An Approach towards Balanced Energy Consumption in Hierarchical Cluster-based Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper we investigate the mechanisms for organization of the clusters in wireless sensor networks (WSN). After the short introduction to these systems we present the communication architecture and the energy dissipation model, which are used for the hierarchical cluster-based WSN. In the third section of the paper we analyze the current widely used process for organization of the clusters and we outline its main disadvantages. Later we present an approach for balanced consumption of the energy by the sensor motes, and then we propose a modification to this approach. In the next section we present and analyze the results of a series of simulation experiments, which we have conducted with the proposed approach, and then we compare these results with the ones obtained from the simulation experiments, which are conducted with the other presented approaches

From carbon nanotubes and silicate layers to graphene platelets for polymer nanocomposites

In spite of extensive studies conducted on carbon nanotubes and silicate layers for their polymer-based nanocomposites, the rise of graphene now provides a more promising candidate due to its exceptionally high mechanical performance and electrical and thermal conductivities. The present study developed a facile approach to fabricate epoxy–graphene nanocomposites by thermally expanding a commercial product followed by ultrasonication and solution-compounding with epoxy, and investigated their morphologies, mechanical properties, electrical conductivity and thermal mechanical behaviour. Graphene platelets (GnPs) of 3.5