Blends of Bio-Based Poly(Limonene Carbonate) with Commodity Polymers

In this study, blends of the bio-based poly(limonene carbonate) (PLimC) with different commodity polymers are investigated in order to explore the potential of PLimC toward generating more sustainable polymer materials by reducing the amount of petro- or food-based polymers. PLimC is employed as minority component in the blends. Next to the morphology and thermal properties of the blends the impact of PLimC on the mechanical properties of the matrix polymers is studied. The interplay of incompatibility and zero-shear melt viscosity contrast determines the blend morphology, leading for all blends to a dispersed droplet morphology for PLimC. Blends with polymers of similar structure to PLimC (i.e., aliphatic/aromatic polyester) show the best performance with respect to mechanical properties, whereas blends with polystyrene or poly(methyl methacrylate) are too brittle and polyamide 12 blends show very low elongations at break. In blends with Ecoflex (poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)) and Arnitel EM400 (copoly(ether ester)) with poly(butylene terephthalate) hard and polytetrahydrofuran soft segments) a threefold increase in E-modulus can be achieved, while keeping the elongation at break at reasonable high values of ≈200%, making these blends highly interesting for applications.     

药物相互作用研究在新药研发和审评决策中的应用

药物相互作用改变了剂量效应关系，可能会降低疗效或增加毒性，是临床应用中合并用药治疗时重要的考虑因素。预测具有临床意义的药物相互作用是药物研发过程中获益风险评估的重要环节。本文概述了药物研发过程中药物相互作用研究的目的和意义，体内和体外研究的主要内容；梳理分析了2020年国家药品监督管理局（National Medical Products Administration, NMPA）和美国食品药品监督管理局（Food and Drug Administration, FDA）批准上市的新药药物相互作用研究情况，旨在为我国药物研发过程中药物相互作用研究及其监管审评提供参考。     

Effect of microstructural features on the corrosion behavior of severely deformed Al–Mg–Si alloy

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of severe plastic deformation processing and the changes in microstructure resulting therefrom on the corrosion resistance of an Al–Mg–Si alloy. The alloy was processed using incremental equal channel angular pressing, which caused a reduction in grain size from 15 to 0.9 µm. The grain refinement was accompanied by an increase in the number of grain boundaries and dislocations, and by changes in grain orientation. However, there was no change in the size and number of intermetallic particles, which presumably resulted in a constant number of galvanic couplings. Electrochemical experiments revealed only slight differences between the samples before and after processing. Higher potential transients/oscillations upon immersion and increased corrosion currents in the vicinity of corrosion potential point to slightly higher reactivity of the most refined material. This indicates that intermetallic particles are the most crucial microstructural elements in terms of corrosion resistance. Their impact exceeds that of grain boundaries, in particular, at the stage of corrosion initiation. The development of corrosion attack is controlled more by the microstructure of the matrix as the grain refinement resulted in a less pronounced corrosion attack in comparison with the coarse-grained sample.     

Superhydrophobic aluminum alloy surface with excellent universality,corrosion resistance,and antifouling performance prepared without prepolishing

It is urgently necessary to seek more simple and effective methods to construct superhydrophobic metal surfaces to improve the corrosion resistance and antifouling performance. Herein, a facile method for fabricating superhydrophobic aluminum alloy surface is developed via boiling water treatment and stearic acid modification. It is noteworthy that no prepolishing on aluminum alloy is required and no caustic reagents and typical equipments are used during the preparation procedure. Therefore, the fabrication method is quite a simple and environment-friendly technique. Both micro- and nano-scaled binary structure forms at the resultant aluminum alloy surface while long alkyl chains are grafted onto the rough aluminum alloy surface chemically. Consequently, the resultant aluminum alloy exhibits outstanding superhydrophobicity. More importantly, the superhydrophobicity has excellent universality, diversity, stability, excellent corrosion resistance, and antifouling performance. The facile preparation, excellent superhydrophobic durability, and outstanding performance are quite in favor of the practical application.     

Synthesis and slurry spray coating of barium strontium alumino silicate on SiC substrate

Barium strontium alumino silicate (BSAS); (Ba_0.6Sr_0.4Al₂Si₂O₈) was synthesized through solid state reaction between BaCO₃, SrCO₃, Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ subjected to wet milling in isopropanol for about 24 h. The sequence of the solid state reaction was studied by subjecting to DG/DTG from room temperature to 1550 °C. The crystallographic phase evolution was confirmed by X-ray diffraction of the powders calcined in the range 1000 to 1300 °C for 2 h. The monoclinic celsian phase obtained at 1300 °C, pelletized through uniaxial pressing was sinterable to 67 to 78% density in the temperature range of 1300 to 1500 °C. The density improved to 75 to 94% after ball milling for 76 h, while ZrO₂ addition further improved the density by 2%. The celcian phase of BSAS was dispersed in isopropyl alcohol, milled for about 24 h and spray coated on to plain SiC and mullite precoated SiC substrates. Sintering of coated samples and characterization for weight gain/loss, microstructure, scratch test prove that mullite + BSAS coating is more effective than single layer coating of BSAS on SiC substrates.     

杂化包覆玄武岩鳞片/环氧涂料制备与性能

本文在环氧涂料中添加玄武岩鳞片，提高其防腐蚀性能。针对玄武岩鳞片的团聚问题，通过机械力化学改性工艺，采用正硅酸四乙酯、HY-311型钛酸酯偶联剂、E-44型环氧树脂对玄武岩鳞片进行杂化包覆，结果表明，杂化包覆后玄武岩鳞片的沉降时间从2h提高至96 h。杂化包覆玄武岩鳞片添加量为20%涂层的性能最优，附着力为13.40 MPa，耐盐雾时间为2000 h，在3.5%NaCl溶液中浸泡2000 h后，0.01 Hz的阻抗模值仍然有5.15×109 Ω·cm2。     

Public perceptions on artificial intelligence driven disaster management: Evidence from Sydney,Melbourne and Brisbane

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) is being increasingly utilised in disaster management activities. The public is engaged with AI in various ways in these activities. For instance, crowdsourcing applications developed for disaster management to handle the tasks of collecting data through social media platforms, and increasing disaster awareness through serious gaming applications. Nonetheless, there are limited empirical investigations and understanding on public perceptions concerning AI for disaster management. Bridging this knowledge gap is the justification for this paper. The methodological approach adopted involved: Initially, collecting data through an online survey from residents (n = 605) of three major Australian cities; Then, analysis of the data using statistical modelling. The analysis results revealed that: (a) Younger generations have a greater appreciation of opportunities created by AI-driven applications for disaster management; (b) People with tertiary education have a greater understanding of the benefits of AI in managing the pre- and post-disaster phases, and; (c) Public sector administrative and safety workers, who play a vital role in managing disasters, place a greater value on the contributions by AI in disaster management. The study advocates relevant authorities to consider public perceptions in their efforts in integrating AI in disaster management.     

Optimization of room-temperature TCR of polycrystalline La0.9-xSrxK0.1MnO3 ceramics by Sr adjustment

High-density La_0.9-xSr_xK_0.1MnO₃ ceramics (LSKMO, A-site = La, Sr and K, 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25) are successfully fabricated by using facile sol-gel method. Electrical properties are performed by using combination of phenomenological percolation (PP) model, double exchange (DE) mechanism, and Jahn-Teller (JT) effect. Moreover, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy are employed to analyze the structure and morphology of LSKMO ceramics. Valence states and ionic stoichiometry are assessed by using X-ray photoemission spectrometry. Results reveal that Sr²⁺ ions, substituting La³⁺ ions, significantly influenced DE mechanism and JT effect. In addition, Sr-doping plays essential role in improving electrical properties of LSKMO ceramics. At optimal doping content of x = 0.09, peak temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the resistivity is found to be 11.56% K^?1 at 297.15 K, which is optimal TCR for A-site K-occupied perovskite manganese oxides. These results confirm that polycrystalline LSKMO ceramics render high room-temperature TCR values due to Sr-doping.     

Interfacial microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti3SiC2 ceramic and TC11 alloy joint diffusion bonded with a Cu interlayer

Reliable joints of Ti₃SiC₂ ceramic and TC11 alloy were diffusion bonded with a 50 μm thick Cu interlayer. The typical interfacial structure of the diffusion boned joint, which was dependent on the interdiffusion and chemical reactions between Al, Si and Ti atoms from the base materials and Cu interlayer, was TC11/α-Ti + β-Ti + Ti₂Cu + TiCu/Ti₅Si₄ + TiSiCu/Cu(s, s)/Ti₃SiC₂. The influence of bonding temperature and time on the interfacial structure and mechanical properties of Ti₃SiC₂/Cu/TC11 joint was analyzed. With the increase of bonding temperature and time, the joint shear strength was gradually increased due to enhanced atomic diffusion. However, the thickness of Ti₅Si₄ and TiSiCu layers with high microhardness increased for a long holding time, resulting in the reduction of bonding strength. The maximum shear strength of 251 ± 6 MPa was obtained for the joint diffusion bonded at 850 °C for 60 min, and fracture primarily occurred at the diffusion layer adjacent to the Ti₃SiC₂ substrate. This work provided an economical and convenient solution for broadening the engineering application of Ti₃SiC₂ ceramic.     

Revealing the high sensitivity in the metal toinsulator transition properties of the pulsed laser deposited VO2 thin films

Vanadium dioxide (VO₂) is known as a typical 3d-orbital transition metal oxide exhibiting the metal-to-insulator-transition (MIT) property near room temperature. However, their electronic applications have been challenged by the quality and uniformity of VO₂ thin films. In this work, we demonstrate the high sensitivity in the valence charge of vanadium and the MIT properties of the VO₂ thin films to the deposition temperature. This observation indicates the necessity to eliminate the inhomogeneity in the temperature distribution of substrate during the vacuum-deposition process of VO₂. In addition, a high thermoelectric power factor (PF, e.g., exceeding 1 μWcm⁻¹K⁻²) was achieved in the metallic phase of the VO₂ thin films and this value is comparable to typical organic or oxide thermoelectric materials. We believe this high PF enriches the potential functionality in thermoelectric energy conversions beyond the existing electronic applications of the current vacuum-grown VO₂ thin films.