Isotope Exchange/Depth Profiling (IEDP) using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) has been used to determine the oxygen tracer diffusion and surface exchange coefficients of (100) oriented 9.5 mol% yttria stabilised zirconia single crystals. Exchange experiments performed with molecular oxygen are compared with the exchange using an oxygen plasma. The surface exchange coefficient for specime...

Chemical analysis is a well-established procedure for the provenancing of archaeological ceramics. Various analytical techniques are routinely used and large amounts of data have been accumulated so far in data banks. However, in order to exchange results obtained by different laboratories, the respective analytical procedures need to be tested in terms of their inter-comparability. In this stu...

A validation study in order to evaluate the efficiency of the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) in the analysis of minor elements (Manganese, Chromium, Copper, Iron and Titanium) in aluminium alloys was carried out. Aluminium casting samples were obtained from addition to aluminium baths of compressed powder compacts of each alloying element and aluminium (minit...

A new method is presented for elemental and molecular analysis of halogen-containing samples by glow discharge time-of-flight mass spectrometry, consisting of detection of negative ions from a pulsed RF glow discharge in argon. Analyte signals are mainly extracted from the afterglow regime of the discharge, where the cross section for electron attachment increases. The formation of negative ion...

Current waste management policies favor biogases (digester gases (DGs) and landfill gases (LFGs)) valorization as it becomes a way for energy politics. However, volatile organic silicon compounds (VOSiCs) contained into DGs/LFGs severely damage combustion engines and endanger the conversion into electricity by power plants, resulting in a high purification level requirement. Assessing treatment...

The inexpensive geochemical exploration technique based on broadspaced deflation lag sampling played a key role in the discovery of the Babel and Nebo ortho-magmatic Ni–Cu–platinum group elements (PGE) deposits. An area of 1100 km in the western Musgrave Block in central Australia was explored using deflation lag samples collected on a 1 km 0.5 km grid. A total of 35 elements were determined us...

With the successful launch of the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer, it is widely expected that the prompt optical flashes like GRB990123 would be easily detected. However, the observations show that for a number of GRBs no early optical flash has been detected, which indicates that the reverse shock emission must be suppressed. Here we explore the possibility that the optical flash may arise from...

The gadolinium species present in a rat kidney following intravenous administration of a gadolinium-based magnetic resonance contrast agent (Optimark™, Gadoversetamide injection) to a rat was examined in the present study. The major gadolinium species in the supernatant of the rat kidney tissue extracts was determined by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with online inductively coupled plasm...

A key process in thin film silicon-based solar cell manufacturing is plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of the active layers. The deposition process can be monitored in situ by plasma diagnostics. Three types of complementary diagnostics, namely optical emission spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and non-linear extended electron dynamics are applied to an industrial-type PECVD react...

In this study, we analyzed the antimicrobial activities of poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAM)-based polymeric nanoparticles encapsulating silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Three sizes of AgNP-encapsulating pNIPAM- and pNIPAM-NH2-based polymeric nanoparticles were fabricated. Highly stable and uniformly distributed AgNPs were encapsulated within polymeric nanoparticles via in situ reduction of AgNO...