Experimental study to assess the effect of carbon nanotube addition on the through-thickness electrical conductivity of CFRP laminates for aircraft applications

The present paper tests experimentally the through-thickness electrical conductivity of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites laminates for aircraft applications. Two types of samples were prepared: Type A samples with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and Type B samples without CNTs. During the electrical experiments, electrical currents of several mA were injected through the specimens. Electrical resistance was monitored simultaneously in order to deduce the changes in the through-the-thickness electrical conductivity caused by the addition of CNTs. Improvement of electrical conduction by two orders of magnitude was achieved through the addition of 1 wt% carbon nanotubes as compared to classic CFRP without CNTs. For moisture saturated samples, the influence of moisture absorption on such measures was found to be negligible.     

A novel utilized method of tar derived from biomass gasification for fabricating binder-free all-solid-state hybrid supercapacitors

As an industrial pollutant, tar derived from biomass gasification is used as the precursor for fabricating a novel carbon-metal hydroxides composite electrode. A slurry (the mixture of tar, KOH and melamine) is daubed uniformly onto the nickel foam, which is directly carbonized to form NPC@LDH electrode material. This electrode is further coated with NiCo-LDH nanosheets using an electrodeposition method to form NF@NPC@LDH. The newly made NF@NPC@LDH electrode exhibits a high specific capacity of 9.6 F cm⁻² at a current density of 2 mA cm⁻² and good rate performance (55.3% retention). Furthermore, a hybrid NF@NPC@LDH//NF@PC all-solid-state supercapacitor is fabricated, and the device exhibits high energy density of 1.28 mWh cm⁻³ at a power density of 8.04 mW cm⁻³, low resistance and good cycling stability.     

Templated titania films with meso- and macroporosities

Porous TiO₂ films with both mesoporosity and macroporosity were fabricated by a templated sol–gel method for applications, such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC), photocatalysis and catalysis. With the incorporation of differently sized pores, the resultant structures exhibit high surface areas and possess interpenetrating aligned pore channels, which are believed to be beneficial for applications where diffusion of reactants to interior surface can be rate limiting. Both liquid and solid TiO₂ precursors can be applied for large area coating in this process. Almost crack-free films were produced by templated coating of pre-synthesized TiO₂ nanoparticles. The measured specific surface area and porosity of synthesized films were in the range of 33–137 m²/g and 61–80%, respectively, depending on the size of the selected template.     

Thermoelastic evaluation of composite laminates using digital imaging processing

The study of the variation of the curvature of non-symmetric composite laminates with temperature provides a measure of the magnitude of the thermal stresses and the mechanical behavior of the material with temperature. In the present work, an experimental method based on the pioneer use of a digital camera and image processing method is proposed to perform such measurements. Taking advantage of the method and by comparing experimental and CLT, extended-CLT and FEM simulation results, an evaluation of the residual stresses is described and an approach providing more precise determination of the residual thermal stresses in non-symmetric laminates is proposed.     

A QM/MM study of the catalytic mechanism of aspartate ammonia lyase

Aspartate ammonia lyase (Asp) is one of three types of ammonia lyases specific for aspartate or its derivatives as substrates, which catalyzes the reversible reaction of l-aspartate to yield fumarate and ammonia. In this paper, the catalytic mechanism of Asp has been studied by using combined quantum-mechanical/molecular-mechanical (QM/MM) approach. The calculation results indicate that the overall reaction only contains two elementary steps. The first step is the abstraction of C_β proton of l-aspartate by Ser318, which is calculated to be rate limiting. The second step is the cleavage of C_αN bond of l-aspartate to form fumarate and ammonia. Ser318 functions as the catalytic base, whereas His188 is a dispensable residue, but its protonation state can influence the active site structure and the existing form of leaving amino group, thereby influences the activity of the enzyme, which can well explain the pH dependence of enzymatic activity. Mutation of His188 to Ala only changes the active site structure and slightly elongates the distance of C_β proton of substrate with Ser318, causing the enzyme to remain significant but reduced activity.     

Effect of diamond-like carbon (DLC) on the properties of the NiTi alloys

NiTi alloy has found wide application in the biomedical field due to its unique shape memory effect, superelasticity and biocompatibility. However, the materials are vulnerable to surface corrosion and the most serious issue is out-diffusion of toxic Ni ions from the substrate into body tissues and fluids. In this paper, NiTi alloys were coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC) fabricated by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition (PIIID) to improve their corrosion resistance and blood compatibility without sacrificing their shape memory effect and superelasticity. The structure of the films and the depth profiles between the films and substrate were studied using Raman spectroscopy and XPS, respectively. The phase transformation temperature, superelasticity, anticorrosion behavior and Ni ions release of the coated and uncoated sample were investigated by DSC, tensile tests, potentiodynamic polarization and AAS, respectively. The hemocompatibilty of the coated and uncoated samples was measured using clotting time and platelet adhesion. The results shows that the films is DLC accompanying with the formation of the mixing layer, and the DLC films can markedly improve the corrosion resistance and the hemocompatibility, obviously increase the ratio of albumin-to-fibrinogen and effectively block the Ni ions release of the NiTi alloys without sacrificing its superelasticity and changing its phase transformation temperature. The research results suggest DLC films prepared by PIIID could improve the in vivo performance of NiTi alloys implanted into the human body.     

Vapour phase hydrogenation of phenol over Pd/C catalysts: A relationship between dispersion,metal area and hydrogenation activity

A series of palladium supported on activated carbon catalysts, with Pd varying from 0.5 to 6.0 wt%, were prepared via wet impregnation method using PdCl₂ · xH₂O as a precursor salt. The dried samples were further reduced at 573 K in hydrogen and characterized by CO adsorption at room temperature in order to determine the dispersion, metal area and particle size. The catalysts were tested for vapour phase phenol hydrogenation in a fixed-bed all glass micro-reactor at a reaction temperature of 453 K under normal atmospheric pressure. The decrease in metal surface area as well as dispersion with corresponding increase in turn-over frequency (TOF) against palladium loadings suggest the unusual inverse relationship that exist between Pd dispersion and phenol hydrogenation activity over Pd/carbon catalysts. The stability of TOF at larger crystallite size indicates that phenol hydrogenation is less sensitive reaction especially beyond 3 wt% of Pd content. It is evident from the results that structural properties of the catalysts strongly influence the availability of Pd atoms on the surface for CO chemisorption and hence for phenol hydrogenation. A comparison between selectivity and product yield of the reaction against overall phenol conversion indicates that changes in reaction selectivity for cyclohexanone or cyclohexanol is independent of phenol conversion level and either of the product is not formed at the cost of another. The stability of the catalysts with reaction time suggests that coke formation on the surface of the catalyst is less significant and the formation of cyclohexanone remains almost total even at higher reaction temperatures.     

NO在(Fe_2O_3)_n(2≤n≤6)团簇上吸附的密度泛函理论研究

运用广义梯度密度泛函理论(GGA)的Pcrdew-Burke-Emrnerh(PBE)方法结合团簇模型,在双数值极化函数基组DNP下,研究了(Fe_2O_3)_n(2≤n≤6)团簇的性质和NO在其上的吸附。对于(Fe_2O_3)_n团簇通过对几何构型和性质的计算发现;(Fe_2O_3)_n团簇都具有很高的稳定性并且它们的结构和成键性质都和体材料Fe_2O_3有很大的不同;NO主要以N端吸附在Fe_2O_3团簇Fe-top位。NO在(Fe_2O_3)_n团簇上吸附为化学吸附,对应于n从2~6,吸附能分别为1.792、1.976、2.799、2.963和2.536 eV。Mulliken布局分析结合NO吸附前后的态密度分析表明:吸附前后电子由NO向(Fe_2O_3)_n团簇转移,吸附时NO的5口轨道趋向于转移电子给Fd~(3+)的d轨道,使Fe位形成d~(10)稳定电子构型,同时Fe反馈电子给NO的知反键轨道,总体上为NO失去电子。