Fluorinated carbon nanofibres for high energy and high power densities primary lithium batteries

The electrochemical performances of fluorinated carbon nanofibres have been tested for a use as cathode material in primary lithium battery using LiBF₄ PC:DME 1M as electrolyte. For a very narrow fluorination range (420–450 °C), the fluorine content in the carbon nanofibres increases up to CF_0.78 and so do both the energy and the power densities. A maximum of 8057 W kg⁻¹ power density has been reached. Moreover, a current density of 6C can be used for such fluorinated carbon nanofibres. Such high electrochemical values can be correlated to the amount of unfluorinated carbon located in the core of the carbon nanofibres. Owing to solid state ¹³C NMR which can accurately evaluated this fraction, a minimum of 10% of unfluorinated carbon nanofibre is necessary in order to insure a good conducting behaviour.     

Classical and quantum two-body problem in general relativity

The two-body problem in general relativity is reduced to the problem of an effective particle (with an energy-dependent relativistic reduced mass) in an external field. The effective potential is evaluated from the Born diagram of the linearized quantum theory of gravity. It reduces to a Schwarzschild-like potential with two different Schwarzschild radii. The results derived in a weak field approximation are expected to be relevant for relativistic velocities.Revised version of Trieste preprint IC/80/124 (August 1980).A similar approach is being developed by a number of authors (see, e.g., References [9] and [10]); the reader will find a comprehensive bibliography in References [11] and [8].     

Analysis of semilocal convergence in banach spaces under relaxed condition and computational efficiency

The current paper is concerned with the study of semilocal convergence of a fifth-order method for solving nonlinear equations in Banach spaces under mild condition. The existence and uniqueness theorem has been proved followed by the error estimates. The computational efficiency of the considered scheme over the identical order methods is also examined, which endorses the nobility of the present scheme from computational point of view. Lastly, application of theoretical development has been made in nonlinear integral equation.     

The asymptotic behavior of solutions of a certain nonlinear Volterra equation

We study the asymptotic behavior of bounded and unbounded solutions to the Volterra-Hammerstein equation. We obtain conditions for the admissibility of a pair of spaces consisting of the sum of a quasipolynomial and the Taylor expansion at infinity.     

Effect of gamma irradiation on microbial load,physicochemical and sensory characteristics of soybeans (Glycine max L. Merrill)

Gamma irradiation is highly effective in inactivating microorganisms in various foods and offers a safe alternative method of food decontamination. In the present study, soybeans (Glycine max L. Merrill) were treated with 0, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 10.0 KGy of gamma irradiation. Microbial populations on soybeans, isoflavone, tocopherol contents, raffinose family oligosaccharides, color and sensory properties were evaluated as a function of irradiation dose. The results indicated that gamma irradiation reduced aerobic bacterial and fungal load. Irradiation at the doses applied did not cause any significant change (p>0.05) in the contents of isoflavone of soybeans, but decreased tocopherol contents. The content of key flatulence-producing raffinose family oligosaccharides in irradiated soybeans (10.0 kGy) decreased by 82.1% compared to the control. Sensory analysis showed that the odor of the soybeans was organoleptically acceptable at doses up to 5.0 kGy and no significant differences were observed between irradiated and nonirradiated samples in flavor, texture and color after irradiation.     

Temperature coefficient of resistance and thermal conductivity of Vanadium oxide ‘Big Mac’ sandwich structure

In this paper, we synthesize and characterize a thin film thermometer structure for infrared microbolometers. The structure is composed of alternating multilayers of Vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅), 25 nm, and Vanadium (V), 5 nm, thin films deposited by rf magnetron and dc magnetron sputtering respectively and annealed for 20, 30 and 40 min at 300 °C in Nitrogen (N₂) atmosphere. The best achieved temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) was found to be −2.57%/K for 40 min annealed samples. Moreover, we apply, for the first time, the photo-thermal deflection (PTD) technique for measuring the thermal conductivity of the synthesized thin films. The thermal conductivity of the developed thin films reveals an increase in thermal conductivity from 2 W/m K to 5.8 W/m K for as grown and 40 min annealed samples respectively.     

Screening heterogeneous catalysts for the pyrolysis of lignin

The pyrolytic conversion of pure lignin at 600 °C in flowing helium over five catalysts is described and compared to the control bed material, sand. Product distribution as char, liquid, and gas are described as well as the composition of the liquid and gas fractions. The catalysts examined were HZSM-5, KZSM-5, Al-MCM-41, solid phosphoric acid, and a hydrotreating catalyst, (Co/Mo/Al₂O₃). The sand yielded a liquid phase that was 97% oxygenated aromatics and a gas phase that was CO (18 vol%), CO₂ (16 vol%), and CH₄ (12 vol%). HZSM-5 was the best catalyst for producing a deoxygenated liquid fraction yielded almost equal amounts of simple aromatics (46.7%) and naphthalenic ring compounds (46.2%). The gas phase over this catalyst consisted of CO (22 vol%), CO₂ (14 vol%), H₂ (12 vol%), and CH₄ (10 vol%). The Co/Mo/Al₂O₃ hydrotreating catalyst yielded a liquid consisting of 21% aromatics, 4% naphthalenics, and 75% oxygenated aromatics and a gas phase that was rich in hydrogen: H₂ (18 vol%), CO₂ (16 vol%), CO (12 vol%), and CH₄ (8 vol%).