Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Star- and comb-polytetrahydrofuran multimacromonomers: Synthesis and network formation.

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Application of a hydrophobic plasma coating on commercially available hydrophilic membranes for direct contact membrane distillation

Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging separation technology, used for separation of non-volatile components from an aqueous stream. The most known application is desalination. The main advantages of MD are: the possibility to use waste heat, the high recovery rates and the easy scalable modules. In contrast to its great potential, the process has not yet been widely accepted in industry. The main problems are the lack of good performing membranes, adequate module configurations and uncertain costs. In this contribution, a commercial hydrophilic membrane is coated with a hydrophobic top layer using atmospheric plasma technology. The performance of these membranes in DCMD has been compared with the performance of commonly used and commercially available PTFE-membranes. The coatings and therefore the membrane properties have been optimized as a function of the nature of the chemical precursors and the different process parameters such as activation step, dissipated power, plasma carrier gas or gas flows. Additionally, changing the plasma treatment time for the most promising coating has enabled to link the coating thickness to the membrane performance in direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD).status: publishe