Search

This article outlines the progress made at the United Kingdom's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for nanomaterial research using three case studies. First, we examine the measurement of metal impurities in graphene as part of the development of international standards. Then, we assess the uranium uptake of graphene oxide (GO) to optimize functionalization of the material for decontamination of aqueous nuclear waste. Finally, we establish the uptake mechanism of different cell and nanoparticle (NP) types to optimize radiation dosimetry assessments. Further advancements made in ICP-MS analysis to characterize single-particles (SP-ICP-MS) are also discussed with recommendations for future work., The widespread use of nanomaterials has shown significant benefits in the areas of sensors, nuclear waste treatment, and nuclear medicine. This is evident because of the increasing number of publications [...]

Turf is not a material frequently associated with construction. However, as a cheap, easily available, and versatile material it was used in antiquity (and has been used in various contexts since) to form unit-based and mass walls, embankments, and ramparts. Some of the best-preserved evidence for historical turf use comes from the Roman period, when it was a mainstay of military construction, being widely used in forts (e.g. along the Rhine and in Britain) and large-scale linear earthworks, most notably thewalls of Hadrian (northern England) and Antoninus Pius (central Scotland). To our knowledge, turf has never been examined as a construction material; its interest has, until now, been restricted to the soil and agricultural sciences and sports engineering. This paper presents the first exploration of turf water retention properties, assessed to understand whether turf behaviour can be collated with that of more traditionalearthen materials, for example cob or rammed earth. Tensiometer and psychrometer methods were used to estimate the water retention curves of turf, representative of that used for construction, harvested from two sites near Crieff, Scotland. The obtained data were analysed in terms of unimodal type functions to understand qualities of the full range of the soil water retention curve for Scottish turf. This work supports a larger project examining how engineering materials principles can explain ancient construction practices. In so doing, we will be well positioned to reintroduce this low-carbon material to the modern construction market.

This update covers the literature published between approximately June 2022 and April 2023 and is the latest part of a series of annual reviews. It is designed to provide the reader with an overview of the current state of the art with respect to the atomic spectrometric analysis of various metals, chemicals and materials. Advances have been made in several areas. For cultural heritage scientists, it is worth noting that, after many years of inserting analytical data into chemometric tools in an attempt to elucidate provenance, several free to use algorithms that take an inexperienced analyst through the entire process have been developed. It is envisaged that such algorithms will also be developed for forensic samples. In other areas, there has been a big increase in papers reporting methods for analysing coals, with many of these applications employing LIBS. This increase is presumably a result of the use of coal increasing rapidly in some countries. The use of LIBS for analyses is still growing in many areas. For ferrous and non-ferrous metals, the development of more reliable calibration strategies for LIBs has been a common theme. The standoff ability of LIBS has also been put to good use in the nuclear industry and for the detection of explosives. Waste management of assorted materials, e.g. polymers, metals, etc. has also used LIBS analyses, often used in conjunction with chemometric data analysis tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]