Physical and chemical characterization of fly ashes from Swiss waste incineration plants and determination of the ash fraction in the nanometer range.

Waste incineration had been identified as an important source of ultrafine air pollutants resulting in elaborated treatment systems for exhaust air. Nowadays, these systems are able to remove almost all ultrafine particles. However, the fate of ultrafine particles caught in the filters has received little attention so far.

Modeling the flows of engineered nanomaterials during waste handling.

Little is known about the behavior of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) at the interface from the technosphere to the ecosphere. Previous modeling of ENM flows to the environment revealed that significant amounts of ENM enter the waste stream and therefore waste incineration plants and landfills. It is the aim of this study to model the flows of ENM during waste incineration and landfilling in greater depth by including a more detailed description of the different processes and considering ENM-specific transformation reactions.

Release of carbon nanotubes from an epoxy-based nanocomposite during an abrasion process.

The abrasion behavior of an epoxy/carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposite was investigated. An experimental setup has been established to perform abrasion, particle measurement, and collection all in one. The abraded particles were characterized by particle size distribution and by electron microscopy.

Solvothermal and surfactant-free synthesis of crystalline Nb(2)O(5), Ta(2)O(5), HfO(2), and Co-doped HfO(2) nanoparticles.

A simple route to niobium, hafnium and tantalum oxide nanocrystals using a nonaqueous sol-gel route based on the solvothermal reaction of the corresponding metal chlorides with benzyl alcohol is presented. This approach can easily be extended to the preparation of high quality Co-doped HfO(2) nanoparticles of uniform size and shape and with a homogenous distribution of the magnetic ions. The structural characterization of all these nanomaterials as well as the magnetic properties of pure and doped hafnia, with special attention to the doping efficiency, are discussed.