Effect of substrate bias on the properties of plasma deposited organosilicone (pp-HMDSN) thin films

Organosilicone thin films have been deposited by plasma polymerization (pp) in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system using hexamethyldisilazane (HMDSN:C6H19Si2N) as a monomer precursor, at different biases of the stainless-steel substrate holder. The substrate bias affected film thickness, surface morphology, chemical composition and photoluminescence (PL) emission. For a negatively biased substrate, it is found that the film thickness is the minimum, while the porosity and PL emission are the maximum. For a positively biased substrate, the thickness and the ratio of Si/N are the maximum which correspond to a blue shift of the PL emission in comparison with the case of non-biased grounded substrate. In addition, the characterization of the plasma using a single cylindrical Langmuir probe has been performed to obtain information about both the electron density and the positive ion energy, where it can be concluded that the ion energy plays a major role in determining film thickness.     

Effect of Atmospheric Ageing on the Properties of Organosilicon (Pp-HMDSO) Thin Films

Silicon - This study reports the effect of ageing on plasma polymerized hexamethyldisiloxane (pp-HMDSO) thin films properties during 90 days storage in the atmosphere. The monitoring of...     

A wide-range programmable frequency synthesizer based on a finite state machine filter

In this article, an FPGA-based design and implementation of a fully digital wide-range programmable frequency synthesizer based on a finite state machine filter is presented. The advantages of the proposed architecture are that, it simultaneously generates a high frequency signal from a low frequency reference signal (i.e. synthesising), and synchronising the two signals (signals have the same phase, or a constant difference) without jitter accumulation issue. The architecture is portable and can be easily implemented for various platforms, such as FPGAs and integrated circuits. The frequency synthesizer circuit can be used as a part of SERDES devices in intra/inter chip communication in system-on-chip (SoC). The proposed circuit is designed using Verilog language and synthesized for the Altera DE2-70 development board, with the Cyclone II (EP2C35F672C6) device on board. Simulation and experimental results are included; they prove the synthesizing and tracking features of the proposed architecture. The generated clock signal frequency of a range from 19.8?MHz to 440?MHz is synchronized to the input reference clock with a frequency step of 0.12?MHz.     

Recent Approaches in the Development of Encapsulated Delivery Systems for Probiotics

The concept of probiotics has been well-known for more than a century. The availability and survival of the consumed probiotics in the colon has not been proved convincingly and needs further studies and clarification. It was not known whether the fastidious probiotics could reach the targeted site of action due to gastrointestinal stress. However, probiotics must sustain themselves in high number, survive during passage through the stomach to the intestine, and react symbiotically with the host when they reach the colon. This review consolidates some of the recent findings and new strategies on the development of a delivery system for targeted colonic delivery of probiotics.     

A study of dilatation and acoustic propagation in solidifying fats and oils: II. Experimental

Experimental evidence is presented to support the hypothesis that acoustic dilatation is linearly related to solid fat index dilation. This hypothesis is shown to be consistent with the measured temperature dependence of the dilation and ultrasonic velocity during solidification of palm oil, coconut oil, tristearin and a vegetable fat, all of which were diluted with triolein. The maximum solid content examined was 15%. The ultrasonic pulse echo method may provide a means of measuring the solid content of oils and of indicating the presence of phase transitions in the solid phase.     

Effect of pre‐germination time of brown rice on serum cholesterol levels of hypercholesterolaemic rats

BACKGROUND: Brown rice is unpolished rice with immeasurable benefits for human health. Brown rice (BR) and pre‐germinated brown rice (PGBR) are known to contain various functional compounds such as γ‐oryzanol, dietary fibre and γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA). In the present study, the experimental diets containing BR and PGBR (24, 48 h pre‐germination) were used to investigate the influence of pre‐germination time of brown rice on blood cholesterol in Sprague–Dawley male rats. RESULTS: Hypercholesterolaemia and elevation of LDL‐cholesterol were successfully ameliorated by the experimental diets containing BR and PGBR (24 and 48 h pre‐germination). As compared to the control sample, the pre‐germination time had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on blood cholesterol of Sprague–Dawley male rats. It was also found that the significantly (P < 0.05) better effect on lipid profile of hypercholesterolaemic rats was observed by prolonging the pre‐germination time. As compared to non‐germinated brown rice, the germinated brown rice showed the higher cardio‐protective effect on hypercholesterolaemic Sprague–Dawley male rats. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that the changes of blood cholesterol can be mainly modulated by using the PGBR rather than BR. The prolonging of pre‐germination time led to an increase in the bioactive components, thereby providing a more efficient functional diet affecting the high blood cholesterol. This study suggests that PGBR can be used instead of BR and polished rice in the human diet. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Improvements and limitation of soy protein-based adhesive: A review

Soy protein is known for its eco-friendly, sustainable, and biodegradable qualities that are likely used as raw material in producing bioadhesive. However, soy protein-based adhesive are lacking in terms of adhesive strength and water-resistance compared to commercial formaldehyde-based adhesives such as phenol and urea-formaldehyde resin. Therefore, continuous research has been done to improve adhesive performance. This can be done via physical or modification methods, including the usage of cross-linking agents, structural modification, enzymatic modification, and the addition of additives. This review will cover these modification methods that give significant enhancement to the water-resistance and adhesive strength of soy protein-based adhesives.     

The effect of polypropylene maleic anhydride on polypropylene/(recycled acrylonitrile butadiene rubber)/(sugarcane bagasse) composite

The effect of polypropylene maleic anhydride (PPMAH) on the tensile properties and morphology of polypropylene (PP)/(recycled acrylonitrile butadiene rubber) (NBRr)/(sugarcane bagasse) (SCB) composites has been studied. Six different composites (100/0/10, 80/20/10, 70/30/10, 60/40/10, 50/50/10, and 40/60/10), with fixed 5 wt% of PPMAH compatibilizer and without PPMAH addition, were carried out. The composites were prepared through melt‐mixing technique at 180^oC for 9 min using a rotor speed of 15 rpm. The specimens were analyzed for mechanical properties and examined with scanning electron microscopy. The tensile strength was found to decrease with increasing filler content. However, tensile strength and Young's modulus of the PPMAH compatibilized composites were found to increase, while the elongation at break showed the opposite trend as compared with the control composites. The morphology results support the tensile properties and indicated a better interaction between the SCB filler and PP/NBRr matrices with the presence of PPMAH as a compatibilizer. This is due to the esterification bonding between the SCB filler and PP matrix in the presence of PP/NBRr matrices. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 23:228–233, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers