The Onsager reciprocity relation and generalized efficiency of a thermal Brownian motor

Based on a general model of Brownian motors, the Onsager coefficients and generalized efficiency of a thermal Brownian motor are calculated analytically. It is found that the Onsager reciprocity relation holds and the Onsager coefficients are not affected by the kinetic energy change due to the particle's motion. Only when the heat leak in the system is negligible can the determinant of the Onsager matrix vanish. Moreover, the influence of the main parameters characterizing the model on the generalized efficiency of the Brownian motor is discussed in detail. The characteristic curves of the generalized efficiency varying with these parameters are presented, and the maximum generalized efficiency and the corresponding optimum parameters are determined. The results obtained here are of general significance. They are used to analyze the performance characteristics of the Brownian motors operating in the three interesting cases with zero heat leak, zero average drift velocity or a linear response relation, so that some important conclusions in current references are directly included in some limit cases of the present paper.     

超声探头的响应特性及暂态回波模型

建立检测系统的数学模型,可以更好地理解超声检测的物理本质。分析了超声波从产生、介质中传播、缺陷耦合以及接收的全过程,将缺陷回波表示为探头响应函数与缺陷响应的时域卷积。利用空间脉冲响应和基尔霍夫近似建立了超声波与平面型缺陷的耦合模型,用大平面试块底面回波和大平面响应进行反卷积求得了探头的响应函数,并详细分析了探头在不同偏置位置时不同大小缺陷响应的特点,发现缺陷回波由直达回波和边缘回波组成,直达回波和边缘回波极性相反,且直达回波的幅值远远大于边缘回波。     

Dynamic instability of collective myosin Ⅱ motors

Some kinds of muscles can oscillate spontaneously,which is related to the dynamic instability of the collective motors.Based on the two-state ratchet model and with consideration of the motor stiffness,the dynamics of collective myosin Ⅱmotors are studied.It is shown that when the motor stiffness is small,the velocity of the collective motors decreases monotonically with load increasing.When the motor stiffness becomes large,dynamic instability appears in the forcevelocity relationship of the collective-motor transport.For a large enough motor stiffness,the zero-velocity point lies in the unstable range of the force-velocity curve,and the motor system becomes unstable before the motion is stopped,so spontaneous oscillations can be generated if the system is elastically coupled to its environment via a spring.The oscillation frequency is related to the motor stiffness,motor binding rate,spring stiffness,and the width of the ATP excitation interval.For a medium motor stiffness,the zero-velocity point lies outside the unstable range of the force-velocity curve,and the motion will be stopped before the instability occurs.     

Physical and chemical effects of acoustic cavitation in selected ultrasonic cleaning applications

Acoustic cavitation in a liquid medium generates several physical and chemical effects. The oscillation and collapse of cavitation bubbles, driven at low ultrasonic frequencies (e.g., 20 kHz), can generate strong shear forces, microjets, microstreaming and shockwaves. Such strong physical forces have been used in cleaning and flux improvement of ultrafiltration processes. These physical effects have also been shown to deactivate pathogens. The efficiency of deactivation of pathogens is not only dependent on ultrasonic experimental parameters, but also on the properties of the pathogens themselves. Bacteria with thick shell wall are found to be resistant to ultrasonic deactivation process. Some evidence does suggest that the chemical effects (radicals) of acoustic cavitation are also effective in deactivating pathogens. Another aspect of cleaning, namely, purification of water contaminated with organic and inorganic pollutants, has also been discussed in detail. Strong oxidising agents produced within acoustic cavitation bubbles could be used to degrade organic pollutants and convert toxic inorganic pollutants to less harmful substances. The effect of ultrasonic frequency and surface activity of solutes on the sonochemical degradation efficiency has also been discussed in this overview.     

Ultrasonic-assisted synthesis of Pd–Pt/carbon nanotubes nanocomposites for enhanced electro-oxidation of ethanol and methanol in alkaline medium

Herein, a facile ultrasonic-assisted strategy was proposed to fabricate the Pd–Pt alloy/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Pd–Pt/CNTs) nanocomposites. A good number of Pd–Pt alloy nanoparticles with an average of 3.4 ± 0.5 nm were supported on sidewalls of CNTs with uniform distribution. The composition of the Pd–Pt/CNTs nanocomposites could also be easily controlled, which provided a possible approach for the preparation of other architectures with anticipated properties. The Pd–Pt/CNTs nanocomposites were extensively studied by electron microscopy, induced coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and applied for the ethanol and methanol electro-oxidation reaction in alkaline medium. The electrochemical results indicated that the nanocomposites had better electrocatalytic activities and stabilities, showing promising applications for fuel cells.     

Application of ZnO nanorods loaded on activated carbon for ultrasonic assisted dyes removal: Experimental design and derivative spectrophotometry method

A method based on application of ZnO nanorods loaded on activated carbon (ZnO-NRs-AC) for adsorption of Bromocresol Green (BCG) and Eosin Y (EY) accelerated by ultrasound was described. The present material was synthesized under ultrasound assisted wet-chemical method and subsequently was characterized by FE-SEM, TEM, BET and XRD analysis. The extent of contribution of conventional variables like pH (2.0–10.0), BCG concentration (4–20 mg L⁻¹), EY concentration (3–23 mg L⁻¹), adsorbent dosage (0.01–0.03 g), sonication time (1–5 min) and centrifuge time (2–6 min) as main and interaction part were investigated by central composite design under response surface methodology. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was adapted to experimental data and guide the best operational conditions mass by set at 6.0, 9 mg L⁻¹, 10 mg L⁻¹, 0.02 g, 4 and 4 min for pH, BCG concentration, EY concentration, adsorbent dosage, sonication and centrifuge time, respectively. At these specified conditions dye adsorption efficiency was higher than 99.5%. The suitability and well prediction of optimum point was tested by conducting five experiments and respective results revel that RSD% was lower than 3% and high quality of fitting was confirmed by t-test. The experimental data were best fitted in Langmuir isotherm equation and the removal followed pseudo second order kinetics. The experimentally obtained maximum adsorption capacities were estimated as 57.80 and 61.73 mg g⁻¹ of ZnO-NRs-AC for BCG and EY respectively from binary dye solutions. The mechanism of removal was explained by boundary layer diffusion via intraparticle diffusion.     

Effect of ultrasound on the synthesis of low-modulus zeolites from a metakaolin

It was studied the effect of ultrasonic processing (22 kHz) of the aqueous suspension of metakaolin, sodium hydroxide and alumina with a molar ratio 2Al₂Si₂O₇:12NaOH:2Al₂O₃ on the low-modulus zeolite synthesis processes. To investigate the XRD, SEM, IR, EDS had been used. It was shown that after ultrasonic processing, sodium aluminates are formed, what leads to a change in process of further synthesis. It was found that without ultrasonic processing on the stage of thermal treatment at 650 °C, SOD zeolite (|Na₆|[Al₆Si₆O₂₄]) and sodium aluminosilicate (Na₆Al₄Si₄O₁₇) are synthesized. In the sample after ultrasound during thermal treatment, only sodium aluminosilicates of cubic syngony (Na₆Al₄Si₄O₁₇ and Na₈Al₄Si₄O₁₈) are formed. It was demonstrated that sodium aluminosilicates are precursors for the formation of LTA zeolite (|Na₁₂|[Al₁₂Si₁₂O₄₈]). As a result zeolitization of sodium aluminosilicates after the hydrothermal crystallization in alkaline solution, the sonicated sample contained 97 wt% LTA. Without ultrasonic processing, the product of synthesis contained 50 wt% SOD and 40 wt% LTA.     

Behaviour of the current in a two-dimensional Bttiker Landauer motor with entropic barriers

The behaviour of the current in a two-dimensional Büttiker--Landauer motor, which is a position-dependent temperature-driven Brownian motor, is investigated in the presence of entropic and energy barriers. It is found that the motion of the Brownian particles is influenced by the shape of the channel. The existence of an entropic barrier can cause an asymmetric current as the flatness ratio of the shape varies. There exists an optimized flatness ratio (nonzero) at which the current reaches its maximum value.     

Ultrasonic irradiation and its application for improving the corrosion resistance of phosphate coatings on aluminum alloys

In this paper, ultrasonic irradiation was utilized for improving the corrosion resistance of phosphate coatings on aluminum alloys. The chemical composition and morphology of the coatings were analyzed by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of ultrasonic irradiation on the corrosion resistance of phosphate coatings was investigated by polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Various effects of the addition of Nd₂O₃ in phosphating bath on the performance of the coatings were also investigated. Results show that the composition of phosphate coating were Zn₃(PO₄)₂ · 4H₂O(hopeite) and Zn crystals. The phosphate coatings became denser with fewer microscopic holes by utilizing ultrasonic irradiation treatment. The addition of Nd₂O₃ reduced the crystallinity of the coatings, with the additional result that the crystallites were increasingly nubby and spherical. The corrosion resistance of the coatings was also significantly improved by ultrasonic irradiation treatment; both the anodic and cathodic processes of corrosion taking place on the aluminum alloy substrate were suppressed consequently. In addition, the electrochemical impedance of the coatings was also increased by utilizing ultrasonic irradiation treatment compared with traditional treatment.     

声源分布和超声频率对清洗声场均匀性的优化*

驻波和换能器指向性等影响声场均匀性,造成清洗死角,影响清洗效果。采用COMSOL仿真软件建立了单个换能器位于底部的三维模型,通过染色法实验结果验证模型的有效性。研究了换能器同时位于底部和侧面、多排换能器位于底部时的声场,用声压幅值相对标准差来量化均匀性,发现该两种换能器分布方式能够有效优化声场均匀性。通过调节频率研究频率对声场的影响,进一步优化声场均匀性。对声源分布的确定、频率的选择以满足声场均匀化需求有指导意义。