Enzyme‐Catalyzed Synthesis of Conducting Polyaniline Nanocomposites with Pure and Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes

The in situ enzymatic polymerization of aniline onto multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and carboxylated MWCNT (COOH‐MWCNT) is reported. Nanostructured composites were prepared by this method. Polymerization was catalyzed with the enzyme horseradish peroxidase at room temperature in aqueous medium of pH 4. Hydrogen peroxide was used in low concentration as the oxidant. The nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The TEM studies showed tubular morphology with uniformly distributed MWCNT in the nanocomposites. The SEM and TEM investigations revealed wrapping of the MWCNT with polyaniline (PANI) chains. TGA demonstrated that the PANI component is thermally more stable in PANI/COOH‐MWCNT compared to the PANI/MWCNT composites. The synthesized nanocomposites showed higher conductivity than pure PANI, which may be due to the strong interaction between the PANI chains and the MWCNT.     

Effect of combined chitosan-krill oil coating and modified atmosphere packaging on the storability of cold-stored lingcod (Ophiodon elongates) fillets

Chitosan solutions (3%) incorporating 20% krill oil (w/w chitosan) with or without the addition of 0.1 μl/ml cinnamon leaf essential oil were prepared. Fresh lingcod (Ophiodon elongates) fillets were vacuum-impregnated with the coating solutions, vacuum or modified atmosphere (MA) (60% CO₂ + 40% N₂) packaged, and then stored at 2 °C for up to 21 days for physicochemical and microbial quality evaluation. Chitosan-krill oil coating increased total lipid and omega-3 fatty acid contents of the lingcod by about 2-fold. The combined chitosan coating and vacuum or MA packaging reduced lipid oxidation as represented in TBARS, chemical spoilage as reflected in TVBN, and microbiological spoilage as reported in total plate count (2.22–4.25 Log reductions during storage). Chitosan-krill oil coating did not change the colour of the fresh fillets, nor affect consumers’ acceptance of both raw and cooked fish samples. Consumers preferred the overall quality of chitosan-coated, cooked lingcod samples over the control, based on their firm texture and less fishy aroma.     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(catechol) catalyzed by porphyrin and enzyme

Catalytic polymerization of catechol was performed employing the cationic porphyrin and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as catalysts. The obtained results demonstrate that the cationic metalloporphyrin is a more-efficient catalyst than the HRP in the catechol polymerization. The oxidative polymerization was carried out in the presence of polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) as a template. According to TGA data, poly(catechol) that is synthesized by porphyrin catalyst exhibits more thermal stability than the enzymatic catalyzed product. The GPC indicate higher molecular weight of polymer synthesized by porphyrin as a catalyst. Cyclic voltammetry measurements show that the synthesized polymers have convenient electroactivity. The poly(catechol) and its methyl and methoxy derivatives that are synthesized by porphyrin catalyst show low electrical conductivity.     

Fabrication of Al2O3/(ZrB2 + TiB2) Composite Using MACS and Microwaves

Because of the excellent thermal and mechanical properties of engineering ceramics, they have been used as structural materials or composite matrixes and reinforcements in recent years. Alumina, titanium diboride, and zirconium diboride have found important uses in the past two decades. In this study, Al₂O₃/(ZrB₂ + TiB₂) ceramic composite powders were fabricated in situ and mechanical activation by milling was used to assist combustion synthesis (CS). A mixture of Al, ZrO₂, TiO₂, and B₂O₃ powders were used as raw materials. Mechanical activation was done using ball milling of different durations. Afterward, combustion was initiated using microwaves on the activated mixtures. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the purity and microstructure of the products. XRD analysis of the samples in the final stages of the process revealed that Al₂O₃/(ZrB₂ + TiB₂) composite powder was successfully fabricated using mechanical activation and CS, but that the CS reaction did not occur in unmilled samples. It was shown that increasing milling time from 3 to 10 hours increased purity and homogeneity of the products to the point that no noticeable impurity existed in the samples milled for 10 hours.     

Effect of Ti3SiC2 on the ablation behavior and mechanism of Cf-C-SiC-Ti3SiC2 composites under oxyacetylene torch at 3000 °C

In this research, ablation resistance of C_f-C-SiC and C_f-C-SiC-Ti₃SiC₂ composites, fabricated by liquid silicon infiltration (LSI) method were investigated. The infiltration process was conducted at 1500?°C for 30?min and then the samples were annealed at 1350?°C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were utilized in order to investigate the phase composition and microstructure of the ablated samples, respectively. When compared with C_f-C-SiC composite, results showed that mass and linear ablation rates of C_f-C-SiC-Ti₃SiC₂ composite have been improved by 50% and 37.5%, respectively. The mass and linear ablations rates of C_f-C-SiC composite were reached to 23.8?mg/s and 0.096?mm/s, respectively, while these values for C_f-C-SiC-Ti₃SiC₂ were reached to 11.8?mg/s and 0.06?mm/s, respectively. Microscopic investigations showed that formation of protective oxide layer and its stability on the surface of MAX-containing composite are the main reasons for improvement of ablation properties. While the oxide film formed on C_f-C-SiC composite has been blown away by flame.     

Effects of ZrC content on the synthesis of MAX phase and mechanical properties of Cf-C-SiC-Ti3SiC2-ZrC composites

In this research synthesis of Ti₃SiC₂ nano-laminate, effects of Al and ZrC on the amount and morphology of the synthesized MAX phase and mechanical properties of the C_f-C-SiC, C_f-C-SiC-Ti₃SiC₂ and C_f-C-SiC-Ti₃SiC₂-ZrC composites, fabricated by LSI method, were investigated. The infiltration process was conducted at 1500?°C for 30?min and then the samples were annealed at 1350?°C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were utilized in order to investigate the phase composition and microstructure of the samples, respectively. The results showed that the sample containing Al, had the largest amount of synthesized MAX phase and also addition of ZrC led to the decrease of intensities of MAX phase peaks. Among the samples, C_f-C-SiC-Ti₃Si(Al)C₂ had the best mechanical properties compared to the others. Bending strength, interlaminar shear strength and fracture toughness of this sample were 505?MPa, 34?MPa and 19.1?MPa?m^1/2 respectively. The results confirmed that the mechanical properties were decreased by addition of ZrC. Among ZrC-containing samples, the sample containing 10?vol% ZrC has shown the least decrease properties including the bending strength of 369.11?MPa, interlaminar shear strength of 26?MPa and fracture toughness of 16.9?MPa?m^1/2. Addition of ZrC phase caused pseudo-plastic behavior appearance in the force-displacement curve and led to fibers pull-out and also displacement enhancement. Microstructural observations confirmed the plate-like morphology of synthesized MAX phases. Furthermore, the distance between layers decreased and MAX phase size increased respectively by addition of Al. Also MAX phase size decreased by increasing the ZrC content. It was confirmed that the MAX phase-containing samples can tolerate various micro-deformation mechanisms including: crack deflection, bending and delamination of lamellae, kink boundary and laminate fracture. These mechanisms led to the toughening of the composites.     

The effect of processing parameters in the carbothermal synthesis of titanium diboride powder

The mechanism of the carbothermal method for synthesizing titanium diboride (TiB₂) powder has been studied. Mixtures of TiO₂, H₃BO₃ and carbon were heated in an argon atmosphere at 1000–1600 °C. The effect of the molar ratio and holding time on the phase evolution was studied by X-ray diffraction. The products were also characterized by scanning electron microscopy observations and particle size measurements.For a composition with a molar ratio of TiO₂:H₃BO₃:C = 1:2.4:5 heated for 1 h, the simultaneous presence of TiC and TiB₂ phases at 1100 °C and the transformation of TiO₂ to Ti₂O₃ at 1200 °C and higher confirms that TiB₂ synthesis is based on a TiC formation mechanism, in which TiC may be formed from a reaction between TiO₂ or Ti₂O₃ and carbon. Then TiC may react with liquid B₂O₃ and/or gaseous B₂O₂ to form the TiB₂ phase. The reaction is completed at 1500 °C. Also by increasing the molar ratio of boric acid to 3, the impurities decreased considerably and pressing of the material had an obvious effect on decreasing the impurities, due to an increase of the surface contact of particles, which causes an effective inhibition of boron escape from the reaction chamber. Under these experimental conditions, a relatively narrow size distribution of TiB₂ particles was produced. When the reaction time increased to 1.5–2 h, grain growth of particles occurred. Therefore, a wider distribution of particle size was obtained.     

Investigation of TE-polarized photonic band gap properties in matallodielectric photonic crystals composed of metal coated dielectric cylinders

Using the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map method and generalization of this method, we have been able to calculate the photonic band structure of two-dimensional (2D) metallodielectric photonic crystals composed of metal-coated circular dielectric rods. The rods are embedded in an air background with a square array. We are interested in considering transverse electric (TE) mode of electromagnetic waves. The resulting band structures show the existence of photonic band gaps as well as some flat band regions. We theoretically study the effect of the dielectric constant and radius of the dielectric core on the photonic band structures. There are some interesting results compared to the case of solid metallic rods (without dielectric core) such as appearing the new photonic band gaps and a flat band region with the characteristic of cavity modes.     

聪加环境中心与本地可持续性催化剂

项目地点:南非开普敦项目类型:环境资源与教育中心开工日期:2005年10月该项目旨在通过展示环保建筑设计实现可持续生计。该项目获2005年豪瑞可持续建筑大奖赛非洲中东地区铜奖     

Credit assignment and discovery in classifier systems

Classifier systems are “discovery” production rule systems that utilize the genetic algorithm for discovery and allocate credit through the bucket brigade. For any given problem, the success of a classifier system depends on the choice of representation, the system's ability to attain reward or punishment states (evaluation states), accurate estimation of the relative merit of individual classifiers, and the genetic algorithm's ability to use information about the current population of rules to generate better rules. This article addresses the adequacy of the bucket brigade and backward averaging for credit assignment and reviews a preliminary study of two variants in conjunction with rules that are fully enumerated as well as with discovery. Potential difficulties with each of these methods are highlighted in several theoretical examples, including one from the literature. Preliminary results and tentative similarities between these hybrids and Sutton's Adaptive Heuristic Critic (AHC) are suggested.