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The Japanese textile tradition is renowned for its intricate designs achieved through a variety of dyeing techniques, including kasuri, shibori, and paste-resist dyeing. These techniques are often combined within a single textile, resulting in exceptionally elaborate creations. Our paper delves into the technical aspects and complexities of these methods, highlighting the dynamic interplay between tradition and innovation in Japanese textile production. Our scientific endeavour focused on some textiles dating between the 19th and 20th centuries and belonging to the Montgomery Collection of Japanese folk art. Employing non-invasive techniques such as visible reflectance spectroscopy and ER-FTIR spectroscopy, we uncovered key insights into the materials and methods utilized in the creation of these textiles. Our analysis revealed a diverse array of pigments and dyes, including plant-derived, inorganic, and synthetic variants. These findings illuminate the cultural syncretism between traditional Japanese practices and the adoption of new materials from the West, underscoring the dynamic nature of textile production in Japan. Furthermore, ER-FTIR spectroscopy elucidated the predominant use of cotton as the primary fibre in the textiles, aligning with historical records of Japan's role as a major producer of cotton yarn. Analysis of white areas within the textiles revealed evidence of resist-paste dyeing techniques, particularly tsutsugaki and katazome, through the absence of dye penetration and the characteristic appearance of white lines. Confirmation of indigo dyeing techniques (aizome) was achieved through ER-FTIR spectroscopy, providing reliable identification of indigo and Prussian blue in various shades of blue present in the textiles. Additionally, the detection of Western-derived dyeing method (utsushi-yūzen) and free-hand painting (kaki-e), offers insights into the diversity of dyeing practices employed by Japanese artisans. The presence of proteinaceous materials and synthetic dyes observed in some textiles has implications for conservation practices, suggesting the need for tailored approaches to ensure the preservation of these culturally significant artifacts. Overall, these scientific results shed new light on the materials, techniques, and cultural contexts underlying Japanese textile production, advancing our understanding of this rich artistic heritage and informing future research endeavours in textile science and conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimony (Sb) contamination poses significant environmental and health concerns due to its toxic nature and widespread presence, largely from anthropogenic activities. This study addresses the urgent need for an accurate speciation analysis of Sb, particularly in water sources, emphasizing its migration from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic materials. Current methodologies primarily focus on total Sb content, leaving a critical knowledge gap for its speciation. Here, we present a novel analytical approach utilizing frontal chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (FC-ICP-MS) for the rapid speciation analysis of Sb(III) and Sb(V) in water. Systematic optimization of the FC-ICP-MS method was achieved through multivariate data analysis, resulting in a remarkably short analysis time of 150 s with a limit of detection below 1 ng kg−1. The optimized method was then applied to characterize PET leaching, revealing a marked effect of the plastic aging and manufacturing process not only on the total amount of Sb released but also on the nature of leached Sb species. This evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of the FC-ICP-MS approach in addressing such an environmental concern, benchmarking a new standard for Sb speciation analysis in consideration of its simplicity, cost effectiveness, greenness, and broad applicability in environmental and health monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, NiCu co‐catalysts on TiO2 are studied for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. NiCu co‐catalyst films are deposited at room temperature by argon plasma sputtering on high aspect‐ratio anodic TiO2 nanotubes. To tune the Ni : Cu atomic ratio, alloys of various compositions were used as sputtering targets. Such co‐catalyst films are found to be amorphous with small nanocrystalline domains. A series of parameters is investigated, i. e., i) Ni : Cu relative ratio in the sputtered films, ii) NiCu film thickness, and iii) thickness of the TiO2 nanotube layers. The highest photocatalytic activity is obtained with 8 μm long TiO2 nanotubes, sputter‐coated with a 10 nm‐thick NiCu films with a 1 : 1 Ni : Cu atomic ratio. This photocatalyst reaches a stable hydrogen evolution rate of 186 μL h−1 cm−2, 4.6 and 3 times higher than that of Ni‐ and Cu‐TiO2, respectively, demonstrating a synergistic co‐catalytic effect of Ni and Cu in the alloy co‐catalyst film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in leather has been debated throughout the whole supply chain for years. However, its significance has recently increased due to proposed changes in European legislation concerned with skin-sensitising substances suggesting that acceptable Cr(VI) concentrations in leather goods should be lowered from 3 mg kg−1 to 1 mg kg−1. The proposition of a stricter limit and current analytical difficulties created the need for a review of current standard test methods. The research presented in this paper investigates both the colorimetric (Part 1) and chromatographic (Part 2) methods under BS EN ISO 17075. The focus of the study was to identify possible sources of interference leading to large statistical variance in results and to define the limit of quantification with respect to the proposed new compliance limit. This study into the colorimetric method has shown that the presence of Cr(III), dyes, and proteins can be significant interferences, becoming critical at low Cr(VI) concentrations. Dilution factors worsen the problem of detecting low concentrations: a reliable quantitative detection of 0.01 mg kg−1 and 0.003 mg kg−1 Cr(VI) in solution are required at the 3 mg kg−1 and 1 mg kg−1 compliance limits in leather, respectively. BS EN ISO 17075 part 1 was shown to be incapable of reliably resolving to 3 mg kg−1 or below in leather. Part 2 shows a marked improvement in detection limits and reliability; however, data suggest that 1 mg kg−1 Cr(VI) is not reliably detectable in leather. Suggested improvements to the established test methods and a possible alternative are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dinitrogen adsorption on overexchanged Cu-ZSM-5 is examined at 302 K by diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy, N2-adsorption isotherms and tempertaure-programmed N2 desorption. The introduction of controlled amounts of impurities, together with the utilization of N(super 15)(sub 2) and CO(super 13) indicate that this band is instead related to hydrated Cu(*I)-CO species formed by accumulation on the sample of traces of H2O in the N2 flow.