Accelerated Curing and Enhanced Material Properties of Conductive Polymer Nanocomposites by Joule Heating

Joule heating is useful for fast and reliable manufacturing of conductive composite materials. In this study, we investigated the influence of Joule heating on curing conditions and material properties of polymer-based conductive composite materials consisting of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). We applied different voltages to the CNT nanocomposites to investigate their electrical stabilization, curing temperature, and curing time. The result showed that highly conductive CNT/PDMS composites were successfully cured by Joule heating with uniform and fast heat distribution. For a 7.0 wt % CNT/PDMS composite, a high curing temperature of around 100 °C was achieved at 20 V with rapid temperature increase. The conductive nanocomposite cured by Joule heating also revealed an enhancement in mechanical properties without changing the electrical conductivities. Therefore, CNT/PDMS composites cured by Joule heating are useful for expediting the manufacturing process for particulate conductive composites in the field of flexible and large-area sensors and electronics, where fast and uniform curing is critical to their performance

Simulation of aromatic SOA formation using the lumping model integrated with explicit gas-phase kinetic mechanisms and aerosol-phase reactions

The Unified Partitioning-Aerosol phase Reaction (UNIPAR) model has been developed to predict the secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation through multiphase reactions. The model was evaluated with aromatic SOA data produced from the photooxidation of toluene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (135-TMB) under various concentrations of NO_x and SO₂ using an outdoor reactor (University of Florida Atmospheric PHotochemical Outdoor Reactor (UF-APHOR) chamber). When inorganic species (sulfate, ammonium and water) are present in aerosol, the prediction of both toluene SOA and 135-TMB SOA, in which the oxygen-to-carbon (O : C) ratio is lower than 0.62, are approached under the assumption of a complete organic/electrolyte-phase separation below a certain relative humidity. An explicit gas-kinetic model was employed to express gas-phase oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons. Gas-phase products are grouped based on their volatility (6 levels) and reactivity (5 levels) and exploited to construct the stoichiometric coefficient (α_i,j) matrix, the set of parameters used to describe the concentrations of organic compounds in multiphase. Weighting of the α_i,j matrix as a function of NO_x improved the evaluation of NO_x effects on aromatic SOA. The total amount of organic matter (OM_T) is predicted by two modules in the UNIPAR model: OM_P by a partitioning process and OM_AR by aerosol-phase reactions. The OM_AR module predicts multiphase reactions of organic compounds, such as oligomerization, acid-catalyzed reactions, and organosulfate (OS) formation. The model reasonably simulates SOA formation under various aerosol acidities, NO_x concentrations, humidities and temperatures. Furthermore, the OS fractions in the SOA predicted by the model were in good agreement with the experimentally measured OS fractions

Isometric Representations of Totally Ordered Semigroups

Let S be a subsemigroup of an abelian torsion-free group G. If S is a positive cone of G, then all C*-algebras generated by faithful isometrical non-unitary representations of S are canonically isomorphic. Proved by Murphy, this statement generalized the well-known theorems of Coburn and Douglas. In this note we prove the reverse. If all C*-algebras generated by faithful isometrical non-unitary representations of S are canonically isomorphic, then S is a positive cone of G. Also we consider G = Z\times Z and prove that if S induces total order on G, then there exist at least two unitarily not equivalent irreducible isometrical representation of S. And if the order is lexicographical-product order, then all such representations are unitarily equivalent.Comment: February 21, 2012. Kazan, Russi

Correlation effects in CaCu3Ru4O12

We have investigated the electronic structure of CaCu3Ru4O12 and LaCu3Ru4O12 using soft x-ray photoelectron and absorption spectroscopy together with band structure and cluster configuration interaction calculations. We found the Cu to be in a robust divalent ionic state while the Ru is more itinerant in character and stabilizes the metallic state. Substitution of Ca by La predominantly affects the Ru states. We observed strong correlation effects in the Cu 3d states affecting the valence band line shape considerably. Using resonant photoelectron spectroscopy at the Cu L3 edge we were able to unveil the position of the Zhang-Rice singlet states in the one-electron removal spectrum of the Cu with respect to the Ru-derived metallic bands in the vicinity of the chemical potential

Electronically highly cubic conditions for Ru in alpha-RuCl3

We studied the local Ru 4d electronic structure of alpha-RuCl3 by means of polarization dependent x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Ru-L2,3 edges. We observed a vanishingly small linear dichroism indicating that electronically the Ru 4d local symmetry is highly cubic. Using full multiplet cluster calculations we were able to reproduce the spectra excellently and to extract that the trigonal splitting of the t2g orbitals is -12 $\pm10$ meV, i.e. negligible as compared to the Ru 4d spin-orbit coupling constant. Consistent with our magnetic circular dichroism measurements, we found that the ratio of the orbital and spin moments is 2.0, the value expected for a Jeff = 1/2 ground state. We have thus shown that as far as the Ru 4d local properties are concerned, alpha-RuCl3 is an ideal candidate for the realization of Kitaev physics

Interpolation function of the genocchi type polynomials

The main purpose of this paper is to construct not only generating functions of the new approach Genocchi type numbers and polynomials but also interpolation function of these numbers and polynomials which are related to a, b, c arbitrary positive real parameters. We prove multiplication theorem of these polynomials. Furthermore, we give some identities and applications associated with these numbers, polynomials and their interpolation functions.Comment: 14 page

Oxygen non-stoichiometry in Ru-1212 and Ru-1222 magnetosuperconductors

Here we report the results of thermogravimetric (TG) analysis on the oxygen non-stoichiometry of RuSr2GdCu2O8 (Ru-1212) and RuSr2(Gd0.75Ce0.25)2Cu2O10(Ru-1222) samples. With TG annealings carried out in O2 and Ar atmospheres it was found that the oxygen content in Ru-1212 remains less affected upon various annealings, while for Ru-1222 wider-range oxygen-content tuning is possible. When heated in H2/Ar atmosphere the both phases release oxygen upon breaking down to mixtures of metals (Ru and Cu) and binary oxides (CeO2, Gd2O3, and SrO) in two distinct steps around 300 and 450 oC. This reductive decomposition reaction carried out in a thermobalance was utilized in precise oxygen content determination for these phases. It was found that the 100-atm O2-annealed Ru-1212 sample was nearly stoichiometric, while the similarly treated Ru-1222 sample was clearly oxygen deficient. X-ray absorption near-edge (XANES) spectroscopy was applied to estimate the valence of Ru in the samples. In spite of the fact that the Ru-1212 phase was shown to possess less oxygen-deficient RuO2 layer, the valence of Ru as probed with XANES was found to be lower in Ru-1212 than that in Ru-1222.Comment: 11 pages text, 4 pages Figs. To ISS 2002 YOKOHAMA for PHYSICA

Are Interaction-free Measurements Interaction Free?

In 1993 Elitzur and Vaidman introduced the concept of interaction-free measurements which allowed finding objects without ``touching'' them. In the proposed method, since the objects were not touched even by photons, thus, the interaction-free measurements can be called as ``seeing in the dark''. Since then several experiments have been successfully performed and various modifications were suggested. Recently, however, the validity of the term ``interaction-free'' has been questioned. The criticism of the name is briefly reviewed and the meaning of the interaction-free measurements is clarified.Comment: 11 pages, 3 eps figures. Contribution to the ICQO 2000, Raubichi, Belaru

Phylogeny and taxonomy of Polyozosia, Sedelnikovaea and Verseghya of the Lecanoraceae (Lecanorales, lichen-forming Ascomycota)

From the combined phylogenetic analysis of multi-locus sequence data of the Lecanoraceae including two nuclear protein-coding markers (RPB2 and RPB1), the internal transcribed spacer and a fragment of the mitochondrial small subunit, found that the originally monotypic eastern Asian genus Verseghya is positioned within the Verseghya-Lecidella-Pyrrhospora clade of the Lecanoraceae and includes one more taxon Verseghya thysanophora widely distributed in Northern Hemisphere. The genus Lecidella forming the Lecidella-Glaucomaria subclade within the same Verseghya-Lecidella-Pyrrhospora clade of the Lecanoraceae found to have tendency to be polyphyletic after including the recently described eastern Asian taxon Lecidella mandshurica into phylogenetic analysis of the Lecanoraceae. It is shown that Lecidella mandshurica was previously recorded from China sub Lecidella aff. elaeochroma. The originally monotypic eastern Asian genus Sedelnikovaea forming a monophyletic branch within the Sedelnikovaea-Lecanoropsis subclade and being in out-position to the Rhizoplaca-Protoparmeliopsis s. str. clade of the Lecanoraceae found to include three more taxa, i.e. Sedelnikovaea marginalis, S. pseudogyrophorica, and S. subdiscrepans. The Eurasian Protoparmeliopsis bolcana, and the eastern Asian P. kopachevskae, are illustrated for the first time as being positioned within the Protopameliopsis branch of the Lecanoraceae, while the South Korean ‘Protoparmeliopsis’ chejuensis found to be positioned in separate monophyletic branch from all other branches of the Rhizoplaca-Protoparmeliopsis s. l. clade of the Lecanoraceae. The genus Polyozosia A. Massal. as earlier name for the former Myriolecis branch of the Lecanoraceae is accepted as far the type species of the latter genus, i.e. P. poliophaea, found to be positioned within this branch. The Polyozosia robust monophyletic branch is positioned in the outermost position in the Rhizoplaca-Protoparmeliopsis s. str. clade of the Lecanoraceae. Position and species content of the accepted genera Glaucomaria, Lecanoropsis, Omphalodina, Polyozosia, and Straminella are discussed in separate nrITS and mtSSU, and combined phylogeny based on concatenated sequences of nrITS, mtSSU, RPB2 and RPB1 genes. Fourty new combinations are proposed: Glaucomaria bicincta, G. carpinea, G. leptyrodes, G. lojkaeana, G. subcarpinea, G. sulphurea, G. swartzii, G. swartzii subsp. caulescens, G. swartzii subsp. nylanderi, Lecanoropsis anopta, L. macleanii, Omphalodina chrysoleuca, O. huashanensis, O. opiniconensis, O. phaedrophthalma, O. pseudistera, Palicella anakeestiicola, Polyozosia albescens, P. andrewii, P. contractula, P. crenulata, P. dispersa, P. hagenii, P. perpruinosa, P. populicola, P. pruinosa, P. reuteri, P. sambuci, P. semipallida, P. straminea, P. thuleana, Sedelnikovaea marginalis, S. pseudogyrophorica, S. subdiscrepans, Straminella bullata, S. burgaziae, S. conizaeoides, S. densa, S. maheui, S. varia, and Verseghya thysanophora. Validation of one name as Polyozosia perpruinosa Fröberg ex S. Y. Kondr. L. Lőkös et Farkas is also proposed