Search results for "MINERALOGY"
showing 10 items of 1516 documents
Chemistry, mineralogy and radioactivity inposidonia oceanicameadows from North-Western Sicily
2004
This paper presents measurements of major, minor, metal trace elements and radionuclides in sediments and in Posidonia oceanica samples from north-western Sicily (Italy). The mineralogical and chemical composition of sediments were determined by X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence techniques, respectively. A flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to measure concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in P. oceanica samples and in sediments. Specific activities of selected radionuclides have been determined by high-resolution gamma spectrometry. Standard statistical analysis was used to assess correlations between different elements and different sample types.
Review of gas diffusion cathodes for alkaline fuel cells
2009
Abstract This paper gives a technical background to alkaline fuel cells (AFCs), introducing the advantages and drawbacks of the technology. AFCs offer the potential for low cost, mass producible fuel cells, without the dependency on platinum based catalysts and (currently) expensive membrane electrolytes. The AFC uses relatively low cost electrolytes based on aqueous bases such as potassium hydroxide. The inherent CO 2 sensitivity of the electrolyte can be addressed by filtering out the CO 2 from the air intake using a simple scrubber and periodically replacing the liquid electrolyte. A review of the state-of-the-art in gas diffusion cathode development is given. The overall cell performanc…
Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnO Crystals from Zn(OH)2 Metastable Phases at Room to Supercritical Conditions
2014
The originality of this work is to highlight the effect of temperature and pressure on the size and morphology of hydrothermal ZnO particles from ambient to supercritical conditions (T > 374 °C and P > 221 bar) using a unique continuous one-step process. Experiments were carried out from zinc nitrate (Zn(NO3)2) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) solutions in the ranges of 1–300 bar and 30–400 °C. The as-prepared particles of ZnO (flower, ellipsoid, and sphere) and e-Zn(OH)2 (polyhedral) sized from nano to micrometers were characterized by X-ray diffraction and electronic microscopy. The wulfingite phase (e-Zn(OH)2) was detected inside some powders especially at room temperature for higher pressu…
Speciation studies of iron in ancient pots from Sicily (Italy)
2011
Abstract Manufacture technology involves several aspects of pottery making, such as the type and the atmosphere of firing to obtain the finished item. During the firing of clay, at different environment of the oven, different compounds of iron (Fe(II) and Fe(III)) are formed and this is the reason for a different color of the ceramic body. Despite the great interest in this field, no works are devoted to the study the speciation of iron in ancient ceramics. The proposed method, even if considered destructive by archaeologists, allows the speciation of iron, using quantity of sample in the order of milligram. In order to achieve information about their firing conditions, thirty-nine pottery …
Optimization of the gravimetric determination method of nickel as dimethylglyoximate for nickel raw materials
1999
The method parameters of an almost one century old method for analyzing nickel as dimethylglyoximate were critically examined for the analysis of nickel raw materials and many of the method parameters were observed to have a significant effect on the Ni recovery. Thus, because the Ni precipitation method parameters vary a lot in analytical literature and also in practice, the obtained Ni results by different methods are not comparable. During this study it was found that the double precipitation worked out perfectly in eliminating the effects of impurity elements. The residual Ni content in the filtrates should also be measured to obtain accurate and precise Ni results. In complexing the im…
ANALYSIS OF WHOLE BLOOD AND PLACENTA—A CASE STUDY OF MOTHERS AND THEIR BABIES
2002
In a previous report optimisation of ED-XRF and TXRF for whole blood analysis has been reported. In the present work the optimised technique has been applied to investigate possible influence on pregnancy outcome due to an environment characterised by high levels of pollutants. Two groups of maternal and neonate whole blood were analysed with TXRF and GFAAS. The material of the first group was taken from Zabrze (Upper Silesia, Poland), an industrial region with a high degree of pollution. The second group consisted of controls from the Goteborg region in Sweden, where the levels of toxic pollutants in the environment are not as high as those in Zabrze. The results show that as compared with…
Ceramics, Marbles and Stones in the Light of Neutrons: Characterization by Various Neutron Methods
2016
In this chapter we give a brief overview of neutron based analytical investigations applied to study archaeological ceramics, and different types of stones. Since the vast majority of archaeological objects are made of ceramics and various stones—all are of geological origin—, one of the key objectives of these studies to determine the origin of raw material. This research is called provenance research, and a wide range of neutron based methods are applicable in it. Following a very basic, user-oriented description of the methods, we introduce examples from our everyday practice. The examples are about provenance of prehistoric stone tools, about the sources of 4th–3rd c. B.C. millennium li…
Gemstones and geosciences in space and time
2013
Abstract The gemstones, covering the spectrum from jeweler's to showcase quality, have been presented in a tripartite subdivision, by country, geology and geomorphology realized in 99 digital maps with more than 2600 mineralized sites. The various maps were designed based on the “Chessboard classification scheme of mineral deposits” proposed by Dill (2010a, 2010b) to reveal the interrelations between gemstone deposits and mineral deposits of other commodities and direct our thoughts to potential new target areas for exploration. A number of 33 categories were used for these digital maps: chromium, nickel, titanium, iron, manganese, copper, tin–tungsten, beryllium, lithium, zinc, calcium, bo…
Forming pressure dependence of the ferroelectric domain structure in green barium titanate pellets
1995
Abstract Modifications of the X-ray diffraction line profiles by die pressing of fine grained powders of barium titanate have been studied. Two main parameters have been considered: the forming pressure and the mechanical characteristics of the binder. The higher the forming pressure, the greater the modifications of the line profiles. Furthermore, the phenomena seems to be related to pressing only; no significant effect related to the nature of the binder has been shown. The modifications of the diffraction line profiles are interpreted by considering a reduction of the size of the ferroelectric domains during pressing. In order to confirm this interpretation, the behaviour of the domain s…
Aging of MCM41, MSU-H and MSU-F mesoporous systems investigated through the Raman spectroscopy
2014
Here we report an experimental investigation, based on the Raman spectroscopy, on the aging of some mesoporous silica based systems. In details, we studied the aging in air of the MCM41, the MSU-H and the MSU-F materials by acquiring the Raman spectra of as received and of mechanically pressed, at 0.2 and 0.45 GPa, powders. Our data evidenced that the starting powders of the MCM41 and of the MSU-H undergo structural modification when they are exposed to the ambient atmosphere, such modification consisting in the decrease of the D2 Raman band (originated by the three member rings). At variance the powders of the MSU-F appear to be stable. Furthermore, by pressing the starting powders to prod…