#Metal-organic Frameworks

[civilmentor1]

Current Affairs - 2 September 2024

1.World Gold Council (WGC) Syllabus: GS2/ International Organisation Context The World Gold Council (WGC) has raised its projection for India’s gold consumption in 2024 to 850 tonnes from 750 tonnes. World Gold Council (WGC) WGC is an international trade association for the gold industry formed in 1987 by some of the world’s most forward-thinking mining companies. Governance: The World Gold…

[chematix]

Makes me think of elementary school classroom posters

DOI: 10.1021 acsenergylett.9b02625

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Porous gas-adsorbing materials reveal hidden softness

A team of researchers has reshaped our understanding of developing gas storage materials known as porous coordination polymers (PCPs), which is also known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Their study, published in Communications Materials, shows that the first PCP reported in 1997 adsorbed a substantial amount of gas and was also a "soft" PCP—a category of flexible PCPs that scientists thought had only been developed more recently. This finding offers new insights into the evolution of these materials and paves the way for future research and applications. PCPs feature a network of metal ions linked by organic molecules, creating many tiny pores. The pores enable PCPs to trap and store gases and liquids, making them valuable for various applications.

Read more.

[whats-in-a-sentence]

MOFs offer a potential solution to this gas separation problem as their pore volumes and surface functionalities can be tuned to preferentially separate one gas from another (figure 6.9).

"Chemistry" 2e - Blackman, A., Bottle, S., Schmid, S., Mocerino, M., Wille, U.

[tenth-sentence]

In addition, the ability to systematically modulate the pore dimensions and surface chemistry within MOFs is a feature that was previously largely absent in zeolite materials.

"Chemistry" 2e - Blackman, A., Bottle, S., Schmid, S., Mocerino, M., Wille, U.

[mindblowingscience]

Plastic waste breaks down over time into nanoplastics (<0.1 μm). Microplastics smaller than 20 μm cannot be removed in currently operating water treatment plants and must be agglomerated to a larger size and then removed. Iron (Fe) or aluminum (Al) based flocculants are used for this purpose, but they are not the ultimate solution as they remain in the water and cause severe toxicity to humans, requiring a separate treatment process. Dr. Jae-Woo Choi of the Center for Water Cycle Research at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has developed an eco-friendly metal-organic skeleton-based solid flocculant that can effectively aggregate nanoplastics under visible light irradiation. The research was published in Water Research. Prussian blue, a metal-organic frameworks-based substance made by adding iron (III) chloride to a potassium ferrocyanide solution, is the first synthetic pigment used to dye jeans a deep blue color and has recently been used to adsorb cesium, a radioactive element, from Japanese nuclear plant wastewater.

Continue Reading.

[pixies-and-poets]

Smithy Gang Headcanons

Hi, friends! I'm extremely grateful for the positive feedback on The Forging, and definitely want to write more SMRPG stuff; I've just been working on other priorities lately. However, my brain has been busy churning stuff over, even if I haven't had the time to sit down and write a story yet.

So I wanted to jot down some of my headcanons for the Smithy gang, specifically the forging order of the main members. I thought of a sequence where Smithy created each as a response to shortcomings he saw in their predecessors. This timeline will serve as a framework from which I can write future stories.

I don't think there's anything here that goes directly against canon, but I'm not as much of an SMRPG expert as I am with some other games lol, so feel free to tell me if there's some kind of Japanese-only line that contradicts me. Also let me know your own ideas if you want!! I am new to being a proper fan in this fandom :P

First, some general notes: I don't really have a good definition for who Smithy himself is, where he came from, or what his world is like, and I don't know if I ever will, since I find some degree of ominous mystery to be more interesting. Also - while I've seen the Gang described as "robots", while that may be true in a sense, I think of them more as "constructs" - I don't think they're powered by wires or circuitry or anything like that, but rather arcane magic. They are not powered by AI, even in the sense that a more nuanced and self-aware robo-sentience might be (see examples in the Marioverse: TEC, Beep-0, JEANIE), but a more traditional type of consciousness/soul that Smithy has learned to work with, as if it were yet another material. (This isn't abnormal for the Mario world, where we already have living bullets and bombs and the like- and in an ironic twist, also makes them somewhat similar to Geno, who is a consciousness inhabiting a form that would not produce sentience or mobility on its own.)

This isn't really a fic, although it's long enough to be one, lol. I hope you enjoy!

First there was Exor; but Smithy did not create him. In fact, Exor was Smithy's beloved blade, the reason for his obsession with living weapons in the first place. But Exor is a being even more ancient than Smithy, who just happened to bond with him in his lifetime. The sword can grow to a massive size, and is never truly destroyed, but will reappear and reforge itself throughout history. The otherworldly creature that attached itself to Exor and brought it to life has been known to some as the Neosquid.

Now Smithy, in a sense, was his own first experiment - gradually replacing his organic parts with malleable metal, not only to extend his own life, but to make himself more suited for a variety of purposes. This was a process that never really had an end, as he was always experimenting, creating new heads for himself. But when he was satisfied enough with his initial efforts, Smithy sought to create life in his own image, and in the image of his beloved Exor. Among other adventures, he spent time in Subcon, the Land of Dreams, studying the enigmatic nature of consciousness - at least enough so that he could harness some of its unfathomable magic for his own ends.

Boomer was the first of Smithy's prized creations (yes, because I like the idea of the one called "Boomer" being the oldest). Originally created to provide a sort of companionship to Smithy in the form of strategic advisory and being a bodyguard- and also to provide friendship, although Smithy would never admit it. Over time, Smithy became distracted with his newer and flashier works, and grew tired of Boomer's overly serious and staid nature. Though their relationship has grown distant, Boomer's fondness, gratitude and loyalty for his creator has never faltered, and he will defend Smithy to the very last of his existence. In turn, Smithy has never put forth plans for machine-made Boomers- the younger creations speculate it's because he's too outdated a model for this to be worth it, but perhaps it's because even now, Smithy considers him irreplaceable.

Bowyer was the next-forged. Smithy sought to make a commander who represented a long-range weapon, to contrast with Boomer's katana; and also a more creative and inventive personality to offset Boomer's traditionalist and unadventurous nature. When Bowyer was born, Smithy found that he had accidentally gone way too far (in his opinion) in this new direction, leading to a creation that was so erratic he refused to even speak like those around him. Smithy found Bowyer a hard-to-control troublemaker who would rarely listen to him (or Boomer) and seemed unhappy most of the time, not fitting in with the world he had been forged into. Bowyer would also leave arrows all over the place, sticking out of random things in the weapon world - this is when Smithy had the bright idea to create arrows with consciousness, so they could return to their leader on their own. To Smithy and Boomer's surprise, Bowyer became a lot more joyful and content when he met his little Aeros, and they all became an inseparable entourage.

Smithy became creatively blocked while trying to think of his next big project, largely due to the stress of Bowyer's early behavior. Instead, he came up with a number of smaller-time minions, some of which were the Shymores, based on the Shy Guys he had observed during the time he had spent in Subcon. The Shymores were a playfully destructive group, and after seeing Bowyer's happiness with the Aeros, Smithy decided to forge a creation who was destined to be a leader from the outset; and also one with a mischievous streak, yet toned down from Bowyer. And so he made Claymorton, who later called himself Mack. He was a beloved leader to his rowdy group, but perhaps too social- he ended up neglecting his own training, preferring to play and mess around with his friends, and thus never became very strong on his own.

By now, Smithy was growing frustrated by the failures and flaws that he saw in the personalities of his creations. He decided to think extra hard about the character of his next project: this would be someone who could work completely independently - brilliant, shrewd, capable of powerful magic spells and illusions. Yet Smithy made sure to write in an unflinching loyalty to himself into the new creation's code, so to speak. And lo: at first Speardovich seemed everything Smithy could have ever wanted. Proud, powerful, but knowing his place. He needed no minions, and thus was never distracted, as he could split his own form and consciousness so that one being could do the work of many. He might appear to be older than Bowyer and Claymorton, but in fact he is technically not; he was just created from the outset to be more mature, with the moustache to prove it. And yet, over time, the cracks in this personality began to show. Speary was pompous and did not get along with the other creations when necessity called them to work together. And his respect for Smithy manifested as simpering; a begging for praise and attention which the smith found increasingly unbearable. He was always coming up with unasked-for ideas and input, such as: perhaps all the machine-made units could take the name of a spear in a different language, and "speardovich" could be their overall model name, and that he quite liked Yaridovich for himself personally, and perhaps it would be alright if- but no, Smithy would have none of it. While at first he had beamed with joy at this newest creation, he soon enough kept him at arm's length (or spear's length?) as well.

Finally, Smithy hit upon a brilliant idea - his next creation would be a group of (mostly) equals who could depend on each other without a major power imbalance, keep each other entertained, and stay out of his hair. The Axem Rangers were born, all bearing an energetic and youthful personality which they are still yet to grow out of. They were given control of the Blade, and sent to scout various worlds. They often picked up slang and brought home entertainment from the places they visited, and developed a countless number of inside jokes. The other commanders, and especially Smithy himself and Boomer, found it hard to keep up with them. However, Smithy considered their existence a big success, and remained very proud of them- although this might be due to the fact that he ended up not having to interact with them that much.

...So, that's what I have for now! I'm not sure where all of the Factory enemies fit into this; based on their descriptions, I think Clerk/Manager/Director aren't creations of Smithy, but are the same species as him and recruited from his homeworld. Same with the Chief, aside from possibly not being the same species. Smaller minions like jabits and the hammers would be produced at various points that aren't super relevant to this larger narrative. Count Down was probably made as a fun side-project when Smithy wanted to take a break from weapons per se, and see what he could do with an object like a clock. Gunyolk was confirmed to be created by the Chief. And Cloaker and Domino are weird outliers; I want to say they would be among some of the first things Smithy made, or the latest, in some kind of more abstract and experimental period.

Again - let me know your thoughts and ideas!

[liceparade]

the scene between johnny nuking arasaka and getting soulkilled always bothered the hell outta me bc like. this is the first time we meet saburo and he's staring out at the mushroom cloud and i mean, that's an instantly resonant image with both 9/11 and the bombings at hiroshima and nagasaki, right. and so i assumed this was deliberately framed by the game as like, an insight into saburo's motives for complete control (Never Again, basically) and that it would like, grapple with the tower attack memorial and the ramifications of johnny's actions later but it...really doesn't, by in large.

it bothers me. at the time of playthrough i chalked it up to an explicit failure of the game to deal meaningfully with atrocity, and for the most part i still feel that is missing from the story.

but thinking about it more, and reading generously--alt tells V explicitly in their conversation beyond the blackwall that johnny's recollections are unreliable, and the off-screen knowledge of key facts that differ from johnny's memories. namely, that morgan blackhand led the charge and shaitan attacked smasher, not johnny; that johnny didn't unplug and kill alt exactly like that, though he and rogue et al. did unwittingly contribute to her death and imprisonment by arasaka; that johnny had likely been killed by smasher before being soulkilled, so this whole memory could be a fabrication.

taken together, these points of unreliability suggest that 50 years in Mikoshi have amplified johnny's self-aggrandizement and guilt, giving himself a locus of control he never had. he attacked the tower, he killed alt, he is the butcher of blaviken.

so with a really generous stretch, this confrontation with saburo could be read as staging of johnny's complex feelings of guilt, helplessness, rage at having been violated by soukiller and tortured in Mikoshi, and twisted pride at having left his mark--a violent, bloody mark--on the world.

another, more tenuous point: character design. another thing that snagged my attention was how johnny's character model has tower attack-related tattoos in the flashbacks leading up to the tower attack. this might be for game design reasons, idk. the relic has essentially recompiled all the engram's memories, but since he died before he got a chance to hit up the ripperdoc for a commemorative tattoo, i think it can be read as a subconscious symbol. (the G20 motif could be a reference to August 20th, the date of the tower attack, so i liberally interpreted all three tattoos as tower-related).

there's obviously a tie-in to the game's running use of tarot symbology. i don't pretend to know anything about tarot, so i'll leave more complex thoughts in that vein to someone who knows more.

i'll similarly spare you any posturing about homeric ekphrasis, but it's notable that johnny's metal arm might be of arasaka make (he's tellingly tried to scratch off the logo), which creates a strange parity of imagery: the mechanical arm, from which johnny takes his stage name moniker, was installed by arasaka during his military service, but his subconscious has populated his organic arm with symbols of his violent, but ultimately self-defeating rebellion.

to me, this evokes an framework theme: johnny, the man and the engram, is as much an artifact of arasaka as he is a paragon of hyperindividualized counterculture. arasaka created him, in more ways than one. reckless, unchecked corporate subjugation seeded violent rebellion. in turn, johnny's methods are their methods, albeit with more forthrightness: he is ruthless, callous, paranoid, and habitually dominates everyone around him, even those closest. by the time he turns to rogue for help, we see he's alienated or turned on everyone his rebellion could meaningfully be for, notably including himself--even though he does mean to escape with spider and rogue, his final act as a living man is essentially self-destruction.

"protecting the things you love instead of destroying what you hate" may sound trite when stated so plainly, but this is the journey he undergoes with V.

his fundamental failure that sets the rest in motion is his failure to protect alt--not in chauvinist, damsel-in-distress sense, though that does factor in, but to know her for who she is, not as an extension of himself (as rilke says: love that greets, borders and protects). in his conversation with thompson (the journo) at the ripperdoc, he reveals he doesn't even know the extent to which she's famous netrunner and assumes arasaka must be there for him. we don't know their relationship outside of that scene, and it isn't any moral or personal failing of his that he can't save alt, but it is his continuous and pervasive failure to fundamentally know or understand her as she was that sets into motion all the rest of his destruction.

which leads to my conclusion: that despite the flaws of the tower attack premise and staging invoking real-life death and tragedy, it is a core strength of the narrative that johnny's character arc isn't one of atonement, but one of learning in death to live, with and for others.

[south-sea]

Prompt: Dancing with a partner or by themselves

Metal learns by example. (QPR Metadow)

~635 words

-

In the den sits an old woodgrain CRT TV, vintage yet pristine as if plucked from time itself. On its small screen, an actress dances in black and white with her co-star. He twirls her, and she laughs. The music swells, the two slow to step in time, and she lays her head on his shoulder. The frame cuts—they stand hand in delicate hand.

Shadow is not one much for romanticism in any sense. His definition (or lack of) of his own relationship is not romantic, and he does not seek out media to supplant what he "lacks". The TV had been a gift, the movie one of many along with it—the combination of monochrome and crackling audio a comforting salve to nostalgia. He watches with drowsy half-lidded eyes and a relative lack of investment this late in the evening.

It's noise; a rare way to occupy his time and mind on a night when nightmares are surely all that wait to welcome him in his sleep.

If there is one thing Metal Sonic is not, it is "spontaneous". His moods do not ebb and flow when at rest. He does not consume media and it does not consume him—the moods and atmosphere of what is shown on screen do not affect him. But he watches the framework, the technicalities, the cinematography as a whole, and he observes. He watches the people, and he learns, and he processes, and he calculates. He watches the pattern of the actors' steps, fills in the gaps not shown on screen in descending order of probability, cross-references the information with internal internet searches.

It is called a waltz, he learns. The pattern is measured, precise. Predictable. All things he can appreciate in their relatability.

Shadow draws in a weary breath, runs his paws along his face in the way he does when disquieted with existence at large, and makes to lean into his housemate's side.

Metal does not give him the chance. Before Shadow can fully commit to the lean, Metal is already standing, turned to face him, a hand outstretched with tactile sensors alight and expectant. The look and head-tilt he receives in return is one of curious suspicion, and yet Shadow trustingly places his paw in waiting steel anyway, and allows himself to be pulled to his feet.

The spin to reposition them more safely into the middle of the room is not rushed, the leading steps are not hurried. Metal guides him, takes up that organically delicate paw in his own, places the other comfortably beneath the spines of his now dance-partner's back. Shadow eyes him with a mixture of questioning wariness at first, and then their measured steps aligns his vision with the TV again.

So that's what it is.

The movie's score eases into a melody almost made for the moment. If he didn't know any better, he might have guessed this was planned. But he knows it wasn't, and Metal doesn't pretend it was.

The waltz is intuitive after the first few turns, Shadow finds. Metal's lead is measured, precise, predictable. They fall into a perfect rhythm, and he's lulled into a state of comfort and calm mercilessly different from the tension that came before.

When Metal swings him around with extra vigor bordering on uncharacteristic spontaneity, he can't help but break into an uneven grin.

When Metal does it again, he laughs.

And when Metal meets the top of his forehead with the front of his would-be muzzle, he relaxes into his hold, slipping to the side to rest his head in the crook between Metal's cheek and shoulder pad.

Their already slow steps slow and slow some more, until all that's left is gentle rocking side to side together, hand in delicate hand.

Nightmares wait another day to trouble Shadow's sleep.

[slugcatmusings]

Iterators = Colonial Organisms

I’ve been thinking a lot about the iterators lately.  Not any one in particular, nope, I’ve just – been thinking about their biology/structure.  How they might’ve been built, what they’re made of, how the frick the Ancients made them so big that they built entire skyscraper cities on, etc.  First two things are most interesting to me though, how do you build an iterator?  What’s the process there?  How do the metal and organic bits fit together?  Are their metal parts even metal at all, because Pebbles’ robot cancer seems to be mutating directly out of the metal????  

Probably not, honestly.  Because metal can’t get cancer.  It’s probably, I dunno, weird bone or something.

ANYWAY I think iterators are colonial organisms, like siphonophores. Think the Man ‘o War jellyfish – it’s actually not one creature, but a bunch of physically connected creatures, each with a specialized purpose that helps all the other creatures around it survive, and all working together.  You’ve got critters that work as a digestive system, others for respiratory or circulatory, others that act as the outer shell/layer/skin, others that act as a skeletal framework, that kind of thing.  

Iterators are like that, but on a MUCH larger scale, built by human(?) hands, and maybe with some fully mechanical parts mixed in here and there.  I mean, just look at these examples of what all we definitely know they have:

Neuron flies, which store memories and I think carry signals/messages between other neural organisms.

Those weird red squiggly things that grow out of some walls and free-drift in other places – I’ve seen neurons connect to the tendrils coming off those things and give off little electrical flashes so those are more neural organisms.

The small hair-like tendrils that glow blue growing out of the wall are probably another version of the red squiggly things.

Inspectors are DEFINITELY acting as the immune system here.  They attack you if you grab/harm neuron flies, they just throw spears and toss you around instead of eating you alive like OUR immune cells usually do.

Those weird red structures attended to by lil white spidery things in the Memory Conflux of Five Pebbles are probably some kind of long-term memory storage, considering the title of the sub-region.

On top of these, we’ve probably got some sort of circulatory system equivalent – in some places you can hear what sounds a bit like a heartbeat pulsing in the background.  (Just, you know, if you were hearing it from right outside the vessel walls and hearing all the liquid rushing past on every beat.)  There’s probably some sort of specialized system for sucking up and processing the water that the iterators canonically use as coolant, ending in some sort of respiration that lets out all the water vapor from that process. There’s GOT to be some sort of digestive system equivalent because I seriously doubt that the “bio” part of “bio-tech” can survive without SOME sort of nutrients, but Void if I know what that might be.  Maybe they’ve got some of that glowy mold being cultivated somewhere in their structure, that stuff seems to grow on their probably-not-metal framework pretty well.  

Then there’s whatever the rarefaction cell in Rivulet’s campaign is plugged into... it’s called the “Heart” in Moon’s structure, maybe it’s connected to a circulatory system, or maybe that’s a mechanical part versus an organic one, I don’t know.  More food for thought.

About the only thing I think the iterators DON’T have is any kind of reproductive system.  Iterators too close to one another can suck up all the water and leave another high and dry, so too many iterators in the same region would probably cause a drought.  On top of that, lust is one of the earthly urges the Ancients are trying to let go of in order to ascend – no way they’d leave their giant holy supercomputers with the ability to do THAT.  They’d probably have aneurysms even thinking about it.

[otiksimr]

I unironically am invested in your oc lore and want to know more

I have no real plans of making anything out of them (Like actual books or comics) so these little bits of lore are just a way for me to make sure that these characters don't die with me.

But the posts I make of them don't tend to get all that traction so. Well at least like- 2 other people know about them :D

Anyways, lore for your time.

The Delphi Corporation works in the research and experimentation of animal DNA. The ethics of their experiments is debatable. The most of which they release out to the public are seemingly innocent and well meaning research, such as them messing around with DNA and cells to try and replicate an axolotl's regenerative abilities on a different animal.

Now on the other side of their experimentation there's their hybridization project and the whole organic/metal framework they have going on. But that's a story for another day.

[catsi]

i've been getting to use the SEM recently and i love it so much.... most entertaining analytical instrument i've ever had the delight of using. no wonder it's booked a month in advance. i love to snap pictures of my silly little metal organic frameworks

i have it booked again for THREE HOURS on the 26th i'm so excited. i'm gonna bring so many fucking samples with me lol

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Environmentally friendly method uses selective synthesized sponges to purify rare-earth elements

Rare-earth elements are everywhere in modern life, found in everything from the smart device you're reading this on to the LED lightbulbs overhead and neodymium magnets in electric vehicles and wind turbines. However, purifying these critical metals from ores with complex mixtures is a nasty business involving strong acids and hazardous solvents, and is primarily conducted in China. Over the past three years, a team of researchers from Sandia National Laboratories has been pioneering an environmentally friendly method to separate these rare-earth elements from watery mixtures. Initially, the team made and modified tinker-toy-like molecules called metal-organic frameworks or MOFs to test their ability to adsorb these vital metals. They then used computer simulations and X-ray-based experiments to investigate how the rare-earth elements interact with the synthesized "sponges."

Read more.

[asinusrufus]

Some notes about the Typhonian Ink

An interesting detail about the use of calcium oxide (which generates heat on contact with water) and asbestos (a retardant) in the recipe for Typhonian Ink suggested on PGM XII. 96-106 is that these two ingredients apparently contribute nothing to the ink, but, why's that?

Ignoring these two ingredients, we just have an average red ink of organic origin: its sanguine red color —red is the setian/typhonian color par excellence— it's given by its pigments; red ochre (mainly composed by iron—Sēt's sacred metal—oxide), red poppy, and dried, grounded acacia seeds, all blended together with artichoke juice (which turns brown when oxidized) contribute to darken the characteristic red tone of the ink, giving it, as I mentioned before, that sanguineous appearance. Blood, by the way, is a polysemous term within the framework of PGM.

The mentions to the snake's blood, hawk's blood or ass' blood are references to inks of different composition, but that have in common the red color (blood) and its symbolic capacity to subdue and command spirits.

After this brief aside about blood, the binder mentioned in PGM XII. 96-106 is gum arabic, extracted from Acacia nilotica. Finally, the preservative used (all these inks share the next formula: [pigment + binder agent + preservative]) is wormwood. Besides its magical virtues, wormwood has insecticidal and antifungal properties, so it is not unreasonable to think that its purpose here is none other than to preserve both the ink and the surface to which it will be applied.

Thus, going back to the initial question, what do asbestos and calcium oxide contribute to the ink? Well, the use of asbestos, while retardant/fire-retardant, makes sense, considering that these inks need to be diluted for its use, that rainwater (which also has traditionally Ouranic properties; don't forget Sēt is a sky God) is another ingredient, and that calcium oxide, mixed in the ink, would cause the reed used for writing or the palette or recipient where the ink is stored to would catch fire without remedy.

But why make everything so complicated, only for adding calcium oxide? Because of its magical and symbolic transcendence. As a sterile, corrosive that can cause certain surfaces to burn if it comes into contact with water.

Magicians might have seen in this a manifestation of Set's overwhelming, destructive power, which they intended to use to curse others, to conjure and threaten daimonês or protect themselves.

To use this ink would be, in a certain way, to write with the fires of Sēt-Typhon Himself.

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Among several candidate groups of materials for gas storage and separation, highly porous three-dimensional solids known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs, which are also known as porous coordination polymers, figure 6.8) show exceptional promise.

"Chemistry" 2e - Blackman, A., Bottle, S., Schmid, S., Mocerino, M., Wille, U.