Proton exchange membranes by grafting of styrene–acrylic acid onto FEP by preirradiation technique. I. Effect of synthesis conditions

Grafting of styrene–acrylic acid (sty–AA) polymer onto fluorinated ethylene propylene copolymer (FEP) was carried out by preirradiation of FEP with γ‐rays. Effect of reaction conditions on the degree of grafting such as total radiation dose, monomer concentration, temperature, and time of grafting has been studied. From the study, it is seen that the degree of grafting is strongly dependent on the reaction conditions. The rate dependence of 0.53 (～0.5) and 1.03 (～1) have been obtained with respect to total dose and monomer concentration, respectively indicating that radiation induced grafting follows free radical polymerization. The activation energy for the grafting in the temperature range of 60–90°C is found to be 33 kJ/mol. The results indicate that the grafting takes place by the front mechanism where the grafting starts at surface and slowly proceeds inwards by diffusion of the monomer through the swollen grafted chains. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2572–2577, 2003     

A Comparative Study of Artificial Neural Network and Response Surface Methodology for Optimization of Friction Welding of Incoloy 800 H

This article deals with the optimization of process parameters for friction welding of Incoloy 800 H rod and compares the results obtained by response surface methodology(RSM) and artificial neural network(ANN).The experiments were carried out on the basis of a five-level,four-variable central composite design.The output parameters were the tensile strength and burn-off length(BOL).They were considered as a function of four independent input variables,namely heating pressure(HP),heating time,upsetting pressure(UP),and upsetting time.The RSM results showed that the quadratic polynomial model depicted the interconnection between individual element and response.For optimizing the process parameters,ANN analysis was used,and the optimal configuration of the ANN model was found to be 4–9–2.For modeling aspect,a requisite trained multilayer perceptron neural network was rooted,and a quick propagation training algorithm was used to train ANN.The purpose of optimization was to decide the maximum tensile strength and minimum burn-off length of the welded joint which was done by varying the friction welding process variables.The order of importance of input parameters for friction welding of Incoloy 800 H was HP [ UP [ N [ BOL.After predicting the model using RSM and ANN,a comparison was made for predicting the effectiveness of two methodologies.By analyzing the results,it was observed that as compared to RSM,ANN model was more specific.     

Surface spreading of intergranular corrosion on stainless steels

The spreading of intergranular corrosion was investigated using micrometer scale simulations and experimental verifications on sensitized stainless steel [UNS S30400]. The degree of sensitization, presence of a pit, and applied potential all affected spreading. The inputs used in the simulation were obtained from Fe-XCr(X = 10, 12, 14, 16 wt.%)-Mo-Ni alloys representing various grain boundary Cr depletion levels. Corroding grain boundaries and pits triggered corrosion of nearby sensitized boundaries due to Ohmic potential drop. Large connected clusters of corroding grain boundaries formed at high fractions of Cr-depleted grain boundaries. The metallurgical, electrochemical and geometric conditions for this behavior could be forecasted.     

Mechanism of persulfate decomposition in aqueous solution at 50°C in the presence of vinyl acetate and nitrogen

The rate of the thermal decomposition of potassium persulfate has been studied in an unbuffered aqueous solution at 50°C in nitrogen atmosphere in the presence of vinyl acetate (VA) monomer (M). It has been found that the initial rate of persulfate decomposition may be written as in the concentration range of persulfate (1.85 × 10^?2–1.85 × 10^?3 m/dm³) and VA (0.054–0.27 m/dm³). The pH of the aqueous solution of persulfate was found to decrease continuously at 50°C, but there was no measurable change of pH of the aqueous solution containing persulfate and VA at 50°C in the presence of nitrogen at the early stages of the reaction. VA, methyl acetate, and ethyl acetate have been found to undergo very slow hydrolysis in aqueous solution at 50°C. The partition coefficient (β) of the monomer between the polymer phase and the aqueous phase was found to be 21 ± 2 in the presence and absence of electrolytes (K₂SO₄, 10^?4–10^?3 m/dm³) by the bromometric estimation of the monomer present in the aqueous phase containing known amounts of monomer [1.80–2.20%, w/v] and freshly prepared polymer (0.3–0.5 g/100 mL). Above 10^?2 (m/dm³) persulfate, the polymer obtained was found to be insoluble in common solvents, viz., acetone, benzene, etc. Highly purified sodium dodecyl sulfate (0.5–5.0 × 10^?3 m/dm³) had no measurable effect on the rate of persulfate decomposition.     

Numerical analysis of crack initiation and growth in cylindrical geometries with an axial flaw

In this work we study the initiation and growth of a semi-elliptical internal axial crack in the wall of an internally pressurised cylinder. We show that small diameter structures, which we may call ‘tubes’, are more likely to undergo noticable yield before a small internal flaw starts to grow. However, when growth starts, it is likely to be catastrophic. On the other hand, large diameter structures, called ‘pipes’, can fail by cracking at reasonable design pressures. We have also shown that a small semi-elliptical crack attains a particular (almost circular) shape during growth irrespective of its initial aspect ratio.     

Increased graphitization in electrospun single suspended carbon nanowires integrated with carbon-MEMS and carbon-NEMS platforms

Single suspended carbon nanowires (CNWs) integrated on carbon-MEMS (CMEMS) structures are fabricated by electrospinning of SU-8 photoresist followed by pyrolysis. These monolithic CNW-CMEMS structures enable fabrication of very high aspect ratio CNWs of predefined length. The CNWs thus fabricated display core-shell structures having a graphitic shell with a glassy carbon core. The electrical conductivity of these CNWs is increased by about 100% compared to glassy carbon as a result of enhanced graphitization. We suggest some tunable fabrication and pyrolysis parameters that may improve graphitization in the resulting CNWs, making them a good replacement for several carbon nanostructure-based devices.     

Chemically reactive solute transfer in a moving fluid over a moving surface

The distribution of a solute, undergoing a chemical reaction, between a moving surface and a moving stream is analyzed in this paper: uniform concentration at the boundary is assumed. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations are first transformed into nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) by a similarity transform, and then the ODEs are solved numerically by a shooting method. The obtained numerical results are compared with the known results in the literature in order to demonstrate the validity of the solutions. Furthermore, analytical results are provided for some parameter regimes. The effects of the governing parameters on the flow and chemical fields are examined. The numerical results indicate that dual solutions exist when the sheet and the free stream move in the opposite directions. These results are in agreement with Ishak et al. (Chem Eng J 148:63–67, 2009), where the results were obtained without chemical reaction. The concentration boundary layer thickness decreases with an increase in the Schmidt number and reaction rate parameter. Moreover, mass absorption at the plate is noted in the case of a constructive chemical reaction.     

Stone fragmentation by ultrasound

The presence of kidney stone in the kidney causes discomfort to patients. Hence, removal of such stones is important which is commonly done these days, non-destructively, with lithotripters without surgery. Commercially, lithotripters like extra-corporeal shock wave lithotripters (ESWL) made by Siemens etc are in routine use. These methods are very cumbersome and expensive. Treatment of the patients also takes comparatively more time because of more number of sittings. Some delicate nerves and fibres in the surrounding areas of the stones present in the kidney are also damaged by high ultrasonic intensity used in such systems. In the present work, enhancement of the kidney stone fragmentation by using ultrasound is studied. The cavitation bubbles are found to implode faster, with more disintegration efficiency of the lithotripters, which give better treatment to the patients.     

Synthesis,crystallographic characterization and ionic conductivity of iron substituted sodium zirconium phosphate Na<Subscript>1.2</Subscript>Zr<Subscript>1.8</Subscript>Fe<Subscript>0.2</Subscript>(PO<Subscript>4</Subscript>)<Subscript>3</Subscript>

Sodium zirconium phosphate NaZr₂P₃O₁₂ (hereafter NZP) crystallizes in rhombohedral (hexagonal) symmetry with the space group R-3c. The NZP-related phase of synthetic iron substituted NZP has been prepared by partial substitution on zirconium site by Fe(III). The material has been synthesized by sintering the finely powdered oxide mixture in a muffle furnace at 1,050 °C. The polycrystalline phase of Na_1.2Zr_1.8Fe_0.2(PO₄)₃ has been characterized by its typical powder diffraction pattern. The powder diffraction data of 3,000 points have been subjected to general structural analysis system (GSAS) software to arrive at a satisfactory structural fit with R _p = 0.0623 and R _wp = 0.0915. The following unit cell parameters have been calculated: a = b = 8.83498(18) ?, c = 22.7821(8) ? and α = β = 90.0° γ = 120.0°. The structure of NZP consists of ZrO₆ octahedra and PO₄ tetrahedra linked by the corners to form a three-dimensional network. Each phosphate group is on a two-fold rotation axis and is linked to four ZrO₆ octahedra. Each zirconium octahedron lies on a threefold rotation axis and is connected to six PO₄ tetrahedra. AC conductivity of the solid solution has been measured between 303 and 773 K. The material exhibits temperature-dependent enhancement of ionic conduction by ≈400 times at elevated temperatures. The activation energies show significant change in slope at 1,000/T = 2.23(448 K).