Towards tuning of surface properties by atomic and molecular adsorption on boron-terminated cubic boron nitride (111) surface: A first-principles study

We present a theoretical investigation for the adsorptions of triangular nitrogen trimer radical (N₃) at both the hollow (H3) and fourfold coordinated top (T4) sites on boron-terminated (111) (B(111)) surface of cubic boron nitride (c-BN) in terms of structure, adsorption energy, band structure and work function. For the first time, we explore the H3 and T4 adsorption mechanisms. Moreover, we study the subsequent co-adsorption of N₃, boron and hydrogen atoms on the same adsorption site on the B(111) surface, which will form either pyramid quantum cluster or nearly planar adsorbate. We find that the surface band structure varies substantially depending on the types of terminated surface formed (changing from metallic to semi-conducting), and consequently, the surface work function changes. These results indicate the electronic characteristics of the B(111) surface can be tuned readily using chemical co-adsorption, suggesting its potential for chemical sensing applications.     

Experimental and computational studies of multiphase hydrodynamics in a hydrocyclone separator system

The flow patterns within a hydrocyclone separator system have been studied experimentally using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and computationally via large eddy simulations (LES). Various aspects of the flow field such as the process of air core structure formation, pressure and velocity distributions within the system have been characterized. Detailed flow field information in the form of velocity vector maps of entire planes have been obtained experimentally and reproduced computationally. Good qualitative agreements between velocity vector fields, air core structure and averaged velocity distributions have been achieved. LES is deemed to be an adequate methodology for modelling the air core structure and flow patterns of the surrounding liquid in a hydrocyclone separator system.     

Brønsted Base‐Catalyzed Tandem Isomerization–Michael Reactions of Alkynes: Synthesis of Oxacycles and Azacycles

An efficient synthesis of oxacycles and azacycles was developed using a Brønsted base‐catalyzed tandem alkyne isomerization–Michael reaction sequence. Functionalized 2‐alkylidenetetrahydrofurans were prepared by an intramolecular oxy‐Michael reaction on an allene that was generated in situ from an alkynoate. The aza‐Michael version using alkynylamines, alkynylamides and alkynyl carbamates led to piperidines, lactams and oxazolidinones, respectively. An enantioselective version of this reaction resulted in an axially chiral lactam with high enantioselectivity. Some alkynes, however, were unable to complete the intramolecular Michael reactions and provided enantioenriched allenes.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles and Silver Inks: Review on the Past and Recent Technology Roadmaps

The synthesis of silver nanoparticles for silver ink formation has attracted broad interest in the electronic part printing and semiconductor chip industry due to the extraordinary electrical and mechanical properties of these materials. The preparation of silver nanoparticles through a physical or chemical reduction process is the most common methodology applied to obtain nanoparticles with the required size, shape and surface morphology. The chemical solution or solvent carrier applied for silver ink formulation must be applied simultaneously with the direct writing technique to produce the desired adherence, viscosity, and reliable performance. This review paper discusses the details concerning the past and recent advancement of the synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles and silver ink formation. A review on the advantages of various sintering techniques, which aim to achieve the electrical and mechanical properties of the required printed structure, is also included. A brief summary concerning the recent challenges and improvement approaches is presented at the end of this review.     

Renewable energy supply chains,performance, application barriers,and strategies for further development

Due to the depletion of traditional energy resources, such as crude oil, coal, and natural gas, many initiatives all over the world have addressed the efficient use or replacement of these resources. Several renewable energy sources have been introduced as alternatives to traditional sources to protect environmental resources and to improve the quality of life. This study assesses renewable energy sources from a supply chain perspective and presents an investigation of renewable energies focusing on four main components: renewable energy supply chain, renewable energy performance, and barriers and strategies to its development. The study provides managerial insights to governments, researchers, and stakeholders for the initiation of renewable energy use, and suggestions for overcoming the barriers to its development.     

Removal of chlorinated phenol from aqueous solution utilizing activated carbon derived from papaya (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Carica Papaya</Emphasis>) seeds

Activated carbons (ACs) were prepared from papaya seeds with different dry weight impregnation ratios of zinc chloride (ZnCl₂) to papaya seeds by using a two-stage self-generated atmosphere method. The papaya seeds were first semi-carbonized in a muffle furnace at 300 °C for 1 h and then impregnated with ZnCl₂ before activation at 500 °C for 2 h. Several physical and chemical characteristics such as moisture, ash, pH, functional groups, morphological structure and porosity of prepared ACs were studied and presented here. AC2, with the impregnation ration of 1: 2 (papaya seeds: ZnCl₂), yielded a product that had the highest adsorption capacity, 91.75%, achieved after 180min contact time. The maximum Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) surface area of AC2 was 546m²/g. Adsorption studies indicated that AC2 complied well with the Langmuir isotherm (q _m =39.683mg g^?1) and the pseudo-second-order (q _e =29.36mg g^?1). This indicated that chemisorption was the primary adsorption method for AC2. The intraparticle diffusion model proved that the mechanism of adsorption was separated into two stages: the instantaneous stage and the gradual adsorption stage. Overall, this work demonstrated the suitability of using papaya seeds as a precursor to manufacture activated carbon.     

微波辐射条件下H2O2氧化蒽合成蒽醌的研究

研究了微波辐射条件下H2O2氧化蒽的反应，考察了时间、H2O2用量、催化剂和溶剂对葸醌收率的影响。结果表明．CH3COOH浓度对蒽醌的收率影响很大，以适量的(CH3COO)3Fe作为催化剂可以增加蒽醌的收率和缩短反应时间。     

On the relationship between travel time and travel distance of commuters

This paper gives a detailed empirical analysis of the relationships between different indicators of costs of commuting trips by car: difference as the crow flies, shortest travel time according to route planner, corresponding travel distance, and reported travel time. Reported travel times are usually rounded in multiples of five minutes. This calls for special statistical techniques. Ignoring the phenomenon of rounding leads to biased estimation results for shorter distances. Rather surprisingly, the distance as the crow flies and the network distance appear to be slightly better proxies of the reported travel time compared with the shortest network travel time as indicated by the route planner. We conclude that where actual driving times are missing in commuting research the other three indicators mentioned may be used as proxies, but that the following problems may emerge: actual travel times may be considerably higher than network times generated by route planners, and the average speed of trips increases considerably with distance, implying an overestimate of travel time for long distance commuters. The only personal feature that contributes significantly to variations in reported travel times is gender: women appear to drive at lower average speeds according to our data. As indicated in the paper this may be explained by the differences in the car types of male and female drivers (females drive older and smaller cars) as well as higher numbers of stops/trip chaining among women. A concise analysis is carried out for carpoolers. Car-pooling leads to an increase in travel time of some 17% compared with solo drivers covering the same distance. In the case of car poolers, the above mentioned measures appear to be very poor proxies for the actual commuting times. Received: November 1996/Accepted: January 1998     

Benzene Alkylation with 1-Dodecene over H-Mordenite Zeolite

The alkylation of benzene with 1-dodecene was studied over solid-acid zeolites, such as H-mordenite, H-USY, HY, and H-ZSM-5, in a batch reactor at 140°C and 10 atm. H-mordenite showed the highest selectivity of 78.2% for 2-phenyldodecane with 100% conversion. Depending on the catalyst amount (from 0.5 to 1.0 g) and the molar ratio of benzene to 1-dodecene (from 7 to 10), the conversion of 1-dodecene varied in the range from 63.8 to 100%. Furthermore, modification of H-mordenite by dealumination using nitric acid and by solid ion exchange with Mg²⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions led to the improvement of the selectivity for 2-phenyldodecane, and simultaneously reduction of the conversion of 1-dodecene is observed. In addition, it was found by pyridine adsorption FT-IR study that both strong Brønsted and Lewis acid sites are closely related to the conversion.