Photoluminescence of Gallate Glass-Ceramics: Al2O3 Influence

Glass and Ceramics - The influence of Al2O3 as an additive and the heat-treatment regime on the luminescence spectra of gallate glass-ceramics was investigated. It is shown that its luminescence...     

Electrical and magnetic properties of double perovskite: Y2CoMnO6

In this communication, the structural, micro-structural, dielectric, electrical, magnetic, and leakage-current characteristics of a double perovskite (Y₂CoMnO₆) ceramic material have been reported. The material was synthesized via a high-temperature mixed-oxide route. The compound crystallizes in a monoclinic structure which is confirmed from preliminary X-ray structural study. The morphological study by using scanning electron micrograph reveals the almost homogeneous distribution of grains throughout the surface of the sample. The nature of frequency-dependence of dielectric constant has been described by the Maxwell-Wagner model. The occurrence of a dielectric anomaly in the temperature dependence of dielectric permittivity study demonstrates the ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition in the material. From the Nyquist plots, we found the existence of both grain and grain boundary effects. The frequency dependence of conductivity was studied by the Jonscher’s Power law, and the conduction phenomenon obeys the large overlapping polaron tunneling model. By using the Arrhenius equation, the activation energy has been calculated which is nearly equal to the energy required for the hoping of the electron. Both impedance and conductivity analysis demonstrate that the sample exhibits negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTCR) properties indicating the semiconducting type of material at high temperatures. The anti-ferromagnetic character of the material is observed from the nature of magnetic hysteresis loop. The leakage current analysis suggests that the conduction process in the material follows the space charge limited conduction phenomenon. Such material will be helpful for modern electronic devices and spintronic applications.     

Highly Efficient Zirconium Based Carbonaceous Solid Acid Catalyst for Selective Synthesis of 5-HMF from Fructose and Glucose in Isopropanol as a Solvent

Catalysis Letters - A new zirconium based carbonaceous solid acid catalyst Zr@CC-PA with both Lewis and Bronsted acidic sites was prepared by simultaneous carbonization and phosphonation of glucose...     

Safety Devices Based on Smart Alloys

Journal of Machinery Manufacture and Reliability - A device based on smart alloys has been designed for use in machine building items, in particular, in nuclear engineering, for preventing...     

Material encapsulation in poly(methyl methacrylate) shell: A review

Material encapsulation is a relatively new technique for coating a micro/nanosize particle or droplet with polymeric or inorganic shell. Encapsulation technology has many applications in various fields including drug delivery, cosmetic, agriculture, thermal energy storage, textile, and self-healing polymers. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is widely used as shell material in encapsulation due to its high chemical stability, biocompatibility, nontoxicity, and good mechanical properties. The main approach for micro/nanoencapsulation of materials using PMMA as shell comprises emulsion-based techniques such as emulsion polymerization and solvent evaporation from oil-in-water emulsion. In the present review, we first focus on the encapsulation techniques of liquid materials with PMMA shell by analyzing the effective processing parameters influencing the preparation of PMMA micro/nanocapsules. We then describe the morphology of PMMA capsules in emulsion systems according to thermodynamic relations. The techniques to investigation of mechanical properties of capsule shell and the release mechanisms of core material from PMMA capsules were also investigated. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 48039.     

Physicochemical and technological properties of beef burger as influenced by the addition of pea fibre

This study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics and sensory attributes of beef burgers with the addition of pea fibre as a partial substitute of meat or fat. Three formulations were prepared: control (CON) – similar to the commercial formulation; fibre/less meat (FLM)—5% meat reduction and addition of 1% pea fibre; fibre/less fat (FLF)—7% fat reduction and addition of 1% pea fibre. Non-significant differences were obtained for pH, colour parameters (L* and b*), texture profile, cooking loss and size reduction among formulations. Moreover, sensory analysis with consumers of beef burgers did not indicate differences among the formulations for all the analysed attributes. Therefore, pea fibre is a promising partial replacer for meat and fat in beef burgers due to the preservation of technological parameters and sensory acceptance.     

Selection of Technological Bases in Manufacturing

The role of the following factors in the selection of technological bases for manufacturing is considered: the accessibility of the machined surfaces; their parameters and dimensional relationships; their position relative to the forces acting; and the uniformity of the margin distribution.     

Synthesis and Properties of Azo Compounds Based on Nitroaniline Derivatives of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene and 1,3,5-Trinitrobenzene

Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering - New research results, as well as those published earlier by the authors, on the synthesis of azo compounds based on nitroanilines obtained by the...     

Heuristic Solution to the Diffraction Problem on a Superconducting Half-Plane

Journal of Communications Technology and Electronics - Abstract—The article presents a rigorous numerical solution, using the Wiener–Hopf method, to the problem of plane wave...     

Robust optimisation of sustainable food grain transportation with uncertain supply and intentional disruptions

The proliferating need for sustainability intervention in food grain transportation planning is anchoring the attention of researchers in the interests of stakeholders and environment at large. Uncertainty associated with food grain supply further intensifies the problem steering the need for designing robust, cost-efficient and sustainable models. In line with this, this paper aims to develop a robust and sustainable intermodal transportation model to facilitate single type of food grain commodity shipments while considering procurement uncertainty, greenhouse gas emissions, and intentional hub disruption. The problem is designed as a mixed integer non-linear robust optimisation model on a hub and spoke network for evaluating near optimal shipment quantity, route selection and hub location decisions. The robust optimisation approach considers minimisation of total relative regret associated with total cost subject to several real-time constraints. A version of Particle Swarm Optimisation with Differential Evolution is proposed to tackle the resulting NP-hard problem. The model is tested with two other state-of the art meta-heuristics for small, medium, and large datasets subject to different procurement scenarios inspired from real time food grain operations in Indian context. Finally, the solution is evaluated with respect to total cost, model and solution robustness for all instances.