Ceramic Coatings and Glass Additives for Improved SiC‐Based Filters for Molten Iron Filtration

Reticulated silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic filters are prepared with modified coatings in an attempt to improve mechanical properties of the sintered filter. Two classes of coatings are used: mixtures of non‐SiC ceramic and sintering aid and mixtures of SiC and glass. Various candidate ceramics, sintering aids, and glasses are screened. The most promising coatings are determined to be silica with 5 wt% bismuth oxide and SiC with ≤10 wt% Spruce Pine Batch glass. Filters with these coatings are prepared and subjected to mechanical abuse. Both coatings improve the ruggedness of the filter relative to the standard uncoated SiC type. Filters with <10 wt% glass additive were subjected to molten metal impingement and filtration of liquid gray iron at 1510°C. Those with 5 wt% glass or more softened during filtration. Those with 2.5 wt% glass or less survived without failure.     

Fast Transmethylation of Serum Lipids Using Microwave Irradiation

Microwave irradiation as the energy source for one-step direct transesterification of fatty acids in human serum lipids was examined in a solvent system of methanol: hexane: acetyl chloride based on a Lepage & Roy assay. Innovative and explosion proof single-mode or multimode microwave accelerated reaction system was employed. Recoveries were calculated as the percentage of fatty acid concentrations measured by microwave assay to those by the reference method of the Lepage & Roy assay that utilized conductive heating at 100?°C for 60?min. Under conditions of 100?°C for 1?min in Single-mode (S4–100?×?1), or 125?°C for 5?min in Multimode (M5–125?×?5), the recoveries were 100–103?% for the total fatty acids and 96–106?% for each categorized fatty acid, including saturates, monounsaturates, n-6 PUFA, and n-3 PUFA. For individual PUFA, the mean recoveries were 102–105?% for 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3; 99, 109, and 95?% for 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3, and 22:6n-3, respectively. Thus, fatty acid concentrations determined by microwave fatty acid assay were accurate to those results by the reference method, when the microwave conditions were optimal. In summary, the microwave irradiation could replace conductive heating in one-step direct transesterification, and reduce the duration from 60?min to 5?min or less. This methodology may be applied in both the absolute and relative quantification of serum total fatty acids.     

Fibre-reinforced boroaluminosilicate geopolymers: A comparative study

This paper investigates the effect of fibres on the physical and mechanical behaviour of boroaluminosilicate geopolymers (BASG) compared to conventional aluminosilicate binders. The use of various types of fibres by the means of reinforcing geopolymers against flexural loads is very common. In this work, fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) are utilised as raw materials to generate geopolymer specimens. Different alkaline solutions comprising sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate, and borax are prepared to activate precursors. The sodium silicate solution is substituted with borax by 30?wt% and 70?wt% in order to produce fly ash and slag-based BASG respectively. Steel and polymer fibres are employed in the mixtures for reinforcement. Three-point bending and mini slump tests are conducted for assessing the flexural strength, elastic modulus, toughness, and flow of geopolymer specimens. A pair plotting interpretation is also used in order to illustrate the patterns. The obtained results indicate that the fly ash-based BASG mortar shows superior flexural strength to the GGBS-based BASG mortar. The flexural strength of fly ash-made aluminosilicate geopolymer declines from 7.3?MPa to 6.4?MPa with an increase in the content of steel fibres from 1% to 2%. Inversely, raising the percentage of steel fibres in the fly ash-based BASG mortar caused a slight growth in the flexural strength of specimens. The polypropylene fibres, when added sufficiently, play a significant role in improving the toughness of fly ash-based BASG and slag-based aluminosilicate mixtures, more than 0.8 and 0.7?J surge in the toughness respectively. In addition, the polypropylene and steel fibres perform well in improving the elastic modulus of slag-based BASG and fly ash-based aluminosilicate binders. While keeping the water to binder ratio constant, introducing the steel fibre increased the flow of fly ash-based geopolymers. Nonetheless, the polymer fibres declined the flow of mortars.     

Nonrecirculating flow of a yield stress fluid around a circular cylinder in a poiseuille flow

Although yield stress fluids are very present today in everyday life and in industry, their flow behavior is still poorly understood and the databases are incomplete at this time. The present experimental and numerical study focuses on laminar nonrecirculating flows of an elastoviscoplastic model fluid in a rectangular duct. An original experimental set‐up has been developed. The Particle Image Velocimetry method is used for analyzing the kinematical fields. Results provided concern the morphology of the flow and the evolution of the velocity field around a cylindrical obstacle. Information is provided on the size of the rigid zones where the fluid behaves as a solid. The experimental data are compared with numerical results involving a regularized Herschel–Bulkley viscoplastic model. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 4554–4563, 2016     

Photoactivation of an Acid‐Sensitive Ion Channel Associated with Vision and Pain

We describe the reversible photoactivation of the acid sensitive ligand‐gated ion channel ASIC2a, a mammalian channel found throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems that is associated with vision and pain. We also show the activation of GLIC, an acid‐sensitive prokaryotic homologue of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Photoactivation was achieved by using visible light irradiation of a newly synthesized water‐soluble merocyanine photoacid, 1 , which was designed to remove adverse channel blocking effects of a related system. Activation of ASIC2a and GLIC occurs reversibly, in a benign manner, and only upon irradiation. Further studies using transient absorption spectroscopy showed that protonation of a colorimetric base occurred rapidly (ca. 100 μs) after excitation of 1 . These results demonstrate that irradiation of 1 can induce rapid, local pH changes that can be used to investigate both biological and chemical proton transfer reactions.     

Progress towards marketable earth-abundant chalcogenide solar cells

Kesterite-related photovoltaic materials are considered a promising alternative to CdTe and Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)₂ absorbers, primarily because they are not reliant on scarce elements such as indium and tellurium or the heavy metal cadmium. Recently, we reported a performance breakthrough for this materials class, reaching by a simple hydrazine-based deposition technique 9.6% power conversion efficiency for Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ devices (40% improvement over vacuum-based methods). Here, more detailed characterization for a hydrazine-prepared device shows the potential of this technology for further efficiency improvement. We also present initial device results for Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ films deposited using a mixed water-hydrazine-based solvent, yielding devices with 8.1% efficiency.     

Light scattering and absorption by fractal-like carbonaceous chain aggregates: comparison of theories and experiment

This study compares the optical coefficients of size-selected soot particles measured at a wavelength of 870 nm with those predicted by three theories, namely, Rayleigh-Debye-Gans (RDG) approximation, volume-equivalent Mie theory, and integral equation formulation for scattering (IEFS). Soot particles, produced by a premixed ethene flame, were size-selected using two differential mobility analyzers in series, and their scattering and absorption coefficients were measured with nephelometry and photoacoustic spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy and image processing techniques were used for the parameterization of the structural properties of the fractal-like soot aggregates. The aggregate structural parameters were used to evaluate the predictions of the optical coefficients based on the three light-scattering and absorption theories. Our results show that the RDG approximation agrees within 10% with the experimental results and the exact electromagnetic calculations of the IEFS theory. Volume-equivalent Mie theory overpredicts the experimental scattering coefficient by a factor of approximately 3.2. The optical coefficients predicted by the RDG approximation showed pronounced sensitivity to changes in monomer mean diameter, the count median diameter of the aggregates, and the geometric standard deviation of the aggregate number size distribution.     

Index to Volume 32

ABSTRACT

Most of the recently developed methods on optimum planning for accelerated life tests (ALT) involve “guessing” values of parameters to be estimated, and substituting such guesses in the proposed solution to obtain the final testing plan. In reality, such guesses may be very different from true values of the parameters, leading to inefficient test plans. To address this problem, we propose a sequential Bayesian strategy for planning of ALTs and a Bayesian estimation procedure for updating the parameter estimates sequentially. The proposed approach is motivated by ALT for polymer composite materials, but are generally applicable to a wide range of testing scenarios. Through the proposed sequential Bayesian design, one can efficiently collect data and then make predictions for the field performance. We use extensive simulations to evaluate the properties of the proposed sequential test planning strategy. We compare the proposed method to various traditional non-sequential optimum designs. Our results show that the proposed strategy is more robust and efficient, as compared to existing non-sequential optimum designs. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

Analysis of microbial components using LC-IR

Characterization of bacteria is currently an important research area in the medical, military, food, and agricultural sciences. In recent years, FT-IR has found an application as a microbiological detection method and as a general research tool. When coupled with a liquid chromatographic system, a new facet of research has evolved. By utilizing the separation ability of typical liquid chromatography systems, matrix elimination is possible, therefore allowing for clean spectra of cellular components. Information about the compositional makeup of various bacteria enhances the overall understanding of biology at the cellular level, provides a quantification of the chemistry of cellular processes, and can be used as a general identification tool. Both whole cells and lysed Escherichia coli cells were investigated in the present study. The cellular components consisting of proteins, glycoproteins, phospholipids, fatty amides and acids, and genomic materials were separated, isolated, and identified by FT-IR.