An overview about Engelhard approach to non-standard environmental catalysis

The catalysis approach to clean air is a consolidated reality for automotive emissions and industrial stationary emissions, but a new world is opened for catalysis in non-standard emissions abatement. We report here an overview about Engelhard’s approach to non-standard environmental catalysis. Emphasis is given to the need of a more flexible and customized approach to develop effective solutions at a cost that results in competitive products and services.     

THE DRYING OF SMALL WOOD PARTICLES

Small particles of Douglas fir of characteristic size 0.2 to 1cm have been dried by flowing the wood particles in vitiated air in a long vertical tube. Drying rate, dM/dt, was determined by measuring the increasing humidity of the transporting gas flow, and by measuring the absolute velocity of the particles by a radioactive isotope tagging method. Sawdusts of three sizes and flakes were examined. Moisture content (dry basis) was varied from approximately 2 to 125%. Most of the results were obtained for gas temperatures between 350 and 550 K.

Upon injection into the flowing hot gases, the wood particles initially dried rapidly as they encountered high relative temperature and velocity, and released their surface moisture. Following· this transient regime, the particles dried more gradually accord-     

The Swiss‐Army‐Knife Self‐Assembled Monolayer: Improving Electron Injection,Stability, and Wettability of Metal Electrodes with a One‐Minute Process

A novel Self‐assembled Monolayer (SAM) forming molecule bisjulolidyldisulfide (9,9'‐disulfanediylbis(2,3,6,7‐tetrahydro‐1H,5H‐pyrido[3,2,1‐ij]quinoline)) is demonstrated which lowers the work function of metal surfaces by ≈1.2 eV and can be deposited in a 1 min process. Bisjulolidyldisulfide exists in a stable disulfide configuration prior to surface exposure and can therefore be stored, handled, and processed in ambient conditions. SAM from bisjulolidyldisulfide are deposited on metal surfaces (Au and Ag), including inkjet printed Ag on polyethylene terephthalate substrates, investigated by photoelectron and infrared spectroscopy, and used as electrodes in n‐type organic field effect transistor (OFET). Treatment of electrodes in OFET devices with with bisjulolidyldisulfide‐SAMs reduces the contact resistance by two orders of magnitude and improves shelf life with respect to pristine metal electrodes. The presented treatment also increases the surfaces wettability and thereby facilitates solution processing of a subsequent layer. These beneficial properties for device performance, processing, and stability, combined with ease of preparation and handling, render this SAM‐forming molecule an excellent candidate for the high‐throughput production of flexible electronic devices.     

Customer stock in repairable item systems

Many enterprises that use expensive capital goods outsource the process of spare parts supply and stocking to a maintenance-, repair-, and overhaul provider (MRO-provider). Because of the high value, these spare parts are stocked in repairable item systems, in which defective parts are repaired after removal from the machine and put back into stock. When setting inventory levels, the providers do not consider all of the spare parts that are stocked in the system because customers hold own stock to bridge the delivery time from the MRO-provider. As these spare parts are not property of the MRO-provider, the provider does not take them into account when planning inventory, incurring overstocking at the central depot. A model, which considers customer stock when determining depot inventory levels, is developed by extending the METRIC model with a heuristics. The heuristics calculates backorder levels according to the depot inventory levels as well as customer stock levels and allows for an inventory reduction. Using the proposed model, savings of depot inventory can be up to 100 %, while keeping the backorder level of part requests below a preset threshold.     

Temperature-dependent R-curve behavior of Pb(Zr1−xTix)O3

The crack growth resistance behavior of polycrystalline Pb(Zr_1?xTi_x)O₃ has been characterized in a novel experimental arrangement between 24 and 140 °C. Experimental measurements were carried out on compact tension specimens submerged in a temperature-controlled silicone oil bath. The results show a decrease in the observed shielding toughness, leading to an overall reduction in the maximum toughness. The temperature-dependent stress–strain behavior and elastic properties were characterized, providing an insight into the effect of the changing ferroelastic properties on the temperature-dependent fracture behavior.     

Sm3+-doped La2O3–Al2O3–SiO2-glasses: structure, fluorescence and thermal expansion

This paper reports on the effect of the chemical composition on the glass structure, the coefficients of thermal expansion and the fluorescence properties of Sm³⁺-doped La₂O₃–Al₂O₃–SiO₂-glasses. The silica concentration was varied between 50 and 70 mol% and the La₂O₃:Al₂O₃ ratio between 50:50 and 30:70. The glass formation and the densities are evaluated and FTIR reflectance spectra, coefficients of thermal expansion and fluorescence lifetimes are determined. It is shown that high SiO₂ concentrations and low La₂O₃:Al₂O₃ ratios result in relatively high fluorescence lifetime (2.19 ms, ⁴G_5/2) and low coefficients of thermal expansion (4.6 × 10^?6/K). The coefficients of thermal expansion and the fluorescence lifetimes show a linear dependency on the ratio LaO_3/2/(AlO_3/2 + SiO₂).     

Straight-forward control of the degree of micro-cavity effects in organic light-emitting diodes based on a thin striped metal layer

We investigated the control of micro-cavity (MC) effects in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with the introduction of a striped thin metal layer between the indium tin oxide (ITO) layer and the hole transporting layer (HTL). With an enhanced MC effect obtained through the inserted metal layer, the forward emission of the OLED became stronger and the angular distribution became more forward-directed, leading to a current efficiency (CE) that was nearly 1.45 times higher than that of the reference device without the inserted metal layer. The net CE of the OLEDs with a striped metal layer was found to be determined by the area-weighted average of the CE’s of full-cavity-enhanced OLEDs and non-cavity OLEDs. It was also observed that the trade-off between resonance enhancement in efficiency and angle-dependent color stability, often found problematic in MC-based OLEDs, could be mitigated in a straight-forward manner by changing the relative portion of the metal-covered area.     

The Contribution of DOPA to Substrate-Peptide Adhesion and Internal Cohesion of Mussel-Inspired Synthetic Peptide Films

Mussels use a variety of 3, 4-dihydroxyphenyl-l-alanine (DOPA) rich proteins specifically tailored to adhering to wet surfaces. Synthetic polypeptide analogues of adhesive mussel foot proteins (specifically mfp-3) are used to study the role of DOPA in adhesion. The mussel-inspired peptide is a random copolymer of DOPA and N(5) -(2-hydroxyethyl)-l-glutamine synthesized with DOPA concentrations of 0-27 mol% and molecular weights of 5.9-7.1 kDa. Thin films (3-5 nm thick) of the mussel-inspired peptide are used in the surface forces apparatus (SFA) to measure the force-distance profiles and adhesion and cohesion energies of the films in an acetate buffer. The adhesion energies of the mussel-inspired peptide films to mica and TiO(2) surfaces increase with DOPA concentration. The adhesion energy to mica is 0.09 μJ m(-2) mol(DOPA) (-1) and does not depend on contact time or load. The adhesion energy to TiO(2) is 0.29 μJ m(-2) mol(DOPA) (-1) for short contact times and increases to 0.51 μJ m(-2) mol(DOPA) (-1) for contact times >60 min in a way suggestive of a phase transition within the film. Oxidation of DOPA to the quinone form, either by addition of periodate or by increasing the pH, increases the thickness and reduces the cohesion of the films. Adding thiol containing polymers between the oxidized films recovers some of the cohesion strength. Comparison of the mussel-inspired peptide films to previous studies on mfp-3 thin films show that the strong adhesion and cohesion in mfp-3 films can be attributed to DOPA groups favorably oriented within or at the interface of these films.