Drag on two co-axial rigid spheres moving normal to a plane: Newtonian and Carreau fluids

The boundary effect and the presence of a nearby entity on the drag of a rigid entity is investigated by considering the movement of two identical, rigid, coaxial spheres normal to a plane in both a Newtonian and a Carreau fluid at a low to medium large Reynolds number. The parameters key to the phenomenon under consideration, including the nature of the fluid, the separation distance between two spheres, the distance between the near sphere and the plane, and the Reynolds number, on the drag coefficient are discussed. We show that the influence of a boundary on the drag coefficient is more important than that of the nature of a fluid and that of the separation distance between two spheres. The variation of the drag coefficient as a function of Reynolds number for a Carreau fluid is similar to that for a Newtonian fluid. Due to the shear-thinning nature of the former the drag coefficient in the former is smaller than that in the latter. The influence of the index parameter of a Carreau fluid becomes appreciable only if the Carreau number is sufficiently large. Correlations between the drag coefficient and the key parameters of a system are developed for the case when the Reynolds number is smaller than l.     

High power and low cross‐polarization microstrip patch array antenna at S‐band

This article reports the design and development of high power, low cross‐polarization, and high efficiency circularly polarized microstrip patch array antenna at S‐band, proposed for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System payload. A novel feeding mechanism for truncated corner square patch based on square coaxial line for broadband impedance matching is discussed. Sequential rotation scheme for axial ratio improvement in an array is implemented. High power handling margins in critical regions of square coaxial line for multipaction breakdown is brought out. Measured 19 dB return loss bandwidth of array antenna is 15.6%. Axial ratio of 0.78 dB over global coverage is achieved in the desired frequency band of operation. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2012.     

Coaxial Alginate Hydrogels: From Self-Assembled 3D Cellular Constructs to Long-Term Storage

Alginate as a versatile naturally occurring biomaterial has found widespread use in the biomedical field due to its unique features such as biocompatibility and biodegradability. The ability of its semipermeable hydrogels to provide a favourable microenvironment for clinically relevant cells made alginate encapsulation a leading technology for immunoisolation, 3D culture, cryopreservation as well as cell and drug delivery. The aim of this work is the evaluation of structural properties and swelling behaviour of the core-shell capsules for the encapsulation of multipotent stromal cells (MSCs), their 3D culture and cryopreservation using slow freezing. The cells were encapsulated in core-shell capsules using coaxial electrospraying, cultured for 35 days and cryopreserved. Cell viability, metabolic activity and cell–cell interactions were analysed. Cryopreservation of MSCs-laden core-shell capsules was performed according to parameters pre-selected on cell-free capsules. The results suggest that core-shell capsules produced from the low viscosity high-G alginate are superior to high-M ones in terms of stability during in vitro culture, as well as to solid beads in terms of promoting formation of viable self-assembled cellular structures and maintenance of MSCs functionality on a long-term basis. The application of 0.3 M sucrose demonstrated a beneficial effect on the integrity of capsules and viability of formed 3D cell assemblies, as compared to 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) alone. The proposed workflow from the preparation of core-shell capsules with self-assembled cellular structures to the cryopreservation appears to be a promising strategy for their off-the-shelf availability.     

同轴电纺法TiO2/g-C3N4的制备及光催化性能研究

传统的静电纺丝法使用单一的毛细管状喷头喷丝,通常用于制备实心且表面光滑单一组分的纳米纤维,无法得到具有多种功能性结构的复合材料,应用范围较窄。以酞酸丁酯和尿素为原料,采用同轴静电纺丝法成功制备了TiO₂/g-C₃N₄复合材料,并用X射线衍射（XRD）、傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）、紫外可见漫反射光谱（UV-vis DRS）、场发射扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和Brunauer-Emmett-Teller （BET）分析对样品进行了表征,通过光催化降解亚甲基蓝溶液（MB）研究了不同g-C₃N₄添加量对TiO₂/g-C₃N₄复合材料光催化性能的影响。实验结果表明,采用同轴静电纺丝法结合500℃煅烧工艺成功制备了大比表面积及高光催化性能的TiO₂/g-C₃N₄复合材料。当g-C₃N₄添加量为0.15 g时,TiO₂/g-C₃N₄复合材料对亚甲基蓝溶液（MB）的光催化降解效率可达93.8%,且经过5次重复实验后降解率仍可达80%以上。     

高弹性MXene/TPU纳米纤维纱线的制备及其应变传感性能

采用静电纺丝技术制备了热塑性聚氨酯弹性体(TPU)纳米纤维膜,并通过“Biscrolling”的方法制备高弹性过渡金属碳化物/氮化物（Ti3C2Tx MXene）改性TPU纳米纤维纱线。通过SEM、电阻测试、传感性能测试等对复合纳米纤维纱线进行结构和性能表征。结果显示,随着MXene负载量增加,复合纱线的强度先增加后降低,断裂伸长率可高达459%以上,展现出优异的弹性和弹性回复性;MXene片可在纳米纤维纱线表面及内部形成连续导电薄膜,赋予复合纱线较好的导电性（电阻76 Ω/cm）。纱线的应变传感性能测定实验表明,MXene/TPU纳米纤维纱线的传感系数可高达477.86,线性度高达0.995,高于绝大多数文献报道的纱线传感器,并且可以监测人体的各种运动状态,展现出较好的应变传感性能,在智能可穿戴领域展现出广泛的应用前景。     

负载活性组分的核壳结构纤维膜的制备及性能

采用同轴静电纺丝技术将蛛丝蛋白（Ss）和美洲大蠊提取物（PAE）分别负载于纳米纤维的壳层与核层。随着Ss的增加,纤维直径从350 nm降至280 nm,核层直径由120nm升至140 nm,壳层厚度由115 nm降至70 nm。Ss的加入使纳米纤维膜具有良好的机械性能和亲水性,纳米纤维膜的拉伸强度可达到4.31 MPa,溶胀率可达到150%,水蒸气透过率可达到1834 g/(m2?24h),水接触角减小到 32.7 ?。纳米纤维膜核壳结构能够有效抑制药物突释,实现药物长效释放,7天内药物释放可达77%;纳米纤维膜能够有效抑制细菌生长,促进细胞增殖,相较于未负载Ss的纳米纤维膜,负载20%Ss的纤维膜的细胞增殖效果提高25%,说明Ss和PAE在伤口愈合过程中能够起到协同作用。     

Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulation: A Review on Investigating Mesoscale Properties of Polymer Systems

Polymer systems have typical multiscale characteristics, both in space and time. The mesoscopic properties of polymers are difficult to describe through traditional experimental approaches. Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) is a simulation method used for solving mesoscale problems of complex fluids and soft matter. The mesoscopic properties of polymer systems, such as conformation, dynamics, and transport properties, have been studied extensively using DPD. This paper briefly summarizes the application of DPD to research involving microchannel flow, electrospinning, free-radical polymerization, polymer self-assembly processes, polymer electrolyte fuel cells, and biomedical materials. The main features and possible development avenues of DPD are described as well.     

PAN/FPU Composite Nanofiber Membrane with Superhydrophobic and Superoleophobic Surface as a Filter Element for High-Efficiency Protective Masks

Recently, because of the outbreak of COVID-19, the demand for various types of filter elements in protective materials has increased globally. Furthermore, new requirements for the filtration performance of PM2.5 liquid (oil) particles have been put forward. In this work, Superhydrophobic and superoleophobic composite nanofibers with excellent filtration capacity for oil and salt particles are developed through the modification of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) by fluoro-polyurethane (FPU) doping. The results show that the PAN/FPU composite nanofibers doped with 9 wt% FPU has a uniform fiber morphology with a diameter of 240 ± 30 nm. Compared to the pure PAN nanofibers, the water-based contact angle of PAN/FPU increases from 90 ± 5° to 151 ± 5°, and the oil-based contact angle increases from 58 ± 2° to 152 ± 3°. Importantly, at a high flow rate of 95 L min⁻¹, the filtration efficiency of the PAN/FPU nanofiber membrane for 0.3 µm oil particles increases from 92 ± 1% to 99.2 ± 0.1%. After cyclic loading, the filtration efficiency of 0.3 µm oil particles remains above 98%. Meanwhile, the filtration efficiency for 0.3 µm salt particles remains at 98.23 ± 0.1%. The PAN/FPU nanofiber membrane developed in this work is effective in applications and has good market prospects as a protective filtration material.     

静电纺丝技术制备无机物纳米纤维的最新研究进展

静电纺丝技术近年来在制备纳米纤维领域得到了广泛的应用,被认为是最简单有效的方法之一,已经用这种方法成功地制备了不同的纳米纤维.本文对静电纺丝法做了较全面的总结,对机理和改进方法进行了介绍,对影响因素做了细致的分析,还对无机纳米纤维的应用做了简单的展望.     

Effect of solution properties on nanofibrous structure of electrospun poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid)

Electrospinning of poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) (PLGA) in chloroform or 1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexafluoro‐2‐propanol (HFIP) was investigated, focusing on its solution parameters, to develop nonwoven biodegradable nanofibrous structures for tissue engineering. PLGA nanofibers were obtained by electrospinning of 15 wt % PLGA solution and the resulting average fiber diameters were varied with the range of 270–760 nm, depending on solution property. When small amounts of benzyl triethylammonium chloride (BTEAC) was added to the PLGA/chloroform solution, the average diameter was decreased from 760 to 450 nm and the fibers were densely amounted in a straight shape. In addition, the average fiber diameter (270 nm) of nanofibers electrospun from polar HFIP solvent was much smaller than that (760 nm) of nanofibers electrospun from nonpolar chloroform solvent. Therefore, it could be concluded that conductivity or dielectric constant of the PLGA solution was a major parameter affecting the morphology and diameter of the electrospun PLGA fibers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 1214–1221, 2006