Dual-Motor Planetary Transmission to Improve Efficiency in Electric Vehicles

Electric cars are typically subject to highly variable operational conditions, especially when they drive in urban environments. Consequently, the efficiency of the electric motors may degrade significantly, possibly leading to lower autonomy and higher running costs. Latest advances in power electronics and motion control have paved the way to the development of novel architectures of full electric power transmissions. In this paper, a dual-motor solution is proposed where two smaller motors are coupled via a planetary gear, in contrast to the standard configuration that uses one larger motor directly connected to the drive wheels with a fixed ratio reducer. The dual-motor architecture guarantees that both motors operate in the vicinity of their optimal working range, resulting in a higher overall energy efficiency. The technical requirements and the control strategy of the dual-motor system are selected through a parametric optimization process. Results included were obtained from extensive simulations performed over different standard driving cycles, showing that the dual-motor power transmission generally outperforms the single-motor counterpart with an average efficiency improvement of about 9% that is reached in both the power delivery and regeneration stage

Promises, facts and challenges for graphene in biomedical applications

The graphene family has captured the interest and the imagination of an increasing number of scientists working in different fields, ranging from composites to flexible electronics. In the area of biomedical applications, graphene is especially involved in drug delivery, biosensing and tissue engineering, with strong contributions to the whole nanomedicine area. Besides the interesting results obtained so far and the evident success, there are still many problems to solve, on the way to the manufacturing of biomedical devices, including the lack of standardization in the production of the graphene family members. Control of lateral size, aggregation state (single vs. few layers) and oxidation state (unmodified graphene vs. oxidized graphenes) is essential for the translation of this material into clinical assays. In this Tutorial Review we critically describe the latest developments of the graphene family materials into the biomedical field. We analyze graphene-based devices starting from graphene synthetic strategies, functionalization and processibility protocols up to the final in vitro and in vivo applications. We also address the toxicological impact and the limitations in translating graphene materials into advanced clinical tools. Finally, new trends and guidelines for future developments are presented

Rational chemical multifunctionalization of graphene interface enhances targeted cancer therapy

The synthesis of a drug delivery platform based on graphene was achieved through a step‐by‐step strategy of selective amine deprotection and functionalization. The multifunctional graphene platform, functionalized with indocyanine green, folic acid, and doxorubicin showed an enhanced anticancer activity. The remarkable targeting capacity for cancer cells in combination with the synergistic effect of drug release and photothermal properties prove the great advantage of a combined chemo‐ and phototherapy based on graphene against cancer, opening the doors to future therapeutic applications of this type of material

Improved Biocompatibility of Amino‐Functionalized Graphene Oxide in Caenorhabditis elegans

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Graphene oxide size and oxidation degree govern its supramolecular interactions with siRNA.

Several studies have demonstrated the ability of graphene oxide (GO) to efficiently adsorb small-interfering RNA (siRNA) on its surface and to transport it into cells. However, studies on whether and how siRNA interacts with GO are still inconclusive. In this context, understanding the interaction between GO and siRNA is fundamental to design new efficient gene silencing tools. In this work, the interactions between GO and siRNA molecules were systematically investigated. We focused on how the GO size, oxygenated groups present on the surface and chemical functionalization affect the double helix siRNA structure, using gel electrophoresis, UV-Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and circular dichroism (CD). We found that the siRNA secondary structure was clearly altered by the interaction with GO flakes. In addition, we were able to correlate the double strand damage with the size and the oxygenated groups present on the GO sheets. Finally, we demonstrated that GO functionalized with low molecular weight polyethyleneimine (PEI, 800 Da) is able to protect siRNA from structural modifications. We believed that this research effort will improve our understanding of the behavior of GO/siRNA complexes, and thus facilitate the design of appropriate bio/nanointerfaces and new efficient gene silencing systems.journal article2018 Mar 29importe

Long-range electronic communication in free-base meso-poly(ferrocenyl)-containing porphyrins

H_2FcPh_3P [FcPh_3P = 5-ferrocenyl-10,15,20-triphenyl porphyrin(2-)], cis-H_2Fc_2Ph_2P [cis-Fc_2Ph_2P = 5,10-bisferrocenyl-15,20-diphenyl porphyrin(2-)], trans-H_2Fc_2Ph_2P [trans-Fc_2Ph_2P = 5,15-bisferrocenyl-10,20-diphenyl porphyrin(2-)], and H_2Fc_3PhP [Fc_3PhP = 5,10,15-trisferrocenyl-20-phenyl porphyrin(2-)] along with H_2TPP [TPP = 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin] and H_2TFcP [TFcP = 5,10,15,20-tetraferrocenyl porphyrin(2-)] were isolated from the direct cross-condensation reaction between pyrrole, benzaldehyde, and ferrocene carboxaldehyde or from the reaction between ferrocenyl-2,2'-dipyrromethane and benzaldehyde, suggesting a scrambling reaction mechanism for the last approach. All compounds were characterized by UV-vis, MCD, and NMR spectroscopy; APCI MS and MS/MS methods; as well as high-resolution ESI MS spectrometry. The conformational flexibility of ferrocene substituents in all compounds was confirmed using variable-temperature NMR and computational methods. DFT calculations were employed to understand the degree of nonplanarity of the porphyrin core as well as the electronic structure of ferrocene-containing porphyrins. In all cases, a set of occupied, predominantly ferrocene-based molecular orbitals was found between the highest occupied and the lowest unoccupied, predominantly porphyrin-based molecular pi orbitals. The redox properties of all ferrocene-containing porphyrins were investigated in a CH_2Cl_2/TFAB [TFAB = tetrabutylammonium tetrakis(perfluorophenyl)borate] system using cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry, and square wave voltammetry methods. In all cases, oxidations of individual ferrocene substituent(s) along with porphyrin core oxidation(s) and reductions have been observed. Mixed-valence [cis-H_2Fc_2Ph_2P]^+, [trans-H_2Fc_2Ph_2P]^+, [H_2Fc_3PhP]^+, and [H_2Fc_3PhP]^(2+) complexes were formed in situ under spectroelectrochemical and chemical oxidation conditions and were characterized using UV-vis and MCD approaches. Analysis of intervalence charge-transfer bands observed in the NIR region for all mixed-valence complexes suggests electron localization and thus class II behavior in the Robin-Day classification