Effectiveness of PANI/Cu/TiO2 ternary nanocomposite on antibacterial and antistatic behaviors in polyurethane coatings

Surfaces with antibacterial and antistatic functionalities are one of the new demands of todays' industry. Therefore, a facile method for the preparation of multifunctional polyaniline/copper/TiO₂ (PANI/Cu/TiO₂) ternary nanocomposite based on in situ polymerization is presented. This nanocomposite was characterized through the different techniques and was utilized for induction of antibacterial and antistatic properties in polyurethane coatings. Measurement of the conductivity of PANI/Cu/TiO₂ ternary nanocomposite indicated higher electrical conductivity of this nanocomposite compared to pure PANI. The antibacterial activity of the modified polyurethane coatings was tested against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria which led to remarkable reduction in bacterial growth. Besides, it was observed that polyurethane coating with 2 wt % content of ternary nanocomposite has a surface electrical resistance equal 4 × 10⁸ Ω/sq which acquires surface electrical resistance of standard antistatic coatings. The final coatings were also characterized in terms of thermal and mechanical properties to investigate the effect of the ternary nanocomposite on improvement of these properties. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48825.     

Testing equality of covariance matrices when data are incomplete

In the statistics literature, a number of procedures have been proposed for testing equality of several groups’ covariance matrices when data are complete, but this problem has not been considered for incomplete data in a general setting. This paper proposes statistical tests for equality of covariance matrices when data are missing. A Wald test (denoted by T₁), a likelihood ratio test (LRT) (denoted by R), based on the assumption of normal populations are developed. It is well-known that for the complete data case the classic LRT and the Wald test constructed under the normality assumption perform poorly in instances when data are not from multivariate normal distributions. As expected, this is also the case for the incomplete data case and therefore has led us to construct a robust Wald test (denoted by T₂) that performs well for both normal and non-normal data. A re-scaled LRT (denoted by R^*) is also proposed. A simulation study is carried out to assess the performance of T₁, T₂, R, and R^* in terms of closeness of their observed significance level to the nominal significance level as well as the power of these tests. It is found that T₂ performs very well for both normal and non-normal data in both small and large samples. In addition to its usual applications, we have discussed the application of the proposed tests in testing whether a set of data are missing completely at random (MCAR).     

A study of partial F tests for multiple linear regression models

Partial F tests play a central role in model selections in multiple linear regression models. This paper studies the partial F tests from the view point of simultaneous confidence bands. It first shows that there is a simultaneous confidence band associated naturally with a partial F test. This confidence band provides more information than the partial F test and the partial F test can be regarded as a side product of the confidence band. This view point of confidence bands also leads to insights of the major weakness of the partial F tests, that is, a partial F test requires implicitly that the linear regression model holds over the entire range of the covariates in concern. Improved tests are proposed and they are induced by simultaneous confidence bands over restricted regions of the covariates. Power comparisons between the partial F tests and the new tests have been carried out to assess when the new tests are more or less powerful than the partial F tests. Computer programmes have been developed for easy implements of these new confidence band based inferential methods. An illustrative example is provided.     

The effects of boron additions on the microstructure,hardness and tensile properties of in situ Al–15%Mg2Si composite

In this work the influences of Boron (B) content on the microstructure, hardness and mechanical properties of Al–15%Mg₂Si composite were investigated. The results showed that with the increase of B content, the average size of primary Mg₂Si particles decreased from ∼23 to ∼5 μm and the volume fraction of them decreased too, but the amount of alpha phase increased. It was found that with the addition of 0.3%B, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and elongation values reached from 252 to 273 MPa and 2.2% to 3.7%, respectively. It was revealed from hardness tests that B decreases the hardness values of the composite. Also, a small amount of Boride compounds formed as a result of the addition of B, which were the main reason of the decreasing of tensile properties at samples with high B.     

Fish oil microencapsulation as influenced by spray dryer operational variables

The effects of spray‐drying air temperature, aspirator rate (drying air mass flow rate), peristaltic pump rate (feed mass flow rate) and spraying air mass flow rate on microencapsulation properties of fish oil including moisture content, particle size, bulk density, encapsulation efficiency and peroxide were investigated. The process was carried out on a mini spray dryer, and skim milk powder was used as the encapsulating wall material. Results indicated that increasing inlet air temperature increased the particle size, encapsulation efficiency and peroxide value but decreased the bulk density and moisture content of product. Increasing aspirator rate resulted in increased particle size and peroxide value but decreased the moisture content and bulk density. Increase in feed mass flow rate increased the moisture content, particle size, bulk density and peroxide value but decreased the encapsulation efficiency of microcapsules. The encapsulation efficiency and bulk density increased with the increasing aspirator rate but moisture content, particle size and peroxide value decreased.     

Performance assessment of a horizontal-coil geothermal heat pump

This paper evaluates the performance of a geothermal heat pump in Iran. An air-to-air 5.275 kW heat pump has been changed and redesigned to a geothermal heat pump system for the first time in Iran. Air-to-air condenser has been replaced by a tube-in-tube heat exchanger and assembled system has been tested under ARI-325 standard at the national energy lab of Iran and the results have been compared with the original system. Then, local weather conditions and soil properties of Tabriz (located at the north-west of Iran) have been applied and geothermal coil has been designed. Coil has been connected to the heat pump and the average coefficient of performance (COP) of rather more than three has been recorded in cooling mode. Results obtained from experimental measurements show that horizontal GSHP systems can be used for Tabriz-like climates in Iran. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of beryllium addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-15%Mg2Si in-situ metal matrix composite

The effects of Beryllium (Be) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-15%Mg₂Si composite were investigated. The results showed that with the increase of Be content, the average size and volume fraction of primary Mg₂Si particles decreases. Pseudo-eutectic Mg₂Si has mainly a fine fibrous structure in both specimens with and without Be. However, in the samples containing Be, the path for crack propagation along cell boundaries is very tortuous. Meanwhile, β_Al-Mg-Be phase based on a β-Al₃Mg₂ phase of the Al-Mg system was observed in specimens containing Be. It was found that with the addition of Be the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and elongation values improved. A study of the specimen's fracture surfaces via scanning electron microscope revealed that Be increases the number of fine dimples and decohered Mg₂Si particles.     

Colloidal Nanosurfactants for 3D Conformal Printing of 2D van der Waals Materials

Printing techniques using nanomaterials have emerged as a versatile tool for fast prototyping and potentially large-scale manufacturing of functional devices. Surfactants play a significant role in many printing processes due to their ability to reduce interfacial tension between ink solvents and nanoparticles and thus improve ink colloidal stability. Here, a colloidal graphene quantum dot (GQD)-based nanosurfactant is reported to stabilize various types of 2D materials in aqueous inks. In particular, a graphene ink with superior colloidal stability is demonstrated by GQD nanosurfactants via the π–π stacking interaction, leading to the printing of multiple high-resolution patterns on various substrates using a single printing pass. It is found that nanosurfactants can significantly improve the mechanical stability of the printed graphene films compared with those of conventional molecular surfactant, as evidenced by 100 taping, 100 scratching, and 1000 bending cycles. Additionally, the printed composite film exhibits improved photoconductance using UV light with 400 nm wavelength, arising from excitation across the nanosurfactant bandgap. Taking advantage of the 3D conformal aerosol jet printing technique, a series of UV sensors of heterogeneous structures are directly printed on 2D flat and 3D spherical substrates, demonstrating the potential of manufacturing geometrically versatile devices based on nanosurfactant inks.     

Design of an integrated process for simultaneous chemical looping hydrogen production and electricity generation with CO2 capture

This study was aimed at proposing a novel integrated process for co-production of hydrogen and electricity through integrating biomass gasification, chemical looping combustion, and electrical power generation cycle with CO₂ capture. Syngas obtained from biomass gasification was used as fuel for chemical looping combustion process. Calcium oxide metal oxide was used as oxygen carrier in the chemical looping system. The effluent stream of the chemical looping system was then transferred through a bottoming power generation cycle with carbon capture capability. The products achieved through the proposed process were highly-pure hydrogen and electricity generated by chemical looping and power generation cycle, respectively. Moreover, LNG cold energy was used as heat sink to improve the electrical power generation efficiency of the process. Sensitivity analysis was also carried out to scrutinize the effects of influential parameters, i.e., carbonator temperature, steam/biomass ratio, gasification temperature, gas turbine inlet stream temperature, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flow rate on the plant performance. Overall, the optimum heat integration was achieved among the sub-systems of the plant while a high energy efficiency and zero CO₂ emission were also accomplished. The findings of the present study could assist future investigations in analyzing the performance of integrated processes and in investigating optimal operating conditions of such systems.     

Exergetic analysis of various types of geothermal power plants

Based on available surveys, it has been shown that Iran has substantial geothermal potential in the north and north-western provinces, where in some places the temperature reaches 240 °C. In order to better exploit these renewable resources, it is necessary to study this area. Thus, the aim of this paper is a comparative study of the different geothermal power plant concepts, based on the exergy analysis for high-temperature geothermal resources. The considered cycles for this study are a binary geothermal power plant using a simple organic Rankine cycle (ORC), a binary geothermal power plant using an ORC with an internal heat exchanger (IHE), a binary cycle with a regenerative ORC, a binary cycle with a regenerative ORC with an IHE, a single-flash geothermal power plant, a double-flash geothermal power plant and a combined flash-binary power plant. With respect to each cycle, a thermodynamic model had to be developed. Model validation was undertaken using available data from the literature. Based on the exergy analysis, a comparative study was done to clarify the best cycle configuration. The performance of each cycle has been discussed in terms of the second-law efficiency, exergy destruction rate, and first-law efficiency. Comparisons between the different geothermal power plant concepts as well as many approaches to define efficiencies have been presented. The maximum first-law efficiency was found to be related to the ORC with an IHE with R123 as the working fluid and was calculated to be 7.65%. In contrast, the first-law efficiency based on the energy input into the ORC revealed that the binary cycle with the regenerative ORC with an IHE and R123 as the working fluid has the highest efficiency (15.35%). Also, the maximum first-law efficiency was shown to be given by the flash-binary with R123 as the working fluid and was calculated to be 11.81%.