification of ferulic acid in commercial pharmaceutical samples using a sulphur-doped graphene-based electrochemical sensing platform. The few-layer graphene material (exf-SGR) was prepared by the electrochemical oxidation of graphite, at a low applied bias (5 V), in an inorganic salt mixture of Na2S2O3/(NH4)2SO4 (0.3 M each). According to the morpho-structural characterization of the material, it appears to have a high heteroatom doping degree, as proved by the presence of sulphur lines in the XRD pattern, and the C/S ratio was determined by XPS investigations to be 11.57. The electrochemical performances of a glassy carbon electrode modified with the exf-SGR toward FA detection were tested by cyclic voltammetry in both standard laboratory solutions and real sample analysis. The developed modified electrode showed a low limit of detection (30.3 nM) and excellent stability and reproducibility, proving its potential applicability as a viable solution in FA qualitative and quantitative analysis.

MECHANOCHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF ION-EXCHANGE SILVER FORMS OF POLYANTIMONIC ACID

The possibility of synthesising ion-substituted forms of hydrated silver antimonates has been studied. For the synthesis, the method of mechanochemical activation of the components of an inorganic mixture consisting of polyantimonic acid (PAA) with composition and silver nitrate with the concentration range from 0.0 to 1.0 has been applied. The results of studies of the phase composition of the synthesized compounds and their structural features are presented. Using the Rietveld method, the parameters of the crystal lattice of PAA hydrated ionsubstituted silver forms with a pyrochlore-type structure have been refined. The model for the occupation of metal ions by crystallographic positions has been proposed: the framework of the structure of the compounds is formed by 16c- and 48f-positions, in which Sb5+ and O2- are statistically located; hydrated oxonium ions (H3O+) and silver ions occupy 16d- and 8b-positions respectively. It has been shown that the synthesis of silver forms of PAA is preferably carried out by the mechanochemical synthesis, which results in the complete substitution of proton groups by silver ions in the structure of the compounds.

Improvement of melting performance in a longitudinal finned latent heat thermal energy storage unit

AbstractThis article presents an analysis and enhancement of the charging behavior of a double‐pipe LHTES unit with longitudinal fins for concentrated solar power applications using a finite element numerical analysis approach. The finite element approach is applied to this numerical analysis by using “COMSOL Multiphysics” software. The investigated LHTES system has an operating temperature range of 180°C‐300°C and uses “DelcoTerm Solar E 15” as the heat transfer fluid (HTF) with a eutectic inorganic mixture of sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate as the phase change material (PCM). While also taking into account the impact of the tube material and the number of fins, the primary goal of this study is to evaluate performance improvement by changing the thickness and number of fins in a linked manner without changing the storage unit capacity. The results show a maximal impact on thermal performance which decreased the melting time by 46% and the charging time by 49.6% for the configuration with a fin thickness of 1 mm, 27 longitudinal fins, an inner tube made of aluminum, and a mass flow rate of 60 kg/h.

Multivariate effect of organic and inorganic fertilizer mixtures on growth of Lactuca sativa L.

The objective of this research was to evaluate the multivariate effect of organic and inorganic fertilizer mixtures on growth of Lactuca sativa L. For this purpose, a complete multivariate randomized design was performed, with 5 replicates in 20 parcels, to which the treatments were randomly distributed. The data on the number of leaves per plant and the height of lettuce was obtained at harvest in the study field where the experiment was conducted. The compliance with the basic assumptions of normality and multivariate homogeneity of the experimental residuals was significantly demonstrated, evidencing the adequacy of the model. Likewise, the levels of organic and inorganic fertilizers had significant effects on the number of leaves and height of the lettuce plant collectively and individually.

ESTIMATION OF THE SHAPE FACTOR OF AGGREGATES IN SELF-ASSOCIATING SYSTEMS BASED ON METALLOSURFACTANTS

A mathematical evaluation of the shape factor of aggregates formed by amphiphilic compounds in an aqueous medium has been carried out on the basis of dynamic light scattering data for self-associating systems based on metallocomplexes of alkylated derivatives of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane with Ag(I) and Gd(III) nitrates, a ligand, and a ligand–inorganic salt mixture. Micellar and vesicular approximations have been used. A relationship between the shape factor and the parameters of the water pool of an aggregate has been shown for vesicular systems.

Development and characterization of a quaternary nitrate based molten salt heat transfer fluid for concentrated solar power plant

Over the past few years, there has been growing interest in using inorganic quaternary nitrate-based molten salt mixtures as a highly effective heat transfer fluid (HTF) for concentrated power plants, primarily because they can achieve low melting temperatures. However, the high viscosity of these salt mixtures is still a significant challenge that hinders their widespread adoption. The high viscosity leads to high pumping power requirements, which increases operational costs, and reduces the efficiency of the Rankine cycle. To address this challenge, this study developed and characterized a novel quaternary molten salt, focusing on the effect of LiNO3 additions on the salt's viscosity, thermal conductivity, melting point temperature, heat capacity, and thermal stability. The quaternary mixture comprised KNO3, LiNO3, Ca(NO3)2, and NaNO2, with varying percentages of each salt. The study utilized various standard techniques to examine the characteristics of the developed mixture. Results showed that increasing LiNO3 content led to a decrease in melting temperature, higher heat capacity, improved thermal stability, conductivity, and reduced viscosity at solidification temperature. The lowest endothermic peak for the new mixture emerged at 73.5 °C, which is significantly lower than that of commercial Hitec and Hitec XL, indicating better potential for use as a heat transfer fluid for concentrated solar thermal power plant applications. Furthermore, the thermal stability results showed high stability up to 590 °C for all the samples examined. Overall, the new quaternary molten salt shows promise as a potential replacement for current organic synthetic oil, offering a more efficient solution.

Comparative Assessment of Compression Strength of Solid Biobriquette using Different Binding Materials

Charcoal and firewood are the most common cooking fuels, despite the fact that they represent a variety of social and economic environmental difficulties in many affluent countries. Apart from the environmental implications of deforestation and resource loss, indoor air pollution caused by cooking with solid fuels causes 2 million fatalities each year. Biobriquettes are then utilized as a substitute for oils. Briquettes are also employed as carbon sources for cooking in various industries such as power plants, brick factories, and bakeries. Five specific binding materials were tested in this study for manual densification of cabbage waste, including beef tallow oil, starch, cassava binder, sodium silicate, and vinyl ester resin. The briquettes are made from a combination of 80% densified biological waste and 20% binder material. The sample density ranges from 545.564 to 591.278 kg/m3. The samples with the highest calorific value were beef tallow oil and vinyl ester resin, which had 5,357.26 and 5,800.79 kcal/kg respectively. The content of the samples were ashes, fixed carbon content, volatile material, and total humidity is 6.47% ± 1.13%, 18.43% ± 6%, 70.68% ± 6%, and 4.42% ± 4%, respectively. The sample with the most calorific value and densification is the one with the inorganic binder mixture.

Correction to “Missed Evaporation from Atmospherically Relevant Inorganic Mixtures Confounds Experimental Aerosol Studies”

Correction to “Missed Evaporation from Atmospherically Relevant Inorganic Mixtures Confounds Experimental Aerosol Studies”

New Insights into the Fouling of a Membrane during the Ultrafiltration of Complex Organic–Inorganic Feed Water

This paper presents an analysis of the fouling of a ceramic membrane by a mixture containing high concentrations of humic acid and colloidal silica during cross-flow ultrafiltration under various operating conditions. Two types of feed water were tested: feed water containing humic acid and feed water containing a mixture of humic acid and colloidal silica. The colloidal silica exacerbated the fouling, yielding lower fluxes (109-394 L m-2 h-1) compared to the humic acid feed water (205-850 L m-2 h-1), while the retentions were higher except for the highest cross-flow rate. For the humic acid feed water, the irreversible resistance prevails under the cross-flow rate of 5 L min-1. During the filtration of an organic-inorganic mixture, the reversible resistance due to the formation of a colloidal cake layer prevails under all operating conditions with an exception. The exception is the filtration of the organic-inorganic mixture of a 50 mg L-1 humic acid concentration which resulted in a lower flux than the one of a 150 mg L-1 humic acid concentration under 150 kPa and a cross-flow rate of 5 L min-1. Here, the irreversible fouling is unexpectedly overcome. This is unusual and occurs due to the low agglomeration at low concentrations of humic acid under a high cross-flow rate. Under lower transmembrane pressure and a moderate cross-flow rate, fouling can be mitigated, and relatively high fluxes are yielded with high retentions even in the presence of nanoparticles. In this way, colloidal silica influences the minimization of membrane fouling by organic humic acid contributing to the control of in-pore organic fouling.