Abstract The present work aims to experiment the action of carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in the removal of sodium chloride from aqueous systems, not using them as a membrane but dispersing them directly in solution, in order to evaluate possible applications in the desalination of brackish water. For this purpose, different aqueous systems have been prepared by varying the sodium chloride concentration and the amount of carbon nanotubes dispersed therein. The systems were stirred for scheduled times and then the amount of residual sodium chloride was measured by drying, after filtration, the systems and weighing the dry residue. In the final part of the experimentation, after having identified the best system, the tests were carried out directly on sea water and using different types of carbon nanotubes such as not oxidized (MWCNTs) and oxidized (MWCNTS-ox) ones.

In the present work self-bonded pellets of Engelhard Titaniun Silicates, ETS-4 and ETS-10, containing cobalt and carbon nanotubes, were synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis at 190 °C, from gels of the initial composition x–Na2O–0.2TiO2–0.6KF–(1.28x − 2y)HCl–2yHNO3–1.49SiO2–yCoO–39.5H2O, with x equal to 0.8; 1; 1.5; 2.5 mol and y equal to 0.015; 0.03; 0.06; 0.1. To the initial gels were then added different weight percentages of carbon nanotubes compared to the dry gel. The obtained pellets were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, thermal analysis (TG, DTG, DSC), tests of mechanical resistance to compression and nuclear magnetic resonance.

The main purpose of this work was to prepare and optimize glues consisting primarily of natural components. The fundamental component was the laricio pine resin to which different additives were added, varying their nature and quantity. The additives used were: charcoal, activated carbon and carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The optimization of the systems continued to identify and select suitable solvents, in order to improve dispersion and solubilization of the phases and to obtain glues in the fluid phase at room temperature. The best results were obtained with ethyl alcohol which, moreover, represents a solvent with a limited environmental impact. The evaluation of the adhesive capacity of the glues was carried out by cutting, tensile and flexural tests on prepared wooden specimens. Furthermore, the specimens and the same glue were subjected to thermal cycles and observed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The carbon nanotubes, used in very low percentages (1%, in a system consisting mainly of natural origin products) in the presence of an adequate solvent, such as ethyl alcohol, make it possible to obtain a glue that is easy to apply, with an excellent adhesive capacity.

We hereby present the results of a research in order to prepare self-bonded pellets of ETS-4 phase by a new methodology of preparation. In particular, the pellets were prepared by kneading crystals of ETS-4 phase and a dry gel, the latter being the precursor for the synthesis of the ETS-4 phase crystals. One of the innovative aspects that is proposed and highlighted in this work is represented by the fact that the dry-gel acts as a "binder". It is characterized by the same chemical composition of crystals, thus avoiding contamination with other elements. In addition, dry-gel allows, the promotion of nucleation phenomena and thus the formation of new crystals of ETS-4 during the pellets baking phases. The pellets were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Electron microscopy (SEM) and mechanical strength by hardness tester.

1. INTRODUCTION This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the latest international publications (2012–2017) regarding innovative and environmentally sustainable materials that reduce the production of pollutants. It is recognised that world construction is responsible for substantial amounts of harmful emissions. In particular, the survey collected data on new sustainable solutions and innovative materials, such as cement, wood, glass and ceramics that are essential to minimize the environmental impact of buildings on the ecosystem and to reduce the consumption of natural resources. Therefore, the paper's intent is to give an overview of the current state of the art and research in the field of bio-building, gathering information on the environmental impacts of these innovative materials and listing the benefits that can be obtained with their use. The findings of this study support the growing importance of green building as a component of the whole construction market and provide a benchmark against which to measure future changes in the industry over time.

Defects in Silicalite-1 (structure type MFI) generate acid sites in the form of (i) hydroxyl nests present inside the channels or (ii) Bronsted-Lewis acid pairs, associated with terrace step kink sites present on the external surface of zeolite crystals. The amount of the sites has been changed by controlling the thermal treatment and pH value during preparation, or by post-synthesis treatments (ionic-exchange, silylation). These sites have been quantified by NMR, XRD and FT-IR pyridine adsorption/desorption at room temperature and 150 degrees C, and correlated with the catalytic etherification of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) with ethanol, a relevant reaction to produce diesel additives. The results show that the surface acidity of Silicalite-1 materials presents an heterogeneous distribution of Lewis and Bronsted acid sites with different degrees of strength. The amount and distribution of such active centers determine the catalytic performance in HMF etherification. It is also shown that adsorption of water, produced in situ by ethanol condensation, has a promoter effect at lower concentration and high temperature, due to the dissociation of S2R siloxanes bonds, and formation of Lewis and Bronsted acid centers with medium-high strength, responsible for the activation pathways of HMF conversion to 5-(ethoxymethyl)furfan-2-carbal dehyde (EMF) and ethyl-4-oxopentanoate (EOP), respectively. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Carbon nanotubes are very interesting materials, with a wide range of applications. Their use as adsorbents represents a method of gas purification which can find various applications; an example is the industrial processes for the production of methane (CH4), where the purification of the same from the carbon dioxide (CO2) and/or nitrogen (N2) has always been one of the main objectives. In this work, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) produced through a process of catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) are analyzed in view of this application. For this reason, the initial physical–chemical properties of the as-made, purified and oxidized CNTs, together with CH4, N2 and CO2 adsorption/desorption tests at room temperature, have been considered to optimize the best material and the best operative condition for a potential application in adsorption and/or purification processes.

A new type of Ni-based catalyst, using geopolymer as support was prepared and characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), N2 adsorption–desorption, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).The catalytic performance of Ni-geopolymer catalyst was investigated in steam reforming (SR), partial oxidation (POX) and autothermal steam reforming (ATR) of ethanol to syngas, at the temperature of 700°C. The gaseous mixture flow was adjusted (in terms of molar ratio) for each of the three reactions: steam reforming, steam to carbon (S/C)=2.5; partial oxidation, oxygen/carbon (O/C)=0.5; and autothermal reforming, S/C=2.5 and (O/C)=0.5.Ni species supported on the geopolymer surface resulted to be highly active, with a complete ethanol conversion and with the largest amount of hydrogen (∼70mol%) being produced under the SR conditions. In the spent catalysts, after POX reaction, some coke formation was observed by SEM and thermogravimetric (TG) analyses. The results showed that geopolymer would be a promising, low cost and environmental friendly material for reforming reactions of ethanol.

Due to the well-known adsorption properties of titanosilicates (ETS-4 and ETS-10) and aluminotitanosilicates (ETAS-4 and ETAS-10), it was considered particularly interesting to investigate their efficiency in adsorbing ammonia from a gaseous phase. Prior to testing their adsorption capacity, materials thus synthesized have been analyzed by appropriate characterization techniques. Afterward, the adsorption capacity of microporous materials toward ammonia has been evaluated by measuring the corresponding adsorption isotherms through batch experiments. Experimental measurements were best fitted by a linear constant relationship. From the experimental results, high adsorption capacity values were found for all microporous materials in correspondence of high gaseous ammonia concentration values. In particular, ETAS-10 attained the maximum value of adsorption potential, equal to 7.647 mg of NH 3 per g of material. This was likely due to the presence of the acid site linked to the Al atom in its structure with respect to the ETS structure. In addition to that the greater pore size characterizing the phase 10 compared to phase 4 might have entailed a more selective sorption of ammonia molecule. Overall, both titanosilicates and aluminotitanosilicates showed a great adsorption potential toward ammonia. However, materials achieved their maximum capacity at high pollutant loading.

From hydrophobic to hydrophilic PVDF membranes by a combination of functionalization by blending chemical additives and selection of manufacturing procedure.

ETS-10 and ETS-4 microporous materials were synthesized in presence of tetralkylammonium (TAA) ions from gels of molar composition w Na2O–0.10 TAABr–1 SiO2–z TiO2–0.6 KF–1.28 w HCl–39.5 H2O with TAA = tetramethyl-, tetraethyl-, tetrapropyl- and tetrabutyl-ammonium in hydrothermal conditions at 190 °C. The TAA ions enter the microporous channel of ETS-10, while they cannot penetrate the void spaces of ETS-4. The ETS-10 microcrystals are all cubic, while the ETS-4 crystals are laminar and irregular. The microporous volume of ETS-10 is equal to 0.11–0.13 cm3 g−1, the microporous volume of ETS-4 is very small, 0.002–0.008 cm3 g−1. The ion exchange of Cs+, Cd++, Pb++ and Hg++ ions using their corresponding nitrates show kinetic effects, i.e. the efficiency of ion exchange is higher at 1 than 2 h, the thermodynamic equilibrium. For ETS-10, partially dehydrated cations intervene in the ion exchange, while for ETS-4 well dehydrated ions can only penetrate the available pores.

Surface modification of oxidized carbon nanotubes (O-CNTs) with silicon based anchoring groups (R-SiR'(3)) is a relatively uncommon approach of the CNTs functionalization. Hydrosilane derivatives constitute an attractive subclass of compounds for silanization reactions on the CNTs surface. In this work, we report on the ZnCl2 catalytically controlled reaction (hydrosilane dehydrogenative cross-coupling, DHCC) of fluorinated hydrosilane probes with the carboxylic functions present on the surface of oxidized multi-wall carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes functionalized with essentially alcohol groups are also used to compare the selectivity of zinc chloride toward carboxylic groups. To assess the efficiency of functionalization, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy is used to determine the qualitative and quantitative composition of the different samples. Solubility tests on the oxidized and silanized MWNTs are also carried out in the framework of the Hansen Solubility Parameters (HSP) theory to apprehend at another scale the effect of DHCC. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This paper reports a study of ETS-4 based self-bonded pellets, with several amounts of Zr moles in initial gel. The following gel composition is used: xNa2O–0.6KF–1.28xHCl–yZrO2–0.2TiO2–1.49SiO2–39.5H2O with 0.5 ≤ x ≤ 2.5 and 0.015 ≤ y ≤ 0.12. The characterisation of obtained samples is carried out by XRD, thermal analysis, EDX and SEM. The results point out the possibility to synthesise ETS-4 zeotype with Zr in self-bonded pellets form. The importance of the amount and composition of the amorphous phase is underlined as binder of the ETS-4 crystals. Its amount is bigger at the outer face of the pellets, showing that the crystallisation occurred from the inner to the external face. Zirconium replaces titanium in the structure and its presence reinforces the mechanical resistance of the pellets.

The analysis of surface temperature gives the possibility to check the efficiency of degradation, to analyze the homogeneity of the prisms and designates the points where the gases and water vapor leaves the prism. By examining the points where the temperature differs we can explore the reasons of different degradation processes. During our research we examined the surface temperature of sewage sludge and wood clipping based compost prism. According to our results, we concluded that the different temperature is basically affected by the organic matter content. The relative moisture content and the C/N ratio also influenced the temperature of the surface. Keywords: composting, sewage sludge, surface temperature, temperature distribution;

Present investigation shows the different catalytic behavior of Ni-supported catalysts in the dryreforming of methane. Highly ordered Silicalite-1, highly defective pure silica MCM-41 and pure silica delaminated zeolite ITQ-6 have been prepared and used as support for nickel deposition.The heterogeneity of the support surface strongly affects the nickel particles deposition. Delaminated surface of ITQ-6 material permits to obtain high nickel particles dispersion and high metal sintering resistance. The particles of Ni remain free from coke formation since they are very well dispersed and strongly linked to the support.Good overall catalytic performances was achieved by Ni-ITQ-6 catalyst, after 30h of reaction: ''80% of CH4 conversion, ''90% of CO2 conversion, H-2/CO molar ratio >1.3 and very low coke deposition, <4 wt.%. 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Authors analyzed data of 9 trophy parameters (weight of the antler, length of main beam, length of brow tine, length of bay tine, length of tray tine, circumference of coronet, lower circumference of main beam, upper circumference of main beam, number of total tines) of 6868 red deer stags shot between 1997 and 2007 and estimated ages were between 4-16 years, from two counties of Hungary (5946 from Somogy and 921 Bcs-Kiskun). General linear model was used to evaluate age and county effects on the trophy parameters. Age was a significant source of variation for all studied traits while county affected most of the studied parameters. Consequently the dataset was analyzed separately for each county. Low to high correlations (adjusted for age effect) were found both in Somogy (r=-0.04 - 0.80) and for Bcs-Kiskun (r=-0.06 - 0.70). Using principal component analysis (with orthogonal rotation) 4 factors were extracted which accounted for 73 % and 75 % of total variance in Bcs-Kiskun and Somogy county respectively. The first factor represents the circumferences of the trophy, the second factor the main tines (brow, bay, tray) of the antler. The third and fourth factors represented the number of total tines of the trophies and the length of main beam respectively. These identified factors could be considered in selection/evaluation of the trophies in Hungarian red deer instead of the traditionally used measurements in order to maintain type and quality of the red deer trophy in Hungary.

Fruit and vegetable intakes of WIC participants mirror the rest of the U.S. population falling far short of current dietary recommendations. In 2009, the WIC packagewas improvedwith addition of cash-value vouchers for purchasing fruits and vegetables (F&Vs). Utilization rates for these vouchers vary by state and clinic, however improvements are needed. A one-year pilot program was designed to increase the usage of the vouchers, by reaching the parents through educating the children. Willow Comes to WIC are 15-minute lessons that provide fun, hands-onopportunities to interactwith seasonal produce for children ages 2-5. A rabbit puppet,Willow, leads twelvemonthly lesson plans that take the children through exploration of seasonal produce, a food preparation activity, and the opportunity to sample 2-3 different F&Vs per lesson. The parents are given two simple recipes to take home that use the seasonal produce, and provide preparation instructions for including children in cooking tasks. The pilot was completed at a WIC clinic in central New Jersey, with a large Hispanic population. All lessons and materials were bilingual. This evaluation of the completed pilot will describe the quantitative measure of change from baseline in percentage ofWICmothers using their F&V vouchers. Also, qualitative data will be presented comparing preand post-questionnaires and 1:1 interview information on the variety of produce that WIC mothers report purchasing, and changes in acceptance and use of F&Vs.