Evaluation of hardness and surface quality of different wood species as function of heat treatment

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of heat treatment on surface roughness and hardness of four wood species, namely black alder (Alnus glutinosa L.), red oak (Quercus falcata Michx.), Southern pine (Pinus taeda L.) and yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). Samples were exposed to heat treatment schedules having two temperature and exposure levels of 120 °C and 190 °C for 3 and 6 h, respectively. Average hardness value of red oak samples exposed to a temperature of 190 °C for 6 h was 41.7% lower than that recorded before the heat treatment. Temperature of 190 °C produced 7.9% lower hardness values for black alder with the increased exposure time from 3 h to 6 h. No significant differences were found between same type of Southern pine and yellow poplar specimens before and after the heat treatment in terms of their hardness values. Among the four species considered in this study red oak having the most porous anatomical structure showed the roughest surface. An improvement in surface quality (R_a) with 7.46% with extending exposure time from 3 h to 6 h at the temperature level of 190 °C was noticed. However all four types of wood species kept in the oven at 190° for 6 h presented smoother surface quality. It was found that increased temperature from 120 °C to 190 °C for both exposure times showed significant differences from the surface quality of nontreated samples at 95% confidence level. The anatomical structure of samples was also observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and some damage of the cell wall was determined due to heat treatment. The findings of this study demonstrated that heat treatment resulted in adverse effect on hardness characteristics of the samples. It appears that strength losses can be limited through alternative modified heat treatment techniques. On the other hand, surface quality of the samples from all species was enhanced as a result of heat treatment. Therefore such heat treatment would be considered to improve surface quality of the sample for furniture applications where smooth surfaces are ideal adding potential value on wood material to be used more effectively in furniture manufacturing.     

Antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles stabilized on tannin-grafted collagen fiber

Bayberry tannin (BT), a typical plant polyphenol, was grafted on collagen fiber (CF) in different mass ratios. Subsequently, the BT-grafted CF (BT-CF) was used as carrier and stabilizer to prepare BT-CF stabilized silver nanoparticles (BT-CF-AgNPs). Scanning Electron Microscopy image of BT-CF-AgNPs showed that the BT-CF-AgNPs was in ordered fibrous state. X-ray Diffraction patterns and Transmission Electron Microscopy images offered evidence that the Ag nanoparticles were well dispersed on BT-CF. Fourier Transform-Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) investigations revealed that the Ag NPs were stabilized by the phenolic hydroxyls and quinones of BT on CF through electron donation/acception interaction. Antibacterial experiments demonstrated that BT-CF-AgNPs exhibited high antibacterial activity. When cell suspensions of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (10⁴–10⁵ cfu/mL) were contacted with BT_0.19-CF-AgNPs (mass ratio of BT to CF = 0.19, conc. of Ag = 8 μg/mL) at 310 K under constant shaking, the number of cells went down to zero within 2 h. In addition, the minimal inhibitory concentration of BT_0.19-CF-AgNPs against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Penicillium glaucum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was 2 μg/mL, 4 μg/mL, 6 μg/mL and 12 μg/mL Ag, respectively. During recycling use, the antibacterial activity of BT_0.19-CF-AgNPs against Escherichia coli can last for 5 cycles. These facts suggest that BT-CF-AgNPs can be used as a new and effective antibacterial agent.     

Characterizing strength and fracture of wood cell wall through uniaxial micro-compression test

As the potential of using natural wood derivatives in the fabrication of composites is explored, it is important to gain further understanding of the structure and properties of wood cells. Past research has focused on estimating and measuring mechanical properties of wood cell walls such as hardness and modulus of elasticity by means of nano-indentation tests. However, to date, the mechanical properties of wood cell walls have not been fully understood or documented in the literature. The research described in this paper focuses, for the first time, on investigating the strength and fracture behavior of wood cell walls through an innovative approach, the uniaxial micro-compression test. Specimens of Keranji (Dialium ssp.), a dense Asian hardwood, and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), an American softwood, were chosen as hardwood and softwood representatives for the micro-compression test. After the initial preparation by microtoming, the samples were further prepared following a novel approach, in which 37 cylindrical-shaped micro-pillars were fabricated using a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) with a voltage of 30 kV, while each micropillar was milled inside a single wood cell wall. After the dimensions of each micropillar were measured by analysis of the SEM images using ImageJ software, a micro-compression test was conducted on the micropillar at a loading rate of 20 nm per second using a Nano II Indenter system. The load–displacement curves were plotted, and the yield stress and compressive strength obtained for the Keranji cell wall were 136.5 MPa and 160 MPa, respectively; the yield stress and compressive strength of the loblolly pine cell wall were 111.3 MPa and 125 MPa, respectively. The fracture behavior of the wood micro-pillars confirmed the brittleness of the wood cell walls.     

Hydrothermal synthesis,crystal structure and characterization of LiCoP5O14·H2O: A new condensed layered penta phosphate crystals

A new family of condensed hydrated lithium cobalt penta phosphate (LiCoP₅O₁₄·H₂O) crystals were synthesized by hydrothermal technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction method. The compound crystallizes in monoclinic system with space group P21/c and cell parameters a = 10.788(4) Å, b = 9.761(3) Å, c = 9.788(5) Å, β = 101.249(1) Å, Z = 4, exhibiting layer type polymeric structure. DTA study indicates that this compound has low thermal stability and magnetically frequency dependent paramagnetic behaviour.     

Full-field shear analyses of sandwich core materials using Digital Image Correlation (DIC)

Mechanical properties and global stability of foam core sandwich structures are highly controlled by the shear response of the core material. In this work, we have studied the shear deformations of three common structural core materials with the aid of full-field optical analysis. The chosen core materials are namely extruded PET foam (ρ = 105 kg/m³, G_xz = 21 MPa,) and cross-linked PVC foam (ρ = 60 kg/m³, G_xz = 22 MPa) which have comparable shear properties, as well as Balsa wood with the lowest density commercially available (ρ = 94 kg/m³, G_xz = 106 MPa) as a reference core material. Both global and local shear strains in the core materials are calculated and graphically visualized. In the elastic region, foam cores showed more uniform deformations than Balsa. Yielding and shear failure of the two foam core materials were quite different. The PVC foam experienced a high local deformation under the load introduction bars, from which sub-interface shear failure initiated. The PET foam, in contrast, showed no sign of stress concentrations, resulting in a homogenous evolution of shear deformations in the mid-core regions. A comparison between the direct foam shear test and sandwich specimen bending suggested that the former method might not be capable of capturing a full picture of the in-service core shear response.     

Determination of laminar and turbulent flow ranges through vertical packed beds in terms of particle friction factors

Despite the presence of a variety of studies dealing with the magnitude of particle Reynolds number, Re_p defining transition from laminar to turbulent regime for flow through packed beds, the manner is still one of the unknowns. An approach based on the experimental data concerning upward airflow through fixed cylindrical packed beds is presented in this paper. The utilized packed beds had the following ranges of; sphericity, Φ, 0.55 ? Φ ? 1.00, packing material diameter to bed length ratio, D_p/L, 0.04 ? D_p/L ? 0.72, and bed porosity, ε, 0.36 ? ε ? 0.56. The test cases covered the ranges of particle Reynolds number, Re_p 708 ? Re_p ? 7772 and particle Froude number; Fr_p 2.86 ? Fr_p ? 10.39. The measurements of pressure drop through packed bed; ΔP_Bed and superficial mean exit velocity; U are used to determine bed frictional effects in reference to the available literature on particle friction factors, f_p. The magnitude of Re_p defining transition is assumed to be 2000 with particular emphasis to the flow dynamics. The definitions of Bird et al. [R.B. Bird, W.E. Stewart, E.N. Lightfoot, Transport Phenomena, John Wiley and Sons, NY, 1960] are used to calculate f_p. The calculated f_p for the covered test cases are given as a function of pressure coefficient, ΔP* and Re_p, Fr_p, Φ, ε, D_p/L in the approximate ranges of laminar and turbulent flow for Re_p < 2000 and Re_p > 2000, respectively. The proposed separate equations of f_p = f_p(ΔP*, Re_p, Fr_p, Φ, ε, D_p/L) are satisfied for laminar and turbulent flows with corresponding average error margins of ±7.6% and ±18%. Furthermore ranges of transitional and fully rough flow through packed beds are estimated as 2000 ? Re_p ? 4000 and Re_p > 5000 with an analogy to the well-known Moody Chart in pipe flows.     

Low-temperature annealed ohmic contacts to Si-doped GaAs and contact formation mechanisms

Using nonferromagnetic contact materials, Au(x nm)/Ge(y nm)/Pd(z nm) structures (where x, y, and z are the thicknesses of Au, Ge and Pd layers, respectively) are fabricated on Si-doped GaAs and studied as a function of x, y and z and n-type substrate doping density and annealing temperature to characterise them as ohmic contacts. The study shows that the structure with x = 100, y = 40 and z = 10, annealed at 180 °C for 1 h, contacts n-type GaAs more reliably with the low contact resistance. Using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, contact formation mechanisms are also studied.     

Quantification of the adhesion free energy between bacteria and hydrophobic and hydrophilic substrata

In this paper, the bacterial adhesion to hydrophilic glass and hydrophobic indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass surfaces was investigated. The aim of this work was to examine the effect of the hydrophobicity of two bacterial strains (Pseudomonas stutzeri PS, and Staphylococcus epidermidis SE) and substrata surfaces on the adhesion mechanism. The hydrophobicity of the surfaces of the bacterial strains as well as of the surfaces of the tested materials was characterized using the contact angle measurement via sessile drop technique. The water contact angle measurements of the intrinsic cell hydrophobicity showed that the PS strain is more hydrophobic (θ = 40°) than SE strain (θ = 21°). For both tested materials, this angle was 12° for glass surface and 84° for ITO-coated glass surface. Based on the thermodynamic approach, the Lifshitz van der Waals interaction free energy, the hydrophobic interaction free energy and the total interaction free energy between the bacteria and the substratum through the suspending medium were quantified. In order to verify the thermodynamic approach predictions of the bacterial adhesion on each substratum, adhesion tests were carried out for each bacteria/substratum combination. The results revealed that for both materials surfaces, the adhesion energy of the hydrophobic PS strain (26.1 mJ/m² for glass and − 3.8 mJ/m² for ITO-coated glass) is higher than that of SE strain (31.8 mJ/m² for glass and 14.3 mJ/m² for ITO-coated glass). For both bacterial strains, the effect of the hydrophobicity property of the substratum seems more important in the initial adhesion step. However, the second step of adhesion involves the biological approach, since a discrepancy was found between physicochemical theoretical approach and adhesion tests for SE strain.     

X-ray powder diffraction,vibration and thermal studies of [A0.92(NH4)0.08]2TeCl4Br2 with A = Cs,Rb: Influence of mixed cationic and anionic substitutions

The crystal structures of [A_0.92(NH₄)_0.08]₂TeCl₄Br₂ with A = Cs, Rb have been determined using X-ray powder diffraction techniques. The two compounds crystallize in the tetragonal space group P4/mnc, with the unit cell parameters: a = 7.452(1) Å, c = 10.544(3) Å, Z = 2 and a = 7.315(2) Å, c = 10.354(4) Å, Z = 2 in the presence of Cs and Rb, respectively. These two compounds have an antifluorite-type arrangement of NH₄⁺/Rb⁺/Cs⁺ and octahedral TeCl₄Br₂^2? anions. The stability of these structure is by ionic and hydrogen bonding contacts: A?Cl, A?Br and N–H?Cl, N–H?Br. The different vibrational modes of these powders were analysed by FTIR and Raman spectroscopic studies. A DTA/TGA experiment reveals one endothermic peak at 780 K implicating the decomposition of the sample. At low temperature, one endothermic peak in thermal behavior is detected at around 213 K by DSC experiment. This transition was confirmed by dielectric measurements.     

Properties of solid wood and laminated wood lumber manufactured by cold pressing and heat treatment

Physical, mechanical, and morphological properties of solid wood lumbers which were cold pressed in a press and then heat treated in a kiln. Two different kinds of domestic thinning small-diameter softwood (Ginko biloba L.) and hardwood (Tilia amurensis Rupr.) were used in this study. First 50 mm thick lumbers were cold pressed until 35 mm (30% of control lumber) using a stopper for 5 min. Then the cold pressed lumbers were heat treated in an electric kiln at 180 °C for 6, 12, 24, or 48 h. To increase the utilizability of woods, the LVLs were produced from 4 mm thick veneers prepared from the heat treated lumbers using a veneer saw. Each LVL sample consisted of 5 layers which were subsequently 48 h-, 24 h-, 12 h-, and 6 h-treated veneers and untreated veneer (from top layer to bottom layer). The shrinkage rates of softwood and hardwood were considerably decreased with increasing temperature. The mechanical properties of heat treated samples were better than those of unpressed control samples. The bending strength and modulus of elasticity of the LVLs manufactured from cold pressed and then heat treated lumbers were slightly lower than those of untreated woods. The colour values obtained from the heat treated wood samples showed a clear effect of the temperature on the colour changes.     

Xylan polysaccharides fabricated into nanofibrous substrate for myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction, a main cause of heart failure, leads to loss of cardiac tissue impairment of left ventricular function. Repair of diseased myocardium with in vitro engineered cardiac muscle patch/injectable biopolymers with cells may become a viable option for myocardial infarction. We attempted to solve these problems by in vitro study by selecting a plant based polysaccharides beech wood Xylan for the normal functioning of infarcted myocardium. The present study fabricated Xylan based nanofibrous scaffolds cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (Glu) vapors for 24 h, 48 h and 1% Glu blended fibers for the culture of neonatal rat cardiac cells for myocardial infarction. These nanofibers were characterized by SEM, FT-IR, tensile testing and cell culture studies for the normal expression of cardiac proteins. The observed results showed that the Xylan/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) 24 h Glu vapor cross-linked nanofibers (427 nm) having mechanical strength of 2.43 MPa and Young modulus of 3.74 MPa are suitable for the culture of cardiac cells. Cardiac cells proliferation increased only by 11% in Xylan/PVA 24 h Glu cross-linked nanofibers compared to control tissue culture plate (TCP). The normal cardiac cell morphology was observed in 24 h cross-linked Xylan/PVA nanofibers but 48 h cross-linked fibers cell morphology was changed to flattened and elongated on the fibrous surfaces. Confocal analysis for cardiac expression proteins actinin, connexin 43 was observed normally in 24 h Glu cross-linked nanofibers compared to all other nanofibrous scaffolds. The fabricated Xylan/PVA nanofibrous scaffold may have good potential for the normal functioning of infarcted myocardium.     

On the sol–gel synthesis and characterization of strontium ferrite ceramic material

A simple oxalate based sol–gel process has been described to produce a highly stable anion deficient strontium ferrite for separation of oxygen from air. The method involves metal nitrates and oxalic acid precursors with ethanol and water as solvents, gel formation, digestion for 4 h, drying at 150 °C for 24 h, and finally decomposition at 800 °C in air. The resulting material (i) exhibits a single perovskite-type cubic (SrFeO_3?ξ; ξ ～ 0.13) phase with a_o = 3.862 ± 0.002 Å, (ii) contains both the Fe⁴⁺ and Fe³⁺ species in 2.8:1 ratio, (iii) undergoes Fe⁴⁺ → Fe³⁺ reduction upon heating at 650 °C in rare gas ambient and transition to an orthorhombic phase with a ～ a_o√2, b ～ 4a_o, c ～ a_o√2, which reverts back to cubic phase with oxygen uptake at elevated temperatures, and (iv) acts as filter for air with excellent oxygen permeation, typical flux density value being 2.45 ml/cm² min at 1000 °C.     

Variants of the Bi6TiP2O16 structure: The preparation and crystal structure of the isomorph Bi6(Mn0.6Bi0.4)P2O15

Compounds with the composition Bi₆(Bi_1−yM_y)X₂O_16−z, M = transition metal or Pb, X = P, V, As, display pseudo-tetragonal crystal systems. They are, however, monoclinic with space group I2 and the heavy atom positions mimic the δ-Bi₂O₃ structure. The title compound is monoclinic, a = 11.284(2) Å, b = 5.4259(11) Å, c = 11.112(2) Å, β = 96.25(3)°, I2, Z = 2. Least-squares refinement of single-crystal X-ray diffraction data on F² converged to R1 = 0.050, wR2 = 0.130. The crystal is twinned by two-fold rotation about [0 1 0] and each twin consists of its inverted component forming a racemate. The structure consists of chains of edge sharing (OBi₄) tetrahedra parallel to [1 0 −1]. The chains are bridged parallel to [1 0 1] by linked PO₄ tetrahedra and (Mn/Bi)O₆ octahedra parallel to [1 0 −1], into a three-dimensional structure. The lone-pair electrons of adjacent Bi atoms along the chain point in opposite directions along the b-axis. The Bi atoms are in distorted trigonal prismatic coordination that has one or two faces capped. The BiO bond lengths vary from 2.08(5) to 3.05(2) Å. The Mn/Bi atoms are disordered around the two-fold axis. Three oxygen atom sites contain vacancies.     

A conductive polymer based electronic nose for early detection of Penicillium digitatum in post-harvest oranges

We describe the construction of an electronic nose, comprising four chemiresistive sensors formed by the deposition of thin conductive polymer films onto interdigitated electrodes, attached to a personal computer via a data acquisition board. This e-nose was used to detect biodeterioration of oranges colonized by Penicillium digitatum. Significant responses were obtained after only 24 h of incubation i.e. at an early stage of biodeterioration, enabling remedial measures to be taken in storage facilities and efficiently distinguishing between good and poor quality fruits.The instrument has a very low analysis time of 40 s.     

Assessment of powder flow characteristics in incoherent soup concentrates

Soup mixtures represent specific flow characteristics while particles of different sizes and properties form a homogeneous mixture. In such mixtures, particle–particle interactions differ with addition of different fat types. This study was done to present a characterization and comparison of the cohesion index, powder flow speed dependency and caking properties of four different aggregates of fat particles with three different moisture contents, used in various compositions of powdered soup concentrates. ESEM micrographs have shown that different fat types bind particles differently. The moisture content of cream soup concentrates has a significant influence on cake height ratio of all cycles – more moisture causes higher cake height ratios (from r_s = 0.86 to r_s = 0.76; p < 0.05). Cream soup concentrates cake strength values are also significantly influenced by the mixtures moisture content – higher moisture content samples showed higher cake strength values (r_s = 0.73, p < 0.05). There is a significant correlation between compaction coefficients of all speeds and cake height ratios of all cycles for the cream soup concentrates. Combination of measuring techniques (Powder Flow Analyzer, ESEM and Mastersizer) together with Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation, as a method of non-parametric statistics, provides parturient results in characterization of extremely non-homogenous powder mixtures.     

Preparation,crystal structure and characterization of α-NaSbP2S6 and β-NaSbP2S6 phases

The new phases α-NaSbP₂S₆ and β-NaSbP₂S₆ were synthesized by ceramic and reactive flux methods at 773 K. The structures of α-NaSbP₂S₆ and β-NaSbP₂S₆ were determined by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique. α-NaSbP₂S₆ crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁/c with a = 11.231(2) Å, b = 7.2807(15) Å, c = 11.640(2) Å, β = 108.99(3)°, V = 900.0(3) Å³ and z = 4. β-NaSbP₂S₆ crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁ with a = 6.6167(13) Å, b = 7.3993(15) Å, c = 9.895(2) Å, β = 92.12(3) °, V = 484.10(17) Å³ and z = 2.The α- and β-phases of NaSbP₂S₆ are closely related, the main difference lies in the stacking of the [Sb[P₂S₆]]_nⁿ⁻ layers. The structure of α-NaSbP₂S₆ consists of two condensed layers (MPS₃ type) to give an ABAB… sequence with Na⁺ cations located in the interlayer space. The packing of β-NaSbP₂S₆ is formed by monolayers of [Sb[P₂S₆]]_nⁿ⁻ stacked in an AA… fashion separated by a layer of Na⁺ cations. Both phases are derivates of the M¹⁺M³⁺P₂Q₆ family.The optical band gaps of α-NaSbP₂S₆ and β-NaSbP₂S₆ were determined by UV–vis diffuse reflectance measurements to be 2.17 and 2.25 eV, respectively.     

Preparation and high bacteriostatic action of the activated carbons possessing ultrafine silver particles

The new carbon composites possessing ultrafine silver particles (0.001 wt%, size 1.8–2.5 nm) show high bacteriostatic action toward bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis and a yeast fungus like Candida albicans. The present carbon composite was prepared by the steam activation of a mixture of a petroleum pitch and N,N-dimethylaminomethylphenylsilver (0.012 mg/g) at 930 °C for 15–19 min. The growth inhibitory effect for Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli and P. aeruginosa varies greatly depending on the amount of ultrafine silver particles, while the Gram-positive bacteria show little effect by the amount of silver particles used. A yeast fungus like C. albicans exhibits relatively small biostatic action as compared with bacteria, but it shows enough activity when we used the carbon material possessing 0.01 wt% of Ag particles.     

Synthesis and characterization of a new p-phenylenediammonium dihydrogenmonophosphate [p-NH3C6H4NH3][H2PO4]2

Chemical preparation, crystal structure and NMR spectroscopy of a new organic cation p-phenylenediammonium monophosphate [p-NH₃C₆H₄NH₃][H₂PO₄]₂ are presented. This new compound crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, with the space group Pnma and the following parameters: a = 7.970 (2) Å; b = 22.770 (7) Å; c = 7.000 (7) Å, V = 1270.3 (11) Å³, Z = 4 and D_x = 1.590 g cm⁻³. The crystal structure has been determined and refined to R = 0.043 and R_(w) = 0.057 using 2623 independent reflections. The structural arrangement can be described as inorganic layers of (H₈P₄O₁₆)⁴⁻ units, parallel to (a, c) planes. The organic groups (p-H₃NC₆H₄NH₃)²⁺are anchored between the phosphoric layers to form a three-dimensional infinite network. This compound is also investigated by IR and solid-state ¹H, ¹³C and ³¹P MAS NMR spectroscopies. The ab initio method is used in the calculation of chemical shifts.     

Microstructures of mechanically alloyed Fe60Ni40 studied by XAFS and XRD

The structures of the mechanically alloyed Fe₆₀Ni₄₀ powders are investigated by X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). For the Fe₆₀Ni₄₀ mixture milled for longer than 10 h, the XRD patterns indicate that the bcc phase of α-Fe almost disappears and only the fcc phase remains. The XAFS results further demonstrate that the local structure of Fe atoms is similar to that of Ni atoms for the MA Fe₆₀Ni₄₀ (10 h) alloy. With the milling time going to 40 h, the first-shell bond length R₁ = 2.48 Å, coordination number N₁ = 11.9 and Debye–Waller factor σ = 0.117 Å around Fe atoms are nearly equal to those (R₁ = 2.49 Å, N₁ = 12.0 and σ = 0.117 Å) around Ni atoms and the magnitude peaks of the higher shells disappear. These results imply that the local structure of Fe atoms is identical with that around Ni atoms in the MA Fe₆₀Ni₄₀ (40 h) alloy, where a homogenous solid solution with a large lattice distortion is produced as a final product of MA.