Subharmonics analysis of nonlinear flexural vibrations of piezoelectrically actuated microcantilevers

Using the method of multiple scales, an extensive frequency response and subharmonic resonance analysis of the equations of motion governing the nonlinear flexural vibrations of piezoelectrically actuated microcantilevers is performed. Such comprehensive understanding of the nonlinear response and subharmonics analysis of these microcantilevers is, indeed, justified by the applications of piezoelectrically actuated microcantilevers that are increasingly becoming popular in many science and engineering areas including scanning force microscopy, biosensors, and microactuators. Along this line, the method of multiple scales is used to derive the 2× and 3× subharmonic resonances appearing in nonlinear flexural vibrations of a piezoelectrically actuated microcantilever. An experimental examination is performed in order to verify the analytical results. The analytical and experimental results yield the same system response for the fundamental frequency. In addition, the experimental results demonstrate the presence of subharmonic resonances that are supported by numerical simulations of the equations of motion. The experimental mode shapes of these subharmonic frequencies are also measured and compared with fundamental frequency.     

Nonlinear integral resonant controller for vibration reduction in nonlinear systems

A new nonlinear integral resonant controller (NIRC) is introduced in this paper to suppress vibration in nonlinear oscillatory smart structures. The NIRC consists of a first-order resonant integrator that provides additional damping in a closed-loop system response to reduce high-amplitude nonlinear vibration around the fundamental reso-nance frequency. The method of multiple scales is used to obtain an approximate solution for the closed-loop system. Then closed-loop system stability is investigated using the resulting modulation equation. Finally, the effects of different control system parameters are illustrated and an approximate solution response is verified via numerical simulation results. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed controller are presented and extensively discussed in the results. The controlled system via the NIRC shows no high-amplitude peaks in the neighboring frequencies of the resonant mode, unlike conventional second-order compensation methods. This makes the NIRC controlled system robust to excitation frequency variations.     

Non-linear vibrations and frequency response analysis of piezoelectrically driven microcantilevers

Microcantilevers have recently received widespread attentions due to their extreme applicability and versatility in both biological and non-biological applications. Along this line, this paper undertakes the non-linear vibrations of a piezoelectrically driven microcantilever beam as a common configuration in many scanning probe microscopy and nanomechanical cantilever biosensor systems. A part of the microcantilever beam surface is covered by a piezoelectric layer (typically ZnO), which acts both as an actuator and sensor. The bending vibrations of the microcantilever beam are studied considering the inextensibility condition and the coupling between electrical and mechanical properties in the piezoelectric materials. The non-linear terms appear in the form of quadratic expression due to presence of piezoelectric layer, and cubic form due to geometrical non-linearities. The Galerkin approximation is then utilized to discretize the equations of motion. In addition, the method of multiple scales is applied to arrive at the closed form solution for the fundamental natural frequency of the system. An experimental setup consisting of a commercial piezoelectric microcantilever attached on the stand of a state-of-the-art microsystem analyzer for non-contact vibration measurement is utilized to verify the theoretical developments. It is found that the experimental results and theoretical findings are in good agreement, which demonstrates that the non-linear modeling framework could provide a better dynamic representation of the microcantilever than the previous linear models. Due to microscale nature of the system, excitation amplitude plays an important role since even a small change in the amplitude of excitation can lead to significant vibrations and frequency shift.     

Prediction of coefficients of the Langmuir adsorption isotherm using various artificial intelligence (AI) techniques

Adsorption is a process that utilizes porous solid materials to separate some solutes from gas or liquid mixtures. The extent of this separation is often determined using the adsorption isotherms, i.e., semi-empirical correlation for relating the amount of adsorbed substances by the solid medium to its associated concentration in fluid phase at constant temperature. Prior to employing an adsorption isotherm, its coefficients should be adjusted using experimental data of a considered adsorption system. In this study, the coefficients of Langmuir model have been predicted using various types of artificial neural networks (ANNs), support vector machines, and adaptive neuro fuzzy interface systems, and coupled scheme of ANN-genetic algorithm. The employed ANN types are multi-layer perceptron neural network (MLPNN), radial basis function neural network, cascade feedforward neural network, and generalized neural network. The considered coefficients tried to be modeled as functions of temperature, pH, adsorbent density, and adsorbate molecular weight. Predictive accuracies of the AI techniques have been compared utilizing different statistical indices such as correlation coefficient (R²), mean square error, and absolute average relative deviation (AARD%). The results indicated that MLPNN was the most accurate model for predicting the coefficients of Langmuir isotherm, due to its AARDs of 24.64 and 22.40% for the first and second coefficients, respectively.     

Enantio-, Regio-, and Chemoselective Reduction of Aromatic a-Diketones by Baker’s Yeast

The enantio- and regioselective reduction of several symmetric and nonsymmetrically para-substituted benzil derivatives (21–92%) was achieved by means of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (bakers yeast). After modification of the reaction conditions reduction of nonsymmetric -diketones led chemoselectively to chiral -hydroxy ketones with up to 82% ee.     

CVD Growth of Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers: Big Length and Constant Diameter

Summary: We report mass production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with relatively high length and aspect ratio. We synthesized carbon nanomaterials by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of methane as the feeding gas on Fe/Mo nanoparticles that use alumina-aerogel support. Alumina-aerogel-supported Fe/Mo catalyst was prepared using sol-gel. Drying step performed using rotary evaporation and freeze-drying. CVD was performed using a quartz tube furnace. Samples were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy.     

Chemoselective synthesis of δ-lactones via benzyl radical cyclization utilizing K2S2O8–CuCl2

Direct chemoselective oxidation of δ-lactones via highly stable benzyl radical cyclization is reported. The one-pot conversion of premade substituted 5-aryl pentanoic acid and 8-benzyl-1-naphthoic acid in the presence of K2S2Os--CuCl2 results to the δ-lactones in moderate to good yields. The advantages of this methodology is using water as a solvent and utilizing available starting materials.     

Potentiometric membrane sensor based on 6-(4-nitrophenyl)-2,4-diphenyl-3,5-diaza-bicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-ene for detection of Sn(II) in real samples

A Sn²⁺ ion-selective electrode which was prepared with a polymeric membrane based on 6-(4-nitrophenyl)-2,4-diphenyl-3,5-diaza-bicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-ene (NDDBH) as a ionophore. Effects of experimental parameters such as membrane composition, nature and amount of plasticizer, the amount of additive and concentration of internal solution on the potential response of Sn²⁺ sensor were investigated. The electrode exhibited a Nernstian slope of 28.8 ± 1.1 mV/decade of Sn²⁺ over a concentration range of 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ to 1.0 × 10⁻¹ M of Sn²⁺ in an acidic solution (pH 1). The limit of detection was 4.0 × 10⁻⁶ M. The results show that this electrode can be used in ethanol media until 20% (v/v) concentration without interference. It can be used for more than 6 weeks without any considerable divergence in the potentials. The proposed membrane electrode revealed very good selectivity for Sn(II) ions over a wide variety of other cations and could be used in acidic media. The standard electrode potentials were determined at different temperatures and used to calculate the isothermal coefficient of the electrode. The stability constant (log K_s) of the Sn(II)-ionophore complex was determined at 25 °C by potentiometric titration in mixed aqueous solution. It was used as indicator electrode in potentiometric determination of Sn(II) ion in real samples.     

Synthetic application of gold complexes on magnetic supports

Gold nanocatalysts (GNCs) have recently become a hot topic and are widely used in chemistry. Between heterogeneous and homogeneous catalyses, two main types of catalyses, heterogeneous catalysts have gained importance because of their ease of separation from the mixture with low contamination of the products. Currently, nano-heterogeneous catalysis is the main subject in a wide range of research studies because nanostructures have unique abilities that are found only at the nano-level of the molecular world. This review selectively discusses the magnetic phenomena of heterogeneous GNCs, in which their inherent magnetic property provides many advantages over the nonmagnetic counterparts and also highlights the synthesis, development, and recyclability of various types of magnetic GNCs in well-known organic reactions. These insights are useful for researchers working on the future of magnetic-type gold nanocatalysis to enhance organic transformations, in both rate and yield.