Plasma assisted and manipulated deposition of thin film electrodes for micro batteries

The properties of the thin film electrodes have been the main factors for the performances of lithium or lithium ion micro batteries, i.e. thin film batteries. In this paper, plasma assisted and manipulated techniques have been developed for the fabrication of polycrystalline thin film cathodes, and of amorphous/nano-crystalline thin film anodes. The thin film electrodes were deposited by magnetron sputtering under precisely controlled plasma conditions. The deposition apparatuses were designed to obtain the desired film properties by equipping a long anode-shield or an inductive coil. Polycrystalline LiMn₂O₄ thin film cathodes with a smooth surface were deposited, which greatly reduced the cathode/electrolyte interface resistances. Amorphous/nano-crystalline Sn thin film anodes were obtained free of plasma induced large grains, which enhanced the cycling stability. The results have demonstrated that by careful designs of deposition apparatus the plasma conditions can be precisely controlled and therefore the thin film electrodes of desired properties can be obtained.     

DNA aptamers binding to multiple prevalent M-types of Streptococcus pyogenes

This paper describes the selection of high affinity DNA aptamers binding to multiple M-types of the pathogenic species Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus or GAS). Unlike common aptamer selection techniques that use purified molecules of a monoclonal cell population as targets, this work has achieved the selection of aptamers against the various M-types of S. pyogenes. Cell mixtures containing equal numbers of the 10 most prevalent S. pyogenes M-types were incubated with 80-nucleotide DNA libraries, centrifuged, and washed to separate cell-bound from unbound DNA sequences. The DNA bound to the cells was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction, and the amplicons were tested for their binding to the target cells. The amplicons were also used as new DNA libraries for subsequent rounds of selection. Cloning, sequencing, and subsequent analysis of selected aptamers showed that they bind preferentially to GAS over other common and related bacteria. Resultant DNA aptamers showed strong and preferential binding to GAS, including the 10 most prevalent GAS M-types and another 10 minor M-types tested. Estimated K(d) values were in the range of 4 to 86 nM. Two aptamers, 20A24P and 15A3P (with estimated binding dissociation constants of 9 and 10 nM, respectively), are particularly promising. These aptamers could potentially be used to improve the detection of GAS, a pathogen that is the causative agent of many infectious diseases, most notably strep throat.     

Phenanthrene and pyrene uptake by arbuscular mycorrhizal maize and their dissipation in soil

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) commonly found in soils can be degraded in rhizosphere, but may also be taken up by plants. The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on uptake of phenanthrene (PHE) and pyrene (PYR) in maize and on their dissipation in soil were investigated using the three-compartmentalized rhizoboxes. Inoculation of Glomus mosseae significantly (p<0.01) increased PHE and PYR concentrations in maize roots and significantly (p<0.05) enhanced PYR translocation from roots to stems in the soil treatments of the PHE+PYR spiked-soils added into the central compartment of the rhizoboxes. There was a significant (p<0.05) dissipation gradient of PHE and PYR observed away from the maize roots, with the highest dissipation rates recorded in rhizosphere zone in the central compartments of the rhizoboxes, followed by near rhizosphere zone and bulk soil zone in the outer compartments. However, G. mosseae only exerted minimal impacts on dissipation of PHE and PYR in the rhizosphere. The present study suggested that the hyphae and extraradical mycelium of AM fungi could play important roles in the uptake and translocation of PHE and PYR in plants. The present results indicated that there is a potential for the use of AM fungi and plant for remediating PAHs contaminated soils.     

Recent progress in hydrothermal synthesis of zinc oxide nanomaterials

Hydrothermal synthesis is of considerable interest due to its low cost, simplicity and relatively low growth temperature (typically below 200 °C). Since the synthesis is performed in aqueous solutions (no organic solvents), it can also be safe and environmentally friendly (depending on precursor chemicals). Consequently, it has been a subject of intense research in recent years. In this article, we review recent progress in hydrothermal synthesis of zinc oxide nanomaterials, with focus on practical relevance for a variety of applications.     

GENERALIZED CENTER METHOD FOR MULTIOBJECTIVE ENGINEERING OPTIMIZATION

This paper presents a new approach to multiobjective engineering optimization: the generalized center method (GCM). A multiobjective problem is solved by calculating the centers of a sequence of level sets. These sets comprise intersections of the original constraints and level constraints imposed on objective functions. In view of the different dimensions and conflicting nature of multiple objectives, some scaling and trade-off procedures are implemented. Several engineering optimization examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Sequential Evaporation of Bi-Te Thin Films with Controllable Composition and Their Thermoelectric Transport Properties

We report a simplified sequential evaporation route that can deposit compositionally controllable Bi-Te thermoelectric (TE) thin films without the need for a highly controlled facility. Te and Bi granules were used as starting materials, with their ratio being adjusted to obtain Bi-Te films with different compositions and thicknesses. The as-evaporated and annealed films were subjected to structural and morphological analysis, and their transport properties were measured. X-Ray diffraction data revealed multiple phases for most films. Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy showed that the film composition was Te-enriched due to the large vapor pressure difference of Te and Bi. A Bi₂Te₃ single phase was obtained in the annealed films, having nominal composition of BiTe_1.2. The existence of impurity phases, such as Bi₄Te₃ or elemental Te, was found in all the as-evaporated films and in the annealed films with other nominal Te/Bi ratios, which degraded the TE properties of the films by increasing their electrical conductivity and reducing their Seebeck coefficient. A pure Bi₂Te₃ film with nominal Te/Bi ratio of 1.2 exhibited a maximum power factor of 7.9 × 10^?4 W m^?1 K² after annealing at 200°C. This work demonstrated a simple, undemanding, reliable method to deposit Bi-Te-based TE thin films that can be utilized to fabricate low-cost TE microgenerators.     

A method for solving the buckling problem of a thin-walled shell

A weighted solution for the critical load of a cylindrical shell is presented. To determine the weights, some special known results are applied. The method can be used to solve generally complicated buckling problems by making use of the solutions of special simple problems. Lastly, some numerical solutions for the same problem are obtained by finite elements. Comparison between the solution method in this paper, the finite element solution and cited results in the literature, shows that the weighted solution has good precision.     

Optimizing the overall configuration of a He-cooled W-alloy divertor for a power plant

A number of different He-cooled divertor configurations have been proposed for magnetic fusion energy (MFE) power plant application. They range in scale from a plate configuration with characteristic dimension of the order of 1 m, to the ARIES-CS T-tube configuration with characteristic dimension of the order of 10 cm, to the EU FZK finger concept with characteristic dimension of the order of 1.5 cm. All these designs utilize tungsten or tungsten alloy as structural material. This paper considers the characteristics of the different divertor configurations and proposes the possibility of optimizing the design by combining different configurations in an integrated design based on the anticipated divertor heat flux profile.     

Surface area, pore size distribution and microstructure of combustion engine deposits

The structural characteristics of combustion engine deposits produced from fuels with 22–44% aromatics by volume have been studied using Raman spectroscopy and gas sorption techniques. The lateral sizes of graphitic crystallites were found to increase slightly with the aromatic content of the fuel used. The surface areas of the deposits were evaluated using the BET and DR theories. Density functional theory (DFT) and mercury porosimetry were used to evaluate pore size distributions. The deposits have large internal surface areas (in the approximate range 100–300 m²/g) and their structures are highly porous. The average pore sizes of the largely microporous deposits do not depend on the aromatic content of the precursor fuel. Walls of pores with widths of about 0.5 nm are primarily responsible for the majority of the internal surface area found in the deposits. Heat treatment at temperatures above 573 K results in increased surface areas because the release of small hydrocarbon fragments from the deposits opens pores which were not accessible following heat treatment at lower temperatures.     

Cycle time predictions for the rotational molding process with and without mold/part separation

We present a detailed theoretical heat transfer model for the entire rotational molding process (including heating and cooling stages) and identify the key dimensionless groups affecting the process cycle time. This theoretical model is employed to generate numerical results that are in very good agreement with the experimental data available in the literature. The effects of variations in the dimensionless groups on the cycle time are evaluated. In addition, part shrinkage has been incorporated in the models, and its effect on the process cycle time has been studied extensively.