Polyacrylonitrile/Nylon 6 Blends: Preparation and Characterization

Summary: Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) particles with micro‐size ranges (0.15–2 μm) were prepared by emulsion and dispersion polymerizationa and in supercritical carbon dioxide media. The PAN particles were blended with Nylon 6 (PA6) at 220 °C by using a miniature mixer; it was found that melt‐mixing was possible for PAN‐rich compositions as high as 70 wt.‐%. Blends were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, IR, viscosity measurements, differential scanning calorimetry, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). The size and shape of original PAN particles were retained in PAN/PA6 blends. The useful range to blend PAN particles size was less than 1 μm in terms of shape retention of the PAN particles in blends. Blends with 40 wt.‐% PAN content were found to be melt‐processable. The elastic modulus was higher for PAN/PA6 blends than pure PA6.

SEM photograph of PAN‐SC/PA6 blend with a 40/60 weight ratio.     

Development of reel-to-reel microchip mounting system for fabrication of meter-long LED lighting tapes

We have developed a reel-to-reel microchip mounting system that continuously mounts LED chips and other microchips on meter-long flexible printed circuit board (PCB) tape for 1.2-m-long standard LED light tubes. Mounting microchips on meter-long PCBs is difficult because a large chip mounter is expensive and the chip positioning stage is difficult to move in a meter-wide area with an accuracy of hundreds of micrometers. Hence, we developed a new microchip mounting system that utilizes a small chip mounter and reel winding machines. The system repeatedly moves the long PCB tape by a certain length with the reel winding machines and mounts the chips on it. The PCB tape (which is 5 mm wide) is made by fabricating long PCB tapes which are 25 cm × 26.6 m through a roll-to-roll PCB process and slitting them into meter-long tapes. The reel-to-reel system repeatedly mounts chips by adjusting their positions through image processing of the copper wiring pattern on the PCBs. Our constructed system mounted 24 LED chips with a pitch of 5 cm with an accuracy of 0.082 mm to form a 1.2-m-long LED tape. The luminance of the tape is 12.4 lx at a distance of 1 m, which is the luminance of outdoor corridor lighting. Therefore, this system can be used for meter-long tape lighting.     

Hydrogen adsorption and hydrogen evolution reaction on a polycrystalline Pt electrode studied by surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on a polycrystalline Pt electrode has been investigated in Ar-purged acids by surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy and electrochemical kinetic analysis (Tafel plot). A vibrational mode characteristic to H atom adsorbed at atop sites (terminal H) was observed at 2080-2095 cm⁻¹. This band appears at 0.1 V (RHE) and grows at more negative potentials in parallel to the increase in hydrogen evolution current. Good signal-to-noise ratio of the spectra enabled us to establish the quantitative relation between the band intensity (equivalently, coverage) of terminal H and the kinetics of HER, from which we conclude that terminal H atom is the reaction intermediate in HER and the recombination of two terminal H atoms is the rate-determining step. The quantitative analysis of the infrared data also revealed that the adsorption of terminal H follows the Frumkin isotherm with repulsive interaction.     

Development of flexible organic light‐emitting diode on barrier film and roll‐to‐roll manufacturing

To come out with a successful organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) lighting business, it is very important to have clear differentiation of OLED from LEDs. Flexible OLED has merits, such as capability to be mounted on the curved wall, which is not easy for LEDs to achieve the feature. There are several approaches to make flexible OLEDs especially among those plastic barrier films that can bring high level of flexibility, which could not be achieved by any conventional lighting method. In this paper, barrier films with various water vapor transmission rate values, including 10^{? 6} order, are applied, and the conditions to have almost no dark spot growth under 85 °C and 85% high temperature/humidity test are shown. Flexible OLED panels are manufactured with the world's first roll‐to‐roll equipment using plastic barrier film.     

Transition of the flow in a symmetric channel with periodically expanded grooves

Transition of the flow in a periodically grooved channel is numerically investigated for periodicity indices m=1 up to 6 by assuming the two-dimensional and fully developed flow field, where m is defined as a number of grooves in which the flow repeats periodically. Critical Reynolds numbers for the onset of a self-sustained oscillatory flow from a steady-state flow are evaluated by numerical simulations. It is found that the bifurcations occur at the critical Reynolds numbers as a result of Hopf bifurcation, and a period in the streamwise direction of the oscillatory flow is twice as long as the groove pitch of the channel. In addition, flow visualization with the aluminum dust method is carried out to confirm the results obtained from the numerical simulations. The experimental results are in good agreement with the numerical ones.     

Preparation of porous carbons from thermoplastic precursors and their performance for electric double layer capacitors

Porous carbons with high surface area were successfully prepared from thermoplastic precursors, such as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), hydroxyl propyl cellulose and poly(ethylene terephthalate), by the carbonization of a mixture with MgO at 900 °C in an inert atmosphere. After carbonization the MgO was dissolved out using a diluted sulfuric acid and the carbons formed were isolated. The mixing of the PVA carbon precursor with the MgO precursors (reagent grade MgO, magnesium acetate or citrate) was done either in powder form or in an aqueous solution. The BET surface area of the carbons obtained via solution mixing could reach a very high value, such as 2000 m²/g, without any activation process. The pore structure of the resultant carbons was found to depend strongly on the mixing method; the carbons prepared via solution mixing were rich in mesopores, but those produced via powder mixing were rich in micropores. The size of mesopores was found to be almost the same as that of the MgO particles, suggesting a way of controlling the mesopore size in the resultant carbons. Measurement of capacitance was carried out in 1 mol/L H₂SO₄ electrolyte. The porous carbon with a BET surface area of 1900 m²/g prepared at 900 °C through solution mixing of Mg acetate with PVA showed a fairly high EDLC capacitance, about 250 F/g with a current density of 20 mA/g and 210 F/g with 1000 mA/g. The rate performance was closely related to the mesoporous surface area.     

Prediction model of surface residual stress within a machined surface by combining two orthogonal plane models

The variation of surface residual stress within a machined surface layer caused by face turning was studied. The size of the tool’s corner radius and the feed rate affect residual stress. A process model using the finite element method is proposed and the mechanical effects of the corner radius and feed rate on a machined surface were discussed. When a tool with a small corner radius is used, surface residual stress perpendicular to the cutting direction becomes compression stress. As well, surface residual stress changes from tension to compression as the feed rate decreases. The process model consists of an orthogonal cutting simulation and an indentation-like simulation of a corner radius into a work piece surface. The simulated results show quantitative agreement with the residual stress measured experimentally. The integrity of the machined surface will be controlled more efficiently if the cutting conditions during finishing are determined with the proper consideration of the surface generating process.     

What kind of floor am I standing on? Floor surface identification by a small humanoid robot through full-body motions

This study addresses a floor identification method for small humanoid robots that work in such daily environments as homes. The fundamental difficulty lays in a method to understand the physical properties of floors. To achieve floor identification with small humanoid robots, we used inertial sensors that can be easily installed on such robots, and dynamically selected a full-body motion that physically senses floors to achieve accurate floor identification. We collected a training data-set over 10 different kinds of common floors in home environments. We achieved 85.7% precision with our proposed method. We also demonstrate that our robot could appropriately change its locomotion behaviours depending on the floor identification results.     

Meter-scale large area LED-embedded light fabric for the application of fabric ceilings in rooms

We have developed a meter-scale light emitting diode (LED)-embedded light fabric and its weaving machine for application to a light device for fabric ceilings, which have recently become desired for lightweight safe ceilings in Japan and other countries with frequent earthquakes. The LED fabric structure is 1.2-m-wide woven fabric that has 5-mm-wide LED chip-mounted printed circuit board (PCB) tapes as wefts. LEDs are mounted on the tape of PCBs with a reel-to-reel chip mounting system. Then, the LED-mounted tapes are woven with a developed automatic looming machine that aligns the weft with an accuracy of 0.9 mm, which is suitable for precise arrangement of LEDs and wiring to power supply. A 1.2 × 1.2 m LED-embedded light fabric weighing 320 g/m² was woven. The luminance of the LED fabric is 353 lx at a distance of 1 m, which is the luminance of conventional office lighting. The temperature increase of LEDs without a rigid cooling aluminum plate is only 5.8 °C, and the LED fabric is flexible enough to sustain 1,000 bends down to a radius of 3 mm. This LED fabric and its weaving technology will lead to light devices that have lightweight, large area, and high flexibility for fabric ceilings, walls, and other large areas in homes and offices.     

Set-based particle swarm optimization with status memory for knapsack problem

Set-based particle swarm optimization (S-PSO) operates on discrete space. S-PSO can solve combinatorial optimization problem with high quality and is successful to apply to the large-scale problem. In S-PSO, a velocity is a set with possibility and a position is a candidate solution. In this paper, we present a novel algorithm of set-based particle swarm optimization with status memory (S-PSOSM) to decide the position based on the previous position for solving knapsack problem. Some operators are redefined for S-PSOSM. S-PSOSM is a simple algorithm because the state of probability reduces. In addition, the weight of S-PSOSM is discussed. S-PSOSM shows high qualities in experimental results.