Thermal behaviour and phases evolution during the sintering of porous inorganic membranes

Anorthite-based highly porous membranes were successfully produced using calcined oyster shell to enhance the pore network. The calcined oyster shells produce CaO responsible for the crystallisation of gehlenite and anorthite at relatively low temperature. While the crystallisation produced nano and meso size of intergranular pores, vitrification of feldspar is responsible for development of the capillary porosities. The increasing sintering temperature from 1200 °C to 1300 °C implies the increase in average pores radius from 1.2 μm to 14.3 μm due to the formation of spherical pores from vitrification. The combination of different class of porosities in the matrices results in the interconnection with improvement of the permeability of the porous network. Porosity, permeability and chemical stability were improved with 20 wt.% of calcined oyster shell addition allowing the possible development of high strength porous network which is promising for the membranes support and other applications including liquid separation as well as liquid filtration where high pressure is used.     

Novel Bi-Doped Amorphous SnOx Nanoshells for Efficient Electrochemical CO2 Reduction into Formate at Low Overpotentials

Engineering novel Sn-based bimetallic materials could provide intriguing catalytic properties to boost the electrochemical CO₂ reduction. Herein, the first synthesis of homogeneous Sn_1−xBi_x alloy nanoparticles (x up to 0.20) with native Bi-doped amorphous SnO_x shells for efficient CO₂ reduction is reported. The Bi-SnO_x nanoshells boost the production of formate with high Faradaic efficiencies (>90%) over a wide potential window (−0.67 to −0.92 V vs RHE) with low overpotentials, outperforming current tin oxide catalysts. The state-of-the-art Bi-SnO_x nanoshells derived from Sn_0.80Bi_0.20 alloy nanoparticles exhibit a great partial current density of 74.6 mA cm⁻² and high Faradaic efficiency of 95.8%. The detailed electrocatalytic analyses and corresponding density functional theory calculations simultaneously reveal that the incorporation of Bi atoms into Sn species facilitates formate production by suppressing the formation of H₂ and CO.     

Viability of intertwined supply networks: extending the supply chain resilience angles towards survivability. A position paper motivated by COVID-19 outbreak

An intertwined supply network (ISN) is an entirety of interconnected supply chains (SC) which, in their integrity secure the provision of society and markets with goods and services. The ISNs are open systems with structural dynamics since the firms may exhibit multiple behaviours by changing the buyer-supplier roles in interconnected or even competing SCs. From the positions of resilience, the ISNs as a whole provide services to society (e.g. food service, mobility service or communication service) which are required to ensure a long-term survival. The analysis of survivability at the level of ISN requires a consideration at a large scale as resilience of individual SCs. The recent example of coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak clearly shows the necessity of this new perspective. Our study introduces a new angle in SC resilience research when a resistance to extraordinary disruptions needs to be considered at the scale of viability. We elaborate on the integrity of the ISN and viability. The contribution of our position study lies in a conceptualisation of a novel decision-making environment of ISN viability. We illustrate the viability formation through a dynamic game-theoretic modelling of a biological system that resembles the ISN. We discuss some future research areas.     

基于局部分型面的电器外壳注塑模具设计

电器外壳制品形状结构复杂,有两处侧凸(孔)较难处理。通过对矩形孔内侧凸的结构分析,在其局部设计了分型面,避免了使用侧向抽芯机构;对侧孔部位设计了斜顶杆侧向抽芯机构,其结构简单、紧凑。模具采用一模二腔、平衡式布局,采用经扁推杆由制品内部进料的潜伏式浇口,S型流道。在NX 8.0中完成了模具结构设计。经实践证明,该模具结构合理,产品合格。     

Fabrication of core–shell nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic efficacy

The current study establishes the unprecedented involvement in the evolution and production of novel core–shell nanocomposites composed of nanosized titanium dioxide and aniline‐o‐phenylenediamine copolymer. TiO₂@copoly(aniline and o‐phenylenediamine) (TiO₂@PANI‐o‐PDA) core–shell nanocomposites were chemically synthesized in a molar ratio of 5:1 of the particular monomers and several weights of nano‐TiO₂ via oxidative copolymerization. The construction of the TiO₂@PANI‐o‐PDA core–shell nanocomposites was ascertained from Fourier transform IR spectroscopy, UV–visible spectroscopy and XRD. A reasonable thermal behavior for the original copolymer and the TiO₂@PANI‐o‐PDA core–shell nanocomposites was investigated. The bare PANI‐o‐PDA copolymer was thermally less stable than the TiO₂@PANI‐o‐PDA nanocomposites. The core–shell feature of the nanocomposites was found to have core and shell sizes of 17 nm and 19–26 nm, respectively. In addition, it was found that the addition of a high ratio of TiO₂ nanoparticles increases the electrical conductivity and consequently lowers the electrical resistivity of the TiO₂@PANI‐o‐PDA core–shell nanocomposites. The hybrid photocatalysts exhibit a dramatic photocatalytic efficacy of methylene blue degradation under solar light irradiation. A plausible interpretation of the photocatalytic degradation results of methylene blue is also demonstrated. Our setup introduces a facile, inexpensive, unique and efficient technique for developing new core–shell nanomaterials with various required functionalities and colloidal stabilities. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry     

Thermal Bending Analysis of Doubly Curved Composite Laminated Shell Panels with General Boundary Conditions and Laminations

Thermal bending analysis of doubly curved laminated shell panels with general boundary conditions and laminations is presented. The equations of equilibrium are derived in the form of two coupled sets of ordinary differential equations based on a general shell theory and solved through the state-space approach in a repeated manner. It is depicted that the results of the present method are in great agreement with analytical solutions. Cylindrical shell panels with general boundary conditions and laminations, where no analytical solution is available, are solved. It is found that the present method exhibits a high convergence rate as well as presenting accurate results in all cases.