Effects of oxidation and surface roughness on contact angle

Contact angle is known to be a parameter that effects boiling. This study was undertaken to measure contact angle of high and low surface tension fluids on copper and aluminum surfaces.Data were taken for polished, oxidized, and rough surfaces. A simple, yet fairly accurate method of measuring the static equilibrium contact angle of a solid/liquid interface is presented. The principles of a line light source and tilting plate were modified and then combined in the design of this apparatus. The angles obtained and their variation with the solid surface properties were in good agreement with previously published data. The contact angle of distilled water o of the organic fluids and refrigerants tested were in the range of 2–5°. Roughness and oxidation reduce the contact angle. If the depth of the roughness is less than 0.5 μm contact angle. The apparatus is fairly simple in construction, is inexpensive, and has good reproductibity. The measured angles were then compared to those measured with the sessile drop method.     

Axisymmetric jets impinging on porous walls

The flow of axisymmetric turbulent jets impinging on porous walls has been studied experimentally. It is shown how the overall flow structure depends on the porosity of the surface. For high porosities (open area ratios, β, in excess of around 40% say) the porous wall, or screen, leads to a sudden increase in jet width and decrease in mean and fluctuating velocities, a direct consequence of the momentum flux extracted because of the screen drag. Lower porosities can lead to the appearance of radial wall jets on the upstream side of the screen but, in contrast to the corresponding case of planar jet impingement (Cant et al. in Exp Fluids 32:16–26, 2002), such wall jets never occur on the downstream side. The axial downstream velocities thus remain positive for all porosities. Jet growth rates for are initially increased by the screen, but once β≤0.4 momentum extraction by the screen is virtually complete, so that velocities become very small. Again, unlike in the corresponding planar case (for β≈0.4), recirculating regions upstream of the screen never occur. A simple argument is suggested to explain the fundamental differences in flow behaviour between planar and axisymmetric jet impingement onto porous screens and it is concluded that in the latter case the effects of the screen are generally more benign and unsurprising. Nonetheless, these axisymmetric flows, like the corresponding planar ones, provide a serious challenge for computational modelling.     

Development and characterization of plasma actuators for high-speed jet control

Active control of high Reynolds number and high-speed jets has been hampered due to the lack of suitable actuators. Some of the attributes that would make an actuator suitable for such flows are: high amplitude and bandwidth; small size for distribution around the jet; phase-locking ability for jet azimuthal mode forcing; and sufficient ruggedness for hot jets. We have been developing a class of actuators termed localized arc filament plasma actuators, which possess such characteristics. In this paper, we present the development and characterization of these actuators as well as preliminary results on their applications in high Reynolds number Mach 0.9 and ideally expanded Mach 1.3 jets.Patent pending     

Synthesis of TiO2 based on hydrothermal methods using elevated pressures and microwave conditions

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂), especially in its anatase form, is an effective photocatalyst under ultraviolet (UV) light. The particle size of TiO₂ is a critical factor to determine its photoactivity based on its quantum effectiveness under light irradiations. Thus, nanocrystalline TiO₂ has been widely accepted to significantly enhance this effect. The sol–gel method is generally used to synthesize the anatase form of nanocrystalline TiO₂. In this study, we expanded the synthesis method of TiO₂ to high pressures under direct heating (hydrothermal method) and indirect heating (microwave-assisted method). It was found that pH value is one of the major factors to control nano-sizes of TiO₂ particles, and the neutral condition in all methods is preferable for controlling the sizes of the prepared TiO₂ particles. The microwave-assisted method further improves quality of synthesized nano-size TiO₂ below 10 nm. These results have been confirmed by both the direct size measurement using TEM images and indirect determination using XRD peaks. The collected samples are further analyzed using UV–Vis spectroscopy to identify the particle size-dependent photoreactivity and to confirm the effectiveness of microwave-assisting under neutral conditions. DSC is also a powerful tool to identify the crystalline transition of TiO₂.     

Interface broadening during ion plating

Radiation damaged fluorite single crystals iso-thermally annealed showed an oscillating structure of the intensity of a diffracted neutron beam. This is in accord with previous report on crystalline cobaltic compound examined for reconstitution of parent complex ions from recoil hot atoms and for annealing of radiation damage by neutron diffraction. The oscillation phenomenon already found by radiochemical means in various solids irrespectively of their chemical constitution combined by a pure physical method as the neutron diffraction, greatly supports a hypothesis of a spatial temporal oscillatory diffusion of defects in isothermal annealing of radiation damaged crystalline lattice.     

Two Efficient and Practical Syntheses of Methyl 4-Mercaptobenzoate

Two efficient syntheses of methyl 4-mercaptobenzoate are described, one utilizing the dianion of 4-bromothiophenol, the other a S_NAr reaction starting with 4-fluorobenzonitrile.     

Poling and crosslinking processes in NLO polymers

A series of photocrosslinkable polymers bearing hyperpolarizable side chain chromophores was synthesized, poled and evaluated on the basis of the thermal stability of Second Harmonic Generation (SHG). Photoinitiation allowed for control of the onset of curing. Crosslinking was monitored by infrared spectroscopy and optimal conversion was achieved by applying a slow temperature ramp during exposure. The ultimate stability of the poled polymers was directly related to the number of crosslinking substituents that were attached to the chromophore pendant group. With two reactive groups per chromophore significant SHG was retained at temperatures above the initial polymer glass transition temperature. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 2769–2775