Preparation and characterization of photochromic effect for ceramic tiles

Ceramic tile industry is developing due to the technological researches in scientific area and new tiles which are not only a traditional ceramic also have many multiple functionalities have been marketed nowadays. These tiles like photocatalytic, photovoltaic, antibacterial and etc. improve the quality of life and provide lots of benefits such as self cleaning, energy production, climate control. The goal of this study was to enhance the photochromic function on ceramic tiles which is the attitude of changing color in a reversible way by electromagnetic radiation and widely used in many areas because of its aesthetic and also functional properties. High response time of photochromic features of ceramic tiles have been achieved by employing of polymeric gel with additives of photoactive dye onto the ceramic surface. Photochromic layer with a thickness of approximately 45- 50 μm was performed by using spray coating technique which provided homogeneous deposition on surface. Photochromic ceramic tiles with high photochromic activity such as reversibly color change between ΔE= 0.29 and 26.31 were obtained successfully. The photochromic performance properties and coloring-bleaching mechanisms were analyzed by spectrophotometer. The microstructures of coatings were investigated both by stereo microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Peer reviewe

Tuning viscoelastic properties of supermolecular peptide gels via dynamic covalent crosslinking

Cataloged from PDF version of article.A dynamic covalent crosslinking approach is used to crosslink supramolecular peptide gels. This novel approach facilitates tuning viscoelastic properties of the gel and enhances mechanical stability (storage modulus exceeding 10(5) Pa) of the peptide gels

On The Uniform Convergence Of Spectral Expansions For A Spectral Problem With A Boundary Condition Rationally Depending On The Eigenparameter

The spectral problem −y ′′ + q(x)y = λy, 0 < x < 1, y(0) cos β = y ′ (0) sin β, 0 ≤ β < π; y ′ (1) y(1) = h(λ), is considered, where λ is a spectral parameter, q(x) is real-valued continuous function on [0, 1] and h(λ) = aλ + b − XN k=1 bk λ − ck , with the real coefficients and a ≥ 0, bk > 0, c1 < c2 < · · · < cN , N ≥ 0. The sharpened asymptotic formulae for eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of above-mentioned spectral problem are obtained and the uniform convergence of the spectral expansions of the continuous functions in terms of eigenfunctions are presented

Molecular mechanics of coiled coils loaded in the shear geometry

Coiled coils are important nanomechanical building blocks in biological and biomimetic materials. A mechanistic molecular understanding of their structural response to mechanical load is essential for elucidating their role in tissues and for utilizing and tuning these building blocks in materials applications. Using a combination of single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) and steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations, we have investigated the mechanics of synthetic heterodimeric coiled coils of different length (3-4 heptads) when loaded in shear geometry. Upon shearing, we observe an initial rise in the force, which is followed by a constant force plateau and ultimately strand separation. The force required for strand separation depends on the coiled coil length and the applied loading rate, suggesting that coiled coil shearing occurs out of equilibrium. This out-of-equilibrium behaviour is determined by a complex structural response which involves helix uncoiling, uncoiling-assisted sliding of the helices relative to each other in the direction of the applied force as well as uncoiling-assisted dissociation perpendicular to the force axis. These processes follow a hierarchy of timescales with helix uncoiling being faster than sliding and sliding being faster than dissociation. In SMFS experiments, strand separation is dominated by uncoiling-assisted dissociation and occurs at forces between 25-45 pN for the shortest 3-heptad coiled coil and between 35-50 pN for the longest 4-heptad coiled coil. These values are highly similar to the forces required for shearing apart short double-stranded DNA oligonucleotides, reinforcing the potential role of coiled coils as nanomechanical building blocks in applications where protein-based structures are desired

Multipath fading effect on terrestrial microwave LOS radio links

In this paper, the calculation of both the total received power with the effect of the ground reflection and the fade margin to find out the link availability for terrestrial microwave LOS (line-of-sight) radio links is proposed. The expressions are derived from clear-air, rainfall propagation mechanisms and multipath fading due to multipath arising from surface reflection along the defined microwave LOS radio link. We verify the mathematical model by using the ATDI ICS telecom software over sample microwave LOS radio links located in Turkey. © 2015 IEEE

Short-term propagation measurements and modeling for terrestrial line-of-sight links

This paper presents a propagation prediction technique to predict propagation mechanisms for fixed terrestrial line-of-sight (LOS) radio links, especially proposed for rural environments. We report the results of a short-term propagation measurement campaign carried out in the area of Ankara, Turkey. The field measurements were performed at the frequency of 2.536 GHz for a period of three months in summer 2015. It is observed that the difference between measurement data and predicted mean received power is smaller than the standard deviation value provided by Recommendation ITU-R P. 1546. © 2016 European Association of Antennas and Propagation

The effect of terrain roughness in the microwave line-of-sight multipath fading estimation based on Rec. ITU-R P.530-15

Multipath fading is an important constraint on the prediction of path loss for terrestrial line-of-sight microwave links. The International Telecommunication Union - Radiocommunication (ITU-R) Rec. P.530 [1] is one of the most widely used methods providing guidelines for the design of terrestrial line-of-sight links. The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to make an investigation of the effect of both terrain roughness and geoclimatic factor parameters in the path loss characteristics of microwave line-of-sight (LOS) propagation in NATO Band 3+ (1350-2690 MHz) and NATO Band 4 (4440-5000 MHz) frequency ranges. The two parameters led to significantly different results for the link availability due to multipath fading as a function of the fade margin. © 2014 IEEE

In Situ Operando Electrochemical Dilatometry as a Method to Distinguish Charge Storage Mechanisms and Metal Plating Processes for Sodium and Lithium Ions in Hard Carbon Battery Electrodes

In situ operando electrochemical dilatometry ECD provides information on the expansion shrinkage of an electrode during cell cycling. It is shown that the ECD signal can be used as descriptor to characterize the charge storage behavior of lithium and sodium ions in hard carbon electrodes. It is found that sodium storage in hard carbons occurs by a three step mecha nism, namely I insertion, II pore filling, and III plating. Step III can be seen from a sudden increase in electrode thickness for potentials below around 36 mV versus Na Na and is assigned to plating on the hard carbon surface. Interestingly, this last step is absent in the case of lithium which demon strates that the storage behavior between both alkali metals is different. The plating mechanism is also supported by reference experiments in which bulk plating is enforced. Bulk plating on hard carbon electrodes can be detected more easily for sodium compared to lithium. It is also found that the type of binder strongly influences the dilatometry results. A comparison between the binders sodium salt of carboxymethyl cellulose and poly vinylidene difluoride shows that the use of the former leads to notably smaller first electrode expansion as well as a higher initial Coulomb efficienc

Self-Assembled Proteins and Peptides as Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration

Self-assembling proteins and peptides are increasingly gaining interest for potential use as scaffolds in tissue engineering applications. They self-organize from basic building blocks under mild conditions into supramolecular structures, mimicking the native extracellular matrix. Their properties can be easily tuned through changes at the sequence level. Moreover, they can be produced in sufficient quantities with chemical synthesis or recombinant technologies to allow them to address homogeneity and standardization issues required for applications. Here. recent advances in self-assembling proteins, peptides, and peptide amphiphiles that form scaffolds suitable for tissue engineering are reviewed. The focus is on a variety of motifs, ranging from minimalistic dipeptides, simplistic ultrashort aliphatic peptides, and peptide amphiphiles to large "recombinamer" proteins. Special emphasis is placed on the rational design of self-assembling motifs and biofunctionalization strategies to influence cell behavior and modulate scaffold stability. Perspectives for combination of these "bottom-up" designer strategies with traditional "top-down" biofabrication techniques for new generations of tissue engineering scaffolds are highlighted. Recent advances in self-assembling proteins, peptides, and peptide amphiphiles that form scaffolds suitable for tissue engineering are discussed. Rational design and biofunctionalization strategies for a variety of motifs ranging from minimalistic dipeptides, ultrashort aliphatic peptides, and peptide amphiphiles to large "recombinamer" proteins are reviewed and challenges and perspectives for their widespread adoption in applications are highlighted. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim