Abstract: Different trace- and microanalytical techniques were used in an extensive study to elucidate the chemical deterioration process of the sandy-limestone St Rombouts Cathedral in Mechelen, Belgium. Samples of stones, mortar joints, slates, atmospheric aerosols and gases, total and wet deposition, and water that had run down the cathedral walls, were all thoroughly characterized. At the east side, usually not exposed to precipitation, a 3001000-μm thick outer crust of microcrystalline gypsum was observed, while at the west side, this surface layer was mostly eroded away due to precipitation. At the north and south sides, the crust contains varying amounts of gypsum and calcite. The gypsum is mostly present in a bar-shaped morphology and carbonaceous fly-ash particles were rarely found in the weathering crust. Local stone characteristics seem to be extremely important in relation to the gypsum content of the crust; black samples always have a much higher sulphate content than the corresponding white samples, irrespective of the predominant direction of orientation. The relative contribution of nitrogen- and chlorine-containing pollutants to the total decay process is much smaller than that of sulphur-containing pollutants. Deposition samples collected at the site of the cathedral mostly had a pH of > 5.6, due to the neutralization of the rainwater by alkaline atmospheric constituents. Runoff water and washdown water were enriched in all ions, especially Ca2+ and SO42−, indicating that, indeed, gypsum is the most important weathering product. The suspension in deposition samples and black-well leaching water was highly enriched in silicon-containing particles, while runoff water and white-wall leaching water contained a predominant calcium-rich suspension.

Abstract: Elemental and water-soluble ionic compounds (WSICs) of atmospheric aerosols (total suspended particulate TSP) and some gaseous pollutants (SO2, NO2 and O3) from a coastal, semi-urban and rural site in and near Dar es Salaam, Tanzania were investigated during dry and wet seasons of January 2005November 2007. Na+, Ca2+, SO42−, NO3− and Cl− made up the dominant fraction of WSICs during the dry season with average concentrations ranging from non-detectable (n.d.)5.4, 0.262.6, 0.7414.7, 0.41.5 and 1.13.4 μg m−3, respectively, while in the wet season, from n.d. up to 1.7, 1.2, 4.4, 2.1 and 3.0 μg m−3, respectively. The total air concentrations of the detected elements (Al, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Fe and Zn) showed seasonal and site-specific variation in the range of 7.526.6 with an average of 14.5 μg m−3. Most of the air concentrations of pollutants were observed to decrease with increasing distance from the coastal site, which is under urban and industrial pollutant emissions. Sulphur and nitrogen oxidation ratios during the dry season ranged from 0.08 to 0.91 and 0.013 to 0.049, respectively, while they were between 0.090.65 and 0.0020.095, respectively, in the wet season. These values indicate the photochemical oxidation of SO2 and a high extent of NO3−formation in the atmosphere. Neutralization ratios revealed the presence of acidic SO42− and NO3− aerosols. Principal component analysis identified sea spray, local combustion, vehicular traffic, biomass burning and re-suspended road dust as dominant sources of aerosols at the studied coastal and semi-urban sites. However, at the rural site, besides sea spray, crustal sources, soil dust re-suspension and long-range transport are the possible origins of suspended particulates.

Abstract: An aqueous sodium dodecanoate solution has been used for the formation of a protective coating for lead. Three deposition methods have been compared: immobilization using cyclic voltammetry, immersion and amperometry. Apart from this, we tested a reduction pretreatment of the lead surface (−1.5 V during 600 s) in order to obtain a more reproducible coating, resulting in a better corrosion protection behavior. The corrosion inhibition properties were examined using potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance measurements in a standard corrosive environment.

Abstract: Composition of bed, core and suspended sediments collected from Krishna River sediments were studied and the observations are discussed in the light of other Indian rivers, world's average river suspended particles, surficial rock and soils. The contents of V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn in the suspended particles are higher in the Krishna River than in the world's average, indicating pollution inputs. Suspended sediments are enriched (5 to 10 times) in all the elements considered relative to bed sediments. Downstream profile and metal/Al ratios of the elements indicate that the mobility of elements within the basin is controlled by basin geology, size and mineralogical characteristics. Good correlations observed for a number of elements point out to their common sink in the clay fraction of the sediments. There is no systematic variation with depth for the major elements and most of the elements are considerably higher compared to estuarine or Bay of Bengal sediments.

Abstract: The backward scattering of TM-polarized light by a two-side-open subwavelength slit in a metal film is analyzed. We show that the reflection coefficient versus wavelength possesses a Fabry-Perot-like dependence that is similar to the anomalous behavior of transmission reported in the study [Y. Takakura, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5601 (2001)]. The open slit totally reflects the light at the near-to-resonance wavelengths. In addition, we show that the interference of incident and resonantly backward-scattered light produces in the near-field diffraction zone a spatially localized wave whose intensity is 10103 times greater than the incident wave, but one order of magnitude smaller than the intracavity intensity. The amplitude and phase of the resonant wave at the slit entrance and exit are different from that of a Fabry-Perot cavity.

Abstract: Chromium and silicon are determined simultaneously in steel by 14-MeV neutron activation analysis. The activities of 52V(Eγ=1.43 MeV,TView the MathML source=3.76 min) from 52Cr(n,p)52V and 28Al (Eγ=1.78 MeV; TView the MathML source=2.24 min) from 28Si(n,p)28Al are evaluated by mixed γ-ray spectrometry. The influence of manganese and phosphorus, the main interfering elements, is negligible for most stainless steels. The count rate should be limited, to avoid 52V pulse pile-up effects interfering in the 28Al energy region. Precisions in the 2-10% range are reached, depending on the concentrations, for a 10-min analysis time. Results for a series of steel samples are compared with industrial analyses.