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

Catalyst Coatings for Microstructure Reactors

Catalytic active coatings for microchannels have been developed for metallic microstructure reactors in heterogeneous catalyzed gas phase reactions. To enhance the inner surface of microchannel reactors, porous metal oxide coatings have been made by various deposition techniques such as sol–gel processes, anodic oxidation, and deposition of nanoparticles. The ceramic thin films have been developed as supports for catalytically active components like precious metals or as catalyst themselves. In an aluminum microstructure reactor the walls of the micro channels of one passage was successfully coated with a porous alumina layer by a modified anodic oxidation method. Moreover, microchannels of microstructure reactors were successfully coated with SiO2, Al2O3 and TiO2 by the sol–gel process. First promising results have been obtained from depositing oxide nanoparticles (ZnO, CuO and Al2O3) by washcoat or electrophoretic deposition methods

Recent Developments in Compact Membrane Reactors with Hydrogen Separation

Hydrogen production and storage in small and medium scale, and chemical heat storage from renewable energy, are of great interest nowadays. Micro-membrane reactors for reforming of methane, as well as for the dehydrogenation of liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs), have been developed. The systems consist of stacked plates with integrated palladium (Pd) membranes. As an alternative to rolled and electroless plated (Pd) membranes, the development of a cost-effective method for the fabrication of Pd membranes by suspension plasma spraying is presented

Design of a process template for amine synthesis

A conceptual nitro reduction process template that should be generic such that it can handle a series of substrates with sim ilar molecular functionality has been designed. The reduction process is based on a continuo us plug-flow slurry reactor. The process template aims at speeding up the process development for new substrates by being easily adapted for a range of substrates as well as easily scaled by numbering-up. The potential saving in process development time could make it a particularly powerful experimental tool for early delivery campaigns in the pharmaceutical industry for the production of Kg amounts of material for clinical trials

Recent developments in miniaturized optical systems for continuous fluorescence detection in liquid flows

International audienceMiniaturization of continuous fluorescence detection is a challenging task due to the multiple and sensitive parameters intervening in the process. By analyzing fluorescence sensing architectures proposed during the last two years, this work has the goal to identify some trends in the process of fluorescence miniaturization for in-time liquid detection. A lack of postulated strategies regarding the miniaturization process was observed and this review tries to answer partially to this need. The identified integration strategies excel in fulfilling partially the desired functions of a fully autonomous miniaturized detector and further research is needed in order to develop sensing micro-system being capable to step outside of the lab world

Recent developments in miniaturized optical systems for continuous fluorescence detection in liquid flows

International audienceMiniaturization of continuous fluorescence detection is a challenging task due to the multiple and sensitive parameters intervening in the process. By analyzing fluorescence sensing architectures proposed during the last two years, this work has the goal to identify some trends in the process of fluorescence miniaturization for in-time liquid detection. A lack of postulated strategies regarding the miniaturization process was observed and this review tries to answer partially to this need. The identified integration strategies excel in fulfilling partially the desired functions of a fully autonomous miniaturized detector and further research is needed in order to develop sensing micro-system being capable to step outside of the lab world