Browsing by Author "Huang, L"

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    Bioaugmentation with Acidithiobacillus species accelerates mineral weathering and formation of secondary mineral cements for hardpan development in sulfidic Pb-Zn tailings
    (Elsevier, 2021-06) Liu, Y; Wu, S; Southam, G; Chan, TS; Lu, YR; Paterson, DJ; Huang, L
    The development of hardpan caps has great potential in rehabilitating sulfidic and metallic tailings, which may be accelerated by using exogenous Acidithiobacillus species. The present study aims to establish a bioaugmentation process with exogenous Acidithiobacillus species for accelerating the weathering of sulfidic minerals and formation of secondary mineral gels as precursors for hardpan structure development in a microcosm experiment. Exogenous Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans (ATCC 19377) and A. ferrooxidans (DSM 14882) were inoculated in a sulfidic Pb-Zn tailing containing negligible indigenous Acidithiobacillus species for accelerating the weathering of pyrite and metal sulfides. Microspectroscopic analysis revealed that the weathering of pyrite and biotite-like minerals was rapidly accelerated by exogenous Acidithiobacillus species, leading to the formation of secondary jarosite-like mineral gels and cemented profile in the tailings. Meanwhile, approximately 28% Zn liberated from Zn-rich minerals undergoing weathering was observed to be re-immobilized by Fe-rich secondary minerals such as jarosite-like mineral. Moreover, Pb-bearing minerals mostly remained undissolved, but approximately 30% Pb was immobilized by secondary Fe-rich minerals. The present findings revealed the critical role of exogenous Acidithiobacillus species in accelerating the precursory process of mineral weathering and secondary mineral formation for hardpan structure development in sulfidic Pb-Zn tailings. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.
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    Two-dimensional quantum universality in the spin-1/2 triangular-lattice quantum antiferromagnet Na2BaCo(PO4)2
    (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022-12-15) Sheng, JM; Wang, L; Candini, A; Jiang, W; Huang, L; Xi, B; Zhao, J; Ge, H; Zhao, N; Fu, Y; Ren, J; Yang, J; Miao, P; Tong, X; Yu, DP; Wang, S; Liu, Q; Kofu, M; Mole, RA; Biasiol, G; Yu, DH; Zaliznyak, IA; Mei, JW; Wu, L
    An interplay of geometrical frustration and strong quantum fluctuations in a spin-1/2 triangular-lattice antiferromagnet (TAF) can lead to exotic quantum states. Here, we report the neutron-scattering, magnetization, specific heat, and magnetocaloric studies of the recently discovered spin-1/2 TAF Na2BaCo(PO4)2, which can be described by a spin-1/2 easy axis XXZ model. The zero-field neutron diffraction experiment reveals an incommensurate antiferromagnetic ground state with a significantly reduced ordered moment of about 0.54(2) μB/Co. Different magnetic phase diagrams with magnetic fields in the ab plane and along the easy c-axis were extracted based on the magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, and elastic neutron-scattering results. In addition, two-dimensional (2D) spin dispersion in the triangular plane was observed in the high-field polarized state, and microscopic exchange parameters of the spin Hamiltonian have been determined through the linear spin wave theory. Consistently, quantum critical behaviors with the universality class of d = 2 and νz = 1 were established in the vicinity of the saturation field, where a Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) of diluted magnons occurs. The newly discovered quantum criticality and fractional magnetization phase in this ideal spin-1/2 TAF present exciting opportunities for exploring exotic quantum phenomena. © 2022 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).