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The study describes the successful development of a TiO2 ceramic substrate with a protective nano-Al2O3 coating using two different coating techniques: microwave combustion and polymeric methods. The coated ceramics demonstrate enhanced corrosion resistance compared to the uncoated substrate. The optimal TiO2 substrate was prepared by firing it at 1000 °C. This was done to give the desired physical properties of the TiO2 substrate for the coating procedures. Nano-Al2O3 powder was coated onto the surface of the TiO2 substrates. The TiO2 substrates with the Al2O3 coating were then calcined (heat-treated) at 800 and 1000 °C. The structures, morphology, phase composition, apparent porosity, bulk density, and compressive strength of the substrate and coated substrate were characterized. Upon firing at 1000 °C, it was discovered that the two phases of TiO2—rutile and anatase—combine in the substrate. Once the substrate has been coated with nano Al2O3 at 1000 °C, the anatase is transferred into rutile. When compared to the substrate, the coated substrate resulted in a decrease in porosity and an increase in strength. The efficiency of the ceramic metal nanoparticles Al2O3 as a good coating material to protect the TiO2 substrates against the effect of the corrosive medium 0.5 M solution of H2SO4 was measured by two methods: potentio-dynamic polarization (PDP) and the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results indicated that the corrosion rate was decreased after the substrate coated with alumina from (67.71 to 16.30 C.R. mm/year) and the percentage of the inhibition efficiency recorded a high value reaching (78.56%). The surface morphology and composition after electrochemical measurements are investigated using SEM and EDX analysis. After conducting the corrosion tests and all the characterization, the results indicated that the coated TiO2 substrate prepared by the polymeric method at 800 °C displayed the best physical, mechanical, and corrosion-resistant behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work represents the shaping of alumina–zinc oxide (AZ) samples with the direct coagulation casting method. The effect of zinc oxide (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt%) and the firing temperatures on the phase composition, microstructure, physical properties, and mechanical properties of the AZ samples were studied. The effect of titanium oxide (2, 5, and 7 wt%) and the firing temperatures on the phase composition, microstructure, physical properties, and mechanical properties of the AZ sample with 40 wt% of zinc oxide were studied. Furthermore, the optical properties, magnetic properties, and antimicrobial activity were measured. The results indicate that the increase in zinc oxide enhances the formation of zinc aluminate, which has a gahnite phase. Moreover, increasing the zinc oxide increases the apparent porosity and decreases the grain size and bulk density at various firing temperatures. On the other hand, the addition of 5 wt% titanium oxide increases the bulk density to 3.5 g/cm3 compared to 1.72 g/cm3 with no titania. The apparent porosity and compressive strength reached 5% and 69.2 MPa after 5 wt% TiO2 addition; respectively, compared to 59% and 27.2 MPa with no titania addition. The prepared samples show promising optical band gap of 2.98–3.97 eV, a mixed magnetic behavior, and favorable antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, B. cereus strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this work is to study the effects of some transition metal-oxides, i.e. ZnO, TiO2, and Fe2O3, on inhibition of spinel formation during cordierite fabrication from granite waste, talc, and alumina by direct coagulation casting method. Moreover, the effect of these oxides on sinterability, microstructure, hardness and electrical properties was achieved. The casted specimens were sintered at different temperatures then examined by X-ray diffraction technique to follow the formed phases. The physical properties were determined according to Archimedes rule. The microstructure was also investigated by scanning electron microscope, while the hardness was determined by Vicker's method. The electrical properties were evaluated by an impedance analyzer. The results indicated that sintered cordierite-spinel ceramics were successfully prepared with inhibition of spinel formation after addition of some transition metals and sintering up to 1250 °C. ZnO promoted the formation of spinel while TiO2 and Fe2O3 inhibited the formation of spinel and promoted the formation of cordierite. The ZnO-containing cordierites exhibited their best properties after sintering at 1200 °C, while the samples containing TiO2 and Fe2O3 showed their best properties after sintering at 1250 °C. The physical, mechanical and electrical properties were improved after increasing the amount of added metal oxides. The dielectric constant values were higher for the samples that contain TiO2 than those contain Fe2O3 and ZnO. Moreover, the hardness of all samples was in a narrow range of 6.14–6.61 GPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on recycling of granite sludge for production of cordierite-spinel composites prepared by direct coagulation method. Furthermore, the effect of transition metal oxides (CuO, NiO, and MnO2) on their in-situ formation, sinterability and properties (mechanical and electrical) was studied. The granite sludge, talc, and calcined alumina were utilized to prepare cordierite-spinel composites. Firstly, talc and alumina were mixed and fired at 1350 °C, then mixed with granite sludge and transition metal oxides to be ready for casting by direct coagulation method after adjusting the appropriate conditions. The casted specimens were firstly dried then sintered at 1200 and 1250 °C. The phase composition and physical properties of sintered composites were investigated by x-ray diffraction technique (XRD) and Archimedes method, respectively. The microstructure was investigated by scanning electron microscope while the hardness was tested by Vickers indentation method. The electrical properties of sintered bodies were also evaluated. All XRD patterns showed formation of cordierite and spinel phases after addition of metal oxides and sintering at 1200 or 1250 °C. Also, the results indicated enhancement of densification parameters for CuO- and MnO2-containing composites after sintering at 1250 °C while for NiO-containing composites, they enhanced after sintering at 1200 °C. Furthermore, the densification parameters were improved with increasing metal oxides contents. The highest hardness value (8.3 GPa) was obtained for 6% NiO-containing composite. The composites that contained 6 wt.% CuO or MnO2 exhibited hardness values of 6.4 and 6.16 GPa, respectively. The trend of electrical conductivity values for sintered composites was as follows: CuO-containing composite > NiO-containing composite > MnO2-containing composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work focused on recycling the alum sludge which is one of the serious problems during the production of potable water. In this work, the alumina was extracted from alum sludge by using different chemical treatment methods after subjecting to different thermal treatments. XRD, XRF, SEM, TEM, IR and surface area measurements were used to detect the properties of the obtained alumina. Alpha alumina was obtained at 1400°C after treatment by NaOH followed by ammonium acetate as a precipitating agent for Al(OH)3 or by direct addition of NH4OH in one step method at pH 5.5–6. On the contrary, the treatment by NaOH followed by NaHCO3 for precipitation of Al(OH)3 led to the formation of sodium aluminate beside low percentage of alpha alumina after the heat treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to synthesize the seeds of CoxMg1-xAl2O4 nano-spinel particles for pigment fabrication using a microwave-assisted method. Also, we report on a novel, less toxic, flexible, and reproducible microwave- assisted method for starch-based synthesis of spinels. Furthermore, substantial efforts were devoted to obtaining a nanopowder while reducing total synthesis time from many hours to a few minutes. The obtained powders were characterized by XRD, FT-1R, TEM, and EDSA techniques. The results show that CoxMg1-xAl2O4 spinel is in an amorphous form after microwave treatment at 1000 W with particle sizes of less than 20 nm and that spinel first began to crystallize at a temperature of 550 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sinterability of gelcast Fe2O3-doped and MgO-doped alumina ceramics containing 55 vol.-% solid loading was studied at different temperatures and compared with gelcasted sintered pure alumina. Physical properties (bulk density and apparent porosity), phase composition, microstructure and mechanical properties (microhardness and toughness) of the sintered bodies were investigated. The results revealed that the sintered doped bodies exhibited dense and compact microstructure as compared with pure alumina bodies. The hardness of Fe2O3-doped bodies showed the lowest values among the others due to the lower elastic modulus of the secondary phases formed and due to the enhanced grain growth after addition of a higher amount of Fe2O3. On the contrary, the addition of a small amount of MgO reduced the grain growth which enhanced hardness. Fracture toughness results showed a great increase in Fe2O3 doped ceramics due to the presence of large grains, while in MgO-doped ceramics, the facture toughness increase was related to a residual decrease in porosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano Mg(1-x)Ni(x)Al2O4 spinel pigments were synthesized via polymeric combustion technique upon heat treatment at 210 °C. Citric acid in the presence of ethylene glycol polymer, with mass ratio of 60:40, was successfully used as a host network for the synthesis process. The obtained spinel was calcined at different temperatures; 300-1200°C and investigated by thermal analysis (TG-DTG/DTA), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). UV-Vis and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) using CIE-Lab/parameters methods have been used for color measurements. The addition of colored pigment on different types of glazes was studied. The results revealed that NiMgAl2O4 spinel beside MgNiO phases were crystallized with particle sizes of 9-21 nm at 600 °C and 52-180 nm at 1200 °C. All prepared samples exhibited green to pale green colors due to the inclusion of Ni(2+) inside the spinel structure. The pale green color intensity increased with increasing calcination temperature. The prepared pigment was suitable to convert commercial and opaque glazes to color product to be used in different applications., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A series of organo-modified nanoclays was synthesized using three different surfactants having different alkyl chain lengths and concentrations [0.5-5.0 cation exchange capacity (CEC)]. These surfactants were Ethanolamine (EA), Cetyltrimethylammoniumbromide (CTAB) and Tetraoctadecylammoniumbromide (TO). The obtained modified nanoclays were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and compared with unmodified nanoclay. The results of XRD analysis indicated that the basal d-spacing has increased with increasing alkyl chain length and surfactant concentration. From the obtained microstructures of these organo-modified nanoclays, the mechanism of surfactant adsorption was proposed. At relatively low loading of surfactant, most of surfactant entered the spacing by an ion-exchange mechanism and is adsorbed onto the interlayer cation sites. When the concentration of the surfactant exceeds the CEC of clay, the surfactant molecules then adhere to the surface adsorbed surfactant. Some surfactants entered the interlayers, whereas the others were attached to the clay surface. When the concentration of surfactant increased further beyond 2.0 CEC, the surfactants might occupy the inter-particle space within the house-of-cards aggregate structure., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Nanocrystalline magnesium aluminate (MA) spinel powder produced through a coprecipitation method and calcined at 900°C for 1 h was added to magnesia-zirconia composite in the range of 0-25 mass % and sintered at 1600°C for 2 h. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used for studying the microstructure and the phase composition of the sintered composites. Bulk density, apparent porosity, volume shrinkage, and Young's modulus of the sintered composites were also investigated. The results revealed that the nanospinel addition up to 20 mass % increases the sintering ability and Young's modulus of the composite bodies. Microstructure showed that the presence of nanospinel and zirconia in the triple point between magnesia grains closed the gaps in the ceramic matrix and enhanced the compactness of the composites.

A total of 57 buffalo cows were divided into two groups and subjected to different intensities of oestrous detection. In the first group (G1), oestrus was checked at 6-h intervals, four times daily starting at 0600 h as compared to twice daily in the second group (G2) at 0800 h and 1500 h. The year was also divided into two seasons: cool from November to April; and hot from May to October. Ovulatory activity was monitored by measuring progesterone concentrations in blood serum. Samples were obtained every 3 or 4 days post-partum until conception was confirmed. More frequent detection practices produced shorter intervals for all of the reproductive parameters. Calving interval was less for cows in G1 in the cool season (363.5 +/- 16.0 vs. 400.3 +/- 14.3 days) than in the host season (387.0 +/- 15.3 vs. 441.5 +/- 14.3 days). Oestrous detection efficiency was higher (P < 0.01) in G1 in both seasons. Season of calving produced a significant effect (P < 0.05) on the number of services per conception. The cool season calvers had better reproductive performance than cows calved during the hot season.