Carbon dioxide reforming of methane to synthesis gas over supported Ni catalysts

Carbon dioxide reforming of methane to synthesis gas has been investigated over supported Ni catalysts in the temperature range of 500–850°C. Addition of CaO (10mol%) promoter to the Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ resulted in an increase of reaction rate and an improvement of catalyst stability, which may be related to enhanced reducibility of the promoted catalyst. The kinetic studies show that the overall reaction can be described by a Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanistic scheme, assuming that methane dissociation is the rate determining step. In addition to adsorbed CO and formate species, three types of carbonaceous species, C, C_β and C_γ, were found to exist on the Ni catalyst. While the active C, species is suggested to be responsible for CO formation, the less active C_β and C_γ species are attributed to causing catalyst deactivation.     

gHRV: Heart rate variability analysis made easy

In this paper, the gHRV software tool is presented. It is a simple, free and portable tool developed in python for analysing heart rate variability. It includes a graphical user interface and it can import files in multiple formats, analyse time intervals in the signal, test statistical significance and export the results.     

Possible use of methylbenzenes as electrolyte additives for improving the overcharge tolerances of Li-ion batteries

Based on the voltammetric behaviour of a series of methyl-substituted benzenes in 1M LiPF₆/EC-DMC electrolyte, xylene was selected and tested as an electrolyte additive for overcharge protection of Li-ion batteries. From the overcharge curves, CV behaviour and SEM observations of the cells in the presence of xylene, it was found that the additive can polymerize at the overcharged voltage to form a dense layer of isolating polymer film at the cathode surface, which blocks off further oxidation of the electroactive material and electrolyte and, therefore, improves the overcharge tolerance of the Li-ion battery. In addition, the xylene additive has shown only a slight influence on the cycling behaviour.     

Biaxial orientation in LLDPE films: Comparison of infrared spectroscopy,X‐ray pole figures,and birefringence techniques

In this study, linear low‐density polyethylene films were produced using different processes (film blowing and biaxial orientation) and processing conditions. The orientation of the films was characterized in terms of their biaxial crystalline, amorphous, and global orientation factors using birefringence, tilted incidence polarized Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and X‐ray diffraction pole figures. Evaluation of a simplified FTIR procedure without the use of the tilted method for the determination of crystalline orientation factors proposed in the literature is also evaluated and assessed. The results indicate that FTIR overestimate the crystalline orientation factors, particularly for the crystalline a‐axis. Significant discrepancies are also observed for the b‐axis orientation, which may be due to an overlap of the amorphous phase contribution. Those differences are larger for films with low orientation, such as blown films. Amorphous phase orientation from FTIR depends on the band used and is not necessarily in agreement with that determined from the combination of X‐ray and birefringence. The simplified FTIR procedure is proven to be inadequate in the case of linear low‐density polyethylene blown films studied having a random lamellar crystalline morphology. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 46:1182–1189, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Influence of the components in the flow properties and physical aging of spray coating PVC plastisols

A study of the rheological properties and aging characteristics of 15 poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) plastisols formulated for spray coating is made. The influence of the PVC type, plasticizer, filler, diluent, and thixotropic agent is analyzed and discussed in terms of the yield stress value, a shear thinning index, and an aging characterizing parameter.     

Influences of zinc oxide and an organic additive on the electrochemical behavior of pure aluminum in an alkaline solution

The corrosion behavior of pure aluminum in inhibited and uninhibited 4 MKOH was investigated by means of hydrogen collection, polarization curve measurement and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results showed that the corrosion of pure aluminum was greatly inhibited by the addition of ZnO and dimethyl amine epoxy propane (designated as DE). EIS and EDAX analyses revealed that ZnO produces its effect by depositing on the aluminum surface, which increases the overpotential of hydrogen evolution. It was also found that the addition of DE could greatly improve the deposition of zinc layers.     

Structure and properties of polyimide‐bonded magnets processed from prepolymers based on diacetyl derivatives of aromatic diamines and dianhydrides

We report a novel method of polyimide (PI) synthesis from prepolymers based on dianhydrides and diacetyl derivatives of aromatic diamines that facilitate the preparation of a melt processable mixture at 300 ± 10°C of the prepolymer and magnetic Nd‐Fe‐B alloy to provide PI‐bonded magnets with enhanced properties. It is shown that chemical structure of the prepolymers strongly influences viscosity behavior via crystallization of the oligoimide in the melt, leading to formation of PI with rigid‐rod like structure. This structural ordering of the prepolymers based on diacetyl derivative of diamine used in this study, if not controlled, leads to exponential increase of melt viscosity with time, making it practically impossible to prepare melt processable mixture of the magnetic particles and the PI prepolymers at elevated temperatures. The results obtained demonstrate that appropriate dianhydrides and diacetyl derivatives of diamines that do not lead to crystallization of oligoimides in prepolymer mixture can be used under controlled processing conditions to prepare melt‐processable PI‐bonded magnets containing rigid‐rod like PI structure that significantly increases thermal stability of the magnets. The temperature dependencies of the magnetic properties of the PI‐bonded magnets under conditions that they are likely to encounter during their service life were found to be remarkably similar to that of commercial thermoplastic magnets such as injection‐molded nylon magnets. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 478–485, 2006     

Low-Temperature Dielectric Properties of Ceramic Potassium Tantalate (KTaO3)

Dielectric properties of KTaO₃ ceramic fabricated by both conventional sintering and sintering followed by isostatic hot pressing (HIP) were measured at T =4.2 to 300 K over a frequency range from 400 Hz to 4 MHz. The weak field response shows a faint peak near 10 K which has a clear relaxation character, as in high-purity single crystals. The general response is well reproduced by the Barrett function, but additional polarizability with relaxation character is also in evidence at higher temperatures. No dielectric hysteresis was observed at high fields for cycling frequencies down to 0.04 Hz anywhere in the temperature range.     

Tungsten Oxide Nanorods Array and Nanobundle Prepared by Using Chemical Vapor Deposition Technique

Tungsten oxide (WO₃) nanorods array prepared using chemical vapor deposition techniques was studied. The influence of oxygen gas concentration on the nanoscale tungsten oxide structure was observed; it was responsible for the stoichiometric and morphology variation from nanoscale particle to nanorods array. Experimental results also indicated that the deposition temperature was highly related to the morphology; the chemical structure, however, was stable. The evolution of the crystalline structure and surface morphology was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectra and X-ray diffraction approaches. The stoichiometric variation was indicated by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.