Experimental investigation of Co and Fe-Doped CuO nanostructured electrode material for remarkable electrochemical performance

The current research work presents a facile and cost–effective co-precipitation method to prepare doped (Co & Fe) CuO and undoped CuO nanostructures without usage of any type of surfactant or capping agents. The structural analysis reveals monoclinic crystal structure of synthesized pure CuO and doped-CuO nanostructures. The effect of different morphologies on the performance of supercapacitors has been found in CV (cyclic voltammetry) and GCD (galvanic charge discharge) investigations. The specific capacitances have been obtained 156 (±5) Fg^?1, 168(±5) Fg^?1 and 186 (±5) Fg^?1 for CuO, Co-doped CuO and Fe-doped CuO electrodes, respectively at scan rate of 5 mVs^?1, while it is found to be 114 (±5) Fg^?1, 136 (±5) Fg^?1 and 170 (±5) Fg^?1 for CuO, Co–CuO and Fe–CuO, respectively at 0.5 Ag^-1 as calculated from the GCD. The super capacitive performance of the Fe–CuO nanorods is mainly attributed to the synergism that evolves between CuO and Fe metal ion. The Fe-doped CuO with its nanorods like morphology provides superior specific capacitance value and excellent cyclic stability among all studied nanostructured electrodes. Consequently, it motivates to the use of Fe-doped CuO nanostructures as electrode material in the next generation energy storage devices.     

The effect of copper on the crystallization of hexagonal boron nitride

The crystallization process of hexagonal boron nitride in the presence of copper has been investigated. The positive effect of copper on the crystallinity of boron nitride was observed in the three studied systems of: nitrided boron, nitrided boron–carbon, and previously prepared turbostratic boron nitride. However, the presence of copper hindered the formation of boron carbonitride and produced graphite and boron nitride phases separately. Poor crystallinity was found as a conditio sine qua non for the existence of such a compound. Well-crystallized boron nitride had a very low spacing parameter 0.3328 nm and a regular hexagonal shape.     

NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE STUDIES OF ASPHALTENES AND COALS. A NEW APPROACH TO OBTAINING ASPHALTENE STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS WITH DIPOLAR DEPHASING

Apparent carbon aromaticities, fa, of some asphaltenes have been measured by n.m.r. in solution and compared with those obtained by the CP/MAS technique on solid samples. The aromaticities were also measured for several Alberta plains coals. From the 1H solution spectra and 13C solid nmr spectra of asphaltenes, some of their skeletal features, not obtainable from solution spectra only, have been suggested.     

Bead-based polymerase chain reaction on a microchip

We present a bead-based approach to microfluidic polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enabling fluorescent detection and sample conditioning in a single microchamber. Bead-based PCR, while not extensively investigated in microchip format, has been used in a variety of bioanalytical applications in recent years. We leverage the ability of bead-based PCR to accumulate fluorescent labels following DNA amplification to explore a novel DNA detection scheme on a microchip. The microchip uses an integrated microheater and temperature sensor for rapid control of thermal cycling temperatures, while the sample is held in a microchamber fabricated from (poly)dimethylsiloxane and coated with Parylene. The effects of key bead-based PCR parameters, including annealing temperature and concentration of microbeads in the reaction mixture, are studied to achieve optimized device sensitivity and detection time. The device is capable of detecting a synthetically prepared section of the Bordetella pertussis genome in as few as 10 temperature cycles with times as short as 15?min. We then demonstrate the use of the procedure in an integrated device; capturing, amplifying, detecting, and purifying template DNA in a single microfluidic chamber. These results show that this method is an effective method of DNA detection which is easily integrated in a microfluidic device to perform additional steps such as sample pre-conditioning.     

Fatigue crack growth resistance of SiC<Subscript>p</Subscript> reinforced Al alloys: Effects of particle size,particle volume fraction,and matrix strength

The main aim of this work was to study the effects of particle size, particle volume fraction, and matrix strength on the long fatigue crack growth resistance of two different grades of Al alloys (Al2124-T1 and Al6061-T1) reinforced with SiC particles. Basically, it was found that an increase in particle volume fraction and particle size increases the fatigue crack growth resistance at near threshold and Paris regimen, with matrix strength having a smaller effect. Near final failure, the stronger and more brittle composites are affected more by static modes of failure as the applied maximum stress intensity factor (K _max) approaches mode I plane strain fracture toughness (K _IC).     

Decentralized observers with consensus filters for distributed discrete-time linear systems

This paper presents a decentralized observer with a consensus filter for the state observation of discrete-time linear distributed systems. Each agent in the distributed system has an observer with a model of the plant that utilizes the set of locally available measurements, which may not make the full plant state detectable. This lack of detectability is overcome by utilizing a consensus filter that blends the state estimate of each agent with its neighbors’ estimates. It is proven that the state estimates of the proposed observer exponentially converge to the actual plant states under arbitrarily changing, but connected, communication and pseudo-connected sensing graph topologies. Except these connectivity properties, full knowledge of the sensing and communication graphs is not needed at the design time. As a byproduct, we obtained a result on the location of eigenvalues, i.e., the spectrum, of the Laplacian for a family of graphs with self-loops.     

Contribution to the hydration of expansive cement on the basis of metakaolinite

The study of hydration of expansive cement prepared from 64% portland cement clinker, 23% metakaolinite and 13% CaSO₄.2H₂O is described. It was found that in the course of a 10-day hydration period, all the gypsum entered the reaction with the formation of ettringite. In 7–10 days, after the termination of the expansion processes, typical stalk-like crystals were transformed into leaf-shaped or other formations. Ettringite was identified even after 4 months of hydration. Monosulphate (3CaO.Al₂O₃.CaSO₄.12H₂O) was found in none of the investigated high-expansion cement paste samples.     

Effects of aging on polyimide: A study of bulk and interface chemistry

We are investigating the bulk and interfacial chemistry of polyimide (PI) exposed to heat and relative humidity (RH) stress (85°C/85% RH) over long periods to understand the long-term reliability aspects of PI for microelectronic applications. The PI surface chemistry and the PI–Si interface chemistry was followed with electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). For exposure times greater than 550 h, the PI surface exhibits significant changes in emission structure and atomic concentration. The PI–Si interface indicates little change in the PI chemistry when compared to control samples. The water-contact angle at the PI surface shows no statistically significant change as a function of exposure time. Bulk and surface chemistry were followed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in a grazing incidence reflection configuration. There were measurable differences in FTIR spectra between aged and control samples only for the case of very thin PI layers. These results suggest that for exposure times of less than 1100 h, chemical changes in PI occur primarily at the PI–air interface for samples 1 μm thick and greater. These changes represent a possible rearrangement of the imide structure and may be a form of deimidization of the polymer, but the final state is not polyamic acid. The PI surface chemistry changes observed with ESCA are reversible upon reheating to the cure temperature.