Search results for " Metals"
showing 10 items of 462 documents
Instability of cuboctahedral copper clusters.
1992
Equilibrium structures of copper clusters up to 10 000 atoms are studied using molecular-dynamics and effective-medium theory. Icosahedral closed-shell clusters are most stable up to \ensuremath{\sim}2500 atoms and the Wulff polyhedra are favored for larger clusters. Cuboctahedral closed-shell clusters up to \ensuremath{\sim}2000 atoms are unstable. They undergo a nondiffusive transition to an icosahedral structure at low temperatures and melt directly above the fcc-cluster-melting temperature. The melting temperature decreases with decreasing cluster size but not as deeply as has been reported for pure metals.
Characterization of automotive shredder residues before and five years after landfill disposal
2015
The paper illustrates the results of an extensive analytical characterization study of automotive shredder residues (ASR), also known as "fluff". The analyses concerned material fractions and their content, with special reference to heavy metals (e.g. Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, Cu) and arsenic. Elution tests on the original materials were also conducted. Moreover, chemical concentrations of ASR samples after about five years' landfill residence was assessed, in order to verify possible changes resulting from both in-situ leaching and organic matter degradation phenomena. Results show that lead seems to be the most critical element in view of possible ASR acceptance in non-hazardous waste landfills bec…
The characterization of molecular alkaly metal azides
2006
Matrix isolation infrared (IR) studies have been carried out on the vaporisation of the alkali-metal azides MN(3) (M = Na, K, Rb and Cs). The results show that under high vacuum conditions, molecular KN(3), RbN(3) and CsN(3) are present as stable high-temperature vapour species, together with variable amounts of nitrogen gas and the corresponding metal atoms. The characterisation of these molecular azides is supported by ab initio molecular orbital calculations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and for CsN(3) in particular, by the detection of the isotopomers CS((14)N(15)N(14)N) and Cs((15)N(14)N(14)N). The IR spectra are assigned to a "side-on" (C(2v)) structure by comparis…
Background levels and baseline values of available heavy metals in Mediterranean greenhouse soils (Spain)
2011
Abstract This study determines extractable levels of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni and Co in western Almeria (Spain) greenhouse surface soil horizons using EDTA solution, which is identified as the fraction available for organisms and plants. It also establishes background levels, geochemical baseline concentration and reference values (RV), and investigates the possible relationships between soil properties and elemental concentrations. The results show that the soil concentration of these extractable heavy metals was high as those reported by other authors for Spanish agricultural soils. The available RV concentrations obtained (mg kg −1 ) were: Cd 0.17, Cu 1.6, Pb 13.8, Zn 5.0 Ni 1.7 and Co 2.9. Us…
Bibliometric analysis of European publications between 2001 and 2016 on concentrations of selected elements in mushrooms.
2020
This article presents a bibliometric study of 200 European publications released between 2001 and 2016, about the contamination of mushrooms by selected elements. The analysis includes figures on the type of analyte, its concentration, the species of fungi, and its country of origin. In the literature review, 492 species of mushrooms (wild-growing and cultured) found in 26 European countries and their concentration of 74 associated elements were analysed. The papers, which dealt mainly with the heavy metal (Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, and Zn) concentrations of mushrooms, primarily came from Turkey, Poland, Spain, and the Czech Republic. More than 50% of the publications provided data about edible mushr…
Prediction models based on soil properties for evaluating the uptake of eight heavy metals by tomato plant (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) grown in a…
2021
The aim of this study is to design de novo prediction models in order to gauge the likely uptake of eight heavy metals (Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) by Lycopersicon esculentum, the tomato plant. Uptake was assessed within the plant’s root, stem, leaf and fruit tissues, respectively. The plant was cultivated in soil amended by different application rates of sewage sludge, i.e. 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 g/kg. The roots exhibited markedly elevated heavy metal concentrations compared to the above-ground plant components, with the exception of the quantity of Ni in the leaves. Apart from Al, Fe and Mn, a bioconcentration factor >1 was identified for all heavy metals. Excluding Ni in the leaves,…
BIOMONITORIG ACTIVITIES OF “COMPRENSORIO DI PACE DEL MELA”.ANALYSES OF AIR QUALITY DATA
2007
The “Assessorato Territorio e Ambiente” of the Regional Sicilian Government and the “Ingegneria e Tecnologie Agro Forestali” (ITAF) Department, Palermo University, have been involved in a study (D.R.S. N° 473) concerning the occurrence of environmental pollution by heavy metals in the "Comprensorio territoriale di Pace del Mela". The involved local administrations (“comuni”) in the area of interest are: Condrò, Gualtieri Sicaminò, Milazzo, Pace del Mela, S.Filippo del Mela, Santa Lucia del Mela, San Pier Niceto. Naturalistic aspects and landscape relevance of the “Pace del Mela” area is supported by the existence of three Natural Reserves, twelve Sites of Community Interest (S.I.C.) and a Z…
Long-term impact of 19 years' farmyard manure or sewage sludge application on the structure, diversity and density of the protocatechuate-degrading b…
2012
International audience; Impact of long-term biosolids application on soil-living micro-organisms key players of ecosystemic services is scarcely reported. Here, the impact of the 19 year-long application of farmyard manure (FM) and sewage sludge (SS) organic fertilisation regimes on the protocatechuate-degrading bacterial (pca) community was estimated by comparison to a mineral fertilisation regime (U). The structure, diversity and density of the pca community were determined using pcaH, a gene encoding the protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase. Ten years after the last application, the structure of the pca community in soils amended with 55100 (100 t/ha/2 years) and to a lesser extent with FM (1…
Analysis of Sagunto Ibero-Roman votive bronze statuettes by portable X-ray fluorescence
2019
Abstract The main objective of this work was the study of chemical composition of an important collection of Ibero-Roman votive bronze statuettes exposed in the Archaeological Museum of Sagunto (Spain). Precision and accuracy of the measurements were obtained developing a proper analytical method, also avoiding any possible damage to the studied objects using a portable energy dispersive X- ray fluorescence system. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to discriminate between groups based on ratios Fe/Cu, Pb/Cu, Sn/Cu, Ag/Cu, Ni/Cu and Impurities/Cu were employed to observe differences between the used smelting, manufacturing processes and raw materials. The characterisation of bronze statuet…
Refractory metal nuggets in different types of cosmic spherules
2014
Abstract Out of the three basic cosmic spherule types collected from the seafloor, RMNs (refractory metal nuggets) have been reported from I-type spherules commonly, rarely from S-type spherules and never from the G-type spherules. Nuggets in the I-type cosmic spherules have formed by melting and complete oxidation during atmospheric entry, whereas no clear understanding emerged so far regarding the formation of the rare nuggets in S-type spherules. We collected cosmic spherules by raking the deep seafloor with magnets, and carried out systematic and sequential grinding, polishing and electron microscopic investigations on 992 cosmic spherules to identify RMNs. Fifty-four nuggets (RMNs) are…