Powdered polyaniline (PANI) was synthesised chemically with different doping anions namely hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid and para-toluenesulfonic acid (pTSA). Two-step synthetic procedure was utilised at low temperature. The highest reaction efficiency was found for chlorine-doped PANI. Structural characterization with FTIR revealed the vibration bands characteristic to formation of the emeraldine salt. The surface morphology of doped PANIs was studied by SEM images which showed near globular shape and porous structures with different size of the aggregated particles. They were smaller for Cl–- or pTS–-doped PANI while for SO42– the size was markedly larger. The XRD patterns revealed that there are ordered regions especially for pTS– doped PANI, while the highest conductivity value was recorded for Cl– doped one followed by organic pTS– doped and SO42– doped one.

The paper presents a method of how the nonlinear boundary condition [1] may be applied in nonlinear problems of electromagnetic field theory. It is introduced for problems with nonlinear conductivity. An analytical procedure has been constructed, which seeks to reduce calculations related with the nonlinear region. In order to verify the proposed solutions, two problems have been formulated: one of linear and the other of cylindrical symmetry. These have been additionally solved by the authors’ modification of the perturbation method that has been described in previous papers [7, 8, 10]. The electromagnetic field distribution obtained thereby has served as a referential result since it can obtain very accurate solutions [10]. Relative errors of electric and magnetic field strength are introduced to verify the results.

The aim of this work is the development of Cu-Al2O3 composites of copper Cu-ETP matrix composite materials reinforced by 20 and 30

vol.% Al2O3 particles and study of some chosen physical properties. Squeeze casting technique of porous compacts with liquid copper

was applied at the pressure of 110 MPa. Introduction of alumina particles into copper matrix affected on the significant increase of

hardness and in the case of Cu-30 vol. % of alumina particles to 128 HBW. Electrical resistivity was strongly affected by the ceramic

alumina particles and addition of 20 vol. % of particles caused diminishing of electrical conductivity to 20 S/m (34.5% IACS). Thermal

conductivity tests were performed applying two methods and it was ascertained that this parameter strongly depends on the ceramic

particles content, diminishing it to 100 Wm-1K-1 for the composite material containing 30 vol.% of ceramic particles comparing to 400

Wm-1K-1 for the unreinforced copper. Microstructural analysis was carried out using SEM microscopy and indicates that Al2O3 particles

are homogeneously distributed in the copper matrix. EDS analysis shows remains of silicon on the surface of ceramic particles after

binding agent used during preparation of ceramic preforms.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the self- healing properties of a commercially-available geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) using flexible-wall permeameter. The GCLs are produced by the same factory, but the contents of bentonite are different. Also the hydraulic conductivities (HC) of GCLs with no defect are different. In this study, specimens were completely saturated under the backpressure of 20 kPa before the test. Permeability tests were performed on GCL specimens with penetrating flaw and also on specimens permeated with distilled water and CaCl2 solutions. The test results were presented and discussed. Experimental results showed that the GCL with penetrating flaw did not exhibit complete self-healing in the case of flaw. After 120 days, the hydraulic conductivity increased by approximately an order of magnitude. In addition, CaCl2 solutions had a significant influence on the hydraulic conductivity. The research findings might be of interest to researchers and engineers who design liners for landfills and other liquid containment facilities

This article presents test results for hydraulic conductivity and porosity structure of hardening slurries prepared of Portland cement, betonite, water and fluidal ashes from the combustion of hard and brown coal. The slurries were exposed to persistent filtering action (180 days) of liquids chemically aggressive to cement binders, i.e. distilled water, 0.5% solution of nitric acid, 1% solution of sodium sulphate, 1% solution of magnesium nitrate and 1% solution of ammonium nitrate. Samples exposed to filtration of tap water constituted the reference base. The research was into relations between hydraulic conductivity and pore structure parameters in slurries, as well as into the influence of the type of aggressive medium on leak tightness of slurries (their porosity and hydraulic conductivity).

Until now, dust arising from lime manufacture has been considered harmless to the environment so it has been investigated marginally from the standpoint of environmental protection, especially when it came to magnetic properties and heavy metal content. The aim of the research was filling the gap in this area. The research comprised measurements of magnetic susceptibility, the content of heavy metals, reaction (pH) and specific conductivity of lime dust and also raw material and fuel used for lime production. The samples were taken from one of the lime plants located in Opole Province. Similar investigations were also performed for dust taken from the nearby cement plant using dry method of cement production. It was proven that magnetic susceptibility, heavy metal content and conductivity of lime dust was lower in comparison to cement dust, which resulted from the fact that the lime plant used neither low raw materials nor additives. Due to the high atmosphere dust level in the vicinity of the investigated plants, extremely basic reaction of the tested dust and high content of metals, the studied dust cause alkalization of soils and contribute to the increase of heavy metal content in soils, posing a threat to the environment.

Heavy metal pollutants in the leachate of waste landfill are a potential threat to the environment. In this study, the feasibility of using municipal sewage sludge as barrier material for the containment of heavy metal pollutants from solid waste landfills was evaluated by compaction test and hydraulic conductivity test concerning compaction property, impermeability and heavy metal retardation. Results of the compaction test showed that the maximum dry density of 0.79 g·cm−3 was achieved at the optimum water content of about 60%. The hydraulic conductivities of compacted sewage sludge permeated with synthetic heavy metal solutions were in the range of 1.3×10−8 – 6.2×10−9 cm·s−1, less than 1.0 ×10−7cm·s−1 recommended by regulations for barrier materials. Chemical analyses on the effluent from the hydraulic conductivity tests indicated that the two target heavy metals, Zn and Cd in the permeants were all retarded by compacted sewage sludge, which might be attributed to the precipitation and adsorption of heavy metal ions. The results of this study suggest that specially prepared material from sewage sludge could be used as a barrier for waste landfills for its low permeability and strong retardation to heavy metal pollutants.

Main goal of the paper is to present the algorithm serving to solve the heat conduction inverse problem. Authors consider the heat conduction equation with the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative and with the second and third kind boundary conditions. This type of model with fractional derivative can be used for modelling the heat conduction in porous media. Authors deal with the heat conduction inverse problem, which, in this case, consists in identifying an unknown thermal conductivity coefficient. Measurements of temperature, in selected point of the region, are the input data for investigated inverse problem. Basing on this information, a functional describing the error of approximate solution is created. Minimizing of this functional is necessary to solve the inverse problem. In the presented approach the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm is used for minimization.

In this study, agar-based nanocomposite films containing ultra-porous silica aerogel particles were fabricated by gel casting using an aqueous agar/silica aerogel slurry. The silica aerogel particles did not show significant agglomeration and were homogeneously distributed in the agar matrix. Transmission electron microscopy observations demonstrated that the silica aerogel particles had a mesoporous microstructure and their pores were not incorporated into the agar polymer molecules. The thermal conductivities of the agar and agar/5 wt.% silica aerogel nanocomposite films were 0.36 and 0.20 W·m–1·K–1, respectively. The transmittance of the agar films did not decrease upon the addition of silica aerogel particles into them. This can be attributed to the anti-reflection effect of silica aerogel particles.

The article presents the prototype of a measurement system with a hot probe, designed for testing thermal parameters of heat insulation materials. The idea is to determine parameters of thermal insulation materials using a hot probe with an auxiliary thermometer and a trained artificial neural network. The network is trained on data extracted from a nonstationary two-dimensional model of heat conduction inside a sample of material with the hot probe and the auxiliary thermometer. The significant heat capacity of the probe handle is taken into account in the model. The finite element method (FEM) is applied to solve the system of partial differential equations describing the model. An artificial neural network (ANN) is used to estimate coefficients of the inverse heat conduction problem for a solid. The network determines values of the effective thermal conductivity and effective thermal diffusivity on the basis of temperature responses of the hot probe and the auxiliary thermometer. All calculations, like FEM, training and testing processes, were conducted in the MATLAB environment. Experimental results are also presented. The proposed measurement system for parameter testing is suitable for temporary measurements in a building site or factory.

This paper describes a new contactless conductivity detector, whose electrodes are constructed of microchannels filled with solution of KCl - called pseudoelectrodes. The lab-on-a-chip microdevice was fabricated in poly(dimethylsiloxane) PDMS, using a moulding technique. The mould was made from a dry negative photoresist with a thickness of 50 μm. During the tests, the dimension! and arrangement of pseudoelectrodes` microchannels were evaluated. The analyte was pumped into the microchannel using a syringe pump with a flow rate of 50 μL/min. Reproducible!changes of the signal were obtained.

The article presents a novel method that allows measurement of thermal conductivity that is based on Stefan-Boltzmann law. The developed method can be used to determine thermal conductivity of ceramic investment casting molds. The methodology for conducting thermal conductivity tests of ceramic material samples is presented. Knowledge of the value of thermal capacity and thermal conductivity as a function of temperature enables computer simulations of the process of cooling and solidification of liquid metal in a mold.

In the present article, we introduced a new model of the equations of general ized thermoelasticity for unbounded orthotropic body containing a cylindrical cavity. We applied this model in the context of generalized thermoelasticity with phase-lags under the effect of rotation. In this case, the thermal conductivity of the material is considered to be variable. In addition, the cylinder surface is traction free and subjected to a uniform unit step temperature. Using the Laplace transform technique, the distributions of the temperature, displacement, radial stress and hoop stress are determined. A detailed analysis of the effects of rotation, phase-lags and the variability thermal conductivity parameters on the studied fields is discussed. Numerical results for the studied fields are illustrated graphically in the presence and absence of rotation.