Preparation and physical properties of transparent organic–inorganic nanohybrid materials based on urethane dimethacrylate

The aim of this study was to prepare transparent organic–inorganic nanohybrid materials with improved physical properties in comparison with the matrix polymer. Polymerizable silica nanoparticles were synthesized via the reaction of silanol groups on the surface of silica nanoparticles (particle diameter ≈ 12 nm) with isocyanate groups of 2‐(methacryloyloxy)ethyl isocyanate (MOI) in ethyl acetate. In addition, the matrix monomer, urethane dimethacrylate, was prepared by the reaction of an MOI isocyanate group with the hydroxyl group of 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and novel organic–inorganic nanohybrid materials were obtained at various silica contents with bulk polymerization. The surface treatment of the silica nanoparticles and preparation of the matrix monomer were carried out in a one‐pot reaction. The prepared hybrid materials retained high transparency, and the elastic modulus and surface hardness improved with increasing silica content. Moreover, the strength of the material containing 20 wt % silica was up to 30 MPa higher than that of the matrix polymer. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Development of function-graded proton exchange membrane for PEFC using heavy ion beam irradiation

The graded energy deposition of heavy ion beam irradiation to polymeric materials was utilized to synthesize a novel proton exchange membrane (PEM) with the graded density of sulfonic acid groups toward the thickness direction. Stacked Poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene) (FEP) films were irradiated by Xe⁵⁴⁺ ion beam with the energy of 6 MeV/u under a vacuum condition. The induced trapped radicals by the irradiation were measured by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. Irradiated films were grafted with styrene monomer and then sulfonated. X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra showed that the densities of sulfonic acid groups were controlled for injection “Surface” and transmit “Back” sides of the fabricated PEM. The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) fabricated by the function-graded PEM showed improved fuel cell performance in terms of voltage stability. It was expected that the function-graded PEM could control the graded concentration of sulfonic acid groups in PEM.     

Super‐resolution image reconstruction using state information of a motorized head

This paper presents an integrated system designed to obtain a high‐resolution image via super‐resolution image reconstruction by using an observer of a motorized head under control. An advantage of this integration is that the constructed system can algebraically and systematically calculate the registration and motion blur identification, which is quite different from the way in which the conventional methods preprocess captured images. To illustrate the effectiveness of the presented system, some experimental results are provided. © 2013 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A novel template‐based automatic rigging algorithm for articulated‐character animation

Rigging is a process for creating skeletons used to animate articulated characters. In conventional computer‐animation software, this process must be performed manually. Although several automatic rigging algorithms have been proposed, these methods still require user intervention. This paper proposes an automatic algorithm that generates an inverse kinematic skeleton for a character by locating an appropriate template skeleton on the extracted curve skeleton of the input 3D character model. After the curve skeleton is extracted, it is analyzed and classified into an appropriate category. The classification conditions are developed from the characteristics of each kind of real animal. We also develop an algorithm to extract the anatomical meaning of each skeleton segment. On the basis of the classification result, a suitable template skeleton is retrieved from the database. Each bone of the template skeleton can then be located on the appropriate skeleton segment of the input skeleton graph by using the extracted anatomical meanings. In contrast to previous methods, the algorithm does not require the input 3D character models to have certain poses or orientations. Moreover, all processes can be completed without user intervention. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental Study of Evaporation from Saline Tailings

Many of the mining operations in Western Australia are located in arid and semiarid regions where there is a severe scarcity of freshwater. Most of the processing is carried out using ground water from paleochannels. Much of this ground water is very saline, with concentrations approaching saturation in many cases. The potential rates of evaporation in the region can be very high (over 3 m∕year). With careful management, tailings deposited subaereally in this region can achieve high strengths and densities due to evaporation. However, high salinity results in a severe reduction in the rate of evaporation from the tailings, thereby inhibiting consolidation due to evaporation. This paper presents the results of laboratory evaporation tests carried out to examine the mechanisms by which this reduction occurs. In these tests, all tailings samples with saline water formed salt crusts on the surfaces during evaporation, resulting in evaporation rates that were markedly low compared with those from equivalent freshwater tailings samples. This was the case even if the salinity was low. From measurements made on these samples, it is concluded that the most important mechanisms for reduction due to the salt crust are the increase in surface reflectivity and the increase in the surface resistance to moisture transfer. The vapor pressure reduction in the air due to the salinity of the tailings water is also a factor.     

The structures and gas-sorption properties of l-tyrosine films prepared by the Knudsen effusion method

l-tyrosine (L-Tyr) films with an oblique columnar structure were prepared by the Knudsen cell effusion method. The L-Tyr films were formed at a Knudsen cell temperature that was sufficiently lower than the decomposition temperature of L-Tyr. As the heating rate controlled by DC current is increased, the molecular network constructed of hydrogen bonds tends to collapse, and the film density and surface hydrophobicity tend to decrease. Higher DC currents are likely to induce a decarboxylation reaction. L-Tyr films prepared at a higher heating rate have enhanced gas sorption capabilities for a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The sorption capabilities are particularly enhanced for linear hydrocarbons. The gas sorption characteristics for VOCs suggest that the adsorption in the vicinity of the film surface is dominant rather than diffusion into the film, which corresponds with the densified surface morphology.