Complex formation of montmorillonite clay with polymers. Part 2: The use of montmorillonite clay–vinyl monomer complex as a comonomer in the copolymerization reaction of styrene–acrylonitrile monomers

The bulk copolymerization of styrene–acrylonitrile monomers using styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite complex as a comonomer in the polymerization was studied. The X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that part of the styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite complex remained non‐dispersed (immiscible) and the copolymer was excluded from the interlayer of the immiscible part of the clay. The successive chemical extraction process revealed that a reasonable amount of the styrene–acrylonitrile copolymer was directly attached to the styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite complex and enveloped the clay. Highly exfoliated clay lamella and nanospheres (3–5 nm) were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The montmorillonite clay assume two different morphologies, immiscible and exfoliated, on the basis of the XRD and TEM data. A simple method of calculation of the ratio of the exfoliated/immiscible amounts of the clay indicated that the amount of the styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite complex exfoliated into separate lamella was 40 % (w/w) of the amount of the clay samples containing 2 % of the (styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite complex) clay. This amount of exfoliated clay decreases with the increase of the concentration of the clay. The presence of the styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite clay in the copolymerization reaction had a minor effect on both the copolymer composition and the molecular weight. Modification of the clay with the derivatized styrene monomer can achieve a nanocomposite using a percentage no more than 4 % (w/w) of complex in the copolymer. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Optimal size,hydraulic retention time and volatile solids loading rate of biogas unit using water hyacinth

With a view to evaluate the effects of hydraulic retention time and volatile solids loading rate on methane production using water hyacinth, experiments were conducted in a 160 dm³ capacity, well-mixed continuous digestion unit at ambient temperature. The optimal design of biogas plant using water hyacinth was elucidated, to provide a unit giving a maximum methane yield of 0.16 nm³ kg^?1 volatile solids added, which was 60% greater than the conventional plant using cowdung. The calculations of optimal design factors were based on reactor size, hydraulic retention time and volatile solids loading rate; considerations were made of capital cost, running costs and operational revenue.     

Artificial neural-network-based diagnosis of CVD barrel reactor

This paper presents an artificial neural network (ANN) based diagnostic strategy applied to a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) barrel reactor of the type commonly used in silicon epitaxy. The strategy is based on the spatial variation of the rate of deposition of silicon on a facet of the reactor. Our hypothesis is that this spatial variation, quantified as a vector of variously measured standard deviations, encodes a pattern reflecting the state of the reactor. Therefore, a process fault (event) can be diagnosed by decoding the pattern by an ANN. We implemented this simple scheme by simulating different events by means of a regression model relating the rate of deposition to the process settings. Three different events were simulated and various ANNs were trained to detect and classify these events. It is shown that a single ANN or a combination of ANNs does an excellent job. We also demonstrate that the threshold rule for setting the threshold of a binary output neuron performing a classification task enhances the diagnostic performance. A novel multiple expert scheme that refers to several ANNs trained in the same classification task for decision-making in order to resolve ambiguities and improve the reliability of the final decision is presented and shown to be effective     

Emergence of Healthcare 4.0 and Blockchain into Secure Cloud-based Electronic Health Records Systems: Solutions,Challenges, and Future Roadmap

Wireless Personal Communications - Since the last decade, cloud-based Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have achieved important consideration to facilitate remote access of patient medical records....     

Thermal challenges in next generation electronic systems - summary of panel presentations and discussions

The presentations made, as well as the discussions, in the panels at the workshop, Thermal Challenges in Next Generation Electronic Systems (THERMES), are summarized in this paper. The panels dealt with diverse topics including thermal management roadmaps, microscale cooling systems, numerical modeling from the component to system levels, hardware for future high performance and Internet computing architectures, and transport issues in the manufacturing of electronic packages. The focus of the panels was to identify barriers to further progress in each area that require the attention of the research community.     

Copper@ZIF-8 Core-Shell Nanowires for Reusable Antimicrobial Face Masks

SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses spread via aerosols generated by infected people. Face masks can limit transmission. However, widespread use of disposable masks consumes tremendous resources and generates waste. Here, a novel material for treating blown polypropylene filtration media used in medical-grade masks to impart antimicrobial activity is reported. To produce thin copper@ZIF-8 core-shell nanowires (Cu@ZIF-8 NWs), Cu NWs are stabilized using a pluronic F-127 block copolymer, followed by growth of ZIF-8 to obtain uniform core-shell structures. The Cu@ZIF-8 NWs are applied to filtration media by dip coating. Aerosol filtration efficiency decreases upon exposure to ethanol (solvent for dip-coating), but increases with addition of Cu@ZIF-8 NWs. Cu@ZIF-8 NWs shows enhanced antibacterial activity, compared to Cu NWs or ZIF-8 alone, against Streptococcus mutans and Escherichia coli. Antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 is assayed using virus-infected Vero E6 cells, demonstrating 55% inhibition of virus replication after 48 h by 1 µg of Cu@ZIF-8 NWs per well. Cu@ZIF-8 NWs’ cytotoxicity is tested against four cell lines, and their effect on inflammatory response in A549 cells is examined, demonstrating good biocompatibility. This low-cost, scalable synthesis and straightforward deposition of Cu@ZIF-8 NWs onto filter media has great potential to reduce disease transmission, resource consumption, and environmental impact of waste.     

Asymmetrically loaded annular ring antenna

A numerical model for resonant frequency using asymmetric loading is presented using cavity model. In asymmetric loaded antenna, the posts are not equispaced on annular ring antenna and resonant frequency is independent of the angular location of posts. The posts are located away from the centre of patch. The diameter of post is thin as compared to the diameter of annular ring antenna. The first few dominant modes calculated for asymmetric loading are compared to symmetric loading where the posts are to be located at specific angular locations. The theoretical model is compared to the simulated results of IE3D based on Method of Moments. The numerical model developed can also be verified further by the full wave analysis.     

Electrical properties of MOS capacitors formed by PEALD grown Al2O3 on silicon

In the present work, we have grown 2.83 nm thin Al₂O₃ films directly on pre-cleaned p-Si (100) substrate using precursor Trimethyl Aluminium (TMA) with substrate temperature of 300°C in a Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD) chamber. The MOS capacitors were fabricated by depositing Pt/Ti metal bilayer through shadow mask on Al₂O₃ high-k by electron beam evaporation system. The MOS devices were characterized to evaluate the electrical properties using a capacitance voltage (CV) set-up. The dielectric constant calculated through the CV analysis is 8.32 for Al₂O₃ resulting in the equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of 1.32 nm. The flat-band shift of 0.3 V is observed in the CV curve. This slight positive shift in flat-band voltage is due to the presence of some negative trap charges in Pt/Ti/ALD-Al₂O₃/p-Si MOS capacitor. The low leakage current density of 3.08 × 10^?10 A/cm² is observed in the JV curve at 1 V. The Si/Al₂O₃ barrier height Φ _B and the value of J _FN are calculated to be 2.78 eV and 3.4 × 10^?5 A/cm² respectively.     

A Deep Learning Approach to Detection and Mitigation of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks in High Availability Intelligent Transport Systems

Mobile Networks and Applications - In the era of Internet of Things (IoT) powered by 5G technologies, Automobile Industry is headed towards a revolution. In Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS),...