CO oxidation of bare and TiO2-coated NiO-Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles

CO oxidation reactivity of bare and TiO₂-coated nanoparticles consisting of both NiO and Ni(OH)₂ surfaces was studied. For the deposition of TiO₂, atomic layer deposition was used, and formation of three-dimensional domains of TiO₂ on NiO-Ni(OH)₂ could be identified. Based on the data of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, we suggest that upon TiO₂ deposition only Ni(OH)₂ was remained on the surface, whereas NiO surface disappeared. Both CO adsorption and CO oxidation took place on NiO-Ni(OH)₂ surfaces under our experimental conditions. CO adsorption was almost completely suppressed after TiO₂ deposition, whereas CO oxidation activity was maintained to large extent. It is proposed that bare NiO cannot be active for CO oxidation, and can only uptake CO under our experimental condition, whereas hydroxylated surface of NiO can be active for CO oxidation.     

Annealing-free Poly(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester-based organic solar cells

We report on the fabrication of efficient annealing-free organic solar cells using co-solvent solution considered as a promising method for low-cost and time-saving manufacturing. Higher device efficiency could be obtained compared to the pure solvent casted device, resulting from the improved crystallinity, optical absorption and transport properties. The power conversion efficiency of 2.8% was obtained, demonstrating the feasibility of achieving low-cost and high-efficiency organic solar cells without any additional treatment and processing additives.     

Relationship between the 2-body Parameters of the Biswas-Hamann and the Bauer-Maysenholder-Seeger Potential Functions

A theoretical relation between the Bauer-Maysenholder-Seeger (BMS) and the Biswas-Hamann (BH) potential function has been developed herein for the case of 2-body interaction. By equating derivatives of these two potential functions for the 2-body part, a loose form of BMS is expressed in terms of BH parameters with a scaling factor. The validity of the developed parametric relationships has been graphically demonstrated, and the suitability discussed with reference to the extent and direction of bond distortion.     

Multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis of derivative and spot markets

We investigate the multifractal properties of price increments in the cases of derivative and spot markets. Through the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis, we estimate the generalized Hurst and the Renyi exponents for price fluctuations. By deriving the singularity spectrum from the above exponents, we quantify the multifractality of a financial time series and compare the multifractal properties of two different markets. The different behavior of each agent-group in transactions is also discussed. In order to identify the nature of the underlying multifractality, we apply the method of surrogate data to both sets of financial data. It is shown that multifractality due to a fat-tailed distribution is significant.     

Toughening poly(lactic acid) (PLA) through in situ reactive blending with liquid polybutadiene rubber (LPB)

Abstract

Liquid polybutadiene rubber (LPB) was blended with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) through reactive and non-reactive routes to enhance the toughness of the PLA. The reactively blended PLA (PBR10) was prepared by melt blending the PLA with the LPB in the presence of dicumyl peroxide (DCP), a radical initiator, while the PB10 was just melt blended without the DCP. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) patterns were used to study the molecular structure of the blends. Properties were investigated through universal testing machine (UTM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis, and rheological measurements. The results indicated that the radical crosslinking by the DCP could increase the compatibility between the PLA and LPB and disperse the rubber particles at the nanoscale in the PLA matrix. As a result, the toughness and melt viscosity of the PLA was significantly enhanced through the reactive blending, which is promising for the practical application of the modified PLA in the area of packaging.     

Effect of the amounts of glycidyl methacrylate on the mechanical and dynamic properties of styrene–butadiene–glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer/silica composites

GMA-SBRs with GMA contents in the range of 0.06–0.71 wt.% were synthesized and used to evaluate the properties of the silica composites for fuel-efficient tires. The chemical structures of the GMA-SBRs were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). GMA-SBRs can enhance filler–rubber interaction through covalent bond formation between the silica filler and rubber molecules. After compounding, the cure characteristics and mechanical and dynamic properties of the GMA-SBR silica-filled composites were analyzed. The mechanical properties, including the Mooney viscosity, bound rubber, swelling ratio, and moduli, exhibited obvious differences with increasing GMA content. However, the optimum content of GMA in the GMA-SBR, in terms of dynamic properties such as the Payne effect which represents the change in dynamic modulus against the strain to determine the extent of filler flocculation and tan δ at 60 °C representing tire rolling resistance, was ~0.6 wt.%. These results are due to improved silica dispersion, resulting from increased covalent bond formation between GMA-SBR and the silica surface. This approach assists in the determination of functional group contents in functionalized emulsion styrene–butadiene rubber for fuel-efficient tires, leading to a decrease in vehicular greenhouse gas emission.     

Interaction of localized electronic states with the conduction band: band anticrossing in II-VI semiconductor ternaries

We report a strongly nonlinear pressure dependence of the band gaps and large downward shifts of the conduction band edges as functions of composition in ZnS xTe (1-x) and ZnSe (y)Te (1-y) alloys. The dependencies are explained by an interaction between localized A1 symmetry states of S or Se atoms and the extended states of the ZnTe matrix. These results, combined with previous studies of III-N-V materials define a new, broad class of semiconductor alloys in which the introduction of highly electronegative atoms leads to dramatic modifications of the conduction band structure. The modifications are well described by the recently introduced band anticrossing model.     

Enhancement of Near-Cloaking. Part II: The Helmholtz Equation

The aim of this paper is to extend the method of Ammari et al. (Commun. Math. Phys., 2012) to scattering problems. We construct very effective near-cloaking structures for the scattering problem at a fixed frequency. These new structures are, before using the transformation optics, layered structures and are designed so that their first scattering coefficients vanish. Inside the cloaking region, any target has near-zero scattering cross section for a band of frequencies. We analytically show that our new construction significantly enhances the cloaking effect for the Helmholtz equation.