Mathematical Description of Experimentally Determined Charge Distributions of a Unipolar Diffusion Charger

The charge distributions of an improved opposed flow unipolar diffusion charger were measured using a tandem differential mobility analyzer (DMA) set up in a size range of approximately 20–400 nm. The charger is intended to be used in a portable aerosol sizer to measure particle size distributions. The determined charge distributions were represented by lognormal distributions, and a set of equations and coefficients was developed to calculate the charge distributions. These equations can be easily implemented in software for size distribution measurements. The agreement between the mathematically derived and measured charge distributions is very good, with regression coefficients R ² > 0.96. The investigations showed that approximately 55% of 20-nm particles remain uncharged, while up to 25 elementary charges need to be considered for multiple charge correction of 400-nm particles. Comparison with the Fuchs theory delivered satisfying agreement with the measured average charge levels, but charge distributions cannot be described by the Fuchs theory, likely caused by the charger geometry.

Copyright 2012 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Synthesis and characterization of novel poly(aniline-co-m-aminoacetophenone) copolymer nanocomposites using dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid as a soft template

A series of dodecylbenzene sulphonic acid (DBSA) doped poly(aniline-co-m-aminoacetophenone) copolymer composites of different compositions were synthesized in micellar solution of DBSA to obtain nanosphere morphology with enhanced processability. The plausible mechanism for the formation of poly(aniline-co-m-aminoacetophenone)-DBSA copolymer composite has been presented. These DBSA doped copolymer composites were characterized by UV–Visible, FTIR spectroscopy and XRD analysis techniques. UV–Vis absorption spectrum of the composites showed 325 and 637 nm which corresponds to the π–π* and n–π* transition. In FTIR spectroscopy a broad band around 2,924 cm^?1 corresponds to C–H vibration of DBSA indicating good agreement with the characteristic bands of DBSA. The sharp band at 1,292 cm^?1 is assigned to C–N stretching mode of vibration of N–Ph–N units. The X-ray diffraction of composites reveals that these composites are amorphous in nature. The number of diffraction peaks decreased with increase in the m-aminoacetophenone content. It indicates that these composites are amorphous in nature. Morphological studies (SEM) reveal that these composites have a spherical morphology with the average size of 100–200 nm. These composites exhibit electrical conductivity value of 0.744 × 10^?3 S/cm and enhanced solubility than polyaniline. Moreover, at the presented work, the DBSA doped copolymer composites were obtained in high yields by keeping an oxidant to co-monomer ratio of 1:1.     

Thermal degradation kinetics of isotactic and atactic polypropylene

The thermal degradation of isotactic and atactic polypropylene was investigated in bulk and in solution. The degradation in bulk was studied with thermogravimetric analysis, and the degradation in solution was studied by the dissolution of the polymer in paraffin oil. The degradation in solution was investigated from 230 to 350°C. The effect of the hydrogen donor on the degradation of the polymer in solution was also studied at 350°C. Continuous distribution kinetics were employed to model the degradation kinetics for the degradation in solution. The rate coefficients were obtained, and the activation energy was calculated from an Arrhenius plot. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2206–2213, 2003     

Magnetron sputter deposition of hafnium nitride coating on high density graphite and niobium substrates

Hafnium nitride (HfN) is a refractory compound considered to be a suitable material for reaction barriers. The present paper deals with the preparation of HfN thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering on high density (HD) graphite and niobium substrates. Deposition process parameters have been optimised with Si(100) substrate in order to get HfN coating of 3 μm thickness. The optimised parameters were used to deposit HfN on HD graphite and on niobium substrates. The results showed that HfN coating with a thickness of 2.8 μm was successfully deposited on HD graphite and niobium substrates. The presence of HfN was confirmed by glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XRD studies on HfN coating on Si(100), HD graphite and Nb substrates showed nanocrystalline grains of size 130, 55 and 46 Å, respectively. The surface morphology of HfN coating on HD graphite and niobium by atomic force microscope (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that nanoparticles are getting agglomerated into clusters. The HfN coating on niobium substrate exhibited good adhesion compared to that on HD graphite as studied by microscratch test. The thermal stress generated in the sputter deposited HfN coating on HD graphite and niobium substrates were calculated by analytical formula for thermal stress. The tensile and highly compressive stresses observed in the HfN coating on niobium and HD graphite, respectively, indicated a lower adhesive strength of the coating on the later than that of the former.     

Targeting and design of water networks for fixed flowrate and fixed contaminant load operations

Water-using processes are typically modeled as either fixed flowrate operations or fixed contaminant load operations. A new method for targeting the minimum freshwater and pinch in a single-contaminant water network is proposed, which can be applied to both kinds of operations. The method consists of plotting separate source and demand composites with flowrate as the horizontal axis and contaminant load unusually as the vertical axis. It is elegant, non-iterative, and can handle hybrid problems where both kinds of operations coexist.To design minimum freshwater networks for fixed flowrate problems, an algorithm is presented based on a newly developed principle of nearest neighbors. The principle simply states that the source streams to be chosen to satisfy a particular water demand must be the nearest available neighbors in terms of contaminant concentration.To design minimum freshwater networks for fixed contaminant load problems, the nearest neighbors algorithm is applied to process units that lie across the pinch. Units that lie entirely on one side of the pinch are satisfied by the cleanest source available on that side of the pinch. In other words, below-pinch units are satisfied by freshwater and above-pinch units are satisfied by the cleanest available stream above the pinch. Designs based on this methodology, apart from meeting the minimum freshwater target, also minimize the water flowing through the process units resulting in reduced network capital cost.     

Short beam three point bend tests in syntactic foams. Part I: Microscopic characterization of the failure zones

Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) studies were carried out on the failure surface of syntactic foam material tested in a short beam three point bend test (SBT) by employing 21 × 15 × 3 mm³ dimension bearing specimens. The syntactic foams were fabricated using glass microballoons in epoxy binder. The failure of the tensile, compression, and shear dominated regions were studied by SEM at different magnifications. The tensile region had characteristic features, such as partial debonding of the microballoons from the matrix and cracking of glass microballoons, apart from matrix cracking and some river pattern features. The compression side was characterized by crushing and collapsing of microballoons, resulting in accumulation of debris with no apparent river pattern for matrix‐rich regions. The midway positions of the SBT failed surface comprised of deformation bands in the matrix and occasional debonding of microballoons. The morphology recorded in the tensile and compression regions corroborated well with the results obtained on these foam samples in those specimens that were subjected to pure uniaxial tension and compression, respectively. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 673–679, 2005     

Short‐beam three‐point bend test study in syntactic foam. Part III: Effects of interface modification on strength and fractographic features

Syntactic foam slabs having uncoated microballoons and paraffin oil surface‐treated microballoons were fabricated and tested for short‐beam three‐point bend test. The work points to the role of paraffin oil coating first weakening the interface between the microballoons and the matrix and hence lowering the efficiency of load transfer from matrix to the fillers (i.e., microballoons). This led to an overall decrement of 71% in the experimentally measured strength value compared to the deduced value for uncoated microballoons' specimens. The large strengths for uncoated microballoons specimens can be traced to the presence of the curvilinear marks in the matrix that, incidentally, are absent in the case of paraffin oil coated specimens. These observations are revealed distinctly in the microscopy of test‐failed specimens. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 687–693, 2005     

Self-assembly of C60 containing poly(methyl methacrylate) in ethyl acetate/decalin mixtures solvent

[60]Fullerene (C₆₀) was mono-substituted with well-defined poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-b-C₆₀) using the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique. The self-assembly behaviors of PMMA-b-C₆₀ in ethyl acetate (EA) and decalin mixtures were studied using laser light scattering (LLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Homogeneous solutions of PMMA-b-C₆₀ can be obtained in the solvent mixtures containing more than 40 wt% EA, where the molar ratio of decalin to EA is close to 1. For each solvent mixture, unimers coexist with micelles and large aggregates. The sizes of PMMA-b-C₆₀ micelles and aggregates are independent of polymer concentration, confirming that they are produced via the closed association mechanism. For the various solvent mixtures, the weight-averaged molecular weights, M_w of the PMMA-b-C₆₀ aggregates range from 4.1×10⁷ to 12.5×10⁷ g/mol. The hydrodynamic radii of the large aggregate, R_h, vary from 90 to 136 nm, while the z-averaged radii of gyration, R_g, range from 210 to 311 nm. The R_g/R_h value for each solvent mixture is ∼2.3, which is independent of decalin contents in the mixed solvents. The morphological study using the transmission electron microscope suggests that the large aggregates are composed of porous large compound micelles (LCM) in solution.     

Niobium oxide-activated yttrium barium titanate nanorod structured ceramics for energy storage applications

Structure, morphology, and electrical properties of 10 mol% of Nb₂O₅-activated yttrium barium titanate (BT) Ba_(60-z)Ti_(40-x)Nb_zY_xO₃ (BTY₁₀Nb₁₀), barium titanate (BT), and 10 mol% of Y₂O₃-activated BT were explored with calcination and sintering temperatures of 1000°C at 8 h and 1200°C at 6 h, respectively. The thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry (TG–DSC) analysis reported that the total weight loss and residual mass of BT at 1300°C were 16.8 and 83.2%, respectively. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern confirmed that BTY₁₀Nb₁₀ ceramics containing the BaNbO₃ phase were developed. A Raman band of BT at 307 cm^–1 unveiled a blue shift slightly for BTY₁₀ to 298 cm^–1 and for BTY₁₀Nb₁₀ to 306 cm^–1. Average pore area of the ferroelectric BTY₁₀Nb₁₀ was found to be 6.96 nm for the total scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image area of 20.31 nm. Formation of BT nanorods analyzed from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been reported in three samples that regulate surface roughness. Moreover, Nyquist diagram of BTY₁₀Nb₁₀ shows two overlapping semicircles as a function of frequency. Nanorod structures led to change the morphology and surface roughness. Recoverable energy storage density and energy storage efficiency were estimated as 2.63 µJ/cm³ and 57%, and BTY₁₀Nb₁₀ ferroelectric showed potential for energy storage applications due to changes in surface morphology and porosity.