Proton conduction in Nafion composite membranes filled with mesoporous silica

Studies of proton-conductive polymer membranes are vital for the future development of high-performance polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEM-FC). In particular, a method for inhibiting the volatility of water in the polymer matrix at high temperatures is a crucial issue, directly related to the operation of PEM-FC system. In this study, we focus on polymer composite membranes, which consist of commercial Nafion and mesoporous silica (MPSi) as novel inorganic additives, and investigate an improvement in the total proton conductivities and the good electrochemical stability at high temperatures. MPSi, which can be synthesized with pore sizes from 1 to 10 nm, has a wide range of potential applications because of its extraordinary properties, such as extremely large surface area, flawless surface condition and well-regulated porous structure. We found that the Nafion composites filled with MPSi have approximately 1.5 times higher proton conductivities (more than 0.1 S cm⁻¹ at 80 °C and 95%RH) than pure Nafion and can display good temperature performance relative to pure Nafion and the particle SiO₂ composite. Moreover, the conductivity of Nafion/sulfonated MPSi was the highest (0.094 S cm⁻¹) at 40 °C and 95%RH. These are probably due to the large surface area of MPSi, which can increase the water adsorption in Nafion matrix.     

Surface structure and visible light photocatalytic activity of titanium–calcium hydroxyapatite modified with Cr(III)

The synthetic titanium–calcium hydroxyapatite (Ti–CaHap) particles were treated with different concentrations of aqueous Cr(NO₃)₃·9H₂O solution and the materials obtained were characterized by a variety of conventional techniques. The crystal structure and particle morphology of Ti–CaHap were essentially not altered by treating with Cr(III) solution. With increasing the Cr(III) concentration, the amount of Cr(III) in the products was increased and that of Ca(II) was decreased. XPS results revealed that the surface state of Cr of Ti–CaHap was trivalent. These facts allow us to infer that the Cr(III) was doped by substitution of surface Ca(II) of Ti–CaHap. Besides, IR results proved that increasing the Cr(III) concentration developed the surface Cr–OH band while the surface Ti–OH and P–OH bands of Ti–CaHap vanished. This imply that the formation of surface P–O-Cr(OH)₂ and Ti–O–Cr(OH)₂ groups, resulting the Cr(OH)₃-like layer on the surface of Ti–CaHap particles. The Cr(III)-doped Ti–CaHap possessed the absorption peaks at 446 and 623 nm in vis range in addition to the UV absorption of charge transfer transition of O^2? → Ti⁴⁺. The vis absorption peaks developed on raising the Cr(III) concentration. The photocatalytic decomposition of acetaldehyde into CO₂ over Cr(III)-doped Ti–CaHap was detected under vis irradiation and the activity was lowered by the formation of Cr(OH)₃-like layer on the particle surface.     

Growth and poliovirus production of Vero cells on a novel microcarrier with artificial cell adhesive protein under serum-free conditions

A microcarrier is used for the three-dimensional (3D) culture of adhesion-dependent mammalian cells. We developed a novel microcarrier by binding ProNectin F, an artificial cell adhesive protein synthesized by genetically engineered Escherichia coli to a polyacrylic superabsorbent polymer. The microcarrier is characterized by containing no animal-derived components. The serum-free culture of Vero cells for vaccine production using the microcarrier increased the number of Vero cells by approximately 30% compared with the existing dextran beads coated with porcine Type I collagen, which resulted in approximately a 30% to 40% increase in the infectivity titer of the Sabin 2 strain of poliovirus. These results suggested that the developed microcarrier should be unprecedented in permitting high-yield vaccine production by means of a serum-free culture.     

Optimization of antireflection coating for VO2-based energy efficient window

Vanadium dioxide (VO₂) films have been proposed as energy efficient window coatings for their thermochromism, with which the solar energy transmission in the IR region may be controlled passively. These coatings suffer from low visible (or luminous) transmission (380–760 nm in wavelength), which hinders their practical uses. We here consider an antireflection (AR) coating for the VO₂-based window. Optical calculation was first performed upon a basic structure for thermochromic window composed of a VO₂ layer on glass with an AR layer of refractive index n and thickness d. Optimization was carried out on n and d for a maximum integrated luminous transmittance (T_lum). The calculation demonstrates that the optimal n value changes with thickness of VO₂, and at n≈2.2 it gives the highest T_lum enhancement from 32% (without AR coating) to 55% for 50-nm VO₂. Experiment was done on a structure of 50-nm VO₂ on quartz glass using ZrO₂, of which n≈2.2 matching the best n value, as AR coating. Formation of an optimized structure, ZrO₂ (56 nm)/VO₂ (50 nm)/quartz, was done by sputtering, and its optical properties were characterized with spectrophotometry. An improvement of T_lum from 32.3% to 50.5% was confirmed for the semiconductor phase with similarity also for the metallic one. The IR switching properties were not much deteriorated.     

Optical properties of alumina ceramics as a substrate of thin film solar cells

For full understanding of the optical properties of alumina ceramics which are used as a substrate of thin film c-Si solar cells, we carried out computer simulations of diffuse reflectance and measurements of angle-resolved reflectance. As the result of the computer simulations, we obtained a theoretical expression for the reflectance properties of alumina ceramics with flat surface. The expression can be applied for the measured reflectance of alumina ceramics with rough surface when an effect of surface condition was taken into account.     

A QoS-aware routing mechanism for multi-channel multi-interface ad-hoc networks

To accommodate real-time multimedia application while satisfying application QoS requirements in a wireless ad-hoc network, we need QoS control mechanisms. In this paper, we propose a new routing mechanism to support real-time multimedia communication by efficiently utilize the limited wireless network capacity. Our mechanism considers a wireless ad-hoc network composed of nodes equipped with multiple network interfaces to each of which a different wireless channel can be assigned. By embedding information about channel usage in control messages of OLSRv2, each node obtains a view of topology and bandwidth information of the whole network. Based on the obtained information, a source node determines a logical path with the maximum available bandwidth to satisfy application QoS requirements. Through simulation experiments, we confirmed that our proposal effectively routed multimedia packets over a logical path avoiding congested links. As a result, the load on a network is well distributed and the network can accommodate more sessions than QOLSR. We also conducted practical experiments using wireless ad-hoc relay nodes with four network interfaces and verified the practicality of our proposal.     

Evaluation of MPN method combined with PCR procedure for detection and enumeration of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in seafood

Vibrio parahaemolyticus densities in spiked and naturally contaminated seafood samples were enumerated by the MPN method combined with a PCR procedure (MPN-PCR method) targeting the species-specific thermolabile hemolysin gene (tlh), and by the MPN method using subcultivation of alkaline-peptone-water (APW) enrichment culture on thiosulfate-citrate-bile-sucrose (TCBS) agar (MPN-TCBS method). In the samples spiked with both V. parahaemolyticus and V. alginolyticus, the numbers of V. parahaemolyticus enumerated by the MPN-PCR method were similar to, or higher than the numbers of spiked cells, whereas those enumerated by the MPN-TCBS method were below the numbers of spiked cells. In naturally contaminated seafood samples, the numbers of V. parahaemolyticus enumerated by the MPN-PCR method were higher than those by the MPN-TCBS method. In the case of the MPN-TCBS method, isolation of V. parahaemolyticus from some APW cultures was difficult because of the overgrowth of many colonies other than V. parahaemolyticus (e.g., V. alginolyticus) on TCBS agar. In contrast, the PCR technique could detect tlh from APW culture without isolation of V. parahaemolyticus, so the possibility of failing to obtain a positive result in APW culture by the MPN-PCR method was considered to be lower than that by the MPN-TCBS method. Furthermore, utilization of the PCR technique reduces the time and labor required for the biochemical identification tests used in the MPN-TCBS method. For the detection and enumeration of V. parahaemolyticus in seafood, especially for samples that show many colonies other than V. parahaemolyticus on TCBS agar, the MPN-PCR method may be more convenient and reliable than the MPN-TCBS method.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of dislocation nucleation and motion at γ/γ′ interface in Ni-based superalloy

Molecular dynamics simulations are conducted on the dislocation behavior at the apices and edges of cuboidal Ni₃Al precipitate in a pure Ni matrix, or the idealized γ/γ′ microstructure in a Ni-based superalloy. A tensile simulation of the [001] direction is implemented with a periodic cell that has eight cubic precipitates in order to investigate the nucleation site of dislocation in the idealized microstructure with no defects other than the γ/γ′ interfaces. The effect of residual internal stresses on the stability of the interfaces is also discussed. Other simulations are conducted on the behavior of edge dislocations nucleated from a free surface and proceeding in the γ matrix toward γ′ precipitates under shear force. Dislocation pinning at γ′ precipitates, bowing-out in the γ channel, pile-up and nucleation of superdislocation in the γ′ precipitate are simulated and inspected in detail. Discussions on the size of the γ/γ′ microstructure and the sharpness of the edge of the γ′ precipitate are also presented.