Novel application of reactive blending: tailoring morphology of PBT/SAN blends

Reactive blending has been usually utilized to stabilize morphology and to improve the properties of multi-component polymer blends by generating copolymers in situ at the interface. However, the present study on blends composed of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and functionalized styrene-acrylonitrile random copolymer (SAN) demonstrates another possibility for this method, i.e. tailoring morphology and thereby controlling the properties of polymer blends. By varying reaction conditions it was demonstrated that blends could be formed having the same ratio of [PBT]/[SAN] but which possessed completely different microstructural forms: a sea-island morphology with and without micelles, a corded dispersed phase morphology, and a highly oriented, layer-like morphology.     

EFFECTS OF OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS ON DRYING CHARACTERISTICS IN CLOSED SUPERHEATED STEAM DRYING

The effects of operational conditions on the drying performance in closed superheated steam drying were examined theoretically and experimentally. The vapor generated from the sample was circulated in the drying chamber. In the theoretical analysis, the replacement of air with vapor in drying chamber and the convective vapor transfer in sample were considered. At the start of drying, the drying chamber was filled with air. As the drying proceeded, the air was replaced with the vapor generated from sample. The calculated results explained the characteristics of experimental data. The pore diameter of sample had little effect on the drying characteristics. During the internal evaporation period, the evaporation occurred in the narrow zone, which moved from the surface to the bottom of sample. The convective vapor transfer in sample had a significant influence on the drying performance. The excess increments in temperature and velocity of drying gas hardly contributed to shortening the drying time.     

Changes in the melting temperature and crystal structure of poly(vinylidene fluoride) by knotting

A significant increase in the melting temperature of knotted fibers of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) was detected by differential scanning calorimetry. The melting peak partially returned to the original peak after the fibers were unknotted. Knotted PVDF fibers were observed with an optical microscope at crossed‐nicol conditions. The knotted portions of the fibers showed birefringence even above the melting temperature of the fibers before knotting. The dependence of the physical properties of PVDF under applied stress was estimated in order to investigate the influence of knotting. The fracture temperature of PVDF fibers increased with applied stress below 1 MPa and decreased above 10 MPa because the applied stress increased the melting temperature of PVDF crystals, but strong stress mechanically broke the fibers. The X‐ray diffraction patterns of the PVDF fibers under different stress were divided into the peaks of α‐ and β‐phase crystals and amorphous. The peak area of the β‐phase crystal increased and that of the amorphous decreased with applied stress. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Optical assessment of silicon nanowire arrays fabricated by metal-assisted chemical etching

Silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays were prepared on silicon substrates by metal-assisted chemical etching and peeled from the substrates, and their optical properties were measured. The absorption coefficient of the SiNW arrays was higher than that for the bulk silicon over the entire region. The absorption coefficient of a SiNW array composed of 10-μm-long nanowires was much higher than the theoretical absorptance of a 10-μm-thick flat Si wafer, suggesting that SiNW arrays exhibit strong optical confinement. To reveal the reason for this strong optical confinement demonstrated by SiNW arrays, angular distribution functions of their transmittance were experimentally determined. The results suggest that Mie-related scattering plays a significant role in the strong optical confinement of SiNW arrays.     

Candidate Biomarkers for Genetic and Clinicopathological Diagnosis of Endometrial Cancer

The recent increase in the frequency of endometrial cancer has emphasized the need for accurate diagnosis and improved treatment. The current diagnosis is still based on conventional pathological indicators, such as clinical stage, tumor differentiation, invasion depth and vascular invasion. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying endometrial cancer have gradually been determined, due to developments in molecular biology, leading to the possibility of new methods of diagnosis and treatment planning. New candidate biomarkers for endometrial cancer include those for molecular epigenetic mutations, such as microRNAs. These biomarkers may permit earlier detection of endometrial cancer and prediction of outcomes and are likely to contribute to future personalized therapy for endometrial cancer.     

Improvement of carrier diffusion length in silicon nanowire arrays using atomic layer deposition

To achieve a high-efficiency silicon nanowire (SiNW) solar cell, surface passivation technique is very important because a SiNW array has a large surface area. We successfully prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) high-quality aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) film for passivation on the whole surface of the SiNW arrays. The minority carrier lifetime of the Al₂O₃-depositedSiNW arrays with bulk silicon substrate was improved to 27 μs at the optimum annealing condition. To remove the effect of bulk silicon, the effective diffusion length of minority carriers in the SiNW array was estimated by simple equations and a device simulator. As a result, it was revealed that the effective diffusion length in the SiNW arrays increased from 3.25 to 13.5 μm by depositing Al₂O₃ and post-annealing at 400°C. This improvement of the diffusion length is very important for application to solar cells, and Al₂O₃ deposited by ALD is a promising passivation material for a structure with high aspect ratio such as SiNW arrays.     

Oxygen Reduction Electrode Properties of Manganese Oxide Nanosheet-Based Materials

Two types of oxide nanosheet-based materials, H₃O⁺-form regularly stacked manganese oxide nanosheets (H₃O⁺-RG(Mn)) and H₃O⁺-form randomly restacked manganese oxide nanosheets (H₃O⁺-RE(Mn)) were synthesized by soft chemical methods, and their oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activities were examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and semi-steady-state voltammetry (SSV) with a rotating ring-disc electrode at 70 °C in 0.1 M KOH. Both samples showed high onset potentials (E _on) of the ORR current and high efficiencies (Eff ₄) of the 4-electron reduction of oxygen, and E _on and Eff ₄ values were improved by electrochemical oxidation up to 1.2 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode) in the CV measurement prior to the SSV measurement. As a result, the nanosheet-based samples exhibited higher ORR activities than the starting materials, K⁺-form layered manganese oxide K_0.5MnO₂ (K⁺-RG(Mn)) and Mn₂O₃, and a well-known ORR catalyst, MnO₂. The H₃O⁺-RE(Mn) sample electrochemically oxidized up to 1.2 V showed the highest ORR activity, E _on = 0.97 V and Eff ₄ = 99%, which were comparable to those of a conventional 20 mass% Pt/C catalyst. The comparison of their ORR activities, BET surface areas and X-ray photoelectron spectra suggests that the enhancement of the ORR activity is attributed to an increase in the numbers of the ORR active sites and a large amount of H₂O in the interlayers and on the surface of the nanosheets because of rapid of H₂O-supply enough for ORR in alkaline solution.     

Robust and accurate prediction of thermal error of machining centers under operations with cutting fluid supply

A novel temperature measuring system named LATSIS was proposed to realize a robust and accurate prediction of the thermal deformation of machining centers, even under external disturbances such as cutting fluid supply. LATSIS enables a drastic increase in the number of sensors employed for measuring the temperature of the machine tool. Thus, the entire temperature distribution can be obtained by interpolating the measured temperature 3-dimensionally without calculating the heat conduction. A set of experiments was conducted in which the LATSIS was employed to predict the TCP error. A total of 284 sensors were placed on the machining center, and the TCP error was predicted based on the measured temperature for the situation with/without the cutting fluid supply. The results of the prediction showed good agreement with the measured TCP error even during the initial transient temperature change as well as in the cooling phase after the machine halt. The TCP error with the cutting fluid supply is accurately predicted. LATSIS was proven to be a robust and accurate method for predicting the thermal deformation of machine tools, and is a promising technology for future manufacturing systems.     

Catalytic performance and characterization of Pt-Ni bimetallic catalysts for oxidative steam reforming of methane

Effects of methane oxygen mixture addition to steam reforming of methane and subsequent removal of the methane oxygen mixture from the oxidative steam reforming of methane on catalytic performance were investigated using monometallic Ni and Pt catalysts and two Pt-Ni bimetallic catalysts. Hysteresis with respect to the addition and removal of the methane oxygen mixture was observed clearly on a Pt-Ni bimetallic catalyst prepared by co-impregnation method and the Ni catalyst. In contrast, no hysteresis was observed for a Pt-Ni catalyst that was prepared by sequential impregnation method. Combined with characterization results obtained using EXAFS analysis and FTIR of CO adsorption, Pt-Ni catalyst was prepared by sequential impregnation is formed Pt-Ni alloy particles, where Pt atoms are segregated on the surface, enhances the reducibility of Ni drastically and this is related to the behavior without hysteresis.