Soap production: A green prospective.

A green prospective based on the reuse of waste materials such as almond shells, orange peel and used cooking oil to manufacture soap is presented. In Portugal, thousands of tons of waste are generated from used cooking oil and production of nut shells' residues is growing every year. In addition, the high consumption of citrus fruits, oranges in particular, generates large amounts of citrus peel.

Europium luminescent polymeric microspheres fabricated by spray drying process.

The spray drying method was used to prepare luminescent microspheres. These microspheres were prepared by spraying an aqueous solution of dextrin and an europium(III) complex with subsequent drying in a hot medium. The spray dried powder was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL).

Er, Yb doped yttrium based nanosized phosphors: particle size, "host lattice" and doping ion concentration effects on upconversion efficiency.

The upconverter phosphors studied herein have different percentages of Er3+ and Yb3+ as doping ions in different Y3+ matrixes (Y2O3, Y2O2S), and were prepared from different precursors (polymeric resin, oxalate, basic carbonate) and method (combustion). Upconversion emission spectra were recorded at 298 K for all the doped samples in the visible region, for efficiency and Green/Red emission relative intensity comparisons. Therefore, an investigation of the influence of the doping ion concentration, particle size and host lattice on the upconversion process is provided in view of the UPT (Upconverting phosphor technology application).

Nanocrystalline RE2O3:Tm3+ (RE: Gd3+, Y3+) blue phosphors synthesized via the combustion method.

This work reports on the preparation of a luminescent blue-emitting rare earth (RE) Tm-doped oxide phosphor. Nanocrystalline RE2O3:Tm3+ particles were prepared via the combustion method using citric acid, glycine, or urea as fuels. Samples were doped with different percentages of the activator Tm3+.