The Effect of Nanoparticles on the Mass Transfer in Liquid–Liquid Extraction

This article investigates the effect of nanoparticles on mass transfer in the liquid–liquid extraction for the chemical system of n-butanol–succinic acid–water. For this purpose, nanofluids containing various concentrations of ZnO, carbon nanotubes (CNT), and TiO₂ nanoparticles in water, as base fluid, were prepared. To examine the flow mode effect on mass transfer rate, different fluid modes including dropping and jetting were employed in the process. Results show that mass transfer rate enhancement depends on the kinds and the concentration of nanoparticles and the modes of flow. It was observed that after adding nanoparticles, the mass transfer rate significantly increases up to two-fold for ZnO nanoparticles. Furthermore, the results indicate that under the circumstances in which the mass flow rate is high enough, the effect of nanoparticles on the mass transfer phenomenon is too slight.     

CFD Simulation of Deep-Bed Paddy Drying Process and Performance

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was applied three-dimensionally to simulate the drying behavior of paddy in a deep-bed dryer. The commercial CFD software Fluent 6.3.26 was used. The deep-bed paddy drying process and performance were studied by incorporating user-defined function (UDF) in Fluent written in C language. The predicted drying parameters were compared with experimental data of deep-bed drying of paddy. The values of mean relative deviation (MRD), standard error of prediction (SEP), and maximum error of prediction (MEP) for prediction of grain moisture content, air temperature, and absolute humidity were less than 6, 10, and 9%; 0.33% (d.b), 1.24°C, and 0.06% (kg/kg of dry air); and 2.25% (d.b), 6.8°C, and 0.37% (kg/kg of dry air), respectively, which reflect reasonable accuracy. Moreover, the energetic and exergetic performance of deep-bed paddy drying were simulated and analyzed. The effects of inlet air temperature and mass flow rate on the performance parameters were investigated. It was shown that the application of higher levels of inlet air temperature and lower mass flow rates yielded higher exergy efficiencies of deep-bed paddy drying.     

Glass transition and fragility of telluro-vanadate glasses containing antimony oxide

The activation energy (ΔH ^*) of the glass transition and the heating-rate dependence of the glass transition temperature (T _g) of V₂O₅–Sb₂O₃–TeO₂ glasses were determined using differential scanning calorimetry technique. Non-isothermal measurements were performed at different heating rates φ (=3, 6, 9, 10, 13 K/min). The heating rate dependence of T _g was used to investigate the applicability of different theoretical models describing the glass transition. The application of Moynihan and Kissinger et al. models to the present data led to different values of (ΔH ^*) at each different heating-rate regions. This behavior was attributed to the strong heating rate dependence of the activation energy of the process. The fragility parameter (m = ΔH ^*/RT _g) were ≲90, suggesting that these glasses may be classified as strong glasses. The viscosity, η, calculated at a few selected temperatures near the glass transition region increased with increasing Sb₂O₃ content at any given temperature, which is also expected. Also the compositional dependence of T _g and ΔH ^* was investigated.     

Moisture and heat transfer in hybrid weft knitted fabric with artificial intelligence

One of the most important properties of clothes is their ability to help the body's thermal system to keep the body temperature in its natural range, even if the environmental conditions or physical activities are outside the body's ideal range. Perspiring is one of the most important effects of physical activities in warm weather for shedding the body's excessive heat. Therefore, the basic requirement of a fabric worn next to the skin is to transfer this moisture to the atmosphere to reach comfort through the avoidance of a feeling of wetness and clamminess and also through the generation of a situation for the best surface evaporation of moisture. The main goal of this study was to achieve a kind of fabric that guarantees comfort for the body by good heat and moisture transport. To achieve this goal, a group of double‐surface fabrics containing hydrophilic and hydrophobe fibers were knitted, and their simultaneous heat and moisture transport was evaluated with the help of a perspiration‐simulation machine; the results were analyzed as transfer process plots. Also, the transmission of heat and moisture was evaluated for all of the samples by differential modeling as an artificial neural network. Effective parameters on heat and moisture transfer were taken into consideration with modeling and statistical methods. The results were analyzed to find a suitable fabric with optimum comfort. The final results showed that a fabric made of micropolyester filaments and cotton yarns on the bottom and top surfaces, respectively, had the best heat and moisture transfer. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Synthesis,characterization, and swelling kinetic study of porous superabsorbent hydrogel nanocomposite based on sulfonated carboxymethylcellulose and silica nanoparticles

New superabsorbent nanocomposite was synthesized by free-radical graft polymerization of sulfonated-carboxymethyl cellulose (SCMC) with acrylic acid (AA) in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and silica nanoparticles. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was first sulfonated using chlorosulfonic acid, and then AA monomers were grafted onto SCMC. FTIR results confirmed that sulfonation of CMC as well as grafting of AA monomers onto SCMC has been performed successfully. Moreover, the presence of silica nanoparticles into superabsorbent nanocomposite was evaluated with EDX analysis. The element mappings show a homogenous distribution of silica nanoparticles throughout the hydrogel nanocomposite. SEM images exhibited porous morphology for hydrogel nanocomposite, which was due to the incorporation of PVP in its network. The experimental findings from TGA analysis indicated that incorporation of PVP and silica nanoparticles into the hydrogel network improved thermal stability of superabsorbent nanocomposite. Swelling kinetic studies revealed that superabsorbent nanocomposite hydrogel had higher equilibrium swelling capacity and swelling rate compared with the neat hydrogel sample. Besides that, superabsorbent nanocomposite depicted excellent salt and pH-sensitive behavior in different saline and pH solutions. As a consequence, this hydrogel nanocomposite acts as useful water reservoir, which might be most profitable in agricultural applications.     

Improvement of Nanoscale SOI MOSFET Heating Effects by Vertical Gaussian Drain-Source Doping Region

Silicon - This paper presents an efficient method to improve the heating effects in Nanoscale SOI MOSFET with the Vertical Gaussian Doping Profile in Drain and Source regions (D-S-G-SOI). Three...     

Characterizing a novel method for blending regenerated cellulose structures with polyester filaments

The combination method of various manmade fibers with other fibers was developed to create special properties many years ago. Fibers can be mixed in a generation process, such as in solution or melt spinning, or in a fiber spinning process in the form of filaments, staple, sliver, yarn, and so on. Hybrid blended yarns are a common class of yarns in the textile industry, and the most are produced through cotton–polyester or viscose–polyester blending in the spinning process. The cellulose fibers blended in spun yarns should be at least 1 in. in length with appropriate surface properties. This causes limitations in the use of cheap materials. Cheap products owe their manufacturing to waste papers, wood trash, poor linters of cotton, spinning trash, and so on. In this study, a new method for combining regenerated cellulose structures with polyester filaments was examined; it is different from conventional hybrid polyester–viscose fiber production. In the first step, the viscose pulp was prepared and then coated on the polyester filaments in various forms. The properties, including the tensile strength, density, yarn count, moisture regain, static electricity, and dyeing, of the resulted hybrid fibers were evaluated with a variety of methods. The results show that almost all of the properties of the coated samples were improved, especially the moisture absorbance, static electricity, and dyeing properties. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Introducing two simple models for predicting fiber‐reinforced asphalt concrete behavior during longitudinal loads

Scientists and engineers are constantly trying to improve the performance of asphalt pavements. Modification of the asphalt binder is one approach taken to improve pavement performance. The idea of using fibers to improve the behavior of materials is an old suggestion, so different researchers reported the results of adding a large variety of fibers to asphalt concrete (AC) as fiber‐reinforced asphalt concrete (FRAC). However, there are few comments about the mechanism of reinforcement and fiber performance in the inner structure of AC and/or exposing some models to predict fiber recital as a modifier in FRAC. So this article is going to introduce two simple models for predicting FRAC behavior during longitudinal loads. The former is called “Slippage Theory” and the latter is “Equal Cross‐Section.” Finally, four types of fibers (glass, nylon 6.6, polypropylene, and polyester) were used in AC to evaluate the two theories. “Marshall Test,” as stability and flow outcomes, and “Specific Gravity” were carried out on specimens in the next stages followed by an artificial neural network (ANN), which was developed in the system to recognize important fiber parameters effective in the FRAC specifications. In the end, the two theories predicted each fiber performance in FRAC as well as ANN. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

The effect of α-alumina filler/acrylic–melamine polymer interfacial interactions on the abrasion resistance of an automotive topcoat layer

The study of the effect of interfacial interactions on the abrasion properties of a selected automotive topcoat system has been undertaken. This was achieved by using a fixed patch of abrasive rubbing on a flat rotating disc coated with a layer of test material. The interactions that arise in acrylic–melamine/alumina assemblies were the subject of this investigation. The alumina particles had different surface treatments and were introduced to the polymeric matrix at four different loading levels. In general, it was found that there is a strong correlation between the abrasion resistance, and both the α-alumina loading level and the nature of surface treatment given to the alumina particles. The α-alumina particle with a surface treatment of p-hydroxy benzoic acid (PHBA), gave improved abrasion resistance, relative to the untreated particle, where functionalization of the surface with an alkyl benzene sulphonic acid (ABSA), decreased the abrasion resistance of the coating system. The differences were attributed to the effect of surface treatment on the interaction between the hard particle and the matrix.     

Synthesis and characterization of cobalt-free Ba0.5Sr0.5Fe0.8Cu0.2O3−δ perovskite oxide cathode nanofibers

The cobalt-free perovskite-oxide, Ba_0.5Sr_0.5Fe_0.8Cu_0.2O_3−δ (BSFC) is a very important cathode material for intermediate-temperature proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells. Ba_0.5Sr_0.5Fe_0.8Cu_0.2O_3−δ nanofibers were synthesized for the first time by a sol-gel electrospinning. Process wherein a combination of polyvinylpyrrolidone and acetic acid was used as the spinning aid and barium, strontium, iron and copper nitrates were used as precursors for the synthesis of BSFC nanofibers. X-ray diffraction studies on products prepared at different calcination temperatures revealed a cubic perovskite structure at 900 °C. The temperature of calcination has a direct effect on the crystallization and surface morphology of the nanofibers. High porosity, and surface area, in addition to an electrical conductivity of 69.54 S cm⁻¹ at 600 °C demonstrate the capability of BSFC nanofibers to serve as effective cathode materials for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells.