ZSM-5 zeolite films on Si substrates grown by in situ seeding and secondary crystal growth and application in an electrochemical hydrocarbon gas sensor

ZSM-5 zeolite films were grown on Si substrates by a two-step hydrothermal synthesis consisting of in situ seeding and secondary crystal growth. The films were 8–13 μm thick and partly oriented with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate surface. After ion exchange with sodium ions, one film was applied as solid electrolyte in a potentiometric hydrocarbon gas sensor. A fast and reversible voltage response of the sensor to varying propane concentrations (100 ppm – 10%) was observed in O₂/CO₂/N₂ gas mixtures at 723 K.     

Textured PMN–PT and PMN–PZT

A promising way to improve the performance of piezoelectric ceramics is grain orientation by templated grain growth. In this work lead-based piezoelectric ceramics Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.68Ti_0.32O₃ (PMN–32PT) and Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.42(Ti_0.638Zr_0.362)_0.58O₃ (PMN–37PT–21PZ) ceramics were textured via templated grain growth process. For texturization (001)-oriented BaTiO₃ (BT) platelets (approximately 10 μm × 10 μm × 2 μm) were utilized as templates. The texturized ceramics were accomplished by aligning the templates by tape casting. The template growth into the matrix resulted in textured ceramics with Lotgering factors between 0.94 and 0.99 for both compositions. Consequences of the texture are enhanced dielectric and piezoelectric properties. Unipolar strain-field measurements of textured ceramics showed 0.25% strain s ₃₃ at 3 kV/mm. Large signal d ₃₃^* of up to 878 pm/V were determined directly from strain measurements. Compared with randomly oriented ceramics in texturized samples unipolar strain s ₃₃ and large signal d ₃₃^* was enhanced by a factor of up to 1.8.     

Increasing recyclability of PC,ABS and PMMA: Morphology and fracture behavior of binary and ternary blends

Binary and ternary blends of PC, ABS, and PMMA were studied. The blends were produced from original and recycled materials by melt mixing in a wide range of compositions. Instrumented Charpy impact testing, tensile testing, rheology investigations, and electron microscopy were carried out to determine the relationship between the deformation and fracture behavior, blend composition, morphology, and processing parameters. Resistance against unstable crack propagation was evaluated using the concepts of J‐integral and crack‐tip‐opening displacement (CTOD). The transition from ductile elastic‐plastic to brittle‐linear elastic fracture behavior was observed in the case of PC/ABS/PMMA blend at 10% of PMMA. Reprocessing had only a slight influence on the deformation and fracture behavior of the recycled blends. The blends produced from recycled materials proved to be competitive with the original pure materials. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008     

Dense silicon carbonitride ceramics by pyrolysis of cross-linked and warm pressed polysilazane powders

This study reports on the pyrolysis and densifaction behavior of cross-linked poly(hydridomethylsilazane) powders. The influence of the cross-linking procedure such as temperature and annealing time of the polymer powders on the compaction behavior under cold and warm pressing conditions is discussed. The degree of cross-linking is determined by thermal mechanical analysis (TMA). In addition to particle sliding which is assumed to be the compaction mechanism obtained by cold-pressing, the polymer powder consolidates by plastic deformation applying warm-pressing. A continuous 3-dimensional polysilazane network is formed after a dwelling time under these conditions. Pyrolysis of the cross-linked and compacted polysilazane powder in argon at 1100°C gives crack-free amorphous silicon carbonitride Si_3+xC_x+yN₄ with compositions ranging from x=1·47 and y=0·88 for cold pressed samples to x=1·47 and y=1·86 for warm pressed materials. The residual open porosity is significantly reduced from 10–15 vol% in the cold pressed specimens to 1·3–5 vol% by the warm pressing procedure. The weight loss during pyrolysis between room temperature and 1300°C is about 5 wt% lower than that for cold pressed specimens. This result is explained by a reduced methane evolution during the polymer-to-ceramic conversion and is in accordance with the enhanced carbon content of the warm pressed material.     

Analysis of heregulin symmetry by weighted evolutionary tracing

Heregulins are members of the protein family of EGF-like growthand differentiation factors. The primary cell-surface targetsof heregulins are heterodimers of the EGF-receptor homolog HER2with either HER3 or HER4. We used a weighted evolutionary traceanalysis to identify structural features that distinguish theEGF-like domain (hrg) of heregulins from other members of theEGF family. In this analysis, each amino acid sequence is weightedaccording to its uniqueness and the variability in each positionis assigned by an amino acid substitution matrix. Conservedresidues in heregulin that are variable in other EGF-like domainsare considered possible specificity-conferring residues. Thisanalysis identifies two clusters of residues at the foot ofthe boot-shaped hrg domain. The residues in one cluster arerecruited from the N-terminus; those in the other are from the-loop region and show a weak sequence similarity to the N-terminalresidues at the opposite side of the boot. The remaining residueswith high conservation scores distribute themselves into thesetwo distinct surfaces on hrg. This pseudo-twofold symmetry andthe presence of two distinct interfaces may reflect the preferenceof hrg for heterodimeric versus homodimeric HER complexes.     

Relaxation Pathways in Metallic Glasses

At temperatures below the glass transition temperature, physical properties of metallic glasses, such as density, viscosity, electrical resistivity or enthalpy, slowly evolve with time. This is the process of physical aging that occurs among all types of glasses and leads to structural changes at the microscopic level. Even though the relaxation pathways are ruled by thermodynamics as the glass attempts to re-attain thermodynamic equilibrium, they are steered by sluggish kinetics at the microscopic level. Understanding the structural and dynamic pathways of the relaxing glassy state is still one of the grand challenges in materials physics. We review some of the recent experimental advances made in understanding the nature of the relaxation phenomenon in metallic glasses and its implications to the macroscopic and microscopic properties changes of the relaxing glass.     

Influence of processing parameters on quality factors of one-shot hybrid structures made by RTM

This paper is dealing with the influence of processing parameters for manufacturing of steel–carbon-fiber-reinforced-plastic (CFRP) hybrid plates by using the one-shot-hybrid resin-transfer-moulding (OSH-RTM) process. A design of experiments study was carried out. The quality of the manufactured parts was quantified by the bending modulus, the apparent interlaminar shear strength (ILSS), the maximum deflection and the density of the CFRP. The following changeable processing parameters were chosen: mould temperature, resin temperature, change in mass flow and maximum injection pressure. It is shown that the mould temperature and the change in mass flow show significant impact on the flexural modulus, density and maximum deflection of the plate while there is no significant impact on the apparent ILSS. Furthermore, the interaction between the mould temperature and resin temperature is having an influence on the flexural modulus and density.     

Electrochemical studies of carbon-rich polymer-derived SiCN ceramics as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

The electrochemical behavior of poly(phenylvinylsilylcarbodiimide)-derived SiCN ceramics as anode material for lithium-ion batteries is reported here for the first time. The novel carbon-rich silicon carbonitride (SiCN) ceramics have been synthesized by the thermal treatment of poly(phenylvinylsilylcarbodiimide) under argon atmosphere at five temperatures, namely 1100, 1300, 1500, 1700 and 2000 °C. The SiCN electrodes were prepared without any conducting additives and were tested in electrochemical two electrodes cell using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic techniques. The capacity of the carbon-rich SiCN samples was found to be stable upon galvanostatic cycling and reaches almost 300 mAh/g for the sample prepared at 1300 °C with oxygen as the impurity. The dependence of the microstructure, especially of the crystallinity of the segregated carbon phase and of the oxygen impurities on the electrochemical behavior of the SiCN material, was analysed. At all temperatures of thermolysis, the free carbon phase has been identified as “soft carbon”.