All solid-state battery with sulfur electrode and thio-LISICON electrolyte

A high-capacity type of all solid-state battery was developed using sulfur electrode and the thio-LISICON electrolyte. New nano-composite of sulfur and acetylene black (AB) with an average particle size of 1–10 nm was fabricated by gas-phase mixing and showed a reversible capacity of 900 mAh g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.013 mA cm⁻².     

EFFECT OF HEATING MODES ON INTERNAL STRAIN-STRESS FORMATION DURING DRYING OF MOLDED CERAMICS

Parametric analyses in drying processes of molded ceramics are performed to investigate the influence of heating modes on the formation of drying-induced strain-stress as well as the drying characteristic. The transient three-dimensional problem of strain-stress and heat and moisture transfer in a slab is solved simultaneously by the finite element method. Three modes of hot air, intermittent and internal heating are compared by modeling in the normalized parameters. The tensile and compressive stresses fluctuate, and fall remarkably during the low Biot number period when the slab is heated intermittently. In the internal heating mode, the drying rate is the fastest but stress formation is maintained at the lowest level among the three modes. This effectiveness of the internal heating is investigated experimentally by employing the microwave heating as well.     

Laser-Sintered Barium Titanate

Laser sintering of alkoxy-derived ultrafine BaTiO₃ powders was investigated. The temperature increases of the sample with laser irradiation were measured with a thermocouple. It was found that laser irradiation could generate enough heat to sinter ceramics. A slurry was prepared by mixing an alkoxy-derived BaTiO₃ powder, binder additives, solvent, and plasticizer. The slurry was tape cast and dried to give a green sheet. The green sheet was laser sintered and was then characterized by SEM, XRD, and density measurements. The effect of burnout before laser irradiation and the characteristic microstructure of laser-sintered BaTiO₃ are described.     

Interfacial tension of demixed polymer solutions near the critical temperature: polystyrene + methylcyclohexane

Interfacial tension between demixed solutions of polystyrene + methylcyclohexane has been measured near the critical temperature as a function of temperature using polystyrenes with molecular weights 9000 ～ 1.26 × 10⁶. The critical exponent for the interfacial tension was determined to be about 1.30 for the lower molecular weight systems. However, for higher molecular weights the exponent could not be obtained because the system departed from critical behaviour. Magnitudes of the interfacial tension were proportional to about N^?0.44, where N is the polymerization index. Experimental results were compared with the recently-proposed theories and found to be in qualitative agreement. The tricritical theory of polymer solutions was also compared with the experimental results.     

Preparation of Porous Ceramics with Calcium Metaphosphate Fiber Skeleton for Biomedical Use

High-strength calcium metaphosphate fibers for biomedical applications are extracted from crystallized products of calcium ultraphosphate glasses by aqueous leaching. In the present work, new types of porous ceramics with a skeleton composed of the crystalline fibers are prepared by heating the fibrous products extracted. The fibers in the ceramic are interlinked to each other by glassy phases formed during the heating. This porous material has a large porosity of >60%. The surface of the skeleton can be successfully converted into new calcium phosphate phases such as apatite by heating the porous material treated with a molten salt mixture of CaCl₂-Ca(NO₃)₂.     

Pervaporation of methanol–water mixture by poly(γ-methyl L-glutamate) membrane and synergetic effect of their mixture on diffusion rate

The pervaporation behaviors of methanol–water by poly(γ-methyl L -glutamate) (PMLG) membrane at non-steady- and steady-state permeation were investigated. The values of t_1/2 (time required to reach a half value of steady-state permeation flux) for methanol and water changed and did not change with the component in feed, respectively. Both of the average diffusion coefficients for methanol–and water–PMLG from the mixture changed exponentially with the sorption amount of methanol by the synergetic effect on diffusion. The difference in behavior of non-steady and steady state diffusion was explained by whether D_o (diffusion coefficient at zero penetrant concentration) was influenced by the concentration distribution of penetrant in PMLG membrane.     

Cation Effect on the Binary and Ternary Phase Behaviors of Double-Tailed Methanesulfonate Amphiphiles

A series of symmetrical dialkyl methanesulfonate amphiphiles [DiC _n CHSO ₃ ] _m M (n = 6, 7, 8) with different counter cations (M^m+ = H⁺, Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sc³⁺) were synthesized in five steps. Their solubility and critical micelle concentration (CMC) in water were determined highlighting a huge effect of the chain length and the nature of the cation. The hydrophilic–lipophilic balance of the surfactants were assessed with the phase inversion temperature (PIT)-slope method based on the deviation from the PIT of the reference C₁₀E₄/n-octane/0.01 M NaCl_(aq) emulsion through addition of increasing amounts of the dialkyl methanesulfonates. The hydrophilicity of the surfactants was thus ranked in terms of dPIT/dx_sulfonate. A “cation” scan with the [DiC ₆ CHSO ₃ ] _m M /benzene/water systems at f_w = 0.5 was finally performed confirming the hydrophilicity ranking obtained with the PIT-slope method. It revealed that the [DiC ₆ CHSO ₃ ] ₂ Mg behaves as a “Balanced Surfactant” able to form spontaneously a three-phase microemulsion system (Winsor III) just in the presence of water and oil, in the same way as the catalytic surfactant dimethyldioctylammonium molybdate, which has the same PIT-slope.     

Relation between crystal structure and lattice oxygen content of sintered reaction-bonded silicon nitride

When reaction-bonded silicon nitride containing MgO/Y₂O₃ additives is sintered at three different temperatures to form sintered reaction-bonded silicon nitride (SRBSN), the thermal conductivity increases with sintering temperature. The β-Si₃N₄ (silicon nitride) crystals of SRBSN ceramics were synthesized and characterized to investigate the relation between the crystal structure and the lattice oxygen content. The hot-gas extraction measurement result and the crystal structure obtained using Rietveld analysis suggested that the unit cell size of the β-Si₃N₄ crystal increases with the decrease in the lattice oxygen content. This result is reasonable considering that the lattice oxygen with the smaller covalent radius substitutes nitrogen with the larger one in the β-Si₃N₄ crystals. The lattice oxygen content decreased with increasing sintering temperature which also correlated with increase in thermal conductivity. Moreover, it is noteworthy from the viewpoint that it may be possible to apply the lattice constant analysis for the nondestructive and simple measurement of the lattice oxygen content that deteriorates the thermal conductivity of the β-Si₃N₄ ceramics.     

Measurement of particle concentration in powder coating process using capacitance computed tomography and wavelet analysis

Capacitance computed tomography techniques were used to visualize particles movement in the draft tube of a spouted fluidized bed for the coating process of drug production. A total of 512 frames images of the particle concentration distribution were obtained at 10-millisecond intervals over a coating time of 5 min using a capacitance computed tomography system. The three-dimensional capacitance CT images (time and two-dimensional space images) were decomposed to wavelet time and space levels to extract the dominant particle distribution feature using three-dimensional discrete wavelet multiresolution at different coating times. As a result, the time and space dominant particle distribution with a specific frequency level can be visualized.     

Poly(4-diphenylaminostyrene) with a well-defined polymer chain structure: Controllable optical and electrical properties

The effect of polymer chain structure on the optical and electrical properties are reported for poly(4-diphenylaminostyrene) (PDAS), which was prepared by the living anionic polymerization of 4-diphenylaminostyrene (DAS) with the benzyllithium (BzLi)/N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) system. The optical properties of PDAS are strongly affected by the stereoregularity of the PDAS polymer chain; intramolecular excimer-forming fluorescence was observed from PDAS with a syndiotactic-rich configuration. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels of PDAS were approximately −5.4 and −2.0 eV, respectively, regardless of the polymer chain structure. The hole and electron drift mobilities for PDAS were in the order of 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻⁵ (cm²/V s) and 10⁻⁵ (cm²/V s), respectively, with negative slopes. The distance of each triphenylamino (TPA) group in the polymer chain was a major factor influencing the drift mobility of PDAS. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of PDAS were controllable according to the polymer chain structure of PDAS.