Abrasive waterjet micro-machining of channels in metals: Comparison between machining in air and submerged in water

Abrasive water jet technology can be used for micro-milling using recently developed miniaturized nozzles. Abrasive water jet (AWJ) machining is often used with both the nozzle tip and workpiece submerged in water to reduce noise and contain debris. This paper compares the performance of submerged and unsubmerged abrasive water jet micro-milling of channels in 316L stainless steel and 6061-T6 aluminum at various nozzle angles and standoff distances. The effect of submergence on the diameter and effective footprint of AWJ erosion footprints was measured and compared. It was found that the centerline erosion rate decreased with channel depth due to the spreading of the jet as the effective standoff distance increased, and because of the growing effect of stagnation as the channel became deeper. The erosive jet spread over a larger effective footprint in air than in water, since particles on the jet periphery were slowed much more quickly in water due to increased drag. As a result, the width of a channel machined in air was wider than that in water. Moreover, it was observed that the instantaneous erosion rate decreased with channel depth, and that this decrease was a function only of the channel cross-sectional geometry, being independent of the type of metal, the jet angle, the standoff distance, and regardless of whether the jet was submerged or in air, in either the forward or backward directions. It is shown that submerged AWJM results in narrower features than those produced while machining in air, without a decrease in centerline etch rate.     

A three-dimensional surface measurement system implemented with Gaussian process based adaptive sampling

Self-adaptive surface measurements that can reduce data redundancy and improve time efficiency are in high demand in many fields of science and technology. For this purpose, a system implemented with Gaussian process (GP) adaptive sampling is developed. The non-parametric GP model is applied to reconstruct the topography and guide the subsequent sampling position, which is determined from the inference uncertainty estimation. A criterion is proposed to terminate the GP adaptive measurement automatically without any prior model or data of the topography. Experiments on typical surfaces validate the intelligence, adaptability, and high accuracy of the GP method along with the stabilization of the automatic iteration termination. Compared with traditional raster sampling, data redundancy is reduced and the time efficiency is improved without sacrificing the surface reconstruction accuracy. The proposed method can be implemented in other systems with similar measurement principles, thus benefitting surface characterizations.     

Synthesis of Diamond@SiO2@Ag composite materials for high SERS effect

Among various carbon materials, diamond stands out due to excellent physical and chemical properties. In this work, we designed Dia@SiO₂@Ag composites combining diamond micropowder and Ag nanoparticles by a simple chemical method and obtained stable substrate for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) owing to its high surface-to-volume ratio, low density, as well as close bond between diamond and Ag. As-prepared Dia@SiO₂@Ag presented high activity to detect crystal violet and rhodamine 6G molecules, which was demonstrated by significantly enhanced SERS spectra and high enhancement factor values (10⁸-10⁹). Moreover, Dia@SiO₂@Ag also showed desired sensitivity, which was investigated by detection limit. Therefore, our study provided more theoretical support and broadened the functional applications of diamond, particularly in Raman detection.     

Hydrogen from wet air and sunlight in a tandem photoelectrochemical cell

A solid-state photoelectrochemical (SSPEC) cell is an attractive approach for solar water splitting, especially when it comes to monolithic device design. In a SSPEC cell the electrodes distance is minimized, while the use of polymer-based membranes alleviates the need for liquid electrolytes, and at the same time they can separate the anode from the cathode. In this work, we have made and tested, firstly, a SSPEC cell with a Pt/C electrocatalyst as the cathode electrode, under purely gaseous conditions. The anode was supplied with air of 80% relative humidity (RH) and the cathode with argon. Secondly, we replaced the Pt/C cathode with a photocathode consisting of 2D photocatalytic g-C₃N₄, which was placed in tandem with the photoanode (tandem-SSPEC). The tandem configuration showed a three-fold enhancement in the obtained photovoltage and a steady-state photocurrent density. The mechanism of operation is discussed in view of recent advances in surface proton conduction in absorbed water layers. The presented SSPEC cell is based on earth-abundant materials and provides a way towards systems of artificial photosynthesis, especially for areas where water sources are scarce and electrical grid infrastructure is limited or nonexistent. The only requirements to make hydrogen are humidity and sunlight.     

Prompting structure stability of O3–NaNi0.5Mn0.5O2 via effective surface regulation based on atomic layer deposition

Layered O3 type oxides exhibit promising prospects as high-performance cathodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to their low cost and high theoretical capacities. Nevertheless, the intrinsic surface composition and bulk structure degradation upon cycling presents a huge obstacle to stable sodium-ion storage/transportation. Besides, the effective surface decoration on layered O3 oxides is still challenging through conventional wet chemical route owing to their extraordinarily high surface sensitivities. Herein, a typical O3 type layered oxide of NaNi_0.5Mn_0.5O₂ (NNMO) was selected and successfully encapsulated by precisely controlled Al₂O₃ layers via atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology. With the optimally controlled Al₂O₃ thickness of 3 nm, the surface regulated NNMO delivers a highly reversible capacity of 73.6 mA h g^-1, with a significantly improved capacity retention of 68.0% after 300 cycles at 0.5 C, and a superior rate capability of 65.8 mA h g^-1 at 10 C. Further air sensitivity tests demonstrate that the protective layer could effectively mitigate the generation of sodium-based impurities on NNMO, and reduce the surface sensitivities. Both chemical and electrochemical aging tests confirm the contribution of Al₂O₃ coating layer in alleviating ion dissolution as well as stabilizing the structure and morphology of NNMO. Based on regulating the surface of O3 type layered oxides utilizing ALD technique, this work supplies an effective and facile strategy to overcome the challenges from fast structure degradation and electrochemical property decay, which not only highlights the significance and effectiveness of surface engineering in secondary batteries, but also sheds light on accurate interface construction and regulation for active electrode materials, particularly for those sensitive to ambient atmosphere.     

Biodegradability Study of the Biosurfactant Contained in a Crude Extract from Corn Steep Water

Over the last few years, the global biosurfactant market has raised due to the increasing awareness among consumers, for the use of biological or bio-based products. Because of their composition, it can be speculated that these are more biocompatible and more biodegradable than their chemical homologous. However, at the moment, no studies exist in the literature about the biodegradability of biosurfactants. In this work, a biosurfactant contained in a crude extract, obtained from a corn wet-milling industry stream that ferments spontaneously in the presence of lactic acid bacteria, was subjected to a biodegradation study, without addition of external microbial biomass, under different conditions of temperature (5–45 °C), biodegradation time (15–55 days), and pH (5–7). For that, a Box–Behnken factorial design was applied, which allowed to predict the percentage of biodegradation for the biosurfactant contained in the crude extract, between the range of the independent variables selected in the study, obtaining biodegradation values between 3 and 80%. The percentage of biodegradation for the biosurfactant was calculated based on the increase in the surface tension of samples of the crude extract. Furthermore, it was also possible to predict the variation in t_1/2 for the biosurfactant (time to achieve the 50% of biodegradation) under different conditions.     

Influences of chip serration on micro-topography of machined surface in high-speed cutting

Saw-tooth chip changes from macroscopically continuous ribbon to separated segments with the increase of cutting speed. The aim of this study is to find the correlations between chip morphology and machined surface micro-topography at different chip serration stages encountered in high speed cutting. High strength alloy steel AerMet100 was employed in orthogonal cutting experiments to obtain chips at different serration stages and corresponding machined surfaces. The chips and machined surfaces obtained were then examined with optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and white light interferometer (WLI). The result shows that chip serration causes micro-waves on machined surface, which increases machined surface roughness. However, wave amplitudes (surface roughness) at different serration stages are different. The principal factor influencing wave amplitude is the thickness of the sawed segment (tooth) of saw-tooth chip. With cutting parameters in this study, surface roughness contributed by chip serration ranges from 0.39 μm to 1.85 μm. This may bring on serious problems in the case of trying to replace grinding with high-speed cutting in rough machining. Some suggestions have been proposed to control the chip serration-caused surface roughness in high-speed cutting based on the results of the current study.     

Fatigue life improvement of 12Cr1МoV steel by irradiation with Zr+ ion beam

Cyclic tension and bend tests were performed on heat-resistant 12Cr1MoV steel specimens in as-supplied condition as well as after Zr⁺ ion beam surface irradiation. Distinct differences in strain induced relief, as well in cracking pattern of modified surface layer were observed by optical microscopy and interference profilometry. Changes in subsurface layer are characterized by means of nano- and microindentation and fractography of fracture surfaces (with the help of scanning electron microscopy). It is shown that the main influence on mechanical properties is mostly induced by thermal treatment during irradiation rather than formation of a 2 μm thick layer doped with Zr. The differences in deformation behavior may be explained by physical mesomechanics concepts.     

Flexural behaviour of RC slabs strengthened with prestressed CFRP strips using different anchorage systems

The Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) technique using Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) has been commonly used to strengthen concrete structures in flexure. The use of prestressed CFRP material offers several advantages well-reported in the literature. Regardless of such as benefits, several studies on different topics are missing. The present work intends to contribute to the knowledge of two commercially available systems that differ on the type of anchorage: (i) the Mechanical Anchorage (MA), and (ii) the Gradient Anchorage (GA). For that purpose, an experimental program was carried out with twelve slabs monotonically tested under displacement control up to failure by using a four-point bending test configuration. The effect of type of anchorage system (MA and GA), prestrain level (0 and 0.4%), width (50 mm and 80 mm) and thickness (1.2 mm and 1.4 mm) of the CFRP laminate, and the surface preparation (grinded and sandblasted) on the flexural response were the main studied parameters. Better performance was observed for the slabs: (i) with prestressed laminates, (ii) for the MA system, and (iii) with sandblasted surface preparation.     

Enhancing cation exchange capacity of chars through ozonation

The use of ozone to increase the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of two chars produced from pyrolysis of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziessii) and a control bituminous coal activated carbon (AC) is reported. Chars were produced from the wood fraction of Douglas fir (DFWC) and the bark (DFBC) at 500 °C using an auger driven reactor with a nitrogen sweep gas under mild vacuum. Five ozone treatment times, ranging from 5 min to 60 min, were investigated. The initial properties of each char were found to differ significantly from the other samples in terms of surface area, proximate composition, and elemental composition. DFWC did not show significant mass loss or temperature variation during ozone treatment; however, after 1 h of oxidation both DFBC and AC samples resulted in 20% and 30% mass loss, respectively, and reactor temperatures in excess of 60 °C. Analysis of the pore size distribution of each treatment shows that ozone treatment did not significantly affect small micropores after 30 min of treatment for any material, but did reduce the apparent surface area of mesopores. Increases in carboxylic groups were identified with ozone treatment and found to correlate strongly with changes in measured CEC. The formation of lactone was found to correlate positively with reactor temperature during oxidation. These results indicate that the properties of chars, including surface area, pore structure, and chemical composition, as well as reactor conditions strongly affect the ozone oxidation of chars.