Gas Sensing Characteristics of Porous ZnO and Pt/ZnO Ceramics

Changes in resistivity and chemical changes in reducing gases were measured for porous zinc oxide ceramics with and without a platinum catalyst at 300° and 400°C to examine the gas sensing mechanism and the effect of platinum additions. Reducing gases were oxidized to CO₂ and Hz₂ on the sensor surfaces. Platinum addition promoted the oxidation of reducing gases but did not lead to an increase in the resistivity change at 400°C. The reaction sequences for the gas sensing process are proposed, taking into account partially oxidized intermediates of hydrocarbons and oxidation on platinum without an electron transfer process.     

Electrical Conduction in β-Bi2O3 Doped with Sb2O3

Electrical conduction in tetragonal β-Bi₂O₃ doped with Sb₂O₃ was investigated by measuring electrical conductivity, ionic transference number, and Seebeck coefficient. The β-Bi₂O₃ doped with 1 to 10 mol% Sb₂O₃ was stable up to 600°C and showed an oxygen ionic and electronic mixed conduction, where the electron conduction was predominant at low oxygen pressures. The oxygen-ion conductivity showed a maximum at 4 mol% Sb₂O₃, whereas the activation energy for the ionic conduction remained unchanged for 4 to 10 mol% Sb₂O₃-doped specimens. These results were interpreted in terms of the oxygen vacancy concentration and the distortion of the tetragonal structure. The electron conductivity and its oxygen pressure dependence decreased with increasing Sb₂O₃ content. The fact that Sb⁵⁺ is partially reduced by excess electrons in heavily doped β specimens at low oxygen pressures is explained.     

The Effect of Annelation on the Colour of 1, 4-Disubstituted Benzoanthraquinone Disperse Dyes

The visible spectra of a series of 1,4-disubstituted benzoanthraquinone dyes in benzene solution has been measured. The position of the absorption maxima of the dyes has been found to be well correlated with a mean ionization potential of the substituent groups. An annelation of anthraquinone dyes in the position of 2, 3 or 6, 7produced a small hypsochromic shift, while 5,6-annelation produced a large bathochromic shift. The additive properties on the absorption maximum of dibenzoanthraquinone dyes were also observed.     

Studies on the Physical and Chemical Properties of Kiwi Fruit Starch

The kiwi fruit starch consisted of small round granules with an average size of 5.5μ, and was composed of 14.4% moisture, 0.17% crude protein, 0.11% lipid and 0.14% ash. The phosphorus, content was 25.5 mg/100g, which was the highest concentration of the minerals. The amylose content was 10.8% and the X-ray diffraction pattern was B-type. The gelatinization temperature, obtained by DSC measurement, was 72°C. The properties of the fully gelatinized form and the low degree of retrogradation were observed by ¹³C-NMR analysis. Free fatty acids detected in the lipid component of the starch were oleic, palmitic, linolenic, linoleic, and stearic acids.     

Novel active-R synthesis of a driving-point impedance

A novel active-R synthesis baaed on the single-pole rolloff characteristics of operational amplifiers is described. Various types of driving-point impedance, such as an inductance, frequency-dependent negative-resistance and frequency-dependent negative-inductance are systematically derived by the suitable choice of the amplifier transfer function. It is shown by experiments that the inductance simulator presents reliable high frequency performance.     

Dependence of Grain-Boundary Resistivity on Grain-Boundary Density in Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia

The dependence of grain-boundary resistivity and resistance per square centimeter of grain-boundary surface on grain-boundary density (D) in yttria-stabilized zirconia was investigated using reported data. The grain-boundary resistivity increased with increasing D in the high-D region but was independent of D in the low-D region. These results were interpreted in terms of intrinsic effects such as lattice irregularity and extrinsic effects such as impurity segregation.     

Gigacycle fatigue properties of 1800 MPa class spring steels

Fatigue tests up to 10⁸ cycles were carried out for two spring steels (Heats A and D1) and one valve spring steel (Heat F) with tensile strength, σ _B, of 1720, 1725 and 1764 MPa, respectively. The size and composition of inclusions in Heats Dl and F were controlled. The surface‐type fracture occurred at shorter lives below 10⁶ cycles, while the fish‐eye‐type fracture occurred at longer lives. The fatigue limit, σ _W, at 10⁸ cycles was 640 MPa for Heats A and D1 and 700 MPa for Heat F. Al₂O₃ inclusions for Heat A and both TiN inclusions and matrix cracks, i.e. internal facets, for Heat F were observed at the fish‐eye‐type fracture sites, while only matrix cracks were observed for Heat Dl. ODA, i.e. optically dark area, which is considered to be related to hydrogen effects, were formed around Al₂O₃ and TiN inclusions. Fatigue tests were also conducted after specimens were heated up to 573 K in high vacuum of 2 × 10^–6 Pa. The heat treatment eliminated matrix cracks for Heat D1 and the fatigue limit at 10⁸ cycles recovered to the estimated value of 920 MPa from the equation σ _w= 0.53 σ _B for the surface fracture. These results suggest that inclusions control and hydrogen influence the gigacycle fatigue properties for these high strength steels. In addition, it is expected that the creation of a martensite structure with a high resistance to hydrogen effects in the inclusion‐controlled steel could achieve the higher fatigue limit estimated for the surface‐type fracture.     

Optimization of weakly coupled subsystems by a two-level method

A two-level method to find the optimal control of a linear system is presented. We consider that the system is composed of coupled subsystems. And we solve two decoupled first-level problems and one coordinating second-level problem iteratively. When the system can be decoupled into weakly coupled subsystems, the solution fast converges to the optimal.     

Preparation of Fermented Soybean Curd using Stem Bromelain

Preparation of fermented soybean curd using stem bromelain as coagulant of soy milk and an enzyme to improve the taste was investigated. After 60 days at 15°C ripening reached approximately 30-40% in curds which had stem bromelain added. The amino acids liberated in highest concentration were glutamic acid, leucine, lysine, alanine, and phenylalanine. Proteolytic activity from stem bromelain remained in the ripened curds, and activity from microorganisms appeared upon ripening. The recoveries of curds which had stem bromelain added were lower than that of a curd, which did not contain any stem bromelain.