A new term in chemical engineering: IoNanofluid

The term IoNanofluid has been applied to designate an ionic liquid that contains small quantities of dispersed nanomaterials such as multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) [1]. IoNanofluids are of interest in the design of advanced liquid coolants and heat transfer fluids. Thermal conductivity and heat storage capacity of conventionally used liquids is poor. Systems resulting from combination of ionic liquids—many of which are thermally stable, nonflammable and nonvolatile under ambient conditions—and nanomaterials (metal nanoparticles or carbon nanotubes) are currently investigated as nanofluids, in which the thermal conductivity is much higher than in the pure liquid.

Thermodynamic properties and related information of some ionic liquid candidates for future IoNanofluids are available in publications that have been included in the ThermoML Archive; for example:

• 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate
  ([C₆mim][BF₄], CASRN: 244193-50-8)
• 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate
  ([C₄mim][PF₆], CASRN: 174501-64-5)
• 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate
  ([C₆mim][PF₆], CASRN: 304680-35-1)
• 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate
  ([C₄mim][CF₃SO₃], CASRN: 174899-66-2)
• 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide
  ([C₄mpyrr][NTf₂], CASRN: 223437-11-4)
  

Reference
[1] C. A. Nieto de Castro, M. J. V. Lourenço, A. P. C. Ribeiro, E. Langa, S. I. C. Vieira, P. Goodrich and C. Hardacre: Thermal Properties of Ionic Liquids and IoNanofluids of Imidazolium and Pyrrolidinium Liquids. J. Chem. Eng. Data 2010, 55 (2), pp. 653-661. DOI: 10.1021/je900648p.

Accountability—a matter of words?

Yet another of those three-countries Q&A jokes:
Question: What is the difference between a failing, firm-destroying CEO in Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States?
Answer: The Japanese CEO commits suicide (harikari, also harakiri or seppuku), the British CEO politely resigns and the American CEO fights over the size if his (seldom her) bonuses.

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics, uses this comparison (the presentation here is slightly modified) of consequence-drawings to contrast individualism (the latter CEO) against individual responsibility (the other two). In the chapter “Toward a New Society” in his book entitled FREEFALL [1], he illustrates how accountability seems to be just a matter of words—words often used to deny one's responsibility for the consequences of actions such as irresponsibly luring others into non-transparent high-risk undertakings of the financial kind.

One conclusion towards doing the “right thing” and getting a grip on accountability is to measure performance: What you measure is what you value, and vice versa! Of course, you need to define your measurement—again a matter of words, but also of theory and desired objectives. Anyway, don't just leave it to the CEOs.

Reference
[1] Joseph E. Stiglitz: Freefall • America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy. W. W. Norton & Company, New York and London, 2010 (the 3-CEOs-page: 282).

Cryoconite, a dust discovered and named by arctic explorer Nils A. E. Nordenskiöld in 1870

Cryoconite is a dark, powdery dust transported by wind and deposited on the surface of snow or ice [1]. It was discovered and named by arctic explorer Nils A. E. Nordenskiöld during his visit to the Greenland ice sheet in 1870 [2]. Human activities have increased the amount of black soot in cryoconite since Nordenskiöld's days, and global warming has given it new importance.

As Mark Jenkins in a recent Greenland article [2] explains: “Cryoconite begins as airborne sediment spread over the ice by wind. It is composed of mineral dust sucked up from as far away as Central Asian deserts, particles from volcanic eruptions, and soot. The soot particles come from fires both natural and man-made, diesel engines, and coal-fired power plants.” Cryoconite is often found in cryoconite holes, which are water filled cylindrical melt-holes on glacial ice surface [3]. Besides Greenland, cryoconite has been found in Antarctica, Canada, Tibet and the Himalaya mountains.

The name cryoconite also defines a mineral mixture composed of garnet, sillimanite, zircon, pyroxene, quartz and other components [1].

References
[1] Dictionary of Geology & Mineralogy. Second Edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, 2003.
[2] Mark Jenkins: Melt Zone: Dust lands, icemelts, rubber duckies drown. National Geographic June 2010, Volume 217 , Number 6, pp. 34-47.
[3] Cryoconite hole.

Annabergite, a mineral named after the town Annaberg, named after the patron saint of the miners

Annabergite is a hydrated nickel arsenate mineral named after the town Annaberg, which is located about twenty miles south of the city of Chemnitz (formerly Karl-Marx-Stadt) in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) in Saxony, Germany. Since 1945, Annaberg is part of the twin towns Annaberg-Buchholz. Annaberg was named in 1495 after a local chapel devoted to Saint Anna, the patron of miners [1]. The name Annaberg, then Sankt Annabergk, gained further acceptance when the Late-Gothic church, the St.-Annen Kirche, was built. In addition to its namesake place, annabergite is found in nearby mines at Schneeberg and Marienberg [2,3]. Annabergite crystals and special specimens now come from places around the world, including mines in Austria, Slovakia, Russia, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Canada, Arizona, Mexico, Central America, South America, Tsamania, China and Japan [2].

Annabergite is a green mineral. Its formula is Ni₃(AsO₄)₂·8H₂O; however some nickel atoms may be replaced by cobalt atoms: (Ni,Co)₃(AsO₄)₂·8H₂O [4]. Annabergite belongs to the vivianite group, which contains structurally related minerals such as erythrite (hydrated cobalt arsenate), kottigite (hydrated zinc arsenate) and the group-name-giving mineral vivianite (hydrated iron phosphate).

Annabergite is also known as nickel bloom or nickel ocher. Its German name is Annabergit and the term Nickelblüte (nickel bloom) is also used.

Keywords: mineralogy, history, etymology, synonyms

References
[1] Duden Taschenbücher • Geographische Namen in Deutschland • Herkunft und Bedeutung der Namen von Ländern, Städten, Bergen und Gewässern. 2., übearbeitete Auflage von Dieter Berger, Dudenverlag, Mannheim, 1999.
[2]. Robert B. Cook: Annabergite. Rocks & Minerals March/April 2010, Volume 85, pp. 154-159.
[3]. Annabergite at www.mindat.org/min-240.html.
[4] Dictionary of Geology & Mineralogy. Second Edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, 2003.

Menezesite, a mineral named after Brazilian mining engineer and collector Luiz Menezes

Menezesite is a mineral named in honor of Luiz Alberto Dias Menezes Filho, a Brazilian mining engineer, mineral collector and mineral dealer (born 1950 in São Paulo, Brazil), who is credited with the discovery of seven other new mineral species [1,2]. The mineral is found in the Jacupiranga mine, Cajati, São Paulo state, associated with dolomite, calcite, magnetite, clinohumite, phlogopite, ancylite-(Ce), strontianite, pyrite, and tochilinite [3].

Menezenite is composed of alkaline earth and transition metal atoms including barium, magnesium, niobium and zirconium and further contains hydrogen and oxygen atoms. It is the first-known natural heteropolyniobate [3]:
Ba₂MgZr₄(BaNb₁₂O₄₂)·12H₂O with some Ba atoms enclosed in a cage of NbO₆ octahedra forming [BaNb₁₂O₄₂]^10- anions. Menezesite has a hardness of 4 on the Mohs scale. It forms rhombododecahedral crystals with a reddish-brown to brownish-red color and a vitreous luster.

Synonym for menezesite: IMA2005-023 [2].

Keywords: mineralogy, mineral species, heteropolyniobate, heteropolyanion

References and further reading
[1] Peter Tarassoff: Luiz Menezes (b. 1950). Rocks and Minerals March/April 2010, Volume 85, pp. 151-153.
[2] Menezesite at www.mindat.org/min-27607.html.
[3] D. Atencio, J. M. V. Coutinho, A. C. Doriguetto, Y. P. Mascarenhas, J. Ellena and V. C. Ferrari: Menezesite, the first natural heteropolyniobate, from Cajati, São Paulo, Brazil: Description and crystal structure. American Mineralogist January 2008, Volume 93, pp. 81-87. Abstract.

Postperovskite, a high-density material named after the mineral perovskite

Perovskite, CaTiO₃, is a naturally occurring mineral with a hardness of 5.5 on Mohs scale and a specific gravity of 4.0 [1]. It was first found in the Ural mountains. This mineral is named after the Russian mineralogist L. A. Perovski (1792-1856) [2]. The name perovskite also stands for the class of compounds which have the same type of crystal structure as perovskite. This perovskite structure is, for example, found in magnesium silicate (MgSiO₃), which makes up 70 percent (by weight) of the perovskite layer in earth's lower mantle [3].

Postperovskite is a synthetic material or material phase observed in the laboratory under high temperature and very high pressure simulating conditions at the deep-earth boundary between the lower mantle and the outer core. Kei Hirose tells the story of its discovery and name [3]. Here, an excerpt about its name and relation to known crystalline materials is selected:

We decided to name the new phase postperovskite. (Strictly speaking, it is not a mineral, because it has yet to be found in nature.) As it turns out, its structure is essentially identical to that of two known crystals, uranium ferrous sulfate (UFeS₃) and calcium iridiate (CaIrO₃), which are stable under ambient conditions. And our direct measurements have shown that the density of postperovskite is indeed higher than that of perovskite, by 1 to 1.5 percent.

A postperovskite layer is assumed to exist in the inner earth at a depth of 2,600 to 2,900 km, as a phase that is formed by transformation of perovskite. Interestingly, this layer at the lowermost mantle could not have been formed in the “early earth” (2.3 billion years ago and before) when temperatures were too hot.

Keywords: earth sciences, mineralogy, earth mantle, crystal structure, high pressure, calcium titanium oxide, magnesium silicate

References
[1] Dictionary of Geology & Mineralogy. McGraw Hill. Second Edition. 2003.
[2] http://webmineral.com/data/Perovskite.shtml.
[3] Kei Hirose: The Earth's Missing Ingredient. Scientific American June 2010, Volume 302, Number 6, pp. 76-83.

Atlantic Puffins and puffineers

The word puffineer is derived from the noun puffin, denoting seabird species in the auk family (Alcinae). During summer months, puffineers live in the midst of seabird colonies on islands off the coast of Maine [1], where they study the Atlantic Puffin. This bird species was almost extinct along the coast of the northeastern Unites States, but has successfully been re-introduced.

The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) is also known as the Common Puffin. The Atlantic Puffin's Range stretches from Novaya Zemlya, Svalbard, Norway, Iceland, the United Kingdom, and Ireland to Greenland and eastern Canada. Six nesting sites, such as Eastern Egg Rock, are currently established in Maine.

Nicknames for the Atlantic Puffins are “sea parrot” and “clown of the ocean,” referring to the circus-style behavior with a wobbly, slapstick walk and the colorful, facial markings. The German name, for example, is Papageitaucher [2], meaning diving parrot. Is there a German word for puffineer? Maybe the composed noun Papageitauchkundler.

References
[1] Michelle Nijhuis: Comeback! Thanks to a young biologist's unconventional ideas, Atlantic puffins have returned to the United States. Smithsonian Magazine June 2010, Volume 41, Number 3, pp. 58-65.
[2] Grzimeks Tierleben • Achter Band • Vögel 2, page 233.