Microstructural Evidence for Diffusion-Driven Tetragonal-to-Orthorhombic Phase Transformation in Y-Ba-Cu-O Superconductor

Microstructures of Y-Ba-Cu-O superconductor were observed using a polarized microscope. Orthorhombic and tetragonal phases were easily distinguished by the optical etching with cross-polarized light. In the specimen cooled rapidly in oxygen, it was possible to see the path of oxygen diffusion by observing the variation of the twin concentration. At the boundary between transformed and untransformed materials, evidence for diffusion-driven transformation could be clearly seen.     

Reynolds number scaling of flow in a Rushton turbine stirred tank. Part I—Mean flow, circular jet and tip vortex scaling

We consider scaling of flow within a stirred tank with increasing Reynolds number. Experimental results obtained from two different tanks of diameter 152.5 and 292.1 mm, with a Rushton turbine operating at a wide range of rotational speeds stirring the fluid, are considered. The Reynolds number ranges from 4000 to about 78,000. Phase-locked stereoscopic PIV measurements on three different vertical planes close to the impeller give phase-averaged mean flow on a cylindrical surface around the impeller. The scaling of θ- and plane-averaged radial, circumferential and axial mean velocity components is first explored. A theoretical model for the impeller-induced flow is used to extract the strength and size of the three dominant elements of the mean flow, namely the circumferential flow, the jet flow and the pairs of tip vortices. The scaling of these parameters with Reynolds number for the two different tanks is then obtained. The plane-averaged mean velocity scales with the blade tip velocity above a Reynolds number of about 15,000. However, parameters associated with the jet and tip vortices do not become Reynolds number independence until Re exceeds about 10⁵. The results for the two tanks exhibit similar Reynolds number dependence, however, a perfect collapse is not observed, suggesting a sensitive dependence of the mean flow to the finer details of the impeller.     

CO hydrogenation over potassium-promoted Fe/carbon catalysts

The effects of potassium on the catalytic behavior in CO hydrogenation over K-promoted Fe/carbon catalysts having low K/Fe ratios were investigated. Even though the doses of potassium were low the promotional effects were pronounced, especially on the olefin-to-paraffin ratio, and theC ₃ toC ₄ olefin selectivities of the K-promoted catalysts were as high as 51 to 66 mol%. Over the catalysts having no or low potassium content the olefin-to-paraffin ratio and the ratio of the CO₂ formation rate to the rate of CO conversion to hydrocarbons remained roughly the same regardless of temperature, while over the K-promoted catalysts having higher potassium content they increased with temperature. Formation of significant amounts of filamentous carbon was observed in the K-promoted catalysts; however, the carbon deposition did not appear to affect the inherent activity and selectivity of the K-promoted catalysts.     

Adhesion property of novel polyimides with 1‐[3′,5′‐bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl] pyromellitic dianhydride

Novel polyimides were synthesized from 1‐[3′,5′‐bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl] pyromellitic dianhydride (6FPPMDA) by a conventional two‐step process: the preparation of poly(amic acid) followed by solution imidization via refluxing in p‐chlorophenol. The diamines used for polyimide synthesis included bis(3‐aminophenyl)‐3,5‐bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl phosphine oxide, bis(3‐aminophenyl)‐4‐trifluoromethylphenyl phosphine oxide, and bis(3‐aminophenyl)phenyl phosphine oxide. The synthesized polyimides were designed to have a molecular weight of 20,000 g/mol by off‐stoichiometry and were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. In addition, their intrinsic viscosity, solubility, water absorption, and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) were also measured. The adhesion properties of the polyimides were evaluated via a T‐peel test with bare and silane/Cr‐coated Cu foils, and the failure surfaces were investigated with scanning electron microscopy. The 6FPPMDA‐based polyimides exhibited high glass‐transition temperatures (280–299°C), good thermal stability (>530°C in air), low water absorption (1.46–2.16 wt %), and fairly low CTEs (32–40 ppm/°C), in addition to good adhesion properties (83–88 g/mm) with silane/Cr‐coated Cu foils. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 1801–1809, 2005     

Numerical prediction of residual stresses and birefringence in injection/compression molded center‐gated disk. Part I: Basic modeling and results for injection molding

The present study attempted to numerically predict both the flow‐induced and thermally‐induced residual stresses and birefringence in injection or injection/compression molded center‐gated disks. A numerical analysis system has been developed to simulate the entire process based on a physical modeling including a nonlinear viscoelastic fluid model, stress‐optical law, a linear viscoelastic solid model, free volume theory for density relaxation phenomena and a photoviscoelasticity and so on. Part I presents physical modeling and typical numerical analysis results of residual stresses and birefringence in the injection molded center‐gated disk. Typical distribution of thermal residual stresses indicates a tensile stress in the core and a compressive stress near the surface. However, depending on the processing condition and material properties, the residual stress sometimes becomes tensile on the surface, especially when fast cooling takes place near the mold surface, preventing the shrinkage from occurring. The birefringence distribution shows a double‐hump profile across the thickness with nonzero value at the center: the nonzero birefringence is found to be thermally induced, the outer peak due to the shear flow and subsequent stress relaxation during the filling stage and the inner peak due to the additional shear flow and stress relaxation during the packing stage. The combination of the flow‐induced and thermally‐induced birefringence makes the shape of predicted birefringence distribution quite similar to the experimental one.     

Electrochemical studies of pyrite oxidation and reduction using freshly-fractured electrodes and rotating ring-disc electrodes

Oxidation and reduction processes on coal- and mineral-pyrite surfaces have been investigated to better understand the reactions that control the hydrophobicity and flotation behavior of pyrite. The incipient oxidation and reduction reactions were studied using fresh surfaces of pyrite that were created by in situ fracturing electrodes potentiostated at a predetermined potential. Chronoamperometry immediately after fracture and subsequent cyclic voltammetry have established that fresh fracture surfaces of pyrite instantaneously assume a unique potential (referred to as the “stable” potential) at which neither oxidation nor reduction takes place. For Peruvian and Chinese pyrites, the stable potential is −0.28 V (standard hydrogen electrode, SHE) at pH 9.2 and 0 V at pH 4.6. The initial oxidation of pyrite begins at potentials slightly positive of the stable potential and is believed to produce a hydrophobic sulfur-rich species, most likely a polysulfide or metal-deficient sulfide. A rotating ring-disc electrode (RRDE) was employed to study the kinetics and mechanisms of surface reactions on pyrite over moderate potential ranges. Two distinct soluble reduction products (ferrous hydroxide and HS⁻) and one distinct soluble oxidation product (ferrous hydroxide) were observed on pyrite in alkaline solutions. It is concluded that the initial oxidation of pyrite and the oxidation of ferrous to ferric hydroxide occur in a similar potential range. When the electrode is oxidized, e.g. by polishing, prior to experiments, the initial oxidation of pyrite is masked by the oxidation of ferrous hydroxide, making it difficult to study the oxidation of pyrite itself.     

Syntheses of new black dyes for ink-jet inks

Drop-on-demand ink-jet inks made from dyes generally show poor light and wet fastness. A number of studies have been carried out previously to improve the fastness of such inks by introducing novel dyes and new additives. Based on the research results, use of fast dyes could give ink-jet inks with good properties. This study describes new black dyes for aqueous ink-jet inks, which show better light and wet fastness and print quality, compared to an analogous ink formulated from CI Food Black 2.     

A porous mixed-valent iron MOF exhibiting the acs net: Synthesis, characterization and sorption behavior of Fe3O(F4BDC)3(H2O)3·(DMF)3.5

A new mixed-valent iron MOF, formulated as Fe₃O(F₄BDC)₃(H₂O)₃·(DMF)_3.5 (1), has been synthesized by using a perfluorinated linear dicarboxylate to link trigonal prismatic Fe₃(μ³-O)(O₂C–)₆ clusters. The structure refinement based on single crystal X-ray diffraction data collected from 1 reveals the material exhibits the acs topology with large channels along the crystallographic c-axis. Due to the presence of fluorine atoms the organic link, 2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzene-1,4-dicarboxylate (F₄BDC), has a 63° torsion angle between the carboxylate and aromatic planes, resulting in larger channels compared to those in the isoreticular material MOF-235. While few iron-based MOFs have demonstrated porosity, nitrogen and hydrogen sorption experiments carried out at 77 K proved the porosity of outgassed 1, which has a Langmuir surface are of 635 m²/g and a gravimetric capacity of 0.9 wt% of hydrogen at 1 bar.     

Temperature-dependent transparency of poly(HPMA-co-DMA) hydrogels: effect of synthesis parameters

The acrylic comonomers hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA) and N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMA) have been used in several earlier studies to produce pH-responsive hydrogels. However, these same monomers can also be used to prepare hydrogels that are highly responsive to temperature. One manifestation of this temperature sensitivity is a sharp decrease in hydrogel optical transparency that occurs when the temperature exceeds a critical transition value. For example, a hydrogel that exhibits a swelling transition at the physiological pH value of 7.4 has a transition temperature of about 45 °C when the environmental salt concentration is 0.15 M. The value of the transparency transition temperature is shown to depend on hydrogel synthesis parameters such as comonomer mole ratio, crosslinker mole ratio, and even initiator concentration. By reducing the mole ratio of the crosslinker tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA), the transition temperature can be lowered by as much as 15 °C. Environmental salt concentration and solvent polarity are also shown to influence the transition temperature.     

Effect of polycyclopentene on crystallization of isotactic polypropylene

The application of some polymers as nucleating agents for polypropylene has been examined. Among various polymeric nucleating agents, polycyclopentene was found to be a superior nucleating agent to typical organic nucleating agents. When polycyclopentene was added to polypropylene, the crystallization temperature and the degree of crystallinity of polypropylene increased. In addition, the crystallization rate and the number of spherulites increased whereas the size of spherulites decreased remarkably. As a result of polycyclopentene addition, the transparency of polypropylene film could be improved considerably. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.