Fracture and mechanical properties of lightweight alumina ceramics prepared by fused filament fabrication

Fused filament fabrication (FFF), as one of the additive manufacturing technology, provides cost-effective and relatively fast preparation of 3D objects of desired dimensions and design. In this work, a composite filament containing 50 vol. % of sub-micron alumina powder was successfully used for the manufacturing of samples with prismatic design. The influence of the layer thickness (0.1–0.3 mm) on the final bulk density and mechanical properties were investigated. Sintering at 1600 °C for 1 h results in relative densities ranging from 80 to 89 % and the flexural strength reached 200–300 MPa depending on the layer thickness used for the printing.     

Design methodology for barrier‐based two phase flow distributor

The barrier‐based distributor is a multiphase flow distributor for a multichannel microreactor which assures flow uniformity and prevents channeling between the two phases. For N number of reaction channels, the barrier‐based distributor consists of a gas manifold, a liquid manifold, N barrier channels for the gas, N barrier channels for the liquid, and N mixers for mixing the phases before the reaction channels. The flow distribution is studied numerically using a method based on the hydraulic resistive networks (RN). The single phase hydraulic RN model (Commenge et al., 2002;48:345–358) is extended for two phases gas‐liquid Taylor flow. For Re_GL <30, the accuracy for the model was above 90%. The developed‐model was used to study the effects of fabrication tolerance and barrier channel dimensions. A design methodology has been proposed as an algorithm to determine the required hydraulic resistance in the barrier channels and their dimensions. This methodology is demonstrated using a numerical example. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012     

Cold pre-compression of membrane electrode assembly for PEM fuel cells

Direct compression from the land structure of bipolar plate in a PEM fuel cell is considered as an important factor for the higher performance under the land than under the channel areas. Therefore the objective of this study is to determine if a cold pre-compression treatment on the whole membrane electrode assembly (MEA) area may have a significant positive effect on the overall performance of the cell. Five different levels of cold pre-compression have been applied and the experimental results show that the overall performance of the cell first increases with the level of compression to a maximum, and then decreases. These results clearly show that cold pre-compression of the MEA can significantly enhance the performance of the entire cell and there exists an optimal level of compression. Results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) show that the cold pre-compression results in a significant reduction in charge transfer resistance, especially in the high current density region. Further study by the cyclic voltammetry (CV) shows that the electro-chemical area (ECA) is changed with the different cold pre-compressed MEAs and there exists an optimal compression that results in the maximum ECA.     

Study on micro-patterning process of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs)

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) have drawn significant attention by the researchers because of their nanometric size and favorable material properties. Patterning of CNT forests in the micrometric domain is very important for their application in the area of microelectromechanical system (MEMS). For the first time this paper reports, detailed experimental investigation on a post growth μ-patterning process of VACNT forests. The micromechanical bending (M2B) process was locally applied at the targeted area in order to change the alignment of VACNT forests. Interestingly, the VACNT forest was transformed from typical black body absorber to reflective mirror as the M2B process was applied. Several parameters were identified that govern the resultant patterns such as rotational spindle speed, lateral bending speed, step size, tool morphology, and total depth of bend. Optimization of the parameters was carried out experimentally to obtain the best surface roughness and integrity of the microstructure. A minimum average surface roughness of Ra = 15 nm was achieved with 2000 rpm spindle speed, 1 mm/min bending speed and 1 µm step size.     

Positive direct-mask stereolithography with multiple-layer exposure: layered fabrication with stair step reduction

In this paper, we explain a new stereolithography involving the separate use of liquid photoinitiator and a base resin (photopolymer resin without photoinitiator). First, the base resin is supplied as a layer, and then a mask pattern is drawn onto the surface with photoinitiator by inkjet printing. When the surface is exposed to a UV lamp, only the pattern drawn with the photoinitiator is cured. In this process, the photoinitiator acts as a positive mask. Also, the idea of multiple-layer exposure, which may enable stair step reduction and fabrication time reduction, is introduced. The proposed idea and method are implemented in an experimental stereolithography system and some experiments are conducted using the system. As a result, the effectiveness and feasibility of the idea and method are confirmed.     

Connection‐Strength Estimation of Neuronal Networks by Fitting for Izhikevich Model

Recently, there has been abundant research using multineuron recording, but there are many problems with extracting the features from the obtained spike time series, which are huge in volume and complex. Here we introduce a new method of estimating synaptic connection strengths between neurons by fitting to the Izhikevich model by maximum likelihood estimation. We demonstrate that our method can estimate connection strengths from spike time series given by a simulated neural ensemble and can estimate nonconnectivity between two independent cultured neuronal networks. These results suggest that our method is applicable to network and plasticity analysis of neuronal networks.     

Gold nanoparticle-mediated fluorescence enhancement by two-photon polymerized 3D microstructures

Fluorescence enhancement achieved by functionalized microstructures made by two-photon polymerization (TPP) is reported for the first time. Microstructures of various shapes made of SU-8 photoresist were prepared and coated with gold nanoparticles (NP) of 80 nm. Localized fluorescence enhancement was demonstrated by microstructures equipped with tips of sub-micron dimensions. The enhancement was realized by positioning the NP-coated structures over fluorescent protein layers. Two fluorophores with their absorption in the red and in the green region of the VIS spectrum were used. Laser scanning confocal microscopy was used to quantify the enhancement. The enhancement factor was as high as 6 in areas of several square-micrometers and more than 3 in the case of local enhancement, comparable with literature values for similar nanoparticles. The structured pattern of the observed fluorescence intensity indicates a classic enhancement mechanism realized by standing waves over reflecting surfaces. With further development mobile microtools made by TPP and functionalized by metal NPs can be actuated by optical tweezers and position to any fluorescent micro-object, such as single cells to realize localized, targeted fluorescence enhancement.     

Development of an experimentally validated semi-empirical fully-coupled performance model of a PEM electrolysis cell with a 3-D structured porous transport layer

A semi-empirical non-isothermal model incorporating coupled momentum, heat and mass transport phenomena for predicting the performance of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis cell operating without flow channels is presented. Model input parameters such as electro-kinetics properties and mean pore size of the porous transport layer (PTL) were determined by rotating disc electrode and capillary flow porometry, respectively. This is the first report of a semi-empirical fully coupled model which allows one to quantify and investigate the effect of the gas phase and bubble coverage on PEM cell performance up to very high current densities of about 5 A/cm². The mass transport effects are discussed in terms of the operating conditions, design parameters and the microstructure of the PTL. The results show that, the operating temperature and pressure, and the inlet water flowrate and thickness of the PTL are the critical parameters for mitigating mass transport limitation at high current densities. The model presented here can serve as a tool for further development and scale-up effort in the area of PEM water electrolysis, and provide insight during the design stage.     

Photonic crystal fibers for supercontinuum generation

Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) present a wavelength-scale periodic microstructure along their length.Their core and two-dimensional photonic crystal might be based on varied geometries and materials,al...     

Alkaline aluminum phosphate glasses for thermal ion-exchanged optical waveguide

Alkaline aluminum phosphate glasses (NMAP) with excellent chemical durability for thermal ion-exchanged optical waveguide have been designed and investigated. The transition temperature Tg (470 °C) is higher than the ion-exchange temperature (390 °C), which is favorable to sustain the stability of the glass structure for planar waveguide fabrication. The effective diffusion coefficient D_e of K⁺–Na⁺ ion exchange in NMAP glasses is 0.110 μm²/min, indicating that ion exchange can be achieved efficiently in the optical glasses. Single-mode channel waveguide has been fabricated on Er³⁺/Yb³⁺ doped NMAP glass substrate by standard micro-fabrication and K⁺–Na⁺ ion exchange. The mode field diameter is 9.6 μm in the horizontal direction and 6.0 μm in the vertical direction, respectively, indicating an excellent overlap with a standard single-mode fiber. Judd–Ofelt intensity parameter Ω₂ is 5.47 × 10⁻²⁰ cm², implying a strong asymmetrical and covalent environment around Er³⁺ in the optical glasses. The full width at half maximum and maximum stimulated emission cross section of the ⁴I_13/2 → ⁴I_15/2 are 30 nm and 6.80 × 10⁻²¹ cm², respectively, demonstrating that the phosphate glasses are potential glass candidates in developing compact optoelectronic devices. Pr³⁺, Tm³⁺ and Ho³⁺ doped NMAP glasses are promising candidates to fabricate waveguide amplifiers and lasers operating at special telecommunication windows.