Phase boundary propagation in large LiFePO4 single crystals on delithiation

Large single crystals of LiFePO(4) have been chemically delithiated. The relevance of chemical oxidation in comparison with electrochemical delithiation is discussed. Analyses of the Li content and profiles were done by electron energy loss spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The propagation of the FePO(4) phase growing on the surface of the large single crystal was followed by in situ optical microscopy as a function of time. The kinetics were evaluated in terms of linear irreversible thermodynamics and found to be characterized by an induction period followed by parabolic growth behavior of the FePO(4) phase indicating transport control. The growth rate was shown to depend on the crystallographic orientation. Scanning electron microscopy images showed cracks and a high porosity of the FePO(4) layer due to the significant changes in the molar volumes. The transport was found to be greatly enhanced by the porosity and crack formation and hence greatly enhanced over pure bulk transport, a result which is supposed to be very relevant for battery research if coarse-grained powder is used.     

Roles of the Synergistic Reductive O-Methyltransferase GilM and of O-Methyltransferase GilMT in the Gilvocarcin Biosynthetic Pathway

Two enzymes of the gilvocarcin biosynthetic pathway, GilMT and GilM, with unclear functions were investigated by in vitro studies using purified, recombinant enzymes along with synthetically prepared intermediates. The studies revealed GilMT as a typical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) dependent O-methyltransferase, but GilM was identified as a pivotal enzyme in the pathway that exhibits dual functionality in that it catalyzes a reduction of a quinone intermediate to a hydroquinone, which goes hand-in-hand with a stabilizing O-methylation and a hemiacetal formation. GilM mediates its reductive catalysis through the aid of GilR that provides FADH(2) for the GilM reaction, through which FAD is regenerated for the next catalytic cycle. This unusual synergy eventually completes the biosynthesis of the polyketide-derived defuco-gilvocarcin chromphore.     

Graphene-Based Waveguides: Novel Method for Detecting Biological Activity

We demonstrate the fabrication of a biosensor based on graphene coupled with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) waveguide. Biosensors work on the principle of local evanescent graphene-coupled wave sensor. It is observed that the evanescent field shifts in the presence of chemical or biological species as evanescent waves are extremely sensitive to a change in refractive index. This method helps to monitor the target analyte by attaching the selective receptor molecules to the surface of the PDMS optical waveguide resulting in its optical intensity distribution shift. We monitor the electrical properties of graphene in the dark and under illumination of PDMS waveguide. The changes in photocurrent through the graphene film were monitored for blue, green, and red light. We observed that the fabricated graphene-coupled PDMS optical waveguide sensor is sensitive to visible light for the used bioanalytes.     

Effect of Ag-doping of nanosized FeMgO system on its structural, surface, spectral, and catalytic properties

The effects of Ag-doping on the physico-chemical, spectral, surface, and catalytic properties of the FeMgO system with various Fe₂O₃ loadings were investigated. The dopant (Ag) molar ratio varied between 0.01 % and 0.05 %. The techniques employed for characterisation of catalysts were TG/DTG, XRD, ESR, N₂ adsorption at ?196°C, and catalytic decomposition of H₂O₂ at 25?C35°C. The results obtained revealed that the investigated catalysts consisted of nanosized MgO as the major phase, apart from the MgFe₂O₄ and/or Fe₃O₄ phases. ESR result of the FeMgO system revealed the presence of paramagnetic species as a result of Ag-doping. The textural properties including SBET, porosity and St were modified by Ag-doping. The doping process with Ag-species improved the catalytic activity of the FeMgO system. Increasing the calcination temperature from 400°C to 800°C increased the catalytic activity (k*_{30 °C}) of 0.05 AgFeMgO in H₂O₂ decomposition by 21.2 times.     

Tunable size and spectral properties of fluorescent nanoGUMBOS in modified sodium deoxycholate hydrogels

Microstructures of sodium deoxycholate hydrogels were altered considerably in the presence of variable tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (TRIS) concentrations. These observations were confirmed by use of X-ray diffraction, polarized optical microscopy, rheology, and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. Our studies reveal enhanced gel crystallinity and rigidity with increasing TRIS concentrations. The tunable hydrogel microstructures obtained under various conditions have been successfully utilized as templates to synthesize cyanine-based fluorescent nanoGUMBOS (nanoparticles from a group of uniform materials based on organic salts). A systematic variation in size (70-200 nm), with relatively low polydispersity and tunable spectral properties of [HMT][AOT] nanoGUMBOS, was achieved by use of these modified hydrogels. The gel microstructures are observed to direct the size as well as molecular self-assembly of the nanomaterials, thereby tuning their spectral properties. These modified hydrogels were also found to possess other interesting properties such as variable morphologies ranging from fibrous to spherulitic, variable degrees of crystallinity, rigidity, optical activity, and release profiles which can be exploited for a multitude of applications. Hence, this study demonstrates a novel method for modification of sodium deoxycholate hydrogels, their applications as templates for nanomaterials synthesis, as well as their potential applications in biotechnology and drug delivery.     

Comparison of dry reforming of methane in low temperature hybrid plasma-catalytic corona with thermal catalytic reactor over Ni/γ-Al2O3

In the current study,the hybrid effect of a corona discharge and γ-alumina supported Ni catalysts in CO2 reforming of methane is investigated.The study includes both purely catalytic operation in the temperature range of 923-1023K,and hybrid catalytic-plasma operation of DC corona discharge reactor at room temperature and ambient pressure.The effect of feed flow rate,discharge power and Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalysts are studied.When CH4/CO2 ratio in the feed is 1/2,the syngas of low H2/CO ratio at about 0.56 is obtained,which is a potential feedstock for synthesis of liquid hydrocarbons.Although Ni catalyst is only active above 573K,presence of Ni catalysts in the cold corona plasma reactor(T≤523K) shows promising increase in the conversions of methane and carbon dioxide.When Ni catalysts are used in the plasma reaction,H2/CO ratios in the products are slightly modified,selectivity to CO increases whereas fewer by-products such as hydrocarbons and oxygenates are formed.     

Convective heat transfer and MHD effects on Casson nanofluid flow over a shrinking sheet

Current study examines the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) boundary layer flow of a Casson nanofluid over an exponentially permeable shrinking sheet with convective boundary condition. Moreover, we have considered the suction/injection effects on the wall. By applying the appropriate transformations, system of non-linear partial differential equation along with the boundary conditions are transformed to couple non-linear ordinary differential equations. The resulting systems of non-linear ordinary differential equations are solved numerically using Runge-Kutta method. Numerical results for velocity, temperature and nanoparticle volume concentration are presented through graphs for various values of dimensionless parameters. Effects of parameters for heat transfer at wall and nanoparticle volume concentration are also presented through graphs and tables. At the end, fluid flow behavior is examined through stream lines. Concluding remarks are provided for the whole analysis.     

Adaptive step-size modified fractional least mean square algorithm for chaotic time series prediction

This paper presents an adaptive step-size modified fractional least mean square （AMFLMS） algorithm to deal with a nonlinear time series prediction. Here we incorporate adaptive gain parameters in the weight adaptation equation of the original MFLMS algorithm and also introduce a mechanism to adjust the order of the fractional derivative adaptively through a gradient-based approach. This approach permits an interesting achievement towards the performance of the filter in terms of handling nonlinear problems and it achieves less computational burden by avoiding the manual selection of adjustable parameters. We call this new algorithm the AMFLMS algorithm. The predictive performance for the nonlinear chaotic Mackey Glass and Lorenz time series was observed and evaluated using the classical LMS, Kernel LMS, MFLMS, and the AMFLMS filters. The simulation results for the Mackey glass time series, both without and with noise, confirm an improvement in terms of mean square error for the proposed algorithm. Its performance is also validated through the prediction of complex Lorenz series.     

Detection of multilayered media in the acoustic waveguide

This work is concerned with the inverse problem for ocean acoustics modeled by a multilayered waveguide with a finite depth. We provide explicit formulae to locate the layers, including the seabed, and reconstruct the speed of sound and the densities in each layer from measurements collected on the surface of the waveguide. We proceed in two steps. First, we use Gaussian type excitations on the upper surface of the waveguide and then from the corresponding scattered fields, collected on the same surface, we recover the boundary spectral data of the related 1D spectral problem. Second, from these spectral data, we reconstruct the values of the normal derivatives of the singular solutions, of the original waveguide problem, on that upper surface. Finally, we derive formulae to reconstruct the layers from these values based on the asymptotic expansion of these singular solutions in terms of the source points.     

I2-convergence and I2-cauchy double sequences

In this article, we prove a decomposition theorem for I₂-convergent double sequences and introduce the notions of I₂-Cauchy and I^*₂)-Cauchy double sequence, and then study their certain properties. Finally, we introduce the notions of regularly (I₂,I)-convergence and (I₂,I)-Cauchy double sequence.