Self-assembly of iron oxide-poly(ethylene glycol) core-shell nanoparticles at liquid-liquid interfaces

Nanoparticles (NPs) play an increasingly important role in the fabrication of functional advanced materials. Two major steps need to be carried out in order to achieve control of the material properties. First of all, the properties of the single NPs have to be under control, especially in relation to colloidal stability; aggregation and corrosion negate all the benefits associated to the nanoscopic dimensions. Secondly, the assembly process has to be controlled to achieve a material with the desired properties. We propose here to use stabilized ceramic NPs consisting of a magnetite core, coated by a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) shell and study their assembly at polar/ non-polar liquid interfaces, en route to fabricating functional NP membranes. These NPs show extraordinary stability in aqueous solutions achieved by anchoring linear PEG chains through an end-terminating nitroDOPA group to their surface. Furthermore, the core and shell sizes of these NPs can be independently varied with ease. We first describe the details of the NP synthesis and stabilization in bulk solutions, discussing the PEG molecular weight needed to achieve bulk stability. Subsequently, we demonstrate self-assembly of these particles at liquid-liquid interfaces (SALI) into monolayers of stable properties. SALI has been chosen as path for the assembly given its suitability for fabricating two-dimensional materials. We report here results from pendant drop tensiometry which illustrate the kinetics of NP adsorption at the liquid-liquid interface and highlight the role played by the molecular weight of the PEG shell in the interfacial assembly. In particular we show that the requisites to ensure particle stability at a liquid interface are more stringent compared to the bulk case.     

Catalytic Materials for High-Temperature Combustion

Catalytic combustion, as an alternative to conventional thermal combustion, has received considerable attention during the past decade. Research efforts have been promoted by the need to meet governmental demands concerning pollution and the wish to use energy sources more efficiently. The two main advantages offered by catalytic combustors over flame combustors apply to these goals:

1. Catalytic combustion can be carried out over a wide range of fuel concentrations in air and at low temperatures.
2. These low temperatures result in attaining NO, emission levels substantially lower than possible with conventional combustors.

     

Lactation response to short-term abomasal infusion of choline, inositol, and soy lecithin

Five lactating Holstein cows averaging 13 wk postpartum were used in a Latin square design to examine the effect of daily abomasal infusion of choline (22 g), myo-inositol (37 g), soy oil (325 ml), or crude soy lecithin (900 ml) on lactation performance. Dry matter intake was reduced by infusion of soy lecithin as compared with infusion of water (18.1 and 21.1 kg/d, respectively). Plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate concentration was increased when cows received the myo-inositol or soy lecithin infusion, and plasma glucose was lower when cows received the choline or soy lecithin treatment. Infusion of soy lecithin caused approximately a twofold increase in plasma triglyceride-rich lipoprotein concentration. Milk fat percentage and milk fat yield were greater during soy lecithin infusion (3.54%, 1.11 kg/d) than during water (3.09%, .98 kg/d) or soy oil (3.06%, .98 kg/d) infusion. This resulted in greater 3.5% FCM yield during soy lecithin infusion (31.6 kg/d) than during water (29.5 kg/d) or soy oil (29.6 kg/d) infusion. Infusion of phospholipid with triglyceride allowed more fatty acid to be infused without causing diarrhea. Infusion of triglyceride in the presence of phospholipid increased milk fat synthesis whereas infusion of triglyceride alone did not.     

Resilience and survivability in communication networks: Strategies,principles, and survey of disciplines

The Internet has become essential to all aspects of modern life, and thus the consequences of network disruption have become increasingly severe. It is widely recognised that the Internet is not sufficiently resilient, survivable, and dependable, and that significant research, development, and engineering is necessary to improve the situation. This paper provides an architectural framework for resilience and survivability in communication networks and provides a survey of the disciplines that resilience encompasses, along with significant past failures of the network infrastructure. A resilience strategy is presented to defend against, detect, and remediate challenges, a set of principles for designing resilient networks is presented, and techniques are described to analyse network resilience.     

云南-广东±800 kV特高压直流输电工程基本设计

云南-广东±800 kV特高压直流输电项目目前正在建设中.这是中国很重要并极具技术含量的直流输电工程之一,它通过1 418 km长的直流输电线路将云南省的楚雄和广东省的穗东连接起来,设计输送容量为5 000 MW,是世界上最大的双极直流输电项目.文中介绍了云南-广东±800kV特高压直流输电项目的重点和难点,包括换流站整体设计原则以及增加的稳态和暂态电压应力对主设备设计提出的挑战,讨论了关键特高压直流设备的特殊设计概念.     

特高压直流输电设备设计综述

高压直流输电已发展成为成熟的技术,典型的电压等级为士500kv。在中国正在运行的几个直流系统中,单条直流系统完整双极的输送容量已达3GW。同时,还有几个电压等级为800kv的UHVDC系统正在建设中,并计划从2009年中期开始陆续投入商业营运。在±800kV直流运行电压基础上,随着通电流能力的不断增加,直流系统的输电能力将会达到双极7．2GW的输送容量。电力技术的长足进步,有赖于强有力的HVDC换流站设备设计的研发工作和长期以来积累的设备制造经验。文章总结了设备设计技术攻关方面的难点,并介绍了UHVDC换流站设备技术的现实情况。     

Comparison of test methods estimating the stiffness of ultrathin coatings

A key engineering parameter of thin coatings is their stiffness. Stiffness characterization of ultrathin coatings with a nanometer scale thickness is experimentally challenging. In this work, three feasible methods have been used to estimate the Young’s modulus of metal coatings on polymer films. The methods are: (1) nanoindentation, (2) strain-induced elastic buckling and (3) peak-force measurements integrated in atomic force microscopy. The samples were prepared by atomic layer deposition of TiO₂ (6 and 20 nm thick) and mixed oxides of TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ (4 and 20 nm thick). The differences in estimated Young’s modulus are interpreted in terms of the underlying assumptions and test conditions. Their specific advantages and drawbacks are also compared and discussed. In particular, the nanoindentation necessitates a sufficiently sharp indenter tip to make localized measurements dominated by the coating. The strain-induced elastic buckling method is simple in practice, but showed a large scatter due to variation in local coating thickness and irregular deformation patterns. The stiffness characterization using atomic force microscopy gave the most consistent results, due to a sharp tip with a radius comparable to the thinnest coating thickness. All methods gave a higher Young’s modulus for the TiO₂ coating than for the mixed oxide coating, with a variation within one order of magnitude between the methods.