The main purpose of the present work was to evaluate the efficiency of the gasification process of three different types of agro-forest biomass residue (rapeseed, softwood, and sunflower husks) along with the characterization of size-segregated particulates’ emissions. The experiments were carried out in a drop tube furnace (DTF), using two different gasifying agents (O₂/N₂ and O₂/N₂/CO₂) at atmospheric pressure and a constant temperature of 1000 °C. In focus was the effect of biomass and the gasifying agent on syngas composition (CO, H₂, CH_4, and CO₂), cold gas and carbon conversion efficiency, and on the emissions of by-products, such as particulate matter (PM), known for having negative environmental and health impacts. The collected particulates were characterized by SEM/EDS and XPS analysis. The results reveal that: (i) the introduction of CO₂ increased the production of CO and CH₄ and syngas’ lower heating value (LHV), thus leading to higher cold gas and carbon conversion efficiency; (ii) CO₂ decreased the production of H₂, leading to lower H₂/CO ratio (between 0.25 and 0.9). Therefore, the generated syngas is suitable for the synthesis of higher hydrocarbons, (iii) CO₂ lowered the emissions of char (cyclone) particles but increased the overall PM_10–0.3. Submicron size PM was the dominant fraction (PM_1–0.3) in O₂/N₂ and (PM_1.6–0.3) in O₂/N₂/CO₂. Unimodal PM size distribution was observed, except for sunflower husks gasification in O₂/N₂/CO₂; (iv) the SEM/EDS and XPS analysis confirmed that submicron-sized PM_1–0.3 contain above 80% of carbon associated to soot, due to incomplete oxidation, whereas in cyclone (char) particles, carbon decreased to about 50%. The SEM/EDS results showed that K and Cl are typical constituents of the submicron size PM, whereas the alkaline earth metals were detected mainly in fine and coarse particulates. Detailed analysis of the XPS (C1s) spectra showed that the most common oxygen-containing groups on the PM₁ surface were carbonyl and carboxyl.

Many biologically active compounds have been identified in the mucus of the garden snail Cornu aspersum, which are effective in the treatment of several diseases such as cancer, ulcers, wounds, etc. The incorporation of these compounds into the green synthesis of copper nanoparticles (CuONPs-Muc) was demonstrated in our previous study. Based on the synergistic effect of two reducing agents—C. aspersum snail mucus and ascorbic acid (AsA)—on CuSO₄.5H₂O, which also act as stabilizers of the resulting compound, a new method for the “green” synthesis of CuONPs-Muc is presented. Using two reducing agents has several advantages, such as forming spherical nanoparticles with a diameter of about 150 nm and reducing the formation time of CuONPs-Muc to 3 h. Analyses by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) show the formation of CuONPs-Muc, composed of a mixture of copper and copper oxide. This was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy combined with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Another important advantage of CuONPs obtained by the new method with two reducing agents is the stronger inhibitory effect on the bacterial growth of some Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains, compared to CuONPs-Muc prepared with only one reducing agent, i.e., a fraction of mucus with an MW > 20 kDa.

We report a two-step growth process of MoS₂ nanoflakes using a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition technique. In the first step, a MoS₂ layer was synthesized on a c-plane sapphire substrate. This layer was subsequently re-evaporated at a higher temperature to form mono- or few-layer MoS₂ flakes. As a result, the close proximity re-evaporation enabled the growth of pristine MoS₂ nanoflakes. Atomic force microscopy analysis confirmed the synthesis of nanoclusters/nanoflakes with lateral dimensions of over 10 μm and a flake height of approximately 1.3 nm, demonstrating bi-layer MoS₂, whereas transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed triangular MoS₂ nanoflakes, with a diffraction pattern proving the presence of single crystalline hexagonal MoS₂. Raman data revealed the typical modes of high-quality MoS₂ nanoflakes. Finally, we presented the photocurrent dependence of a MoS₂-based photoresist under illumination with light-emitting diode of 405 nm wavelength. The measured current–voltage dependence across various luminous flux outlined the sensitivity of MoS₂ to polarized light and thus opens further opportunities for applications in high-performance photodetectors with polarization sensitivity.

In the current work, the possibility of the recycling of technogenic CoCrMo material by electron beam melting is investigated. The influence of thermodynamic and kinetic parameters (temperature and melting time) on the behavior of the main components of the alloy (Co, Cr, and Mo) and other elements (Fe, Mn, Si, W, and Nb) present in it, and on the microstructure of the ingots obtained after e-beam processing is studied. The vapor pressure of the alloy is determined taking into account the activities of the main alloy components (Co, Cr, and Mo). The relative volatility of the metal elements present in the alloy was also evaluated. An assessment of the influence of the temperature and the retention time on the degree of elements removal from CoCrMo technogenic material was made. The results obtained show that the highest degree of refining is achieved at 1860 K and a residence time of 20 min. The conducted EDS analysis of the more characteristic phases observed on the SEM images of the samples shows distinct micro-segregation in the matrix composition.

The green synthesis of metal nanoparticles, mediated by extracts from various biological sources, leads to the formation of nanoparticles with unique characteristics and potential biomedical applications. In this study, a fraction of the mucus from the snail Cornu aspersum with MW > 20 kDa was used as a bioreducing and biostabilizing agent to obtain silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in different pH media (pH 1.5, 3.5, and 7.0). The AgNPs were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, XRD, and FTIR. The synthesis at pH 1.5 and pH 3.5 in the presence of two reducing agents (i.e., the C. aspersum mucus fraction with MW > 20 kDa and ascorbic acid [AsA]) resulted in the formation of well-formed spherical nanoparticles (NPs) with larger sizes (20–80 nm) than the NPs obtained at pH 7.0 (20–60 nm) in the presence of only one reducing agent. Furthermore, the biosynthesized AgNPs significantly inhibited the growth of medically significant pathogens such as Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis NBIMCC2353, Bacillus spizizenii ATCC 6633, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, and Listeria innocua NBIMCC8755) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC8739, Salmonella enteitidis NBIMCC8691, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia ATCC 17666) bacteria compared to output mucus.

Sinter-crystallization is a specific method of producing glass-ceramics that allows the manufacture of complexly shaped products, composites and solder. However, it usually is limited when the glass powders used are characterized by a high crystallization trend. This study proposes a new opportunity to improve the sinter-crystallization and demonstrates the benefits of microwave processing using diopside (CaMg(Si₂O₆)) glass-ceramics with an enhanced crystallinity of ~70%. The advantages of microwave processing are shown by comparing the results obtained with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray computed tomography and gas pycnometry for two glass-ceramic specimens. The first sample is obtained in the heat resistant furnace of an optical dilatometer, while the second is obtained by heating it with high-power microwave irradiation at 2.45 GHz, 1kW. Intense crystallization was observed in the sample sintered in an electric furnace, which blocked the sintering process and resulted in significant open porosity (7.1%). In addition, closed pores caused by the crystallization are observed in the centers of the sintered particles (5.2%). At the same time, the overall porosity of the microwave-sintered glass-ceramic is reduced by about two times, and the open porosity is practically eliminated (0.5%). In this sample, together with the crystallization-induced pores, some residual closed spherical pores, typical for a well-sintered sample, are also observed.