High-efficiency mechanochemical synthesis of Strontium carbonate nanopowder from Celestite

In this study, the conversion of Celestite to SrCO₃ was studied by wet mechanochemical synthesis in a high-energy ball mill and treatment with Na₂CO₃. For this purpose, solid strontium carbonate and soluble Na₂SO₄ were obtained after wet milling of Celestite powder and sodium carbonate. The solid phase was washed with water at room temperature by filter pressing. X-Ray diffraction patterns showed that the SrCO₃ nanopowder was synthesized and conversion boosted with increasing the milling time up to 8 hours Also, Rietveld refinement analysis was used to calculate the fraction of SrCO₃ as well as structural properties of synthesized samples. It was found that initial Celestite could be converted to strontium carbonate with a purity more than 98% using high-energy milling without simultaneous heating. The optimum milling time was determined as 4 hours resulting in formation of nanopowders with an average particle size around 90 nm. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), clearly showed the nanoscale structure of the synthesized powders.     

A CSO-based approach for secure data replication in cloud computing environment

The Journal of Supercomputing - Cloud computing has a significant impact on information technology solutions for both organizations and researchers. Different users share critical data over the...     

The Oxidation Mechanism of Pure Aluminum Powder Particles

The oxidation mechanism of aluminum powder particles was studied by simultaneous TG–DTA analysis (under air atmosphere) at different heating rates (10, 20 and 30?°C/min) and from an ambient temperature up to 1,400?°C. Also, the rate of oxidation reaction (rate of weight gain; RTG) was obtained by the differentiation of weight gain (TGG) curve. Additionally, SEM and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) studies were performed on each of the above samples for their structural and phase studies. The results obtained from TG–DTA and RTG curves; microstructure and phase analysis studies indicated that the oxidation of aluminum powders occurred during five stages. On the other hand, according to the results obtained from XRD and TGG curves, aluminum particles after the thermal analysis test, even heated up to 1,400?°C, were not entirely oxidized (i.e. less than 10?%).     

Determination of aflatoxins in animal feeds by HPLC with multifunctional column clean-up

A reversed-phase HPLC method with fluorescence detection for the determination of the aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 in 42 animal feeds, comprising corn (16), soya bean meal (8), mixed meal (13), sunflower, wheat, canola, palm kernel, copra meals (1 each) was carried out. The samples were first extracted using acetonitrile:water (9:1), and was further cleaned-up using a multifunctional column. Optimum conditions for the extraction and chromatographic separation were investigated. By adopting an isocratic chromatographic system using a mobile phase comprising acetonitrile:methanol:water (8:27:65, v/v/v), the separation of the four aflatoxins was possible within 30 min. Recoveries for aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 were 98 ± 0.7%, 95 ± 1.0%, 94 ± 3.6% and 97 ± 4.3%, respectively. The results show that eight samples (19%) were contaminated with aflatoxins, ranging from 6.5 to 101.9 ng g^?1. Total aflatoxin levels in three samples exceed the legal limits of many countries of 20 ng g^?1.     

Multi-Scale Modeling the Mechanical Properties of Biaxial Weft Knitted Fabrics for Composite Applications

In this paper a multi-scale numerical model for simulating the mechanical behavior of biaxial weft knitted fabrics produced based on 1×1 rib structure is presented. Fabrics were produced on a modern flat knitting machine using polyester as stitch yarns and nylon as straight yarns. A macro constitutive equation was presented to model the fabric mechanical behavior as a continuum material. User defined material subroutines were provided to implement the constitutive behavior in Abaqus software. The constitutive equation needs remarkable tensile tests on the fabric as the inputs. To solve this drawbacks meso scale modeling of the fabric was used to predict stress–strain curves of the fabric in three different directions (course, wale and 45°). In these simulations only the yarn properties are needed. To evaluate the accuracy of the proposed macro and meso models, fabric tensile behavior in 22.5 and 67.5° directions were simulated by the calibrated macro model and compared with experimental results. Spherical deformation was also simulated by the multi scale model and compared with experimental results. The results showed that the multi-scale modeling can successfully predict the tensile and spherical deformation of the biaxial weft knitted fabric with least required experiments. This model will be useful for composite applications.     

Nanodiamonds for In Vivo Applications

Due to their unique optical properties, diamonds are the most valued gemstones. However, beyond the sparkle, diamonds have a number of unique properties. Their extreme hardness gives them outstanding performance as abrasives and cutting tools. Similar to many materials, their nanometer‐sized form has yet other unique properties. Nanodiamonds are very inert but still can be functionalized on the surface. Additionally, they can be made in very small sizes and a narrow size distribution. Nanodiamonds can also host very stable fluorescent defects. Since they are protected in the crystal lattice, they never bleach. These defects can also be utilized for nanoscale sensing since they change their optical properties, for example, based on temperature or magnetic fields in their surroundings. In this Review, in vivo applications are focused upon. To this end, how different diamond materials are made and how this affects their properties are discussed first. Next, in vivo biocompatibility studies are reviewed. Finally, the reader is introduced to in vivo applications of diamonds. These include drug delivery, aiding radiology, labeling, and use in cosmetics. The field is critically reviewed and a perspective on future developments is provided.     

Hierarchical data replication strategy to improve performance in cloud computing

Cloud computing environment is getting more interesting as a new trend of data management. Data replication has been widely applied to improve data access in distributed systems such as Grid and Cloud. However, due to the finite storage capacity of each site, copies that are useful for future jobs can be wastefully deleted and replaced with less valuable ones. Therefore, it is considerable to have appropriate replication strategy that can dynamically store the replicas while satisfying quality of service (QoS) requirements and storage capacity constraints. In this paper, we present a dynamic replication algorithm, named hierarchical data replication strategy (HDRS). HDRS consists of the replica creation that can adaptively increase replicas based on exponential growth or decay rate, the replica placement according to the access load and labeling technique, and finally the replica replacement based on the value of file in the future. We evaluate different dynamic data replication methods using CloudSim simulation. Experiments demonstrate that HDRS can reduce response time and bandwidth usage compared with other algorithms. It means that the HDRS can determine a popular file and replicates it to the best site. This method avoids useless replications and decreases access latency by balancing the load of sites.     

Toward mechanistic understanding the effect of aspect ratio of carbon nanotubes upon different properties of polyurethane/carbon nanotube nanocomposite foam

This study investigated the carbon nanotube's aspect ratio's influence on the nanocomposite foams' cellular structure and mechanical, acoustic absorption characteristics. The free-rising foaming process has been used for producing different flexible polyurethane (PU) foams embedded with other multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT's). Dynamic mechanical and thermal analysis, flow resistivity, and compressive mechanical measurements were achieved on the prepared samples. The acoustic absorption coefficient in a wide range of frequencies was estimated for the prepared PU/CNT foamed nanocomposite samples. Results indicated that by increasing the aspect ratio of MWCNT, the absorption coefficient's peak shifts toward the lower frequencies and improved sound absorption characteristics of PU foam in the low-frequency region. Moreover, the Young modulus of nanocomposite samples increases by increasing the aspect ratio of MWCNT's, whereas the stored strain energy or area under the stress–strain curve increases. Based on the obtained results, it is observed that the acoustic absorption coefficient of produced nanocomposite foams at the frequency of 800 Hz has been reported to have a 70% improvement in 2 cm samples and a 40% improvement in 3 cm samples compared to obtained results from pure PU foam.     

Aqueous Colloidal Stability Evaluated by Zeta Potential Measurement and Resultant TiO2 for Superior Photovoltaic Performance

Controlling the morphological structure of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is crucial for obtaining superior power conversion efficiency for dye‐sensitized solar cells. Although the sol–gel‐based process has been developed for this purpose, there has been limited success in resisting the aggregation of nanostructured TiO₂, which could act as an obstacle for mass production. Herein, we report a simple approach to improve the efficiency of dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSC) by controlling the degree of aggregation and particle surface charge through zeta potential analysis. We found that different aqueous colloidal conditions, i.e., potential of hydrogen (pH), water/titanium alkoxide (titanium isopropoxide) ratio, and surface charge, obviously led to different particle sizes in the range of 10–500 nm. We have also shown that particles prepared under acidic conditions are more effective for DSSC application regarding the modification of surface charges to improve dye loading and electron injection rate properties. Power conversion efficiency of 6.54%, open‐circuit voltage of 0.73 V, short‐circuit current density of 15.32 mA/cm², and fill factor of 0.73 were obtained using anatase TiO₂ optimized to 10–20 nm in size, as well as by the use of a compact TiO₂ blocking layer.