Novel electrospun polymer electrolytes incorporated with Keggin‐type hetero polyoxometalate fillers as solvent‐free electrolytes for lithium ion batteries

In this study, solvent‐free nanofibrous electrolytes were fabricated through an electrospinning method. Polyethylene oxide (PEO), lithium perchlorate and ethylene carbonate were used as polymer matrix, salt and plasticizer respectively in the electrolyte structures. Keggin‐type hetero polyoxometalate (Cu‐POM@Ru‐rGO, Ni‐POM@Ru‐rGO and Co‐POM@Ru‐rGO (POM, polyoxometalate; rGO, reduced graphene oxide)) nanoparticles were synthesized and inserted into the PEO‐based nanofibrous electrolytes. TEM and SEM analyses were carried out for further evaluation of the synthesized filler structures and the electrospun nanofibre morphologies. The fractions of free ions and crystalline phases of the as‐spun electrolytes were estimated by obtaining Fourier transform infrared and XRD spectra, respectively. The results showed a significant improvement in the ionic conductivity of the nanofibrous electrolytes by increasing filler concentrations. The highest ionic conductivity of 0.28 mS cm^?1 was obtained by the introduction of 0.49 wt% Co‐POM@Ru‐rGO into the electrospun electrolyte at ambient temperature. Compared with solution‐cast polymeric electrolytes, the electrospun electrolytes present superior ionic conductivity. Moreover, the cycle stability of the as‐spun electrolytes was clearly improved by the addition of fillers. Furthermore, the mechanical strength was enhanced with the insertion of 0.07 wt% fillers to the electrospun electrolytes. The results implied that the prepared nanofibres are good candidates as solvent‐free electrolytes for lithium ion batteries. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry     

An FEC scheme combined with weighted scheduling to reduce multicast packet loss in IPTV over PON

Congestion is one of the most important challenges in optical networks. In a Passive Optical Network (PON), the Optical Line Terminal (OLT) is a bottleneck and congestion prone. In this paper, a framework is proposed with Forward Error Correction (FEC) at the IP layer combined with Weighted Round Robin (WRR) at the scheduling level to overcome packet-loss due to congestion in the OLT in order to achieve efficient video multicasting over PON. In the FEC scheme, Reed-Solomon (RS(n,k)) with erasure coding is used, where (n−k) erroneous symbols per n symbol blocks can be corrected. In our framework, an Internet Protocol TeleVision (IPTV) service provider uses the mentioned RS coding and generates redundant packets from regular IPTV packets in such a way that an Optical Network Unit (ONU) can recover lost packets from received packets, thus resulting in a better video quality. Simulation results show that using the proposed framework, an ONU can recover many lost packets and achieve better video quality under different traffic loads for its users. For instance, the proposed method can reduce packet loss rate by almost 55% and 10% under traffic load 0.9, respectively, compared with the Round Robin (RR) and WRR methods under symmetric traffic load. When High Receivers Queue (HRQ) traffic (i.e., traffic received by many users) is twice Low Receivers Queue (LRQ) traffic (i.e., traffic received by a small number of users), this reduction is almost 86% and 30% under traffic load 0.9. Finally, when LRQ traffic is twice HRQ traffic, the reduction in packet loss rate is almost 70% and 91% at traffic load 0.5.     

Alternating active-phase algorithm for multimaterial topology optimization problems: a 115-line MATLAB implementation

Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization - A new algorithm for the solution of multimaterial topology optimization problems is introduced in the present study. The presented method is based on...     

Three‐Dimensional Printing of Multifunctional Nanocomposites: Manufacturing Techniques and Applications

The integration of nanotechnology into three‐dimensional printing (3DP) offers huge potential and opportunities for the manufacturing of 3D engineered materials exhibiting optimized properties and multifunctionality. The literature relating to different 3DP techniques used to fabricate 3D structures at the macro‐ and microscale made of nanocomposite materials is reviewed here. The current state‐of‐the‐art fabrication methods, their main characteristics (e.g., resolutions, advantages, limitations), the process parameters, and materials requirements are discussed. A comprehensive review is carried out on the use of metal‐ and carbon‐based nanomaterials incorporated into polymers or hydrogels for the manufacturing of 3D structures, mostly at the microscale, using different 3D‐printing techniques. Several methods, including but not limited to micro‐stereolithography, extrusion‐based direct‐write technologies, inkjet‐printing techniques, and popular powder‐bed technology, are discussed. Various examples of 3D nanocomposite macro‐ and microstructures manufactured using different 3D‐printing technologies for a wide range of domains such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), lab‐on‐a‐chip, microfluidics, engineered materials and composites, microelectronics, tissue engineering, and biosystems are reviewed. Parallel advances on materials and techniques are still required in order to employ the full potential of 3D printing of multifunctional nanocomposites.     

A hybrid metaheuristic approach for the capacitated p-median problem

The capacitated p-median problem (CPMP) seeks to obtain the optimal location of p medians considering distances and capacities for the services to be given by each median. This paper presents an efficient hybrid metaheuristic algorithm by combining a proposed cutting-plane neighborhood structure and a tabu search metaheuristic for the CPMP. In the proposed neighborhood structure to move from the current solution to a neighbor solution, an open median is selected and closed. Then, a linear programming (LP) model is generated by relaxing binary constraints and adding new constraints. The generated LP solution is improved using cutting-plane inequalities. The solution of this strong LP is considered as a new neighbor solution. In order to select an open median to be closed, several strategies are proposed. The neighborhood structure is combined with a tabu search algorithm in the proposed approach. The parameters of the proposed hybrid algorithm are tuned using design of experiments approach. The proposed algorithm is tested on several sets of benchmark instances. The statistical analysis shows efficiency and effectiveness of the hybrid algorithm in comparison with the best approach found in the literature.     

A quantitative approach to study solid state phase coarsening in solder alloys using combined phase-field modeling and experimental observation

In the present work, a quantitative phase-field approach is introduced to study the phase-coarsening phenomena in solder alloys, Pb-Sn alloy here. The most important part of this work is to introduce a simple and versatile approach to quantify the experimental and simulation data, without putting into difficulties corresponding to the stochastic nature of phenomenon, in order to compute unknown physical data required to perform numerical simulation. For this purpose, at first, the evolution of microstructure vs. time is studied experimentally by the conventional optical microscopy. Then, unknown physical data, the interface mobility here, is computed by fitting the time evolution of the total interface perimeter of the simulation results to that of the experimental data. In fact, by this approach, the physical data is computed such that it will be applied to predict reality in the subsequent simulations, i.e., the presented method can be accounted as the calibration of the corresponding mathematical model and numerical method. The validity of the presented approach is supported by comparing simulation data to experimental ones.     

Improvement of physical and mechanical properties of electrospun poly(lactic acid) nanofibrous structures

Iranian Polymer Journal - The electrospinning of stereocomplexed poly(lactic acid) (Sc-PLA) twisted yarns was our approach to produce PLA-based nanofibrous structures with improved physical and...     

Nonisothermal suspension polymerization of vinyl chloride for enhanced productivity

In the present study, a mathematical model is developed to numerically predict nonisothermal batch suspension polymerization of vinyl chloride. Free volume theory was used to consider diffusion‐controlled reactions. Model predictions were validated against field data obtained in a pilot scale stirred tank reactor. Variable temperature trajectory was considered during the course of the reaction to improve productivity by reducing the polymerization time for a certain conversion. Variable temperature during the course of the polymerization was successfully implemented by considering the predefined K value. By using variable temperatures during the course of the reaction, the density of the short branches per 1,000 monomer units as a criterion for structure defect remained relatively unchanged. Maximum reduction in reaction time relative to the isothermal case with the same K value and final conversion was 44% for the best temperature trajectory. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 22:470–478, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers