Heat transfer and pressure drop in a spiral square channel

Heat transfer and pressure drop in a spiral square channel is examined experimentally and analytically. The spiral channel was fabricated on a copper plate. The cross-section of the channel is square with 1-mm sides. A copper cap plate was bolted tight to seal the channel. Water and four silicone oils (0.65, 1, 3, and 10 cSt) were used as the working fluid; thus, Prandtl numbers from 5 to 110 were examined. The experiments were done once with the fluids entering from the side of the spiral channel and exiting from the middle of the spiral channel, and once with the fluids entering from the middle and exiting from the side. Heat transfer behavior over a wide range of flow rates from laminar to turbulent has been examined. Heat transfer enhancement due to the spiral geometry was observed, and a slight difference was reported between the side and middle inlet condition. The dimensionless mean wall flux and the dimensionless thermal flow length were used to analyze the experimental data instead of Nusselt and Reynolds numbers. The spiral channel has been discretized so that a single Dean number can be assumed in each cell, and an existing correlation was applied to calculate the average Nusselt number. The model prediction is compared with the experimental points. Pressure drop tests have only been conducted with water as the working fluid.     

Comparative evaluation of amphotericin B binding to the native and modified forms of rice lipid-transfer protein: a possible perspective on improving the drug-binding affinity and specificity

Plant non-specific lipid-transfer proteins (nsLTPs) are small basic proteins which transport phospholipids between different cell membranes. They are classified, based on their molecular weight, into two subfamilies: nsLTP1 (9 kDa) and nsLTP2 (7 kDa). These proteins have received an increasing research interest as efficient drug carriers in drug delivery systems. However, there have been few studies conducted on their drug-binding characteristics. The present study aims to comparatively evaluate binding of amphotericin B (AmB, an antifungal drug) to the native and modified forms of rice nsLTP1 and to assess possible applications in drug delivery methods. The LTP1 was purified and then interaction of AmB with the native and modified forms of protein was investigated with various spectroscopic methods. The results showed that the AmB–LTP binding is associated with quenching of the protein intrinsic fluorescence. Furthermore, as temperature of the medium increased, the stability of the AmB–native LTP complex decreased, whereas the stability of the AmB–modified LTP increased. Analysis of the thermodynamic parameters of the AmB–protein complexes and extrinsic fluorescence data indicated that the lysine modification caused a change in the intermolecular interactions between the protein and AmB as well as in the protein surface hydrophobicity (PSH). Furthermore, Dixon plot showed that AmB inhibits ANS binding especially in the AmB–modified RLTP binding. Findings of the current study highlighted the drug-binding characteristics of the modified form of LTP necessitating further studies to profoundly evaluate the characteristics of its mutant forms.     

A reconfigurable frequency-selective surface for dual-mode multi-band filtering applications

A reconfigurable single-layer frequency-selective surface (FSS) with dual-mode multi-band modes of operation is presented. The proposed structure is printed on a compact 10 × 10 mm² FR4 substrate with the thickness of 1.6 mm. A simple square loop is printed on the front side while another one along with two defected vertical arms is deployed on the backside. To realise the reconfiguration, two pin diodes are embedded on the backside square loop. Suitable insertion of conductive elements along with pin diodes yields in dual-mode multi-band rejection of applicable in service frequency ranges. The first operating mode due to diodes’ ‘ON’ state provides rejection of 2.4 GHz WLAN in 2–3 GHz, 5.2/5.8 GHz WLAN and X band in 5–12 GHz, and a part of Ku band in 13.9–16 GHz. In diodes ‘OFF’ state, the FSS blocks WLAN in 4–7.3 GHz, X band in 8–12.7 GHz as well as part of Ku band in 13.7–16.7 GHz. As well, high attenuation of incident waves is observed by a high shielding effectiveness (SE) in the blocked frequency bands. Also, a stable behaviour against different polarisations and angles of incidence is obtained. Comprehensive studies are conducted on a fabricated prototype to assess its performance from which encouraging results are obtained.     

Purification of α-Amylase from Bacillus sp. GHA1 and its partial characterization

Bacillus sp. GHA1 was isolated from water samples and screened for the production of α-amylase. Maximum production of amylase by this strain occurs at 42 °C, pH 6.5 and 72 h after cultivation in production medium. The enzyme was purified through successive applications of ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography, resulting in a single band with an apparent molecular weight of 66 kDa, as judged by SDS-PAGE. Calcium analysis of the purified enzyme revealed that it contained three metal ions per molecule. The new extracellular α-amylase is active in a wide range of pH with its maximum activity at pH values 5.5–8.0. The optimum temperature for enzyme activity is 57 °C and the presence of calcium has relatively low influence on its activity and thermostability. The Bacillus sp. GHA1 α-amylase with these properties may be suitable for use in detergent and food industries.     

Theoretical Analysis of the Underwater Incremental Adaptive Network Performance Based on the VLC Technology

In this paper, the underwater implementation of the incremental adaptive networks is proposed based on the visible light communication technology. The underwater distance between transmitter and receiver nodes and the salinity and temperature levels of the considered water determines the stochastical properties of the underwater link that is modeled with the Log-normal distribution. The incremental network performance can be expressed with the excess mean square error and mean square deviation values and we used them in this paper for our theoretical analysis. Our findings showed that the distances between the nodes must not be more than 10 m or the incremental network will diverge from its estimation goal. The network performance is analyzed through multiple link distances and the results are presented with several simulations. The simulation results are devised in order to elaborate the effects of the underwater turbulent links on the performances of estimating adaptive network. Also, the impacts of different salinity and temperature levels are analyzed theoretically and the results are compared with the simulation results.

     

How to Build Prussian Blue Based Water Oxidation Catalytic Assemblies: Common Trends and Strategies

Prussian blue (PB) and its analogues (PBAs) have at least a three-century-long history in coordination chemistry. Recently, cobalt-based PBAs have been acknowledged as efficient and robust water oxidation catalysts. Given the flexibility in their synthesis, the structure and morphology of cobalt-based PBAs have been modified for enhanced catalytic activity under electrochemical (EC), photocatalytic (PC), and photoelectrochemical (PEC) conditions. Here, in this review, the work on cobalt-based PBAs is presented in four sections: i) electrocatalytic water oxidation with bare PBAs, ii) photocatalytic processes in the presence of a photosensitizer (PS), iii) photoelectrochemical water oxidation by coupling PBAs to proper semiconductors (SCs), and iv) the utilization of PBA-PS assemblies coated on SCs for the dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical water oxidation. This review will guide readers through the structure and catalytic activity relationship in cobalt-based PBAs by describing the role of each structural component. Furthermore, this review aims to provide insight into common strategies to enhance the catalytic activity of PBAs.     

Back Cover: Manipulating Intermetallic Charge Transfer for Switchable External Stimulus-Enhanced Water Oxidation Electrocatalysis (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 44/2023)

Electrocatalytic processes involving the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) present a kinetic bottleneck due to the existence of linear-scaling relationships, which bind the energies of the different intermediates in the mechanism limiting optimization. Here, we offer a way to break these scaling relationships and enhance the electrocatalytic activity of a Co−Fe Prussian blue modified electrode in OER by applying external stimuli. Improvements of ≈11 % and ≈57 % were achieved under magnetic field (0.2 T) and light irradiation (100 mW cm⁻²), respectively, when working at fixed overpotential, η=0.6 V at pH 7. The observed enhancements strongly tie in with the intermetallic charge transfer (IMCT) intensity between Fe and Co sites. Density Functional Theory simulations suggest that tuning the IMCT can lead to a change of the OER mechanism to an external stimuli-sensitive spin crossover-based pathway, which opens the way for switchable electrocatalytic devices.