Environmental assessment of a Palette Modular Device for gold recovery from PVD

The novel “Palette Modular Device” (PMD) technology, addressing the recovery of wastes from Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) maintenance, is evaluated according to a Life Cycle Assessent (LCA) approach. The PMD recovery technology was recently developed with the aim of an easier and more sustainable separation of the film layers used in PVD, with a particular emphasis on multi-material film productions, frequently adopted in the electronic industry. The PMD is briefly presented in the paper, along with three implementations for industrial purposes. Each implementation adopts a different light solvent for the metal recovery like acetone and formic acid. The usage of light solvents is a peculiar feature enabled by the system considered, as an alternative to traditional approaches. The LCA starts with the objectives and prosecutes with inventories of all material and energy flows for each different scenario considered. Additionally, a global impact assessment is provided in a specific section, in order to enable a quantitative comparison of the potential effects on the environment in every scenario. The results of this study allow the industrial designer to perform an overall environmental evaluation of the three strategies proposed and to compare the performances of the novel technology. The research, furthermore, highlights some critical points in the adoption of the PMD and suggests how to improve the implementation of this recovery process.     

Integrating urban ecosystem sustainability assessment into policy-making: insights from the Gold Coast City

This paper introduces a policy-making support tool called ‘Micro-level Urban-ecosystem Sustainability IndeX (MUSIX)’. The index serves as a sustainability assessment model that monitors six aspects of urban ecosystems – hydrology, ecology, pollution, location, design, and efficiency – based on parcel-scale indicators. This index is applied in a case study investigation in the Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia. The outcomes reveal that there are major environmental problems caused by increased impervious surfaces from growing urban development in the study area. The findings suggest that increased impervious surfaces are linked to increased surface runoff, car dependency, transport-related pollution, poor public transport accessibility, and unsustainable built environment. This paper presents how the MUSIX outputs can be used to guide policy-making through the evaluation of existing policies.     

阿尔泰多拉纳萨依金矿床初探

新疆多拉纳萨依金矿床位于阿尔泰克兰海西褶皱带玛尔卡库里大断裂的西南侧,西与苏联矿区阿尔泰之列宁诺戈尔斯克—孜里亚诺夫斯克构造成矿亚带相接。地层为中泥盆统托克萨雷组浅变质岩,大致呈南北走向的长条状分布在三个斜长花岗岩侵入体之间,并有许多钠长斑岩岩脉穿插。主要构造线方向为北北东,向西倾斜。金矿体赋存在沿断裂带侵入于灰岩中的石英钠长岩(或钠长石化斜长花岗岩)中。蚀变围岩主要为千糜岩化、白云母化的石英钠长岩。石英脉中金的品位虽然较高,但工业储量主要赋存于蚀变围岩中。自然金主要以显微和次显微状独立矿物被包裹于黄铁矿等矿物中,成色很高(932—967),其中的少量元素为银、汞和铋。为与斜长花岗岩有关的岩浆期后高—中温热液充填—交代矿床。     

地震时黄土震陷量的估算方法

本文利用已有的震陷试验研究资料,并补充进行了相当数量的原状黄土的震陷试验。建立了考虑物性参数、固结应力、振次和地震动应力等因素的西北黄土残余应变的经验计算公式,提出了地震作用下黄土层震陷量的估算方法.并用该方法估算了兰州、西安、西宁、等城市的7个黄土场地的震陷量,给出了每一场地的震陷量随地震动加速度的变化曲线.从而为黄土地区的地震灾害预测预防和地基抗震设计研究提供了一种定量方法.     

基于铅同位素解析技术的土壤铅污染来源研究

通过分析耕层土壤铅污染的程度,分析耕层土壤铅污染的来源,解析各污染源对土壤铅污染的相对贡献率.以陕西某工业区为研究区域,采集大气降尘、耕层土壤(0 ～ 20 cm)和背景土壤样品,用ICP-MS测定铅元素质量比及同位素比率(206pb/207 pb和208pb/206pb),分析耕层土壤铅污染的来源,结合二元混合模型计算各污染源对耕层土壤铅的贡献率.结果表明,耕层土壤铅质量比范围为21.8 ～ 40.0mg/kg,平均值为27.1 mg/kg;背景土壤铅质量比范围为19.1 ～22.1mg/kg,平均值为21.4 mg/kg;大气降尘铅质量比范围为570.2 ～2 221.7 mg/kg,平均值为1 062.36 mg/kg.该区域铅锌冶炼活动对耕层土壤铅的贡献率约为18.43％,焦化厂燃煤对耕层土壤铅的贡献率约为9.36％,热电厂燃煤对耕层土壤铅的贡献率约为19.71％,背景土壤对耕层土壤的贡献率约为52.5％.背景土壤是耕层土壤铅污染的主要来源.     

Intracellular biosynthesis of Au and Ag nanoparticles using ethanolic extract of Brassica oleracea L. and studies on their physicochemical and biological properties

In this present study, we reported broccoli (Brassica oleracea L.) as a potential candidate for the synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles (NPs) in green chemistry method. The synthesized metal nanoparticles are evaluated their antimicrobial efficacy against different human pathogenic organisms. The physico-chemical properties of gold nanoparticles were analyzed using different analytical techniques such as a UV-Vis spectrophotometer, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and a Fourier Transform Infrared spectrophotometer. In addition, gold and silver NP antimicrobial efficacy was checked by disc diffusion assay. UV-Vis color intensity of the nanoparticles was shown at 540 and 450 nm for gold and silver nanoparticles respectively. Higher magnification of the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy image shows the variable morphology of the gold nanoparticles such as spherical, rod and triangular shapes and silver nanoparticles were seen in spherical shapes. The average spherical size of the particles was observed in 24- 38 nm for gold and 30-45 nm for silver NPs. X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed the presence of gold nanoparticles and silver nanoparticles which were crystalline in nature. Additionally, the functionalmetabolites were identified by the Fourier TransformInfrared spectroscopy. IR spectra revealed phenols, alcohols, aldehydes (sugar moieties), vitamins and proteins are present in the broccoli extract which are accountable to synthesize the nanoparticles. The synthesized gold and silver NPs inhibited the growth of the tested bacterial and fungal pathogens at the concentration of 50 μg/mL respectively. In addition, broccoli mediated gold and silver nanoparticles have shown potent antimicrobial activity against human pathogens. © 2015 The Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences.     

矿业遗迹保护研究--以浙江遂昌金矿国家矿山公园为例

资源枯竭型矿业城市的经济转型问题是日前非常受关注的热点问题。保护好矿区内存留的矿业遗迹，建立矿山公园，是该类矿业城市进行经济转型实现可持续发展的最佳选择之一。矿业遗迹是矿山公园的核心景观，探讨矿业遗迹保护的理论与实践，对矿山公园建设意义重大。本文以浙江遂昌金矿国家矿山公园为例，对矿区内各类矿业遗迹进行科学全面的分类与等级评价．探讨矿业遗迹保护的理论与原则，提出保护模式及具体的保护措施。文中结合实例进行的矿业遗迹保护理论与实践的综合性探索研究。对我国矿业遗迹保护和矿山公园建设具有一定的借鉴意义。     

RADIUM - 226 IN GROUND WATER OF WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA1

ABSTRACT: Principal U.S. phosphate production is from central Florida where mining, processing, and waste disposal practices intimately associate the industry with water resouces. Available radium-226 data from 1966 and from 1973–1976 in mined and unmined mincralized areas and nonmineralized areas in the primary study area in Polk, Hardee, Hillsborough, Manatee, and De Soto counties were studied using log-normal probability plots and nonparametric statistical tests for significant difference as functions of time, depth, and location. Plots of radium in the water table and Floridan aquifers for mineralized and nonmineralized areas indicate that neither phosphate mineralization nor the industry is a probable factor. For the Lower Floridan aquifer, three separate radium populations are indicated with geometric means of 0.7, 3, and 10 pCi/1. Geometric mean radium-226 content of the water table aquifer is 0.17 pCi/1. Radium in the Floridan aquifer in Manatee and Sarasota Counties is elevated relative to that in the water table and in other areas of Florida. For Sarasota County, geometric mean radium content of the water table is 15 pCi/l versus 7.5 pCi/l in the Floridan. Potential sources include shallow phosphate sediments and monazite sands and possibly crystalline basement rocks or other strata unrelated to phosphatic zones of current economic interest. The existing radium-226 data base is rather marginal in terms of number and spatial distribution of analyses, particularly for the water table and Upper Floridan aquifer. Existing radium data do not substantiate widespread contamination of ground water as a result of the phosphate industry. However, local contamination associated with specific operations has occurred.     

Landfill mining: a critical review of two decades of research

Landfills have historically been seen as the ultimate solution for storing waste at minimum cost. It is now a well-known fact that such deposits have related implications such as long-term methane emissions, local pollution concerns, settling issues and limitations on urban development. Landfill mining has been suggested as a strategy to address such problems, and in principle means the excavation, processing, treatment and/or recycling of deposited materials. This study involves a literature review on landfill mining covering a meta-analysis of the main trends, objectives, topics and findings in 39 research papers published during the period 1988-2008. The results show that, so far, landfill mining has primarily been seen as a way to solve traditional management issues related to landfills such as lack of landfill space and local pollution concerns. Although most initiatives have involved some recovery of deposited resources, mainly cover soil and in some cases waste fuel, recycling efforts have often been largely secondary. Typically, simple soil excavation and screening equipment have therefore been applied, often demonstrating moderate performance in obtaining marketable recyclables. Several worldwide changes and recent research findings indicate the emergence of a new perspective on landfills as reservoirs for resource extraction. Although the potential of this approach appears significant, it is argued that facilitating implementation involves a number of research challenges in terms of technology innovation, clarifying the conditions for realization and developing standardized frameworks for evaluating economic and environmental performance from a systems perspective. In order to address these challenges, a combination of applied and theoretical research is required.     

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of the adsorption of pesticide endosulfan on gold nanoparticles

The absorption of pesticide endosulfan on the surface of gold nanoparticles results from the formation of micrometric structures (1–10 μm) with irregular shape because of the aggregation of individual particles. Such aggregation of gold nanoparticles after absorption of pesticide shows a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectrum, whose intensity depends on the concentration of endosulfan. In addition, the discoloration of the colloidal solution and a diminishing of the intensity of the surface plasmon resonance absorption from individual particles were observed by UV-visible spectroscopy. At the same time, a second band between 638 and 700 nm confirms the formation of aggregates of gold nanoparticles as the concentration of endosulfan increases. Finally, we used the SERS intensity of the S?O stretching vibration at 1239 cm^?1 from the SO₃ group as a measure of concentration of pesticide endosulfan. This method could be used to estimate the level of pollution in water by endosulfan in a simple and practical form.