Influence of hydrostatic pressure on the electrical properties of unvulcanized FEF-loaded SBR

Styrene butadience rubber (SBR-1502) loaded with different concentrations of FEF carbon black was tested to find out the effect of pressure on its electrical properties during vulcanization. Using the thermodynamically calculated values of the pressure coefficient (K), the thermoelastic coefficient (L = ?T/?P) was also estimated and compared with that obtained by other workers. The thermoelastic coefficient was found to be strongly dependent on the carbon black concentration.     

Assessing the Antimicrobial Activity of Polyisoprene Based Surfaces

There has been an intense research effort in the last decades in the field of biofouling prevention as it concerns many aspects of everyday life and causes problems to devices, the environment, and human health. Many different antifouling and antimicrobial materials have been developed to struggle against bacteria and other micro- and macro-organism attachment to different surfaces. However the “miracle solution” has still to be found. The research presented here concerns the synthesis of bio-based polymeric materials and the biological tests that showed their antifouling and, at the same time, antibacterial activity. The raw material used for the coating synthesis was natural rubber. The polyisoprene chains were fragmented to obtain oligomers, which had reactive chemical groups at their chain ends, therefore they could be modified to insert polymerizable and biocidal groups. Films were obtained by radical photopolymerization of the natural rubber derived oligomers and their structure was altered, in order to understand the mechanism of attachment inhibition and to increase the efficiency of the anti-biofouling action. The adhesion of three species of pathogenic bacteria and six strains of marine bacteria was studied. The coatings were able to inhibit bacterial attachment by contact, as it was verified that no detectable leaching of toxic molecules occurred.     

Structure and antimicrobial activity relationship of quaternary N‐alkyl chitosan derivatives against some plant pathogens

In the present work, quaternary chitosans as water‐soluble compounds were prepared based on three‐step process. Schiff bases were firstly synthesized by the reaction between the amino groups of chitosan with aliphatic aldehydes followed by a reduction with sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) to form N‐(alkyl) chitosans. N,N,N‐(dimethyl alkyl) chitosans were then obtained by a reaction of chitosan containing N‐butyl, N‐pentyl, N‐hexyl, N‐heptyl, and N‐octyl substituents with methyl iodide. The compounds were characterized using IR and NMR spectroscopy. Subsequent experiments were conducted to test their antimicrobial activities against the most economic plant pathogenic bacteria of crown gall disease Agrobacterium tumefaciens, soft mold disease Erwinia carotovora, fungi of grey mold Botrytis cinerea, root rot disease Fusarium oxysporum, and damping off disease Pythium debaryanum. Quaternary chitosans enhanced the antibacterial activity and N,N,N‐(dimethyl pentyl) chitosan was the most active one with Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 750 and 1225 mg/L against A. tumefaciens and E. carotovora, respectively. All quaternized chitosans gave stronger antifungal activities than chitosan where N,N,N‐(dimethyl pentyl) chitosan and N,N,N‐(dimethyl octyl) chitosan were significantly the highest in mycelial growth inhibiation against B. cinerea (EC₅₀ = 908 and 383 mg/L, respectively), F. oxysporum (EC₅₀ = 871 and 812 mg/L, respectively), and P. debaryanum (EC₅₀ = 624 and 440 mg/L, respectively). In addition, spore germination of B. cinerea and F. oxysporum was significantly affected with the compounds at the tested concentrations and the inhibition activity was increased with an increase in the chain length of the alkyl substituent. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

PVD Coating of Mg–AZ31 by Thin Layer of Al and Al–Si

Although magnesium alloys have the advantage of high specific strength, they have poor atmospheric corrosion resistance. An important method of improving the corrosion resistance is by applying a coating layer. In this work, the physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique is used for coating a magnesium (Mg) AZ31 sheet substrate with a thin layer of high purity aluminum (Al) and Al–12.6% Si. Aluminum is expected to be suitable as a coating layer on Mg sheets, due to its corrosion resistance and its formability. Before coating, the substrate was subjected to several consecutive surface preparations, including sand-blasting, mechanical grinding, mirror-like polishing, ultrasonic etching, and finally ion etching by magnetron sputtering (MS). PVD coating was conducted using a PVD machine with max electron beam power and voltage of 100 kW and 40 kV, respectively. This was either with or without plasma activation, and with variable substrate speeds ranging between 10 and 70 mm/s. During MS ion etching and coating, the substrate temperature increased. The substrate temperature increased with the application of plasma activation and with lower substrate speeds. The coating-layer thickness varied inversely with substrate speed. A thinner coat with finer morphology was obtained in the case of plasma activation. Other results included coating layer characteristics, diffusion between the AZ 31 substrate and the Al coating layer, adhesion of the coating layer to the substrate, and corrosion resistance by a humidity test.     

Effect of refrigerant charge on the performance of air conditioning systems

An air conditioning system operates in an optimal condition if the system is fully charged with a specified amount of refrigerant. Poor field maintenance or refrigerant leakage causes low level of charge resulting in a lower thermal performance and higher operating cost. An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of low charge level of R‐22 on the performance of a 3‐ton residential air conditioning system. The experimental results show that if a system is undercharged to 90 per cent then the effect is small: a 3.5 per cent reduction in cooling capacity and a 2 per cent increase in the coefficient of performance (COP). However, the system performance suffers serious degradation if the level of charge drops below 80 per cent. An ice layer formed on the outer surface of the cooling coil impedes the heat transfer between the warm air and cold refrigerant vapour. An economic analysis shows that the cost of properly charging an under‐charged system which is at an 85 per cent charge level, can pay for itself in savings in a short period of 3–4 months. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comment on ‘extended depth of field in hybrid imaging systems: circular aperture’

A recent paper by Sherif et al. (S.S. Sherif, E.R. Dowski, W.T. Cathey, J. Mod. Opt. 51 1191 (2004).) reported the derivation of an aspherical phase plate, which when placed at the exit pupil of a conventional imaging system and combined with digital processing of the recorded images, increases the depth of field by an order of magnitude. An error in the derivation of this phase plate has been identified, which makes the reported extension of depth-of-field sub-optimum rather than invalid. In this comment, an optimum phase plate is obtained and the relevant results are repeated.     

Instant synthesis of mesoporous monolithic materials with controllable geometry,dimension and stability: a review

The development of the nanoscale structures and their integration into components, systems, and natural architectures (such as monoliths), and large-scale devices, is one of the most promising areas in the emerging field of nanotechnology. We believe that it is time to write a review that focused on the rapid synthesis and the functional properties of HOM mesoporous monoliths. Thus, we here introduce comprehensive and up-to-date reports on the instant synthesis (within minutes) of a range of mesoporous silica monoliths (HOM-type, High-Order-Monolith) by means of a direct-templating method of lyotropic and microemulsion liquid crystalline phases. A number of nonionic n-alkyl-oligo(ethylene oxide), namely, Brij-type (C _x EO _y ), and Triton- and Tween-type and cationic alkyl trimethylammonium bromide or chloride (C _n TMA-B or -C, where n = 12, 14, 16 and 18) surfactants were used as soft templates. A variety of 1D, 2D and 3D mesostructure geometries were successfully fabricated by using this simple, fast and yet reproducible design strategy. This is the first and detailed review of using rapid synthesis to fabricate disordered and ordered silica/surfactant mesophases with supermicro- and meso-pore engineering systems. In this review, we also addressed the prominent factors affected the formation of the large-scale ordered and worm-like structures (HOM): (1) the phase composition of domains, (2) the extent of solubilization of hydrocarbons, and (3) the nature of surfactant molecules (corona/core features). Significantly, due to large morphological particle sizes, these HOM monolithic structures exhibited considerable structural stability against longer hydrothermal treatment times. Such retention is crucial in industrial applications.     

Adaptive allocation of resources and call admission control forwireless ATM using genetic algorithms

In wireless ATM-based networks, admission control is required to reserve resources in advance for calls requiring guaranteed services. In the case of a multimedia call, each of its substreams (i.e., video, audio, and data) has its own distinct quality of service (QoS) requirements (e.g., cell loss rate, delay, jitter, etc.). The network attempts to deliver the required QoS by allocating an appropriate amount of resources (e.g., bandwidth, buffers). The negotiated QoS requirements constitute a certain QoS level that remains fixed during the call (static allocation approach). Accordingly, the corresponding allocated resources also remain unchanged. We present and analyze an adaptive allocation of resources algorithm based on genetic algorithms. In contrast to the static approach, each substream declares a preset range of acceptable QoS levels (e.g., high, medium, low) instead of just a single one. As the availability of resources in the wireless network varies, the algorithm selects the best possible QoS level that each substream can obtain. In case of congestion, the algorithm attempts to free up some resources by degrading the QoS levels of the existing calls to lesser ones. This is done, however, under the constraint of achieving maximum utilization of the resources while simultaneously distributing them fairly among the calls. The degradation is limited to a minimum value predefined in a user-defined profile (UDP). Genetic algorithms have been used to solve the optimization problem. From the user perspective, the perception of the QoS degradation is very graceful and happens only during overload periods. The network services, on the other hand, are greatly enhanced due to the fact that the call blocking probability is significantly decreased. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm performs well in terms of increasing the number of admitted calls while utilizing the available bandwidth fairly and effectively     

Critical pathways to enhanced innovation diffusion and business performance in Australian design firms

This paper presents a study that extends on previous empirical research, which examined the role of enabling ‘climate for innovation’ constructs in determining the level of innovation diffusion outcomes, and subsequent business performance in architectural and engineering design (AED) firms. Whilst this previous study elucidated the relationships between broad theoretical constructs, the present study was focused on targeting the significant enabling factor interrelationships with the core outcomes that result from the innovation diffusion process. To achieve this objective, a sequential mixed-method research design combining quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques was employed. The quantitative techniques included a correlation analysis to identify the strong factor relationships, followed by Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to determine the critical pathways for enhancing innovation diffusion and ultimately heightened levels of client satisfaction. Following path model extraction, qualitative interviews with five Australian AED firms were conducted. The interview findings confirmed the uncovered significant pathways, and provided in-depth insights into how the improvement of critical enabling factors could leverage improved innovation diffusion outcomes and business performance.     

The electroremoval of copper from dilute waste solutions using Swiss-roll electrode cell

Copper is usually present in concentrations less than 5 g/L⁻¹ in dilute waste solutions. The low concentrations make these solutions unsuitable for the electro-flow owinning processes via conventional electrolysis cells. Unconventional, two-and three-dimensional electrode cells with relatively large cathodic area are essential for such treatment. Different types of cells are mentioned in the literature. Among these cells, the two-dimensional Swiss-roll cell (SR) is considered in this study. The effects of cathodic current densities, initial copper concentrations, free sulfuric acid concentration, the presence of iron and zinc cations, and the rate of flow of the solution on both the cathodic current efficiency and power consumption were studied. Copper was removed from synthetic and industrial mixtures of Cu/Fe/Zn sulfate solutions to less than 5 ppm with power consumptions of 10.326 kWh/kg⁻¹ and 8.61 kWh/kg⁻¹, respectively. The correlation between the SR cell and packed-column cell on such treatment was also considered.