Alumina-based filters made via binder jet 3D printing of alumina powder,colloidal silica infiltration,and sintering

Alumina-based, porous filter media was made via a binder jet 3D printing process consisting of an alumina powder printing step with subsequent heating, colloidal silica infiltration, drying, and sintering to consolidate particles yet retain a net open porous microstructure. The composites made were alumina-silica or alumina-mullite, where the silica sintering aid was used to densify and join the alumina particles. The resulting composite structures had open porosities in the 25–31 vol% range as measured by Archimedes density. Pressure drops were measured across the filter media at constant flow rates to compare disc shapes and complex, 3D printed filters based on the N95 design requirements. Complex, 3D-printed alumina composites were produced with acceptable pressure drops for N95 implementation.     

Crystallization kinetics and nucleating agents for enhancing the crystallization of poly(p-phenylene sulfide)

An experimental study of crystallization kinetics and the influence of nucleating agents on the solidification of poly(p-phenylene sulfide) (PPS) is described. The effect of molecular weight is considered by investigating PPS samples having different viscosity levels. We studied the effect of a range of nucleating agents including aluminum oxide, calcium oxide, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, kaolin, and talc. All of these compounds were found to enhance the rate of crystallization; in particular, silicon dioxide, kaolin, and talc were the most effective nucleating agents. An effort to study particle size effects of the silicon dioxide showed that the nucleation was very sensitive to the source of the material. These studies did, however, show that nucleation rates tended to increase with decreasing particle size and increasing loading of silicon dioxide. Comparison of PPS crystallization rates with those of other polymers indicates that it crystallizes much more slowly than polyethylene or isotactic polypropylene and is slower than polyetherether-ketone, when comparisons are made on an equivalent basis. PPS crystallizes at similar rates to polyethylene terephthalate (PET). However, our nucleated PPS does not crystallize as rapidly as nucleated PET.     

Effect of season on fatty acid composition and n-3/n-6 ratios of zander and carp muscle lipids in Altinapa Dam Lake

In this study, seasonal variations on total fatty acid composition of carp, Cyprinus carpio, and zander, Sander lucioperca, muscle lipids in Altinapa Dam Lake were determined. Fish samples in 2 seasons (summer and winter) were obtained from Altinapa Dam Lake in Konya, Turkey. Polyunsaturated fatty acids were found to be higher during the cold season than in the hot both in zander and carp. Whereas the Docosahexaenoic acid was high in zander both in summer and winter, in carp it was high only during wintertime. Zander contained more n-3 fatty acids during the cold season compared to carp. Especially, the n-3:n-6 ratios in zander were 3.89 and 3.84 in summer and winter, respectively. In conclusion, seasonal variations affected fatty acid composition of zander and carp in Altinapa Dam Lake.     

Optical properties of simultaneous biaxially stretched poly(ethylene terephthalate) films

We offer a detailed study on the anisotropic optical properties in uni and simultaneous biaxially stretched Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films. Cast amorphous sheets of PET were stretched to a series of extension ratios in two mutually perpendicular directions at 80, 90, and 100°C. Additionally, 0selected films were subsequently “heat-set” by annealing with their width and lengths constrained. The principal refractive indices at sodium D wavelength of these, asstretched and heat-set films were obtained using a modified Abbe refractometer. The changes in the principal refractive indices with the processing history were correlated with the orientation of PET chains and phenyl plane normals, which were determined independently by wide angle X-ray (WAXS) pole figure technique.     

Properties of SiC-Si made via binder jet 3D printing of SiC powder,carbon addition,and silicon melt infiltration

We report the physical and mechanical properties of ceramic composite materials fabricated by binder jet 3D printing (BJ3DP) with silicon carbide (SiC) powders, followed by phenolic resin infiltration and pyrolysis (IP) to generate carbon, and a final reactive silicon melt infiltration step. After two phenolic resin infiltration and pyrolysis cycles; porosity was less than 2%, Young's modulus was close to 300 GPa, and the flexural strength was 517.6 ± 24.8 MPa. However, diminishing returns were obtained after more than two phenolic resin infiltration and pyrolysis cycles as surface pores in carbon were closed upon the formation of SiC, resulting in reaction choking and residual-free carbon and porosity. The instantaneous coefficient of thermal expansion of the composite was found to be independent of the number of phenolic IP cycles and had values of between 4.2 and 5.0 ppm/°C between 300 and 1000℃, whereas the thermal conductivity was found to have a weak dependence on the number of phenolic IP cycles. While the manufacturing procedures described here yielded highly dense, gas impermeable, siliconized SiC composites with properties comparable to those of bulk siliconized silicon carbide processed according to conventional techniques, BJ3DP enables the manufacture of objects with complex shape, unlike conventional techniques.