Search results for " Relaxometry"

Changes in Physicochemical Properties of Biochar after Addition to Soil

2022

It is recognized that biochar undergoes changes when it is applied to soils. However, the mechanisms of biochar alterations are not fully understood yet. To this purpose, the present study is designed to investigate the transformations in the soil of two different biochars obtained from pyrolysis of fir-wood pellets. The production of the biochars differed for the dry and wet quenching procedures used to terminate the pyrolysis. Both biochars were applied to clay soil (26% sand, 6% silt, and 68% clay) placed into lysimeters. After water saturation and 15 days of equilibration, seeds of watercress (Lepidium sativum) were cultivated. After a further 7 weeks, the biochars were manually separat…

Sviluppo e Applicazioni di nuovi materiali per la dosimetria delle radiazioni ionizzanti

The Research Activities carried out during the Three-year International PhD Course in Applied Physics of the candidate Salvatore Gallo had two main topics related to dosimetry of ionizing radiations (IR): the analysis of 3D gel dosimeters and the analysis of solid state dosimeters through electron spin resonance. Both these activities are focused on a careful study of new materials for the IR Dosimetry, both in terms of physical characterization of these new materials and of the optimization of readout methods for dosimetric measurements. The study performed through various techniques such as UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, NMR Relaxometry, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Electron Spin…

Adsorption of dissolved organic matter on clay minerals as assessed by infra-red, CPMAS 13C NMR spectroscopy and low field T1 NMR relaxometry

2011

Abstract Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a very important environmental constituent due to its role in controlling factors for soil formation, mineral weathering and pollutant transport in the environment. Prediction of DOM physical–chemical properties is achieved by studying its chemical structure and spatial conformation. In the present study, dissolved organic matter extracted from compost obtained from the organic fraction of urban wastes (DOM-P) has been analysed by FT-IR, CPMAS 13C NMR spectroscopy and 1H T1 NMR relaxometry with fast field cycling (FFC) setup. While the first two spectroscopic techniques revealed the chemical changes of dissolved organic matter after adsorption eith…

Effects of ions on water structure: a low-field (1) H T1 NMR relaxometry approach

2014

Aqueous salt solutions play an important role in nature because of their effects on environmental biogeochemical processes and on structural properties of biomolecules. Upon dissolution, salts split in ions that are solvated. Water in hydration shells is subjected to molecular motions that can be monitored by (1) H T1 NMR relaxometry. This technique allowed the evaluation of the nature of the interactions between water and ions via variable temperature experiments. Examination of relaxometry properties of aqueous solutions at variable salt concentrations allowed acknowledgement of the role played by ions in either structuring or destructuring water aggregates. A mathematical model has been …

CHARACTERIZATION OF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF BIOCHAR FOR ENERGY PURPOSES AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

2014

Biochar production processes as well as its various applications provide numerous benefits to both environment and economy (Lehmann et al., 2006; Basu, 2010). However, understanding the physicochemical structure of this valuable product has to be improved in order to be able to obtain the aforementioned benefits and to avoid environmental costs. In this study, chicken or poultry manure (PM) was chosen as feedstock for biochar preparation. This biomass is traditionally used by farmers as an effective organic fertilizer (Chan et al., 2008). Indeed, it is considered a valuable source for readily available plant nutrients, such as N, P, K and other micronutrients (Huang et al., 2011). Notwithst…

NMR relaxation in modern wood and treated and untreated wood from a XVI century wooden statue

2007

Longitudinal (T1) relaxation data are presented for European lime (Tilia cordata Mill) wood samples, a modern sample and two from a XVI century wooden statue, one of which samples is treated with Paraloid B72 for preservation. The 1H signals from liquid and solid are separated in the free induction decays (FID). T1 distributions are obtained by UPEN and show two resolved peaks for the liquid component of either untreated wood but a wide distribution for the liquid of the treated sample. In each case, the solid component showed a single peak, which for either untreated sample was at about the position of the longer T1 liquid peak. We compute geometric-mean times, T1-gm, 2.1 and 36 ms for the…

Interaction between armenian-clay-based ceramics and model wines

2022

The use of ceramics for the transformation or conservation of wine has existed since the origins of wine, but the impact of ceramics on wine has not received much attention.However, in contact with the wine, ceramics are generally not neutral materials and the constituent minerals of ceramics are led to dissolve. This work mainly aims to study the migration of elements from ceramics to wine.To our knowledge, this question has so not been addressed so far, at least with our chosen approach.This study required the prior characterization of the materials and the ceramics produced in the laboratory.The analyzes (XRF, XRD, and SEM/EDX) revealed that the natural material used for the manufacture …

Effects of pyrolysis conditions on the thermal transformation of chicken manure into char

2012

Biochar is a fine-grained and highly porous carbonaceous substance, arising from the pyrolitic decomposition of natural or synthetic organic materials. It is lately applied to soils to favorably affect soil physico-chemical properties, such as water and nutrient retention and cation exchange capacity (CEC). The extent of the effect of biochar on crop productivity is very variable due to the different biophysical interactions and processes that occur when it is applied to soils. Char properties are greatly influenced by both natures of feedstock and process conditions. An accurate characterization of biochar is crucial to evaluate the possibility to amend soil with such material by avoiding …

Assessing the influence of different biochar fractions on soil structure and soil water retention: laboratory investigation on a Sicilian soil

2012

Effect of kinematic viscosity over the dynamic properties of an extra-virgin olive oil

2011

Previous studies 1,2 have shown that kinematic viscosity values of food oils depend on the presence of added solvents and on the nature of the oil under investigation (e.g., geographical origin and treatments prior to oil production). However, to the best of our knowledge, only one paper 3 dealt with the correlation between viscosity values and relaxation times of simple pure alkyl compounds. Up to now, no papers have been found in literature dealing with viscosity of complex mixtures and their relaxometric properties. In this study, we intended to investigate the effect of kinematic viscosity over the dynamic properties of an extra-virgin olive oil which is known as a very complex mixture …