Search results for: electron back scattered diffraction.
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1220

Search results for: electron back scattered diffraction.

1010 Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) From Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) Fiber via Simultaneous Ultrasonic and Alkali Treatment

Authors: Ridzuan Ramli, Norhafzan Junadi, Mohammad D.H. Beg, Rosli M. Yunus

Abstract:

In this study, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was extracted from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) cellulose which was earlier isolated from oil palm EFB fibre. In order to isolate the cellulose, the chlorination method was carried out. Then, the MCC was prepared by simultaneous ultrasonic and alkali treatment from the isolated α-cellulose. Based on mass balance calculation, the yields for MCC obtained from EFB was 44%. For fiber characterization, it is observed that the chemical composition of the hemicellulose and lignin for all samples decreased while composition for cellulose increased. The structural property of the MCC was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) method and the result shows that the MCC produced is a cellulose-I polymorph, with 73% crystallinity.

Keywords: Oil palm empty fruit bunch, microcrystalline cellulose, ultrasonic, alkali treatment, X-ray diffraction.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3924
1009 One-Pot Synthesis and Characterization of Magnesium Oxide Nanoparticles Prepared by Calliandra calothyrsus Leaf Extract

Authors: Indah Kurniawaty, Yoki Yulizar, Haryo Satrya Oktaviano, Adam Kusuma Rianto

Abstract:

Magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO NP) were successfully synthesized in this study using a one-pot green synthesis mediated by Calliandra calothyrsus leaf extract (CLE). CLE was prepared by maceration of the leaf using methanol with a ratio of 1:5 for 7 days. Secondary metabolites in CLE, such as alkaloids and flavonoids, served as a weak base provider and capping agent in the formation of MgO NP. CLE Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectra peak at 3255 cm-1, 1600 cm-1, 1384 cm-1, 1205 cm-1, 1041 cm-1, and 667 cm-1 showing the presence of vibrations O-H stretching, N-H bending, C-C stretching, C-N stretching and N-H wagging. During the experiment, different CLE volumes and calcined temperatures were used, resulting in a variety of structures. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (EDS) and FTIR were used to characterize metal oxide particles. MgO diffraction patterns at 2θ of 36.9°; 42.9°; 62.2°; 74.6°; and 78.5° can be assigned to crystal planes (111), (200), (220), (311), and (222), respectively. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the surface morphology. The morphology ranged from sphere to flower-like resulting in crystallite sizes of 28 nm, 23 nm, 12 nm, and 9 nm.

Keywords: Calliandra calothyrsus, green-synthesis, magnesium oxide, nanoparticle.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 108
1008 Characterization of Corn Cobs from Microwave and Potassium Hydroxide Pretreatment

Authors: Boonyisa Wanitwattanarumlug, Apanee Luengnaruemitchai, Sujitra Wongkasemjit

Abstract:

The complexity of lignocellulosic biomass requires a pretreatment step to improve the yield of fermentable sugars. The efficient pretreatment of corn cobs using microwave and potassium hydroxide and enzymatic hydrolysis was investigated. The objective of this work was to characterize the optimal condition of pretreatment of corn cobs using microwave and potassium hydroxide enhance enzymatic hydrolysis. Corn cobs were submerged in different potassium hydroxide concentration at varies temperature and resident time. The pretreated corn cobs were hydrolyzed to produce the reducing sugar for analysis. The morphology and microstructure of samples were investigated by Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that lignin and hemicellulose were removed by microwave/potassium hydroxide pretreatment. The crystallinity of the pretreated corn cobs was higher than the untreated. This method was compared with autoclave and conventional heating method. The results indicated that microwave-alkali treatment was an efficient way to improve the enzymatic hydrolysis rate by increasing its accessibility hydrolysis enzymes.

Keywords: Corn cobs, Enzymatic hydrolysis, Microwave, Potassium hydroxide, Pretreatment.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2253
1007 Synthesizing CuFe2O4 Spinel Powders by a Combustion-Like Process for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Interconnect Coatings

Authors: S. N. Hosseini, M. H. Enayati, F. Karimzadeh, N. M. Sammes

Abstract:

The synthesis of CuFe2O4 spinel powders by an optimized combustion-like process followed by calcination is described herein. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dilatometry and 4-probe DC methods. Different glycine to nitrate (G/N) ratios of 1 (fuel-deficient), 1.48 (stoichiometric) and 2 (fuel-rich) were employed. Calcining the asprepared powders at 800 and 1000°C for 5 hours showed that the G/N ratio of 2 results in the formation of the desired copper spinel single phase at both calcination temperatures. For G/N=1, formation of CuFe2O4 takes place in three steps. First, iron and copper nitrates decompose to iron oxide and pure copper. Then, copper transforms to copper oxide and finally, copper and iron oxides react with each other to form a copper ferrite spinel phase. The electrical conductivity and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the sintered pelletized samples were 2 S.cm-1 (800°C) and 11×10-6 °C-1 (25-800°C), respectively.

Keywords: SOFC interconnect coatings, Copper ferrite, Spinels, Electrical conductivity, Glycine–nitrate process.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2452
1006 Synthesis of Mg/B Containing Compound in a Modified Microwave Oven

Authors: Gülşah Çelik Gül, Figen Kurtuluş

Abstract:

Magnesium containing boron compounds with hexagonal structure have been drawn much attention due to their superconductive nature. The main target of this work is new modified microwave oven by on our own has an ability about passing through a gas in the oven medium for attainment of oxygen-free compounds such as c-BN.  Mg containing boride was synthesized by modified-microwave method under nitrogen atmosphere using amorphous boron and magnesium source in appropriate molar ratio. Microwave oven with oxygen free environment has been modified to aimed to obtain magnesium boride without oxygen. Characterizations were done by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Mg containing boride, generally named magnesium boride, with amorphous character without oxygen is obtained via designed microwave oven system.

Keywords: Magnesium containing boron compounds, modified microwave synthesis, powder X-ray diffraction, FTIR.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1053
1005 Combined Sewer Overflow forecasting with Feed-forward Back-propagation Artificial Neural Network

Authors: Achela K. Fernando, Xiujuan Zhang, Peter F. Kinley

Abstract:

A feed-forward, back-propagation Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model has been used to forecast the occurrences of wastewater overflows in a combined sewerage reticulation system. This approach was tested to evaluate its applicability as a method alternative to the common practice of developing a complete conceptual, mathematical hydrological-hydraulic model for the sewerage system to enable such forecasts. The ANN approach obviates the need for a-priori understanding and representation of the underlying hydrological hydraulic phenomena in mathematical terms but enables learning the characteristics of a sewer overflow from the historical data. The performance of the standard feed-forward, back-propagation of error algorithm was enhanced by a modified data normalizing technique that enabled the ANN model to extrapolate into the territory that was unseen by the training data. The algorithm and the data normalizing method are presented along with the ANN model output results that indicate a good accuracy in the forecasted sewer overflow rates. However, it was revealed that the accurate forecasting of the overflow rates are heavily dependent on the availability of a real-time flow monitoring at the overflow structure to provide antecedent flow rate data. The ability of the ANN to forecast the overflow rates without the antecedent flow rates (as is the case with traditional conceptual reticulation models) was found to be quite poor.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Networks, Back-propagationlearning, Combined sewer overflows, Forecasting.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1485
1004 Influence of Axial Magnetic Field on the Electrical Breakdown and Secondary Electron Emission in Plane-Parallel Plasma Discharge

Authors: Sabah I. Wais, Raghad Y. Mohammed, Sedki O. Yousif

Abstract:

The influence of axial magnetic field (B=0.48 T) on the variation of ionization efficiency coefficient h and secondary electron emission coefficient g with respect to reduced electric field E/P is studied at a new range of plane-parallel electrode spacing (0< d< 20 cm) and different nitrogen working pressure between 0.5-20 Pa. The axial magnetic field is produced from an inductive copper coil of radius 5.6 cm. The experimental data of breakdown voltage is adopted to estimate the mean Paschen curves at different working features. The secondary electron emission coefficient is calculated from the mean Paschen curve and used to determine the minimum breakdown voltage. A reduction of discharge voltage of about 25% is investigated by the applied of axial magnetic field. At high interelectrode spacing, the effect of axial magnetic field becomes more significant for the obtained values of h but it was less for the values of g.

Keywords: Paschen curve, Townsend coefficient, Secondaryelectron emission, Magnetic field, Minimum breakdown voltage.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2592
1003 Fabrication and Characterization of CdS Nanoparticles Annealed by using Different Radiations

Authors: Aneeqa Sabah, Saadat Anwar Siddiqi, Salamat Ali

Abstract:

The systematic manipulations of shapes and sizes of inorganic compounds greatly benefit the various application fields including optics, magnetic, electronics, catalysis and medicine. However shape control has been much more difficult to achieve. Hence exploration of novel method for the preparation of differently shaped nanoparticles is challenging research area. II-VI group of semiconductor cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanostructure with different morphologies (such as, acicular like, mesoporous, spherical shapes) and of crystallite sizes vary from 11 to 16 nm were successfully synthesized by chemical aqueous precipitation of Cd2+ ions with homogeneously released S2- ions from decomposition of cadmium sulphate (CdSO4) and thioacetamide (CH3CSNH2) by annealing at different radiations (microwave, ultrasonic and sunlight) with matter and systematic research has been done for various factors affecting the controlled growth rate of CdS nanoparticles. The obtained nanomaterials have been characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravometric (DSC-TGA) analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The result indicates that on increasing the reaction time particle size increases but on increasing the molar ratios grain size decreases.

Keywords: CdS nanoparticles, Morphology, Oxidation, Radiations

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2941
1002 Rubber Crumbs in Alkali Activated Clay Roof Tiles at Low Temperature

Authors: Aswin Kumar Krishnan, Yat Choy Wong, Reiza Mukhlis, Zipeng Zhang, Arul Arulrajah

Abstract:

The continuous increase in vehicle uptake escalates the number of rubber tyres waste which need to be managed to avoid landfilling and stockpiling. The present research focused on the sustainable use of crumb rubber in clay roof tiles. The properties of roof tiles composed of clay, crumb rubber, NaOH, and Na2SiO3 with 10 wt.% alkaline activator were studied. Tile samples were fabricated by heating the compacted mixtures at 50 °C for 72 hours, followed by a higher heating temperature of 200 °C for 24 hours. The effect of crumb rubber aggregates as a substitution for the raw clay materials were investigated by varying their concentration from 0 wt.% to 2.5 wt.%. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses have been conducted to study the phases and microstructures of the samples. It was found that the optimum rubber crumbs concentration was at 0.5 wt.% and 1 wt.%, while cracks and larger porosity were found at higher crumbs concentration. Water absorption, and compressive strength test results demonstrated that rubber crumbs and clay satisfied the standard requirement for the roof tiles.

Keywords: Crumb rubber, clay, roof tiles, alkaline activators.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 124
1001 The Optimization of Copper Sulfate and Tincalconite Molar Ratios on the Hydrothermal Synthesis of Copper Borates

Authors: E. Moroydor Derun, N. Tugrul, F. T. Senberber, A. S. Kipcak, S. Piskin

Abstract:

In this research, copper borates are synthesized by the reaction of copper sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO4.5H2O) and tincalconite (Na2O4B7.10H2O). The experimental parameters are selected as 80oC reaction temperature and 60 of reaction time. The effect of mole ratio of CuSO4.5H2O to Na2O4B7.5H2O is studied. For the identification analyses X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques are used. At the end of the experiments, synthesized copper borate is matched with the powder diffraction file of “00-001-0472” [Cu(BO2)2] and characteristic vibrations between B and O atoms are seen. The proper crystals are obtained at the mole ratio of 3:1. This study showed that simplified synthesis process is suitable for the production of copper borate minerals.

Keywords: Hydrothermal synthesis, copper borates, copper sulfate, tincalconite.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3459
1000 Dominant Correlation Effects in Atomic Spectra

Authors: Hubert Klar

Abstract:

High double excitation of two-electron atoms has been investigated using hyperpherical coordinates within a modified adiabatic expansion technique. This modification creates a novel fictitious force leading to a spontaneous exchange symmetry breaking at high double excitation. The Pauli principle must therefore be regarded as approximation valid only at low excitation energy. Threshold electron scattering from high Rydberg states shows an unexpected time reversal symmetry breaking. At threshold for double escape we discover a broad (few eV) Cooper pair.

Keywords: Correlation, resonances, threshold ionization, Cooper pair.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1757
999 A Robust Al-Hawalees Gaming Automation using Minimax and BPNN Decision

Authors: Ahmad Sharieh, R Bremananth

Abstract:

Artificial Intelligence based gaming is an interesting topic in the state-of-art technology. This paper presents an automation of a tradition Omani game, called Al-Hawalees. Its related issues are resolved and implemented using artificial intelligence approach. An AI approach called mini-max procedure is incorporated to make a diverse budges of the on-line gaming. If number of moves increase, time complexity will be increased in terms of propositionally. In order to tackle the time and space complexities, we have employed a back propagation neural network (BPNN) to train in off-line to make a decision for resources required to fulfill the automation of the game. We have utilized Leverberg- Marquardt training in order to get the rapid response during the gaming. A set of optimal moves is determined by the on-line back propagation training fashioned with alpha-beta pruning. The results and analyses reveal that the proposed scheme will be easily incorporated in the on-line scenario with one player against the system.

Keywords: Artificial neural network, back propagation gaming, Leverberg-Marquardt, minimax procedure.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1894
998 Time Series Forecasting Using Various Deep Learning Models

Authors: Jimeng Shi, Mahek Jain, Giri Narasimhan

Abstract:

Time Series Forecasting (TSF) is used to predict the target variables at a future time point based on the learning from previous time points. To keep the problem tractable, learning methods use data from a fixed length window in the past as an explicit input. In this paper, we study how the performance of predictive models change as a function of different look-back window sizes and different amounts of time to predict into the future. We also consider the performance of the recent attention-based transformer models, which had good success in the image processing and natural language processing domains. In all, we compare four different deep learning methods (Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), Long Short-term Memory (LSTM), Gated Recurrent Units (GRU), and Transformer) along with a baseline method. The dataset (hourly) we used is the Beijing Air Quality Dataset from the website of University of California, Irvine (UCI), which includes a multivariate time series of many factors measured on an hourly basis for a period of 5 years (2010-14). For each model, we also report on the relationship between the performance and the look-back window sizes and the number of predicted time points into the future. Our experiments suggest that Transformer models have the best performance with the lowest Mean   Absolute Errors (MAE = 14.599, 23.273) and Root Mean Square Errors (RSME = 23.573, 38.131) for most of our single-step and multi-steps predictions. The best size for the look-back window to predict 1 hour into the future appears to be one day, while 2 or 4 days perform the best to predict 3 hours into the future.

Keywords: Air quality prediction, deep learning algorithms, time series forecasting, look-back window.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1057
997 Experimental Investigation on Effect of the Zirconium + Magnesium Coating of the Piston and Valve of the Single-Cylinder Diesel Engine to the Engine Performance and Emission

Authors: Erdinç Vural, Bülent Özdalyan, Serkan Özel

Abstract:

The four-stroke single cylinder diesel engine has been used in this study, the pistons and valves of the engine have been stabilized, the aluminum oxide (Al2O3) in different ratios has been added in the power of zirconium (ZrO2) magnesium oxide (MgO), and has been coated with the plasma spray method. The pistons and valves of the combustion chamber of the engine are coated with 5 different (ZrO2 + MgO), (ZrO2 + MgO + 25% Al2O3), (ZrO2 + MgO + 50% Al2O3), (ZrO2 + MgO + 75% Al2O3), (Al2O3) sample. The material tests have been made for each of the coated engine parts with the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) using Cu Kα radiation surface analysis methods. The engine tests have been repeated for each sample in any electric dynamometer in full power 1600 rpm, 2000 rpm, 2400 rpm and 2800 rpm engine speeds. The material analysis and engine tests have shown that the best performance has been performed with (ZrO2 + MgO + 50% Al2O3). Thus, there is no significant change in HC and Smoke emissions, but NOx emission is increased, as the engine improves power, torque, specific fuel consumption and CO emissions in the tests made with sample A3.

Keywords: Ceramic coating, material characterization, engine performance, exhaust emissions.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1614
996 Design of a Satellite Solar Panel Deployment Mechanism Using the Brushed DC Motor as Rotational Speed Damper

Authors: Hossein Ramezani Ali-Akbari

Abstract:

This paper presents an innovative method to control the rotational speed of a satellite solar panel during its deployment phase. A brushed DC motor has been utilized in the passive spring driven deployment mechanism to reduce the deployment speed. In order to use the DC motor as a damper, its connector terminals have been connected with an external resistance in a closed circuit. It means that, in this approach, there is no external power supply in the circuit. The working principle of this method is based on the back electromotive force (or back EMF) of the DC motor when an external torque (here the torque produced by the torsional springs) is coupled to the DC motor’s shaft. In fact, the DC motor converts to an electric generator and the current flows into the circuit and then produces the back EMF. Based on Lenz’s law, the generated current produced a torque which acts opposite to the applied external torque, and as a result, the deployment speed of the solar panel decreases. The main advantage of this method is to set an intended damping coefficient to the system via changing the external resistance. To produce the sufficient current, a gearbox has been assembled to the DC motor which magnifies the number of turns experienced by the DC motor. The coupled electro-mechanical equations of the system have been derived and solved, then, the obtained results have been presented. A full-scale prototype of the deployment mechanism has been built and tested. The potential application of brushed DC motors as a rotational speed damper has been successfully demonstrated.

Keywords: Back electromotive force, brushed DC motor, rotational speed damper, satellite solar panel deployment mechanism.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1597
995 A Multigrid Approach for Three-Dimensional Inverse Heat Conduction Problems

Authors: Jianhua Zhou, Yuwen Zhang

Abstract:

A two-step multigrid approach is proposed to solve the inverse heat conduction problem in a 3-D object under laser irradiation. In the first step, the location of the laser center is estimated using a coarse and uniform grid system. In the second step, the front-surface temperature is recovered in good accuracy using a multiple grid system in which fine mesh is used at laser spot center to capture the drastic temperature rise in this region but coarse mesh is employed in the peripheral region to reduce the total number of sensors required. The effectiveness of the two-step approach and the multiple grid system are demonstrated by the illustrative inverse solutions. If the measurement data for the temperature and heat flux on the back surface do not contain random error, the proposed multigrid approach can yield more accurate inverse solutions. When the back-surface measurement data contain random noise, accurate inverse solutions cannot be obtained if both temperature and heat flux are measured on the back surface.

Keywords: Conduction, inverse problems, conjugated gradient method, laser.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 804
994 Seismic Response of Hill Side Step-back RC Framed Buildings with Shear Wall and Bracing System

Authors: Birendra Kumar Bohara

Abstract:

The hillside building shows different behavior as a flat ground building in lateral loading. Especially the step back building in the sloping ground has different seismic behavior. The hillside building 3D model having different types of structural elements is introduced and analyzed with a seismic effect. The structural elements such as the shear wall, steel, and concrete bracing are used to resist the earthquake load and compared with without using any shear wall and bracing system. The X, inverted V, and diagonal bracing are used. The total nine models are prepared in ETABs finite element coding software. The linear dynamic analysis is the response spectrum analysis (RSA) carried out to study dynamic behaviors in means of top story displacement, story drift, fundamental time period, story stiffness, and story shear. The results are analyzed and made some decisions based on seismic performance. It is also observed that it is better to use the X bracing system for lateral load resisting elements.

Keywords: Step-back buildings, bracing system, hill side buildings, response spectrum method.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 453
993 Mercury Removing Capacity of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes as Detected by Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: Kinetic & Equilibrium Studies

Authors: Yasser M. Moustafa, Rania E. Morsi, Mohammed Fathy

Abstract:

Multiwall carbon nanotubes, prepared by chemical vapor deposition, have an average diameter of 60-100 nm as shown by High Resolution Transmittance Electron Microscope, HR-TEM. The Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were further characterized using X-ray Diffraction and Raman Spectroscopy. Mercury uptake capacity of MWCNTs was studied using batch adsorption method at different concentration ranges up to 150 ppm. Mercury concentration (before and after the treatment) was measured using cold vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy. The effect of time, concentration, pH and adsorbent dose were studied. MWCNT were found to perform complete absorption in the sub-ppm concentrations (parts per billion levels) while for high concentrations, the adsorption efficiency was 92% at the optimum conditions; 0.1 g of the adsorbent at 150 ppm mercury (II) solution. The adsorption of mercury on MWCNTs was found to follow the Freundlich adsorption isotherm and the pseudo-second order kinetic model.

Keywords: Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, Hydride System, Mercury Removing, Multi Wall Carbon Nanotubes.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2388
992 The Role of Initiator in the Synthesis of Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)-Layered Silicate Nanocomposites through Bulk Polymerization

Authors: Tsung-Yen Tsai, Naveen Bunekar, Ming Hsuan Chang, Wen-Kuang Wang, Satoshi Onda

Abstract:

The structure-property relationship and initiator effect on bulk polymerized poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)–oragnomodified layered silicate nanocomposites was investigated. In this study, we used 2, 2'-azobis (4-methoxy-2,4-dimethyl valeronitrile and benzoyl peroxide initiators for bulk polymerization. The bulk polymerized nanocomposites’ morphology was investigated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The type of initiator strongly influences the physiochemical properties of the polymer nanocomposite. The thermal degradation of PMMA in the presence of nanofiller was studied. 5 wt% weight loss temperature (T5d) increased as compared to pure PMMA. The peak degradation temperature increased for the nanocomposites. Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis were performed to investigate the glass transition temperature and the nature of the constrained region as the reinforcement mechanism respectively. Furthermore, the optical properties such as UV-Vis and Total Luminous Transmission of nanocomposites are examined.

Keywords: Initiator, bulk polymerization, layered silicates, methyl methacrylate.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 915
991 Microstructural and In-Vitro Characterization of Glass-Reinforced Hydroxyapatite Composites

Authors: Uma Batra, Seema Kapoor

Abstract:

Commercial hydroxyapatite (HA) was reinforced by adding 2, 5, and 10 wt % of 28.5%CaO-28.5%P2O5-38%Na2 O- 5%CaF2 based glass and then sintered. Although HA shows good biocompatibility with the human body, its applications are limited to non load-bearing areas and coatings due to its poor mechanical properties. These mechanical properties can be improved substantially with addition of glass ceramics by sintering. In this study, the effects of sintering hydroxyapatite with above specified phosphate glass additions are quantified. Each composition was sintered over a range of temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction were used to characterize the microstructure and phases of the composites. The density, microhardness, and compressive strength were measured using Archimedes Principle, Vickers Microhardness Tester (at 0.98 N), and Instron Universal Testing Machine (cross speed of 0.5 mm/min) respectively. These results were used to indicate which composition provided suitable material for use in hard tissue replacement. Composites containing 10 wt % glass additions formed dense HA/TCP (tricalcium phosphate) composite materials possessing good compressive strength and hardness than HA. In-vitro bioactivity was assessed by evaluating changes in pH and Ca2+ ion concentration of SBF-simulated body fluid on immersion of these composites in it for two weeks.

Keywords: Bioglass, Composite, Hydroxyapatite, Sintering.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1798
990 SEM Image Classification Using CNN Architectures

Authors: G. Türkmen, Ö. Tekin, K. Kurtuluş, Y. Y. Yurtseven, M. Baran

Abstract:

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope mainly used in nanoscience and nanotechnology areas. Automatic image recognition and classification are among the general areas of application concerning SEM. In line with these usages, the present paper proposes a deep learning algorithm that classifies SEM images into nine categories by means of an online application to simplify the process. The NFFA-EUROPE - 100% SEM data set, containing approximately 21,000 images, was used to train and test the algorithm at 80% and 20%, respectively. Validation was carried out using a separate data set obtained from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey. To increase the accuracy in the results, the Inception ResNet-V2 model was used in view of the Fine-Tuning approach. By using a confusion matrix, it was observed that the coated-surface category has a negative effect on the accuracy of the results since it contains other categories in the data set, thereby confusing the model when detecting category-specific patterns. For this reason, the coated-surface category was removed from the train data set, hence increasing accuracy by up to 96.5%.

Keywords: Convolutional Neural Networks, deep learning, image classification, scanning electron microscope.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 137
989 Photopolymerization of Dimethacrylamide with (Meth)acrylates

Authors: Yuling Xu, Haibo Wang, Dong Xie

Abstract:

A photopolymerizable dimethacrylamide was synthesized and copolymerized with the selected (meth)acrylates. The polymerization rate, degree of conversion, gel time, and compressive strength of the formed neat resins were investigated. The results show that in situ photo-polymerization of the synthesized dimethacrylamide with comonomers having an electron-withdrawing and/or acrylate group dramatically increased the polymerization rate, degree of conversion, and compressive strength. On the other hand, an electron-donating group on either carbon-carbon double bond or the ester linkage slowed down the polymerization. In contrast, the triethylene glycol dimethacrylate-based system did not show a clear pattern. Both strong hydrogen-bonding between (meth)acrylamide and organic acid groups may be responsible for higher compressive strengths. Within the limitation of this study, the photo-polymerization of dimethacrylamide can be greatly accelerated by copolymerization with monomers having electron-withdrawing and/or acrylate groups. The monomers with methacrylate group can significantly reduce the polymerization rate and degree of conversion.

Keywords: Photopolymerization, dimethacrylamide, degree of conversion, compressive strength.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 641
988 Development of Impressive Tensile Properties of Hybrid Rolled Ta0.5Nb0.5Hf0.5ZrTi1.5 Refractory High Entropy Alloy

Authors: M. Veeresham

Abstract:

The microstructure, texture, phase stability, and tensile properties of annealed Ta0.5Nb0.5Hf0.5ZrTi1.5 alloy have been investigated in the present research. The alloy was severely hybrid-rolled up to 93.5% thickness reduction, subsequently rolled samples subjected to an annealing treatment at 800 °C and 1000 °C temperatures for 1 h. Consequently, the rolled condition and both annealed temperatures have a body-centered cubic (BCC) structure. Furthermore, quantitative texture measurements (orientation distribution function (ODF) analysis) and microstructural examinations (analytical electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) maps) permitted to establish a good relationship between annealing texture and microstructure and universal testing machine (UTM) utilized for obtaining the mechanical properties. Impressive room temperature tensile properties combination with the tensile strength (1380 MPa) and (24.7%) elongation is achieved for the 800 °C heat-treated condition. The evolution of the coarse microstructure featured in the case of 1000 °C annealed temperature ascribed to the influence of high thermal energy.

Keywords: Refractory high entropy alloys, hybrid-rolling, recrystallization, microstructure, tensile properties.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 633
987 Influence of the Seat Arrangement in Public Reading Spaces on Individual Subjective Perceptions

Authors: Jo-Han Chang, Chung-Jung Wu

Abstract:

This study involves a design proposal. The objective of is to create a seat arrangement model for public reading spaces that enable free arrangement without disturbing the users. Through a subjective perception scale, this study explored whether distance between seats and direction of seats influence individual subjective perceptions in a public reading space. This study also involves analysis of user subjective perceptions when reading in the settings on 3 seats at different directions and with 5 distances between seats. The results may be applied to public chair design. This study investigated that (a) whether different directions of seats and distances between seats influence individual subjective perceptions and (b) the acceptable personal space between 2 strangers in a public reading space. The results are shown as follows: (a) the directions of seats and distances between seats influenced individual subjective perceptions. (b) subjective evaluation scores were higher for back-to-back seat directions with Distances A (10cm) and B (62cm) compared with face-to-face and side-by-side seat directions; however, when the seat distance exceeded 114cm (Distance C), no difference existed among the directions of seats. (c) regarding reading in public spaces, when the distance between seats is 10cm only, we recommend arranging the seats in a back-to-back fashion to increase user comfort and arrangement of face-to-face and side- by-side seat directions should be avoided. When the seatarrangement is limited to face-to-face design, the distance between seats should be increased to at least 62cm. Moreover, the distance between seats should be increased to at least 114cm for side- by-side seats to elevate user comfort.

Keywords: Individual Subjective Perceptions, Personal Space, Seat Arrangement.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1888
986 Dislocation Modelling of the 1997-2009 High-Precision Global Positioning System Displacements in Darjiling- Sikkim Himalaya, India

Authors: Kutubuddin Ansari, Malay Mukul, Sridevi Jade

Abstract:

We used high-precision Global Positioning System (GPS) to geodetically constrain the motion of stations in the Darjiling-Sikkim Himalayan (DSH) wedge and examine the deformation at the Indian-Tibetan plate boundary using IGS (International GPS Service) fiducial stations. High-precision GPS based displacement and velocity field was measured in the DSH between 1997 and 2009. To obtain additional insight north of the Indo-Tibetan border and in the Darjiling-Sikkim-Tibet (DaSiT) wedge, published velocities from four stations J037, XIGA, J029 and YADO were also included in the analysis. India-fixed velocities or the back-slip was computed relative to the pole of rotation of the Indian Plate (Latitude 52.97 ± 0.22º, Longitude - 0.30 ± 3.76º, and Angular Velocity 0.500 ± 0.008º/ Myr) in the DaSiT wedge. Dislocation modelling was carried out with the back-slip to model the best possible solution of a finite rectangular dislocation or the causative fault based on dislocation theory that produced the observed back-slip using a forward modelling approach. To find the best possible solution, three different models were attempted. First, slip along a single thrust fault, then two thrust faults and in finally, three thrust faults were modelled to simulate the back-slip in the DaSiT wedge. The three-fault case bests the measured displacements and is taken as the best possible solution.

Keywords: Global Positioning System, Darjiling-Sikkim Himalaya, Dislocation modelling.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2072
985 Synthesis and Characterization of Nickel and Sulphur Sensitized Zinc Oxide Structures

Authors: Ella C. Linganiso, Bonex W. Mwakikunga, Trilock Singh, Sanjay Mathur, Odireleng M. Ntwaeaborwa

Abstract:

The use of nanostructured semiconducting material to catalyze degradation of environmental pollutants still receives much attention to date. One of the desired characteristics for pollutant degradation under ultra-violet visible light is the materials with extended carrier charge separation that allows for electronic transfer between the catalyst and the pollutants. In this work, zinc oxide n-type semiconductor vertically aligned structures were fabricated on silicon (100) substrates using the chemical bath deposition method. The as-synthesized structures were treated with nickel and sulphur. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to characterize the phase purity, structural dimensions and elemental composition of the obtained structures respectively. Photoluminescence emission measurements showed a decrease in both the near band edge emission as well as the defect band emission upon addition of nickel and sulphur with different concentrations. This was attributed to increased charger-carrier-separation due to the presence of Ni-S material on ZnO surface, which is linked to improved charge transfer during photocatalytic reactions.

Keywords: Carrier-charge-separation, nickel, sulphur, zinc oxide, photoluminescence.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 819
984 Conversion of Jatropha curcas Oil to Ester Biolubricant Using Solid Catalyst Derived from Saltwater Clam Shell Waste (SCSW)

Authors: Said Nurdin, Fatimah A. Misebah, Rosli M. Yunus, Mohd S. Mahmud, Ahmad Z. Sulaiman

Abstract:

The discarded clam shell waste, fossil and edible oil as biolubricant feedstocks create environmental impacts and food chain dilemma, thus this work aims to circumvent these issues by using activated saltwater clam shell waste (SCSW) as solid catalyst for conversion of Jatropha curcas oil as non-edible sources to ester biolubricant. The characterization of solid catalyst was done by Differential Thermal Analysis-Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (DTATGA), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The calcined catalyst was used in the transesterification of Jatropha oil to methyl ester as the first step, and the second stage was involved the reaction of Jatropha methyl ester (JME) with trimethylolpropane (TMP) based on the various process parameters. The formated biolubricant was analyzed using the capillary column (DB-5HT) equipped Gas Chromatography (GC). The conversion results of Jatropha oil to ester biolubricant can be found nearly 96.66%, and the maximum distribution composition mainly contains 72.3% of triester (TE).

Keywords: Conversion, ester biolubricant, Jatropha curcas oil, solid catalyst.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2571
983 Titanium Dioxide Modified with Glutathione as Potential Drug Carrier with Reduced Toxic Properties

Authors: Olga Długosz, Jolanta Pulit-Prociak, Marcin Banach

Abstract:

The paper presents a process to obtain glutathione-modified titanium oxide nanoparticles. The processes were carried out in a microwave radiation field. The influence of the molar ratio of glutathione to titanium oxide and the effect of the fold of NaOH vs. stoichiometric amount on the size of the formed TiO2 nanoparticles was determined. The physicochemical properties of the obtained products were evaluated using dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscope- energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDS), low-temperature nitrogen adsorption method (BET), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) microscopy methods. The size of TiO2 nanoparticles was characterized from 30 nm to 336 nm. The release of titanium ions from the prepared products was evaluated. These studies were carried out using different media in which the powders were incubated for a specific time. These were: water, SBF and Ringer's solution. The release of titanium ions from modified products is weaker compared to unmodified titanium oxide nanoparticles. The reduced release of titanium ions may allow the use of such modified materials as substances in drug delivery systems.

Keywords: titanium dioxide, nanoparticles, drug carrier, glutathione

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 495
982 Cadmium Filter Cake of a Hydrometallurgical Zinc Smelter as a New Source for the Biological Synthesis of CdS Quantum Dots

Authors: Mehran Bakhshi, Mohammad Raouf Hosseini, Mohammadhosein Rahimi

Abstract:

The cadmium sulfide nanoparticles were synthesized from the nickel-cadmium cake of a hydrometallurgical zinc producing plant and sodium sulfide as Cd2+ and S-2 sources, respectively. Also, the synthesis process was performed by using the secretions of Bacillus licheniformis as bio-surfactant. Initially, in order to obtain a cadmium rich solution, two following steps were carried out: 1) Alkaline leaching for the removal of zinc oxide from the cake, and 2) acidic leaching to dissolve cadmium from the remained solid residue. Afterward, the obtained CdSO4 solution was used for the nanoparticle biosynthesis. Nanoparticles were characterized by the energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to confirm the formation of CdS crystals with cubic structure. Also, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was applied to determine the particle sizes which were in 2-10 nm range. Moreover, the presence of the protein containing bio-surfactants was approved by using infrared analysis (FTIR). In addition, the absorbance below 400 nm confirms quantum particles’ size. Finally, it was shown that valuable CdS quantum dots could be obtained from the industrial waste products via environment-friendly biological approaches.

Keywords: Biosynthesis, cadmium cake, cadmium sulfide, nanoparticle, zinc smelter.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1492
981 Electron Beam Processing of Ethylene-Propylene-Terpolymer-Based Rubber Mixtures

Authors: M. D. Stelescu, E. Manaila, G. Craciun, D. Ighigeanu

Abstract:

The goal of the paper is to present the results regarding the influence of the irradiation dose and amount of multifunctional monomer trimethylol-propane trimethacrylate (TMPT) on ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer rubber (EPDM) mixtures irradiated in electron beam. Blends, molded on an electrically heated laboratory roller mill and compressed in an electrically heated hydraulic press, were irradiated using the ALID 7 of 5.5 MeV linear accelerator in the dose range of 22.6 kGy to 56.5 kGy in atmospheric conditions and at room temperature of 25 °C. The share of cross-linking and degradation reactions was evaluated by means of sol-gel analysis, cross-linking density measurements, FTIR studies and Charlesby-Pinner parameter (p0/q0) calculations. The blends containing different concentrations of TMPT (3 phr and 9 phr) and irradiated with doses in the mentioned range have present the increasing of gel content and cross-linking density. Modified and new bands in FTIR spectra have appeared, because of both cross-linking and chain scission reactions.

Keywords: Electron beam irradiation, EPDM rubber, crosslinking density, gel fraction.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 996