Simultaneous study of cure kinetics and rheology of montmorillonite/vinyl ester resin nanocomposites

In this work, the effect of quaternary ammonium salt containing nanoclay content (1–5 wt%) on phase morphology, rheology, cure kinetics, and mechanical properties of the vinyl ester resin (VER)‐based nanocomposites was studied. The morphological characterization including d‐spacing measurement, microscopy observation and phase‐height image processing were performed on the prepared nanocomposites using small angel X‐ray scattering (SAXS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). According to the results obtained from these techniques, it was concluded that an intercalated morphology existed for all the nanocomposites. The kinetic analyses of the isothermal curing followed by storage modulus obtained from the rheometry experiments are shown to be an affective rheological characteristic to investigate the cure behavior of VER/clay nanocomposites. In addition, the most important finding regarding the effect of nanoclay on the cross‐linking behavior of VER systems lays on the chemisorption and physisorption of the reacting monomers and initiator molecules on the nanoclay platelets surface which is found to be responsible for the retardation of the cure reaction caused by organoclay. Eventually, the mechanical characterizations were performed through the tensile, flexural and impact analysis tests. In this case, a considerable improvement of the bulk mechanical responses such as tensile and flexural strengths and also the corresponding moduli were observed for the nanocomposites. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Unique Reversible Gate in Quantum-dot Cellular Automata for Implementation of Four Flip-flops Without Garbage Outputs

In this paper, a unique gate is presented for the design of reversible flip-flops in quantum-dot cellular automata technology. The proposed gate is implemented with multiplexer, three-input Majority gate and XOR gate. The proposed gate has four input lines and four output lines. This gate is designed without garbage outputs. In other words, each output determines the function of each of flip-flops. The proposed structure is evaluated by the QCADesigner. The result of the simulation represents that the operations of the proposed structure is as expected and all functions are correct. Also, the evaluation results show that the proposed structure has significant improvement in area, cell numbers and delay compared to the previous structures. QCAPro tool is used to estimate energy consumption of the proposed structure.     

Pore formation in phospholipid bilayers by amphiphilic cavitands

Five new cavitands were prepared that have four pendant n-undecyl chains and "headgroups" connected by 2-carbon spacers. The headgroups were ~OCH(2)CONH-Ala-OCH(3), 1; ~OCH(2)CONH-Phe-OCH(3), 2; ~OCH(2)CONH-Ala-OH, 3; ~OCH(2)CONH-Phe-OH, 4; and ~OCH(2)CONHCH(2)CH(2)-thyminyl, 5. Pore formation by each cavitand was studied by use of the planar bilayer conductance experiment. All five compounds were found to form pores in asolectin bialyer membranes. Compounds 1-3 behaved in a generally similar fashion and exhibited open-close dynamics. Compounds 4 and 5 formed pores more rapidly, were more dynamic, and led more quickly to membrane rupture. Differences in the ion transport activity are rationalized in terms of structure and aggregate cavitand assemblies.     

First Principles Calculations of Electric Field Effect on the (6,0) Zigzag Single-Walled Silicon Carbide Nanotube for use in Nano-Electronic Circuits

Structural, electronic, and electrical responses of the H-capped (6,0) zigzag single-walled silicon carbide nanotube (SiCNT) was studied under the parallel and transverse electric fields with strengths 0–140 × 10^?4 a.u. by using density functional calculations. Analysis of the structural parameters indicates that resistance of the nanotube against the applied parallel electric field is more than resistance of the nanotube against the applied transverse electric field. The dipole moments, atomic charge variations, and total energy of the (6,0) zigzag SiCNT show increases with any increase in the applied external electric field strengths. The length, tip diameters, electronic spatial extent, and molecular volume of the nanotube do not change significantly with any increasing in the electric field strength. The energy gap of the nanotube increases with any increases in the electric field strength and its reactivity is decreased. Increase of the ionization potential, electron affinity, chemical potential, and HOMO and LOMO in the nanotube with increase of the applied external electric field strengths indicates that the properties of SiCNTs can be controlled by the proper external electric field for use in nano-electronic circuits.     

Theoretical Study of Phenol Adsorption on Pristine, Ga-Doped, and Pd-Decorated (6,0) Zigzag Single-Walled Boron Phosphide Nanotubes

Phenol adsorption on the external surface of H-capped pristine, Ga-doped, and Pd-decorated (6,0) zigzag boron phosphide nanotubes (BPNTs) was studied by using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The results indicate that the hydroxyl group of phenol prefers to attach to the Ga and Pd sites and thus the Ga-doped and Pd-decorated (6,0) can be used for removing phenol. The calculated adsorption energy of phenol on the Ga-doped and Pd-decorated (6,0) BPNTs are ?0.724 and ?420 eV, respectively and about 0.28 and 0.27 electrons are transferred from phenol to the nanotubes. In addition, the value for the fractional number of electrons transferred is negative, indicating that phenol act as an electron donor. Frontier molecular orbital theory (FMO) and structural analyses show that the high polar surface bonds and large bond lengths of the Ga-doped and Pd-decorated (6,0) BPNT surfaces increase the adsorption of phenol on the nanotube models. This study can be useful in removing phenol and development of many catalytic processes for formation of a variety of useful compounds.     

Magnesium Oxide Nanotube as Potential Sensor for Cl2 Detection

Adsorption of chlorine on the external surface of Mg₁₅O₁₅ nanotube was studied by using density functional calculations in terms of adsorption energy, energy gap changes, charge transfer, structural deformation, etc. It was found that the electronic properties of the Mg₁₅O₁₅ nanotube are very high sensitive to the presence of Cl₂ and the nanotube can significantly detect Cl₂ molecules. Also, the Cl₂ molecules have not a strong interaction with the nanotube to hinder the recovery of the nanotube. Based on calculated results, the Mg₁₅O₁₅ nanotube can be potential sensor for Cl₂ molecules detection.     

A First-Principles Study of CO2 Hydrogenation on a Niobium-Terminated NbC (111) Surface

As promising materials for the reduction of greenhouse gases, transition-metal carbides, which are highly active in the hydrogenation of CO₂, are mainly considered. In this regard, the reaction mechanism of CO₂ hydrogenation to useful products on the Nb-terminated NbC (111) surface is investigated by applying density functional theory calculations. The computational results display that the formation of CH₄, CH₃OH, and CO are more favored than other compounds, where CH₄ is the dominant product. In addition, the findings from reaction energies reveal that the preferred mechanism for CO₂ hydrogenation is thorough HCOOH^*, where the largest exothermic reaction energy releases during the HCOOH^* dissociation reaction (2.004 eV). The preferred mechanism of CO₂ hydrogenation towards CH₄ production is CO₂^*→t,c-COOH^*→HCOOH^*→HCO^*→CH₂O^*→CH₂OH^*→CH₂^*→CH₃^*→CH₄^*, where CO₂^*→t,c-COOH^*→HCOOH^*→HCO^*→CH₂O^*→CH₂OH^*→CH₃OH^* and CO₂^*→t,c-COOH^*→CO^* are also found as the favored mechanisms for CH₃OH and CO productions thermodynamically, respectively. During the mentioned mechanisms, the hydrogenation of CH₂O^* to CH₂OH^* has the largest endothermic reaction energy of 1.344 eV.     

Realization of wide-angle and wideband absorber using metallic and graphene-based metasurface for mid-infrared and low THz frequency

This article presents a study on mid-infrared and low-THz absorbers based on metallic and graphene metasurface. The absorber is constructed of a periodic array of patterned elements in patch form placed on a quarter-wavelength dielectric film terminated by a metallic reflector. A simple analytical circuit model equivalent to patch array is used for employing the matching impedance approach to realize the wideband absorber. This absorber is polarization independent for normal incident waves owing to its symmetric structure. Simulation and analytical circuit model results show that the graphene and metallic-based absorbers proposed in this paper can operate with an absorption value above 90% in a normalized bandwidth of 100% in the low terahertz (THz) and the mid-infrared regime, respectively. The proposed absorber is wide-angle for both TM and TE polarizations and polarization-insensitive for small incident angles.