Surface characterization of TEMPO‐oxidized bacterial cellulose

In this study, we focused on the surface character of bacterial cellulose (BC) before and after oxidation mediated by 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl (TEMPO).Solid‐state ¹³C NMR, XPS, SEM, contact angle and surface free energy analyses were performed to investigate the effects of various parameters (reaction time and oxidant and catalyst concentrations) on the surface composition, morphology and polarity of the BC. The results provided by the combined use of these techniques showed that hydrogen bonds were disrupted on the BC surface after carboxylation occurred; therefore, the surface of oxidized BC was rougher than that of the original BC, and the surface free energy, especially the polar components, increased after oxidation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

一种高稳定性光纤F-P标准具的设计

法布里-珀罗(F-P)标准具广泛应用于光纤通信与光纤传感领域。实心标准具受自身材料的限制,无法满足高稳定性的要求。空气隙标准具采用热膨胀系数极低的垫片,提高了器件的温度稳定性能。介绍了低温漂光纤F-P标准具的设计和制作,出射光自由光谱范围为100GHz,损耗为3dB,0~70℃温度漂移小于3GHz。相比于采用传统方法制作的标准具,该光纤F-P标准具稳定性更高,解决了实心标准具折射率和热膨胀变化大的问题。     

Effects of pyrolysis temperatures on the textural,magnetic, morphology,and catalytic properties of supported nickel nanoparticles

The development of base metal catalysts for industrially important reactions continues to be an important goal of catalysis research. Herein, the effects of pyrolysis temperature on the textural, structural, surface, magnetics properties and catalytic properties of silica-supported nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) were thoroughly investigated. Mono-dispersed NiNPs encapsulated in graphitic shells were first successfully obtained and were characterized using a variety of methods such as BET surface area measurement, CO-pulse chemisorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) measurement. The findings showed that all catalysts’ properties were considerably altered with change in pyrolysis temperature. Hydrogenation of diphenylacetylene was then selected as the model reaction for the evaluation of the catalytic performance of the graphitic-shelled NiNPs. After testing, pyrolysis of a nickel at 800 °C (catalyst A) displayed tremendous activity and selectivity to produce >94% of stilbene with selectivities of 99% for the Z-isomer.     

Effect of gemini surfactant additives on pour point depressant of crude oil

Efficiencies of cationic gemini surfactant additives in improving the pour point depressant of crude oil were investigated. The length of alkyl chain is a major factor affecting the improvement of the pour point depression. The adsorption behavior of these gemini surfactants at air/solution and oil/solution interfaces were investigated by measuring the surface tension and interfacial tension as functions of concentration. It is found that there is a good relation between surface properties especially interfacial tension of the gemini surfactants and their efficiency in depressing the pour point. Also, the surface parameters and free energies of micellization and adsorption confirm the decreasing and improving of pour point depression. Crystallization study in crude oil revealed the relationship between the structure and activity of gemini surfactant additives. It is found that the x-ray diffraction patterns of waxes with additives are remarkably different from those without additives. The mechanism of the depressants action has been suggested according the adsorption of each additive. Adsorption of the additive on the surface of the wax particles inhibits their growth and alters the crystal habits through micelle core. Pretreatment of the crude oil with pour point depressants has received the greatest acceptance due to its simplicity and economy.     

Importance of verifying queue model assumptions before planning with simulation software

This case study uses empirical data gathered at an Australian refinery to verify the assumptions for queue distributions before using special-purpose software to plan the off-road-truck hauling of titanium dioxide to a refinery (n = 773). Easy-to-use spreadsheet software is utilized to verify assumptions for queue models. Managers are able to make decisions based on economic implications of queue models to avoid making costly planning mistakes. Analysts can use nonparametric hypothesis-testing techniques to verify distribution assumptions for optimization without having to write hard-to-maintain and complex algebraic linear equations or nonlinear search routines.     

低温/高温复合超导磁体的研究进展

低温/高温复合超导体的研究是当前超导领域比较新的一个课题,文章介绍了低温/高温复合超导体的结构以及加工工艺,并结合相关数值模拟和实验结果对复合超导体电流分布、热传导性质、理论机理和稳定性研究等相关问题进行了讨论与探索。     

含酮基团对煤焦异相还原NO的影响

基于量子化学密度泛函理论和过渡态理论研究了含酮基团对煤焦异相还原NO的影响及其产物发生氧脱附的微观反应机理。计算结果表明，NO更易于吸附在含酮基团煤焦表面。椅形含酮基团强化了煤焦异相还原NO；锯齿形含酮煤焦表面与NO异相反应决速步能垒值（495.45 kJ/mol）大于锯齿形纯碳基煤焦表面与NO决速步能垒值（331.32 kJ/mol），基于锯齿形含酮煤焦模型中的氧浓度不在利于NO还原的范围内而不易于NO的还原。中间产物P1在无CO存在情况下，较纯碳基煤焦表面更易于发生氧脱附而产生表面缺陷；在CO存在条件下，含酮煤焦表面为氧脱附过程提供自由活性位点，降低了过程能垒消耗。     

Fabrication of robust superhydrophobic coatings using PTFE‐MWCNT nanocomposite: Supercritical fluid processing

Fabrication of polymer‐carbon composite nanostructure with good dispersion of each other is critical for the desired application due to the nanostructure flaws, agglomeration, and poor absorption between the 2 materials. Fabrication of superhydrophobic surface coating composites of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) through supercritical fluid processing was explored in this study. Homogeneity of the composite was characterized by X‐ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy studies, which reveal that the PTFE and MWCNT are uniform in the composite. Microstructural surface evaluation of field‐emission scanning electron microscope and high‐resolution transmission electron microscope studies display that the coating composite possesses roughness structures and fibrillation of the superhydrophobic surface coating. Superhydrophobic character was evaluated on fiber‐reinforced plastic (FRP) sheets, which showed that the prepared coating composite surface showed self‐cleaning properties with a high water contact angle of 162.7°. The surface wettability was studied by increasing different temperatures (30°C to 300°C) in PTFE‐MWCNT composite, which reveals that the FRP sheets were thermally stable up to 200°C and afterward; they transformed from superhydrophobic to hydrophilic state at 250°C. The superhydrophobic surfaces are thermally stable in extreme environmental conditions, and this technique may be used and extendable for large‐scale applications.     

Temperature dependence of GaSb and AlGaSb solar cells

Sb-based alloys offer great potential for photovoltaic and thermophotovoltaic applications. In this paper, we study the performance of Al_xGa_1-xSb (x = 0, 0.15, and 0.50) single-junction solar cells over a temperature range of 25–250 °C. The dark current-voltage, one-sun current-voltage, and external quantum efficiency measurements were acquired at different temperatures. Correlations between experimental and numerical results are made to draw conclusions about the thermal behavior of the cells. It is shown that, while the bandgaps decrease linearly with temperature leading to the reduction of open-circuit voltages, the short-circuit current densities decrease with non-linear trends. The temperature-dependent dark current densities were extracted by fitting the dark current-voltage curves to single- and double-diode models to give an insight into the effect of intrinsic carrier concentration (n_i) on the cell performance. We find that the n_i has a significant impact on temperature-dependent cell performance. These findings could lay a groundwork for the future Sb-based photovoltaic systems that operate at high temperatures.     

Accurate integration over atomic regions bounded by zero‐flux surfaces

The approach for the integration over a region covered by zero‐flux surface is described. This approach based on the surface triangulation technique is efficiently realized in a newly developed program TWOE . The elaborated method is tested on several atomic properties including the source function. TWOE results are compared with those produced by using well‐known existing programs. Absolute errors in computed atomic properties are shown to range usually from 10^?6 to 10^?5 au. The demonstrative examples prove that present realization has perfect convergence of atomic properties with increasing size of angular grid and allows to obtain highly accurate data even in the most difficult cases. It is believed that the developed program can be bridgehead that allows to implement atomic partitioning of any desired molecular property with high accuracy. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.