Percolation threshold and morphology of composites of conducting carbon black/polypropylene/EVA

Conducting carbon black (CB), one of the intrinsic semi-conductors, was added into matrix polypropylene (PP) to prepare conducting composites by means of the melt processing method. Another component EVA was mixed into the composites in order to lower the percolation threshold. The percolation threshold of the ternary CB/PP/EVA composites was merely 3.8 vol%, while it was up to 7.8 vol% for the binary CB/PP composites without EVA. The conductivity of the ternary CB/PP/EVA composites was up to 10^–2 S/cm when the CB percentage was 5 vol%, while that of the binary CB/PP was lower than 10^–2 S/cm when the CB percentage was up to 10 vol%. DSC thermograms of the CB/PP/EVA composites showed that the melting peak shifted to low temperature with increasing CB content. The addition of CB and EVA resulted in the decrease of the crystallinity of PP in the ternary composites. The mechanical properties are also discussed. SEM and TEM were employed to study the morphology of the blend system. The results indicated that CB existed in the form of aggregations in the blend system. The smallest unit that formed a percolation network was grape-like aggregates with some small branches, which consisted of some CB particles, rather than the individual particles. This distribution was very valuable for forming conducting paths and for lowering the percolation value.     

The effects of surface-plasma treatment of thin-film hydrogen silesquioxane low k dielectric

Hydrogen silesquioxane (HSQ) is a low dielectric constant material and a potential substitute for conventional silicon dioxide insulator in ULSI system. In this study, the effect of plasma treatment on HSQ films is investigated. The bond structure changes of HSQ after curing, plasma treatment, and water absorption were observed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Densification of the film occurs after curing, the higher the curing temperature, the lower the dielectric constant and refractive index of the film. Both H₂- and O₂-plasma treatments are employed in this study. The H₂-plasma bombardment enhances the formation of the network structure but raises the moisture absorption of HSQ films. It is found that films subjected to both H₂- and O₂-plasma treatments have lower dielectric constant than those subjected to O₂ treatment alone. Possible mechanisms for the effects of plasma treatments are explored. The residual stress of HSQ film is also studied.     

Producing a compact long-lived plasma formation

A method of producing compact long-lived plasma formations (plasmoids) is described. The method is based on the effect of capture of a high-current relativistic electron beam under conditions of significant overcompensation of space charge of the beam by positive background ions. Requirements are formulated which are placed on the parameters of a plasma-beam system for the realization of this method, and numerical estimates are given of the overall electric charge and energy content of the electron component of a plasmoid. The dynamics of forming a plasmoid are investigated experimentally.Translated from Teplofizika Vysokikh Temperatur, Vol. 42, No. 6, 2004, pp. 843–849.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by B. V. Alekhin, A. E. Dubinov, V. S. Zhdanov, V. G Kornilov, K. E. Mikheev, V. D. Selemir, N. V. Stepanov, V. I. Chelpanov, and O. A. Shamro.     

Optimal design of unit hydrographs using probability distribution and genetic algorithms

A nonlinear optimization model is developed to transmute a unit hydrograph into a probability distribution function (PDF). The objective function is to minimize the sum of the square of the deviation between predicted and actual direct runoff hydrograph of a watershed. The predicted runoff hydrograph is estimated by using a PDF. In a unit hydrograph, the depth of rainfall excess must be unity and the ordinates must be positive. Incorporation of a PDF ensures that the depth of rainfall excess for the unit hydrograph is unity, and the ordinates are also positive. Unit hydrograph ordinates are in terms of intensity of rainfall excess on a discharge per unit catchment area basis, the unit area thus representing the unit rainfall excess. The proposed method does not have any constraint. The nonlinear optimization formulation is solved using binary-coded genetic algorithms. The number of variables to be estimated by optimization is the same as the number of probability distribution parameters; gamma and log-normal probability distributions are used. The existing nonlinear programming model for obtaining optimal unit hydrograph has also been solved using genetic algorithms, where the constrained nonlinear optimization problem is converted to an unconstrained problem using penalty parameter approach. The results obtained are compared with those obtained by the earlier LP model and are fairly similar.     

Effect of synthesis temperature on density and microstructure of MgB2 superconductor at ambient pressure

The experimental thermodynamic of MgB₂ synthesis process and phase compositions have been investigated by diffraction thermal analysis (DTA) technology and X-ray diffraction. The fabrication of MgB₂ bulks and superconducting properties at the temperatures range from 600 to 800°C were reported. And microstructure of MgB₂ bulks were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). A method was developed to determine the porosity of MgB₂ and the highest density can be obtained in MgB₂ prepared at 650°C at ambient pressure. It is found that the vapor pressure of Mg increases remarkably at high temperature, leading to the high porosity in MgB₂ samples. MgB₂ bulk with good superconducting property and fine microstructure was synthesized at 750°C.     

Investigation of elastic modulus of nanoporous alumina membrane

Nanoporous alumina membranes containing parallel regular pores of uniform size and normal to substrate surface were fabricated by anodically oxidizing high purity aluminum foils in acid solutions and their elastic modulus was investigated. The continuous out-of-plane displacement and current load of the porous membranes were obtained through bulge test combining real-time ESPI (electronic speckle pattern interferometry) observation system. Then the elastic modulus was calculated through an analytical model and the pore distortion after load was characterized by HRSEM (high resolution scan electron microscope). Measurement of mechanical properties indicates unusual mechanical behavior of these anodic alumina films compared with bulk alumina materials. This observation may help shed light on fracture mechanism of these films with nanopore arrays and bring further understanding on connecting of micro-meso structure and mechanical properties.