New fluorescent polymeric nanocomposites synthesized by antimony dodecyl-mercaptide thermolysis in polymer

In this work, the formation of semiconductive Sb2S3 nanoparticles inside amorphous polystyrene has been achieved by thermal degradation of the corresponding antimony dodecyl-mercaptide, Sb(SC12H25)3. The thermolysis of the dodecyl-mercaptide precursor was studied as both pure phase and mercaptide solution in polystyrene. The thermal decom- position of the antimony mercaptide precursor at 350°C, under vacuum, showed the formation of a mixture of antimony trisulfide (stibnite, Sb2S3) and zero-valent antimony (Sb) phase. X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld analysis carried out on the obtained nanostructured powder confirmed the presence of Sb and Sb2S3 phases in 10.4 wt% and 89.6 wt% amount, respectively. The same pyrolysis reaction was carried out in the polymer and the resulting nanocompos- ite material was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-VIS spec- troscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The nanocomposite structural characterization indicated the presence of well-dispersed nanoclusters of antimony and stibnite (15-30 nm in size) inside the amorphous polymeric phase. Optical measurements on the obtained nanocomposite films showed a strong emission at 432 nm upon excitation at 371 nm, prob- ably related to the presence of Sb2S3 nanoclusters

Synthesis of gold nano-plates by mercaptide thermolysis in poly(vinyl acetate)

Triangular gold nano-plates have been synthesized by thermal decomposition of Au(I) dodecyl-mercaptide (i. e., AuSC12H25) dissolved in poly(vinyl acetate). Such special shape was achieved because of the ability of polymer side- groups (i. e., the acetate groups) to be selectively absorbed on the most acid faces of the growing gold nanocrystals, thus inhibiting crystal development along these crystallographic directions. Nano-plates had an average edge length of ca. 30 nm and a thickness of a few nanometers

Instantiating the PERFORM system architecture for industrial case studies

The PERFoRM project, an innovation action promoted within the scope of the EU Horizon 2020 program, advocates the use of an Industrie 4.0 compliant system architecture for the seamless reconfiguration of robots and machinery. The system architecture re-uses the innovative results from previous successful R & D projects on distributed control systems domain, such as SOCRADES, IMC-AESOP, GRACE and IDEAS. This paper, after describing the main pillars of the PERFoRM system architecture, focuses on mapping the system architecture into four industrial use cases aiming to validate the system architecture design before its deployment in the real environments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cloud-Based Architecture for Production Information Exchange in European Micro-Factory Context

In a constantly changing world, information stands as one of the most valuable assets for a manufacturing site. However, exchanging information is not a straightforward process among factories, and concerns regarding the trustability and validation of transactions between various stakeholders have emerged within the context of micro-factories. This work presents an architecture designed to enable information exchange among heterogeneous stakeholders, taking advantage of the cloud infrastructure. It was designed to enable the use of several tools, connected through a middleware system deployed on the cloud. To demonstrate the potential of this architecture, a platform was instantiated, and two use cases—designed to accurately represent real manufacturing sites—were implemented.© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

From the Vehicle to Grid to the Internet of Energy: Towards a smart aggregation of embedded systems

The lack of an infrastructure for the charging of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is currently pointed out as a major problem to be addressed for the full deployment of the Electric Mobility which is currently growing faster than expected. In addition the tremendous growth of new renewable energy production is facing the urgency of large energy storage systems to store the excess of production (i.e. overnight) for later utilization (peak-hours). In this context the forthcoming evolution of the electrical grid into a new generation smart grid interconnected with the internet which will include the EVs as new electrical energy customers, grid load levellers and giant distributed battery system, is expected to be a short/mid-term answer. The ARTEMIS Internet of Energy project starting in 2011 will provide the underlying embedded systems technologies for an intelligent, open-communication-standards-based, highly efficient and collaborative network that links utilities, operators and ultimately energy consumers

Image reconstruction algorithms for the microwave holographic vision system with reliable gap detection at theoretical limits

We present a reliable image reconstruction algorithm suitable for a microwave holographic vision system with several sensors coupled to the spin-diode based microwave detector and a single emission source. An objective is, by reconstructing the spatial microwave scattering density on the scene, to detect the presence and the nature of road obstacles impeding driving in the near vehicle zone. The idea of holographic visualization is to reconstruct the spatial microwave scattering density of an object by detecting an amplitude and phase of a reflected signal by lattice of sensors. We discuss versions of an algorithm, determine and analyse its resolution limits for various distances with different number of sensors for a one-dimensional test problem of detecting two walls (or posts) separated by a gap at a fixed distance. The maximal interval between sensors needed for a reliable reconstruction equals approximately Fresnel zone width. We show that maximal resolution achieved by our algorithm with an appropriate number of sensors was about 40% of Fresnel zone width for wall detection and about 30% of zone width for gap detection

Image reconstruction algorithms for the microwave holographic vision system with reliable gap detection at theoretical limits

We present a reliable image reconstruction algorithm suitable for a microwave holographic vision system with several sensors coupled to the spin-diode based microwave detector and a single emission source. An objective is, by reconstructing the spatial microwave scattering density on the scene, to detect the presence and the nature of road obstacles impeding driving in the near vehicle zone. The idea of holographic visualization is to reconstruct the spatial microwave scattering density of an object by detecting an amplitude and phase of a reflected signal by lattice of sensors. We discuss versions of an algorithm, determine and analyse its resolution limits for various distances with different number of sensors for a one-dimensional test problem of detecting two walls (or posts) separated by a gap at a fixed distance. The maximal interval between sensors needed for a reliable reconstruction equals approximately Fresnel zone width. We show that maximal resolution achieved by our algorithm with an appropriate number of sensors was about 40% of Fresnel zone width for wall detection and about 30% of zone width for gap detection

New Polymeric Additives for Allowing Photoelectric Sensing of Plastics during Manufacturing

Metallic mercaptides are inert organic compounds (i.e., Mex( SR) y) that can be used to make thermoplastic polymers high luminescent to UV-light. Luminescence is strictly required in polymer manufacturing since this characteristic allows detection of polymer pieces by photoelectric sensors. Luminescent Au, CdS, and ZnS nanoparticles can be generated into thermoplastics like: polystyrene, polycarbonate, poly(vinyl acetate), etc. by thermolysis of the corresponding mercaptides. PL spectra of polymeric films embedding these nanoparticles show intensive visible light emission in different spectral regions. The formation of nanoparticles was probably related to the viscous nature of reaction medium which significantly limit the growth stage

On the Comparison of 2- and 4-Wheel-Drive Electric Vehicle Layouts with Central Motors and Single- and 2-Speed Transmission Systems

Electric vehicles (EVs) are characterized by a significant variety of possible powertrain configurations, ranging from one to four electric machines, which can have an on-board or in-wheel layout. Multiple models of production EVs have recently been introduced on the market, with 4-wheel-drive (4WD) architectures based on a central motor within each axle, connected to the wheels through a gearbox, a differential, and half-shafts. In parallel, an important body of research and industrial demonstrations have covered the topic of 2-speed transmission systems for EVs, with the target of enhancing longitudinal acceleration and gradeability performance, while increasing the operating efficiency of the electric powertrain. Although several recent studies compare different electric powertrain architectures, to the best of the authors’ knowledge the literature misses a comparison between 2-wheel-drive (2WD) and 4WD configurations for the same EV, from the viewpoint of drivability and energy consumption. This paper targets this gap, by assessing 2WD and 4WD powertrain layouts with central motors, for a case study light passenger car for urban mobility, including consideration of the effect of single- and 2-speed transmission systems. An optimization routine is used to calculate the energy-efficient gear state and/or torque distribution for each considered configuration. For the specific EV, the results highlight the favourable trade-off of the single-speed 4WD layout, capable of reducing the energy consumption during driving cycles by approximately 9% with respect to the conventional 2WD layout with single-speed transmission, while providing satisfactory drivability and good gradeability, especially in low tire–road friction conditions