Sound mapping and acoustic simulations in the implementation of the northern stretch of the Green Line in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

The present study aims to study environmental noise pollution in areas close to the northern stretch of the Green Line, in Curitiba, PR, Brazil, which has a length of approximately 8 km. For this purpose, in situ measurements of sound levels were carried out and noise pollution was evaluated through the calculation of noise maps in addition to acoustic simulations. Measurements were recorded at 16 points following the guidelines of the NBR 10151. Acoustic maps were made for each point using proper acoustic software. The aim was to verify whether measured values were within a margin error of up to 4.6 dB(A) compared to simulated values. After validating the maps and verifying the noise pollution at the selected points, one of the points, which is close to a hospital, was analyzed alone to evaluate different simulation scenarios. The selected scenarios were replacement of common asphalt for one with porous properties; 90% restriction on the quantity of heavy vehicles; reduction of average speed of vehicles from 80 km/h to 60 km/h; 50% restriction on the number of vehicles of all categories; and acoustic situation of the site, including all the measurements proposed in the previous scenarios. All scenarios presented in this work reveal that the measurements adopted were not sufficient to reach 55 dB(A) near sensitive areas such as hospitals. They also show that just one control measure is not enough to lower noise efficiently. A plan with several joint measures is needed to alleviate the problem.

The Analysis of Pore Development and Formation of Surface Functional Groups in Bamboo-Based Activated Carbon during CO2 Activation

Pore development and the formation of oxygen functional groups were studied for activated carbon prepared from bamboo (Bambusa bambos) using a two-step activation with CO2, as functions of carbonization temperature and activation conditions (time and temperature). Results show that activated carbon produced from bamboo contains mostly micropores in the pore size range of 0.65 to 1.4 nm. All porous properties of activated carbons increased with the increase in the activation temperature over the range from 850 to 950 °C, but decreased in the temperature range of 950 to 1000 °C, due principally to the merging of neighboring pores. The increase in the activation time also increased the porous properties linearly from 60 to 90 min, which then dropped from 90 to 120 min. It was found that the carbonization temperature played an important role in determining the number and distribution of active sites for CO2 gasification during the activation process. Empirical equations were proposed to conveniently predict all important porous properties of the prepared activated carbons in terms of carbonization temperature and activation conditions. Oxygen functional groups formed during the carbonization and activation steps of activated carbon synthesis and their contents were dependent on the preparation conditions employed. Using Boehm’s titration technique, only phenolic and carboxylic groups were detected for the acid functional groups in both the chars and activated carbons in varying amounts. Empirical correlations were also developed to estimate the total contents of the acid and basic groups in activated carbons in terms of the carbonization temperature, activation time and temperature.

Key Parameters to Tailor Hollow Silica Nanospheres for a Type I Porous Liquid Synthesis: Optimized Structure and Accessibility

Based on silica hollow nanospheres grafted with an ionic shell, silica-based type I porous liquids remain poorly exploited, despite their huge versatility. We propose here to explore the main synthesis step of these promising materials with a thorough characterization approach to evaluate their structural and porous properties. Modifying the main synthesis parameter, the mechanism of the spheres’ formation is clarified and shows that the calcination temperature, the surfactant concentration as well as the micelle swelling agent concentration allow tuning not only the size of the nanospheres and internal cavities, but also the silica shell microporosity and, therefore, the accessibility of the internal cavities. This study highlights the key parameters of hollow silica nanospheres, which are at the basis of type I porous liquids synthesis with optimized structural and porous properties.

Influence of Evaporation Drying on the Porous Properties of Carbon/Carbon Composite Xerogels

Carbon/carbon (C/C) composite xerogels dried by evaporation were prepared in this study to observe the change of their porous properties and their morphology by nitrogen sorption apparatus and a scanning electron microscope. Resorcinol and formaldehyde (RF) sols as a matrix phase and cotton fibers (CF) as a dispersed phase were mixed and gelated to be CF/RF composite hydrogels. The composite hydrogels were exchanged by t-butanol (TBA), dried by evaporation at 50 °C, and carbonized at 1000 °C to become the C/C composite xerogels. The results show that the CF addition does not decrease the mesoporous properties of the C/C composite xerogels. Moreover, the CF addition can alleviate the pore shrinkage, and it can maintain the mesopore structure. The mesopore size and the micropore size of C/C composites are insignificantly changed because the CF addition and the solvent exchange using TBA may suppress the pore shrinkage despite the gas-liquid interface existing during the evaporation drying.