Technology of dehydration and transformation of silicic acid

The technology that silicic acid was pressurized under high temperature in order to dehydrate and transform was investigated in the paper. The effects, such as the ratio of liquid to solid, pressure, temperature, and reaction time on the dehydration rate and volume shrinkage rate, were researched. The experimental results show that the dehy- dration rate of silicic acid is up to 41.20 %, accompanying with the volume shrinkage rate of 40.37 % after silicic acid is pressurized under high temperature in the high-pressure kettle. The results of silicic acid tested by SEM indicate that the metasilicate acid molecules and water molecules are closely arranged, and there are almost no gaps before pressure reaction. There are many gaps accompanying with formatting lamellar structure after pressure reaction. The experimental results indicate the effect that silicic acid is dehydrated and transformation is obvious under high temperature and pressure.

Synthesis and Characterization of Modified Epoxy Resins by Silicic Acid Tetraethyl Ester and Nano-SiO_2

A kind of modified epoxy resins was obtained by condensation of epoxy resin with silicic acid tetraethyl ester（TEOS） and nano-SiO2. The reactions were performed with hydrochloric acid as a catalyst at 63 ℃. The structure, thermal stability and morphological characteristics of the modified epoxy resins were studied through infrared spectra（FT-IR） analysis, thermogravimetric（TG） analysis and scanning electron microscopy respectively. It has been found from the IR and TG study that modified epoxy resins have greater thermal stability than epoxy resins, and its thermal stability has been improved by the formation of inter-crosslinked network structure. The modified epoxy resins exhibit heterogeneous morphology and heterogeneity increases with more TEOS feeding, which in turn confirms the formation of inter-crosslinked network structure in modified epoxy resins.

Cleaning the Ion Exchange Resin Sorption of Uranium from Silicic Acid Solution ＂Ayanat＂

The authors discovered a new way to clean the ion exchange resin sorption of uranium from silicic acid used solution ＂Ayanat＂. The method reduces the costs of regeneration of ion exchange resin and its reuse in the sorption of uranium.

Effects of Temperature on the Deposition Rate of Supersaturated Silicic Acid on Ca-type Bentonite Tsuyoshi Sasagawa, Taiji Chida and Yuichi Niibori

Na-type bentonite is commonly used as a tunnel backfilling material to prevent groundwater and radionuclide migration during the construction of a geological disposal system for high-level radioactive waste in Japan. However, host rock fractures with strong water flow can develop groundwater paths in the backfilling material. Especially, the alteration to Ca-type bentonite causes degradation of the barrier performance and accelerates the development of groundwater paths. Additionally, using cementitious materials gradually changes pH between 13 and 8. High alkaline groundwater results in high solubility of silicic acid; therefore, silicic acid is eluted from the host rock. Downstream, in the low alkaline area, the groundwater becomes supersaturated in silicic acid. This acid is deposited on Ca-type bentonite, thus leading to the clogging of the groundwater paths. In the present study, we investigate the silicic acid deposition rate on Ca-type bentonite under 288-323 K for depths greater or equal to 500 m. The results indicate that temperature does not affect the silicic acid deposition rate up to 323 K. However, in this temperature range, the deposition of silicic acid on Ca-type bentonite in backfilled tunnels results in clogging of the flow paths.

A chrome-free combination tanning strategy: based on silicic acid and plant tannin

Silicic acid,commonly derived from cheap and easily available sodium silicate,has recently received great attention for application in leather industry to produce ecological leather with a cleaner approach.However,leather tanned with silicic acid alone is poor in storage stability,which limits its practical application in leather production.In this work,a new environment-friendly combination tannage based on silicic acid and plant tannin was developed to address this issue along with improving the comprehensive performances of leather.The obtained leather was characterized by scanning electron microscopy,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and so on.The results showed that compared with leather tanned with silicic acid alone,the leather tanned with this combination method possessed improved thermal stability,enhanced mechanical properties,acceptable softness,appropriate hydrophilicity,and especially enhanced storage stability.More importantly,the combination tanned leather with 1:1 of the mass ratio of silicic acid to vegetable tannin(composed of valonea extract and mimosa extract with the same weight)had more prominent comprehensive performances.In addition,the results demonstrated that hydrogen bonding played an important role in the combination tanning process.Furthermore,the hydrogen bonds generated between phenolic hydroxyl groups of polyphenols with silicon hydroxyl groups of silicic acid molecules inhibited the excessive condensation of Si-OH groups between themselves.Subsequently,the assessment of environmental impact revealed the value of BOD 5/COD of the wastewater produced in this combination tanning process is more than 0.3,indicating the chrome-free combination tannage based on silicic acid and plant tannin was an environment-friendly tanning technology.These findings therefore indicated that a new chrome-free tanning method with silicon and biomass materials as main tanning agents has potential practical application prospect in leather production.

Solubility of hemimorphite in ammonium sulfate solution at 25 °C

The solubility of natural hemimorphite in ammonium sulfate solution was measured by isothermal solution method at 25 °C and the dissolved residue of hemimorphite was investigated by X-ray powder diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR） methods. The results show that zinc and silica in hemimorphite simultaneously dissolve in ammonium sulfate solution. The solubility of zinc in solution increases rapidly from 4.5381 mmol/kg in 0.5469 mol/kg ammonium sulfate solution to 11.5083 mmol/kg in 3.7038 mol/kg ammonium sulfate solution. The solubility of silica in solution increases slowly from 2.5509 mmol/kg in 0.5469 mol/kg ammonium sulfate solution to 7.2891 mmol/kg in 3.7038 mol/kg ammonium sulfate solution. The dissolved residue is the characteristic of hemimorphite Zn4Si2O7（OH）2·H2O based on the results of the XRD, SEM and FTIR. Thus, no phase transition occurs in the dissolution process of hemimorphite in ammonium sulfate solution.

Factors effecting aluminum speciation in drinking waterby laboratory research

Effects of aluminum on water distribution system and human health mainly attribute to its speciation in drinking water. Laboratory experiments were performed to investigate factors that may influence aluminum speciation in water supply system. The concentration of soluble aluminum and its transformation among other aluminum species were mainly controlled by kinetics processes of related reactions. Total aluminum concentration had a notable effect on the concentrations of mononuclear and soluble aluminum in the first 4 day; then its effect became weak. At pH above 7.50, both fluoride and orthophosphate had little effect on aluminum speciation; while, when the solution pH was below 7.50, the concentrations of mononuclear and soluble aluminum were proportional to the concentration of fluoride and inversely proportional to the concentration of orthophosphate. Both mononuclear and polynuclear silicic acids could complex with mononuclear aluminum by forming soluble aluminosilicates. In addition, the adding sequence of orthophosphate and aluminum into drinking water would also affect the distribution of aluminum species in the first 4 day. In order to minimize aluminum bioavailability in drinking water, it was suggested that orthophosphate should be added prior to coagulant process, and that the concentrations of fluoride and silicic acids should be controlled below 2.0 and 25 mg/L, respectively, prior to the treatment. The solution pH in coagulation and filtration processes should be controlled in the range of 6.50-7.50.

Properties of polyferric-silicate-sulfate(PFSS) coagulant

Polyferric\|silicate\|sulfate(PFSS),as a new type of coagulant,was prepared by using sodium silicate, sulfuric acid and ferric sulfate as materials.The zeta potential of hydrolyzate of PFSS under different pH values was investigated.The effects of Fe/SiO\-2 molar ratio and dosage of PFSS on turbidity removal were studied. The relation between the optimum coagulation pH range and Fe/SiO\-2 molar ratio was found and the coagulation mechanism of PFSS was discussed.The experimental results showed that Fe/SiO\-2 molar ratio has an effect on the zeta potential of hydrolyzate, the coagulation performance and the optimum coagulation pH range of PFSS and that PFSS gives the best turbidity removal effect when its Fe/SiO\-2 molar ratio was 1.5.

Alkaline Pre-Treatment of Coal Fly Ash as Bio-Silica Fertilizer

This study deals with the pre-treatment of coal fly ash (CFA) by using alkaline substance to improve water solubility of Si which in turn readily available to the plants. Selected weight ratios of CFA/NaOH (s:s) were tested and the highest H4SiO4 yield ratio was selected for further study. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses were performed to confirm the evidence of structural changes of the CFA upon alkaline treatment. To improve SiO2 dissolution, seven Si-solubilizing fungi, i.e., Aspergillus niger BCC194, A. niger K0909, A. niger A1601, Trichoderma polysporum, T. viride, T. pseudokoningii, and Trichoderma spp, were each inoculated onto pre-treated ash. The results indicated that the relationships between ratio of CFA/NaOH and total and soluble Si were linier (R2 = 0.97** and 0.96**, respectively). Total SiO2 values range from 10.43% to 13.02%, whereas soluble Si contents were 2.30% - 2.64% improved about 300 times compared to un-treated CFA. Both XRD and SEM analyses indicated that alkaline treatment to CFA caused particle damages resulting in increasing soluble Si. Inoculation of pre-treated CFA by T. polysporum up to twelve days of incubation yielded the highest soluble Si. Each fungal species grown on Bunt & Rovira solid media enriched with CFA as Si-source expressed significantly different ability in solubilizing Si from CFA. Citric acid was shown to be stronger compared to acetic and oxalic acids in solubilizing Si from CFA.