Nanoparticle electrostatic loss within corona needle charger during particle-charging process

A numerical investigation has been carried out to examine the electrostatic loss of nanoparticles in a corona needle charger. Two-dimensional flow field, electric field, particle charge, and particle trajectory were simulated to obtain the electrostatic deposition loss at different conditions. Simulation of particle trajectories shows that the number of charges per particle during the charging process depends on the particle diameter, radial position from the symmetry axis, applied voltage, Reynolds number, and axial distance along the charger. The numerical results of nanoparticle electrostatic loss agreed fairly well with available experimental data. The results reveal that the electrostatic loss of nanoparticles increases with increasing applied voltage and electrical mobility of particles; and with decreasing particle diameter and Reynolds number. A regression equation closely fitted the obtained numerical results for different conditions. The equation is useful for directly calculating the electrostatic loss of nanoparticles in the corona needle charger during particle-charging process.     

Effect of electric fields on reattachment and propagation speed of tribrachial flames in laminar coflow jets

The effects of electric fields on the reattachment of lifted flames have been investigated experimentally in laminar coflow jets with propane fuel by applying high voltages to the fuel nozzle. In case of AC, the frequency has also been varied. Results showed that reattachment occurred at higher jet velocity when applying the AC voltages, thus the stabilization limit of attached flames was extended by the AC electric field. Higher voltage and lower frequency of the AC were found to be more effective. On the contrary, the effect of DC was found to be minimal. To understand the early onset of the reattachment with the AC, occurring at higher jet velocity, the influence of AC electric fields on the propagation speed of tribrachial flame edge was investigated during the transient reattachment processes. The propagation speed increased reasonably linearly with the applied AC voltage and decreased inversely to the distance between the flame edge and the nozzle electrode. Consequently, the enhancement in the propagation speed of tribrachial flame edge was correlated well with the electric field intensity, defined as the applied AC voltage divided by the distance.     

Influence of the process parameters on the ESD synthesis of thin film YSZ electrolytes

This paper presents the results of a process optimisation study applied to the synthesis of thin 8YSZ films by electrostatic spray deposition (ESD). The goal was to obtain thin, dense and continuous 8YSZ coatings. Starting from a zirconium acetylacetonate in ethanol – butyl carbitol solution as precursor, the influence of the main process parameters – substrate temperature, nozzle to substrate distance and solution flow rate – has been studied. The microstructure has been characterised by SEM imagery. The study allowed us to define a three dimensional domain of optimal values of the process parameters where dense and thin doped zirconia coatings were obtained for the employed nozzle geometry and solution concentration.     

PMMA nanofibers production by electrospinning

Electrospinning is a process by which polymer nanofibers (with submicron scale diameters) can be formed when a droplet of viscoelastic polymer solution is subjected to high voltage electrostatic field. As this droplet travels in air, the solvent evaporates leaving behind a charge fiber that can be electrically deflected on a substrate. A series of nanofibers with various wt.% of PMMA (poly-methyl-methacrylate) to acetone were produced and characterized regarding their morphology and chemical composition. The nanofibers were characterized by Secondary Electron Microscopy, Atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.     

Fabrication and Optimization of Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Zirconium Acetate Electrospun Nanofibers Using Taguchi Experimental Design

This paper presents an investigation regarding poly(vinyl alcohol)/zirconium acetate (organic–inorganic) (PVA/Zrace) nanofibers prepared by electrospinning which could be used as a precursor for fabricating ceramic metal oxide nanofibers. The effect of some processing variables, including polymer solution concentration, tip to collector distance and applied voltage of electrospinning, and the amount of Zrace and their interactions, on the diameter of the nanofibers were studied. Taguchi experimental design and a statistical analysis (ANOVA) were employed and the relationship between experimental conditions and yield levels determined. It was concluded that to obtain a narrow diameter distribution as well as maximum fiber fineness, a polymer concentration of 10 wt%, tip to collector distance of 18 cm and applied voltage of 20 kV variables were the optimum. Furthermore, it was also concluded that the ratio of Zrace (6 g) to PVA solution (10% wt) played an important role for achieving the minimum fiber diameter. Under these optimum conditions, the diameters of the electrospun composite fibers ranged from 86 nm to 381 nm with a diameter average of 193 nm. The experiments were done with Qualitek-4 software with “smaller is better” as the quality characteristics. The optimized conditions showed an improvement in the fibers diameter distribution and the average fibers diameter showed good resemblance with the result predicted using the Taguchi method and the Qualitek-4 software. The ANOVA results showed that all factors had significant effects on the fibers diameter and distribution, but the effect of PVA concentration and zirconium acetate were more significant than the other factors.     

Electrospinning of Poly(Hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) Fibrous Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications: Effects of Electrospinning Parameters and Solution Properties

Electrospinning, a technology capable of fabricating ultrafine fibers (microfibers and nanofibers), has been investigated by various research groups for the production of fibrous biopolymer membranes for potential medical applications. In this study, poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), a natural, biocompatible, and biodegradable polymer, was successfully electrospun to form nonwoven fibrous mats. The effects of different electrospinning parameters (solution feeding rate, applied voltage, working distance and needle size) and polymer solution properties (concentration, viscosity and conductivity) on fiber diameter and morphology were systematically studied and causes for these effects are discussed. The formation of beaded fibers was investigated and the mechanism presented. It was shown that by varying electrospinning parameters within the processing window that was determined in this study, the diameter of electrospun PHBV fibers could be adjusted from a few hundred nanometers to a few microns, which are in the desirable range for constructing “biomimicking” fibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.     

Interference between the Charged Jets in Electrospinning of Polyvinyl Alcohol

It is well known that the production rate of electrospinning is remarkably lower than that of the general process of fiber spinning. Currently, the solution of this problem has been investigated with various methods including a multi-nozzle system instead of a single nozzle. In this study, the effect of using various nozzles on nanoweb formation by electrospinning has been investigated. Three nozzles consisting of single, dual, and triple needles were used to study the interaction between needles. In addition, the effect of changing the diameter of the spinning needle, a factor that has an effect on the polymer solution flow rate and nanoweb formation on the collector, was examined.     

Development of high efficiency nanofilters made of nanofibers

Electrospinning is a fabrication process that uses an electric field to control the deposition of polymer fibers onto a target substrate. This electrostatic processing strategy can be used to fabricate fibrous polymer mats composed of fiber diameters ranging from several microns down to 100 nm or less. In this study, optimized conditions to produce nanofibers using Nylon 6 are investigated and the Nylon 6 nanofilters using nanofibers of 80–200 nm in diameter are designed and evaluated the filtration efficiency and pressure drop across the filter. When the Nylon 6 concentration is 15 wt.%, electrospun fibers have an average diameter of 80 nm, but there are many beads, and the concentration increases to 24 wt.%, the fiber diameter gradually thickens to 200 nm, but there are not any beads. When the spinning distance is small, the thinner nanofibers are produced and the more fibers are collected on the grounded electrode. The filtration efficiency of Nylon 6 nanofilters is 99.993% superior to the commercialized HEPA filter at the face velocity of 5 cm/s using 0.3 μm test particles. Even though the high pressure drops across the nanofilter, they show the potential to have the application of HEPA and ULPA grade high efficiency filter.     

静电场作用下α-LiIO3单晶的光衍射增强现象的弛豫行为和“低温冻结”

在以前工作的基础上,利用在频率平面上进行空间滤波的方法,研究了α-LiIO₃单晶在静电场作用下,空间电荷分布引起的衍射光强变化的弛豫行为。得出了弛豫过程的唯象表达式,发现其中的弛豫参数依赖于温度和电压的大小以及所加电压为同号或异号电压,且随样品的不同而变化。在低温下,衍射会被“冻结”:即在“冻结”温度(～-25℃)以下加电压,衍射增强不显著;在“冻结”温度以上加电压,然后降至“冻结”温度以下,衍射光强度仍保持高温时增强后的数值;撤去电压,因加电压所增加的衍射并不消失。 关键词：     

Production of nanofibers by electrospinning under pressurized CO2

Electrospinning is one of the simple technical methods for the production of polymer nanoparticles and nanofibers. Various polymers have been successfully electrospun into ultrafine particles and fibers in recent years mostly in solvent solution and some in melt form. In this work, near- and supercritical CO₂ were used as media for this process. At these conditions, the solubility can be tuned by controlling the temperature and pressure. Therefore, it is possible to form particles and fibers within a thermodynamic window where the biopolymer has been softened, but not dissolved. The experiments were conducted by using electrospinning under pressurized CO₂ system at pressures of ～ 8.0 MPa and temperature of 313 K to produce several polymers fibers. Polyvinylpyrrolidone was used as the starting material. During the electrospinning process, the applied voltage was 10–17 kV and the distance of nozzle and collector was 8 cm. The concentration of polymer solution was 4 wt%. The morphology- and structure-produced fibers were observed by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that temperature and pressure affected the morphology of fibers produced by electrospinning in pressurized CO₂. This suggests that the thermal behavior of the polymer can be optimized by adjusting the polymer through the adjustment of pressure and temperature by using CO₂ as a solvent.     

Formation of high aspect ratio polyamide-6 nanofibers via electrically induced double layer during electrospinning

In the present study, the formation of high aspect ratio nanofibers in polyamide-6 was investigated as a function of applied voltage ranging from 15 to 25 kV using electrospinning technique. All other experimental parameters were kept constant. The electrospun polyamide-6 nanofibers were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF). FE-SEM images of polyamide-6 nanofibers showed that the diameter of the electrospun fiber was decreased with increasing applied voltage. At the critical applied voltage, the polymer solution was completely ionized to form the dense high aspect ratio nanofibers in between the main nanofibers. The diameter of the polyamide-6 nanofibers was observed to be in the range of 75-110 nm, whereas the high aspect ratio structures consisted of regularly distributed very fine nanofibers with diameters of about 9-28 nm. Trends in fiber diameter and diameter distribution were discussed for the high aspect ratio nanofibers. TEM results revealed that the formation of double layers in polyamide-6 nanofibers and then split-up into ultrafine fibers. The electrically induced double layer in combination with the polyelectrolytic nature of solution is proposed as the suitable mechanisms for the formation of high aspect ratio nanofibers in polyamide-6.     

ZrO2-based thin films synthesized by electrostatic spray deposition: Effect of post-deposition thermal treatments

Cubic and tetragonal Y₂O₃-doped ZrO₂ thin films were deposited with a dense surface morphology by electrostatic spray deposition. Four dependent process parameters – substrate temperature, precursor solution flow rate, nozzle to substrate distance and the deposition time – have been used to control the process. Temperature dependent Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction were performed in order to investigate the crystallization behavior and structural properties.     

Effects of electrospinning process parameters on nanofibers obtained from Nylon 6 and poly (ethylene-n-butyl acrylate-maleic anhydride) elastomer blends using Johnson SB statistical distribution function

The impact strength of Nylon 6 can be further improved by blending it with ethylene-butyl acrylate-maleic anhydride elastomer. The blending is achieved in solution phase. Due to incompatibility of Nylon 6 and the elastomer, a special mixture of solvents is used to dissolve both components. The solution is electrospun, and the effects of the process parameters on the expected radii of nanofibers are investigated. The effects of process parameters such as polymer concentration in solution, electrical field, diameter of the syringe needle, feed rate, and collector geometry on nanofibers were investigated. Statistical analysis is carried out using the Johnson S_B distribution. A relation is proposed to relate the effect of the process parameters feed rate, electrical voltage, and tip to collector distance on the expected diameter of fibers. It is found that concentration and electrical field have a profound effect on the diameter of fibers compared to those of the syringe diameter and feed rate.     

Investigation of the high-current arc in helium

The secondary and erosion characteristics of the electric-arc plasmatorch were studied experimentally. Formulas for arc voltage calculation depending on helium flow rate, diameter of the inner cavity of cylindrical copper anode, arc current, and distance from the nozzle to metal melt were derived.     

Experimental study of V–I characteristics of wire–plate electrostatic precipitators under clean air conditions

In this paper a laboratory-scale model for prediction of the voltage–current characteristics of wire–plate electrostatic precipitators under clean air conditions is presented and experimentally validated. The model investigates the effect of electrode configurations, wire diameter, spacing between wire electrodes, number of discharge wires and distance between collecting plates that on voltage–current characteristic of wire–plate electrostatic precipitators. Also, this paper presents a simulation model, based on the Finite Difference Method (FDM), to simulate electric conditions of wire–plate electrostatic precipitators under clean air conditions. The experimental results of some models are compared with those obtained from the simulation models.     

Optimization of spray parameters in the fabrication of SnO2 layers using electrostatic assisted deposition technique

Tin oxide (SnO₂) thin films for gas sensing applications were prepared using electrostatic spray deposition method under optimum deposition conditions. It is shown in the paper that desired film morphology can be obtained by controlling different spray parameters (liquid properties, applied voltage, nozzle-substrate distance and substrate temperature). The spray parameters were optimized with respect to droplet diameter and applied voltage. An empirical relationship between critical voltage and different spray parameters was established for optimization. The morphology of the films prepared using these optimized spray parameters were investigated using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).     

A simple and efficient levitation technique for noncontact coating of inertial confinement fusion targets

A simple and very efficient gas jet levitation technique for levitating inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets has been developed. A low velocity gas jet through diverging nozzle generates precisely controlled low Reynolds number flow pattern, capable of levitating polymer microballoons up to 2500 μm diameter. Different shaped diverging nozzle are investigated, satisfactory levitation is achieved with simple conical shapes. With this setup microballoon can be levitated for hours with excellent stability, continuous rotation and at the desired height (reproducible with in less than 100 μm). The height of stabilization depends upon cone angle of diverging nozzle and velocity of levitating gas. This technique is very robust and highly insensitive to external disturbances like nonuniform temperature fields and vibrations. This setup is very economical to fabricate, easy to operate and can be used efficiently in various spray coating application involving plastic and metallic layers on microballoons.     

All-Optical Photorefractive Effect in Carbazole-Based Azo-Side Group Polymer

We observe the photorefractivity without bias voltage or prepoling in a bifunctional photorefractive polymer. The maximum two-beam coupling gain is measured to be 126cm^-1 at zero bias voltage. The sample is considered to be poled by the photoinduced longitudinal electric field, which is formed due to the light intensity gradient along the light path. The expression of the electric field was deduced. The energy transfer direction between two writing beams and light intensity dependence of the two-beam coupling gain coefficient is predicted to be consistent with the experimental results. Furthermore, the dependence of the two-beam coupling gain coefficient on external applied electrical field is measured and this experiment verifies the existence of the photoinduced longitudinal electric field.     

Analysis and Improvement of Reflection-type Transverse Modulation Optical Voltage Sensors

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Space electric propulsion plasmas

Electric thrusters offer the promise of a substantial improvement in performance over that of conventional chemical rockets currently used in space propulsion applications. There are three basically different ways in which electrical power and propellant inputs might be combined to produce thrust: (1) propellant can be heated electrically and then expanded through a nozzle; (2) electromagnetic body forces can be applied to accelerate a plasma to the desired exhaust velocity; or (3) electrostatic body forces can be applied to accelerate charged particles. Electric thrusters are classified in accordance with the mechanism by which they induce thrust as electrothermal, electromagnetic, and electrostatic. The characteristics of plasmas in electric thrusters along these lines are considered