Christopher Hall

Bio: Christopher Hall is an academic researcher from University of Edinburgh. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sorptivity & Porous medium. The author has an hindex of 43, co-authored 148 publications receiving 6173 citations. Previous affiliations of Christopher Hall include University of Manchester.

Water sorptivity of mortars and concretes: a review

Abstract: The sorptivity is an easily measured material property which characterizes the tendency of a porous material to absorb and transmit water by capillarity. Its theoretical basis in unsaturated flow theory is reviewed, together with methods of measurement suitable for cement-based materials. Available data on mortars and concretes are included. The dependence of the sorptivity on initial water content, temperature and fluid properties is also described. Other test methods (the initial surface absorption, the Figg water absorption and the Covercrete absorption tests) are discussed in terms of the sorptivity.

Water Transport in Brick, Stone and Concrete

Abstract: Porous Materials Water in Porous Materials Flow in Porous Materials Unsaturated Flows Unsaturated Flow in Building Physics Composite Materials Evaporation and Drying Topics in Water Transport Appendices Symbols Used Properties of Water Minerals, Salts and Solutions Other Liquids Other Data

Unsaturated water flow within porous materials observed by NMR imaging

Abstract: Wetting, drying and permeation processes in various porous materials are of special interest to soil science and agriculture, building science and chemical engineering. Direct experimental study of unsaturated flow within such materials is hampered by the difficulty of detecting with precision changes in their internal water content distributions. In laboratory work on soils gravimetric sampling is widely used1. However, this is a destructive method which interferes with water flow processes and in any case is not easy to apply accurately to rigid materials such as permeable rocks, ceramics and building materials, γ-ray attenuation is the only established non-destructive instrumental method in laboratory use2,3. We report the first use of a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging technique to monitor the dynamics of the internal water content distribution in several porous inorganic materials during capillary inflow.

Interlaboratory comparison of hygric properties of porous building materials

Abstract: The precision of methods used for the determination of hygric properties of porous building materials was investigated. The study was performed in the framework of the EU-initiated HAMSTAD-project. Six laboratories measured the selected hygric properties of three porous building materials. While the most measured properties show acceptable agreement, yet, it was found that some of the existing standards or commonly accepted measurement methods need improvement. Most striking were large variations in the results of the vapour transmission tests performed in accordance to the existing European Standard.

Activation of c-h bonds by metal complexes

Abstract: ion. The oxidative addition mechanism was originally proposed22i because of the lack of a strong rate dependence on polar factors and on the acidity of the medium. Later, however, the electrophilic substitution mechanism also was proposed. Recently, the oxidative addition mechanism was confirmed by investigations into the decomposition and protonolysis of alkylplatinum complexes, which are the reverse of alkane activation. There are two routes which operate in the decomposition of the dimethylplatinum(IV) complex Cs2Pt(CH3)2Cl4. The first route leads to chloride-induced reductive elimination and produces methyl chloride and methane. The second route leads to the formation of ethane. There is strong kinetic evidence that the ethane is produced by the decomposition of an ethylhydridoplatinum(IV) complex formed from the initial dimethylplatinum(IV) complex. In D2O-DCl, the ethane which is formed contains several D atoms and has practically the same multiple exchange parameter and distribution as does an ethane which has undergone platinum(II)-catalyzed H-D exchange with D2O. Moreover, ethyl chloride is formed competitively with H-D exchange in the presence of platinum(IV). From the principle of microscopic reversibility it follows that the same ethylhydridoplatinum(IV) complex is the intermediate in the reaction of ethane with platinum(II). Important results were obtained by Labinger and Bercaw62c in the investigation of the protonolysis mechanism of several alkylplatinum(II) complexes at low temperatures. These reactions are important because they could model the microscopic reverse of C-H activation by platinum(II) complexes. Alkylhydridoplatinum(IV) complexes were observed as intermediates in certain cases, such as when the complex (tmeda)Pt(CH2Ph)Cl or (tmeda)PtMe2 (tmeda ) N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylenediamine) was treated with HCl in CD2Cl2 or CD3OD, respectively. In some cases H-D exchange took place between the methyl groups on platinum and the, CD3OD prior to methane loss. On the basis of the kinetic results, a common mechanism was proposed to operate in all the reactions: (1) protonation of Pt(II) to generate an alkylhydridoplatinum(IV) intermediate, (2) dissociation of solvent or chloride to generate a cationic, fivecoordinate platinum(IV) species, (3) reductive C-H bond formation, producing a platinum(II) alkane σ-complex, and (4) loss of the alkane either through an associative or dissociative substitution pathway. These results implicate the presence of both alkane σ-complexes and alkylhydridoplatinum(IV) complexes as intermediates in the Pt(II)-induced C-H activation reactions. Thus, the first step in the alkane activation reaction is formation of a σ-complex with the alkane, which then undergoes oxidative addition to produce an alkylhydrido complex. Reversible interconversion of these intermediates, together with reversible deprotonation of the alkylhydridoplatinum(IV) complexes, leads to multiple H-D exchange