Microporous carbons prepared from cationic surfactant-resorcinol/formaldehyde composites

Microporous carbons have been synthesized by the carbonization of cationic surfactant-resorcinol/formaldehyde (RF) composites, which were themselves formed by electrostatic organic-organic interaction. The porous structure produced by the decomposition of the surfactant plays an important role for the gasification of the RF polymer at higher temperatures. The pore size of the carbon prepared from tetrapropylammonium bromide (TPAB)-RF, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (C₁₆TAB)-RF and decyltrimethylammonium bromide (C₁₀TAB)-RF mixtures can be estimated as 0.53 nm from the Horvath-Kawazoe method using N₂ adsorption isotherms. Their pore size distributions were very narrow, showing that the microporous carbons derived from surfactant-RF mixture may have promise as adsorbents and membrane materials.     

Evaluation of changes in power wheelchair maneuver induced by a downhill turning prevention control on cross sloped surfaces

In order to improve direction stability of a power wheelchair on a cross‐sloped surface, a downhill turning prevention control (DTPC) has been developed by some researchers and wheelchair suppliers. The DTPC‐induced effect on wheelchair maneuver, however, has not been well clarified. In this study, we quantitatively assessed DTPC‐induced changes in joystick control strategies during a driving task on a cross‐sloped test course. Among several evaluation measures calculated from the joystick inputs during the test trials, the x‐axis joystick displacement amount was found to be significantly decreased by the DTPC. This result suggests that the DTPC can save wheelchair users from the burden of compensation control on cross‐sloped surfaces. © 2012 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Winter lightning on Japan Sea coast-development of measuring systemon progressing feature of lightning discharge

With the aid of recent optoelectronic techniques, the authors have developed a measuring instrument named ALPS (Automatic Lightning Discharge Progressing Feature Observation System) to determine the progress of lightning flashes. The progress velocities of stepped leaders for lightning in winter seasons were observed using the ALPS in the coastal area of the Japan Sea. The progress velocity of an individual step of a stepped leader can be expressed by a lognormal distribution and its mean value is 1.6×10⁶ m/s for upward leaders and 4.0×10⁶ m/s for downward leaders. The mean progress velocity of a total leader process is given as 0.8~2.7×10⁵ m/s for upward leaders and 2.9×10⁵ m/s for downward leaders     

Measurement of topcoat thickness of thermal barrier coating for gas turbines using terahertz waves

The topcoat thickness of thermal barrier coating (TBC) samples was measured using terahertz (THz) waves. The index of refraction of yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ), which is the topcoat material, is necessary to obtain the topcoat thickness from time domain re?ectometry. Time domain THz spectroscopy was applied to YSZ samples, and the index of refraction was measured to be 4.8 in the frequency region 0.1 to 1.2 THz. The topcoat thickness of six di?erent TBC samples, which varied from 300 to 600 µm, was measured using THz waves. The results were in agreement with microscope observation results to within measurement error. In addition, the topcoat thickness pro?le of a turbine blade sample was measured with a resolution of 2.4 µm. The pro?le showed a standard deviation of 4 µm, which re?ects the actual variation in the topcoat thickness. The results showed that THz waves are e?ective for high‐resolution measurement of the topcoat thickness. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 183(4): 1–9, 2013; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22385     

Separation of C6H6 and C6H12 from H2 using ionic liquid/PVDF composite membrane

Ionic liquid/polyvinylidene fluoride composite membrane was successfully prepared by impregnation method and used for the separation on organic chemical hydride process. The separation factors of C₆H₆/H₂ and C₆H₁₂/H₂ in the ternary mixture system were 7500 and 300, respectively. The ionic liquid membrane showed an excellent possibility as a technology of H₂ purification in the organic chemical hydride process by removing aromatic hydrocarbon and cycloalkane simultaneously from the ternary system. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 624–628, 2016     

Passivation effects of deuterium exposure on boron-doped CVD homoepitaxial diamond

The deuterium (hydrogen) passivation effect on acceptors in boron-doped CVD homoepitaxial diamond was studied by electrical (Hall-effect) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) measurements. Deuterium was incorporated into the samples using microwave (MW) deuterium plasma at 673 K for 2–24 h. We observed the progress of acceptor passivation with p-type conduction, which finally resulted in a highly resistive state.