Analysis of Reusability using ‘Marginal Reuse Rate’

While reuse is an effective lifecycle option in terms of reduction of environmental loads and value of reutilization, reuse has inherent difficulties. Our naive question is why component reuse of home appliances seems impossible while that of photocopiers succeeded. This paper clarifies an essential factor for successful reuse; that is, the balance between supply and demand of reusables, and proposes an index named ‘marginal reuse rate,’ which indicates upper limit of reusability. By using this index, reusability of several products is analyzed. The marginal reuse rate indicates that design of lifecycle, in addition to product design, is indispensable for successful reuse.     

Removal of nitrogen oxides from air by chemicals-impregnated carbons

Fixation of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) in air onto granular activated carbon impregnated with chemicals was attempted to improve removal efficiency of NO_x by activated carbon adsorption. Nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), were tried to remove by a flow test. Fixed-bed adsorption breakthrough curves were obtained when some kinds of carbon were used. The amount adsorbed of NO₂ changed with the amount and kinds of metallic salts impregnated. Chemicals-impregnated carbons were prepared from a commercial activated carbon. Among obtained carbons, the one which showed the highest selectivity for NO_x was chosen, and its performance with the change in humidity was determined. Removal mechanism of NO₂ was estimated, and the carbon impregnated with potassium hydroxide was found to be superior to any other carbon tested. The amount of the adsorbed NO and that produced by the reduction of NO₂ were determined from the breakthrough curves.     

The effect of the framework structure on the chemical properties of the vanadium oxide species incorporated within zeolites

V-silicalite catalysts (VS-1 and VS-2) prepared by hydrothermal synthesis have been studied by ESR, XAFS (XANES and EXAFS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The in situ characterization of these V-silicalites shows that vanadium is present within the zeolitic framework as a highly dispersed tetrahedrally coordinated V-oxides, VO₄ unit, having a short V=O bond length. Photoluminescence spectroscopy in static and dynamic mode, as well as XAFS studies allow to detect in the V-silicalites different V species than that present in V-HMS or V/SiO₂, in terms of V=O bond length, vibrational energy, bond angle and lifetime of the excited triplet state. It is suggested that the combined contribution of the neighboring Si---OH group attached to the VO₄ unit and the zeolitic rigid framework structure of V-silicalites cause a more significant and pronounced effect on the chemical properties of the VO₄ unit than the flexible structure of V-HMS or V/SiO₂. Moreover, the dynamic quenching of the phosphorescence by the addition of reactant molecules such as NO or propane indicates that the V species in the excited triplet state can be expected to be the active sites for the photocatalytic reactions.     

Dielectric Depression and Dispersion in Electrophoretically Fabricated BaTiO3 Ceramic Films

Dielectric depression and dispersion were observed in BaTiO3 ceramic films fabricated by electrophoretic deposition followed by sintering. The dielectric constants were depressed down to 6800–4600 around the Curie point ( T _C ). The dielectric dispersion occurred above T _C . These dielectric properties are attributable to a surface layer formed during sintering. XRD analysis indicated that the surface layer was a hexagonal-like BaTiO₃ phase. A mixed solvent of acetylacetone and alcohol employed in the present work may have been responsible for the formation of the surface layer.     

Mechanical Properties of Alumina/Silicon Carbide Whisker Composites

The improvement of mechanical properties of Al₂O₃/SiC whisker composites has been studied with emphasis on the effects of the whisker content and of the hot-pressing temperature. Mechanical properties such as fracture toughness and fracture strength increased with increasing whisker content up to 40 wt%. In the case of the high SiC whisker content of 40 wt%, fracture toughness of the sample hot-pressed at 1900° decreased significantly, in spite of densification, compared with one hot-pressed at 1850°. Fracture toughness strongly depended on the microstructure, especially the distribution of SiC whiskers rather than the grain size of the Al₂O₃ matrix.     

Face relighting using discriminative 2D spherical spaces for face recognition

As part of the face recognition task in a robust security system, we propose a novel approach for the illumination recovery of faces with cast shadows and specularities. Given a single 2D face image, we relight the face object by extracting the nine spherical harmonic bases and the face spherical illumination coefficients by using the face spherical spaces properties. First, an illumination training database is generated by computing the properties of the spherical spaces out of face albedo and normal values estimated from 2D training images. The training database is then discriminately divided into two directions in terms of the illumination quality and light direction of each image. Based on the generated multi-level illumination discriminative training space, we analyze the target face pixels and compare them with the appropriate training subspace using pre-generated tiles. When designing the framework, practical real-time processing speed and small image size were considered. In contrast to other approaches, our technique requires neither 3D face models nor restricted illumination conditions for the training process. Furthermore, the proposed approach uses one single face image to estimate the face albedo and face spherical spaces. In this work, we also provide the results of a series of experiments performed on publicly available databases to show the significant improvements in the face recognition rates.     

Poly(pyridine-2,5-diyl)–CuCl2 catalyst for synthesis of dimethyl carbonate by oxidative carbonylation of methanol: catalytic activity and corrosion influence

A -conjugated polymer, poly(pyridine-2,5-diyl) (PPy) was investigated as a support for CuCl₂ in the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate by oxidative carbonylation of methanol. The PPy–CuCl₂ adduct had high catalytic activity which was comparable to that of the homogeneous CuCl₂ catalyst. The adduct caused corrosion of stainless-steel vessels only to minor extent, compared with the homogeneous CuCl₂ catalyst. This PPy–CuCl₂ catalyst was easily recycled by filtration and showed a similar catalytic activity in the third time use. The presence of the -conjugated system in PPy, through which electrons can move, may bring about the high catalytic activity for the oxidative carbonylation of methanol, which involves Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox processes.     

Decomposition of chlorofluorocarbons on TiO2ZrO2

The decomposition of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the presence of water was examined over a variety of solid acid catalysts. The TiO₂ZrO₂ catalyst was found to have the highest activity and longest life among the catalysts examined. The activity of the TiO₂ZrO₂ catalysts depended upon the content of TiO₂. At the contents of TiO₂ from 58 to 90 mole%, the TiO₂ZrO₂ catalysts exhibited high activity, and these catalysts were proven to contain TiZrO₄ crystal. From the study of the XRD peak intensity of the TiZrO₄ crystal, it was highest on the TZ-58 which contained 58 mole% of TiO₂, and decreased with increasing the content of TiO₂. Furthermore, the conversion of CFC113 measured at 673 K was highest at TZ-58, and decreased gradually with increasing TiO₂ content. Therefore, the TiZrO₄ crystal influences the activity of decomposition of CFC113. However, the TiO₂ZrO₂ catalyst was gradually deactivated during the reaction due to the elimination of titanium atoms. A good relationship was found between the activity on TiO₂ZrO₂ catalyst and bond energy of CCl in the compounds of chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorocarbons, suggesting that the rate controlling step was the cleavage of CCl bond.     

Antioxidant effects of chlorophyll and pheophytin on the autoxidation of oils in the dark. I. Comparison of the inhibitory effects

The effects of chlorophyll and pheophytin on the autoxidation of oils in the dark were investigated by oven tests. The results indicated that both chlorophyll and pheophytin show antioxidant activity when methyl linoleate is used as substrate. Furthermore, chlorophyll retarded the oxidative deterioration of triglycerides in rapeseed and soybean oils at 30 C. Among the four chlorophyll derivatives (chlorophylls a and b and pheophytins a and b), chlorophyll a showed the strongest antioxidant activity. The antioxidant effects of chlorophyll and pheophytin depended on the storage temperature and the kinds of oil used as substrate.     

Oxidation of synthetic triacylglycerols containing eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids: Effect of oxidation system and triacylglycerol structure

Thirteen synthetic triacylglycerols (TAG) containing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were oxidized in the presence of 2,2′-azobis(2,4-dimethyl-valeronitrile) (AMVN) and 2,2′-azobis(2-amidinopropane)dihydrochloride (AAPH) as aqueous and nonaqueous radical initiators to investigate the influence of TAG structure and oxidation system on the oxidative stability of TAG that contain highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA). A 2:1 (mol/mol) mixture of trieicosapentaenoylglycerol and tripalmitoylglycerol was most susceptible to the AMVN-initiated oxidation among three types of TAG that contained EPA and palmitic acid (2:1, mol/mol). Compared with 1,2 (or 2,3)-dieicosapentaenoyl-3(or 1)-palmitoylglycerol (EEP) and 1,3-dieicosapentaenoyl-2-palmitoylglycerol (EPE), the oxidative rate of EEP was somewhat higher. A similar result was obtained for DHA-containing TAG. The oxidative rate of TAG that contained EPA and palmitic acid (1:2, mol/mol) showed a positive correlation with the amount of EPA in a single TAG molecule. Moreover, in the nonaqueous system, the oxidative rate of EPA-containing TAG was affected by unsaturation and carbon chainlength of constituent fatty acids. In the AAPH-initiated oxidation in the aqueous system, the oxidative rate of TAG with EPA and palmitic acid was higher with the increased quantity of EPA in a single TAG molecule. Also, constituent fatty acids modified the oxidative rate of EPA-containing TAG in an aqueous system. The glycerol position of EPA and DHA also affected the oxidative rate of the TAG. EPA and DHA located at the 1,2 (or 2,3)-position of glycerol were more oxidizable than those at the 1,3-position during AAPH-initiated oxidation. Thus, 1,2(or2,3)-dipalmitoyl-3(or 1)-eicosapentaenoylglycerol was oxidized faster than 1,3-dipalmitoyl-2-eicosapentaenoylglycerol. These observations suggest that the oxidative stability of TAG that contain HUFA could be modulated by the oxidation system and TAG structure.