Novel thermal interface materials: boron nitride nanofiber and indium composites for electronics heat dissipation applications

With increased power density and continued miniaturization, effective thermal dissipation is of significant importance for operational lifetime and reliability of electronic system. Advanced thermal interface materials (TIMs) with excellent thermal performance need to be designed and developed. Here we report novel TIMs consisted of boron nitride (BN) nanofibers and pure indium (In) solder for heat dissipation applications. The BN nanofibers are fabricated by electrospinning process and nitridation treatment. After surface metallization by sputtering, the porous BN film is infiltrated with liquid indium by squeeze casting to form the final solid composites. The new composites show the in-plane and through-plane thermal conductivity respectively of 60 and 20 W/m K. The direction dependence thermal properties of the TIM are due to the anisotropic thermal performance of BN nanofibers in the composite. A low thermal contact resistance of 0.2 K mm²/W is also achieved at the interface between this new composite and copper substrate. These competent thermal properties demonstrate the great potential of the BN–In TIMs in thermal management for electronic system.     

Synthesis of Sr4Al14O25:Eu2+ green emitting luminescent nano-pigment by solution combustion method

Luminescent nano-pigments based on strontium aluminates doped with various amounts of europium rare earth ion (Sr₄Al₁₄O₂₅:Eu²⁺) were synthesized by solution combustion method which involves the exothermic reaction of an oxidizer and an organic fuel. It is a suitable method for producing chemically homogenous and pure powders with very fine particle size. Phases studies by X-ray diffractometer indicated formation of pure phase Sr₄Al₁₄O₂₅ with crystallite sizes about 52.46 nm and peak shift of about 2θ = 0.26° due to Eu²⁺ doping. scanning electron microscope micrographs also revealed that the particles have irregular morphology and wide particle size distribution. The emission spectrum showed main emission peak at about 480 nm. Energy transfer mechanism between the two emission centers and the effect of Eu²⁺ ion concentration on emission spectrum was studied and it was deduced that the maximum emission intensity occurred at 4 at% of Eu²⁺. Absorption spectrum of the samples were lower than 0.5 %, especially in emission region of the doped pigments.     

On-line capillary electrophoresis/microelectrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry using an ion trap storage/time-of-flight mass spectrometer with SWIFT technology.

The development of a system capable of the speed required for on-line capillary electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry (CE-MS/MS) of tryptic digests is described. The ion trap storage/reflectron time-of-flight (IT/reTOF) mass spectrometer is used as a nonscanning detector for rapid CE separation, where the peptides are ionized on-line using electrospray ionization (ESI). The ESI produced ions are stored in the ion trap and dc pulse injected into the reTOF-MS at a rate sufficient to maintain the separation achieved by CE. Using methodology generated by software and hardware developed in our lab, we can produce SWIFT (Stored Waveform Inverse Fourier Transform) ion isolation and TICKLE activation/fragmentation voltage waveforms to generate MS/MS at a rate as high as 10 Hz so that the MS/MS spectra can be optimized on even a 1-2 s eluting peak. In CE separations performed on tryptic digests of dogfish myelin basic protein (MBP) where eluting peaks 4-8 s wide are observed, it is demonstrated that an acquisition rate of 4 Hz provides > 20 spectra/peak and is more than sufficient to provide optimized MS/MS spectra of each of the eluting peaks in the electropherogram. The detailed structural analysis of dogfish MBP including several posttranslational modifications using CE-MS and CE-MS/MS is demonstrated using this method with < 10 fmol of material consumed.     

Dynamics and vibrations of particle-sensing MEMS considering thermal and electrostatic actuation

Microsystem Technologies - The dynamic behavior of micro-cantilevers and micro-bridges under electrostatic and thermal&nbsp;base actuations is investigated in this paper. To solve the equation...     

Application of Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Micro-extraction Using Mean Centering of Ratio Spectra Method for Trace Determination of Mercury in Food and Environmental Samples

In the present study, dispersive liquid–liquid micro-extraction has been applied for trace extraction and determination of mercury (Hg) ions in environmental samples. The mean centering of ratio spectra method was used to optimize the experimental parameters affecting the extraction of Hg. The factors influencing the extraction procedure such as type and volume of extracting and disperser solvent, concentration of chelating reagent, pH, salt effect, and centrifuge time were investigated and optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the limit of detection of the method was 0.15 μg l^?1 and enrichment factor was 39. The calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.5–100 μg l^?1 with a correlation of determination (R ²) of 0.998. The relative standard deviation for determination of 40 μg l^?1 of Hg(II) was 2.6 % (n?=?5). The proposed method was applied for the determination of Hg in pine leaf, sea and river fish, sand, and water samples as indicators of environmental pollution and cigarette with satisfactory analytical results. In comparison with other methods, the proposed method is very simple, easy, rapid, and sensitive for determination of Hg at trace levels in complex matrices.