Doped oxides of cerium as inorganic colorants

The colour of inorganic colorants is based on metal ions such as cadmium, lead, chromium or cobalt, the majority of which are unfortunately potentially toxic. Thus, there is in a need to introduce alternative metal or metal oxides, which would be environmentally friendly and economically viable as a replacement for potentially toxic inorganic colorants. Rare earth-based colorants offer an additional opportunity for the development of optically pure colours. In this study, a replacement for potentially toxic colorants has been sought through the use of a rare earth metal ion, cerium. Appropriate doping of cerium oxides with molybdenum and iron gives an orange–red colorant. The conditions ideal for optimal colour have been standardised and the resultant colorant characterised through powder X-ray diffraction techniques, particle size measurement, etc. The colorants exhibit good hiding power and tinting strength.     

Colored cool colorants based on rare earth metal ions

Colored pigments with high near infrared reflectance and not based on toxic metal ions like cadmium, lead and cobalt are being sought as cool colorants. Through appropriate doping two pigments Ce-Pr-Mo and Ce-Pr-Fe have been developed to offer a reddish brown and reddish orange color, respectively. These pigments have been characterized and found to be highly crystalline with an average size of 300 nm. A shift in band gap energy from 2.21 to 2.18 eV has been observed when Li₂CO₃ was used as a mineralizer. Scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDAX) measurement indicate a uniform grind shape and distribution of metal ion, with over 65% reflectance in the NIR region, these pigments can well serve as cool colorants.     

Indium and tin oxide nanowires by vapor-liquid-solid growth technique

Regular three-dimensional (3-D) arrays of crystalline SnO₂-In₂O₃ nanowires were produced on m-sapphire using a gold catalyst-assisted vapor-liquid-solid growth process. The growth characteristics at multiple growth conditions were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) to evaluate the functional dependence of nanowire structure and composition on growth parameters such as temperature and source composition. The results indicate that nanowires of mixed composition are not possible from the catalytic clusters; rather, a mixture of indium and tin oxide wires are formed in the range of conditions investigated here.     

Model reduction of singular systems

In this paper, model reduction for singular systems will be investigated. First, a previous model reduction algorithm is presented and proved to be not appropriate in practice. Detailed examination of this existing algorithm will show that the difficulty of model reduction for singular systems is to retain its impulsive nature. Thus, based on this kind of acute observation, we investigate impulsive controllability and impulsive observability and propose a new decomposition approach for singular systems. Then a new model reduction algorithm will be proposed on the basis of this new decomposition via the Nehari approximation technique. This new model reduction algorithm will retain the impulsive nature of the original singular system. Finally, one example will be presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed model reduction algorithm.     

Nonlinear Feedback Control for the Lorenz System

The Lorenz system is well known for its ability to produce chaotic motion and the control problem of this system has attracted much attention in recent years. In this paper, control of the Lorenz chaotic systems based on a nonlinear feedback technique is presented. The objective of control is two-fold: one is to drive the system to one of equilibrium points associated with uncontrolled chaotic motion and the other is to let one of the closed-loop system states track a given signal. The controllers designed here are based on exact linearization theory of nonlinear systems and can regulate the closed-loop system states globally to a given point. Finally, illustrative examples show the effectiveness of the proposed design method.     

Optimization of cutting parameters in micro end milling operations in dry cutting condition using genetic algorithms

Micro end milling with fine grained carbide end mills is an economical way to machine small and medium lots of micro components. Considering the sensitivity of the slender end mills which are very costly compared to conventional end mills, it is imperative that the machining parameters are chosen appropriately so as to ensure maximum tool life and minimum possible production cost without violating any of the imposed constraints. Unlike in conventional end milling operations the tool life in micro end milling operations increases with axial depth of cut till it equals the tool diameter and this makes it even difficult to ascertain the appropriate depth of cut to machine a specific component. In this paper the influence of depth of cut on tool life is illustrated and depth of cut is also considered as one of the decision variables in the optimization problem. More over in this paper Genetic Algorithms (GA) based on natural laws of evolution is used to optimize the cutting parameters. Finally a test case is presented to give a clear picture of the application of the optimization algorithm.     

Microwave assisted template synthesis of silver nanoparticles

Easier, less time consuming, green processes, which yield silver nanoparticles of uniform size, shape and morphology are of interest. Various methods for synthesis, such as conventional temperature assisted process, controlled reaction at elevated temperatures, and microwave assisted process have been evaluated for the kind of silver nanoparticles synthesized. Starch has been employed as a template and reducing agent. Electron microscopy, photon correlation spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance have been employed to characterize the silver nanoparticles synthesized. Compared to conventional methods, microwave assisted synthesis was faster and provided particles with an average particle size of 12 nm. Further, the starch functions as template, preventing the aggregation of silver nanoparticles.     

Design of linear-phase IIR filters via impulse-response gramians

A new method for the design of a linear-phase infinite-impulse-response (IIR) filter is presented. It involves designing a finite-impulse-response (FIR) filter satisfying the given frequency response specifications and subsequently obtaining a significantly lower order IIR filter using model reduction based on impulse-response gramians. The general outline of the method and a brief overview of the existing linear-phase FIR filter design and model-reduction techniques are presented. The impulse-response gramian and the model-reduction algorithm used are presented. The method is illustrated by design examples and is compared with other methods for the design of linear-phase IIR filters using equalizers     

Improved results on frequency‐weighted balanced truncation and error bounds

In this paper, we present some new results on frequency‐weighted balanced truncation which is a significant improvement on Lin and Chiu's frequency‐weighted balanced truncation technique. The reduced‐order models, which are guaranteed to be stable in the case of double‐sided weighting, are obtained by direct truncation. Two sets of simple, elegant and easily calculatable a priori error bounds are also derived. Numerical examples and comparison with other well‐known techniques show the effectiveness of the proposed technique. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Model reduction based on limited‐time interval impulse response Gramians

In this paper, three new Gramians are introduced namely ‐ limited‐time interval impulse response Gramians (LTIRG), generalized limited‐time Gramians (GLTG) and generalized limited‐time impulse response Gramians (GLTIRG). GLTG and GLTIRG are applicable to both unstable systems and also to systems which have eigenvalues of opposite polarities and equal magnitude. The concept of these Gramians is utilized to develop model reduction algorithms for linear time‐invariant continuous‐time single‐input single‐output (SISO) systems. In the cases of GLTIRG and GLTG based model reduction, the standard time‐limited Gramians are generalized to be applied to unstable systems by transforming the original system into a new system which requires the solution of two Riccati equations. Two numerical examples are included to illustrate the proposed methods. The results are also compared with standard techniques.