scholarly journals New Clues on the Origin of the “Inca Mirror” at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 422-428
Author(s):  
Thomas Calligaro ◽  
Pierre-Jacques Chiappero ◽  
François Gendron ◽  
Gérard Poupeau

Since at least 1742, the mineralogical collection of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) in Paris has hosted, under the reference number 22.U, a biconvex lens-shaped obsidian artifact, also described as a mirror, measuring 250 mm in diameter and finely polished on both faces. It has usually been ascribed to the shipment sent by Hernán Cortez in 1522 to the Emperor Charles V, which was captured by a French privateer. We investigated the object using modern techniques. The elemental composition of the obsidian determined by the particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) method showed that the raw material originates from the Mullumica deposit (Ecuador). Documentary investigations revealed that the lens (renumbered No. 176.101) was sent in 1737 from Quito, Ecuador (at that time part of the viceroyalty of Peru), to France by members of the Godin–La Condamine geodesic expedition (1735–1743). The mirror is thus among the rare Ecuadorian archeological or colonial artifacts to have reached the Old World during the eighteenth century.

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 653-658
Author(s):  
O. Odokuma-Alonge ◽  
N.S. Chibuzor ◽  
A. Ogbamikhumi

Marble bodies occur in Ubo River Area as lenses of rocks. Seven (07) marble samples were obtained, analyzed and subjected to X-Ray Flourescence (XRF) analysis to determine both the major and trace elemental composition of the samples. The analysis revealed high CaO values (52.23-58.10 wt. %) and moderate values for SiO2 (7.50-10.43wt. %), fairly low values for Al2O3 (2.30 – 4.21 wt. %), Fe2O3 (2.62 – 5.15 wt. %), MgO (0.42 – 0.7 wt. %), MnO (0.01 – 0.06 wt. %), K2O (0.32 – 1.55 wt. %) and Na2O (0.01 – 0.03 wt. %), respectively. Variation plots involving Na2O/Al2O3 vs K2O/Al2O3 reveal sedimentary progenitors for the rocks. The fairly high SiO2 and low K2O content is an indication of the environment of deposition and may have been in a shallow marine environment with fair input of classic sediments into the system. The relatively high CaO content, moderate SiO2content and fairly low Al2O3 and Fe2O3 values indicates a fair degree of purity of the parent rock, hence its suitability as a raw material in the industrial sector. Keywords: Clastic, Deposition, Environment, Progenitor, Marble, Chemical


Author(s):  
A. J. Tousimis

The elemental composition of amino acids is similar to that of the major structural components of the epithelial cells of the small intestine and other tissues. Therefore, their subcellular localization and concentration measurements are not possible by x-ray microanalysis. Radioactive isotope labeling: I131-tyrosine, Se75-methionine and S35-methionine have been successfully employed in numerous absorption and transport studies. The latter two have been utilized both in vitro and vivo, with similar results in the hamster and human small intestine. Non-radioactive Selenomethionine, since its absorption/transport behavior is assumed to be the same as that of Se75- methionine and S75-methionine could serve as a compound tracer for this amino acid.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4483
Author(s):  
Yuyingnan Liu ◽  
Xinrui Xu ◽  
Bin Qu ◽  
Xiaofeng Liu ◽  
Weiming Yi ◽  
...  

In this study, corn cob was used as raw material and modified methods employing KOH and KMnO4 were used to prepare activated carbon with high adsorption capacity for mercury ions. Experiments on the effects of different influencing factors on the adsorption of mercury ions were undertaken. The results showed that when modified with KOH, the optimal adsorption time was 120 min, the optimum pH was 4; when modified with KMnO4, the optimal adsorption time was 60 min, the optimal pH was 3, and the optimal amount of adsorbent and the initial concentration were both 0.40 g/L and 100 mg/L under both modified conditions. The adsorption process conforms to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir model. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Zeta potential characterization results showed that the adsorption process is mainly physical adsorption, surface complexation and ion exchange.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Libo Zhang ◽  
Junyan Tan ◽  
Gangying Xing ◽  
Xintong Dou ◽  
Xuqiang Guo

AbstractConversion of the abundant agricultural residual cotton stalk (CS) into useful chemicals or functional materials could alleviate the fossil fuels caused energy shortages and environmental crises. Although some advances have been achieved, less attention has been paid to the plant tissues effect. In this study, the plant tissue of CS was changed by part degradation of some components (hemicelluloses and lignin, for example) with the aid of acid/base (or both). The pretreated CS was transformed into hydrochar by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) method. Morphological and chemical compositions of CS hydrochar were analyzed by various techniques, including elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), BET analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Methylene blue (MB) removal of prepared CS hydrochar was used to evaluate CS hydrochar pollutions adsorption capacity. Results reveal acid/base (or both) pretreatment is beneficial for CS raw material to prepare high-quality CS hydrochar. The effects of some parameters, such as initial MB concentration, temperature, pH value and recyclability on the adsorption of MB onto both acid and base-pretreated CS hydrochar (CS-H2SO4 + NaOH-HTC) were studied. The present work exhibits the importance of agricultural waste biomass material plant tissues on its derived materials, which will have a positive effect on the direct utilization of waste biomass.


Author(s):  
Radosław Rogoziński ◽  
Alina Maciejewska

AbstractVarved clay deposits from ice-dammed lakes are a particularly important and broadly applied raw material used for the production of high-quality ceramics (red bricks, roof tiles, etc.), but the mineralogy and geochemistry of these sediments are not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to determine the chemical and mineralogical composition of ice-dammed lake sediments of the Lębork deposit. Major-element analysis of the compositions of selected samples from the ice-dammed lake clays was performed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and trace elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The mineralogical composition of clay samples was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Analyses of the chemical composition of the ice-dammed lake clays of the Lębork deposit showed that the dominant component was SiO2 with a mean content of 56.13 wt.%; the second most abundant component was Al2O3, with a mean content for the entire deposit of 11.61 wt.%. Analysis by ICP-MS indicated the presence of rare earth elements (REE), e.g. cerium, neodymium, lanthanum, and praseodymium; their mean contents are: 56.9, 27.0, 26.3, and 7.3 ppm, respectively. Mineralogical analysis of the varved clays identified quartz, muscovite, calcite, and clay minerals – illite, kaolinite, and montmorillonite. The material filling the Lębork basin is characterized by small lateral and vertical variability in chemical composition. The results of the present study may be of considerable importance in determining the parent igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, the weathering products of which supplied material to the ice-dammed lake, as well as in determining the mechanisms and character of the sedimentation process itself.


2020 ◽  
Vol 849 ◽  
pp. 113-118
Author(s):  
Yayat Iman Supriyatna ◽  
Slamet Sumardi ◽  
Widi Astuti ◽  
Athessia N. Nainggolan ◽  
Ajeng W. Ismail ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study is to characterize Lampung iron sand and to conduct preliminary experiments on the TiO2 synthesis which can be used for the manufacturing of functional food packaging. The iron sand from South Lampung Regency, Lampung Province that will be utilized as raw material. The experiment was initiated by sieving the iron sand on 80, 100, 150, 200 and 325 mesh sieves. Analysis using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) to determine the element content and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) to observe the mineralization of the iron sand was conducted. The experiment was carried out through the stages of leaching, precipitation, and calcination. Roasting was applied firstly by putting the iron sand into the muffle furnace for 5 hours at a temperature of 700°C. Followed by leaching using HCl for 48 hours and heated at 105°C with a stirring speed of 300 rpm. The leaching solution was filtered with filtrate and solid residue as products. The solid residue was then leached using 10% H2O2 solution. The leached filtrate was heated at 105°C for 40 minutes resulting TiO2 precipitates (powder). Further, the powder was calcined and characterized. Characterization of raw material using XRF shows the major elements of Fe, Ti, Mg, Si, Al and Ca. The highest Ti content is found in mesh 200 with 9.6%, while iron content is about 80.7%. While from the XRD analysis, it shows five mineral types namely magnetite (Fe3O4), Rhodonite (Mn, Fe, Mg, Ca) SiO3, Quart (SiO2), Ilmenite (FeOTiO2) and Rutile (TiO2). The preliminary experiment showed that the Ti content in the synthesized TiO2 powder is 21.2%. The purity of TiO2 is low due to the presence of Fe metal which is dissolved during leaching, so that prior to precipitation purification is needed to remove impurities such as iron and other metals.


Author(s):  
F. Mostefa ◽  
Nasr Eddine Bouhamou ◽  
H.A. Mesbah ◽  
Salima Aggoun ◽  
D. Mekhatria

This work aims to study the feasibility of making a geopolymer cement based on dredged sediments, from the Fergoug dam (Algeria) and to evaluate their construction potential particularly interesting in the field of special cementitious materials. These sediments due to their mineralogical composition as aluminosilicates; are materials that can be used after heat treatment. Sedimentary clays were characterized before and after calcination by X-ray diffraction, ATG / ATD, spectroscopy (FTIR) and XRF analysis. The calcination was carried out on the raw material sieved at 80 μm for a temperature of 750 ° C, for 3.4 and 5 hours. The reactivity of the calcined products was measured using isothermal calorimetric analysis (DSC) on pastes prepared by mixing an alkaline solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) 8 M in an amount allowing to have a Na / Al ratio close to 1 (1: 1). Also, cubic mortar samples were prepared with a ratio L / S: 0.8, sealed and cured for 24 hours at 60 ° C and then at room temperature until the day they were submited to mechanical testing. to check the extent of geopolymerization. The results obtained allowed to optimize the calcination time of 5 hours for a better reactivity of these sediments, and a concentration of 8M of sodium hydroxide and more suitable to have the best mechanical performances.


2012 ◽  
Vol 620 ◽  
pp. 314-319
Author(s):  
Nur Amira Mamat Razali ◽  
Fauziah Abdul Aziz ◽  
Saadah Abdul Rahman

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees. The characteristic of hardwood include flowers, endosperm within seeds and the production of fruits that contain the seeds. This paper aims to discuss the preparation and characterization of cellulose obtained from hardwood. The hardwood Merbau (Intsia bijuga) was chosen as raw material in this study. Alkaline treatment and delignification methods were used for the preparation of cellulose. Acid hydrolysis was employed to produce cellulose nanocrystal (CNC). The treated and untreated samples were characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The final product, from both trated and untreated samples were then compared.


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