Effect of Ni addition on electrocatalytic activity of PdCu catalysts for ethanol electrooxidation: An experimental and theoretical study

A facile and clean electrochemical method has been developed for the synthesis of ternary PdCuNi catalysts on the surface of carbon Vulcan. The composition and morphology of the PdCuNi/C were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), X?ray diffraction (XRD), EDX element mapping and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effect of Cu and Ni on the electrochemical activity of ternary PdCuNi alloy electrocatalysts was investigated for ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). Between the different compositions, Pd_35%Cu_14%Ni_2%/C catalyst exhibits superior mass activity which is about 10 times higher than that of commercial Pd/C catalyst. The onset peak potential for ethanol oxidation on Pd_35%Cu_14%Ni_2%/C catalyst shifts to lower potential than that of PdCu/C and Pd/C catalysts. The stability tests revealed that the existing of Cu combined with Ni can improve the poison tolerance of Pd/C catalyst by removal of adsorbed CO-like intermediate species during ethanol oxidation. The experimental work is further investigated by theoretical study based on DFT-D calculations. The experimental and theoretical results exhibited similar trends in electrocatalytic activity of catalyst composition; indicating ternary PdCuNi alloys could be a promising anode catalyst for direct ethanol fuel cells.     

Capsaicin and Zinc Promote Glucose Uptake in C2C12 Skeletal Muscle Cells through a Common Calcium Signalling Pathway

Capsaicin and zinc have recently been highlighted as potential treatments for glucose metabolism disorders; however, the effect of these two natural compounds on signalling pathways involved in glucose metabolism is still uncertain. In this study, we assessed the capsaicin- or zinc- induced activation of signalling molecules including calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase 2 (CAMKK2), cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB), and target of rapamycin kinase complex 1 (TORC1). Moreover, the expression status of genes associated with the control of glucose metabolism was measured in treated cells. The activation of cell signalling proteins was then evaluated in capsaicin- or zinc treated cells in the presence or absence of cell-permeant calcium chelator (BAPTA-AM) and the CAMKK inhibitor (STO-609). Finally, capsaicin- and zinc-induced glucose uptake was measured in the cells pre-treated with or without BAPTA-AM. Our results indicate that calcium flux induced by capsaicin or zinc led to activation of calcium signalling molecules and promoting glucose uptake in skeletal muscle cells. Pharmacological inhibition of CAMKK diminished activation of signalling molecules. Moreover, we observed an increase in intracellular cAMP levels in the cells after treatment with capsaicin and zinc. Our data show that capsaicin and zinc mediate glucose uptake in C2C12 skeletal muscle cells through the activation of calcium signalling.     

A QoS-aware congestion control mechanism for wireless multimedia sensor networks

Wireless Networks - The amount of data produced by multimedia sensor nodes (such as video/audio sensors), is considerably huge comparing with the data of scalar sensor nodes. The great numbers of...     

Optimization of a combined heat and power system based gasification of municipal solid waste of Urmia University student dormitories via ANOVA and taguchi approaches

Municipal solid waste (MSW) of Urmia University student dormitories was utilized to trigger a co-generation system. The combined heat and power system consisted of a gasifier, a micro gas turbine, an organic Rankine cycle, a heat exchanger, and a domestic heat recovery. The system performance was validated by comparing the results with experimental results available in the literature. Air, steam, and oxygen were considered as different gasification mediums. Hydrogen content in the case of the steam medium was higher at all gasification temperatures and low moisture contents. However, hydrogen content of the system based oxygen medium was higher at high moisture contents. The system performances from power generation and hot water flow rate viewpoints were assessed versus the MSW flow rate, gasification temperature, pressure ratio, and turbine inlet temperature. Taguchi approach was employed to optimize the generated power in air, steam, and oxygen medium cases. The optimum conditions were the same for all cases. The optimum powers were 281.1 kW, 279.4 kW, and 266.9 kW for the system based steam, air, and oxygen gasifying agents, respectively.     

Analysis of Thermoelastic Crack Problems Using Green–Lindsay Theory

A boundary element method using the Laplace transform in time domain is presented for the analysis of fracture mechanics under thermal shock using the Green and Lindsay (GL) theory of thermoelasticity. The dynamic thermoelastic model of Green and Lindsay is selected to show the effect of thermal wave propagation at finite speed on crack tip stress intensity factor evaluation. The singular behavior of the temperature and displacement fields in the vicinity of the crack tip is modeled by the quarter-point elements. Thermal dynamic stress intensity factor for mode I is evaluated from computed nodal values, using the well-known displacement and traction formulas. The accuracy of the method is investigated through comparison of the results with the available data in literature. Condition where the inertia term plays important role is discussed and variations of dynamic stress intensity factor is investigated. Different relaxation times are chosen to briefly show their effects on stress intensity factor in the Green and Lindsay theory.     

Effects of morphology on the micro-compression response of carbon nanotube forests

This study reports the mechanical response of distinct carbon nanotube (CNT) morphologies as revealed by flat punch in situ nanoindentation in a scanning electron microscope. We find that the location of incipient deformation varies significantly by changing the CNT growth parameters. The initial buckles formed close to the growth substrate in 70 and 190 μm tall CNT forests grown with low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) and moved to ～100 μm above the growth substrate when the height increased to 280 μm. Change of the recipe from LPCVD to CVD at pressures near atmospheric changed the location of the initial buckling event from the bottom half to the top half of the CNT forest. Plasma pretreatment of the catalyst also resulted in a unique CNT forest morphology in which deformation started by bending and buckling of the CNT tips. We find that the vertical gradients in CNT morphology dictate the location of incipient buckling. These new insights are critical in the design of CNT forests for a variety of applications where mechanical contact is important.     

High-temperature and short-time hydrothermal fabrication of nanostructured ZSM-5 catalyst with suitable pore geometry and strong intrinsic acidity used in methanol to light olefins conversion

High temperature hydrothermal synthesis method was developed to preparation of nanostructured ZSM-5 molecular sieves at short crystallization time. A series of catalysts were synthesized at various temperatures and crystallization times for achievement of pure ZSM-5 phase with MFI structure. The synthesized catalysts were investigated with XRD, FESEM, EDX, BET-BJH, FTIR and TPD-NH₃ techniques. The results revealed that hydrothermal synthesis conditions generally affected the nucleation rate, particle size, textural properties and acidic nature of ZSM-5 catalysts. It was found that pure ZSM-5 materials with high crystallinity could be obtained at specific crystallization conditions of about 300?°C for 1.5?h and also 350?°C for 0.5?h. Increasing the hydrothermal temperature to 350?°C and decreasing the crystallization time to 0.5?h led to the formation of small particles with high specific surface area of 392?m²/g. Furthermore, ammonia TPD spectra showed that ZSM-5(300-1.5) catalyst contained higher amount of acid sites and less acid strength compared to ZSM-5(350-0.5) catalyst. The catalytic performance of samples was studied for conversion of methanol to light olefins under different reaction conditions. Interestingly, the proper pore geometry along with the strong intrinsic acidity resulted in a tendency for excessive production of light olefins for ZSM-5(350-0.5) catalyst. The selectivity of light olefins over this catalyst was increased about 94% in the long time on stream (2100?min). Also, the possible reaction pathway for ZSM-5 synthesis at high temperatures was discussed in details.     

Kinetics and equilibrium studies on biosorption of cadmium, lead, and nickel ions from aqueous solutions by intact and chemically modified brown algae

The present study deals with the evaluation of biosorptive removal of Cd (II), Ni (II) and Pb (II) ions by both intact and pre-treated brown marine algae: Cystoseira indica, Sargassum glaucescens, Nizimuddinia zanardini and Padina australis treated with formaldehyde (FA), glutaraldehyde (GA), polyethylene imine (PEI), calcium chloride (CaCl(2)) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). Batch shaking adsorption experiments were performed in order to examine the effects of pH, contact time, biomass concentration, biomass treatment and initial metal concentration on the removal process. The optimum sorption conditions for each heavy metal are presented. One-way ANOVA and one sample t-tests were performed on experimental data to evaluate the statistical significance of biosorption capacities after five cycles of sorption and desorption. The equilibrium experimental data were tested using the most common isotherms. The results are best fitted by the Freundlich model among two-parameter models and the Toth, Khan and Radke-Prausnitz models among three-parameter isotherm models for Cd (II), Ni (II) and Pb (II), respectively. The kinetic data were fitted by models including pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order. From the results obtained, the pseudo-second-order kinetic model best describes the biosorption of cadmium, nickel and lead ions.     

Impact of hydraulic hysteresis on the small strain shear modulus of unsaturated sand

The results of previous studies on silt and clay indicated that variations in the small strain shear modulus, G_max, during hydraulic hysteresis had a non-linear increasing trend with matric suction, with greater values upon wetting. However, due to differences in material properties and inter-particle forces, a different behavior is expected for the G_max of unsaturated sand. Although considerable research has been devoted in recent years to characterizing the behavior of the G_max of sand during drying, less attention has been paid to the effect of hydraulic hysteresis on G_max and its variations during wetting. In the study presented herein, an effective stress-based semi-empirical model was developed to predict the variations in the G_max of unsaturated sand during hydraulic hysteresis. The proposed model incorporated the impact of the possible changes in volume through an empirical void ratio function as well as the effect of the degree of saturation through the use of suction stress. The effective stress was also defined using the concept of suction stress. The efficiency of the proposed model was evaluated by comparing the model predictions with the results of an experimental testing program involving the measurement of the G_max of sand with different grain size distributions during hydraulic hysteresis. Specifically, a suction-controlled triaxial testing device, equipped with a pair of bender elements, was used to define the hysteretic trends in G_max for different values of mean net stress. The model was found to provide satisfactory predictions of the trends in G_max with matric suction, as well as its peak value and the suction corresponding to the occurrence of the peak G_max. It also provided satisfactory predictions of the variations in G_max upon subsequent wetting.     

Modelling of thermally affected elastic wave propagation within rotating Mori–Tanaka-based heterogeneous nanostructures

Microsystem Technologies - In this article, wave dispersion responses of a temperature-dependent functionally graded (FG) nanobeam undergoing rotation and exposed to thermal load are presented...