Supercapacitors based on conducting polymers/nanotubes composites

Three types of electrically conducting polymers (ECPs), i.e. polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (PPy) and poly-(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) have been tested as supercapacitor electrode materials in the form of composites with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The energy storage in such a type of composite combines an electrostatic attraction as well as quick faradaic processes called pseudo-capacitance. It has been shown that carbon nanotubes play the role of a perfect backbone for a homogenous distribution of ECP in the composite. It is well known that pure conducting polymers are mechanically weak, hence, the carbon nanotubes preserve the ECP active material from mechanical changes (shrinkage and breaking) during long cycling. Apart of excellent conducting and mechanical properties, the presence of nanotubes improves also the charge transfer that enables a high charge/discharge rate. For an optimal use of ECPs in electrochemical capacitors, a special electrode composition with ca. 20 wt.% of CNTs and a careful selection of the potential range is necessary. The capacitance values ranging from 100 to 330 F g⁻¹ could be reached for different asymmetric configurations with a capacitor voltage from 0.6 to 1.8 V. It is also noteworthy that such a type of ECP/CNTs composite does not need any binding substance that is an important practical advantage.     

Experimental investigation of the normal spectral emissivity and other thermophysical properties of pulse-heated Ni-Ti and Au-Ni alloys into the liquid phase

1. Introduction Metal working industry needs accurate thermo- physical properties of liquid metals and alloys as input data for different simulation routines to im- prove the performance of their products. Within this paper we continue the systematic investigation of the dependence of emissivity of binary alloys on the relative concentration of the constituent elements (for a previous paper see [1]). 2. Experimental method A fast ohmic pulse heating technique is applied to heat metallic wire-s…     

有源逆变器用于电梯节能

目前变频调速电梯，大多都采用制动单元或外加大功率电阻，来进行逆变器泄放大电容中电量，造成了能源浪费。而采用有源逆变器能量回馈器可将大电容中电量无消耗地回送给电网，达到节电目的，同时又无耗电发热的大功率电阻，大大改善了系统的运行环境。     

Effect of fluoropolymer antidripping agent on the microstructure and properties of polyesters

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is of excellent mechanical properties and melt processability and is widely used as raw material for textile fibers. However, the flame retardant properties of PET were rather poor, and both reactive and additive phosphorus- and halogen-containing compounds have been employed to enhance the reaction-to-fire properties while the meltdripping behaviour during burning hasn’t been handled properly with the flame retardants. In this work, fluoropolymer was blended with both pure PET (pPET) and reactive phosphorus-containing flame retarded copolyester (fPET), and the flame retardance and char formation and mechanical properties of the resulted pPET and fPET blends were investigated. The tensile strengths of modified pPET samples were worsen whereas those of modified fPET samples were improved at low concentrations. The initial thermal degradation in nitrogen was accelerated remarkably for the two polyesters with fluoropolymer. The oxygen indices of the all modified samples were reduced while char formation and meltdripping suppression were encouraged. The apparent melt viscosity and elasticity for the two polyesters were gained much with antidripping agent. Therefore, fluoropolymer improved char formation of the two polyesters based on the gaseous phase mechanism while the partial suppression of meltdripping behavior and the decrease of mechanical properties mainly originated from the increase of melt viscosity via fibrillation for pPET.     

Flame retardant and the degradation mechanism of high impact polystyrene/Fe-montmorillonite nanocomposites

High impact polystyrene/Fe-montmorillonite (HIPS/Fe-MMT) nanocomposites were successfully prepared by melting intercalation. The nanostructures of HIPS/Fe-MMT were testified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Corresponding to pure HIPS, the thermal stability of HIPS/Fe-MMT nanocomposites was notably improved. The peaks of heat release rate (PHRR) and the mass loss rate (MLR) were significantly reduced after the formation of the HIPS/Fe-MMT nanocomposites from cone calorimetry. And nanocomposites PHRR was further lower with the increase of Fe-MMT content in the range of 1 to 5 wt%. The degradation mechanism of HIPS and HIPS/Fe-MMT nanocomposites was conducted by pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS). And the reason of the enhancement of thermal stability maybe is that structural iron is the operative site for radical trapping in the Fe-MMT and the nanostructure enhances the interaction of the chains of the HIPS.     

Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in milk using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Organisms of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (TBC) are responsible for tuberculosis, a chronic disease which represents a serious public health problem in the world. The most common means of contracting the disease are through inhalation of aerosols, drinking of unpasteurised milk from an infected cow and the sharing of common water or feed sources.In this study a rapid, sensitive and reliable PCR-based method for specific detection of the Mycobacterium TB complex directly from raw milk samples was developed. The DNA extraction method was effective and able to remove inhibitors and allowed the isolation of amplifiable DNA. The procedure demonstrated the presence of the TBC mpb70 gene in 36/50 (72%) of Albanian milk samples tested. The study highlights the need to screen extracommunitarian milk to define an epidemiological background and to guarantee the quality of the raw milk in countries lacking a suitable TB-infection control plan.     

高坝风险分析的事件树法

新世纪一批高坝将要在我国开工建设,这对我国的水电能源及国民经济的发展有着不可估量的作用,而高坝建设中,安全性是需要首先保证的。目前对高坝的风险分析方法有主观概率法、客观概率法等。从系统工程的角度出发,采用事件树方法对高坝的风险进行了探索研究,并给出了算例以说明该方法的有效性和实用性。     

Synthesis and aqueous solution behaviors of sodium sulfonate‐terminated dendritic poly(ester‐amine)

Sodium sulfonate‐terminated dendritic poly(ester‐amine) (SPEA) was synthesized by sulfonation of acrylic double bond‐terminated dendritic poly(ester‐amine) (APEA) with sodium hydrogen sulfite (NaHSO₃) in mixture of diglycol and 2‐butanone under normal pressure. The structure of SPEA was characterized by IR, ¹H‐NMR, and elemental analysis. SPEA was water‐soluble. 1.0–40.0% (mass) SPEA aqueous solutions appeared as dilatant fluid. When pH value varied from 1.5 to 12.0, the viscosity of 1–5% (mass) SPEA aqueous solutions changed very small, and the electric conductivity almost kept stable within pH 3.0–10.0. The relationship between the viscosity and the concentration of SPEA water solutions was similar to that of NaCl water solutions. The surface tension of SPEA water solutions was lower than that of polyethylene glycol 2000 water solutions with the same concentration. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Viscoelastic properties of polyarylene ether nitriles/thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer blend

Polyarylene ether nitriles (PEN)/thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (TLCP) blend was prepared via melt mixing. The immiscible phase morphologies, linear and nonlinear, as well as transient viscoelastic properties of the blend were studied using SEM, rheometer, and DMA. The linear dynamic viscoelastic behavior of the blend shows temperature dependence due to further evolution of the immiscible morphology and, as a result, the principle of time‐temperature superposition (TTS) is invalid. In the steady shear flow, the discrete TLCP phase is difficult to be broken up because of the high viscosity ratio of the blend systems, while is easy to be coarsened and followed by elongation, and finally, to form fibrous morphology at high TLCP content and high shear level. During this morphological evolution process, the transient stress response presents step increase and nonzero residual relaxation behavior, leading to increase of the dynamic viscoelastic responses after steady preshear. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Synthesis and characterization of novel copolymer containing pyridylazo-2-naphthoxyl group via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization

A novel monomer containing pyridylazo-2-naphthoxyl group, 1-(1-(4-vinylbenzyloxy)naphthalen-2-yl)-2-(pyridin-2-yl)diazene (VBNPA), was successfully synthesized and copolymerized with styrene (St) in N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization using 2-cyanoprop-2-yl-1-dithionaphthalate (CPDN) as RAFT agent. The polymerization behavior exhibited “living”/controlled characters. The obtained copolymer, poly(St-co-VBNPA), with pre-determinable molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution can be used as a carrier in metal ion detection and analysis via pre-concentration technique. The copolymer–metal ion (copper (Cu) and europium (Eu)) complexes were prepared and characterized.