Toward optimization of a robust low-cost sulfonated-polyethersulfone containing layered double hydroxide for PEM fuel cells

Polyethersulphone (PES) is an aromatic thermoplastic, at low environmental impact, evaluated in this work as a promising candidate for new polymer electrolytes in the PEMFCs technology. A sulfonation procedure has been tuned in order to graft sulfonic acid groups on the polymer chains (sPES) and to make it hydrophilic. Homogeneous membranes with different polymer's sulfonation degrees (SD%) have demonstrated excellent mechanical properties and very low permeability toward methanol (important in the DMFCs), even if low proton conductivity. Nanocomposite sPES membranes were prepared by dispersion of highly hydrophilic lamellar particles such as layered double hydroxide (LDH) in the polymer. Deep investigations performed by a combination of PFG-NMR, EIS, XRD, DMA, and scanning electron microscopy have evidenced the exfoliation of the lamellae in polymer matrix. However, a certain anisotropy was evidenced both in the morphology and molecular diffusion, favored in the longitudinal direction (parallel to surface), while completely inhibited in the cross-section. This finding is most likely induced by the polymer structure, therefore particular attention must be paid to the choice of the filler and preparation of the composites. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47884.     

Chaotic analysis of US money and velocity measures

This paper uses tools from dynamical systems theory to investigate the properties of US money and velocity series. Comparisons are made between simple-sum, Divisia and currency equivalent aggregates (of M1, M2, M3, and L), using the Anderson et al. monthly data (from January 1960 to June 1996).     

Evaluation of hydrogen producing cultures using pretreated food waste

In order to enhance bio-hydrogen production from food waste, pretreatment methods are widely used. The influence of the initial pH and autoclaving were investigated in batch experiments. Fermentative studies showed that pure cultures like Clostridium beijerinckii could directly utilize raw food waste to produce hydrogen, while other cultures (Clostridium butyricum and Clostridium pasteurianum) could produce hydrogen only after pH adjustment. In this case, the optimal starting pH of the culture was found to be 7. Autoclaving could further enhance hydrogen yields due to increased hydrolysis of food waste. The maximum hydrogen yield was achieved by C. butyricum (38.9 mL-H₂/g-VS_added) after autoclaving food waste with pH adjustment at 7. In addition, the ratio acetic to butyric acid was decreased by autoclaving pretreatment, because butyrate metabolic pathway was favored in the fermentation process. However, suitable pH for bacteria growth and the low ammonia production could be achieved from autoclaving food waste.     

Adaptive smooth multicast protocol for multimedia transmission: Implementation details and performance evaluation

In this paper we propose a new single‐rate multicast congestion control scheme named Adaptive Smooth Multicast Protocol (ASMP), for multimedia transmission over best‐effort networks. The smoothness lays in the calculation and adaptation of the transmission rate, which is based on dynamic estimations of protocols' parameters and dynamic adjustment of the ‘smoothness factor’, as well. ASMP key attributes are: (a) TCP‐friendly behavior, (b) adaptive scalability to large sets of receivers, (c) high bandwidth utilization, and finally (d) smooth transmission rates, which are suitable for multimedia applications. We evaluate the performance of ASMP and investigate its behavior under various network conditions through extensive simulations conducted with the network simulator software (ns2). Simulation results show that ASMP can be regarded as a serious competitor of TFMCC and PGMCC. In many cases, ASMP outperforms TFMCC in terms of TCP‐friendliness and smooth transmission rates, while PGMCC presents lower scalability than ASMP. We have implemented ASMP on top of RTP/RTCP protocols in ns2 by adding all the RTP/RTCP protocol's attributes that are defined in RFC 3550 and related to quality of service metrics. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analytic study on structural behavior of the string bed in a tennis racket

The structural behavior of string bed of tennis rackets was investigated subjected to transverse force perpendicular to the string bed. The mathematical model developed for the string bed was implemented into a computer programming code. This code was used to conduct extensive parametric studies on the structural behavior of the string bed for various parameters, including string tension, axial rigidity of the string, string spacing and head size. The analysis results showed that while the transverse stiffness of the string bed is proportional to the string tension, the transverse stiffness of the string bed is inversely proportional to string spacing and head size. In addition, the axial rigidity of the string significantly amplifies the transverse stiffness of the string bed for relatively large transverse deflection of the string bed.     

Experimental determination of the stability of retained austenite in low alloy TRIP steels

The stability of retained austenite is the most important parameter controlling the transformation plasticity effects in multiphase low alloy TRIP steels. In this work the thermodynamic stability of the retained austenite has been determined experimentally by measuring the M^σ_s temperature as a function of bainite isothermal transformation (BIT) temperature and time in two low alloy TRIP steels. A single-specimen temperature-variable tension test technique (SS-TV-TT) has been employed, which allowed to link the appearance of yield points in the stress-strain curve with the mechanically-induced martensitic transformation of the retained austenite. The results indicated that the M^σ_S temperature varies with BIT temperature and time. Higher austenite stability is associated with a BIT temperature of 400°C rather than 375°C. In addition, the chemical stabilization of the retained austenite associated with carbon enrichment from the growing bainite is lowered at short BIT times. This stability drop is due to carbide precipitation and comes earlier in the Nb-containing steel. At longer BIT times the retained austenite dispersion becomes finer and its stability rises due to size stabilization. The experimental results are in good agreement with model predictions within the range of anticipated carbon enrichment of the retained austenite and measured austenite particle size.     

Effect of particle tethering and Scale‐Up on solid–liquid mass transfer in Three‐Phase fluidized beds of light particles

Solid–liquid mass transfer in three‐phase fluidized beds with low‐density particles was studied using a tethered benzoic acid particle dissolution technique. Two columns with air, water and polypropylene cylinders were used for experiments. The solid–liquid mass transfer coefficient was found to increase with column diameter but decrease with tether length. The effect of tethering on solid particle movements was also evaluated using radioactive particle tracking (RPT) technique. RPT showed that tethered particles exhibited slower movements. Statistical analysis suggests that tether lengths 3 times the column radius are sufficient to reduce the effects of tethering.