Solubility of chlorine in aqueous hydrochloric acid solutions

The solubility of chlorine in aqueous hydrochloric acid solutions was studied. The effects of HCl concentration and temperature on the solubility were evaluated, and the thermodynamic parameters of the dissolution were calculated. It was found that the solubility isotherms had a minimum at about 0.5M HCl concentration at all the temperatures studied and that solubility decreased with the increase of temperature at all the HCl concentration range investigated.     

Leaching kinetics of colemanite by aqueous EDTA solutions

The dissolution kinetics of colemanite, a boron-containing mineral, in aqueous disodium EDTA solutions were studied. The effects of concentration and pH of the solution, particle size, and temperature were examined. A decrease in pH and particle size increased the dissolution rate, while an increase in the concentration of the solution and temperature increased the rate. The activation energy and pre-exponential factor were calculated as 50.6 kJ mol^-1 and 5.14 x 10⁷ m s^-1, respectively. Mahir Alkan, Assistant Professor, formerly with Atatürk University, Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education     

Influence of Radiation‐Induced Grafting Process on Mechanical Properties of ETFE‐Based Membranes for Fuel Cells

The mechanical stability is, in addition to thermal and chemical stability, a primary requirement of polymer electrolyte membranes in fuel cells. In this study, the impact of grafting parameters and preparation steps on stress–strain properties of ETFE‐based proton conducting membranes, prepared by radiation‐induced grafting and subsequent sulphonation, was studied. No significant change in the mechanical properties of the ETFE base film was observed below an irradiation dose of 50 kGy. It was shown that the elongation at break decreases with increasing both the crosslinker concentration and graft level (GL). However, the tensile strength was positively affected by the crosslinker concentration. Yield strength and modulus of elasticity are almost unaffected by the introduction of crosslinker. Interestingly, yield strength and modulus of elasticity increase gradually with GL without noticeable change of the inherent crystallinity of grafted films. The most brittle membranes are obtained via the combination of high GL and crosslinker concentration. The optimised ETFE‐based membrane (GL of ∼25%, 5% DVB v/v), shows mechanical properties superior to those of Nafion® 112 membrane. The obtained results were correlated qualitatively to the other ex situ properties, including crystallinity, thermal properties and water uptake of the grafted membranes.     

Adsorption of cationic polyacrylamide onto sepiolite

The adsorption of PAM onto sepiolite from aqueous solutions has been investigated systematically as a function of some parameters such as calcination temperature of sepiolite, pH, ionic strength and temperature. The adsorption of cationic polyacrylamide (PAM) increases with pH from 5.50 to 11.00, temperature from 25 to 55 degrees C and ionic strength from 0 to 0.1molL(-1). The sepiolite sample calcined at 200 degrees C has a higher adsorption capacity than the other calcined samples. Adsorption isotherms of PAM onto sepiolite have been determined and correlated with common isotherm equations such as Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Langmuir isotherm model appeared to fit the isotherm data better than the Freundlich isotherm model. The physical properties of this adsorbent are consistent with the parameters obtained from the isotherm equations. The zeta potentials of sepiolite suspensions have been measured in aqueous solutions of NaCl and different PAM concentrations and pH. From the experimental results: (i) pH strongly alters the zeta potential of sepiolite, (ii) sepiolite has an isoelectric point at about pH 6.6 in water and about pH 8 in 250mgL(-1) PAM concentration, (iii) PAM changes the interface charge from negative to positive for sepiolite. Effect of temperature on adsorption has been quantified by calculating various thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy. The dimensionless separation factor (R(L)) has shown that sepiolite can be used for adsorption of PAM from aqueous solutions.     

Neuroscience and architecture: What does the brain tell to an emotional experience of architecture via a functional MR study?

Environment psychologically affects individuals. According to the base of cognitive psychology, there is a direct relationship between human behavior, environment, and emotional process. Assuming that pleasantness and unpleasantness are associated with peripheral nervous system activation, the current study aims to explore if the pleasant or unpleasant architectural places can stimulate the brain regions engaged in emotions or not. As the main contribution, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measuring blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) changes to effectively detect the brain's region that mainly responds to the emotional-perceptual processes. Based on the results of examining the emotional assessment model of “Pleasure-Arousal” applied to 140 students, 30 most-rated images representing 15 pleasant and 15 unpleasant places were shown to 32 participants in a 1.5-T MRI scanner. After applying standard preprocessing steps (re-alignment, slice-timing, co-registration, segmentation, normalization, and smoothing) to functional MR images, first-level analysis was applied to each subject. The results were evaluated using statistical corrections at different levels for female and male participants with the second-level analysis. In conclusion, it has been shown that there is a significant linkage between environmental experience and brain activation so that the architectural qualities can change blood flow in specific brain regions.     

Preparation of poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) walled thermochromic microcapsules and their application to cotton fabrics

This study focused on fabrication of the thermochromic microcapsules and their application to the cotton fabric. In this study, thermochromic systems composed of crystal violet lactone, bisphenol A, and 1-tetradecanol were prepared and microencapsulated by emulsion polymerization method in poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) wall. The microcapsules were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. Their thermoregulating property was tested by T-history test. The results revealed that microcapsules with smooth surfaces, core–shell structured, and spherical shape were successfully produced. The latent heat storage capacity of the microcapsules decreased from 202 J g⁻¹ to 167 J g⁻¹ when their shell/core ratio changed from 0.5/1 to 2/1. Microcapsules were adequately had sufficient thermal resistance to the temperatures they will encounter during their application to textile products and their usage. According to the UV–visible spectroscopy analysis and color measurements, the microcapsules exhibited reversible color change from blue to colorless and vice versa. Besides, the microcapsule impregnated fabric was able to absorb latent heat energy of 21.79 J g⁻¹ at around 35 °C and had cooling effect. According to the colorimetric parameters, the fabric was at blue color at room temperature and became colorless when heated to the temperature above the melting point of thermochromic system. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48815.     

Influence of bearing ball recirculation on error motions of linear axes

For positioning systems utilizing linear guides and trucks with recirculating balls, a method is presented that uses the measured total error motions and the measured phase of ball loops within trucks to determine the influence of each ball loop on the error motions. The influence of ball recirculation on the error motions is estimated a priori via a least-squares solution based on data collected from a multitude of motion tests in which varying phases were measured by sensors integrated into the trucks. This method enables real-time estimation of performance degradations and identification of their sources.     

A Particle Swarm Optimization Assessment for the Determination of Non-Darcian Flow Parameters in a Confined Aquifer

Being one of the preliminary in-situ testing methods, aquifer pumping tests would provide significant insights which form a basis for the aquifer characterization. The use of Darcian based flow models to describe the groundwater flow would be ineffective for the aquifer pumping tests under certain circumstances. Non-Darcian flow models could therefore construct more accurate portrayal of physical reality for the assessment of aquifer testing. The interpretation of flow parameters obtained from non-Darcian flows via classical curve matching methods seems extremely difficult to acquire a unique match since the well-defined type curves have not been developed. In this study, an evolutionary optimization based algorithm, called as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), was established to determine the flow parameters namely power index, storativity and the turbulent factor which serves as an apparent hydraulic conductivity. The proposed PSO based parameter estimation scheme was implemented for a number of numerical test cases and the estimation performance was evaluated by comparing with available population based algorithms. The results reveal that the PSO based estimation approach is successfully able to identify the flow parameters in an accurate and fast manner. A number of sensitivity analyses were also conducted to draw the limitations of the introduced PSO based technique. The positive findings from this study pointed the potential capability of using PSO as a viable algorithm to process the complex relations in the flow.

     

A review on measurement science needs for real-time control of additive manufacturing metal powder bed fusion processes

Additive manufacturing technologies are increasingly used in the development of new products. However, variations in part quality in terms of material properties, dimensional tolerances, surface roughness and defects limit its broader acceptance. Process control today based on heuristics and experimental data yields limited improvement in part quality. In an effort to identify the needed measurement science for real-time closed-loop control of additive manufacturing (AM) processes, this paper presents a literature review on the current AM control schemes, process measurements and modelling and simulation methods as it applies to the powder bed fusion process, though results from other processes are reviewed where applicable. We present our research findings to identify the correlations between process parameters, process signatures and product quality. We also present research recommendations on the key control issues to serve as a technical basis for standards development in this area. Complimentary details to this paper with summary tables, range of values, preliminary correlations and correlation figures can be accessed from a National Institute of Standards and Technology Report (http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ir/2015/NIST.IR.8036.pdf). This paper is developed based on the report.