Numerical study of surface agglomeration of ultraviolet-polymeric ink and its control during 3D nano-inkjet printing process

There is a pressing need in very small scale three-dimensional (3D) inkjet printing to control and reduce agglomeration, as agglomeration often leads to nozzle clogging. While agglomeration within ultraviolet ink has been studied, there has been, to our knowledge, no extensive studies conducted for surface agglomeration of the ink on nozzle's wall. This numerical study therefore focuses on investigating if surfactants can effectively control surface agglomeration during nanodroplet formation. Many-body dissipative particle dynamics is the numerical method of choice here. We found that small amount of surfactant of about 1 wt % is sufficient to effectively reduce ink deposition on the nozzle's wall. However, by using the properties of a commercially available surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate, it was found that the maximum reduction achieved by its addition is only 60%. Thus, further physical or chemical deagglomeration techniques are required, and we show that by considering these other techniques, reduction of surface agglomeration to nearly 92% can be achieved. Finally, we found that adding surfactants has the additional benefit of improving total kinetic energy of the ink compositions, lowering possibility of agglomerations within the ink. It also raises the nanodroplet velocity while reducing nanodroplet breakup time, which can help speed up the process of 3D printing process. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 1615–1624     

Numerical characterization of ultraviolet ink fluid agglomeration and the surfactant effect in nanoinkjet printing

Ultraviolet (UV) ink is a major ink type used in additive manufacturing via 3D inkjet printing. A major challenge in nanoinkjet printing is ink agglomeration. Among the UV ink components, oligomers have the highest tendency to agglomerate which can agitate the stability and quality of the printing fluid and possibly lead to nanoscale nozzle clogging. In this work, the first numerical study on the UV ink fluid, UV ink is modeled by using dissipative particle dynamics to study mesoscale agglomeration. The constituents of the ink model are composed of polystyrene and polyethylene glycol as photopolymers, BZP as a photoinitiator, and SDS as a surfactant. Styrene is a prevalent and established commercial photopolymer in present 3D inkjet applications, while ethylene glycol is a photopolymer known to improve ink viscosity. The morphological characteristics of the UV ink are studied here, where the results for different models from four cases considered here show how the kind of photopolymers and their constituent ratios affect the agglomeration morphology of the fluidic system. The existence of both oligomers and monomers results in mutual morphological benefits against agglomeration, while the photoinitiator occurs between photopolymers. In addition, we find that the surfactant can reduce the average size of agglomeration and improve the dispersion uniformity by increasing the number of agglomerates. These results highlight the important role additives can play to prevent, reduce, and control various forms of agglomeration to achieve enhanced nanoinkjet printing quality. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gas chromatography study of the adsorption of refrigerating fluids on microporous solid adsorbents

Adsorption isotherms for microporous solids have been determined by elution gas chromatography. Adsorbents are of ;molecular sieves' type; their utilization in affinity thermal machines is envisaged. These machines work in a relatively high domain of pressure for the adsorbate, so the chromatographic technique is generally inadequate for their study. The possibility of increasing the maximal pressures reached by chromatography has been investigated in relation with: the carrier gas flow rate, the length and width of columns, the injected adsorbate mass. This study has been made for different solid adsorbents (zeolite 4A and 13X, silica gel), in different shapes (small stick, pellet, powder), and with different adsorbates (water, methanol, ethanol). In the most favorable conditions that have been derived, the qualities of the chromatographic method, rapidity, simplicity and large range of measures, appear well fitted to the search of this kind of isotherms which does not require a great accuracy.     

Short time spreading and wetting of offset printing liquids on model calcium carbonate coating structures

Spreading of oils and water on porous and pre-saturated model carbonate coating structures was studied with high speed video imaging. The short-time data were complemented with long time absorption and wicking experiments. The results indicate a strong dependence between surface structural features of the pigment tablets and water spreading at short times, both in non-saturated and water pre-saturated cases, while the oil spreading is mainly dependent on the liquid properties. Sodium polyacrylate dispersant on pigment surfaces is shown to contribute to water spreading and absorption. On pre-saturated structures the liquid-liquid interactions are dominant and the majority of results support spreading according to the molecular kinetic model. The evidence supports the hypothesis of S. Rousu, P. Gane, and D. Eklund, ["Influence of coating pigment chemistry and morphology on the chromatographic separation of offset ink constituents," in The Science of Papermaking Transactions of the 12th Fundamental Research Symposium, FRC The Pulp & Paper Fundamental Research Society, Oxford, UK, 2001, p. 1115] that at long times the oils absorb into the porous structure at a rate proportional to the ratio of viscosity and surface tension, provided there is no sorptive action with the binder. A combination of nanosized pores and large surface area is useful for providing sufficient absorption capability for carbonate based coatings.     

尿嘧啶水助质子转移反应机理的研究

用密度泛函理论,在B3LYP/6-311++G**计算水平下分别对尿嘧啶所有的气相、液相、过渡态和质子转移异构体的结构进行全优化,获得它们在气相和水相中的几何结构和电子结构,PGM反应场溶剂模型用于水相计算.结果显示:在气相和水相中,水参与反应降低了互变异构质子迁移的反应活化能,对互变异构质子迁移的反应起到催化作用,但...     

Chronoamperometric study of proton transfer/electron transfer in solid state electrochemistry of organic dyes

Chronoamperometric data for proton-assisted reduction/oxidation of a series of dyes, namely, alizarin, purpurin, luteolin, morin, and indigo are compared with the predictions of the model of Lovric and Scholz for redox conductive microcrystals assuming electron and proton hopping in mutually perpendicular directions. Upon the attachment of solid dye microparticles to paraffin-impregnated graphite electrodes in contact with aqueous electrolytes in the pH range between 4 and 7, an excellent agreement between theory and experimental data was obtained. The diffusion coefficients of electrons and protons across dye microcrystals were estimated as 5×10⁻⁷ cm² s⁻¹ and 1×10⁻¹⁰ cm² s⁻¹, respectively.     

Noncontact and rapid analysis of the quality of the recording coating on ink jet printing by near-infrared spectroscopy

The preparation and manufacture of the recording coating on ink jet printing (RC-IJP) was proposed. The microstructure of RC-IJP was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. Fourier transform near infrared (FT-NIR) spectra showed the combination and overtone vibrations information of the hydrogen-containing groups in the RC-IJP structure. FT-NIR spectra combined with partial least squares (PLS) methods were proposed for the analysis of the glossiness degree, smoothness degree and weight per unit area of recording material (Gr) in RC-IJP. 45 samples were selected for the calibration sets of glossiness degree, smoothness degree and Gr respectively. A spectral pretreatment method was used to develop a robust calibration model. After optimizing the spectral pre-treatment, the determination coefficient (R(2)) of the glossiness degree, smoothness degree and Gr was 0.86, 0.94, and 0.98, respectively. Root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of the glossiness degree, smoothness degree and Gr was 1.65, 13.86, 0.054, respectively. The analytical results showed that NIR spectra using PLS had significant potential as a rapid and accurate method for the analysis of the glossiness degree, smoothness degree and Gr in the manufacture of RC-IJP.     

2,6-硫代黄嘌呤质子互变异构反应机理的理论研究

在密度泛函B3LYP/6-311G~(**)理论水平上,对气相和水相中2,6-硫代黄嘌呤各烯醇式与酮式水助质子互变异构体及其过渡态进行几何构型全自由度优化,获得它们在气相和水相中的几何结构和电子结构,PCM反应场溶剂模型用于水相计算.结果显示在气相和水相中,水参与反应降低了互变异构质子迁移的反应活化能,对互变异构质子迁移的反应起到催化作用,但是没有改变各异构体的稳定性顺序,其顺序为W1＞W3＞W2.进一步研究了2,6-硫代黄嘌呤各烯醇式与酮式水助质子互变异构的反应机理,提出了2,6-硫代黄嘌呤各烯醇式与酮式互变异构质子迁移的反应为平面六元环的过渡态结构.探讨了溶剂化效应对互变异构体的几何结构、能量、电荷分布以及互变异构反应活化能的影响等.     

Comparative study of turbulent mass transfer in the viscous sublayer using electrochemical method and direct numerical simulations

In this study we present, analyze and compare the power spectral density of the wall shear stress in a turbulent plane channel flow obtained with different techniques. Experimentally the instantaneous wall shear stress was measured with the electrochemical technique using different probes, which give approximately the same results after applying the transfer function for correction of the probe??s inertia. Numerically, the time evolution of the wall shear stress has been determined using direct numerical simulations (DNS) and large eddy simulations (LES). The results of DNS are in a good agreement with the electrochemical flow measurements. However the power spectra of the wall shear stress obtained with LES shows deviations with respect to DNS at high frequencies because of the spatial filtering inherent to the LES technique.     

Theoretical study of the reaction mechanism of proton transfer in glycinamide

To investigate the tautomerism of glycinamide that is induced by proton transfer, we present detailed theoretical studies on the reaction mechanism of both the isolated gas phase and H₂O‐assisted proton transfer process of glycinamide, using density functional theory calculations by means of the B3LYP hybrid functional. Twenty‐six geometries, including 10 significant transition states, were optimized, and these geometrical parameters are discussed in detail. The relative order of the activation energy for hydrogen atom transfer of all the conformers has been systematically explored in this essay. For the amido hydrogen atom transfer process, the relative order of the activation energy is: IV < II < III < I, while in the carbonic hydrogen atom transfer process, the relative order is IV > II > III > I. Meanwhile, the most favorable structure for both the amido hydrogen atom transfer and the carbonic hydrogen atom transfer has been found. The involvement of the water molecule not only can stabilize the transition states and the ground states, but can also reduce the activation energy greatly. The superior catalytic effect of H₂O has been discussed in detail. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006     

Adhesion and friction properties of molecularly thin perfluoropolyether liquid films on solid surface

The adhesion and friction properties of molecularly thin perfluoropolyether (PFPE) lubricant films dip-coated on a diamond-like carbon (DLC) overcoat of magnetic disks were studied using a pin-on-disk-type micro-tribotester that we developed. The load and friction forces were simultaneously measured on a rotating disk surface under an increasing/decreasing load cycle and slow sliding conditions. Experiments were performed using two types of PFPE lubricants: Fomblin Z-tetraol2000S with functional end-groups and Fomblin Z-03 without any end-group. The curves of the friction force as a function of the applied load agree with the curves estimated using the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) model. The friction forces on the Z-03 films having different thicknesses were not found to decrease drastically; however, the friction forces on the Z-tetraol film were found to decrease drastically when the film thickness is more than ~1.2 nm. This drastic change in the case of the Z-tetraol film is estimated to be affected by the coverage of the lubricant film.     

A theoretical study on the mechanism of a novel one-carbon unit transfer reaction

The mechanism of one-carbon unit transfer reaction between tetrahydrofolate coenzymes model compound (e.g., benzimidazolium) and Grignard reagent has been investigated employing the DFT and B3LYP/6-31G* levels of theory. Three consecutive reactions leading to major products N,N′-dimethyl-ophenylenediamine and acetone have been proposed and discussed. For these reactions, the structure parameters, vibrational frequencies, and energies for each stationary point have been calculated, and the corresponding reaction mechanism has been given by the potential energy surface, which is drawn according to the relative energies. The calculated results show that the corresponding major products N,N′-dimethyl-ophenylenediamine and acetone are in agreement with experimental findings, which provided a new illustration and guidance for these reactions.     

Electron transfer at the solid liquid interface; new insights on the mechanism of formation of the grignard reagent

The strong inhibiting effect of trace quantities of selected compounds on the reaction between ultra fine particles of magnesium and alkyl halides in THF strongly suggests that the generally accepted linear mechanism should be replaced by a chain mechanism. The reactivity of batteries of free radical clocks centered on an aliphatic skeleton displays unexpected leaving group effects. Such effects could be rationalized according to a variety of mechanistic schemes. The main ones are: 1) coexistence of polar and electron transfer routes, 2) participation of solvated electrons in the mechanism, 3) gradient of reactivity starting from the magnesium surface to the bulk solution. A series of experiments aiming at a choice between these possibilities is described.     

Theoretical study of the mechanism of proton transfer in tautomeric systems: Alloxan

Semiempirical SCF-MO studies of tautomerism in alloxan preclude the possibility of direct proton transfer in the gas phase due to the strain in the four-centred transition state, in which the proton being transferred is forced to come close to the positively charged carbon atom at the opposite corner of the four-membered ring. However, in aqueous solution, the activation barrier reduces appreciably, not only due to reduction in strain, but also due to charge separation in the transition state, which is stabilized due to ionic resonance. The N-H bond is almost broken, while the O-H bond is only partially formed in the transition state. The other stabilizing effect in aqueous solution is due to bulk solvent dielectric effects, which stabilize the transition state to a greater extent due to its higher dipole moment. Although the transition states for proton transfer to the neighbouring oxygen atoms on either side have comparable energies, as the mechanisms of proton transfer leading to the formation of the 2-hydroxy and 4-hydroxy tautomers are similar, bulk solvent effects are larger in the latter due to the higher dipole moment of the transition state. The reason is the almost complete separation of the two entities, i.e. the alloxan anion and the hydronium ion in the latter case, indicating that in this case a dissociative mechanism of the kind encountered in acid-base equilibria is operating.     

A study on the mechanism of reaction between BNAH and chloranil:Evidence for electron transfer

The reaction between chloranil and N-benzyldihydronicotinamide(BNAH)in boratebuffer/DMF was investigated.The reaction mixture gave a strong esr signal,which is consistentwith that of chloranil anion radical,and tetrachlorohydrophenol(QH_2)and N-benzylnicotinamide(BNA~+)were obtained as the sole products.When the reaction was run in benzene solution,a greencoloured charge-transfer complex between the reactants could be isolated,which decomposed in polarsolvents to give BNA-+ and QH_2.Based on kinetic studies by esr spectroscopy by the stopped-flowtechnique,a two-step electron-transfer mechanism for the reactionis proposed in contrast to thehydride-transfer mechanism reported in the literature.     

Synthesis and characterisation of silver nanoparticles in viscous solvents and its transfer into non-polar solvents

Room temperature synthesis of silver nanoparticles has been successfully achieved by adding NaOH acting as an accelerator for the reduction of silver ions in ethylene glycol and glycerol without adding any external reducing agent. Highly monodisperse silver particles are obtained in the presence of various stabilisers such as PVP, SiO₂ and SDS. Nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 25 nm and a mean deviation of 2 nm could be obtained under experimental conditions. The silver nanoparticles so obtained could be easily transferred to chloroform containing CTAB, giving rise to CTAB stabilised silver nanoparticles having sizes of around 25 nm. The newly found role of OH⁻ stabilisation was used to formulate a mechanism for the formation of silver nanoparticles in ethylene glycol and glycerol. In this mechanism, silver nanoparticles are stabilised in ethylene glycol by the adsorbed OH⁻ ions.     

Density functional study on the reaction mechanism of proton transfer in 2-pyridone: effect of hydration and self-association

The proton-transfer mechanism in the isolated, mono, dehydrated forms and dimers of 2-pyridone and the effect of hydration or self-assistance on the transition state structures corresponding to proton transfer from the keto form to the enol form have been investigated using B3LYP and BH-LYP hybrid density functional methods at the 6-311++G (2d, 2p) basis set level. The barrier heights for both H2O-assisted and self-assisted reactions are significantly lower than that of the bare tautomerization reaction from 2-pyridone to 2-hydroxypyridine, implying the importance of the superior catalytic effect of H2O and (H2O)2 and the important role of 2-pyridone itself for the intramolecular proton transfer. Long-range solvent effects have also been taken into account by using the continuum model (Onsager model and polarizable continuum model (PCM)) of water. The tautomerization energies and the potential energy barriers are increased both for the water-assisted and for the self-assisted reaction because of the bulk solvent, which imply that the tautomerization of PY becomes less favorable in the polar solvent.     

Voltammetric study on the mechanism of ion transfer caused by weak acids in the bilayer lipid membrane

The mechanism has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry for the ion transfer from one aqueous phase (W1) to another (W2) across a bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) in the presence of a typical uncoupler, carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP). Voltammograms for the ion transfer were in steady-state and showed rotated sigmoidal and symmetrical shape about the origin (0 V, 0 A). The magnitude of the ion transfer current at a given applied potential increased linearly with the concentration of FCCP in W2 up to 10⁻⁶ M and then became saturated. The ion transfer current also showed a bell-type dependence on pH centered around pH ≅ pK_a + 1, K_a being the dissociation constant of FCCP in aqueous phase. These properties have been well explained by our proposed model that the ion transfer current is attributable to the transfers of H⁺ and Na⁺ distributed in BLM. The hydrophilic counter ions, H⁺ and Na⁺, compensate the negative charge of the dissociated FCCP in BLM. The current intensity is predominantly governed by the concentration and the ion mobility of the counter cations.     

Nonlinear optical limiters of pulsed laser radiation based on carbon‐containing nanostructures in viscous and solid matrices

Results of the study of optical limiters of pulsed laser radiation based on nonlinear effects in carbon nanostructures placed into viscous and solid matrices are presented. A nonlinear optical limiting was studied by nanomaterials based on multi‐wall polyhedral carbon nanostructures (astralens) placed in a sol–gel matrix. Similar studies for single‐wall and multi‐wall carbon‐containing nanotubes placed in polymer matrices with various viscosities were performed. No additional mechanism of optical limiting due to electron structure of single‐wall carbon‐containing nanotubes at their introduction into viscous and solid composite media was found. An influence of polymer matrix composition containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on a threshold and ratio of attenuation of laser radiation was demonstrated. The best limiting characteristics were observed at placing CNT into polymethylsiloxane matrix. An effect of “self‐healing” of a medium after laser radiation passage through high viscous liquids was obtained. The high parameters of nonlinear optical limiting (the threshold of limiting 10^?5 J, ratio of attenuation 10³) achieved for the composite material CNT (HiPCO High‐Pressure Carbon Monoxide) and carbon nanofibers in high viscous and solid polymethylsiloxane media allow the design of protective filters for laser radiation operating in wide spectral range. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.