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- ItemPolypropylene/Layered Double Hydroxide Nanocomposites: Influence of LDH Intralayer Metal Constituents on the Properties of Polypropylene(Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2017) Nagendra, Baku; Rosely, C. V. Sijla; Leuteritz, Andreas; Reuter, Uta; Gowd, E. BhojeSonication-assisted delamination of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) resulted in smaller-sized LDH nanoparticles (∼50-200 nm). Such delaminated Co-Al LDH, Zn-Al LDH, and Co-Zn-Al LDH solutions were used for the preparation of highly dispersed isotactic polypropylene (iPP) nanocomposites. Transmission electron microscopy and wide-angle X-ray diffraction results revealed that the LDH nanoparticles were well dispersed within the iPP matrix. The intention of this study is to understand the influence of the intralayer metal composition of LDH on the various properties of iPP/LDH nanocomposites. The sonicated LDH nanoparticles showed a significant increase in the crystallization rate of iPP; however, not much difference in the crystallization rate of iPP was observed in the presence of different types of LDH. The dynamic mechanical analysis results indicated that the storage modulus of iPP was increased significantly with the addition of LDH. The incorporation of different types of LDH showed no influence on the storage modulus of iPP. But considerable differences were observed in the flame retardancy and thermal stability of iPP with the type of LDH used for the preparation of nanocomposites. The thermal stability (50% weight loss temperature (T0.5)) of the iPP nanocomposite containing three-metal LDH (Co-Zn-Al LDH) is superior to that of the nanocomposites made of two-metal LDH (Co-Al LDH and Zn-Al LDH). Preliminary studies on the flame-retardant properties of iPP/LDH nanocomposites using microscale combustion calorimetry showed that the peak heat release rate was reduced by 39% in the iPP/Co-Zn-Al LDH nanocomposite containing 6 wt % LDH, which is higher than that of the two-metal LDH containing nanocomposites, iPP/Co-Al LDH (24%) and iPP/Zn-Al LDH (31%). These results demonstrated that the nanocomposites prepared using three-metal LDH showed better thermal and flame-retardant properties compared to the nanocomposites prepared using two-metal LDH. This difference might be due to the better char formation capability of three-metal LDH compared to that of two-metal LDH.
- ItemEffects of high energy electrons on the properties of polyethylene / multiwalled carbon nanotubes composites: Comparison of as-grown and oxygen-functionalised MWCNT(Melville, NY : AIP, 2014) Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra; Gohs, U.Polymer modification with high energy electrons (EB) is well established in different applications for many years. It is used for crosslinking, curing, degrading, grafting of polymeric materials and polymerisation of monomers. In contrast to this traditional method, electron induced reactive processing (EIReP) combines the polymer modification with high energy electrons and the melt mixing process. This novel reactive method was used to prepare polymer blends and composites. In this study, both methods were used for the preparation of polyethylene (PE)/ multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) composites in the presence of a coupling agent. The influence of MWCNT and type of electron treatment on the gel content, the thermal conductivity, rheological, and electrical properties was investigated whereby as-grown and oxidised MWCNT were used. In the presence of a coupling agent and at an absorbed dose of 40 kGy, the gel content increased from 57 % for the pure PE to 74 % or 88 % by the addition of as-grown (Baytubes® C150P) or oxidised MWCNT, respectively. In comparison to the composites containing the as-grown MWCNTs, the use of the oxidised MWCNTs led to higher melt viscosity and higher storage modulus due to higher yield of filler polymer couplings. The melt viscosity increased due to the addition of MWCNT and crosslinking of PE. The thermal conductivity increased to about 150 % and showed no dependence on the kind of MWCNT and the type of electron treatment. In contrast, the lowest value of electrical volume resistivity was found for the non-irradiated samples and after state of the art electron treatment without any influence of the type of MWCNT. In the case of EIReP, the volume resistivity increased by 2 (as-grown MWCNT) or 3 decades (oxidised MWCNT) depending on the process parameters. © 2014 American Institute of Physics.
- ItemEffect of additives on MWCNT dispersion and electrical percolation in polyamide 12 composites(Melville, NY : AIP, 2017) Socher, Robert; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, PetraThe aim of this study was to decrease the electrical percolation threshold of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in a polyamide 12 matrix by the use of additives. Different kinds of additives were selected which either interact with the π-system of the MWCNTs (imidazolium based ionic liquid (IL) and perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA)) or improve the MWCNT wettability (cyclic butylene terephthalate, CBT). The composites were melt mixed using a DACA microcompounder. The electrical percolation threshold for PA12/MWCNT without additives, measured on compression molded plates, was found between 2.0 and 2.25 wt%. With all used additives, a significant reduction of the electrical percolation threshold could be achieved. Whereas the addition of IL and CBT resulted in MWCNT percolation at around 1.0 wt%, a slightly higher percolation threshold between 1.0 and 1.5 wt% was found for PTCDA as an additive. Interestingly, the electrical resistivity at higher loadings was decreased by nearly two decades when using CBT and one decade after application of PTCDA, whereas IL did not contribute to lower values in this range. In all cases macrodispersion as assessed by light microscopy was not improved and even worse as compared to non-modified composites. In summary, the results illustrate that these kinds of additives are able to improve the performance of PA12 based MWCNT nanocomposites.
- ItemPromoting access to and use of seismic data in a large scientific community(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2017) Michel, Eric; Belkacem, Kevin; Samadi, Reza; de Assis Peralta, Raphael; Renié, Christian; Abed, Mahfoudh; Lin, Guangyuan; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jørgen; Houdek, Günter; Handberg, Rasmus; Gizon, Laurent; Burston, Raymond; Nagashima, Kaori; Pallé, Pere; Poretti, Ennio; Rainer, Monica; Mistò, Angelo; Panzera, Maria Rosa; Roth, Markus; Monteiro, Mário J. P. F. G.; Cunha, Margarida S.; Ferreira, João Miguel T. S.The growing amount of seismic data available from space missions (SOHO, CoRoT, Kepler, SDO,…) but also from ground-based facilities (GONG, BiSON, ground-based large programmes…), stellar modelling and numerical simulations, creates new scientific perspectives such as characterizing stellar populations in our Galaxy or planetary systems by providing model-independent global properties of stars such as mass, radius, and surface gravity within several percent accuracy, as well as constraints on the age. These applications address a broad scientific community beyond the solar and stellar one and require combining indices elaborated with data from different databases (e.g. seismic archives and ground-based spectroscopic surveys). It is thus a basic requirement to develop a simple and effcient access to these various data resources and dedicated tools. In the framework of the European project SpaceInn (FP7), several data sources have been developed or upgraded. The Seismic Plus Portal has been developed, where synthetic descriptions of the most relevant existing data sources can be found, as well as tools allowing to localize existing data for given objects or period and helping the data query. This project has been developed within the Virtual Observatory (VO) framework. In this paper, we give a review of the various facilities and tools developed within this programme. The SpaceInn project (Exploitation of Space Data for Innovative Helio- and Asteroseismology) has been initiated by the European Helio- and Asteroseismology Network (HELAS).
- ItemInfluence of graphite and SEBS addition on thermal and electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of polypropylene composites(Melville, NY : AIP, 2017) Krause, Beate; Cohnen, A.; Pötschke, Petra; Hickmann, T.; Koppler, D.; Proksch, B.; Kersting, T.; Hopmann, C.In this study, composites based on polypropylene (PP) and different graphite fillers were melt mixed using small scale microcompounder Xplore DSM15 as well as lab-scale co-rotating twin screw extruder Coperion ZSK26Mc. The measurements of the electrical and thermal conductivity as well as mechanical properties of the composites were performed on pressed plates. It was found that the addition of graphite powders having different particle size distributions leads to different increases of the thermal conductivity. For synthetic graphite, the PP composites filled with TIMCAL Timrex® KS500 reached the highest value of thermal conductivity of 0.52 W/(m·K) at 10 vol% loading, whereas this composite was not electrical conductive. Furthermore, the influence of a styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene block copolymer (SEBS) based impact modifier on the mechanical properties of PP filled with 80 wt% of different synthetic graphites was investigated. For that the proportion of SEBS in the PP component was varied systematically. The conductivities were influenced by the type of graphite and the content of impact modifier. The results indicate that the impact strength of the composite containing TIMCAL Timrex® KS300-1250 can be increased by approx. 100 % when replacing 50 wt% of the PP component by SEBS.
- ItemHigh-Sensitivity Rheo-NMR Spectroscopy for Protein Studies(Columbus, Ohio : American Chemical Society, 2017) Morimoto, Daichi; Walinda, Erik; Iwakawa, Naoto; Nishizawa, Mayu; Kawata, Yasushi; Yamamoto, Akihiko; Shirakawa, Masahiro; Scheler, Ulrich; Sugase, KenjiShear stress can induce structural deformation of proteins, which might result in aggregate formation. Rheo-NMR spectroscopy has the potential to monitor structural changes in proteins under shear stress at the atomic level; however, existing Rheo-NMR methodologies have insufficient sensitivity to probe protein structure and dynamics. Here we present a simple and versatile approach to Rheo-NMR, which maximizes sensitivity by using a spectrometer equipped with a cryogenic probe. As a result, the sensitivity of the instrument ranks highest among the Rheo-NMR spectrometers reported so far. We demonstrate that the newly developed Rheo-NMR instrument can acquire high-quality relaxation data for a protein under shear stress and can trace structural changes in a protein during fibril formation in real time. The described approach will facilitate rheological studies on protein structural deformation, thereby aiding a physical understanding of shear-induced amyloid fibril formation.
- ItemEnzyme Activity by Design: An Artificial Rhodium Hydroformylase for Linear Aldehydes(Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2017-9-13) Jarvis, Amanda G.; Obrecht, Lorenz; Deuss, Peter J.; Laan, Wouter; Gibson, Emma K.; Wells, Peter P.; Kamer, Paul C. J.Artificial metalloenzymes (ArMs) are hybrid catalysts that offer a unique opportunity to combine the superior performance of natural protein structures with the unnatural reactivity of transition-metal catalytic centers. Therefore, they provide the prospect of highly selective and active catalytic chemical conversions for which natural enzymes are unavailable. Herein, we show how by rationally combining robust site-specific phosphine bioconjugation methods and a lipid-binding protein (SCP-2L), an artificial rhodium hydroformylase was developed that displays remarkable activities and selectivities for the biphasic production of long-chain linear aldehydes under benign aqueous conditions. Overall, this study demonstrates that judiciously chosen protein-binding scaffolds can be adapted to obtain metalloenzymes that provide the reactivity of the introduced metal center combined with specifically intended product selectivity.
- ItemA Stable Manganese Pincer Catalyst for the Selective Dehydrogenation of Methanol(Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2016-12-2) Andérez-Fernández, María; Vogt, Lydia K.; Fischer, Steffen; Zhou, Wei; Jiao, Haijun; Garbe, Marcel; Elangovan, Saravanakumar; Junge, Kathrin; Junge, Henrik; Ludwig, Ralf; Beller, MatthiasFor the first time, structurally defined manganese pincer complexes catalyze the dehydrogenation of aqueous methanol to hydrogen and carbon dioxide, which is a transformation of interest with regard to the implementation of a hydrogen and methanol economy. Excellent long-term stability was demonstrated for the Mn-PNPiPr catalyst, as a turnover of more than 20 000 was reached. In addition to methanol, other important hydrogen carriers were also successfully dehydrogenated.
- ItemElectrically-Pumped Wavelength-Tunable GaAs Quantum Dots Interfaced with Rubidium Atoms(Washington, DC : ACS, 2017) Huang, Huiying; Trotta, Rinaldo; Huo, Yongheng; Lettner, Thomas; Wildmann, Johannes S.; Martín-Sánchez, Javier; Huber, Daniel; Reindl, Marcus; Zhang, Jiaxiang; Zallo, Eugenio; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Rastelli, ArmandoWe demonstrate the first wavelength-tunable electrically pumped source of nonclassical light that can emit photons with wavelength in resonance with the D2 transitions of 87Rb atoms. The device is fabricated by integrating a novel GaAs single-quantum-dot light-emitting diode (LED) onto a piezoelectric actuator. By feeding the emitted photons into a 75 mm long cell containing warm 87Rb vapor, we observe slow-light with a temporal delay of up to 3.4 ns. In view of the possibility of using 87Rb atomic vapors as quantum memories, this work makes an important step toward the realization of hybrid-quantum systems for future quantum networks.
- ItemIn-Gel Direct Laser Writing for 3D-Designed Hydrogel Composites That Undergo Complex Self-Shaping(Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2017) Nishiguchi, Akihiro; Mourran, Ahmed; Zhang, Hang; Möller, MartinSelf-shaping and actuating materials inspired by biological system have enormous potential for biosensor, microrobotics, and optics. However, the control of 3D-complex microactuation is still challenging due to the difficulty in design of nonuniform internal stress of micro/nanostructures. Here, we develop in-gel direct laser writing (in-gel DLW) procedure offering a high resolution inscription whereby the two materials, resin and hydrogel, are interpenetrated on a scale smaller than the wavelength of the light. The 3D position and mechanical properties of the inscribed structures could be tailored to a resolution better than 100 nm over a wide density range. These provide an unparalleled means of inscribing a freely suspended microstructures of a second material like a skeleton into the hydrogel body and also to direct isotropic volume changes to bending and distortion motions. In the combination with a thermosensitive hydrogel rather small temperature variations could actuate large amplitude motions. This generates complex modes of motion through the rational engineering of the stresses present in the multicomponent material. More sophisticated folding design would realize a multiple, programmable actuation of soft materials. This method inspired by biological system may offer the possibility for functional soft materials capable of biomimetic actuation and photonic crystal application.