A carbonaceous sorbent was prepared from rice husk via sulphuric acid treatment. After preparation and washing, the wet carbon with moisture content 85% was used in its wet status in this study due to its higher reactivity towards Cr(VI) than the dry carbon. The interaction of Cr(VI) and the carbon was studied and two processes were investigated in terms of kinetics and equilibrium namely Cr(VI) removal and chromium sorption. Cr(VI) removal and chromium sorption were studied at various initial pH (1.6-7), for initial Cr(VI) concentration (100 mg/l). At equilibrium, maximum Cr(VI) removal occurred at low initial pH (1.6-2) where, Cr(III) was the only available chromium species in solution. Cr(VI) removal, at such low pH, was related to the reduction to Cr(III). Maximum chromium sorption (60.5 mg/g) occurred at initial pH 2.8 and a rise in the final pH was recorded for all initial pH studied. For the kinetic experiments, approximate equilibrium was reached in 60-100 hr. Cr(VI) removal data, at initial pH 1.6-2.4, fit well pseudo first order model but did not fit pseudo second order model. At initial pH 2.6-7, Cr(VI) removal data did not fit, anymore, pseudo first order model, but fit well pseudo second order model instead. The change in the order of Cr(VI) removal process takes place in the pH range 2.4-2.6 under the experimental conditions. Other two models were tested for the kinetics of chromium sorption with the data fitting well pseudo second order model in the whole range of pH. An increase in cation exchange capacity, sorbent acidity and base neutralization capacity was recorded for the carbon sorbent after the interaction with acidified Cr(VI) indicating the oxidation processes on the carbon surface accompanying Cr(VI) reduction.

The influence of doping on the structural and morphological properties of the phosphor system, obtained ultrasonically via Spray Pyrolysis from common gadolinium and europium nitrate solutions, was studied. The particle morphology, crystalline and chemical structure were studied by XRD, SEM and EDS. TEM was applied in order to identify the structure and growth of "primary nanoparticles" and determine the presence of domains locally affected by "Moires Frames" and "Crystallite Size". The SADP allows determining the presence of a polycrystalline material with two phases in the "as-prepared" samples, and only an Ia3 phase along the thermal treatment.

In this communication the development of a new metal injection moulding (MIM) system for duplex stainless steels is presented. The metal powders were prepared by premixing 316L and 430L stainless steels gas atomised powders in a ratio of 50:50. The binder used to prepare the feedstock was composed by HDPE and paraffin wax. Torque measurements of the mixture indicated that the maximum amount of metal was 68 vol%. The polymeric part was driven off by thermal debinding and the sintering was performed in low vacuum. The final densities were close to the theoretical ones.

Raw materials from different sources, produced by a given process and having equal chemical composition, are supposed to be equivalent. The differences in sintering behavior have been investigated on P/M steels obtained from four diffusion-bonded powders (Fe + Ni + Cu + Mo) on atomized iron base, at the same alloy contents. Two levels of carbon and two sintering conditions have been investigated. Dimensional changes, C content, hardness, microhardness pattern, universal hardness, fractal analysis, pore features, microstructure features, and rupture strength have been compared to characterize different raw materials. The results show that the claimed equivalence is not confirmed by experimental data.

The development of Fe-based metal matrix composites (MMCs) with high content of hard phase has been approached by combining the use of advanced powder metallurgy techniques like high-energy milling (HEM), cold isostatic pressing (CIP) and vacuum sinterings. A 30% vol. of NbC particles was mixed with Fe powder by HEM in a planetary mill during 10h, characteristing the powder by the observation of morphology and microstructure by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). After of sintering process the variation of density, hardness,carbon content and the microstructural changes observed, permits to find the optimal conditions of processing. Afterwards, a heat treatment study was performed to study the hardenability of the composite.

The activated carbon "C" was obtained by carbonization followed by activation with steam at 40% of burn-off. Oxidized carbons C-N, C-P and C-H were obtained by oxidizing the activated carbon C with concentrated nitric acid, ammonium peroxysulfate and hydrogen peroxide, respectively. The textural properties of the carbons were determined from nitrogen adsorption at 77 K. The acidic surface functional groups were determined by pH titration, base neutralization capacity and electrophoretic mobility measurements. The cation exchange capacities of un-oxidized and oxidized carbons were determined by the removal of Cu(II) and Ni(II) from their aqueous solutions. The surface area and the total pore volume decreased but the pore radius increased by the treatment of activated carbon with oxidizing agents. These changes were more pronounced in case of oxidation with HNO3. The surface pH of un-oxidized carbon was basic whereas those of the oxidized derivative were acidic. The removal of Cu(II) and Ni(II) was pH dependent and the maximum removal of the both ions was obtained at pH of 5-6. Cu(II) was more adsorbed, a phenomenon which was ascribed to its particular electronic configuration.

Carbonization products C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5 were prepared by the carbonization of date pit in limited air, at 500, 600, 700, 800 and 1000℃, respectively. C1-V-600, C3-V-600, C1-V-1000 and C3-V-1000 were prepared by thermal treatment of C1 and C3 under vacuum at 600 and 1000℃. The textural properties were determined from nitrogen adsorption at 77 K and from carbon dioxide adsorption at 298 K. The surface pH, the FTIR spectra and the acid and base neutralization capacities of some carbons were investigated. The amounts of surface oxygen were determined by out-gassing the carbon-oxygen groups on the surface as CO2 and CO. The adsorption of water vapor at 308 K on C1, C2, C3 and C4 was measured and the decomposition of H2O2 at 308 K was also investigated on C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5. The surface area and the total pore volume decreased with the rise of the carbonization temperature from 500 to 1000℃. The adsorption of water vapor is independent on the textural properties, while it is related to the amount of acidic carbon-oxygen groups on the surface. The catalytic activity of H2O2 decomposition does not depend on the textural properties, but directly related to the amount of basic carbon-oxygen complexes out-gassed as CO, at high temperatures.