Use of Video Enhanced Microscopy for Characterization of Solid‐Liquid‐Liquid Mixtures

Although some particle sizing devices have gained a lot of popularity, none of them is able to distinguish between drops and solids and few are able to handle viscous oily samples. This paper discusses the use of the optical microscopy, enhanced by the use of digital video capabilities and image analysis software, to characterize oil production wastes. Several thousands of particles were counted and their projected areas were measured. A discussion is given about the different corrections required in order to extract the most reliable information from the image analysis, overcoming some of the drawbacks of this kind of measurements. The technique developed here offers unique features like the determination of the fraction of droplets that exist in the form of non‐coalesced agglomerates. When cross‐linked with the results obtained by standard ASTM procedures, it allows to infer the amount of disperse phase that exists in the form of submicron droplets or large free water drops that are usually not sampled for microscope slides.     

Droplet Size Distribution and Sphericity Measurements of Low‐Density Sprays Through Image Analysis

An image analysis technique has been developed in order to determine the drop size distributions of sprays produced by low‐velocity plain cylindrical jets. The particle sizing method is based on incoherent backlight images. Each drop is analyzed individually in the image. The two‐dimensional image resulting from the projection of the three‐dimensional object shape (the drop) on a screen (the video sensor surface) is modeled. The model, based on the point spread function formulation, has been developed to derive a relation between contrast and relative width of individual drops. This relation is used to extend the domain of validity of drop size in terms of size range, out of focus and image resolution. The shape parameter is determined for each drop image through morphological analysis. Spherical and non‐spherical droplets are then sorted on the basis of this parameter. Non‐spherical drops are regarded as non‐fully atomized liquid bulks or coalesced drops. Finally, the droplet size distribution of true spherical droplets is established for a low‐velocity plain cylindrical liquid jet.     

Topological Invariants of Vapor–Liquid,Vapor–Liquid–Liquid and Liquid–Liquid Phase Diagrams

The study of topological invariants of phase diagrams allows for the development of a qualitative theory of the processes being researched. Studies of the properties of objects in the same equivalence class may be carried out with the aim of predicting the properties of unexplored objects from this class, or predicting the behavior of a whole system. This paper describes a number of topological invariants in vapor–liquid, vapor–liquid–liquid and liquid–liquid equilibrium diagrams. The properties of some invariants are studied and illustrated. It is shown that the invariant of a diagram with a miscibility gap can be used to distinguish equivalence classes of phase diagrams, and that the balance equation of the singular-point indices, based on the Euler characteristic, may be used to analyze the binodal-surface structure of a quaternary system.     

Assessment of Pulsed Gasoline Fuel Sprays by Means of Qualitative and Quantitative Laser‐based Diagnostic Methods

The combination of qualitative measuring techniques such as imaging, with quantitative drop sizing techniques like Laser Diffraction and Phase Doppler Analyzer (PDA), has been applied for assessing the sprays formed by injectors for gasoline direct injection (DI) engines. Both, the sizing instruments as well as the imaging, are offering temporal resolution in order to investigate the important features of pulsed DI sprays. Using a combination of the spatially integrating Laser Diffraction instrument with strobe illuminated dual view 2D‐imaging, the overall spray properties have been assessed. Having the 2D information of the global spray shape in two perpendicular directions allows one to immediately correlate the concentration and drop size measurement results of the Laser Diffraction instrument with the global spray appearance. Thus, the changes of the spray pattern can be related with the sizing information as the spray propagates away from the injector. For injector design improvements, however, it is required to achieve a higher spatial resolution and especially to measure closer to the injector exit orifice than the Laser Diffraction allows. By using a Phase Doppler Analyzer, the different phases of the injection event, i.e. opening of the injector, main spray and closing phase of the injector, can be distinguished from each other. However, in sprays, where the spray geometry is changing with time, the PDA can suffer due to its high spatial resolution, yielding results that are difficult to interpret.Assisting the PDA with a simultaneous imaging technique of similar spatial resolution creates a very robust experimental approach. By visualizing the plane perpendicular to the PDA probe volume, i.e. the crossing of the PDA laser beams on the spray image itself, a very precise adjustment of the PDA probe volume with respect to the spray rather than the nozzle can be achieved. This becomes critical when getting to the near orifice area at distances closer than 10mm. The synchronized images also bring additional information to the point measurement provided by the PDA. It becomes easier to choose which particular phase of the spray formation the user wants to characterize. Finally, more confidence in the interpretation of PDA data from locations close to the injector tip is reached.     

Shear Viscosity of Liquid‐Phase Yukawa Plasmas from Molecular Dynamics Simulations on Graphics Processing Units

We have carried out million‐particle equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of 3‐dimensional Yukawa liquids in order to determine the shear viscosity coefficient. The computations have been executed on Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) architectures with our largely parallelized code. The results cover the strongly coupled liquid phase, with Γ up to the vicinity of the freezing transition, for the 1 ≤ κ ≤ 3 domain of the screening parameter of the Yukawa potential. The good agreement of the present results with those obtained from earlier simulations of significantly smaller systems (consisting of several hundred to several thousand particles) verifies that the viscosity data derived in these smaller scale simulations are also acceptable (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Liquid‐Crystal‐Mediated Self‐Assembly of Porous α‐Fe2O3 Nanorods on PEDOT:PSS‐Functionalized Graphene as a Flexible Ternary Architecture for Capacitive Energy Storage

A novel aqueous‐based self‐assembly approach to a composite of iron oxide nanorods on conductive‐polymer (CP)‐functionalized, ultralarge graphene oxide (GO) liquid crystals (LCs) is demonstrated here for the fabrication of a flexible hybrid material for charge capacitive application. Uniform decoration of α‐Fe₂O₃ nanorods on a poly(3,4‐ethylene‐dioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)‐functionalized, ultralarge GO scaffold results in a 3D interconnected layer‐by‐layer (LBL) architecture. This advanced interpenetrating network of ternary components is lightweight, foldable, and possesses highly conductive pathways for facile ion transportation and charge storage, making it promising for high‐performance energy‐storage applications. Having such structural merits and good synergistic effects, the flexible architecture exhibits a high specific discharge capacitance of 875 F g^?1 and excellent volumetric specific capacitance of 868 F cm^?3 at 5 mV s^?1, as well as a promising energy density of 118 W h kg^?1 (at 0.5 A g^?1) and promising cyclability, with capacity retention of 100% after 5000 charge–discharge (CD) cycles. This synthesis method provides a simple, yet efficient approach for the solution‐processed LBL insertion of the hematite nanorods (HNR) into CP‐functionalized novel composite structure. It provides great promise for the fabrication of a variety of metal‐oxide (MO)‐nanomaterial‐based binder and current collector‐free flexible composite electrodes for high‐performance energy‐storage applications.     

Two‐Phase Flow Characterization by Automated Digital Image Analysis. Part 2: Application of PDIA for Sizing Sprays

A series of experiments were conducted in order to assess the robustness and accuracy of a recently developed digital image analysis technique (PDIA). This paper investigates the application of the PDIA technique to the sizing of relatively small fuel droplets of diameters in the range 5 to 30 μm produced by a pressure‐swirl atomizer. The measurement performance of the PDIA system has been assessed in terms of individual object diameters and also number and volume probability density functions of diameter in comparison to phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) data obtained under identical conditions. PDIA measurements revealed good agreement with spray data obtained by PDA at a measurement location 36 diameters downstream from the nozzle orifice with differences in the arithmetic mean diameter, D₁₀ and volume mean diameter, D₃₀ of approximately 5 and 3% respectively. The PDIA technique was shown to detect the presence of very large, predominantly non‐spherical droplets whose diameters were in excess of 100 μm. These droplets, although few in number constitute a significant proportion of the total spray volume and would have otherwise been either erroneously measured or have passed through the probe volume undetected using PDA due to non‐sphericity. Smaller objects may also be measured correctly by both methods although sensitivity to signal‐to‐noise ratio, for both methods can generate spurious and contradictory errors.     

Monodisperse Sprays for Various Purposes — Their production and characteristics

The production of liquid sprays represents a key technology for a wide range of industrial proceses. Most applications currently use pressure or air-assisted atomization, resulting in the production of polydisperese sprays. Recent advances in experimental and numerical techniques for investigating liquid spraying processes, however, have enabled a closer examination of parameter optimization, leading to the conclusion that in may cases, a much narrower size distribution, or even a monodisperse spray, may exhibit many advantages. Currently monodisperse droplet generators, or drop-on-demand generators, do not meet this challenge of producing monodisperse sprays, primarily owing to the very low volume flow rate of liquid which is atomized. In the present work, a monodisperse sprya generator is introduced, which overcomes this difficulty for many applications.     

Thermodynamic Derivation of Scaling at the Liquid–Vapor Critical Point

With the use of thermodynamics and general equilibrium conditions only, we study the entropy of a fluid in the vicinity of the critical point of the liquid–vapor phase transition. By assuming a general form for the coexistence curve in the vicinity of the critical point, we show that the functional dependence of the entropy as a function of energy and particle densities necessarily obeys the scaling form hypothesized by Widom. Our analysis allows for a discussion of the properties of the corresponding scaling function, with the interesting prediction that the critical isotherm has the same functional dependence, between the energy and the number of particles densities, as the coexistence curve. In addition to the derivation of the expected equalities of the critical exponents, the conditions that lead to scaling also imply that, while the specific heat at constant volume can diverge at the critical point, the isothermal compressibility must do so.     

Structure determination of Pt‐coated Au dumbbells via fluctuation X‐ray scattering

A fluctuation X‐ray scattering experiment has been carried out on platinum‐coated gold nanoparticles randomly oriented on a substrate. A complete algorithm for determining the electron density of an individual particle from diffraction patterns of many particles randomly oriented about a single axis is demonstrated. This algorithm operates on angular correlations among the measured intensity distributions and recovers the angular correlation functions of a single particle from measured diffraction patterns. Taking advantage of the cylindrical symmetry of the nanoparticles, a cylindrical slice model is proposed to reconstruct the structure of the nanoparticles by fitting the experimental ring angular auto‐correlation and small‐angle scattering data obtained from many scattering patterns. The physical meaning of the refined structure is discussed in terms of their statistical distributions of the shape and electron density profile.     

Gold‐Nanoparticle‐Decorated Boron Nitride Nanosheets: Structure and Optical Properties

Synergetic cooperation of individual components of the nanocomposites (NCs) is responsible for their novel properties that lead to various technological applications. A simple chemical process depicting the deposition of functionalized gold nanoparticles on the surface of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) in solution is reported. The structure, chemical composition, and optical properties of nanosheets are systematically studied. The deposition of Au nanoparticles on BNNS (BNNS_Au) results in plasmonic band modulation, thus altering the optoelectronic properties of BNNSs. The intense surface plasmon absorption band of BNNS_Au is narrowed and red‐shifted relative to the absorption band of as synthesized monometallic BNNSs. The observations reflect the strong interfacial interaction between BNNS and Au nanoparticles. This approach constitutes a basis for a simple process leading to the preparation of functionalized BNNSs and their utilization as nanoscale templates for assembly and integration with other nanoscale materials for futuristic optoelectronic devices.     

Structure and NMR properties of 6‐substituted‐5,6‐dihydrobenzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids

We report a preparation of new 6‐substituted‐5,6‐dihydrobenzo[c]phenanthridines by the reaction of azoles with quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids sanguinarine and chelerythrine. The prepared compounds have been characterized by NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. Conformational behaviors of carbazole derivatives in solution have been investigated by low‐temperature NMR experiments. Barriers to rotation around newly formed C6–N bonds were determined to be 12–13 kcal/mol. Quantum chemical calculations have been used to reproduce the experimental observations. Large structural effects on several ¹H NMR resonances were observed experimentally, analyzed by Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations at B3LYP/6‐311+G(d,p)/PCM level, and interpreted by ring‐current effects of the benzo[c]phenanthridine and carbazole units. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HPLC测定辛芩喷雾剂中的黄芩苷

建立HPLC测定辛芩喷雾剂中黄芩苷含量的方法.采用Hypersil C18 (4.6mm×150mm,5μm)为色谱柱,流动相为甲醇∶水∶磷酸(47∶53∶0.2,V/V/V),流速为1.0mL/min,紫外检测波长为280nm.在6.0-300μg·mL-1范围内线性关系良好(r=0.9993).加标回收率为97.02％,重复性实验的RSD为1.08％(n=3).本法操作简便、快速准确,重现性好,可作为该制剂的含量测定方法.     

Atom‐Interferometry Measurement of the Fine Structure Constant

Using an atom interferometer to measure the quotient of the reduced Planck's constant and the mass of a cesium‐133 atom $?/m_{\mathrm{Cs}}$, the most accurate measurement of the fine structure constant $\alpha =1/137.035999046(27)$ is recorded, at an accuracy of 0.20 parts per billion (ppb). Using multiphoton interactions (Bragg diffraction and Bloch oscillations), the largest phase (12 million radians) of any Ramsey–Bordé interferometer and controlled systematic effects at a level of 0.12 ppb are demonstrated. Comparing the Penning trap measurements with the Standard Model prediction of the electron gyromagnetic anomaly $a_e$ based on the α measurement, a 2.5 $\sigma$ tension is observed, rejecting dark photons as the reason for the unexplained part of the muon's gyromagnetic moment discrepancy at a 99% confidence level according to frequentist statistics. Implications for dark‐sector candidates (e.g., scalar and pseudoscalar bosons, vector bosons, and axial‐vector bosons) may be a sign of physics beyond the Standard Model. A future upgrade of the cesium fountain atom interferometer is also proposed to increase the accuracy of $?/m_{\mathrm{Cs}}$ by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude, which would help resolve the tension.     

Bifurcated Current Sheet Structure in a Quiet Time by Cluster Spacecrafts

We analyse the vertical structure of the magnetotail current sheet for two time intervals during which the Cluster spacecrafts crossed the neutral sheet in a quiet time. In the intervals, the current sheet moved slowly, and the value of the AE index was relatively small, about 40-130 nT. We find two examples of current sheets, with the current density maximum at the magnetic equator （Bx = 0）, as well as an example of off-centre or bifurcated current sheets. In the quiet time, without any fast plasma flow and without significant flapping motion, we also directly observed the bifurcated current sheet. The bifurcated current sheet is probably associated with instabilities in the current sheet. These may be important for researching the mechanism of current sheet bifurcation.     

Experimental Investigations of the Binary Interaction of Polydisperse Sprays

Experimental investigations of the interaction of two polydisperse semi-hollow cone sprays are presented. The process, although of considerable significance for the chemical industry and applications like flue gas cleaning, has not been well-covered in the existing literature. This may be due to difficulties in getting general results from experiments involving particular geometries, like conical sprays, with fixed spray angle and geometrical arrangement of the nozzles. The present work develops a representation of the effects of the spray interaction on the spray drops in the resulting two-phase flow. The measurement technique used is phase-Doppler anemometry (PDA), which provides information about the size and two velocity components of the drops at each measurement position in the sprays. A factorial design of the experiments allows the influence of the intersection angle and the liquid flowrate of the sprays on an integral mean drop size in a spray cross section to be quantified. For varying values of these parameters, the downstream evolution of the interacting sprays is quantified in terms of the smoothness of profiles of the number-mean drop size. The collisional interaction of the spray drops is identified as the reason for the observed increase of the mean drop size caused by the spray interaction.     

Structure and Stability of PEG‐ and Mixed PEG‐Layer‐Coated Nanoparticles at High Particle Concentrations Studied In Situ by Small‐Angle X‐Ray Scattering

Ligand‐layer structure and stability of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) coated with α‐methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)‐ω‐(11‐mercaptoundecanoate) (PEGMUA) layers and mixed layers of PEGMUA and 11‐mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) at high AuNP concentrations are studied in situ by small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). The thickness of the ligand layer is modified by the molecular weight of the PEG‐ligands (2 and 5 kDa), and the PEG‐grafting density is decreased by coadsorption of MUA. The response of the conjugates to a pressure of up to 4 kbar is probed. The results indicate strongly hydrated PEG layers at high grafting densities. The stability of the mixed ligand‐layer conjugates is lower. This is most probably due to enhanced interparticle PEG–PEG interactions at lower grafting densities. The presented study demonstrates that a detailed structural characterization of polymer ligand layers in situ and in response to external stimuli is possible with SAXS.