Regenerative braking potencial and energy simulations for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle under real driving conditions

There are several possible configurations and technologies for the powertrains of electric and hybrid vehicles, but most of them will include advanced energy storage systems comprising batteries and ultra-capacitors. Thus, it will be of capital importance to evaluate the power and energy involved in braking and the fraction that has the possibility of being regenerated. The Series type Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (SPHEV), with electric traction and a small Internal Combustion Engine ICE) powering a generator, is likely to become a configuration winner. The first part of this work describes the model used for the quantification of the energy flows of a vehicle, following a particular route. Normalised driving-cycles used in Europe and USA and real routes and traffic conditions were tested. The results show that, in severe urban drivingcycles, the braking energy can represent more than 70% of the required useful motor-energy. This figure is reduced to 40% in suburban routes and to a much lower 18% on motorway conditions. The second part of the work consists on the integration of the main energy components of an S-PHEV into the mathematical model. Their performance and capacity characteristics are described and some simulation results presented. In the case of suburban driving, 90% of the electrical motor-energy is supplied by the battery and ultra-capacitors and 10% by the auxiliary ICE generator, while on motorway these we got 65% and 35%, respectively. The simulations also indicate an electric consumption of 120 W.h/km for a small 1 ton car on a suburban route. This value increases by 11% in the absence of ultra-capacitors and a further 28% without regenerative braking.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - MIT-Pt/EDAMSMS/0030/200

Diffusion coefficients of perfluorinated n-alcohols in water and heavy water: experiment and computer simulation

Fluorinated surfactants find nowadays many industrial applications due to their enhanced ability to lower surface tension in aqueous solutions [1]. As a result of their extensive use, emissions of fluorinated surfactants became frequent and, because of their persistent character, have been increasingly found in the environment [2]. Both the development of theoretical models to study the environmental fate of those pollutants and the design of unit operations (e.g. adsorption) used for their removal require the knowledge of some key properties such as the diffusion coefficients in water. n-alcohols with perfluorinated carbon chains can be regarded as the most simple fluorinated surfactants, being suitable to be used as model substances that can make easier the molecular interpretation and the theoretical treatment of fluorinated surfactants in a systematic way. On the other hand, the smallest perfluorinated n-alcohols find applications in many fields, such as the pharmaceutical industry, polymer production and refrigerant technology as components of working fluids. We have recently reported intra-diffusion coefficients of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol in water for dilute solutions as a function of composition and temperature, obtained both experimentally (NMR spin-echo) and by computer simulation (molecular dynamics) [3]. The results obtained by molecular dynamics closely reproduce the experimental ones, which has encouraged us to attempt predicting the dynamic properties of aqueous solutions of the higher fluorinated alcohols and other fluorinated surfactants. In this work, the intra-diffusion coefficients of 2,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropan-1-ol, 2,2,3,3,4,4,4-heptafluorobutan-1-ol and 2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,5-nonafluoropentan-1-ol in water and heavy water were measured experimentally by NMR spin-echo technique and compared with results obtained from computer simulation (molecular dynamics). The comparison that can be done between experimental and simulation results is used to test the theoretical models for this chemical family of substances and enriches the molecular interpretation of the results, which can be useful to anticipate trends for more complex fluorinated surfactants. [1] Buck, R. C.; Franklin, J.; Berger, U.; Conder, J. M.; Cousins, I. T.; de Voogt, P.; Jensen, A. A.; Kannan, K.; Mabury, S. A.; van Leeuwen, S., Integr. Environ. Assess. Manage 2011, 7, 513−541 [2] D’Hollander, W.; de Voogt, P.; De Coen, W.; Bervoets, L., Rev. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 2010, 208, 179–215 [3] Pereira, L. A. M.; Martins, L. F. G.; Ascenso, J. R.; Morgado, P.; Prates Ramalho, J. P.; Filipe, E. J. M., submitted to publicatio

Effect of biofertilizers and neem oil on the entomopathogenic fungi beauveria bassiana (Bals.) vuill. and metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) sorok.

The in vitro fungitoxic effect of three biofertilizers, E.M.-4, Multibion Ô and Supermagro used in organic agriculture and the neem oil (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) on the entomopathogenic fungi Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana was studied. These products were mixed in a medium where the two fungi were inoculated, and germination, vegetative growth and conidiogenesis were assessed. The biofertilizers Supermagro and E.M.- 4 showed to be less toxic for the two fungi whereas MultibionÔ caused major inhibition on M. anisopliae, with reductions in germination (-37.74%), colony diameter (-30.26%) and conidiogenesis (-42.62%). Neem oil promoted a larger negative effect on B. bassiana, inhibiting germination (-45.27%), colony diameter (-36.62%) and conidiogenesis (-84.93%)

Bateria "Aurora" : estudos exploratórios de adaptação e validação em Portugal

No quadro de alguma insatisfação com o tipo de provas usadas pelos psicólogos na avaliação da inteligência, em particular em contextos educativos, a Universidade Yale assume nesta última década um projecto internacional de validação da Bateria AURORA. Esta bateria de provas emerge da teoria triárquica de inteligência de Robert Sternberg, e pretende avaliar habilidades cognitivas nos domínios da inteligência analítica, criativa e prática. As tarefas propostas para cada uma destas inteligências recorrem a conteúdos verbais, numéricos e figurativos, procurando sempre situações bastante apelativas (motivantes) e associadas ao quotidiano das crianças/adolescentes (validade ecológica). A Bateria aparece, ainda, mencionada como um contributo futuro à identificação de alunos com características de sobredotação, ultrapassando as limitações apontadas habitualmente aos testes de QI. Nesta comunicação, a par da descrição das provas, descrevemos os estudos qualitativos e quantitativos iniciados junto de crianças e adolescentes portugueses, tendo em vista a adaptação e validação da Bateria

Diffusion Coefficients of Fluorinated Surfactants in Water:

Intradiffusion coefficients of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol in water have been measured by the pulsed field gradient (PFG)-NMR spin−echo technique as a function of temperature and composition on the dilute alcohol region. The measurements extend the range of compositions already studied in the literature and, for the first time, include the study of the temperature dependence. At the same time, intradiffusion coefficients of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, 2,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropan-1-ol, and 2,2,3,3,4,4,4-heptafluorobutan-1-ol in water were obtained by computer simulation (molecular dynamics) as a function of composition and temperature. The intradiffusion coefficients of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol in water obtained by simulation agree with the experimental results, while those of 2,2,3,3,3- pentafluoropropan-1-ol and 2,2,3,3,4,4,4-heptafluorobutan-1-ol are the first estimation of this property for those systems. The molecular dynamics simulations were also used to calculate the intradiffusion coefficients of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid in water at infinite dilution as a function of temperature, which are very difficult to obtain experimentally because of the very low solubility of these substances. From the dependence of the intradiffusion coefficients on temperature, diffusion activation energies were estimated for all the solutes in water

Tunable electromagnetic interference shielding properties of binary thermoplastic composites prepared by reactive microencapsulation

The Supporting Information is available free of charge at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsapm.2c00084Thermoplastic composites integrating carbon nanotubes (CNT) and micron-sized metal particles dispersed in polymer matrices can address emerging multifunctional needs, e.g., good electrical conductivity and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding combined with easy processing and affordable costs. Herein, an approach based on reactive microencapsulation is reported to prepare polyamide 6 (PA6)-based composites comprising binary loads of CNT and Al, Cu, or Fe particles. The microencapsulation is performed by activated anionic polymerization of ε-caprolactam in solution, in the presence of the metal/CNT loads. The resulting hybrid microparticles are compression-molded into plates containing effective metal/CNT loads in the range of 12–17 wt %. Among the materials synthesized, the one containing Al/CNT binary load (3:7 wt %) displays the highest EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of 43.5 dB at 12 GHz, with a 2 mm thickness and an electrical conductivity σdc of 6.61 × 10–3 S/cm. A synergetic effect is observed in all of the metal/CNT PA6 samples in terms of both σdc and SE increase. Evidently, the presence of metal particles well dispersed in the conductive CNT network contributes to the mobility of the carriers and thus to the effective attenuation of the electromagnetic waves. Therefore, the binary composites of this study can be efficient thermoplastic EMI shielding materials.The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical support of Hugo Mostardinha from the Instituto de Telecomunicações Aveiro during the EMI shielding measurements and the financial support of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Project UID/CTM/50025/2019. F.M.O. thanks FCT for the Ph.D. grant PD/BD/114372/2016 (AdvaMTech Ph.D. Program in Advanced Materials and Processing). The assistance of Prof. Nuno Carvalho from the University of Aveiro, Portugal, in the EMI shielding experiments is also gratefully acknowledged

Diffusion coefficients of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol/water mixtures

Aqueous mixtures of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol have received significant attention in the last years because their applications, such as working fluid in Rankine cycle thermal engines or as solvent in studies of protein stability (protein folding). From the fundamental point of view, fluoroalcohols have an amphyphile character, due to the simultaneous presence of a hydrophobic (and alkane-phobic) fluorinated surface and a hydroxyl group. Mixtures of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol with hydrogenated alcohols were studied recently in our research group (experimental determination of pVT surfaces as well as thermal, volumetric and structural properties by computer simulation) [1]. In the case of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol/water this study suggested a preference of cross hydrogen bond. Hydrogen bonds play a determinant role in the structure of aqueous mixtures of alcohols, and should influence the dynamic properties of binary systems of fluorinated alcohols with water. The goal of this work is to study a dynamic property (diffusion coefficient) of binary mixtures 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol/water, comparing the results with equilibrium and structural properties already known for this and related systems

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of HIV Fusion Inhibitor T-1249: Insights on Peptide-Lipid Interaction

T-1249 is a peptide that inhibits the fusion of HIV envelope with the target cell membrane. Recent results indicate that T-1249, as in the case of related inhibitor peptide T-20 (enfuvirtide), interacts with membranes, more extensively in the bilayer liquid disordered phase than in the liquid ordered state, which could be linked to its effectiveness. Extensive molecular dynamics simulations (100 ns) were carried out to investigate the interaction between T-1249 and bilayers of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) and POPC/cholesterol (1 : 1). It was observed that T-1249 interacts to different extents with both membrane systems and that peptide interaction with the bilayer surface has a local effect on membrane structure. Formation of hydrogen bonding between certain peptide residues and several acceptor and donor groups in the bilayer molecules was observed. T-1249 showed higher extent of interaction with bilayers when compared to T-20. This is most notable in POPC/Chol membranes, owing to more peptide residues acting as H bond donors and acceptors between the peptide and the bilayer lipids, including H-bonds formed with cholesterol. This behavior is at variance with that of T-20, which forms no H bonds with cholesterol. This higher ability to interact with membranes is probably correlated with its higher inhibitory efficiency