Online monitoring of the curing of adhesives with a miniaturised interdigital sensor using impedance spectroscopy

Monitoring adhesives during manufacturing and their lifetime has become increasingly important due to the variety of materials and applications. Impedance spectroscopy is a suitable method for online monitoring of the curing process. We present a miniaturised interdigital structure to monitor the curing process of the adhesives using impedance spectroscopy. Compared to other sensors, our sensor is ultrathin, so that it disappears in the adhesive joint. Therefore, it can remain in the joint and be used for lifetime monitoring. In addition it is suitable for thin adhesive layers due to its fine grid. We demonstrate that the impedance of the sensor embedded in the adhesive gives insight into the curing mechanisms. Therefore monitoring of a dispersion and an epoxy is shown. In addition, the curing cycles can be reliably controlled using this monitoring method. The permittivity of the adhesives is extracted from the impedance measurements, applying analytical models of the electrical field of the interdigital structure.     

丹尼尔斯大厦 加拿大多伦多

正多伦多大学丹尼尔斯建筑、景观和设计学院的设计采用了分期的方法,包括修复和扩建以前称为"知识学院"的标志性建筑,将现有建筑物改造成与教学和需求更相关的框架体系。这个十九世纪遗址的总体规划是通过对预期用途模式和场地生态的分析而制定的,目的是重新定位校园西南角与安大略湖的轴线,并为学院创造新的特性。丹尼尔斯建筑、景观和设计学院需要一个可持续发展的新型工     

Synthesis and characterization of thiolated carboxymethyl chitosan-graft-cyclodextrin nanoparticles as a drug delivery vehicle for albendazole

A new strategy for the synthesis of thiolated carboxymethyl chitosan-g-cyclodextrin nanoparticles by an ionic-gelation method is presented. The synthetic approach was based on the utilization of 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate during cyclodextrin grafting onto carboxymethyl chitosan. The use of the 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate resulted in reactions between cyclodextrin and active sites at the C₆-position of chitosan, and preserved amino groups of chitosan for subsequent reactions with thioglycolic acid, as the thiolating agent, and tripolyphosphate, as the gelling counterion. Various methods such as scanning electron microscopy, rheology and in vitro release studies were employed to exhibit significant features of the nanoparticles for mucosal albendazole delivery applications. It was found that the thiolated carboxymethyl chitosan-g-cyclodextrin nanoparticles prepared using an aqueous solution containing 1 wt% of tripolyphosphate and having 115.65 (μmol/g polymer) of grafted thiol groups show both the highest mucoadhesive properties and the highest albendazole entrapment efficiency. The latter was confirmed theoretically by calculating the enthalpy of mixing of albendazole in the above thiolated chitosan polymer.     

Nanoporous organosilicas as preconcentration materials for the electrochemical detection of trinitrotoluene

We describe the use of nanoporous organosilicas for rapid preconcentration and extraction of trinitrotoluene (TNT) for electrochemical analysis and demonstrate the effect of template-directed molecular imprinting on TNT adsorption. The relative effects of the benzene (BENZ)- and diethylbenzene (DEB)-bridged organic-inorganic polymers, having narrow or broad pore size distributions, respectively, on electrochemical response and desorption behavior were examined. Sample volumes of 0.5-10 mL containing 5-1000 ppb TNT in a phosphate-buffered saline buffer were preconcentrated in-line before the detector using a microcolumn containing 10 mg of imprinted BENZ or DEB. Square-wave voltammetry was used to detect the first reduction peak of TNT in an electrochemical flow cell using a carbon working electrode and a Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Imprinted BENZ released TNT faster than imprinted DEB with considerably less peak tailing and displayed enhanced sensitivity and an improvement in the limit of detection (LOD) owing to more rapid elution of TNT from that material with increasing signal amplitude. For imprinted BENZ, the slope of signal versus concentration scaled linearly with increasing preconcentration volume, and for preconcentrating 10 mL of sample, the LOD for TNT was estimated to be 5 ppb. Template-directed molecularly imprinted DEB (TDMI-DEB) was 7-fold more efficient in adsorption of TNT from aqueous contaminated soil extract than nonimprinted DEB.     

Transport and Deposition of Evaporating Droplets in a Ventilated Environment

In this study, droplet transport, dispersion, and deposition in a ventilated office with two manikins were studied using a computer-modeling approach. Different airflow distribution systems were used, and an Eulerian approach was employed for the airflow simulation. The trajectories of droplets were evaluated using the Lagrangian approach by solving the equation of droplet motion that included the inertial, viscous drag, Brownian, Saffman lift, and gravity forces. Droplet evaporation was also taken into account by solving the droplet heat and mass transfer equations, thus, allowing for the variation of the droplet size. Mixing and displacement air distribution systems were examined, and trajectories of droplets in the range of 1 to 100 microns emitted by one of the manikins were simulated under a range of conditions. The simulation results showed that the chance for small droplets to leave the room through the exhaust is relatively high. When the mixing air distribution system is used, the drop dispersion is higher than with the displacement distribution system. This in turn suggests that the chance of transmission of air borne diseases is relatively higher for the mixing ventilation system.     

Kinetic,isotherm and thermodynamic study of nitrate adsorption from aqueous solution using modified rice husk

In this article, we prepared anionic sorbent using rice husk (RC). Anionic rice husk (ARC) structural characteristics and adsorption properties for nitrate removal from aqueous solution were investigated. The sorption of NO₃^? by batch method is carried out. The optimum conditions of sorption were found to be: a sorbent dose of 0.4 g in 100 mL of NO₃^? solution, contact time of 90 min, pH = 7. In optimum condition, removal efficiency was 94.3% for the NO₃^?. The nitrate adsorption process was well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the experimental isotherm data fitted well with the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R) isotherm models. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy change, enthalpy change and entropy change were calculated and the results showed that the adsorption of nitrate on ARC was spontaneous and exothermic in nature. The effect of other anions were also studied and was found that the anions reduced the nitrate adsorption in the order of carbonate > chloride > phosphate > sulphate. ARC was used for the removal of NO₃^? from real wastewater (urban wastewater) that high performance of adsorbent was considerable.     

Production of poly‐3‐hydroxybutyrate by Cupriavidus necator from corn syrup: statistical modeling and optimization of biomass yield and volumetric productivity

BACKGROUND: The paper reports an investigation into the possibility of producing poly‐3‐hydroxybutyrate (P(3HB)) polyester using corn syrup, a relatively low cost by‐product from the starch industries. The concentrations of medium components, corn syrup, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate (K₂HPO₄), sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH₂PO₄) and ammonium sulfate [(NH₄)₂SO₄] were optimized using design of experiments (DOE). RESULTS: Response surface methodology (RSM) under central composite face design (CCFD) was used to obtain the optimum values of medium components and responses in terms of biomass yield and volumetric P(3HB) productivity. The highest P(3HB) productivity and biomass yield obtained were 0.224 g L^?1 h^?1 and 0.57 g g^?1, respectively. A limited‐nitrogen concentration had a higher volumetric P(3HB) productivity (0.170 g L^?1 h^?1) than that of the excess nitrogen batch experiment (0.0675 g L^?1 h^?1). The optimum corn syrup:N:P ratio of 50:0.078:1 was based on numerical optimization of the desirability function between biomass yield and volumetric P(3HB) productivity by Cupriavidus necator DSMZ 545. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in this study demonstrated that P(3HB) could be efficiently produced to a high concentration with high productivity by applying nitrogen limitation in a defined medium, indicating this agricultural by‐product to be a suitable nutrient source in further studies to develop biomaterials through biotechnology. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Lyapunov control of bilinear Schrödinger equations

A Lyapunov-based approach for trajectory tracking of the Schrödinger equation is proposed. In the finite dimensional case, convergence is precisely analyzed. Connection between the controllability of the linearized system around the reference trajectory and asymptotic tracking is studied. When the linearized system is controllable, such a feedback ensures almost global asymptotic convergence. When the linearized system is not controllable, the stability of the closed-loop system is not asymptotic. To overcome such lack of convergence, we propose, when the reference trajectory is an eigenstate, a modification based on adiabatic invariance. Simulations illustrate the simplicity and also the interest for trajectory generation.     

Application of hierarchical facility location problem for optimization of a drone delivery system: a case study of Amazon prime air in the city of San Francisco

In the last decade, aerial delivery system has been considered as a promising response to increasing traffic jams and incremental demand for transportation. In this study, a distance-constrained mobile hierarchical facility location problem is used in order to find the optimal number and locations of launch and recharge stations with the objective of minimizing the total costs of the system. System costs include establishment cost for launching and recharge stations, drone procurement, and drone usage costs. It is supposed that the demand occurs according to Poisson distribution, distributed uniformly along the network edges and is satisfied by the closest open facility. Since the flying duration of a drone is limited to its endurance, it may visit one or more recharge stations to reach to the demand point. This route is calculated by the shortest path algorithm, and the Euclidean distance is considered between nodes and facilities. It is proved that facility location problems are NP-hard on a general graph. Accordingly, heuristic algorithms are proposed as solution method. To illustrate the applicability of the algorithms, a case study is presented and the results are discussed.