Designing amorphous formulations of polyphenols with naringin by spray-drying for enhanced solubility and permeability

Naringin (NAR), a major flavanone (FVA) glycoside, is a component of food mainly obtained from grapefruit. We used NAR as a food additive to improve the solubility and permeability of hydrophobic polyphenols used as supplements in the food industry. The spray-dried particles (SDPs) of NAR alone show an amorphous state with a glass transition temperature (T_g) at 93.2 °C. SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols, such as flavone (FVO), quercetin (QCT), naringenin (NRG), and resveratrol (RVT) were prepared by adding varying amounts of NAR. All SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols with added NAR were in an amorphous state with a single T_g, but SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols without added NAR showed diffraction peaks derived from each crystal. The SDPs with NAR could keep an amorphous state after storage at a high humidity condition for one month, except for SDPs of RVT/NAR. SDPs with NAR enhanced the solubility of hydrophobic polyphenols, especially NRG solubility, which was enhanced more than 9 times compared to NRG crystal. The enhanced solubility resulted in the increased membrane permeability of NRG. The antioxidant effect of the hydrophobic NRG was also enhanced by the synergetic effect of NAR. The findings demonstrated that NAR could be used as a food additive to enhance the solubility and membrane permeability of hydrophobic polyphenols.     

Identifying catalyst layer compositions of proton exchange membrane fuel cells through machine-learning-based approach

Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is considered a key component of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). However, developing a new MEA to meet desired properties, such as operation under low-humidity conditions without a humidifier, is a time- and cost-consuming process. This study employs a machine-learning-based approach using K-nearest neighbor (KNN) and neural networks (NN) in the MEA development process by identifying a suitable catalyst layer (CL) recipe in MEA. Minimum redundancy maximum relevance and principal component analysis were implemented to specify the most important predictor and reduce the data dimension. The number of predictors was found to play an essential role in the accuracy of the KNN and NN models although the predictors have self-correlations. The KNN model with a K of 7 was found to minimize the model loss with a loss of 11.9%. The NN model constructed by three corresponding hidden layers with nine, eight, and nine nodes can achieve the lowest error of 0.1293 for the Pt catalyst and 0.031 for PVA as a good additive blending in the CL of the MEA. However, even if the error is low, the prediction of PVA seems to be inaccurate, regardless of the model structure. Therefore, the KNN model is more appropriate for CL recipe prediction.     

A Highly Sensitive,Reversible, and Bidirectional Humidity Actuator by Calcium Carbonate Ionic Oligomers Incorporated Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride)

Sensitivity and multi-directional motivation are major two factors for developing optimized humidity-response materials, which are promising for sensing, energy production, etc. Organic functional groups are commonly used as the water sensitive units through hydrogen bond interactions with water molecules in actuators. The multi-coordination ability of inorganic ions implies that the inorganic ionic compounds are potentially superior water sensitive units. However, the particle forms of inorganic ionic compounds produced by classical nucleation limit the number of exposed ions to interact with water. Recent progress on the inorganic ionic oligomers has broken through the limitation of classical nucleation, and realized the molecular-scaled incorporation of inorganic ionic compounds into an organic matrix. Here, the incorporation of hydrophilic calcium carbonate ionic oligomers into hydrophobic poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is demonstrated. The ultra-small calcium carbonate oligomers within a PVDF film endow it with an ultra-sensitive, reversible, and bidirectional response. The motivation ability is superior to other bidirectional humidity-actuators at present, which realizes self-motivation on an ice surface, converting the chemical potential energy of the humidity gradient from ice to kinetic energy.     

High performance H2 sensor based on rGO-wrapped SnO2–Pd porous hollow spheres

Hydrogen (H₂) sensors based on metal oxide semiconductors (MOS) are promising for many applications such as a rocket propellant, industrial gas and the safety of storage. However, poor selectivity at low analyte concentrations, and independent response on high humidity limit the practical applications. Herein, we designed rGO-wrapped SnO₂–Pd porous hollow spheres composite (SnO₂–Pd@rGO) for high performance H₂ sensor. The porous hollow structure was from the carbon sphere template. The rGO wrapping was via self-assembly of GO on SnO₂-based spheres with subsequent thermal reduction in H₂ ambient. This sensor exhibited excellently selective H₂ sensing performances at 390 °C, linear response over a broad concentration range (0.1–1000 ppm) with recovery time of only 3 s, a high response of ～8 to 0.1 ppm H₂ in a minute, and acceptable stability under high humidity conditions (e. g. 80%). The calculated detection limit of 16.5 ppb opened up the possibility of trace H₂ monitoring. Furthermore, this sensor demonstrated certain response to H₂ at the minimum concentration of 50 ppm at 130 °C. These performances mainly benefited from the special hollow porous structure with abundant heterojunctions, the catalysis of the doped-PdO_x, the relative hydrophobic surface from rGO, and the deoxygenation after H₂ reduction.     

饼干炉湿度控制的改进方法

在大空间的温度控制系统中 ,采用简单的PID控制规律 ,对空间的温度、湿度进行解藕计算 ,将空间的相对湿度控制转化为送风含湿量的控制。该控制方式稳定、可靠 ,并且节约能源。本方法适用于所有的烘烤炉中     

基于湿度扩散理论的混凝土早期收缩分析

混凝土早期收缩开裂是加剧混凝土劣化并导致最终失效的一个重要因素．分析混凝土早期的自由收缩量值是进行收缩开裂研究的基础。为此，基于湿度扩散理论建立了混凝士早期的自生收缩与干燥收缩计算分析模型，经实例验证，计算结果与试验结果有较好的一致性。     

硝酸处理对MgCr_2O_4-Bi_2O_3陶瓷湿敏元件性能的影响

报道了硝酸老化处理方法对MgCr_2O_4—Bi_2O_3陶瓷湿敏元件的结构和性能的影响。实验结果表明,硝酸老化处理不仅是一种可行的造孔方法,而且对元件的力学和电学性能有重要影响。用浓度适宜的硝酸处理后,会得到性能较好的元件。     

AHMED experiments on hygroscopic and inert aerosol behaviour in LWR containment conditions: experimental results

Hygroscopic NaOH, CsI, CsOH and inert Ag aerosol behaviour at different temperatures and relative humidities (RH) has been studied in a well instrumented and controlled vessel of 1.81 m³ total free volume. Homogeneous thermal-hydraulic conditions for aerosol measurement in the vessel were achieved. The aerosol number and mass concentration were measured continuously during the experiments using a Condensation Nucleus Counter and a Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance. The particle size distribution and chemical composition in the test conditions were measured by Berner low pressure impactors. In the case of NaOH the half life of the aerosol mass concentration was more than four times longer at low RH (22%) as compared to high RH (96%). The half lives of the CsOH and CsI aerosols were only twice as long at low RH as compared to high RH. Thus at high RH (96–97%) the half lives of CsOH and CsI were twice as long as the half life for the NaOH aerosol. The faster decay of the NaOH aerosol is due to the smaller density decrease of NaOH during water condensation. CsOH particles grew rapidly to their equilibrium size at all humidities. The measured equilibrium size for CsOH aerosol agree well with the calculated particle size at different RHs. Experimental results were also compared with calculations obtained by severe accident computer codes. These calculated results will be presented in a later paper.     

电子吊舱微环境智能控制系统

介绍了一种由高性能空气循环冷却系统和以微处理器为核心的智能测控系统组成的新型电子吊舱微环境控制系统，该系统制冷性能优良，节能效果好，数据采集，存储，实时处理，控制，报警功能完全硬件化，实现了对吊舱微环境温度，温度，压力的综合可靠控制，其设计思想和方法可推广应用于其它航空，航天和地面复杂环境的控制。     

具有PDEB LB膜的声表面波湿度传感器

介绍一种新型聚炔离子导体湿敏材料－聚对二炔苯的Ｌａｎｇｍｕｉｒ－Ｂｏｌｄｇｅｔｔ成膜原理与制备，淀积有１０层ＰＤＥＢ ＬＢ膜层的声表面波延迟线型湿度传感器的特性。由于ＬＢ成膜技术拉制的膜可以在分子水平上进行定量控制，保证了膜的均匀性和一致性。