Experimental study to assess the effect of carbon nanotube addition on the through-thickness electrical conductivity of CFRP laminates for aircraft applications

The present paper tests experimentally the through-thickness electrical conductivity of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites laminates for aircraft applications. Two types of samples were prepared: Type A samples with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and Type B samples without CNTs. During the electrical experiments, electrical currents of several mA were injected through the specimens. Electrical resistance was monitored simultaneously in order to deduce the changes in the through-the-thickness electrical conductivity caused by the addition of CNTs. Improvement of electrical conduction by two orders of magnitude was achieved through the addition of 1 wt% carbon nanotubes as compared to classic CFRP without CNTs. For moisture saturated samples, the influence of moisture absorption on such measures was found to be negligible.     

Carbon supported bimetallic Ru‐Co catalysts for H2 production through NaBH4 and NH3BH3 hydrolysis

This work investigates the effect of the addition of small amounts of Ru (0.5‐1 wt%) to carbon supported Co (10 wt%) catalysts towards both NaBH₄ and NH₃BH₃ hydrolysis for H₂ production. In the sodium borohydride hydrolysis, the activity of Ru‐Co/carbon catalysts was sensibly higher than the sum of the activities of corresponding monometallic samples, whereas for the ammonia borane hydrolysis, the positive effect of Ru‐Co systems with regard to catalytic activity was less evident. The performances of Ru‐Co bimetallic catalysts correlated with the occurrence of an interaction between Ru and Co species resulting in the formation of smaller ruthenium and cobalt oxide particles with a more homogeneous dispersion on the carbon support. It was proposed that Ru^°, formed during the reduction step of the Ru‐Co catalysts, favors the H₂ activation, thus enhancing the reduction degree of the cobalt precursor and the number of Co nucleation centers. A subsequent reduction of cobalt and ruthenium species also occurs in the hydride reaction medium, and therefore the state of the catalyst before the catalytic experiment determines the state of the active phase formed in situ. The different relative reactivity of the Ru and Co active species towards the two investigated reactions accounted for the different behavior towards NaBH₄ and NH₃BH₃ hydrolysis.     

Neutral axis depth and moment redistribution in FRP and steel reinforced concrete continuous beams

The neutral axis depth is considered the best parameter for quantifying the moment redistribution in continuous concrete beams, as exemplified in various design codes worldwide. It is therefore important to well understand the variation of neutral axis depth against moment redistribution. This paper describes a theoretical investigation into the neutral axis depth and moment redistribution in concrete beams reinforced with fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) and steel bars. A finite element model has been developed. The model predictions are in favourable agreement with experimental results. Three types of reinforcement are considered, namely, glass fibre, carbon fibre and steel. Various levels of reinforcement ratio are used for a parametric evaluation. The results indicate that FRP reinforced concrete continuous beams exhibit significantly different response characteristics regarding the moment redistribution and variation of neutral axis depth from those of steel reinforced ones. In addition, it is found that the code recommendations are generally unsafe for calculating the permissible moment redistribution in FRP reinforced concrete beams, but the neglect of redistribution in such beams may be overconservative.     

Modelling of black carbon statistical distribution and return periods of extreme concentrations

Eight datasets of 1-h black carbon (BC) concentrations measured in Warsaw agglomeration (Poland), at urban background and sub-urban sites, and in Racibórz, a small town in Upper Silesia district (regional background site) were analyzed to evaluate BC levels, daily profiles and statistical distributions of concentrations in Central-Eastern European region. The observed mean levels ranged from 1483 ng m⁻³ in suburban site during summer to 3358 ng m⁻³ in regional background site in winter. Observed diurnal patterns were bimodal in the locations dominated by traffic emissions, but unimodal, with elevated evening peak in individually heated residential area. Three theoretical frequency distributions were applied to fit analyzed datasets separately. The lognormal distribution was the most appropriate to represent the middle-range values, while the high concentrations were satisfactorily predicted by the type I two-parameter exponential distribution which was used to estimate the return periods of extreme concentrations for winter months.     

Influence of internally dropped-off plies on the impact damage of asymmetrically tapered laminated CFRP

This paper presents an experimental study of low velocity impact response of carbon/epoxy asymmetrically tapered laminates. The tests are realised at energy between 10 and 30 J on two types of layup with multiple terminated plies. The type and localisation of damage are analysed using C-scan and micrographs. Then, the data is compared with the response of corresponding respective plain laminate. The effects of some tapering parameters (taper angle, drop-off disposition and configuration) on the impact damage mechanisms are also investigated. Very similar impact damage phenomena are found between tapered and plain laminates. The presence of material discontinuity due to the resin pocket affects less the damage mechanism than the structural difference between the thick and the thin sections.     

The growth of oleaginous Rhodotorula glutinis in an internal-loop airlift bioreactor by using mixture substrates of rice straw hydrolysate and crude glycerol

The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) to microbial oils is attracting a growing amount of attention. However, the growth of the oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis on LCB hydrolysate (mainly rice straw) only will lead to a low lipid mass fraction, in the range of 10–20%. This study shows that the addition of crude glycerol to the LCB hydrolysate medium can efficiently raise the lipid mass fraction to the range of 30–40%. Crude glycerol is a by-product in the biodiesel production process. The use of renewable LCB hydrolysate and crude glycerol would greatly reduce the substrate cost for microbial oil production using R. glutinis. In addition, the results of experiments show that a low-cost airlift bioreactor is a more suitable fermentation process for the growth of R. glutinis than the use of a conventional agitation tank. When using mixed carbon sources of LCB hydrolysate with 30 kg m⁻³ of reducing sugars and 30 kg m⁻³ of crude glycerol, a maximal cell mass of 21.4 kg m⁻³ and lipid mass fraction of 58.5 ± 6.2 were achieved in an internal loop airlift bioreactor, and this process may have the potential to be applied in scale-up production.     

碳基采暖电热材料研究进展

近几年,由于节能与环保的需求,电取暖的方式得到大力的推广,电热材料的研究与应用受到人们广泛的重视。非金属碳基电热材料是新型的节能型电热采暖材料,本文重点对影响非金属碳基电热材料中的炭黑基电热材料、碳纤维基电热材料、碳晶电热材料电热性能的因素及相关应用进行了综述。     

Recovery of gold cyanide using inherently conducting polymers

Removal of gold from basic solutions containing [Au(CN)₂]^? has been demonstrated using the inherently conducting polymer polypyrrole. Polymers containing sulfonated aromatic dopants have been found to display a significant ability to remove gold from such solutions. Experiments performed in solutions containing both gold and copper cyanide complexes indicate that the recovery process is not highly selective. However, the polypyrroles used display significantly faster rates of gold recovery than activated carbon. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry