The apparent diffusion coefficients of strontium in compacted bentonites were investigated at various concentrations of NaHCO3. Purified sodium bentonite Kunipia-F® was compacted with a jig into cylindrical pellets 10 mm in diameter and 10 mm high with dry densities of 1.0 to 1.6 Mg/m3. Each bentonite pellet was inserted into an acrylic resin column and saturated with carbonated water containing 0.1 to 1.0 M NaHCO3 for more than 1 month. The face of the bentonite specimen was spiked with 5 μL of 1.0 M SrCl2 tracer solution. After a few weeks, the strontium diffusion profiles were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The apparent diffusion coefficients of strontium decreased slightly with increasing dry density. NaHCO3 concentrations of 0.5 M decreased the apparent diffusion coefficients of strontium by half at a dry density of 1.0 Mg/m3 and quarter at 1.6 Mg/m3. At a higher NaHCO3 concentration of 1.0 M, no strontium diffusion profile was observed, whereas white precipitate was observed on the face of the bentonite specimen where it was spiked with strontium. This white precipitate could be strontianite, which is strontium carbonate. Diffusion experiments using cesium were carried out for comparison, and the presence of carbonate had no effect on the apparent diffusion coefficient.

The implantation and controlled release of growth factors can enhance the proliferation and differentiation of cells that promote new bone formation at defect sites. Therefore, chitosan polymer microspheres were prepared by the water-in-oil emulsion (W/O) method and solvent freeze-drying, using glutaraldehyde as an ionic crosslinker, along with the lyophilization of solvents, to microencapsulate growth factors, preventing denaturation. The microspheres were loaded with recombinant bone morphogenetic protein 2 (Rh-BMP-2). They were spherical in shape, with a rough surface ranging in particle size from 0.4 to 1.6 μm. The yield percentage with respect to the polymer was 70% and the BMP-2 load was regulated by the initial protein dose. BMP-2 release experiments were performed for 7 days in PBS solutions at pH 4 and 7.4. The results showed that the protein release rate was only 2% lower at pH 7.4. BMP-2/chitosan microspheres were compatible with the MG-63 cell line (ATCC®CRL-1427™Homo sapiens bone osteosarcoma) and could be considered drug delivery vehicles in bone tissue engineering applications.

Nano-porous palladium (Pd) thin films could potentially be applied to hydrogen gas sensing materials with high sensitivity and selectivity. In our previous study, a nano-porous Pd film was fabricated with a three-dimensional network structure from an AlPd mother alloy film by a dealloying method using the chelating ability of an organic acid. This process was simple and environmentally friendly because it only required organic acid in a ppm concentration, and did not exhaust a strong acid waste solution, including heavy metal ions. This method was modified to improve the Pd purity of the dealloyed specimen, reaction rate, and morphology control. In this study, the existence of a composition undulation pattern was shown in the AlPd mother alloy film, and its effects on the morphology of the dealloyed specimen were evaluated. Furthermore, this pattern could be controlled by N2 gas addition to the Ar sputtering gas during the preparation of the AlPd mother alloy film.

The current transient was studied on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for RF power amplifiers under different temperatures. The current transient measurements include two different approaches. One is to measure the current transient from off-state (without bias) to a quiescent point (Q-point). Different transient behaviors were observed while switching to different Q-points. Another one is to measure the current transient from different currents to the Q-point of VDS = 28 V and ID = 100 mA/mm. The different currents before switching to Q-point of VDS = 28 V and ID = 100 mA/mm show the different transient characteristics. Most of the current transient demonstrates temperature independence in this study.

The doped iron arsenides present outstanding properties, one of them is an unconventional superconductivity, an unusual coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism. We calculated the electronic structure of the pure and Ni-doped BaF e2As2 by the embedded cluster method at the electron correlation level; the latter is calculated through the second- order Møller Plesset perturbation theory. For the doped clusters, we calculated the relaxation of the first and second neighbors of the impurity by optimizing their positions in the cluster. The total electronic density is analyzed through natural bond orbitals and the population of each atomic orbital (basis function) is determined; the robustness of this determination is tested comparing results obtained for the unrelaxed and relaxed cluster. The orbital population analysis uncovers some properties of magnetism and superconductivity in BaFe2As2. From our results, linear elasticity allows us to estimate the relaxation volume of Ni impurity.

κ-Al2O3-type GaFeO3 is a promising multiferroic material due to the coexistence of a large spontaneous magnetization and polarization near room temperature. In the current study, we present the magnetic properties of single crystalline GaFeO3 and compare it with that of ε-Fe2O3. Magnetic measurements revealed that spontaneous magnetization appears below 540 K in two steps, similar to that reported for ε−Fe2O3. Partial magnetic ordering takes place at 540 K (TN1), with Fe3+ ions in two distorted octahedral sites ordering antiparallel to one another. Upon further cooling at 200 K (TN2), the remaining Fe3+ ions in regular octahedra and tetrahedra order antiparallel to one another. Substitution of Ga for Fe in ε-Fe2O3 leads to a decrease in TN1 and TN2 from 850 to 540 K and from 480 to 200 K, respectively, caused by a dilution of magnetic Fe by nonmagnetic Ga and preferential site occupation of Ga.

The present work describes a simple method to produce zinc oxide nanoparticles supported in nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide, ZnO/N-rGO. The rGO structures were nitrogen-doped using hydrazine as nitrogen source (N-rGO) with the purpose of enhancing the rGO capability to promote the electrons transport along their surface. Thus, ZnO/N-rGO catalytic systems were tested as photocatalyst to degrade methylene blue and lignin molecules under ultraviolet (UV) and visible (Vis) light irradiation. N-doping of rGO was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Photocatalytic degradation studies confirm better performance of the ZnO/N-rGO in comparison to ZnO. The percentage of lignin degradation for the ZnO/N-rGO compound under UV was 59%, while using visible energy it was achieved 46%, in a time of 70 min.

Transdimensional photonics has emerged as a new field of science and engineering that explores the optical properties of materials and nanostructures in the translational regime between two and three dimensions. In the present work, we study an example of such transdimensional lattice consisting of nanoparticle array, and we aim at a direct comparison of lattice resonances excited in the periodic lattices of either plasmonic (gold) or silicon nanoparticles of the same size and interparticle spacing. We numerically analyze extinction cross-sections and reflection from the array, and we include electric and magnetic dipoles and electric quadrupoles into consideration. Lattice resonances are excited at the wavelength close to Rayleigh anomaly which is defined by the array periodicity, and different multipoles respond to one or another period of rectangular array depending on incident light polarization. We show that lattice resonances originating from dipole moments are extended to the larger spectral range than electric-quadrupole lattice resonances. Overlap of resonances causes a decrease in reflection (generalized Kerker effect) and, in the case of electric quadrupole and magnetic dipole moments, the coupling of the multipoles is enabled by the lattice.

One of the most promising methods to produce graphene in large scale is the use of chemical exfoliation together with chemical reduction to achieve reduced graphene oxide. Replacing conventional reducing agents, such as NaBH4 and hydrazine, with cheap, widely available, safe, environmentally friendly, and easy-to-prepare reducing agents is a key to large-scale commercial production of reduced graphene oxide. In this work, we investigate the effectiveness of utilizing fruit extracts derived from banana peel and juice to reduce graphene oxide. After the reduction, the oxygen-containing functional groups in graphene oxide are effectively removed, and the sp2 hybridized carbon-carbon bonding networks are restored, as evidenced by the characterization using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Our banana extracts would offer a promising pathway for realizing cheap, safe, and environmentally friendly reducing agents for the upscale production of reduced graphene oxide.