15,331 research outputs found
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The effect of water absorption on the dielectric properties of epoxy nanocomposites
In this research, the influence of water absorption on the dielectric properties of epoxy resin and epoxy micro-composites and nano-composites filled with silica has been studied. Nanocomposites were found to absorb significantly more water than unfilled epoxy. However, the microcomposite absorbed less water than unfilled epoxy: corresponding to reduced proportion of the epoxy in this composite. The glass transition temperatures of all the samples were measured by both differential scanning calorimetry and dielectric spectroscopy. The Tg decreased as the water absorption increased and, in all cases, corresponded to a drop of approximately 20K as the humidity was increased from 0% to 100%. This implied that for all the samples, the amount of water in the resin component of the composites was almost identical. It was concluded that the extra water found in the nanocomposites was located around the surface of the nanoparticles. This was confirmed by measuring the water uptake, and the swelling and density change, as a function of humidity as water was absorbed. The water shell model, originally proposed by Lewis and developed by Tanaka, has been further developed to explain low frequency dielectric spectroscopy results in which percolation of charge carriers through overlapping water shells was shown to occur. This has been discussed in terms of a percolation model. At 100% relative humidity, water is believed to surround the nanoparticles to a depth of approximately 5 monolayers. A second layer of water is proposed that is dispersed by sufficiently concentrated to be conductive; this may extend for approximately 25 nm. If all the water had existed in a single layer surrounding a nanoparticle, this layer would have been approximately 3 to 4 nm thick at 100%. This "characteristic thickness" of water surrounding a given size of nanoparticle appeared to be independent of the concentration of nanoparticles but approximately proportional to water uptake. Filler particles that have surfaces that are functionalized to be hydrophobic considerably reduce the amount of water absorbed in nanocomposites under the same conditions of humidity. Comments are made on the possible effect on electrical aging
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A "water shell" model for the dielectric properties of hydrated silica-filled epoxy nano-composites
The electrical properties of epoxy resin have been studied as a function of hydration. The epoxy was studied in an un-filled state, filled with 40 µm SiO2 particles, and filled with 50 nm SiO2 particles. The relative humidity was controlled by saturated salt solutions at ambient temperatures from 298-353 K. Measurements were made using dielectric spectroscopy over the frequency range 10-3-105 Hz. The hydration isotherm (i.e. the mass uptake of water) was established by measuring the mass as a function of relative humidity (RH). It was found that the nanocomposites absorb up to 60% more water than the unfilled and micro-filled epoxies. Dielectric spectroscopy shows different conduction and quasi-DC behaviours at very low frequencies (<10-2 Hz) with activation energies dependent on the hydration and temperature. These observations have led to the development of a “water shell” model to explain this phenomenon
An equations-of-motion approach to quantum mechanics: application to a model phase transition
We present a generalized equations-of-motion method that efficiently
calculates energy spectra and matrix elements for algebraic models. The method
is applied to a 5-dimensional quartic oscillator that exhibits a quantum phase
transition between vibrational and rotational phases. For certain parameters,
10 by 10 matrices give better results than obtained by diagonalising 1000 by
1000 matrices.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Quasi dynamical symmetry in an interacting boson model phase transition
The oft-observed persistence of symmetry properties in the face of strong
symmetry-breaking interactions is examined in the SO(5)-invariant interacting
boson model. This model exhibits a transition between two phases associated
with U(5) and O(6) symmetries, respectively, as the value of a control
parameter progresses from 0 to 1. The remarkable fact is that, for intermediate
values of the control parameter, the model states exhibit the characteristics
of its closest symmetry limit for all but a relatively narrow transition region
that becomes progressively narrower as the particle number of the model
increases. This phenomenon is explained in terms of quasi-dynamical symmetry.Comment: 4 figure
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The Influence of Water on Dielectric Behavior of Silica-filled Epoxy Nano-composites and Percolation Phenomenon
The dielectric properties of epoxy resin were studied as a function of hydration by dielectric spectroscopy. The dielectric spectroscopy measurements show different conduction and quasi-DC behaviors at very low frequencies (<10-2 Hz) with activation energies dependent on the hydration. These observations lead to the development of a model in which a “water shell” is formed around the nano-particles. The multiple shell model, originally proposed by Lewis and developed by Tanaka, has been further developed to explain low frequency dielectric spectroscopy results in which percolation of charge carriers through overlapping water shells was shown to occur. At 100% relative humidity, water is believed to surround the nanoparticles to a depth of approximately 10 monolayers as the first layer. A second layer of water is proposed that is dispersed by sufficiently concentrated to be conductive. If all the water had existed in a single layer surrounding a nanoparticle, this layer would have been approximately 5 nm thick at 100% RH. Filler particles that have surfaces that are functionalized to be hydrophobic considerably reduce the amount of water absorbed in nanocomposites under the same conditions of humidity. PEA results show that the wetted epoxy specimens have a higher threshold field of space charge accumulation than such dry specimens since water enhances charge decay
On giant piezoresistance effects in silicon nanowires and microwires
The giant piezoresistance (PZR) previously reported in silicon nanowires is
experimentally investigated in a large number of surface depleted silicon nano-
and micro-structures. The resistance is shown to vary strongly with time due to
electron and hole trapping at the sample surfaces. Importantly, this time
varying resistance manifests itself as an apparent giant PZR identical to that
reported elsewhere. By modulating the applied stress in time, the true PZR of
the structures is found to be comparable with that of bulk silicon
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Influence of absorbed water on the dielectric properties and glass-transition temperature of silica-filled epoxy nanocomposites
Work on dielectric spectroscopy of epoxy resin filled with nano-SiO2 at different relative humidities and temperatures is reported. Above the glass-transition temperature (Tg), dc-like imperfect charge transport (QDC or LFD) dominates the low frequency dielectric spectrum. Another mid-frequency relaxation process was found in the non-dried composites. Water also induces glass-transition temperature decreases, which can be measured both by dielectric spectroscopy and DSC. Both theory and experiment demonstrated that a higher water content could exist in nanocomposites than unfilled epoxy suggesting a bigger free volume when nanostructured. In our system, the hydrophilic surface of silica is likely to cause water to surround and lead to delamination of the epoxy from SiO2. This is a potential mechanical and dielectric weakness in the nanocomposites, which may lead to an ageing phenomenon. Hydrophobic surface group may reduce the water adsorption in nanocomposites
Reduction of computer usage costs in predicting unsteady aerodynamic loadings caused by control surface motions: Analysis and results
Results of theoretical and numerical investigations conducted to develop economical computing procedures were applied to an existing computer program that predicts unsteady aerodynamic loadings caused by leading and trailing edge control surface motions in subsonic compressible flow. Large reductions in computing costs were achieved by removing the spanwise singularity of the downwash integrand and evaluating its effect separately in closed form. Additional reductions were obtained by modifying the incremental pressure term that account for downwash singularities at control surface edges. Accuracy of theoretical predictions of unsteady loading at high reduced frequencies was increased by applying new pressure expressions that exactly satisified the high frequency boundary conditions of an oscillating control surface. Comparative computer result indicated that the revised procedures provide more accurate predictions of unsteady loadings as well as providing reduction of 50 to 80 percent in computer usage costs
An exactly solvable model of a superconducting to rotational phase transition
We consider a many-fermion model which exhibits a transition from a
superconducting to a rotational phase with variation of a parameter in its
Hamiltonian. The model has analytical solutions in its two limits due to the
presence of dynamical symmetries. However, the symmetries are basically
incompatible with one another; no simple solution exists in intermediate
situations. Exact (numerical) solutions are possible and enable one to study
the behavior of competing but incompatible symmetries and the phase transitions
that result in a semirealistic situation. The results are remarkably simple and
shed light on the nature of phase transitions.Comment: 11 pages including 1 figur
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