Influence of different carbon nanostructures on the electrocatalytic activity and stability of Pt supported electrocatalysts

Commercially available graphitized carbon nanofibers and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, two carbon materials with very different structure, have been functionalized in a nitric–sulfuric acid mixture. Further on, the materials have been platinized by a microwave assisted polyol method. The relative degree of graphitization has been estimated by means of Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction while the relative concentration of oxygen containing groups has been estimated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which resulted in a graphitic character trend: Pt/GNF > Pt/F-GNF ? Pt/MWCNT > Pt/F-MWCNT. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the Pt particle size is around 3 nm for all samples, which was similar to the crystallite size obtained by X-ray diffraction. The activity towards electrochemical reduction of oxygen has been quantified using the thin-film rotating disk electrode, which has shown that all the samples have a better activity than the commercially available electrocatalysts. The trend obtained for the graphitic character maintained for the electrochemical activity, while the reverse trend has been obtained for the accelerated ageing test. Long-term potential cycling has demonstrated that the functionalization improves the stability for multi-walled carbon nanotubes, at the cost of decreased activity.     

Correlating indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity in a sample of buildings in tropical climates

The incidence of several respiratory viral infections has been shown to be related to climate. Because humans spend most of their time indoors, measures of indoor climate, rather than outdoor climate, may be better predictors of disease incidence and transmission. Therefore, understanding the relationship between indoor and outdoor climate will help illuminate their influence on the seasonality of diseases caused by respiratory viruses. Indoor-outdoor relationships between temperature and humidity have been documented in temperate regions, but little information is available for tropical regions, where seasonal patterns of respiratory viral diseases differ. We have examined indoor-outdoor correlations of temperature, relative humidity (RH), and absolute humidity (AH) over a 1-year period in each of seven tropical cities. Across all cities, the average monthly indoor temperature was 25 ± 3°C (mean ± standard deviation) with a range of 20–30°C. The average monthly indoor RH was 66 ± 9% with a range of 50–78%, and the average monthly indoor AH was 15 ± 3 g/m³ with a range of 10–23 g/m³. Indoor AH and RH were linearly correlated with outdoor AH when the air conditioning (AC) was off, suggesting that outdoor AH may be a good proxy of indoor humidity in the absence of AC. All indoor measurements were more strongly correlated with outdoor measurements as distance from the equator increased. Such correlations were weaker during the wet season, especially when AC was in operation. These correlations will provide insight for assessing the seasonality of respiratory viral infections using outdoor climate data, which is more widely available than indoor data, even though transmission of these diseases mainly occurs indoors.     

Spring-in behavior of curved composites manufactured by Flexible Injection

This paper investigates the manufacturing distortion of curved composite parts manufactured by a new Liquid Composite Molding (LCM) process called Flexible Injection (FI). This technique uses a deformable tool to speed up the fabrication but may generate manufacturing defects when strongly curved shapes are processed. The goal of the study is to evaluate the impact of such heterogeneities on the dimensional stability of the product. Curved components were first manufactured with varying processing conditions to achieve a wide range of layup quality. The shape stability of the samples was then recorded as a function of temperature to measure the thermoelastic component of distortion and experimental results were compared with predictions made by two modeling techniques. Under certain conditions, manufacturing defects can significantly affect the distortion behavior. This suggests that a robust preforming procedure is of primary importance to produce curved parts by Flexible Injection with a high level of repeatability.     

Star-shaped hexaaryltriindoles small molecules: Tuning molecular properties towards solution processed organic light emitting devices

We present a series of differently substituted star-shaped hexaaryltriindoles with tunable light-emitting properties. The deep blue emission is unchanged by donor peripheral substituents while an increasing acceptor character produces a reduction of the optical gap, an increased Stokes shift and eventually leads to the appearance of a new electronic level and to the simultaneous deep blue (413 nm) and green (552 nm) emission in solution. Quenching by concentration increases with the acceptor character but is lower as the tendency of these compounds to aggregate is stronger. Solution processed thin films present optical and morphological qualities adequate for device fabrication and similar electronic structure compared to solutions with an emission range from 423 nm up to 657 nm (red), demonstrating the possibility of tuning the energy levels by chemical functionalization. We have fabricated and characterized single-layer solution processed organic light emitting diodes (OLED) to investigate the influence on transport and emission properties of the substituting species. We analyzed the I–V response using a single-carrier numerical model that includes injection barriers and non-uniform electric-field across the layer. As a result, we obtained the electric field dependence of the mobility for each device. Best results are obtained on the most electron rich derivative functionalized with six donor methoxy groups. This material shows the highest emission efficiency in solid state, due to aggregation-induced enhancement, and better transport properties with the highest mobility and a very low turn-on voltage of 2.8 V. The solution processed OLED devices produce stable deep blue (CIE coordinates (0.16, 0.16)) to white (CIE coordinates (0.33, 0.3)) emission with similar luminous efficiencies.     

Assessment of the bioavailability of toxic and non-toxic arsenic species in seafood samples

Bioavailability of total arsenic, toxic (arsenite, As(III); and arsenate, As(V)), and non-toxic (monomethylarsonic acid, MA; dimethylarsonic acid, DMA; arsenobetaine, AB; and arsenocholine, AC) arsenic species has been assessed in different raw seafood samples (white fish, cold water fish and molluscs) by using an in vitro model that combines simulated gastric and intestinal digestion/dialysis methods. Correlations between arsenic species bioavailability and seafood nutrient contents (fat and protein) have also been established. Total arsenic content in seafood samples, and dialyzable and non-dialyzable fractions, were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) after a microwave-assisted acid digestion treatment. The determination of the different arsenic species concentrations in the samples (after an optimised matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD) approach) and in the dialyzable fraction was done by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to ICP-MS as a selective detector. Accuracy of the procedure (total arsenic determination) was assessed by analyzing DORM-2 and BCR-627 certified reference materials. The accuracy of the in vitro procedure was established through a mass-balance study. After statistical evaluation (95% confidence interval), good accuracy of the whole in vitro process, for total arsenic and for arsenic speciation, was observed. High dialyzability percentages for total arsenic and for arsenic species were found (i.e. from 84.6 ± 1.7% to 106 ± 2.6%). Bioavailability of arsenic exhibits a negative correlation with the fat content of the seafood. However, no correlation was observed between the bioavailable fraction of total arsenic and arsenic species and the protein content of the seafood studied.     

Modeling energy consumption for master–slave applications

With energy costs now accounting for nearly 30 % of a datacenter’s operating expenses, energy consumption has become an important issue when designing and executing a parallel algorithm. This paper analyzes the energy consumption of MPI applications following the master–slave paradigm. The analytical model is derived for this paradigm and is validated over a master–slave matrix-multiplication. This analytical model is parameterized through architectural and algorithmic parameters, and it is capable of predicting the energy consumption for a given instance of the problem over a given architecture. We use an external, metered, power distribution unit that allows to easily measure the power consumption of computing nodes without the needing of dedicated hardware.     

Experimental analysis of the air velocity and contaminant dispersion of human exhalation flows

Human exhalation flow is a potential source of pathogens that can constitute a cross‐infection risk to people in indoor environments. Thus, it is important to investigate the characteristics of this flow, its development, area of influence, and the diffusion of the exhaled contaminants. This paper uses phase‐averaged particle image velocimetry together with a tracer gas (CO₂) to study two different exhalation flows over time: the exhalation of an average male (test M) and an average female (test F), using a life‐sized thermal manikin in a supine position. The exhalation jets generated for both tests are similar in terms of symmetrical geometry, vorticity values, jet opening angles, and velocity and concentration decays. However, there is a difference in the penetration length of the two flows throughout the whole exhalation process. There is also a time difference in reaching maximum velocity between the two tests. It is also possible to see that the tracer gas dispersion depends on the momentum of the jet so the test with the highest velocity decay shows the lowest concentration decay. All these results are of interest to better understand cross‐infection risk.     

Convective drying characteristics of sludge from treatment plants in tomato processing industries

The present work is mainly focused on the study of the thin layer drying behaviour of sludge from water treatment plants in tomato processing industries, using a convective dryer. The drying experiments were conducted at inlet temperatures of drying air of 30 °C, 40 °C and 50 °C and at an airflow rate of 0.9 m/s and 1.3 m/s. The drying rate was found to increase with temperature and velocity, hence reducing the total drying time. In particular, as drying temperature was raised from 30 °C up to 50 °C, the time period needed to reduce the moisture content of the sample from 173 wt% down to 7 wt% (dry basis) was observed to decrease from more than 760 min to 470 min (0.9 m/s) and from 715 min to 295 min (1.3 m/s).Using a non-linear regression (Marquart's method) together with a multiple regression analysis, a mathematical model for the thin-layer convective drying process of sludge from treatment plants in tomato processing industries was proposed. The values of the diffusivity coefficients at each temperature were obtained using Fick's second law of diffusion, and varied from 6.11 × 10^?10 m²/s to 2.54 × 10^?9 m²/s over the temperature and velocity range. The temperature dependence of the effective diffusivity coefficient was described following an Arrhenius-type relationship. The activation energy for the moisture diffusion was determined as 30.15 kJ/mol and 36.70 kJ/mol, for airflow rates of 0.9 m/s and 1.3 m/s respectively. Air temperature 40 °C and drying airflow rate 1.3 m/s were found adequate to reduce drying energy consumption as well as to optimise the dryer loading/unloading periods.     

Set membership identification of an excimer lamp for fast simulation

Excimer lamps are an efficient and sustainable source of ultra violet radiation, useful in water disinfection systems. In this paper black-box models of the electrical behavior and UV radiation process of an excimer lamp are estimated, employing Set Membership techniques. Approximations to the exact Set Membership model are derived, allowing reductions in the computational complexity of the system simulation. It is found that the obtained models allow faster simulations than the original Set Membership algorithm while maintaining good prediction capabilities, making them useful in power sources design.