Using three different microscopy techniques (epifluorescence, electronic and atomic force microscopy), we showed that high-Mg calcite grains in calcifying microbial mats from the hypersaline lake "La Salada de Chiprana", Spain, contain viruses with a diameter of 50-80 nm. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer analysis revealed that they contain nitrogen and phosphorus in a molar ratio of ~9, whi...

Article history: Received: 01.05.2016. Received in revised form: 25.07.2016. Accepted: 06.09.2016. This study presents the results of investigating the cause of contamination of aluminum oxide ceramics (Al2O3) in the form of brown colored stain. Contaminated ceramic surfaces were examined with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with the Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS). The res...

Imaging and analyzing gunshot residue (GSR) particles using the scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS) is a standard technique that can provide important forensic evidence, but the discrimination power of this technique is limited due to low sensitivity to trace elements and difficulties in obtaining quantitative results from small particles...

Through changing the argon pressure, CaB6 films with different crystallographic orientation and morphology on glass substrates were prepared by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering method. The film textures, crystallite sizes, composition and morphology were investigated by a spectrum of characterizing techniques in terms of X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microsco...

The aim of this study was to obtain nanocrystalline mixed metal-oxide-ZrO₂ catalysts via a sonochemically-induced preparation method. The effect of a stabiliser's addition on the catalyst parameters was investigated by several characterisation methods including X-ray Diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispers...

An 18-year-old female lion (Panthera leo) was referred to the Department of Animal Pathology of the University of Turin (Italy). At necropsy, multiple nodular, 4-20-mm, confluent white firm nodules were scattered throughout the pleural surfaces of the thoracic wall and of the lungs. Histological lesions were represented by proliferations of papillary structures lined by cuboidal basophilic meso...

The resistance and susceptibility of austenitic stainless steel, Type 304, exposed to strong tetraoxosulphate (VI) acids (2 and 5 M concentrations) contaminated with sodium chloride at ambient temperatures was investigated by gravimetric and metallographic/scanning electron microscopy surface characterization methods. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to examine and characterize the t...

A series of mesoporous catalysts (MCM-41) promoted by copper oxide nanoparticles were prepared by the co-precipitation method and tested for the decomposition of carbon tetrafluoride (CF4). The addition of copper oxide nanoparticles to MCM-41 led to an improvement in the catalytic activity for CF4 decomposition. The catalyst was the most active around 5 wt% copper oxide added to MCM-41. Methods...

Novel multilayer structured TiBN coatings were deposited on Si (100) substrate using TiBN complex cathode plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition technique (PIIID). The coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microcopy (HRTEM), energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and ball-on-disk test. XRD results reveal that both samples of TiBN c...

In this paper, we present a new method for direct-write laser fabrication of thin-film amorphous silicon (a-Si) on crystalline silicon substrate induced by femtosecond laser irradiation. Using megahertz frequency femtosecond laser pulses makes it possible to control laser fluence in the amorphization range of silicon under ambient condition. Finally, a thin-film of amorphous silicon is generate...