Fabrication of corner cube array retro-reflective structure with DLP-based 3D printing technology

In this article, the fabrication of a corner cube array retro-reflective structure is presented by using DLP-based 3D printing technology. In this additive manufacturing technology a pattern of a cube corner array is designed in a computer and sliced with specific software. The image of each slice is then projected from the bottom side of a reservoir, containing UV cure resin, utilizing a DLP video projector. The projected area is cured and attached to a base plate. This process is repeated until the entire part is made. The best orientation of the printing process and the effect of layer thicknesses on the surface finish of the cube has been investigated. The thermal reflow surface finishing and replication with soft molding has also been presented in this article.     

Sum of ranking differences in comparison of nickel-coated carbon nanofibers adsorbents in capacity and randomness of 1-butanethiol (1-butyl mercaptan) adsorption

Desulfurization of petroleum derivatives has been one of the main concerns of producers. Application of adsorption in desulfurization is one of the reliable strategies. Thus, development of new and better adsorbents is main goal of researchers. In this work, carbon nanofibers were coated with nickel by electroless plating method to be used in adsorption of 1-butanethiol (1-butyl mercaptan) for the first time. Nickel amount in these structures was varied and adsorption behavior studied. To characterize the prepared adsorbent, concentration variation of mercaptan was determined by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with multivariate curve resolution–alternating least squares chemometrics method as a new way. Also, potentiometry method was used to determine the mercaptan concentration during the adsorption process as a standard method. The data which were achieved by the two mentioned methods are processed by sum of ranking differences chemometrics method separately to compare the adsorption behavior of adsorbents. By using sum of ranking differences, it was concluded that with increment in amount of coated nickel, adsorption capacity would increase and random behavior in adsorption process would decrease. Also, this study showed that attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with multivariate curve resolution–alternating least squares can be applied to study the concentration variations of mercaptan as a reliable method.     

Organic-salt-mediated highly regioselective N3-alkylation of 2-thiophenytoin via Michael reaction under solvent-free conditions

A regioselective N3-alkylation of 5,5-diphenyl-2-thiohydantoin (2-thiophenytoin) using a very efficient mild base K₂CO₃ and α,β-unsaturated esters in the presence of organic salt TBAB (tetrabutylammonium bromide) at room temperature has been reported (3b–3h). The selectivity of this reaction is excellent and products have been produced in good yields under solvent-free conditions. The increase of the reaction temperature to 70°C mostly disappeared this selectivity and afforded only the N1,N3-dialkylated derivatives of 2-thiophenytoin in good yields (4b–4g). We were unable to selectively N3-alkylate 2-thiophenytoin with ethyl acrylate at both room temperature and 70°C under the same conditions (4a). Dimethyl and diethyl fumarates cannot work as Michael acceptors and were hydrolyzed to fumaric acid under reaction conditions.     

Experimental study and nuclear model calculation for 65Zn production

Excitation functions and theoretical yields via charge particle induced reactions were evaluated using EMPIRE-3.2.2 and ALICE/ASH codes and the obtained results have been discussed and compared with the available reported experimental data. It has been verified that ^natCu(p,n)⁶⁵Zn reaction is the optimum ⁶⁵Zn production route. The ⁶⁵Zn was produced using ^natCu(p,xn) ⁶⁵Zn reaction in the energy range of 16.8 → 12.2 MeV with the thick target yield of 0.15 ± 0.005 MBq/μA h. The ⁶⁵Zn radionuclide was purified by anion exchange chromatography.

     

Historical variations of Bera Lake (Malaysia) sediments geochemistry using radioisotopes and sediment quality indices

The Bera Lake basin is a lacustrine mire system and the largest natural lake in Peninsular Malaysia. Three cores were collected from the lake sediments in order to assess sediment quality and ecological risks for aquatic life and human health. An index analysis approach (C _f , C _d , E _r , and IR) and fallout ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs radioisotopes were applied to assess the impacts of environmental evolutionary changes. Sediment chronology was determined using the Constant Rate of Supply model with the resultant ages verified by ¹³⁷Cs horizons. Although the general contamination factors indicate low risk conditions in Bera Lake the risks associated with individual layers ranged from moderate to considerable. Five deforestation phases can be identified in the dated sediment cores with distinct variations in heavy metal influxes since 1972. These phases are in excellent agreement with the dates of land clearance and development projects undertaken over the past four decades. This study has highlighted the capability of contamination factors and chronological methods in environmental evolutionary studies where catchments have experienced extensive land use changes. The destiny of heavy metal influxes into a lake can also be revealed using this methodology.     

Thermal Degradation Kinetics and Modeling Study of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWP)/Graphene Nanocomposite

The incorporation of nanofillers such as graphene into polymers has shown significant improvements in mechanical characteristics, thermal stability, and conductivity of resulting polymeric nanocomposites. To this aim, the influence of incorporation of graphene nanosheets into ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) on the thermal behavior and degradation kinetics of UHMWPE/graphene nanocomposites was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that graphene nanosheets were uniformly spread throughout the UHMWPE’s molecular chains. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) data posited that the morphology of dispersed graphene sheets in UHMWPE was exfoliated. Non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies identified a more pronounced increase in melting temperatures and latent heat of fusions in nanocomposites compared to UHMWPE at lower concentrations of graphene. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) revealed that UHMWPE’s thermal stability has been improved via incorporating graphene nanosheets. Further, degradation kinetics of neat polymer and nanocomposites have been modeled using equations such as Friedman, Ozawa–Flynn–Wall (OFW), Kissinger, and Augis and Bennett’s. The "Model-Fitting Method” showed that the auto-catalytic nth-order mechanism provided a highly consistent and appropriate fit to describe the degradation mechanism of UHMWPE and its graphene nanocomposites. In addition, the calculated activation energy (E_a) of thermal degradation was enhanced by an increase in graphene concentration up to 2.1 wt.%, followed by a decrease in higher graphene content.     

Exact solutions to the space–time fractional Schrödinger–Hirota equation and the space–time modified KDV–Zakharov–Kuznetsov equation

In this paper, the first integral method and the functional variable method are used to establish exact traveling wave solutions of the space–time fractional Schrödinger–Hirota equation and the space–time fractional modified KDV–Zakharov–Kuznetsov equation in the sense of conformable fractional derivative. The results obtained confirm that proposed methods are efficient techniques for analytic treatment of a wide variety of the space–time fractional partial differential equations.     

Solid-state NMR investigations of Si-29 and N-15 enriched silicon nitride

We compare ²⁹Si magic-angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra from the two modifications of silicon nitride, α-Si₃N₄ and β-Si₃N₄, with that of a fully (²⁹Si, ¹⁵N)-enriched sample ²⁹Si₃¹⁵N₄, as well as ¹⁵N NMR spectra of Si₃¹⁵N₄ (having ²⁹Si at natural abundance) and ²⁹Si₃¹⁵N₄. We show that the ¹⁵N NMR peak-widths from the latter are dominated by J(²⁹Si–¹⁵N) through-bond interactions, leading to significantly broader NMR signals compared to those of Si₃¹⁵N₄. By fitting calculated ²⁹Si NMR spectra to experimental ones, we obtained an estimated coupling constant J(²⁹Si–¹⁵N) of 20 Hz. We provide ²⁹Si spin-lattice (T₁) relaxation data for the ²⁹Si₃¹⁵N₄ sample and chemical shift anisotropy results for the ²⁹Si site of β-Si₃N₄. Various factors potentially contributing to the ²⁹Si and ¹⁵N NMR peak-widths of the various silicon nitride specimens are discussed. We also provide powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and mass spectrometry data of the samples.     

An improved local branching approach for train formation planning

The train formation plan (TFP) determines routing and frequency of trains, and assigns the demands to trains. In this paper, an improved local branching algorithm is proposed for the TFP model in Iranian railway. This solution strategy is exact in nature, although it is designed to improve the heuristic behavior of the mixed integer programming (MIP) solver at hand. In the local branching algorithm, additional constraints are built in the model for the binary variables, but in the improved local branching algorithm, the additional constraints are built in the model for integer variables. A state-of-the-art method is applied for parameter tuning using design of experiments approach. To evaluate the proposed solution method, we have simulated and solved twenty test problems. The results show the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach. The proposed algorithm is implemented for Iranian Railway network as a case study.