In techniques such as Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy, and image mining, motion is tracked by the autocorrelation of a signal over logarithmic time scales. For instance the tracking signal in DLS is the scattered light intensity; it remains correlated at time scales where scant changes in the arrangement of the scattering particles occur, but decays exponentially at the time scales of their diffusion. When there are multiple time scales of motion (for instance due to scatterers of different sizes), the correlation curve has more than one exponential fall. Extracting the decay constants or hydrodynamic sizes due to each exponential fall in a multi-species field correlation curve becomes an ill-conditioned mathematical problem. We describe a new algorithm to invert a multi-modal correlation curve by Sequential Extraction of the Late Exponentials (SELE). The idea is that while the inversion of a multi-exponential equation may be ill posed, that of a single exponential is not. So we fit data windows towards to base of the correlation curve to extract the largest contribution species, remove the species contribution from the correlation curve, and repeat the process with the remnant curve. The single exponent can be robustly fitted by least-square minimization with initial guesses generated by an adapted cumutant technique (power-series) that includes stretch coefficients (measure of sample dispersity). The proposed algorithm resolves particle sizes separated by 3X, and is reliable against fluctuations in the correlation curve and to localized regions of suboptimal data. The algorithm can be used to track particle dynamics in solution in multi-species problems such as self-assembly.

Numerous fabrication protocols are known to yield transition metal oxides with structures related to layered double hydroxides, but the effect of fabrication protocol on the uniformity of mixed-metal compositions remain largely unexplored. We have analysed the apparent solubility limits and the structural implications of iron ions in nickel hydroxide lattices for materials prepared by four different fabrication protocols. Opposing shifts in the (100) and (001) reflection in powder X-ray diffraction results revealed a contraction of the nickel lattice upon successful incorporation of iron, with Ni-M distances exhibiting an apparently linear decrease with respect to iron content. This feature revealed the amount of iron incorporated into nickel-based materials to be dependent on fabrication protocol, varying from apparently negligible concentrations to over fifty atomic percent. The dependency of structure on fabrication protocols provides a handle to improve fundamental understanding of catalytically relevant coordination environments.

The catalyst ZeoSonFe(M1), mixed with hydrogen peroxide and UV light, presented the highest degradation percent within 120 minutes of treatment respect to ZeoSonFe(M2), ZeoSonFe(M3) and ZeoSonFe(M4) which accounted for 72.92, 84.27, and 72.30 %, respectively. The spectrum of UV-Vis degradation showed that the absorption main bands of IC (612 and 286 nm) decrease due to the rupture of C=C bond that belong to the chromophorous group IC. The catalyst ZeoSonFe(M1) was characterized with infrared (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and pore diameter analysis with the BET method. To describe the kinetics of the oxidative reaction the pseudo first order model was applied.

Macroscopic strength of the rock depends on the behavior of the micro constituents, that is, the minerals, pores and crack profile. It is important to determine the effect of these constituents on the overall behavior of the rock. This study seeks to estimate the effective elastic properties of granite using the finite element method. A representative volume element (RVE) of suitable size with spherical inclusions of different distribution is subjected to loading and the effective elastic properties determined. The results are compared to those obtained from analytical methods. The elastic properties are obtained in both the axial and transverse direction to account for anisotropy. It is observed that there is congruence in the results obtained both analytically and numerically. The method of periodic microstructures exhibits close agreement with the numerical results.

Semiconductor-based heterojunctions have been shown to be effective photocatalytic materials to overcome the drawbacks of low photocatalytic efficiency that results from a high rate of electron−hole recombination and narrow photo-response range. In this paper, we report on the study of heterojunctions made from visible light active, graphitic carbon nitride, g-C3N4), and UV light active, strontium pyroniobate, Sr2Nb2O7. Heterojunctions made from a combination of g-C3N4 and nitrogen-doped Sr2Nb2O7 obtained at different temperatures were also studied to determine the effect of N doping. The photocatalytic performance was evaluated by using photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)from water g under visible light irradiation. It was found that the photocatalytic activities of as prepared heterojunctions are significantly higher than that of individual components under similar conditions. Heterojunction formed from g-C3N4 and N-doped Sr2Nb2O7 at 700°C (CN/SNON-700) showed better performance than heterojunction made from g-C3N4 and Sr2Nb2O7 (CN/SNO). A plausible mechanism for the heterojunction enhanced photocatalytic activity is proposed based on, relative band positions, and photoluminescence data.

Mesoporous silicas were synthesized via a surfactant-templated sol-gel route using castor oil as the templating agent under acidic medium. The resulting silicas were subsequently amine functionalized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (NH2-MTS), [3-(2-aminoethylamino)-propyl]trimethoxysilane (NN-MTS), and [3-(diethylamino)propyl]trimethoxysilane(DN-MTS) to introduce surface basicity. Surface physicochemical properties were characterized by field emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEGSEM), nitrogen porosimetry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). As-synthesised materials exhibit type IV adsorption-desorption isotherms characteristic of mesoporous structures. Clusters of spherical shaped materials were observed by FEGSEM, suggesting growth of silica occurs within colloidal dispersions. High-resolution N 1s XP spectra and DRIFT spectra confirmed the presence of amine groups in the organo-amine functionalised mesoporous silicas. The amine functionalised mesoporous silicas were active for the transesterification of tributyrin with methanol, with conversion found to increase from NH2-MTS< NN-MTS< DN-MTS.

The production of biodiesel by the esterification of oleic acid, as an example of free fatty acid (FFA), was explored by using a new solid acid catalyst derived from lignin, a highly abundant low-cost biomass material. The catalyst was synthesized from lignin-derived carbon fiber by straightforward sulfonation and contains 1.86 mmol/g of sulfonic acid (-SO3H) groups. The catalyst was characterized by a variety of techniques including PXRD, TGA, TPD-MS, SEM, and XPS to understand the surface chemistry and the result of sulfonation. It was found that the sulfonated lignin-derived carbon fiber (CF-SO3H) catalyst was very efficient at esterifying oleic acid at 80 oC in 4 hours, with 10 wt. % catalyst (in terms of oleic acid content) and at a 10:1 molar ratio of methanol: oleic acid with a yield of 92%. Furthermore, the catalyst can be reused with no significant loss in activity after 4 cycles. Hence, synthesizing solid acid catalysts from lignin-derived carbon fiber affords a novel strategy for producing biodiesel via ‘green chemistry’.