The effect of dispersion of nano-carbon on electrochemical behavior of Fe/nano-carbon composite electrode

In order to estimate the effect of the dispersion of nano-carbon species into a composite electrode, ultrasonic pretreatments under various conditions have been carried out for two kinds of nano-carbons, vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF) and acetylene black, before preparing a composite electrode with iron powder. The cyclic voltammetry behavior of the resulting Fe/nano-carbon composite electrodes is significantly influenced by the kind of nano-carbon and the pretreatment conditions in spite of as a low content of nano-carbon as 20 wt.%. The largest redox current at initial cycle is obtained for Fe/VGCF composite electrode with the 30 min pretreatment of VGCF in ethanol. The dispersion of nano-carbon verifies the apparent density of the composite, and then affects the feature of three-phase interface among the ion-conducting electrolyte, the redox reaction surface, and the electron conductor.     

In situ STM study of underpotential deposition of bismuth on Au(1 1 0) in perchloric acid solution

The underpotential deposition (UPD) of Bi on Au(1 1 0) was investigated in HClO₄ solution using in situ scanning tunneling microscopy. The UPD of Bi occurred in three steps. A structure, in which Bi atoms formed dimers, was found for the first UPD adlayer. A (1 × 1) image was obtained by STM at the second UPD peak. For the third UPD peak, Bi atoms formed an incommensurate adlayer, and stripes of Bi were observed on terraces. After the third UPD, a structural reconstruction caused by adsorbed Bi was observed.     

Evaluation of interaction between liposome membranes induced by stimuli responsive polymer and protein

Immobilized liposome chromatography was utilized as a novel method for the quantitative evaluation of the interaction between liposome membranes. The capacity factors evaluated from the elution profile showed that interaction between 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) liposome membranes occurred in the presence of a stimuli responsive polymer and protein under specific stimulus conditions. The occurrence of such interaction was supported by experimental results for POPC liposome membrane fusion under corresponding stimuli conditions.     

Preparation of continuous zirconia fibres from polyzirconoxane synthesized by the facile one-pot reaction

A one-pot reaction of zirconium oxychloride octahydrate (ZOC) with ethyl acetoacetate (Hetac) in the presence of triethylamine was investigated. The reaction was carried out in molar ratios of Hetac/ZOC=1.0, 1.5, 2.0 to give highly viscous solutions with good spinnability and stability to self-condensation. Polyzirconoxanes (PZOs) were isolated as white powders by reprecipitation of the solutions with tetrahydrofuron (THF)-hexane that were soluble in acetone, methanol and THF. The molecular weight of PZO was Mn=1000–2000, and was dependent on the molar ratio and the reaction time. Dry spinning of the solution (Hetac/ZOC=1.5) containing 3mol% tris(acetylacetonato)yttrium [Y(acac)3] gave continuous precursor fibres (3.0Y–PZO). Yttria stabilized zirconia fibres of 12–18 m diameter with a tensile strength of 1.4GPa were obtained by heat treatment of the 3.0Y–PZO at 1100 or 1200 °C. The fibre consisted of submicrometre-sized particles of tetragonal crystallites. © 1998 Chapman & Hall     

Breakdown characteristics in air gaps with artificial floatingmetals under DC voltage

The DC breakdown characteristics of a sphere-to-sphere gap with conducting objects supported by an insulator rod in atmospheric air are investigated experimentally to provide fundamental parameters determining the breakdown voltage in the presence of floating objects around DC power apparatus by an air insulation. The shape of tested floating objects made of metal is plate, needle or sphere. Experimental results show that the main factors affecting the breakdown voltage are the shape and size of floating objects, the object location and the gap length. If the object is placed at the location giving the lowest breakdown voltage, any object lowers the breakdown voltage below that without the relevant objects     

GPU-based rendering of point-sampled water surfaces

Particle-based simulations are widely used to simulate fluids. We present a real-time rendering method for the results of particle-based simulations of water. Traditional approaches to visualize the results of particle-based simulations construct water surfaces that are usually represented by polygons. To construct water surfaces from the results of particle-based simulations, a density function is assigned to each particle and a density field is computed by accumulating the values of the density functions of all particles. However, the computation of the density field is time consuming. To address this problem, we propose an efficient calculation of density field using a graphics processing unit (GPU). We present a rendering method for water surfaces sampled by points. The use of the GPU permits efficient simulation of optical effects, such as refraction, reflection, and caustics.     

Measurement of space charge distribution in epoxy resin

Internal space charge behavior of insulating materials has recently attracted attention of many researchers, and a large number of experimental studies were carried out by using the materials for dc cables, such as XLPE, LDPE, and HDPE. Epoxy resins are used for insulation under strong electric fields in power apparatus and in electronic devices, and we investigated the behavior of internal space charge using the pulsed electroacoustic method. Two types of epoxy resins were studied: insulation-grade and craft-grade. When dc electric fields were applied to the craft resins treated by immersing them into room-temperature water for 8 and 24 h, positive and negative charges accumulated near the anode and the cathode, respectively, and the charge distribution changed with the immersion time. On the other hand, no charge was observed in the insulation-grade epoxy resin. Next, we treated the samples by immersing them into 100 °C water for 8 h. When the sample was treated for 8 h, hetero charge distribution, which means positive charges near the cathode and negative charges near the anode, was observed. This result is consistent with a previous paper reporting that by chemical analysis, secondary decomposition had occurred. These results show that water and temperature influence the internal space charge behavior of epoxy resins. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 129(3): 9–16, 1999