Thermal stability and high-temperature wear of Ti–TiN and TiN–CrN nanomultilayer coatings under self-mated conditions

Ti–TiN and TiN–CrN nanomultilayers were thermally stable retaining uniform and sharp layer interfaces up to 24 h at 773 K, without any oxidation or phase transformation accompanying each individual layer. Decreasing the multilayer spacing resulted in an increase in the hardness in both cases. The coating hardness was found to be independent of the substrate type, when applied on HS718, Ti64 and HCHCr substrates. In scratch testing, the multilayers displayed a better resistance to the onset of failure, as compared to the monolayer TiN. The substrate plasticity played an important role in determining the coating failure mode. Self-mated wear tests revealed the CrN–TiN system to exhibit the best wear behaviour, both at room temperature and at 773 K. The Ti–TiN coatings are more accommodative with all three substrates, as compared to TiN–CrN and TiN.     

The role of the surface free energy in the selection of a suitable excipient in the course of a wet-granulation method

Pellets containing metronidazole were produced in a centrifugal granulator, with hydroxypropylcellulose (Klucel LF®) as binding agent, and corn starch, microcrystalline cellulose (Vivapur 101®) and lactose as excipients. The wettability of the pharmaceutical powders was assessed by means of contact angle measurements, and the dispersive and polar surface energies were determined. The spreading coefficients, the work of adhesion and the work of cohesion were calculated and correlated with the pellet properties (friability, bulk and tapped density, and porosity). The aim was to investigate the role of the surface free energy of one- and two-component powder compositions in pellet production. The interactions between the particles were found to be connected with the measured pellet parameters. It was concluded that, in the course of the growth of the pellets, the particle sizes of the pharmaceutical powders and the interactions between them are important. If the work of cohesion of the binder is lower than the work of cohesion of the substrate and the work of adhesion, then the optimal amount of the binding agent is that which coats the particles uniformly in minimal quantity and in continuous layer.     

Transformation of β-Ni(OH)2 to NiO nano-sheets via surface nanocrystalline zirconia coating: Shape and size retention

Shape and size of the synthesized NiO nano-sheets were retained during transformation of sheet-like β-Ni(OH)₂ to NiO at elevated temperatures via nano-sized zirconia coating on the surface of β-Ni(OH)₂. The average grain size was 6.42 nm after 600 °C treatment and slightly increased to 10 nm after 1000 °C treatment, showing effective sintering retardation between NiO nano-sheets. The excellent thermal stability revealed potential application at elevated temperatures, especially for high temperature catalysts and solid-state electrochemical devices.     

Automated procedure to determine the thermodynamic stability of a material and the range of chemical potentials necessary for its formation relative to competing phases and compounds

We present a simple and fast algorithm to test the thermodynamic stability and determine the necessary chemical environment for the production of a multiternary material, relative to competing phases and compounds formed from the constituent elements. If the material is found to be stable, the region of stability, in terms of the constituent elemental chemical potentials, is determined from the intersection points of hypersurfaces in an (n−1)$(n-1)$-dimensional chemical potential space, where n$n$ is the number of atomic species in the material. The input required is the free energy of formation of the material itself, and that of all competing phases. Output consists of the result of the test of stability, the intersection points in the chemical potential space and the competing phase to which they relate, and, for two- and three-dimensional spaces, a file which may be used for visualization of the stability region. We specify the use of the program by applying it both to a ternary system and to a quaternary system. The algorithm automates essential analysis of the thermodynamic stability of a material. This analysis consists of a process which is lengthy for ternary materials, and becomes much more complicated when studying materials of four or more constituent elements, which have become of increased interest in recent years for technological applications such as energy harvesting and optoelectronics. The algorithm will therefore be of great benefit to the theoretical and computational study of such materials.     

High resolution solid state 13C n.m.r. of butadiene grafted polypropylene

¹H dipolar decoupled ¹³C n.m.r. experiments with the aid of the magic angle spinning technique have been used to determine the graft content and the isomer content of the polybutadiene grafts in a graft copolymer with isotactic polypropylene.     

种子法制备聚合物乳液技术的进展

从建筑乳液的生产现状、自生种子法与外加种子法的区别、种子乳液的特点及外加种子法生产的乳液特性等方面介绍了种子法制备乳液技术的进展。     

气雾型自动喷漆中助剂的应用

分析了气雾型自动喷漆中影响沉降，分散稳定性的主要因素，研究了助剂的应用及工艺改进等解决方法。     

一种无线传感器网络链式传输分簇路由协议

由于周围环境对无线传感器网络(WSNs)的影响,在布设到特殊环境下时会产生信号的衰减与损耗,导致通信不畅。针对此问题,提出一种以LEACH路由协议为基础适应特殊环境(长直空间)的新型路由算法。本算法采用链式传输,即从内部逐一将信号传输给距空间最外端且距基站位置较近的簇头,克服了内部节点死亡过快的问题。同时簇内采用链式传输并且改进簇头阈值与成簇半径,减小了能量消耗,提高了稳定性,克服了LEACH算法的不足。     

Radiation-induced copolymerization of trioxane with tetrahydrofuran

Radiation-initiated copolymerization of solid trioxane (TOX) with tetrahydrofuran (THF) was investigated. The effects of radiation dose, THF concentration, and post-polymerization temperature and duration on copolymer yield and THF incorporation were studied. These results are compared with the results of TOX homopolymerization under identical conditions. Copolymer yield was lower than that of homopolymer. Only a fraction of charged THF entered into the polymer chain. THF content and radiation dose also altered the MW of the copolymer but it showed better thermal stability. The initial reaction rates of the copolymerization were determined and from these the activation energy was found to be 36.2 kcal mol^?1.     

Stability analysis and controller synthesis for discrete uncertain singular fuzzy systems with distinct difference matrices in the rules

This paper mainly studies an extended discrete singular fuzzy model incorporating the multiple difference matrices in the rules and discusses its stability and design issues. By embracing additional algebraic constraint, traditional discrete Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model can be extended to a generalised discrete singular Takagi-Sugeno (GDST-S) model with individual difference matrices E_i in the locally singular models, where it can describe a larger class of physical or non-linear systems. Based on the linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach, we focus on deriving some explicit stability and design criteria expressed by the LMIs for the regarded system. Thus, the stability verification and controller synthesis can be performed by the current LMI tools. Finally, some illustrative examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness and validity of the proposed approach.