Simultaneous measurements of heat of hydration and chemical shrinkage on hardening cement pastes

Isothermal calorimetry and chemical shrinkage measurements are two independent techniques used to study the development of hydration in cementitious systems. In this study, calorimetry and chemical shrinkage measurements were combined and simultaneously performed on hydrating cement paste samples. Portland cement pastes with different water to cement ratios and a cement paste containing calcium sulfoaluminate clinker and anhydrite were studied. The combined calorimetry/chemical shrinkage test showed good reproducibility and revealed the different hydration behavior of sealed samples and open samples, i.e., samples exposed to external water during hydration. Large differences between sealed and open samples were observed in a Portland cement paste with low water to cement ratio and in the calcium sulfoaluminate paste; these effects are attributed to self-desiccation of the sealed pastes. Once the setup is fully automatized, it is expected that combined calorimetry/chemical shrinkage measurements can be routinely used for investigating cement hydration.     

Enhanced angular tolerance of resonant waveguide grating reflectors

We introduce an approach to enhance the angular tolerance of resonant waveguide gratings by stacking two resonant structures on top of each other. It is shown that reflectivities close to unity can be retrieved over the entire angular spectrum by a double T-shaped grating configuration. Although a combination of silicon as the high-index and diamond as the low-index material is considered, the principles of our new approach can also be used to realize monolithic silicon structures with similar properties. We illustrate that the functionality of the device can be understood by a decomposition into separated elements. Our approach might have compelling applications as new diffractive-reflective optical components with low-coating thermal noise in the field of high-precision metrology.     

Widely tunable monolithic narrowband grating filter for near-infrared radiation

We propose a monolithic narrowband guided-mode grating filter in fused silica that is widely tunable in the near-IR wavelength region. Based on a recently demonstrated approach for a monolithic reflector comprising an encapsulated grating, we theoretically investigate such a device by means of rigorous modeling aimed at a narrow linewidth. It is demonstrated that upon a spatial variation of the filter's grating period its resonance wavelength can be tuned in a remarkably wide range of near-IR radiation with 800 nm<λ(res)< 1600 nm by translating the laser beam relative to the grating area. The filter performance in terms of linewidth and contrast is essentially preserved over the entire tuning interval.     

Experimental and numerical investigation of paperboard creasing

Laminated paperboard is widely used in packaging products. It usually consists of multiple layers bonded to each other by starch or adhesion. The indentation of fold lines (creasing) plays a crucial role during the whole converting process. It is important to control delamination and other damage effects to arrive at commercial cartons with high quality. Thus, the aim of this study is to describe the material behavior of a laminated paperboard during the creasing process. The paperboard was considered as a laminate of three different layers, and each was modeled separately with an anisotropic elastic-plastic material model while a cohesive zone approach described the opening behavior in between. The initial yielding was given by the Hill's 48 yield criterion, while the isotropic strain hardening was described by a power law hardening function. To calibrate the material parameters, a sequence of tensile and compression tests was conducted for each layer in different directions to account for the material's anisotropy. Finally, the creasing process was investigated using a two-dimensional plane strain finite element model. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The effect of mixing methods on the dispersion of carbon nanotubes during the solvent-free processing of multiwalled carbon nanotube/epoxy composites

Several solvent-free processing methods to disperse multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in bisphenol F-based epoxy resin were investigated, including the use of a microfluidizer (MF), planetary shear mixer (PSM), ultrasonication (US) and combinations. The processed mixture was cured with diethyl toluene diamine. Three complimentary techniques were used to characterize the dispersion of the MWCNTs in cured composite samples: optical microscopy, micro Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For sample MF + PSM, optical micrographs and Raman images showed reduced agglomeration and a homogeneous distribution of MWCNTs in the epoxy matrix. SEM analysis of fractured specimen after tensile testing revealed breakage of nanotubes along the fracture surface of the composite. A comparison of the MWCNT dispersion in the epoxy samples processed using different methods showed that a combination of MF and PSM processing yields a more homogeneous sample than the PSM or US + PSM processed samples. Mechanical testing of the composites showed about 15% improvement in the tensile strength of samples processed by the MF + PSM method over other methods. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results showed a small decrease in the onset degradation temperature for poorly dispersed samples produced by PSM compared with the well-mixed samples (MF + PSM). These results strongly suggest that the MF + PSM processing method yield better-dispersed and stronger MWCNT/epoxy composites. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2013     

Cyclization of Propargylic Amides: Mild Access to Oxazole Derivatives

The substrate scope, the mechanistic aspects of the gold‐catalyzed oxazole synthesis, and substrates with different aliphatic, aromatic, and functional groups in the side chain were investigated. Even molecules with several propargyl amide groups could easily be converted, delivering di‐ and trioxazoles with interesting optical properties. Furthermore, the scope of the gold(I)‐catalyzed alkylidene synthesis was investigated. Further functionalizations of these isolable intermediates of the oxazole synthesis were developed and chelate ligands can be obtained. The use of Barluenga’s reagent offers a new and mild access to the synthetically valuable iodoalkylideneoxazoles from propargylic amides, this reagent being superior to other sources of halogens.