Low Temperature Hall Effect Investigation of Conducting Polymer-Carbon Nanotubes Composite Network

Polypyrrole (PPy) and polypyrrole-carboxylic functionalized multi wall carbon nanotube composites (PPy/f-MWCNT) were synthesized by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of pyrrole on the carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The structure of the resulting complex nanotubes was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The effects of f-MWCNT concentration on the electrical properties of the resulting composites were studied at temperatures between 100 K and 300 K. The Hall mobility and Hall coefficient of PPy and PPy/f-MWCNT composite samples with different concentrations of f-MWCNT were measured using the van der Pauw technique. The mobility decreased slightly with increasing temperature, while the conductivity was dominated by the gradually increasing carrier density.     

Frequency and Voltage Dependence of Dielectric Loss of MgB2 Composites at Different Temperatures

The dielectric loss (ε″) properties of MgB₂ composites were investigated by using the conductance–voltage (G/w–V) measurements in the wide frequency and applied bias voltage range at four different temperature levels. Experimental results show that both G/w and ε″ are found strong functions of frequency and applied bias voltage for each temperature level. These changes in G/w and ε″ are considerably high especially at low frequencies and temperatures. The values of ε″ decrease exponentially with increasing frequency until 100 kHz and then become almost constant. Such behavior of G/w and ε″ shows that interfacial polarization is more effective especially at low frequencies. In addition, the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics were also evaluated for 100, 200, and 300 K, and the I–V curves for each temperature show linear behavior. Results indicate that the G/w–V measurements may be a useful tool to characterize the dielectric properties and conductivity of MgB₂.     

Oil palm bunch ripeness classification using fluorescence technique

Oil palm is Malaysia’s major agriculture product and it covers approximately 5 million hectares of Malaysia’s land. Limited land resources have been an important factor that motivated the need to increase oil extraction rate (OER). OER of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) depends highly on their maturity stage. The ripe oil palm FFB will produce high OER while the under ripe and over ripe oil palm FFB will produce less oil. Thus, this paper presents a method of classification between oil palm FFB into ripe, under-ripe and over-ripe categories. This research was done at an oil palm plantation in peninsular Malaysia. A total of two-hundred and ten oil palm FFB that consist of seventy bunches for each category of under-ripe, ripe and over-ripe had been used. Each bunch was scanned ten times randomly with a hand-held multi-parameter fluorescence sensor called Multiplex®3. The parameter measured was the Blue-to-Red Fluorescence Ratio (BRR_FRF) obtained from blue-green (447 nm) and far-red (685 nm) emission signal by using ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diode as excitation light source. The novel contribution of this research is to prove that the oil palm FFB maturity can be determined using the Blue-to-Red Fluorescence ratio index. This is based to our finding of a significant difference among the three categories of ripeness based on the parameter. Classification and Regression Tree (C&RT) method was proposed in this paper. Hundred-fifty samples were used to develop the model by trained it using C&RT method and the remaining sixty samples for the test component. By using the C&RT method, the results show the best accuracy of overall testing classification is 90%. This research will be useful for future development of non-destructive, automatic and real time oil palm FFB grading system.     

Spatial competition and flexible manufacturing with spatially discriminatory pricing

This paper develops a two-dimensional spatial framework, in which firms have the technique of flexible manufacturing and engage in spatially discriminatory pricing, in order to explore the firms’ optimal locations and optimal attributes of basic products under linear transportation costs. The paper shows that the two firms will agglomerate at the center of the location line and the optimal attributes of the two basic products will be located at the first and third quartiles of the attribute line, respectively, when the ratio of the marginal modification rate to the transport rate is high. It also shows that the two firms will locate separately on the location line and that the optimal attributes of the two basic products will remain at the first and third quartiles, when this ratio is moderate. Moreover, this paper proves that the two firms will locate at the first and third quartiles of the location line, respectively, and that the attributes of the basic products will agglomerate at the center of the attribute line, when this ratio is low.     

A novel method for determining effects of fire damage on the safety of the Type I pressure hydrogen storage tanks

Consumption of the fossil fuels causes greenhouse gas effect and environmental pollution, which are two basic problems of our age. As a result of this problem, clean and renewable alternative energy sources are beginning to replace fossil fuels. Nowadays, the use of hydrogen energy, which is one of the clean energy, is increasing in transportation and industrial areas. Increasing of hydrogen energy usage, scientists are attempting to solve the many safety problems (such as fire, burst, impact and hydrogen embrittlement) that can occur during the storage and consumption of hydrogen energy. In this study, during the event of fire, the safety of metallic Type I pressure hydrogen storage tanks is investigated by using a novel approach. In this new approach, the mechanical strength drops of the tank materials that is related with temperature rising are added to the safety calculations. In the study, 6061 T6 aluminum and SS 316L stainless steel alloys were used as hydrogen tank material. The safety of hydrogen tanks modelled using these alloys was investigated under different temperature conditions (22, 100, 200 and 300 °C) and internal pressure (15, 20 and 25 MPa).     

Experimental study on drying of pear slices in a convective dryer

The experiments were conducted on pear slices with thickness of 5 mm at temperatures of 50, 57, 64 and 71 °C with an air velocity of 2.0 m s^?1. Prior to drying, pear slices were pretreated with citric acid solution (0.5% w/w, 1 min, 20 °C) or blanched in hot water (1 min, 85 °C). Also, the untreated samples were dried as control. The shortest drying time of pear slices was obtained with pretreatment with citric acid solution. It was observed that whole drying process of pear slices took place in a falling rate period. Four mathematical models were tested to fit drying data of pear slices. According to the statistical criteria (R², χ² and RMSE), the Midilli et al. model was found to be the best model to describe the drying behaviour of pear slices. The effective diffusivity of moisture transfer during drying process varied between 8.56 × 10^?11 and 2.25 × 10^?10 m² s^?1, while the activation energy of moisture diffusion in pear slices was found to be 34.95–41.00 kJ mol^?1.     

UV curable lens production using molecular weight controlled PEEK based acrylic oligomer (Ac-PEEK)

We produced UV curable lenses with properties blocking short wave UV light. In the UV-curable formulations, we used an oligomer (Ac-PEEK) with another urethan oligomer (Mw = 2000). Radically active, molecular weight controlled Ac-PEEK was obtained by reacting 2-hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate with molecular- weight- controlled and isocyanate terminated PEEK (Mn = 4500). We characterized all synthesized monomer, oligomer and optical materials with UV/Vis spectrophotometer with interferogram, elemental analyser, mass spectrophotometer, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analyzer, differential scanning calorimeter, scanning electron microscopy and gas chromatography. Results suggested that newly synthesized oligomer with the structure of PEEK absorbs short wave UV-light. Ageing tests [ISO 11979-5, Ophthalmic implants—intraocular lenses (IOL)—Part 5: Biocompatibility] performed on the IOL materials were successful. High contact angle of the obtained lenses suggests that all lenses were hydrophobic and SEM results revealed that lenses are morphologically homogeneous. Based on all positive properties just mentioned, we safely conclude that the lenses produced in this study are very promising for IOL production.     

Investigation of current‐voltage characteristics and current conduction mechanisms in composites of polyvinyl alcohol and bismuth oxide

Temperature dependent current‐voltage (I–V) measurements of Au/Polyvinyl Alcohol + Bi₂O₃/n‐Si structure were conducted between 100 and 350 K for investigating the temperature dependence of I–V characteristics and current conduction mechanisms in the structure. Series resistance of the structure is calculated using Ohm's law and Cheungs' method. Ideality factor (n) and zero‐bias barrier height (Φ_Bo) were obtained considering thermionic emission theory. From 100 to 350 K, n changed from 32.1 to 3.54, and Φ_Bo changed from 0.27 to 0.99 eV. Obtained temperature dependent values of n and Φ_Bo suggested that thermionic emission is not the dominant current conduction mechanism. Therefore, Ln(I)–Ln(V) curves of the studied structure were plotted for investigating current conduction mechanisms in the structure and current flow is explained considering space charge limited current. Moreover, density of interface states (D_it) in the structure were calculated and its temperature dependence was investigated such that D_it values are reduced to the order of ～10¹³ eV^?1 cm^?2 from ～10¹⁴ eV^?1 cm^?2 with increasing temperature. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:1811–1816, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers