Explaining the failure of the Dutch innovation system for biomass digestion—A functional analysis

Since the 1970s research on energy conversion technologies, such as biomass digestion, has been carried out in the Netherlands. However, after 30 years biomass digestion has not been implemented on large scale. The aim of this paper is to create insight into the underlying factors of this troublesome trajectory by applying the ‘Functions of Innovation Systems’ framework. This results in clear understanding of the (lack of) activities that took place in the innovation system of biomass digestion and the role of government policy in both inducing and blocking this development. The analysis provides several lessons to take into account when developing policies for the acceleration of the development and diffusion of biomass energy.     

A simulation study of the effect of the diverse valence-band offset and the electronic activity at the grain boundaries on the performance of polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells

The paper presents a two-dimensional simulation study of a polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cell with various shapes of grains inside the CIGS absorber layer. The grain boundaries (GBs) with a diverse valence-band offset (VBO) and the density of defect states (N_tA) are considered so as to evaluate their effects on the performance of the CIGS cell. The numerical simulations show that a CIGS cell with column-like grains can achieve a high conversion efficiency (η), while the η of a CIGS cell with diamond-like grains is low if the VBO at the GBs exceeds 0.4 eV. The VBO at which the η of the CIGS cell with diamond-like grains peaks is found at 0.20-0.27 eV. A favorable VBO mainly depends on the shape of the grains, but it also depends on the N_tA. The simulations of the CIGS cells in the substrate and superstrate configurations showed that their performances change if the VBO is varied. This result also implies that the configuration of the CIGS cell is important and the substrate configuration with larger grains in the space-charge region has a considerable advantage if the VBO ranges from 0 eV to 0.2 eV.     

4‐Cyanoresorcinol‐Based Bent‐Core Mesogens with Azobenzene Wings: Emergence of Sterically Stabilized Polar Order in Liquid Crystalline Phases

A new series of azobenzene containing bent‐core molecules incorporating 4‐cyanoresorcinol as the central core unit exhibiting cybotactic nematic, rectangular, columnar, and different types of tilted smectic (SmC) phases are synthesized. The mesophase behavior and phase structures are characterized in bulk and freely suspended films using a variety of experimental techniques. Depending on the chain length and temperature a series of different mesophases is observed in these compounds, ranging from cybotactic nematic via paraelectric SmC phases, polarization randomized SmC_sP_R phases to ferroelectric and antiferroelectric SmC phases, associated with increasing size and correlation length of the polar domains. Spontaneous formation of chiral domains is observed in the paraelectric SmC and the SmC_sP_R phases and discussed in relation with superstructural chirality, bend elastic constants, and surface effects.     

Stainless steel containers for the storage of low and medium level radioactive waste

Corrosion investigations have been performed on the austenitic structural steel AISI 304L, in comparison with the structural steel AISI 316L, in an aerated and a de-aerated solution, which was leached from low and medium level radioactive waste. On the basis of measured potentio-dynamic anodic polarization curves and the results of cyclic polarization tests, it was found that both types of steel, as well as the corresponding welds, had a high pitting potential and a high protective potential, which means that they have a strong tendency to form a compact and corrosion-resistant passive film. The repassivation capability of both types of steel prevents the occurrence of stress corrosion cracking at the level of concentration of chloride ions which corresponds to the described type of waste, whereas absorbed atomic hydrogen does not reduce toughness or cause hydrogen embrittlement. The results of the research work confirmed that it is possible to use AISI 304L structural steel for the construction of containers for the temporary, 30-year storage of low and medium level radioactive waste.     

Comparative Analyses of Medicinal Chemistry and Cheminformatics Filters with Accessible Implementation in Konstanz Information Miner (KNIME)

High-throughput virtual screening (HTVS) is, in conjunction with rapid advances in computer hardware, becoming a staple in drug design research campaigns and cheminformatics. In this context, virtual compound library design becomes crucial as it generally constitutes the first step where quality filtered databases are essential for the efficient downstream research. Therefore, multiple filters for compound library design were devised and reported in the scientific literature. We collected the most common filters in medicinal chemistry (PAINS, REOS, Aggregators, van de Waterbeemd, Oprea, Fichert, Ghose, Mozzicconacci, Muegge, Egan, Murcko, Veber, Ro3, Ro4, and Ro5) to facilitate their open access use and compared them. Then, we implemented these filters in the open platform Konstanz Information Miner (KNIME) as a freely accessible and simple workflow compatible with small or large compound databases for the benefit of the readers and for the help in the early drug design steps.     

Coupling of light from an LED into a thin light guide by diffractive gratings

Ring-shaped and radial diffractive gratings are designed with rigorous diffraction theory to couple light of a nearly monochromatic LED into a thin planar light guide on the bottom side. The theoretical coupling efficiencies for ring-shaped and radial gratings are 41% and 66%, respectively. Optimized diffractive elements are manufactured with direct electron-beam lithography and reactive-ion-etching into SiO2 substrates. Good agreement between experimental and theoretical results for selected radial gratings is reached. Furthermore, the mass production tests using injection molding are carried out with good replicability.     

Characterization and solubility measurement and prediction of selected arylamines in hexane, methanol and benzene

The solubility of nine arylamine molecules in benzene, methanol and hexane was measured. These molecules were: triphenylamine, N-(4-methyl phenyl) N,N bis phenyl amine, N-(3-methyl phenyl) N,N bis phenyl amine, N,N-bis(4-methyl phenyl) N-phenyl amine, N,N-bis(3-methyl phenyl) N-phenyl amine, tritolylamine (N,N,N-tris-(4-methylphenyl)amine), N,N-bis-(4-methylphenyl)-N-(3-methylphenyl)amine, N,N-bis-(3-methylphenyl)-N-(4-methylphenyl)amine, and N,N,N-tris-(3-methylphenyl)amine. The solubility of these molecules was estimated using ideal solution theory, the Hildebrand equation, and UNIQUAC method. The ideal solution theory and the Hildebrand equation were not able to estimate solubility with high precision. However, UNIQUAC method was able to estimate the solubility with good accuracy. It was found that substitution of methyl group regardless of its number in aryl ring increases the solubility. In addition, meta-substitution always results in higher solubility regardless of the nature of the solvent. Physical properties, as well as electrochemical properties of these materials were also provided. Based on these data, the most promising candidates for device preparation should be: mTTA, TTA, mmmTTA, and mono-TPA. However, the only way to prove the above ranking would be to test the candidates in actual devices, which is outside the scope of this paper.