Nanofiber coating of surfaces for intensification of drop or spray impact cooling

A novel enhancement of drop and spray cooling for microelectronic and radiological elements and server rooms requiring extremely high heat fluxes is proposed. The key idea of the method is to cover the heat transfer surfaces with electrospun non-woven polymer nanofiber mats. The mats are permeable for water drops. The enhanced efficiency of drop cooling in the presence of nanofiber mats observed experimentally results from full elimination of receding and bouncing of the drops, characteristic of the current spray cooling technology. Therefore, the drops evaporate completely, and the large cooling potential associated with the latent heat of water evaporation is more fully exploited. This is paradoxical: the best cooling can be provided by a “fur overcoat”! The proposed cooling method alone may lead to a breakthrough in further miniaturization of microelectronic chips, optical and radiological elements and accelerate the development of a new generation of computers. In order to check the suitability of different materials for the drop and spray cooling applications, the thermal and structural properties of nanofiber mats based on four different polymers have been measured over a wide temperature range. Based on the results of these measurements, the most suitable materials have been chosen.     

Influence of storage temperature on the quality of salted mackerel (Rastrelliger kangurta) and pink perch (Nemipterus japonicus)

Dry-salted mackerel and pink perch were stored at two temperatures: ambient (26·8 ± 3·3°C) and 2·5 ± 1°C. Changes in moisture content, salt content, water activity (a_w), peroxide value (PV), free fatty acid content (FFA), total volatile base nitrogen (TVBN) content, halophilic bacterial count and sensory scores for overall acceptability were studied. Loss of moisture and absorption of salt were considerably higher in the products stored at ambient temperature. The decrease in a_w was more pronounced at ambient temperature than at the lower temperature. Although the chemical indices of freshness (PV, FFA and TVBN) and the halophilic counts showed increasing trends, they were considerably lower in the products stored at the lower temperature. Sensory evaluation for overall acceptability indicated that storage at the lower temperature could considerably extend the shelf-life of salted fish.     

Gorsky damping in nanomechanical structures

The critical frequency of Gorsky damping coincides with the structural resonant frequencies of nanomechanical structures over a wide range of solute diffusivities. A lower bound of 1 at.% hydrogen in silicon is estimated for Gorsky damping to attain values comparable to previously measured loss coefficients of single-crystal silicon nanomechanical cantilever-beam resonators.     

Effect of ice storage on the functional properties of pink perch and oil sardine meat

Ice storage of dressed pink perch (Nemipterus japonicus) and Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps) for 16 and 20 days, respectively, resulted in a decrease in emulsifying capacity (EC), protein solubility (PS), relative viscosity (RV) of salt‐soluble proteins (SSP) and water‐soluble proteins (WSP), water binding capacity (WBC) in terms of absorbed moisture in water (AM_w), absorbed moisture in brine lpar;AM_b), retained moisture in water (RM_w) and retained moisture in brine (RM_b), WSP and SSP, and increase in cook loss (CL). Decrease in protein solubility influenced the EC, RV, CL and WBC in both the species of fish. Significant (P<0.05) correlations existed among various functional properties analysed, in both the fishes during the ice storage. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Miniaturization limits for single-chamber micro-solid oxide fuel cells with coplanar electrodes

Single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells with coplanar microelectrodes were operated in methane–air mixtures (R_mix = 2) at 700 °C. The performance of cells with one pair of NiO–YSZ (yttria stabilized zirconia) anode and (La_0.8Sr_0.2)_0.98MnO₃–YSZ cathode, arranged parallel on a YSZ electrolyte substrate, was found to be significantly dependent on the electrode width. For an interelectrode gap of 250 μm, cells with average electrode widths exceeding 850 μm could establish a stable open circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.8 V, while those with widths less than 550 μm could not establish any OCV. In the intermediate range, the cells exhibited significant fluctuations in voltage and power under our testing conditions. This behavior suggests that a lower limit to electrode dimensions exists for cells with single electrode pairs, below which neither a stable difference in oxygen partial pressure, nor an OCV, can be established. Conversely, increasing the electrode width imposes a penalty in the form of an increase in the cell resistance. However, both size limits can be circumvented by employing multiple pairs of microscale electrodes in an interdigitated configuration.     

Micro-Raman measurement of bending stresses in micromachined silicon flexures

Micron-scale characterization of mechanical stresses is essential for the successful design and operation of many micromachined devices. Here we report the use of Raman spectroscopy to measure the bending stresses in deep reactive-ion etched silicon flexures with a stress resolution of /spl sim/10 MPa and spatial resolution of /spl sim/1 /spl mu/m. The accuracy of the technique, as assessed by comparison to analytical and finite-element models of the deformation, is conservatively estimated to be 25 MPa. Implications for the use of this technique in microsystems design are discussed.     

Protein solubility and emulsifying capacity in frozen stored fish mince

Effect of initial freshness on the relationship between emulsifying capacity and protein solubility of frozen stored fish mince was investigated. The emulsifying capacity of proteins was significantly (P <0.05) affected by the initial freshness. A positive correlation (P <0.05) between protein solubility and the ability of the soluble proteins to emulsify and stabilise an emulsion was observed. Correlation between salt-soluble proteins and emulsifying capacity revealed that myofibrillar proteins (P <0.05) are the main proteins that decide the emulsion properties.     

A compact six port antenna for better spectrum utilization efficiency in cognitive radio applications

In this article, a novel six port antenna for better spectrum utilization efficiency in cognitive radio (CR) applications is presented. In this six port antenna system, an ultra‐wideband (UWB) sensing antenna and five wideband/narrowband (NB) antennas are integrated on the same substrate in a compact area of 1134 mm² . Antenna associated with port 1, which is meant for sensing, has ?10 dB reflection coefficient bandwidth of 3 to 11 GHz and the antennas associated with ports 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 have ?10 dB reflection coefficient bandwidths of 3.6 to 5.8 GHz (single band), 2.9 to 3.6 GHz and 5.4 to 7.98 GHz (dual band), 7.95 to 8.38 GHz and 9 to 9.85 GHz (dual band), 8.38 to 9 GHz (single band) and 9.7 to 10.7 GHz (single band), respectively. Minimum isolation of 20 dB is attained between UWB sensing antenna and any narrowband/wideband antenna except between the antennas associated with ports 1 and 2 where minimum isolation of 12 dB is achieved over the operating bandwidth of UWB sensing antenna. Moreover, among all wideband/narrowband antennas, isolation of less than 15 dB is achieved. More importantly, the narrowband and wideband antennas meant for communication cover all frequency bands in UWB and a good match between the simulated and measured results is noticed.     

Synthesis and characterization of carbon nanotube-reinforced epoxy: Correlation between viscosity and elastic modulus

We report the synthesis and characterization of nanocomposite thin films consisting of single-walled carbon nanotubes with different functionalization schemes dispersed in an epoxy matrix. The thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties of nanocomposite thin films were experimentally characterized to establish a relationship between processing and performance. The results from the rheological analysis confirmed that the nanotube type and functionalization strongly affect the resin viscosity during cure. A correlation between the rheological behaviour and the measured elastic properties was established. Nanotubes produced by plasma and functionalized with carboxyl group had the lowest influence on viscosity and led to the highest improvement in elastic properties. The measured increase in elastic modulus was consistent with predictions based on Mori–Tanaka micromechanics.