Laser printing of enamels on tiles

A Nd:YAG laser beam is used as a tool to print patterns of coloured enamels on tile substrates. For this, the laser beam is scanned over a layer of raw enamel previously sprayed on the tile surface. The possibility to focus the laser energy to heat a small zone without affecting the rest of the piece presents some advantages in front of traditional furnace techniques in which the whole piece has to be heated; among them, energy saving and the possibility to apply enamels with higher melting temperatures than those of the substrate. In this work, we study the effects of laser irradiation of a green enamel, based in chromium oxide pigment and lead frit, deposited on a white tile substrate. Lines obtained with different combinations of laser beam power and scan speeds were investigated with the aim to optimize the process from the point of view of the quality of the patterns. For this purpose, the morphology of the lines and their cross-sections is studied. The results show that lines with good visual properties can be printed with the laser. The characteristics of the marked lines were found to be directly related with the accumulated energy density delivered. Moreover, there is a linear relationship between the accumulated energy density and the volume of melted material. A minimum accumulated energy density is required to melt a shallow zone of the glazed substrate to allow the adhesion of the enamelled lines.     

Coiling, entrainment, and hydrodynamic coupling of decelerated fluid jets

From algal suspensions to magma upwellings, one finds jets which exhibit complex symmetry-breaking instabilities as they are decelerated by their surroundings. We consider here a model system--a saline jet descending through a salinity gradient--which produces dynamics unlike those of standard momentum jets or plumes. The jet coils like a corkscrew within a conduit of viscously entrained fluid, whose upward recirculation braids the jet, and nearly confines transverse mixing to the narrow conduit. We show that the underlying jet structure and certain scaling relations follow from similarity solutions to the fluid equations and the physics of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities.     

Indirect strong coupling regime between a quantum emitter and a cavity mediated by a mechanical resonator

Achieving strong coupling between light and matter is usually a challenge in Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics (cQED), especially in solid state systems. For this reason is useful taking advantage of alternative approaches to reach this regime, and then, generate reliable quantum polaritons. In this work we study a system composed of a quantized single mode of a mechanical resonator interacting linearly with both a single mode cavity and a quantum two-level system. In particular, we focus on the behavior of the indirect light-matter interaction when the phonon mode interfaces both parts. By diagonalization of the Hamiltonian and computing the density matrix in a master equation approach, we evidence several features of strong coupling between photons and matter excitations. For large energy detuning between the cavity and the mechanical resonator it is obtained a phonon-dispersive effective Hamiltonian which is able to retrieve much of the physics of the conventional Jaynes–Cummings model (JCM). In order to characterize this mediated coupling, we make a quantitative comparison between both models and analyze light-matter entanglement and purity of the system leading to similar results in cQED.     

Scale dependence of branching in arterial and bronchial trees

Although models of branching in arterial and bronchial trees often predict a dependence of bifurcation parameters on the scale of the bifurcating vessels, direct verification of this dependence by comparison with data is uncommon. We compare measurements of bifurcation parameters of airways and arterial trees of different mammals as a function of scale to general features predicted by theoretical models based on minimization of pumping power and network volume. We find that the size dependence is more complex than existing theories based solely on energy and volume minimization explain, and suggest additional factors that may govern the branching at different scales.     

Preparation of polymer-supported gold nanoparticles based on resins containing ionic liquid-like fragments: easy control of size and stability

Crosslinked polymers containing covalently attached functional sites with chemical structures related to those present in ILs and having macroscopic properties very similar to the ones of the corresponding bulk ILs can be advantageously applied to the preparation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The size and morphology of the resulting metal nanoparticles (MNPs) can be easily modulated through a proper combination of the synthetic method used for the generation of the NPs and the structural elements of the polymer. Additionally, the resulting supported AuNPs are demonstrated to be stable for at least eight months with the vials open to the atmosphere. Several synthetic methodologies have been studied, as well as different structural parameters for the functional polymers. Those include the chemical nature (anions and cations) and loading of the ionic liquid-like fragments and the morphology of the polymeric matrix. The results obtained show the potential to prepare supported AuNPs with narrow size distributions and small diameters that can have potential interest for application in different fields.     

Microwave-Assisted Direct Synthesis of 4H-1,2,4-Benzothiadiazine 1,1-Dioxide Derivatives

Abstract

We describe a rapid and convenient methodology for the preparation of diverse 3-aryl and 3-trifluoromethyl 4H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine-1,1-dioxides in a one-pot microwave-promoted reaction between 2-aminobenzenesulfonamides and benzaldehydes, trifluoroacetic acid or benzoic acids.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT      

Three dissimilarity measures to contrast dendrograms

We discussed three dissimilarity measures between dendrograms defined over the same set, they are triples, partition, and cluster indices. All of them decompose the dendrograms into subsets. In the case of triples and partition indices, these subsets correspond to binary partitions containing some clusters, while in the cluster index, a novel dissimilarity method introduced in this paper, the subsets are exclusively clusters. In chemical applications, the dendrograms gather clusters that contain similarity information of the data set under study. Thereby, the cluster index is the most suitable dissimilarity measure between dendrograms resulting from chemical investigation. An application example of the three measures is shown to remark upon the advantages of the cluster index over the other two methods in similarity studies. Finally, the cluster index is used to measure the differences between five dendrograms obtained when applying five common hierarchical clustering algorithms on a database of 1000 molecules.     

Cellulose microfibrils from banana farming residues: isolation and characterization

Cellulose microfibrils have been prepared from banana rachis using a combination of chemical and mechanical treatments. The morphology and structure of the samples were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to characterize the chemical modifications of the samples after each treatment. Suspensions of bundled or individualized 5-nm-wide microfibrils were obtained after homogenization (PH) whereas an organosolv (PO) treatment resulted in shorter aggregates of parallel cellulose microcrystallites. The sharper rings in the X-ray diffraction pattern of the PO-treated sample suggest a higher crystallinity due to a more efficient removal of hemicelluloses and dissolution of amorphous zones by the acid treatment. Both microfibrils and microcrystals prepared by both methods can be used as reinforcing filler in nanocomposite materials.