Self-Assembly Fabrication of Hollow Mesoporous Silica@Co–Al Layered Double Hydroxide@Graphene and Application in Toxic Effluents Elimination

Here, we propose a self-assembly process to prepare hierarchical HM-SiO2@Co–Al LDH@graphene, with the purpose of combining their outstanding performance. Hollow mesoporous silica was first synthesized as the core, using a novel sonochemical method, followed by a controlled shell coating process and chemical reduction. As a result of the electrostatic potential difference among HM-SiO2, Co–Al LDH, and graphene oxide, the HM-SiO2 spheres were coated by Co–Al LDH and graphene. Subsequently, the HM-SiO2@Co–Al LDH@graphene spheres were introduced into an epoxy resin (EP) matrix for investigation of their toxic effluents capture and elimination effectiveness during combustion. The amount of toxic CO and volatile organic compounds from the epoxy resin decomposition significantly suppressed after incorporating the HM-SiO2@Co–Al LDH@graphene hybrids, implying a reduced toxicity

The development of upright face perception depends on evolved orientation-specific mechanisms and experience

Here we examine whether our impressive ability to perceive upright faces arises from evolved orientation-specific mechanisms, our extensive experience with upright faces, or both factors. To do so, we tested Claudio, a man with a congenital joint disorder causing his head to be rotated back so that it is positioned between his shoulder blades. As a result, Claudio has seen more faces reversed in orientation to his own face than matched to it. Controls exhibited large inversion effects on all tasks, but Claudio performed similarly with upright and inverted faces in both detection and identity-matching tasks, indicating these abilities are the product of evolved mechanisms and experience. In contrast, he showed clear upright superiority when detecting “Thatcherized” faces (faces with vertically flipped features), suggesting experience plays a greater role in this judgment. Together, these findings indicate that both evolved orientation-specific mechanisms and experience contribute to our proficiency with upright faces

Magnesium-zinc ferrite with copper substitutions

The effects of Mg substitution by Cu on the properties of MgZn ferrites sintered at low temperature are investigated. The densification of MgCuZn ferrites is dependent upon Cu content in the composition Mg0.5-xCuxZn0.5Fe2O4 + 0,5 MgO. From the sintering experiments carried out between 800 and 1100° C it was established the optimum amount of CuO (x = 0.3) which is sufficient to promote sintering at low temperature (1050°C) and to yield a dense material (4,5 g/cm3). It was evidenced a break in the resistivity for x > 0,3 when it decreases by four orders of magnitude. The strong dependence of the material parameters on the Cu ions content is consistent with the microstructural changes induced by copper ions which favour the lattice diffusion process