Facile Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on WO3 Nanorods

Tungsten trioxide nanorods have been generated by the thermal decomposition (450 °C) of tetrabutylammonium decatungstate. The synthesized tungsten trioxide (WO₃) nanorods have been characterized by XRD, Raman, SEM, TEM, HRTEM and cyclic voltammetry. High resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the synthesized WO₃ nanorods are crystalline in nature with monoclinic structure. The electrochemical experiments showed that they constitute a better electrocatalytic system for hydrogen evolution reaction in acid medium compared to their bulk counterpart.     

Surface and electrochemical characterization of pitting corrosion behaviour of 304 stainless steel in ground water media

The effectiveness of aminotrimethylidene phosphonic acid (ATMP) as a corrosion inhibitor in association with a bivalent cation like Zn²⁺ and non-ionic surfactant like polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (Tween 80) were investigated by measuring corrosion losses using electrochemical techniques. The corrosion of 304 stainless steel in the ground water medium was inhibited by complexation of the inhibitor. A combined inhibition effect was achieved by adding both ATMP and Zn²⁺ along with Tween 80. The formulation functioned as a mixed type inhibitor. The synergistic effect of the inhibitor compound is calculated. Luminescence spectra, FTIR spectra, XRD, XPS and scanning electron microscopic studies were carried out to understand the mode of corrosion inhibition and also the morphological changes on the metal surface.     

Versatility of superaustenitic stainless steels in marine applications

Corrosion of construction materials in marine applications is a major problem. The frequent variations in chloride ion concentration and temperature experienced by a system pose a serious threat. This investigation evaluated the performance of superaustenitic stainless steels in marine applications by potentiodynamic anodic polarization studies. The concentrations of metal ions such as iron, chromium, and nickel at different impressed potentials were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry, which revealed little tendency for leaching of metal ions.     

Morphological studies on extruded films and filaments of polypropylene

In the present work, an attempt has been made to study the development of morphology during extrusion and uniaxial stretching of polypropylene (PP) films and filaments at corresponding conditions. Dies for extrusion of films and filaments were designed to achieve similar extrusion velocity and shear rates. Orientation in films and fibers of PP produced from these dies was determined by birefringence and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). The degree of crystallinity was determined by density and WAXD. The superstructure developed during extrusion was studied in films by small-angle light scattering. It was inferred that films and fibers prepared under similar conditions would produce similar morphology. Hence, films can be characterized by optical techniques when it is difficult to study fibers. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Artificial in-plane ordering of textured YBa2Cu3O7−x films deposited on polycrystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia substrates

Anisotropie surface texturing of the polycrystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia substrates, prior to YBa₂Cu₃O_7?x film deposition, is shown to promote in-plane (basal plane) ordering of the film growth in addition to thec-axis texturing. TheJ _c 's of the films in the weak-link-dominated low-field regime are enhanced considerably, and this result is attributed to the reduction of weak links resulting from a reduction in the number of in-plane large-angle grain boundaries.     

A Hybrid Intelligent Active Force Controller for Articulated Robot Arms Using Dynamic Structure Neural Network

The key feature of this paper is the application of a robotic control concept – Active Force Control (AFC). In this type of control, the unknown friction effect of the robotic arm may be compensated by the AFC method. AFC involves the direct measurement of the acceleration and force quantities and therefore, the process of estimating the system disturbance due to friction becomes instantaneous and purely algebraic. However, the AFC strategy is very practical provided a good estimation of the inertia matrix of articulated robot arm is acquired. A dynamic structure neural network – Growing Multi-experts Network (GMN) is developed to estimate the robot inertia matrix. The growing and pruning mechanism of GMN ensures the optimum size of the network that results in an excellent generalization capability of the network. Active Force Control (AFC) in conjunction with GMN successfully reduces the velocity and position tracking errors in spite of robot joint friction. The embedded GMN is capable of coupling the inertia matrix estimation on-line that clearly enhances the performance of AFC controller. The robustness and effectiveness of the new hybrid neural network-based AFC scheme are demonstrated clearly with regard to two link articulated robot and a simulated two-degree of freedom Puma 560 robot.     

Influence of Metallic Substitutions on the Optical and Mechanical Properties of NLO Benzoyl Glycine Crystals

Benzoyl glycine （BG） is a promising organic nonlinear optical （NLO） crystal, whose second harmonic generation （SHG） efficiency is much higher than that of KDP （potassium dihydrogen phosphate）. Single crystals of pure, Cu2＋ and Cd2＋ doped BG were grown by slow evaporation technique. Optically transparent and defect free single crystals of size up to 10 mm×15 mm×10 mm were harvested in a period of 40-60 days. The growth conditions of pure and doped crystals of BG were optimized and the grown crystals were confirmed by single crystal XRD （X-ray diffraction）. The grown crystals were characterized by FTIR （Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy）, optical absorption and microhardness studies. The microhardness studies confirm that BG has a moderate VHN （Vickers hardness number） value in comparison to the.other organic NLO crystals. The efficiency of frequency doubling was measured for the using Nd：YAG laser and the results were discussed.     

Compatibility of ferritic and duplex stainless steels as implant materials: in vitro corrosion performance

The pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion and accelerated leaching of iron, chromium and nickel of super-ferritic and duplex stainless steels, and for effective comparison the presently used 316L stainless steel, have been studied in an artificial physiological solution (Hank's solution) by the potentiodynamic anodic polarization method. The results of the above studies have shown the new super-ferritic stainless steel to be immune to pitting and crevice corrosion attack. The pitting and crevice corrosion resistances of duplex stainless steel were found to be superior to those of the commonly used type 316L stainless steel implant materials. The accelerated leaching study conducted for the above alloys showed very little tendency for the leaching of metal ions when compared with 316L stainless steel. Thus the present study indicated that super-ferritic and duplex stainless steels can be adopted as implant materials due to their higher pitting and crevice corrosion resistance.