Enhancing fouling resistance of polyethylene anion exchange membranes using carbon nanotubes and iron oxide nanoparticles

This work presents the enhancement of organic fouling resistance of nanocomposite anion exchange membranes made from a commercial polyethylene anion exchange membrane and a negative thin layer. This layer is composed of sulfonated poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (sPPO) and two nanomaterials of different geometry and composition, oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes CNTs-COO− (0.2% g g− 1 to 0.8% g g− 1) or sulfonated iron oxide nanoparticles Fe2O3-SO42 − (0.2% g g− 1 to 0.6% g g− 1). The novel nanocomposite membranes showed a relevant improvement in fouling resistance caused by the modification of some physicochemical characteristics of membrane surface such as charge, roughness and hydrophilicity. The nanocomposite layer did not show a change in the membrane resistance. No remarkable differences were detected when changing the nanomaterial during characterization of nanocomposite membranes. The optimized loading of iron oxide nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes at 0.4% and 0.6% improved membrane fouling resistance by 45% and 53%, respectively. The improved fouling resistance of the best nanocomposite membranes AM-0.6CNTs remained after 12 h of operation. Energy savings between 49% and 60% were also achieved.Financial support from MICINN under project CTM2014-57833-R and CTQ2013-48280-C3-1-R-D is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank the Ministry of Education for the FPI grant BES-2012-053461 and the scholarship EEBB-I-15-10268. In addition, this research was partially supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation CBET-1235166

Search for dark matter at √s=13 TeV in final states containing an energetic photon and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for physics beyond the Standard Model in events containing an energetic photon and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. As the number of events observed in data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, is in agreement with the Standard Model expectations, model-independent limits are set on the fiducial cross section for the production of events in this final state. Exclusion limits are also placed in models where dark-matter candidates are pair-produced. For dark-matter production via an axial-vector or a vector mediator in the s-channel, this search excludes mediator masses below 750–1200 GeV for dark-matter candidate masses below 230–480 GeV at 95% confidence level, depending on the couplings. In an effective theory of dark-matter production, the limits restrict the value of the suppression scale M∗ to be above 790 GeV at 95% confidence level. A limit is also reported on the production of a high-mass scalar resonance by processes beyond the Standard Model, in which the resonance decays to Zγ and the Z boson subsequently decays into neutrinos

Measurement of the inclusive cross-sections of single top-quark and top-antiquark t-channel production in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of the t-channel single-top-quark and single-top-antiquark production cross-sections in the lepton+jets channel is presented, using 3.2 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015. Events are selected by requiring one charged lepton (electron or muon), missing transverse momentum, and two jets with high transverse momentum, exactly one of which is required to be b-tagged. Using a binned maximum-likelihood fit to the discriminant distribution of a neural network, the cross-sections are determined to be σ(tq) = 156 ± 5 (stat.) ± 27 (syst.) ± 3 (lumi.) pb for single top-quark production and σ(t¯q)=91±4σ(t¯q)=91±4 (stat.) ± 18 (syst.) ± 2 (lumi.) pb for single top-antiquark production, assuming a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV. The cross-section ratio is measured to be Rt=σ(tq)/σ(t¯q)=1.72±0.09Rt=σ(tq)/σ(t¯q)=1.72±0.09 (stat.) ± 0.18 (syst.). All results are in agreement with Standard Model predictions

China's Strategy of Sending Students Abroad under the Modernization Policy

See paper for full list of authors, 24 pages plus author list + cover pages (43 pages total), 6 figures, 5 tables, submitted to JHEP.International audienceA measurement of the t-channel single-top-quark and single-top-antiquark production cross-sections in the lepton+je ts channel is presented, using 3.2 fb−1 of proton--proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015. Events are selected by requiring one charged lepton (electron or muon), missing transverse momentum, and two jets with high transverse momentum, exactly one of which is required to be b-tagged. Using a binned maximum-likelihood fit to the discriminant distribution of a neural network, the cross-sections are determined to be σ(tq)=156±5(stat.)±27(syst.)±3(lumi.) pb for single top-quark production and σ(t¯q)=91±4(stat.)±18(syst.)±2(lumi.) pb for single top-antiquark production, assuming a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV. The cross-section ratio is measured to be Rt=σ(tq)/σ(t¯q)=1.72±0.09(stat.)±0.18(syst.)