Origin of Hole-Trapping States in Solution-Processed Copper(I) Thiocyanate and Defect-Healing by I2 Doping

Solution-processed copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) typically exhibits low crystallinity with short-range order; the defects result in a high density of trap states that limit the device's performance. Despite the extensive electronic applications of CuSCN, its defect properties are not understood in detail. Through X-ray absorption spectroscopy, pristine CuSCN prepared from the standard diethyl sulfide-based recipe is found to contain under-coordinated Cu atoms, pointing to the presence of SCN⁻ vacancies. A defect passivation strategy is introduced by adding solid I₂ to the processing solution. At small concentrations, the iodine is found to exist as I⁻ which can substitute for the missing SCN⁻ ligand, effectively healing the defective sites and restoring the coordination around Cu. Computational study results also verify this point. Applying I₂-doped CuSCN as a p-channel in thin-film transistors shows that the hole mobility increases by more than five times at the optimal doping concentration of 0.5 mol.%. Importantly, the on/off current ratio and the subthreshold characteristics also improve as the I₂ doping method leads to the defect-healing effect while avoiding the creation of detrimental impurity states. An analysis of the capacitance-voltage characteristics corroborates that the trap state density is reduced upon I₂ addition.     

Influence of konjac flour on foaming properties of milk protein concentrate and quality characteristics of gluten‐free cookie

The effects of konjac flour (KF) for modifying the foaming properties of milk protein concentrate (MPC) and characteristics of gluten‐free rice cookies were investigated. The three variables of konjac concentration (0.1–0.4%), pH (pH 5–9) and NaCl concentration (0.2–0.6 м) were studied. Both KF and pH had considerable effects on the foaming capacity (FC) and foaming stability (FS) of MPC. The NaCl had a negligible effect. Lowered FC and FS observed at pH 9 and pH 5 were increased with the increase in KF addition. Batter characteristics (flowability and consistency), cookie quality (moisture, yield, spread ratio, specific volume, hardness and colour) and sensory acceptance were evaluated in gluten‐free cookies with 0%, 0.25% and 0.4% KF. Konjac supplementation increased batter characteristics, yield, specific volume and hardness, but decreased lightness. Panellist acceptance, especially regarding texture and overall acceptability, increased in gluten‐free cookies with 0.4% KF. A higher purchasing decision was found for cookies with added KF.     

Quality characteristics of light pork burgers fortified with soy protein isolate

Effect of soy protein isolate (SPI) (0.5 to 3%, w/w) on physical, chemical, sensory, and microstructure properties of light pork burgers containing added water incorporated with 0.7% mixed gum (konjac/gellan gum= 3:1) was carried out. Increasing of SPI levels resulted in significantly (p<0.05) higher cooking yield, lower reduction in diameter, and darker color of light pork burgers in relation to the control. Textural characteristics including cohesiveness, springiness, and chewiness significantly increased (p<0.05) with increasing of SPI up to 2% level; however, decreased these parameters were evident at 3% SPI used. Sensory results indicated that the 2% SPI light formulation showed significantly higher (p<0.05) scores for texture and juiciness than those of the control. The product was considered nutritious and provided the reduction of fat and total caloric content about 62.3 and 43.1% of the full-fat product, respectively.     

Infrared Heating as a Disinfestation Method Against <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sitophilus oryzae</Emphasis> and Its Effect on Textural and Cooking Properties of Milled Rice

Infrared (IR) heating method against rice weevils (Sitophilus oryzae) in an egg stage was investigated. A kinetic model was developed to describe insect mortality in a temperature range of 40–60 °C. Effects of IR heating temperature (50–60 °C) and exposure time (1–3 min) on insect mortality and quality attributes of the treated rice were evaluated. The optimized condition obtained by means of the response surface method was used to analyze rice quality before and after IR treatment with storage. The results showed that the 0.5th-order thermal death kinetic equation was the most suitable model, and the S. oryzae eggs had less heat tolerance than the adults and some other species. Mortality achieved 100 % after 2 min for all temperatures. Both IR heating parameters significantly affected the treated milled rice qualities. The minimal changes in rice quality before and after storage could be obtained using optimized temperature and exposure time of 53.6 °C and 1.2 min, respectively.     

Chopper Modulators Using Current Conveyor Analogue Switches

The new CMOS Cowan, Ring, and Full-AM chopper modulators using current conveyor analogue switches are presented. The proposed chopper modulators use a square wave carrier current for controlling the transfer of a sine wave baseband voltage from nodes Y to nodes X, and the baseband currents from nodes X to nodes Z, of the current conveyors. The proposed chopper modulators are verified by simulating from the layout with a 0.5 μ m/level 49 MOSFET model of AMI obtained through MOSIS. With a supply voltage of ± 1.5 V, the operation range for the baseband voltage is between −300 mV and 300 mV. The operation range for the carrier current, bias currents for CCIIs, is ranged from ten to few hundred microamps. Using the carrier current of 20 μ A, the power consumption is not more than 0.8 mW in the operation range of the baseband voltage.     

Mathematical model of pork slice drying using superheated steam

Superheated steam has received much attention as an effective technique for drying purposes because it produces dried products with high quality attributes. Although currently there are a number of works reporting the development of a mathematical model of superheated steam drying, they do not use a numerical method to estimate the effective moisture diffusivity value (D_eff value) of the product. The purposes of this work, therefore, were to develop a semi-empirical model for estimating the D_eff value of pork, and for predicting the evolution of the moisture content and the center temperature of sliced pork during superheated steam drying. The model was based on mass and energy-balance equations and was divided into three periods: heating up, constant drying rate and falling drying rate period. It was solved using an explicit finite difference method and used a grid search method to estimate the D_eff value of pork. The predicted results were compared with the experimental data of superheated steam drying of seasoned and unseasoned pork with slice thicknesses of 1 and 2 mm at a drying temperature of 140 °C. The comparison results showed that the developed model could estimate the ranges of the D_eff value of pork fairly well (D_eff = 3.311-12.471 × 10⁻¹⁰ m²/s for seasoned pork, and 4.200-15.056 × 10⁻¹⁰ m²/s for unseasoned pork) and could reasonably predict the evolution of the moisture content of the sliced pork. The predicted center temperature of the sliced pork was higher than the experimental data in the heating up period and in the first 5 min of the falling drying rate period, but it agreed well in the constant drying rate period and after the drying time of 10 min. Moreover, it was found that the slice thickness and the seasoning had an influence on the drying curves only in the constant drying rate and falling drying rate period.     

A Comparative Study of Pork Drying Using Superheated Steam and Hot Air

Drying with superheated steam and hot air were comparatively studied for pork. Transport, physical, and chemical properties, i.e., effective diffusivity, color, microstructure, and rehydration ability, were investigated. The experimental results have shown that the decrease of pork moisture content in an early drying time was more rapid in superheated steam than in hot air and appeared to be lower in a latter time. The pork surface as examined by SEM was noticeably different for the samples dried by superheated steam and hot air. The fewer pores at the surface of superheated steam-dried pork caused a slower water penetration into the interior during rehydration, in addition to the lower drying rate. The color of the product from superheated steam was a relatively more intense brown than that obtained from hot air as presented by a lower L* value and a higher a* value.     

Comparative Study of Lewis Acid Transformation on Non-reducible and Reducible Oxides Under Hydrogen Atmosphere by In Situ DRIFTS of Adsorbed NH<Subscript>3</Subscript>

The Lewis acid transformation to Bronsted acid was investigated over the Pt/γ-Al₂O₃ hybrid catalysts in the presence of hydrogen atmosphere by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) of adsorbed NH₃. The changes of FTIR spectra were monitored during the introduction of hydrogen at 40 °C and atmospheric pressure for 130 min. The degrees of Lewis acid transformation were varied by addition of non-reducible (SiO₂ and Al₂O₃) and reducible (ZrO₂, TiO₂ and CeO₂) oxides to the Pt/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts as the hybrid catalysts. According to the in situ DRIFTS, the hydrogen temperature programmed reduction (H₂-TPR), and the hydrogen temperature programmed desorption (H₂-TPD) results, the introduction of hydrogen resulted in a decrease in the amount of ammonia adsorbed on Lewis acid sites, and an increase in the amount of ammonium ions on Bronsted acid sites with time on stream. It is proposed that ammonia migration from Lewis acid sites to Bronsted acid sites occurred during the introduction of hydrogen in the presence of Pt particles when compared to the observation of only observed catalysts (without Pt particles). The addition of reducible oxides led to the high rate of Lewis acid transformation, which was higher than those of the non-reducible oxides. Weaker Lewis acid sites and higher amount of hydrogen spillover over the observed catalysts enhanced the rate of Lewis acid transformation in this study. However, the amount of Lewis acid sites at the initial stage did not play an important role in these transformations.     

Molecular simulation and experimental studies of the miscibility of polylactic acid/polyethylene glycol blends

Computer simulation and experiments were performed to investigate the miscibility of PLA/PEG blends with different PEG concentrations. Flory-Huggins interaction (χ) parameter used to predict the miscibility for the blends was estimated by molecular dynamic simulation of fully atomistic model. The calculated χ parameter and radial distribution function suggest that the PLA and PEG blends are likely miscible at low PEG concentrations (10–30 wt%), but they become apparently immiscible at higher PEG content (>50 wt%). This result is consistent with density distribution of PLA and PEG beads calculated from dissipative particle dynamics simulation of coarse-grained model. To support the computational results, experiments based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and rheometry were also performed. The DSC thermograms of 90:10, 80:20, and 70:30 (wt/wt) of PLA/PEG blends showed a single glass transition and PLA melting peak, indicating PLA/PEG is miscible over this composition. In rheometry, frequency (ω) dependence of storage moduli (G′) at low frequencies for 75:25 and 70:30 blends indicate that these samples are near the phase separation point.     

Bio-oil production by fast pyrolysis of cassava residues in a free-fall reactor using liquid media-assisted condensation

We investigated the influence of liquid media-assisted condensation on the bio-oil yield using biomass derived from cassava rhizomes and stalks in a free-fall reactor. Benzene, diesel, engine lubricant, and ethanol were tested as the liquid medium. Exposure times varied from 60 to 120 min with biomass feed rates from 100 to 250 g/h. Engine lubricant and ethanol tended to decrease biomass yield while increasing gas yield. Benzene and diesel showed slightly increased biomass yield. With benzene, the bio-oil water content (28%) was insignificantly different from that without using any condensation substance. However, with diesel, the water content increased very slightly; with engine lubricant, it decreased to 25%; and with ethanol, it significantly decreased to 12%. Also, using diesel generated higher heating values (30 MJ/kg).