Low- and intermediate-level (L/ILW) radioactive waste produced in Switzerland consists of large amounts of 14C-containing irradiated steel. 14C will be released during the anoxic corrosion of the steel in the cementitious near field of an L/ILW repository. In this study, a corrosion experiment with irradiated steel was carried out to determine the speciation of 14C released during the corrosion process in conditions similar to those anticipated in the near field of a cement-based repository. The development of the experimental setup, including installation of the reactor and development of suitable analytical methods based on compound-specific 14C analysis with accelerator mass spectrometry (CSRA AMS) is reported. Time-dependent increase in the total content of 14C-bearing organic compounds in solution (TO14C) was determined by AMS and the main organic corrosion products that are 14C-bearing formate, acetate and lactate were identified by CSRA AMS after a pre-concentration step. The concentration of the 14C-bearing organic compounds was found to be very low (fmol to pmol 14C/L). Stable carbon compounds were identified and quantified while the source of stable carbon in the system has not yet been identified and the temporal evolution of the concentration of these carbon species is presently not understood.

The increasing presence of pesticides in natural ecosystems has stimulated research to look for improved adsorbent materials which can be used to remediate and prevent soil and water contamination by these compounds. Among the different materials that have been assayed as adsorbents of pesticides are natural clay minerals, particularly 2:1 phyllosilicates and their structurally complementary synthetic analogues layered double hydroxides (LDHs). The great interest in natural clays and LDHs as adsorbent materials is mainly related to the large specific surface areas associated with their layered structure, the ease with which they are obtained or synthesized, and the possibility of modifying their surfaces to increase their affinity for specific adsorbates. This review summarizes the adsorptive properties of natural clays and LDHs for pesticides and related organic compounds. Particular emphasis is given to the surface modification of clay minerals and LDHs with organic ions as a strategy to improve the efficiency of these materials as pesticide adsorbents. Potential applications of unmodified and modified clays and LDHs as adsorbents to prevent and remediate soil and water contamination by pesticides are also discussed.

The heteroaryl-substituted triazolopyridines 3-phenyl-7-(pyrazin-2-yl)-[1,2,3]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridine (2) and 3-[6-(pyridazin-3-yl)-pyridin-2-yl]-[1,2,3]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridine (4) have been synthesized and characterized (by HRMS, IR, 1H and 13C NMR, XRPD, melting point). The crystal structures have been solved from laboratory powder X-ray diffraction data with the direct-space strategy TALP for molecular compounds based on fast local least-squares minimizations. The crystal structure confirmed the formation of the tridentate compound 4 from a ring chain isomerization process. The almost planar arrangement of atoms in both the structures favors the presence of intermolecular π–π interactions, although weak C–H···N electrostatic interactions seem to be also important for the stabilization of the structure. Powder diffraction data have also proved to be sensible enough to determine the relative rotations of the six-membered rings despite the weak difference in scattering power between C and N atoms.

Here we report the preparation of functionalized latexes with isocyanate groups through an emulsion terpolymerization of BA/St/TMI. The emulsions were stabilized with two surfactants, EF-800 or MA-80; the TMI acted as a self crosslinked promoter during the film formation. We found a strong dependence of surfactant type in particle size and particle number. Moreover colloidal stability of latexes by a period of time was different, and the best colloidal stability was obtained with EF-800 surfactant. Swell index and mechanical properties of latex films were studied.

The influence of three organic compounds and bakers' dry yeast on growth of external mycelium and phosphorus uptake of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices Schenck & Smith (BEG 87) was examined. Two experiments were carried out in compartmentalized growth systems with root-free sand or soil compartments. The sand and soil in the root-free compartments were left untreated or uniformly mixed with one of the following substrates (0.5 mg g−1 soil): bakers' dry yeast, bovine serum albumin, starch or cellulose. Effects of the organic substrates on biomass and hyphal length density of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus were examined by using specific fatty acid signatures in combination with direct microscopy. Micro-organisms other than the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus were measured by fatty acid signatures, and radioactive 33P labelling of the root-free soil was used to determine arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphal phosphorus uptake. In general, hyphal growth of G. intraradices was enhanced by yeast and bovine serum albumin, whereas the carbon sources, starch and cellulose, depressed fungal growth. By analysing the fatty acid 16[ratio ]1ω5 from phospholipids (indicating mycelium) and neutral lipids (indicating storage structures) it was shown that increased fungal growth due to yeast was mainly in vegetative hyphae and less in storage structures. Arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphal phosphorus uptake was decreased by cellulose, but unaffected by the other substrates compared with the control. This means that both growth and phosphorus transport by the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus were decreased under cellulose treatment. However, the composition of the microbial community varied under different substrate conditions indicating a possible interactive component with arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphal growth and phosphorus uptake.