Synthesis and structural characterization of α-MoO3 from molybdic acid wastewater

The study investigated the use of ethylene glycol to form α-MoO₃ from molybdic acid wastewater by thermal treatment at 300 °C for 1 h. The color change, pH values, and residual molybdenum concentration in the wastewater were dependent on the reaction times that were used. The results of UV–visible and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were used to explain the reaction process. During the treatment process, the morphologies of the constituents were observed using scanning electron microscopy. In this work, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that when the molybdenum oxide powder was treated thermally at 300 °C, the material exhibited crystallinity, and the peaks were indexed to correspond with the (002) and (200) crystallographic planes, which were identified as orthorhombic molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO₃). In addition, the FTIR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that α-MoO₃ powder had been synthesized.     

Re-entrant lines with unreliable asynchronous machines and finite buffers: performance approximation and bottleneck identification

In this paper we study a re-entrant line with unreliable asynchronous exponential machines and finite buffers. First, an approximation method is presented to estimate the throughput of the re-entrant line. The idea of the approximation is to transform an M-machine re-entrant line into a 2M-machine serial line. Then, a system approach to identify a c-bottleneck based on blockage and starvation information is proposed, where a c-bottleneck machine is the machine whose improvement in machine capacity leads to the largest improvement in system throughput compared with improving all other machines. It is shown that the approximation method results in acceptable accuracy, and the bottleneck identification method can correctly detect the bottlenecks in most cases.     

Wavelength switchable L-band erbium-doped fiber laser employing C-band EDFA as gain medium

A new structure for the L-band multiwavelength switchable erbium-doped fiber laser is proposed. Overlapping laser cavities are formed by cascading fiber Bragg gratings as reflectors in a ring structure with a C-band EDFA as a common gain medium. The proposed laser is made to be wavelength-switchable by individually adjusting the loss of each overlapping cavity. Instead of using an L-band EDFA as the gain medium in the L-band fiber laser, we have experimentally demonstrated that by tailoring the gain of the C-band EDFA to have a significant gain tilt in the L-band, a lasing power efficiency of 26% can be achieved over a wide range of switchable lasing wavelengths. Following this optimal design, the side-mode suppression ratio and the minimal separation between two switchable lasing wavelengths were found to be over 42 dB and 0.33 nm, respectively.     

Flow induced vibrations of a triangular tube array in various arrangements of orientation and natural frequency

Abstract

Crossflow induced vibrations of a triangular tube array with a pitch ratio 1.33 were investigated experimentally. The streamwise and cross‐stream displacements of a monitored tube in the array were simultaneously measured by two accelerometers to examine the tube response to the cross flow in a water tunnel. The experiment was aimed to study the effects of the array orientation, and the tube's natural frequency on the flow induced vibration of the tube array. It is shown by amplitude diagrams that fluid elastic vibrations exist when the reduced velocity is above a critical value. The critical reduced velocity is found to be sensitive to the orientation of the test array. Based on the measured data of critical reduced velocity, the tube array in a triangular pattern (at a 30‐deg orientation with respect to the flow direction in the experiment) is found to be more stable than when in a rotated triangular pattern (0‐deg orientation). Furthermore, it is illustrated that the discrepancy in natural frequency of the tubes delays the occurrence of the fluid elastic vibrations of the tube array. With all the tubes in the test array having the same natural frequency, the orbits of the tube that exhibits fluid elastic vibrations are an organized, elliptic shape. The corresponding spectra are line‐dominated with peaks at the natural frequency and its harmonics, suggesting that the tube vibration is an organized oscillator. Without the same natural frequency as the surrounding tubes, the monitored tube exhibits fluid elastic vibration at larger reduced velocity, vibrating in a relatively random orbit.     

Knowledge contribution in information system development teams: An empirical research from a social cognitive perspective

The extent of knowledge contribution is the key to the success of system development projects. Knowledge contribution refers to the knowledge that is provided to increase a team's efficiency and achieve its goal. This study proposes a research model exploring factors that influence the extent of knowledge contribution from a social cognitive perspective. These factors include the team relationship commitment, team relationship norms, and awareness of expertise location. Additionally, this study argues that a team's awareness of expertise location mediates the effects of affective commitment and relationship norms on knowledge contribution. The result shows that the awareness of expertise location plays a crucial mediating role in the relationships between the two socially prescribed motivations and knowledge contribution. Moreover, team relationship commitment has an important impact on team established relational norms.     

Preparation and characterization of poly(lactic acid)/recycled polypropylene blends with and without the coupling agent,n-(6-aminohexyl)aminomethyltriethoxysilane

Blends of polylactide (PLA) and recycled polypropylene (rPP) were prepared by melt-processing using a corotating twin-screw extruder and subsequent pelletizing of the extrudates for injection molding. The PLA/rPP blends were characterized by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), rheometer (MCR-102), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), tensile tests, and impact measurements. The results indicate that the PLA/rPP blend is immiscible and has a two-phase structure. TGA revealed enhancement of the thermal stability of the blends upon addition of rPP. The storage modulus, loss modulus, and complex viscosity of the blends increased with rPP concentration. Mechanical studies showed that introduction of rPP results in a decrease in tensile strength and modulus and enhancement of the impact strength of PLA in the blends. The effects of a silane coupling agent on the morphology and on the tensile and impact properties of the rPP blends of silane-modified PLA were also examined. SEM studies suggest that silane is an effective interfacial modifier. Thus, better interfacial adhesion was observed with silane-modified blends as compared with unmodified blends. Silane also improved the mechanical properties of the modified blends. The blends reached maximum tensile strength at 1.5 wt.% silane (relative to modified PLA content), and impact strength increased with increasing silane concentration. These results confirm the enhancing effect of silane on modified PLA/rPP blends.     

Mechanical and dynamic properties of graft polyurethane/allyl novolac resin simultaneous interpenetrating network

Two series of polyurethane (PU)/allyl novolac resin simultaneous interpenetra ing networks (SINs) were synthesized. The PU components were prepared by reacting 4,4′-diphenyl methane diisocyanate with poly(tetramethylene oxide) (PTMO), whose molecular weight range was 600–700 (for convenience, this polymer was called UT1), 900–1050 (UT2) and 1900–2100 (UT3), respectively. The phenolic resin component was synthesized by substituting the hydroxy groups of the phenolic resin with the allyl group. To prove that the alkene group can be applied as a binding element between the networks to improve the network compatibility, trimethylol propane monoally ether (TMPME) with a double bond was chosen as the PU chain extender in one series of the PU/allyl novolac resin SINs (designated TUT1, TUT2 and TUT3 for different molecular weights of PTMO used as PU soft segments). After a detailed study of the thermal, mechanical, and dynamic properties and morphology, the extent of phase mixing of the graft PU/allyl novolac resin SINs (TUT series SINs) was significantly improved over that of UT series SINs. This result is consistent with the loss tangent shift in dynamic mechanical analysis measurements and with transmission electron microscope micrographs. The mechanical properties of the graft SINs (TUT series) were lower than those of the original SINs (UT series) because TMPME with bulky structure was used as the chain extender of PU.     

Comparison of primary and secondary aminosilance coupling agents in anhuydride-curde epoxy fiberglass composites

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) has been utilized to investigate the interfacial chemical bonding at the interfaces of the aminosilanes and the nedic methyl anhydiride cured epoxy matrix in fiber-reinforced composites. It is found that the nedic methyl anhydride can react with γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS) and N-methylaminoproplytrimethoxysilane (MAPS). In comparing the relative reactivities of two coupling agents to the epoxy resin, the secondary aminosilance has a higher reactivity than the primary aminosilance. An elevated temperature is required for the copolymerization to take place between the silane and the epoxy resin. The results indicate that covalent bonds form at the coupling agents. The molecular structure of the interface in MAPS treated fiberglass reinforced composites is different from that of the APS treated fiber composites. In addition, an accelerated copolymerization initiated by the coupling agent treated surface is also found in the resin interphase which may be important in determining the mechanical properties of the composites.