Physical Stability of Octenyl Succinate–Modified Polysaccharides and Whey Proteins for Potential Use as Bioactive Carriers in Food Systems

The high cost and potential toxicity of biodegradable polymers like poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic)acid (PLGA) has increased the interest in natural and modified biopolymers as bioactive carriers. This study characterized the physical stability (water sorption and state transition behavior) of selected starch and proteins: octenyl succinate–modified depolymerized waxy corn starch (DWxCn), waxy rice starch (DWxRc), phytoglycogen, whey protein concentrate (80%, WPC), whey protein isolate (WPI), and α‐lactalbumin (α‐L) to determine their potential as carriers of bioactive compounds under different environmental conditions. After enzyme modification and particle size characterization, glass transition temperature and moisture isotherms were used to characterize the systems. DWxCn and DWxRc had increased water sorption compared to native starch. The level of octenyl succinate anhydrate (OSA) modification (3% and 7%) did not reduce the water sorption of the DWxCn and phytoglycogen samples. The Guggenheim–Andersen–de Boer model indicated that native waxy corn had significantly (P < 0.05) higher water monolayer capacity followed by 3%‐OSA‐modified DWxCn, WPI, 3%‐OSA‐modified DWxRc, α‐L, and native phytoglycogen. WPC had significantly lower water monolayer capacity. All Tg values matched with the solid‐like appearance of the biopolymers. Native polysaccharides and whey proteins had higher glass transition temperature (Tg) values. On the other hand, depolymerized waxy starches at 7%‐OSA modification had a “melted” appearance when exposed to environments with high relative humidity (above 70%) after 10 days at 23 °C. The use of depolymerized and OSA‐modified polysaccharides blended with proteins created more stable blends of biopolymers. Hence, this biopolymer would be suitable for materials exposed to high humidity environments in food applications.     

Experimental and numerical analysis of the influence of cable tray arrangements on the resulting mass loss rate and fire spreading

In the context of industrial buildings and power plants, electrical installations and cable trays represent a main fuel load and a potential initial fire source due to possible short circuits or comparable malfunction. Furthermore, a fire can spread from one tray to additional trays mounted above and/or horizontally on one tray. Because of the high significance of cable fires, several research projects have been carried out, investigating the fire behaviour of cables from small‐scale tests, eg, the cone calorimeter, up to large‐scale tests, analysing complete cable tray constructions. The goal of the work presented in this paper is the extension of the knowledge regarding the influence of geometrical parameters like the packing density and tray distance on the burning behaviour and fire spread of cable tray installations. The results are considered, together with test results from the literature, to quantify the main physical parameters describing the burning behaviour. In a next step, the general applicability of these parameters as input data for the parametrization of the source term of numerical simulations is shown. The test results show that the burning behaviour and the fire spreading highly depend on the cable arrangement of the cables on the cable tray, in combination with other boundary conditions. By applying the results as input for a fire simulation, the mass loss rate is considered appropriately.     

Distributed learning consensus control based on neural networks for heterogeneous nonlinear multiagent systems

This paper considers a novel distributed iterative learning consensus control algorithm based on neural networks for the control of heterogeneous nonlinear multiagent systems. The system's unknown nonlinear function is approximated by suitable neural networks; the approximation error is countered by a robust term in the control. Two types of control algorithms, both of which utilize distributed learning laws, are provided to achieve consensus. In the provided control algorithms, the desired reference is considered to be an unknown factor and then estimated using the associated learning laws. The consensus convergence is proven by the composite energy function method. A numerical simulation is ultimately presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed control schemes.     

铜基化合物的可见光催化研究进展

与传统贵金属光催化剂相比，铜基光催化剂具有价格低廉、绿色环保、反应条件温和、光催化活性可调节等优势，受到合成化学家们广泛关注。本文简述了铜基催化剂的光催化历史，回顾了近五年来铜基化合物在可见光催化领域的研究成果与进展，总结了铜基催化剂的独立光催化机理与协同光催化机理；简要阐述了铜催化剂在不同类型反应中的应用，重点讨论了铜(Ⅰ)催化剂在烯烃官能化、碳-碳偶联、碳-杂偶联、原位催化等反应中的应用研究，表明铜基化合物在光催化合成领域具有很大的应用潜力。对未来的研究工作进行了展望，指出拓展催化剂的反应适用性、探索催化剂的氧化还原能力、进一步开发催化剂在手性合成中的应用将是该领域的研究重点。     

高密度聚乙烯/铅硼复合材料屏蔽性能和力学性能研究

研究了高密度聚乙烯/铅硼复合材料的屏蔽性能和力学性能，通过屏蔽仿真比较了密度及碳化硼（B4C）含量对屏蔽性能的影响，通过试验比较了B4C含量对屏蔽性能、弯曲强度及冲击强度的影响。仿真结果表明,随聚乙烯/铅硼复合材料密度升高，快中子屏蔽性能下降，热中子屏蔽性能和γ屏蔽性能提高；保持聚乙烯/铅硼复合材料密度不变，随B4C含量的提高，中子屏蔽性能提高而γ屏蔽性能下降;实验数据表明,随B4C含量的升高，高密度聚乙烯/铅硼材料的快中子屏蔽性能、热中子屏蔽性能升高，γ屏蔽系数下降，冲击强度和弯曲强度下降明显，屏蔽性能测试结果和仿真结果规律性相符；综合仿真结果和实验数据表明，含B4C 2 %左右的高密度聚乙烯/铅硼复合材料同时具有较好的屏蔽性能和力学性能。     

Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to Ethylene by Molecular Cu‐Complex Immobilized on Graphitized Mesoporous Carbon

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to hydrocarbons is a challenging task because of the issues in controlling the efficiency and selectivity of the products. Among the various transition metals, copper has attracted attention as it yields more reduced and C2 products even while using mononuclear copper center as catalysts. In addition, it is found that reversible formation of copper nanoparticle acts as the real catalytically active site for the conversion of CO₂ to reduced products. Here, it is demonstrated that the dinuclear molecular copper complex immobilized over graphitized mesoporous carbon can act as catalysts for the conversion of CO₂ to hydrocarbons (methane and ethylene) up to 60%. Interestingly, high selectivity toward C2 product (40% faradaic efficiency) is achieved by a molecular complex based hybrid material from CO₂ in 0.1 m KCl. In addition, the role of local pH, porous structure, and carbon support in limiting the mass transport to achieve the highly reduced products is demonstrated. Although the spectroscopic analysis of the catalysts exhibits molecular nature of the complex after 2 h bulk electrolysis, morphological study reveals that the newly generated copper cluster is the real active site during the catalytic reactions.