Investigation on Phase Change Behavior of Paraffin Phase Change Material in a Spherical Capsule for Solar Thermal Storage Units

In this work, the melting and solidification behaviour of paraffin phase change material encapsulated in a stainless steel spherical container has been studied experimentally. A computational fluid dynamics analysis has also been performed for the encapsulated phase change material (PCM) during phase change process. In the melting process, the hot air, used as the heat transfer fluid enters the test section and flows over the spherical capsule resulting in the melting of phase change material. In the solidification process, the ambient air flows over the capsule and received heat from phase change material resulting in the solidification of phase change material. In the computational fluid dynamics, the constant wall boundary condition is employed for both melting (75°C) and solidification (36°C) processes since the internal conductive resistance offered by the PCM is much higher compared to the outer surface convective resistance. The time required for complete solidification and melting of the phase change material obtained from the computational fluid dynamics analysis are validated with the experimental results and a reasonable agreement is achieved. The reason for the deviation between the results are analyzed and reported.     

Photocatalytic degradation of environmental perilous gentian violet dye using leucaena-mediated zinc oxide nanoparticle and its anticancer activity

Phytomediated synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles has become a key research area in nanotechnology due to its wide applicability in various biomedical fields. The present work explores the biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles(ZnO-NPs) using Leucaena leucocephala leaf extract. The synthesised ZnO-NPs were characterised by ultraviolet-visible(UV-Vis) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), X-ray diffraction(XRD),transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and selected area electron diffraction(SAED) studies. Biosynthesised ZnONPs are found to have wurtzite hexagonal structure with particles distributed in the range of 50-200 nm as confirmed by TEM studies. The anticancer activity of ZnONPs against MCF-7(breast cancer) and PC-3(human prostate cancer) cell lines was evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT) assay. From the assay, biosynthesised ZnO-NPs have better cytotoxic activity on PC-3 cell lines than MCF-7 cell lines. The in vitro cytotoxicity studies of biosynthesised ZnO-NPs against Dalton lymphoma ascites(DLA)cells reveal better antitumor activity of 92% inhibition with concentration of 200 μg·ml~(-1) of ZnO-NPs,and as the concentration increases, the anticancer efficiency as well increases, and also, it has excellent photocatalytic activity to degrade crystal violet dye in aqueous solution after irradiation of 90 min. The result suggests that the green synthesis of ZnO-NPs could be easily recovered and reused several times without any significant loss of the catalytic activity. The advantage of this technique lies in its low cost, easily climb able and non-use of toxic agents.     

The induction of cytotoxic T cells and tumor regression by soluble antigen formulation

CTLs specific for tumor antigens play a major role in the immunity against cancer. We have shown that class I-restricted CTLs can be induced by injecting soluble antigens mixed in an antigen formulation (AF) that consists of squalane, Tween 80, and Pluronic L121 (S. Raychaudhuri et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89: 8308-8312, 1992). In this study, using ovalbumin and the ovalbumin-expressing transfectoma (EG7) as a tumor model system, we examined the in vivo antitumor effect of antigen-AF mixture. Vaccination of mice with ovalbumin in AF 2 or 3 days after EG7 tumor challenge showed significant inhibition of tumor growth compared to mice vaccinated with ovalbumin in alum or in saline. Depletion of CD8+ cells at the time of immunization completely abrogated the AF-induced tumor protection, indicating that CD8+ T cells are the major effectors in tumor protection in vivo. Depletion of CD4+ cells led to a marginal loss of tumor protection, which may be the result of inhibition of ovalbumin-specific CTL response due to the lack of T-helper activity. Our results demonstrate that AF can be used in subunit vaccines to stimulate CTLs and tumor regression in vivo.     

Spectrally resolved phase-shifting interferometry of transparent thin films: sensitivity of thickness measurements

Spectrally resolved white-light phase-shifting interference microscopy can be used for rapid and accurate measurements of the thickness profile of transparent thin-film layers deposited upon patterned structures exhibiting steps and discontinuities. We examine the sensitivity of this technique and show that it depends on the thickness of the thin-film layer as well as its refractive index. The results of this analysis are also valid for any other method based on measurements of the spectral phase such as wavelength scanning or white-light interferometry.     

Identification of microstructural zones and thermal cycles in a weldment of modified 9Cr-1Mo steel

This paper presents the results of a study on the microstructural and microchemical variations in a multipass Gas Tungsten Arc weld (GTAW) of modified 9Cr-1Mo steel. The changes brought about in the steel due to the heating and cooling cycles during welding and the subsequent effects due to reheating effects during multipass welding are described. Detailed analytical transmission electron microscopy has been carried to study the type and composition of the primary and secondary phases in this steel. The systematic changes in microstructural parameters such as Prior Austenite Grain Size, martensite lath size, number density, size and microchemistry of carbides, have been understood based on the different transformations that the steel undergoes during the heating and cooling process. Based on the observed microstructure, an attempt has been made to identify distinct microstructural zones and possible thermal cycles experienced by different regions of the weldment.