Application of Taguchi method in determining optimum level of curing system of NBR/PVC blend

Taguchi method is applied in this study to determine the optimum level of curing system (sulfur, MBTS, and CBS) in a NBR/PVC blend. By considering physicomechanical properties of cured NBR/PVC blend, optimum level of curing system is determined. A fixed master batch formulation of NBR/PVC is used, and the effect of curing system is studied on the physicomechanical properties of NBR/PVC blend, such as tensile strength (TS) and elongation‐at‐break (EB) before and after aging and also hardness and abrasion. The L9 orthogonal array that includes nine rows and four columns is applied. In this matrix, rows show the experiments and three columns show the amount of three factors (sulfur, MBTS, and CBS) and one column is left arbitrarily as an empty column. In this array, the columns are mutually orthogonal. The optimum physicomechanical properties of cured NBR/PVC blend are at 2 phr sulfur, 2 phr MBTS, and 0.5 phr CBS of curing system. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 5358–5362, 2006     

Tough Transient Ionic Junctions Printed with Ionic Microgels

Emerging soft ionotronics better match the human body mechanically and electrically compared to conventional rigid electronics. They hold great potential for human-machine interfaces, wearable and implantable devices, and soft machines. Among various ionotronic devices, ionic junctions play critical roles in rectifying currents as electrical p–n junctions. Existing ionic junctions, however, are limited in electrical and mechanical performance, and are difficult to fabricate and degrade. Herein, the design, fabrication, and characterization of tough transient ionic junctions fabricated via 3D ionic microgel printing is reported. The 3D printing method demonstrates excellent printability and allows one to fabricate ionic junctions of various configurations with high fidelity. By combining ionic microgels, degradable networks, and highly charged biopolymers, the ionic junctions feature high stretchability (stretch limit 27), high fracture energy (>1000 Jm⁻²), excellent electrical performance (current rectification ratio >100), and transient stability (degrade in 1 week). A variety of ionotronic devices, including ionic diodes, ionic bipolar junction transistors, ionic full-wave rectifiers, and ionic touchpads are further demonstrated. This study merges ionotronics, 3D printing, and degradable hydrogels, and will motivate the future development of high-performance transient ionotronics.     

A Combinational Perspective in Stimulating Cooperation in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

In wireless ad hoc networks cooperation among nodes cannot always be assumed since nodes with limited resources and different owners are capable of making independent decisions. Cooperation problems in topology control and packet forwarding tasks have been mostly studied separately but these two tasks are not independent. Considering a joint cooperation problem by taking into account dependencies between tasks will result in more reliable and efficient networks. In this paper topology control definition is extended to cover cooperation problem in both packet forwarding and topology control in a single problem. In this definition nodes have to adjust their transmission power and decide on their relay role. This paper models the interactions of nodes as a potential game with two-dimensional utility function. The presented model, named TCFORCE (Topology Control packet FORwarding Cooperation Enforcement), preserves the network connectivity and reduces the energy consumption by providing cooperative paths between all pairs of nodes in the network.     

Dynamics and control of a thermally self-sustaining energy storage system using integrated solid oxide cells for an islanded building

A solid oxide cell-based energy system is proposed for a solar-powered stand-alone building. The system is comprised of a 5 kW_el solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), a 9.5 kW_el solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC), and the required balance of plant. The SOFC supplies: 1- building demand in the absence of sufficient solar power, 2- heat for SOEC in endothermic and standby modes. Thermal integration of SOFC and SOEC is implemented through a network of heat exchangers, combined with set of control algorithms. Two control strategies were implemented to actuate the SOFC in response to endothermic heat demands of SOEC by manipulating: 1- electric power, 2- fuel utilization. The results of dynamic simulation of system for two scenarios (sunny day and cloudy day) showed successful compliance of temperature constraints with both methods. Manipulation of fuel utilization, however, resulted in better system performance in terms of efficiency and H₂ balance.     

Is medical research informing professional practice more highly cited? Evidence from AHFS DI Essentials in drugs.com

Scientometrics - Citation-based indicators are often used to help evaluate the impact of published medical studies, even though the research has the ultimate goal of improving human wellbeing. One...     

Distributed composition of complex event services in IoT network

The Journal of Supercomputing - In this paper, a distributed solution is presented for the composition of complex event services in the Internet of Things (IoT) environments. The composition of...     

Enhanced performance of counter flow SOFC with partial internal reformation

We study a counter-flow solid oxide fuel cell system and consider the challenges faced in minimizing thermal variations from the nominal operating conditions for a reasonable range of power tracking. Blower dynamics, reformer transport delays, spatial distribution of the heat generated and the resulting thermal response are among the issues considered. A novel approach, relying on partial internal reformation of the feedstock is proposed as a remedy to maintain a strong level of power tracking with minimal thermal stress to the fuel cell.     

Synthesis, characterization and application of allyl phenol modified amberlite XAD-4 resin for preconcentration and determination of copper in water samples

A new chelating resin was prepared by coupling Amberlite XAD-4 with phenol through an azo spacer, then modified by allyl bromide and characterized (by elemental analysis and IR) and studied for preconcentration of Cu(II) using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) for metal monitoring. The optimum pH value for sorption of the above mentioned metal ion was 4.5. The resin was subjected to chemical evaluation through batch binding and column chromatography of Cu(II). The chelating resin can be reused for 15 cycles of sorption-desorption without any significant change in sorption capacity. A recovery of 98% was obtained for the metal ion with 0.5 M HNO₃ as eluting agent. The equilibrium adsorption data of Cu(II) on modified resin were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin models. Based on equilibrium adsorption data the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin constants were determined to be 0.061, 0.193 and 0.045 at pH 4.5 and 25 °C. The method was applied for the copper determination from industrial waste water sample.