Graphene‐based ternary composites for supercapacitors

The research on electrode materials for supercapacitor application continues to evolve as the request of high‐energy storage system has increased globally due to the demand for energy consumption. Over the past decades, various types of carbon‐based materials have been employed as electrode materials for high‐performance supercapacitor application. Among them, graphene is 1 of the most widely used carbon‐based materials due to its excellent properties including high surface area and excellent conductivity. To exploit more of its interesting properties, graphene is tailored to produce graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide to improve the dispersibility in water and easy to be incorporated with other materials to form binary composites or even ternary composites. Nowadays, ternary composites have attracted enormous interest as 2 materials (binary composites) cannot satisfy the requirement of the high‐performance supercapacitor. Thus, many approaches have been employed to fabricate ternary composites by combining 3 different types of electroactive materials for high‐performance supercapacitor application. This review focuses on the supercapacitive performance of graphene‐based ternary composites with different types of active materials, ie, conducting polymers, metal oxide, and other carbon‐based materials.     

The comparison of several lipid extraction methods on infant formula for 3-monochloropropanediol esters and glycidyl esters analysis

This study aimed to determine the best lipid extraction method for infant formula; therefore, it can be used as a routine analysis. The samples were some commercial infant formulas in Indonesia. The research was conducted with three steps: (i) Lipid extraction of infant formula using five lipid extraction methods; (ii) 3-monochloropropanediol esters (3-MCPDE) and glycidyl esters (GE) analysis of lipid extract from three lipid extraction methods in the first step; and (iii) 3-MCPDE and GE analysis of six commercial infant formulas using the best lipid extraction method. The results showed that lipid extraction using the Dubois method gave the best results than other lipid extraction methods. The level of 3-MCPDE and GE also had no significant difference with the addition of NaCl in the Folch method, compared with the addition of Na₂SO₄. The level of 3-MCPDE and GE using the Dubois method was significantly different and higher compared with the other lipid extraction methods. 3-MCPDE and GE levels of commercial infant formula were 6.62–52.84 µg kg⁻¹ and <1.43–17.06 µg kg⁻¹, respectively. The values obtained were still within the standard according to Commission Regulation EU 2018/290 by the European Food Safety Authority (125 µg kg⁻¹ for 3-MCPDE (on progress) and 50 µg kg⁻¹ for GE).     

Microwave Backscatter Dependence on Surface Roughness, Soil Moisture, And Soil Texture: Part III-Soil Tension

Results are presented of an experimental program to determine the impact of soil texture on radar response to soil moisture present within nonvegetated soil surfaces. These findings extend previous reports which document the experimental relationship between the radar backscattering coefficient ?° and soil moisture for bare soil [1] and soil under crop canopies [2]. In confirmation of previous results [1] and [2], the sensitivity of ?° to surface gravimetric or volumetric soil moisture is shown to be inversely related to clay content of the soil. As a result, gravimetric or volumetric moisture indicators exhibit poor performance in moisture estimation algorithms for complex multitextured soils. However, estimation algorithms incorporating some knowledge of soil water retention as a function of soil matric potential, or tension, display strong correlation with radar response, typically r ? 0.8, and are shown to be relatively independent of soil texture. These findings are shown to be consistent with soil dielectric properties [3]-[5].     

Conductivity enhancement by controlled percolation of inorganic salt in multiphase hexanoyl chitosan/polystyrene polymer blends

Hexanoyl chitosan and polystyrene blends are immiscible by the elucidation of the glass transition temperature (T_g) as well as the viscometric and morphological analyses. Selective localization of the lithium salt in hexanoyl chitosan phase as the percolation pathway enhanced the conductivity in the blends as compared to the neat hexanoyl chitosan. The ionic conductivity of a polymer electrolyte is described by σ = enμ. Thus, estimation of charge carrier density (n) and mobility (μ) is important in order to assess the performance. In this work, these parameters are calculated using impedance spectroscopy and FTIR.     

Review of Dendritic Cells,Their Role in Clinical Immunology,and Distribution in Various Animal Species

Dendritic cells (DCs) are cells derived from the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) of the bone marrow and form a widely distributed cellular system throughout the body. They are the most efficient, potent, and professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) of the immune system, inducing and dispersing a primary immune response by the activation of naïve T-cells, and playing an important role in the induction and maintenance of immune tolerance under homeostatic conditions. Thus, this review has elucidated the general aspects of DCs as well as the current dynamic perspectives and distribution of DCs in humans and in various species of animals that includes mouse, rat, birds, dog, cat, horse, cattle, sheep, pig, and non-human primates. Besides the role that DCs play in immune response, they also play a pathogenic role in many diseases, thus becoming a target in disease prevention and treatment. In addition, its roles in clinical immunology have also been addressed, which include its involvement in transplantation, autoimmune disease, viral infections, cancer, and as a vaccine target. Therefore, based on the current knowledge and understanding of the important roles they play, DCs can be used in the future as a powerful tool for manipulating the immune system.     

Microstructure and Hardness Properties Investigation of Ti and Nb Added FeNiAlCuCrTi x Nb y High Entropy Alloys

Properties of pure metals can be enhanced by alloying with other metallic or non-metallic elements according to the need. However, as multiple alloying elements in an alloy may lead to the formation of many intermetallic compounds with complex microstructures and poor mechanical properties, new types of metallic alloys called high entropy alloys with at least five elements with equimolar ratios were developed. In this study, FeNiAlCuCrTi _x Nb _y (x, y = 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5) alloys have been prepared using Ar arc melting technique. Microstructural studies using scanning electron microscope and XRD showed that Ti addition promoted secondary BCC₂ phase whereas, Nb acted as FCC stabilizer. Samples with combined Nb and Ti addition showed FCC₁ and FCC₂ structure with Nb-rich FCC₂ dendritic phase as dominant phase. Though, individual Nb and Ti additions have resulted in increased hardness, combined additions have resulted in highest hardness of 797 HV under 1 kg load.     

Characterization of TiCN and TiCN/ZrN coatings for cutting tool application

Coating a cutting tool improves wear resistance and prolongs tool life. Coating performance strongly depends on the mechanical and chemical properties of the coating material. In a machining process, the type of selected coating depends on the cutting condition because of the properties of the applied coating material. In addition, many factors, such as coating thickness, composition ratio, sequences of layers in multilayer coatings, and the deposition method influence the performance of a coating. In this study, the mechanical properties of TiCN and TiCN/ZrN were investigated using a ball on disk test. The substrate material made from a carbide-based cutting tool was also developed in-house. The analysis performed shows that the performances of TiCN and TiCN/ZrN coatings were found to be comparable to that of the commercial TiN-coated carbide-based cutting tool. Both the in-house and commercial coated inserts had significantly lower coefficient of friction than uncoated inserts, and the friction coefficient of TiCN coatings was constantly slightly lower than that of TiN coatings. Moreover, the coefficient of friction of the in-house developed TiCN was slightly lower than that of commercial TiN coating. However, the coefficient of friction of the in-house developed uncoated carbide inserts was slightly higher than that of commercial uncoated carbide inserts.