Quality characteristics of biscuits prepared from finger millet seed coat based composite flour

Finger millet seed coat is an edible material and contains good proportion of dietary fibre, minerals and phytochemicals. The seed coat matter (SCM) forms a by-product of millet milling, malting and decortication industries and can be utilised as composite flour in biscuit preparation. The SCM from native, malted and hydrothermally treated millet contained 9.5–12% protein, 2.6–3.7% fat and 40–48% dietary fibre, besides 3–5% polyphenols and 700–860 mg/100 g of calcium. The biscuits prepared using the composite flour were of crisp texture and exhibited breaking strength of 1480–1690 g compared to control biscuits (1560 g). The biscuits were of mild grey colour (ΔE = 40–50) and exhibited higher protein, dietary fibre and calcium contents. The sensory evaluation of the biscuits indicated that 10% of SCM from native and hydrothermally processed millet and 20% from malted millet could be used in composite biscuit flour.     

A study on fabrication of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)-based membrane-electrode assemblies for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

The porosity effect of catalyst electrodes in membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) using a hydrocarbon-based polymer as electrolyte and ionomer was investigated on physical and electrochemical properties by varying the content of ionomer binder (dry condition) in the catalyst electrodes. The MEAs were compared with the Nafion^®-based MEA using Nafion^® 112 and 5 wt.% ionomer solution (EW = 1100) in terms of porosity values, scanning electron microscopic images, Nyquist plots, dielectric spectra and I–V polarization curves. In this study, sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membranes with 25 ± 5 μm of thickness and 5 wt.% ionomer solutions have been prepared. The prepared membranes were characterized in terms of FT-IR, DSC and proton conductivity. Proton conductivity of the SPEEK membranes was compared with one of the Nafion^® membranes with relative humidity. The porosity of the catalyst electrodes was calculated using the properties of catalyst, ionomer solution and solvent. As a result, the performance of the new type polymer (i.e., SPEEK in this study)-based MEA with the similar membrane conductivity and porosity of the catalyst electrode in the Nafion^® MEA was similar to that of the Nafion^® MEA.     

Dysprosium doped copper oxide (Cu1-xDyxO) nanoparticles enabled bifunctional electrode for overall water splitting

The production of hydrogen, a favourable alternative to an unsustainable fossil fuel remains as a significant hurdle with the pertaining challenge in the design of proficient, highly productive and sustainable electrocatalyst for both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, the dysprosium (Dy) doped copper oxide (Cu_1-xDy_xO) nanoparticles were synthesized via solution combustion technique and utilized as a non-noble metal based bi-functional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting. Due to the improved surface to volume ratio and conductivity, the optimized Cu_1-xDy_xO (x = 0.01, 0.02) electrocatalysts exhibited impressive HER and OER performance respectively in 1 M KOH delivering a current density of 10 mAcm^?2 at a potential of ?0.18 V vs RHE for HER and 1.53 V vs RHE for OER. Moreover, the Dy doped CuO electrocatalyst used as a bi-functional catalyst for overall water splitting achieved a potential of 1.56 V at a current density 10 mAcm^?2 and relatively high current density of 66 mAcm^?2 at a peak potential of 2 V. A long term stability of 24 h was achieved for a cell voltage of 2.2 V at a constant current density of 30 mAcm^?2 with only 10% of the initial current loss. This showcases the accumulative opportunity of dysprosium as a dopant in CuO nanoparticles for fabricating a highly effective and low-cost bi-functional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting.     

Molecular and thermal studies of carbon fiber precursor polymers with low thermal‐oxidative stabilization characteristics

In this investigation, terpolymers, copolymers, and homopolymer of acrylonitrile with dimethylaminopropyl acrylamide (DMAPA), itaconic acid (IA) viz., poly(acrylonitrile‐ran‐3‐dimethylaminopropyl acrylamide‐ran‐itaconic acid) [P(AN‐DMAPP‐IA)], poly(acrylonitrile‐co‐3, dimethylaminopropyl acrylamide) [P(AN‐DMAPP)] were synthesized with varying amounts of comonomers using solution polymerization process. The chemical structure, composition, bonding network were determined employing infrared, 1H and, 13‐carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic techniques. Molecular characteristics of as‐synthesized polymers such as different kinds of average molecular weights, molecular weight distribution were estimated applying solution viscometry and size exclusion chromatography. The influence of comonomers (DMPAA, IA) on the thermal stabilization characteristics of acrylonitrile terpolymers in comparison with copolymers and homopolymers of acrylonitrile were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), hyphenated thermal techniques (thermal gravimetry coupled with differential thermal analyzer).The DSC curves of P(AN‐DMAPP‐IA) exhibit a distinct broader bimodal peaks with thermal exotherm initiating at as low as 165 °C, and followed by two peaks with temperature difference of 42 °C, releasing the evolved heat at a release rate of 0.7–0.11 J g^?1s^?1over 10 min as compared to 1.2, 7.5 J g^?1s^?1 in 4.5, 2 min as observed in P(AN‐DMAPP), polyacrylonitrile, respectively. The thermal stability of P(AN‐DMAPP‐IA) and P(AN‐DMAPP), as evidenced by TGA‐DTA was found to be higher than PAN homopolymers. Specific heat capacity measurements confirmed the DSC results. Bulk densities of P(AN‐DMAPP‐IA) were in the range 0.31–0.35 g/cc. These results confirm the low‐temperature stabilization characteristics and suitability of P(AN‐DMAPP‐IA) as low cost carbon fiber precursor polymers. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46381.     

Directional filter bank-based segmentation for improved evaluation of nondestructive evaluation images

This paper introduces a directional filter bank (DFB) for segmentation of NDE images containing directional information. The DFB is used to split an image into a desired number of sub-band images with each sub-band image containing features belonging only to a given angular range. The DFB is a two-channel decomposition employing the Quincunx sampling matrix and the diamond half band filter pair. The DFB is also designed to incorporate the property of perfect reconstruction or alias free reconstruction. Applications of the DFB towards segmenting C-scan images of fiber-reinforced composites, magnetic flux leakage (MFL) images of seamless tubes, IR images of solar cell panels and optical images for the computation of area coverage in a shot-peening process are discussed.     

A new fluoride mediated synthesis of mesoporous silica and their usefulness in controlled delivery of duloxetine hydrochloride a serotonin re-uptake inhibitor

A new type of mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) was synthesized in fluoride media via sol–gel technique using TritonX 100 and Tween-20. The surface area and pore volume of the MSN particles were modified by varying the concentration of Tween-20. The prepared MSN nanoparticles with large surface area and pore volume (T-2, T-3) were selected to accommodate the model drug duloxetine hydrochloride (DX) for evaluation of their drug-loading and release abilities. Calcined and DX loaded nanoparticles were characterized by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller technique (BET), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and UV-diffuse reflectance (UV-DRS). In vitro release studies proved that the particle displays an initial burst release followed by sustained release for up to 140 h. From the studies it is evident that the synthesized particle may be useful as a carrier for sustained release of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).     

Tracer design for magnetic particle imaging (invited)

Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) uses safe iron oxide nanoparticle tracers to offer fundamentally new capabilities for medical imaging, in applications as vascular imaging and ultra-sensitive cancer therapeutics. MPI is perhaps the first medical imaging platform to intrinsically exploit nanoscale material properties. MPI tracers contain magnetic nanoparticles whose tunable, size-dependent magnetic properties can be optimized by selecting a particular particle size and narrow size-distribution. In this paper we present experimental MPI measurements acquired using a homemade MPI magnetometer: a zero-dimensional MPI imaging system designed to characterize tracer performance by measuring the derivative of the time-varying tracer magnetization, M'(H(t)), at a driving frequency of 25 kHz. We show that MPI performance is optimized by selecting phase-pure magnetite tracers of a particular size and narrow size distribution; in this work, tracers with 20 nm median diameter, log-normal distribution shape parameter, σ(v), equal to 0.26, and hydrodynamic diameter equal to 30 nm showed the best performance. Furthermore, these optimized MPI tracers show 4?×?greater signal intensity (measured at the third harmonic) and 20% better spatial resolution compared with commercial nanoparticles developed for MRI.     

Synthesis of 3D nanostructured metal alloy of immiscible materials induced by megahertz-repetition femtosecond laser pulses

In this work, we have proposed a concept for the generation of three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured metal alloys of immiscible materials induced by megahertz-frequency ultrafast laser pulses. A mixture of two microparticle materials (aluminum and nickel oxide) and nickel oxide microparticles coated onto an aluminum foil have been used in this study. After laser irradiation, three different types of nanostructure composites have been observed: aluminum embedded in nickel nuclei, agglomerated chain of aluminum and nickel nanoparticles, and finally, aluminum nanoparticles grown on nickel microparticles. In comparison with current nanofabrication methods which are used only for one-dimensional nanofabrication, this technique enables us to fabricate 3D nanostructured metal alloys of two or more nanoparticle materials with varied composite concentrations under various predetermined conditions. This technique can lead to promising solutions for the fabrication of 3D nanostructured metal alloys in applications such as fuel-cell energy generation and development of custom-designed, functionally graded biomaterials and biocomposites.     

A Real-Time Application of Modified Inductor Coupled KY Converter Topology in Speed Control of E-Bikes

Abstract

Congested road network and traffic jam lead to vehicle idling and fuel wastage. An E-bike which is a solution to this is often available with Thumb Throttle Mechanism and single speed operation. A motor controller with multiple output voltage levels and Click Throttle Mechanism is presented in this paper which provides variable speed operation, better power utilization and is highly economical. Proposed modified KY converter utilizes the turns ratio of an On-Line Tap Changer (OLTC) to generate multiple output voltages for variable speed commutation. This possess a stable continuous conduction mode throughout its operation and reduced switching transients when compared to the existing topologies. Mutually independent control variables namely turns ratio and duty ratio, are used here for voltage conversion, which facilitates the flexible transition between multiple output voltage levels. A 15?W prototype of the proposed modified inductor coupled KY converter is realized using Arduino Uno Board.