Hydrogel photocatalysts for efficient energy conversion and environmental treatment

Photocatalysts have attracted great research interest owing to their excellent properties and potential for simultaneously addressing challenges related to energy needs and environmental pollution. Photocatalytic particles need to be in contact with their respective media to exhibit efficient photocatalytic performances. However, it is difficult to separate nanometer-sized photocatalytic materials from reaction media later, which may lead to secondary pollution and a poor recycling performance. Hydrogel photocatalysts with a three-dimensional (3D) network structures are promising support materials for photocatalysts based on features such as high specific surface areas and adsorption capacities and good environmental compatibility. In this review, hydrogel photocatalysts are classified into two different categories depending on their elemental composition and recent progresses in the methods for preparing hydrogel photocatalysts are summarized. Moreover, current applications of hydrogel photocatalysts in energy conversion and environmental remediation are reviewed. Furthermore, a comprehensive outlook and highlight future challenges in the development of hydrogel photocatalysts are presented.     

Real-time measurement of pointing action by using DSP

This paper presents an approach of measuring in real-time the vector of finger that is pointing to an object. DSP is used in the operation processing unit in order to do the real-time processing. The steps include the extraction of flesh-colored regions from an image, the labeling of the flesh-colored regions, and the detection of two characteristic positions on the finger so that the direction that the finger is pointing at will be calculated. The entire process takes about 29 msec, which makes it possible to have the frame rate of 34 fps. With this frame rate, this measurement approach is considered real-time and promising to be merged into other application systems. This work was presented in part at the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 31–February 2, 2008     

Kripke Semantics for Modal Substructural Logics

We introduce Kripke semantics for modal substructural logics, and provethe completeness theorems with respect to the semantics. Thecompleteness theorems are proved using an extended Ishihara's method ofcanonical model construction (Ishihara, 2000). The framework presentedcan deal with a broad range of modal substructural logics, including afragment of modal intuitionistic linear logic, and modal versions ofCorsi's logics, Visser's logic, Méndez's logics and relevant logics.     

Modal and Intuitionistic Variants of Extended Belnap–Dunn Logic with Classical Negation

In this study, we introduce Gentzen-type sequent calculi BDm and BDi for a modal extension and an intuitionistic modification, respectively, of De and Omori’s extended Belnap–Dunn logic BD+ with classical negation. We prove theorems for syntactically and semantically embedding BDm and BDi into Gentzen-type sequent calculi S4 and LJ for normal modal logic and intuitionistic logic, respectively. The cut-elimination, decidability, and completeness theorems for BDm and BDi are obtained using these embedding theorems. Moreover, we prove the Glivenko theorem for embedding BD+ into BDi and the McKinsey–Tarski theorem for embedding BDi into BDm.

     

Multi-level,multi-objective optimization in process engineering

This paper presents a method for feasible decomposition applicable to large-scale, non-linear, multi-objective problems. The method, comprising a multi-level problem formulation and an interactive algorithm, has distinct advantages for dealing with real-world multi-objective optimization which is carried out by hierarchically arranged units of decision-making. The method is illustrated by its application to the optimal design of a water use and treatment process system.     

Preparation and characterization of electroplated amorphous gold-nickel alloy film for electrical contact applications

A process for electroplating amorphous gold-nickel alloy with the atomic ratio of unity was developed. The plating bath was prepared by adding potassium cyanoaurate(I) into a known plating bath which produces amorphous nickel-tungsten alloy. At a sufficiently high gold concentration, the alloy deposit did not contain any tungsten. The amorphous nature of the Au-Ni alloy produced in the new bath was confirmed by using TEM and THEED. Hardness, resistivity, and contact resistance of this new alloy were determined, and the results are discussed for applications as an electrical contact material.     

Radical polymerization of butyl acrylate and random copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate and styrene and methyl methacrylate mediated by monospiro- and dispiropiperidinyl-N-oxyl radicals

Radical polymerization of butyl acrylate (BA) and random copolymerizations of styrene (St) and BA and St and methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of 7-aza-15-hydroxydispiro[5.1.5.3]hexadecane-7-yloxyl (1) and 1-aza-2,2-dimethyl-4-hydroxyspiro[5.6]dodecane-1-yloxyl (2) were carried out. Radical polymerization of BA at 120 °C in the presence of 1 gave poly(BA) with M_n=20200 and M_w/M_n=1.30 at 23% conversion. The termination of polymerization observed around ∼20% conversion was solved to a certain extent by an addition of small amounts of dicumyl peroxide, and poly(BA) with M_n=37400 and M_w/M_n=1.33 was obtained in 46% yield. Random copolymerizations of St and BA and St and MMA in the presence of 1 and 2 at 80 °C gave the corresponding random copolymers with narrow polydispersities of 1.12-1.38 at the molar fraction above 0.30 of St in feed. The kinetic study for the NO-C bond homolysis of the corresponding alkoxyamines prepared from 1 and 2 were carried out, and evaluation of the preexponential factors (A_act) and the activation parameters (E_act) showed that the steric factors of the nitroxides are reflected mainly on E_act.     

Pervaporation via silicon-based membranes: Correlation and prediction of performance in pervaporation and gas permeation

Pervaporation (PV) is a membrane technology that holds great promise for industrial applications. To better understand the PV mechanism, PV dehydrations of various types of organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, iso-propanol, tert-butanol, and acetone) were performed on five types of organosilica and two types of silicon carbide-based membranes, all with different pore sizes. Water permeance was dependent on the types of organic aqueous solutions, which suggested that organic solvents penetrated the pores and hindered the permeation of water. In addition, water permeance of various types of membranes in PV was well correlated with hydrogen permeance in single-gas permeation. Furthermore, a clear correlation was obtained between the permeance ratio in PV and that in single-gas permeation, which was confirmed via the modified-gas translation model. These correlations make it possible to use single-gas permeation properties to predict PV performance.     

What kind of floor am I standing on? Floor surface identification by a small humanoid robot through full-body motions

This study addresses a floor identification method for small humanoid robots that work in such daily environments as homes. The fundamental difficulty lays in a method to understand the physical properties of floors. To achieve floor identification with small humanoid robots, we used inertial sensors that can be easily installed on such robots, and dynamically selected a full-body motion that physically senses floors to achieve accurate floor identification. We collected a training data-set over 10 different kinds of common floors in home environments. We achieved 85.7% precision with our proposed method. We also demonstrate that our robot could appropriately change its locomotion behaviours depending on the floor identification results.     

Anode‐voltage‐control circuit for compensation of luminance deterioration

Abstract— An external driving circuit that has realized long lifetime, power‐consumption control, and peak luminance for organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) displays have been developed. This circuit realizes an effective method for constant‐anode‐voltage (CV) driving refered to as clamped inverter (CI) driving. The feature of CV driving is to achieve low‐power consumption compared with constant‐anode‐current (CC) driving and to control the power consumption and peak luminance according to the image because display luminance can be easily changed by controlling the anode voltage. On the other hand, CV driving has the problem that luminance deterioration appears to be serious compared with that of CC driving because the current of the OLED element decreases according to usage time. To cope with this, a lifetime compensation circuit that has increased the anode voltage so that it compensates for the luminance deterioration has been developed. This circuit can compensate not only the decrease in current but also the decrease in luminance at a constant current that CC driving cannot. However, increasing the anode voltage causes an increase in stress on the OLED element. The influence of stress on OLED lifetime was verified. As a result, it was confirmed that this circuit can extend the lifetime by 32% even if the anode voltage is increased, causing stress on the OLED structure.