Performance Improvement of Acid Pretreated 3D-printing Composite for the Heavy Metal Ions Analysis

The performance enhancement of 3D-printed electrode comprised of polylactic acid (PLA) and graphite (Gr) doped with graphene oxide (GO) was studied to detect five heavy metal ions in trace level. The pretreatment of PLA/Gr/GO electrode with potential cycling in H₂SO₄ solution achieved the most sensitive response. The characteristics of the composite electrodes were verified using XPS, FE-SEM, EDXS, Raman, and impedance spectroscopy. The experimental variables affecting the response current were optimized with respect to pH, deposition time, ratio of PLA/Gr/GO, and supporting electrolytes. The pretreated 3D-PLA/Gr/GO electrode showed a wide dynamic range from 0.5 ppb to 1.0 ppm with low detection limits of 0.039–0.13 ppb. The reliability of the PLA/Gr/GO electrode was evaluated by analyzing the reference samples of European Reference Materials.     

Migration of indium ions in amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin film transistors

Electromigration of In in amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin film transistors under repeated switching operation was investigated by analyzing the distribution of component elements. During the repeated switching operations up to 300 times, threshold voltage of this device increased gradually implying alteration to the internal device structures. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed noticeable redistribution of metallic components, especially In, in the channel layer beneath the source electrode during switching operations by the migration of metallic ions away from the source electrode, which is attributed to electromigrations similar to those observed in organic light emitting diodes having indium tin oxide electrodes.     

On the ranks of idempotent matrices over skew semifields

As is well known, every positive idempotent matrix is of rank 1. It is proved that idempotent matrices without zeros have this property over many skew semifields, and all these skew semifields are described.     

Effect of irradiation on the cryogenic mechanical characteristics of polyurethane foam

The present study investigated thermal and mechanical characteristics of irradiated polyurethane foams (PUFs) according to the irradiation does under various temperature conditions, including low/cryogenic temperatures. Fourier transform infrared analysis was performed to obtain information on the PUF molecular structure. In addition, Macro- and microstructural investigations were carried out to determine the relationship between thermal and mechanical characteristics and irradiation dose. The test results were quantitatively presented, and it was found that the irradiated PUF has potential for application in industrial structures.     

Complex dynamic behavior in a viral model with state feedback control strategies

With the consideration of mechanism of prevention and control for the spread of viral diseases, in this paper, we propose two novel virus dynamics models where state feedback control strategies are introduced. The first model incorporates the density of infected cells (or free virus) as control threshold value; we analytically show the existence and orbit stability of positive periodic solution. Theoretical results imply that the density of infected cells (or free virus) can be controlled within an adequate level. The other model determines the control strategies by monitoring the density of uninfected cells when it reaches a risk threshold value. We analytically prove the existence and orbit stability of semi-trivial periodic solution, which show that the viral disease dies out. Numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the main results.     

Activity and selectivity of iron–molybdenum catalysts in synthesis of formaldehyde in an industrial installation

The results of operation of F-1 and F-2 iron–molybdenum formaldehyde synthesis catalysts in an industrial installation consisting of two series-connected tubular reactor are analyzed. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were studied, and the relationship between the characteristics of acid–base sites, on the one hand, and the activity and selectivity, on the other hand, was determined. The formation of hydrogen on the industrial catalysts is improbable.     

Directional Self‐Assembly of Fluorinated Star Block Polymer Thin Films Using Mixed Solvent Vapor Annealing

We demonstrate the directional alignment of perpendicular‐lamellae domains in fluorinated three‐armed star block polymer (BP) thin films using solvent vapor annealing with shear stress. The control of orientation and alignment was accomplished without any substrate surface modification. Additionally, three‐armed star poly(methyl methacrylate‐block‐styrene) [PMMA‐PS] and poly(octafluoropentyl methacrylate‐block‐styrene) were compared to their linear analogues to examine the impact of fluorine content and star architecture on self‐assembled BP feature sizes and interdomain density profiles. X‐ray reflectometry results indicated that the star BP molecular architecture increased the effective polymer segregation strength and could possibly facilitate reduced polymer domain spacings, which are useful in next‐generation nanolithographic applications. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 1663–1672     

The all-solid-state battery with vanadate glass-ceramic cathode

The Ga-Ag-Li|Li₇La₃Zr_1.89Al_0.15O₁₂|(Li₂O–B₂O₃–V₂O₅ + Fe) all-solid-state electrochemical cell has been designed with a simple sintering process. The Li₇La₃Zr_1.89Al_0.15O₁₂ solid electrolyte was prepared by sol-gel method. The lithium borovanadate glass was obtained by a convenient melt quenching technique. Cycliс voltammetry has shown that the current densities of the cell at 300 °C can reach several hundreds of μA cm^?2. At this temperature, the single cell voltage is about 3.2 and 0.8 V in the charged and discharged state, correspondingly. This cell produces a current enough to make a single LED of white color working. The cell surface discharge capacity exceeds 230 μAh cm^?2.