Effects of epoxidized natural rubber as a compatibilizer in melt compounded natural rubber-organoclay nanocomposites

Nanocomposites containing natural rubber (NR) as matrix, epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) as compatibilizer and organophilic layered clay (organoclay) as filler were produced in an internal mixer and cured using a conventional sulphuric system. The effects of ENR with 25 (ENR 25) and 50 mol% epoxidation (ENR 50), respectively, were compared at 5 and 10 parts per hundred rubber (phr) concentrations. The organoclay content was fixed at 2 phr. Cure characteristics, clay dispersion, (thermo)mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were determined and discussed. Incorporation of ENR and organoclay strongly affected the parameters which could be derived from Monsanto MDR measurements. Faster cure and increased crosslink density were attributed to changes in the activation/crosslinking pathway which was, however, not studied in detail. The organoclay was mostly intercalated according to X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) results. The best clay dispersion was achieved by adding ENR 50. This was reflected in the stiffness of the nanocomposites derived from both dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and tensile tests. The tensile and tear strengths of the ENR 50 containing nanocomposites were also superior to the ENR 25 compatibilized and uncompatibilized stocks.     

Electrochemical double layer capacitor based on cellulose-PVA hybrid electrolyte

A polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cellulose electrolyte was prepared by casting a solution of PVA and H₃PO₄ on both sides of a cellulose membrane (filter paper). The ionic species H⁺ are caused by the H₃PO₄ acid which is entrapped inside the PVA and in the pores of the filter paper. The electrolyte was sandwiched between two carbon electrodes to form an electric double layer capacitor (EDLC). The EDLC exhibits a good charge and discharge characteristics with a capacitance value of 30 Fg⁻¹. Paper presented at the International Conference on Functional Materials and Devices 2005, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 6 – 8, 2005.     

Further accuracy tests on Adomian decomposition method for chaotic systems

The Adomian decomposition method (ADM) is treated as an algorithm for approximating the solutions of the Lorenz and Chen systems in a sequence of time intervals, i.e. the classical ADM is converted into a hybrid analytical–numerical method. Comparisons with the seventh- and eighth-order Runge–Kutta method (RK78) reconfirm the very high accuracy of the hybrid analytical–numerical ADM.     

Effect of substrate temperature on the morphological,structural,and optical properties of RF sputtered Ge_(1-x)Sn_x films on Si substrate

In this study, Ge_(1-x)Sn_x alloy films are co-sputtered on Si(100) substrates using RF magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures. Scanning electron micrographs, atomic force microscopy(AFM), Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy(XPS) are conducted to investigate the effect of substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of grown Ge Sn alloy films. AFM results show that RMS surface roughness of the films increases from 1.02 to 2.30 nm when raising the substrate temperature. This increase could be due to Sn surface segregation that occurs when raising the substrate temperature. Raman spectra exhibits the lowest FWHM value and highest phonon intensity for a film sputtered at 140?C. The spectra show that decreasing the deposition temperature to 140?C improves the crystalline quality of the alloy films and increases nanocrystalline phase formation. The results of Raman spectra and XPS confirm Ge–Sn bond formation. The optoelectronic characteristics of fabricated metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors on sputtered samples at room temperature(RT) and 140?C are studied in the dark and under illumination. The sample sputtered at 140?C performs better than the RT sputtered sample.     

Magnetohydrodynamic Natural Convection in a Rotating Enclosure

Magnetohydrodynamic natural convection heat transfer in a rotating, differentially heated enclosure is studied numerically in this article. The governing equations are in velocity, pressure and temperature formulation and solved using the staggered grid arrangement together with MAC method. The governing parameters considered are the Hartmann number, 0≤$Ha$≤70, the inclination angle of the magnetic field, 0$^◦$≤$θ$≤90$^◦$, the Taylor number, 8.9×10$^4$≤$Ta$≤1.1×10$^6$ and the centrifugal force is smaller than the Coriolis force and the both forces were kept below the buoyancy force. It is found that a sufficiently large Lorentz force neutralizes the effect of buoyancy, inertial and Coriolis forces. Horizontal or vertical direction of the magnetic field is the most effective in reducing the global heat transfer.     

HHV和HVV耦合的有效拉氏量及费曼规则

首先包含Higgs粒子的六维算符用物理场来表示,然后给出包含HHV和HVV相互作用顶点的有效拉氏量,其中V=A,Z,W^±。最后,推导出每个六维算符和有效拉氏量的费曼规则。     

Observation of first and third harmonic responses in two-dimensional AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT devices due to plasma wave interaction

Plasma waves are oscillations of electron density in time and space, and in deep submicron field effect transistors, typical plasma frequencies, _ωp${\omega }_p$, lie in the terahertz (THz) range and do not involve any quantum transitions. Hence, using plasma wave excitation for detection and/or generation of THz oscillations is a very promising approach. In this paper, the investigation of plasma wave interaction between the plasma waves propagating in a short-channel High-Electron-Mobility Transistor (HEMT) and the radiated electromagnetic waves was carried out. Experimentally, we have demonstrated the detection of the terahertz (THz) radiation by an AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT up to third harmonic at room temperature and their resonant responses show very good agreement with the calculated results.     

Effects of a magnetic field on chaos for low Prandtl number convection in porous media

The effects of a magnetic field on the route to chaos in a fluid-saturated porous layer were investigated based on the approach of dynamical systems. A low dimensional Lorenz-like model was obtained using Galerkin truncated approximation. The presence of a magnetic field helped delay the convective motion. The transition from steady convection to chaos via a Hopf bifurcation produced a limit cycle which may be associated with a homoclinic explosion at a slightly subcritical value of the Rayleigh number.     

Characterization of Sulfur-Compounds as Chemotaxonomic Markers in the Essential Oils of Allium Species by Solvent-Free Microwave Extraction and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Allium species were examined to authenticate the chemotaxonomic controversy about these plants by analyzing their extracted compound profiles. Essential oils of various species were isolated using conventional hydro-distillation and solvent-free microwave extraction (SFME). A comparison of the isolation procedures was performed. The presence of sulfur compounds in the Allium genus is a prominent characteristic for their medicinal uses. These components were characterized using two-way hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). The variation of sulfur-compounds was performed by qualitative analysis of Allium species by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). 2,4-Dimethyl-5,6-dithia-2,7-nonadienal, 4,6-diethyl-1,2,3,5-tetrathiolane, and 5,7-diethyl-1,2,3,4,6-pentathiepane were revealed as potential chemotaxonomic markers for all of the Alliums examined in this study. These markers may be used to provide improved systematics for other Allium species.