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Now showing 1 - 10 of 38
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    Graphite modified epoxy-based adhesive for joining of aluminium and PP/graphite composites
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Taylor & Francis, 2020) Rzeczkowski, P.; Pötschke, Petra; Fischer, M.; Kühnert, I.; Krause, Beate
    A graphite-modified adhesive was developed in order to simultaneously enhance the thermal conductivity and the strength of an adhesive joint. The thermal conductivity through the joint was investigated by using highly filled PP/graphite composite substrates, which were joined with an epoxy adhesive of different layer thicknesses. Similar measurements were carried out with a constant adhesive layer thickness, whilst applying an epoxy adhesive modified with expanded graphite (EG) (6, 10, and 20 wt%). By reducing the adhesive layer thickness or modifying the adhesive with conductive fillers, a significant increase of the thermal conductivity through the joint was achieved. The examination of the mechanical properties of the modified adhesives was carried out by tensile tests (adhesive only), lap-shear tests, and fracture energy tests (mode 1) with aluminium substrates. Modification of the adhesive with EG led to an increase of the tensile lap-shear strength and the adhesive fracture energy (mode 1) of the joint. In addition, burst pressure tests were performed to determine the strength of the joint in a complex component. The strength of the joint increased with the graphite content in the PP substrate and in the epoxy adhesive.
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    Polymer Featuring Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence as Emitter in Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells
    (Washington, DC : ACS, 2020) Lundberg, Lundberg; Wei, Qiang; Ge, Ziyi; Voit, Brigitte; Reineke, Sebastian; Edman, Ludvig
    Semiconducting polymers that feature thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) can deliver a much desired combination of high-efficiency and metal-free electroluminescence and cost-efficient solution-based fabrication. A TADF polymer is thus a very good fit for the emitting compound in light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) because the commonly employed air-stabile and few-layer LEC architecture is well suited for such solution-based fabrication. Herein we report on the first LEC device based on a TADF polymer as the emitting species, which delivers a luminance of 96 cd m-2 at 4 V and a current efficacy of 1.4 cd A-1 and >600 cd m-2 at 6 V, which is competitive with the performance of multilayer organic light-emitting diodes based on the same TADF polymer. We further utilize the established sensitivity of the emission of the TADF polymer to its environment to draw conclusions on the exciton populations in host-guest and host-free TADF LEC devices. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.
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    Controlling line defects in wrinkling: a pathway towards hierarchical wrinkling structures
    (London : Royal Soc. of Chemistry, 2021) Knapp, André; Nebel, Lisa Julia; Nitschke, Mirko; Sander, Oliver; Fery, Andreas
    We demonstrate a novel approach for controlling the line defect formation in microscopic wrinkling structures by patterned plasma treatment of elastomeric surfaces. Wrinkles were formed on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces exposed to low-pressure plasma under uniaxial stretching and subsequent relaxation. The wrinkling wavelength λ can be regulated via the treatment time and choice of plasma process gases (H2, N2). Sequential masking allows for changing these parameters on micron-scale dimensions. Thus, abrupt changes of the wrinkling wavelength become feasible and result in line defects located at the boundary zone between areas of different wavelengths. Wavelengths, morphology, and mechanical properties of the respective areas are investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy and agree quantitatively with predictions of analytical models for wrinkle formation. Notably, the approach allows for the first time the realization of a dramatic wavelength change up to a factor of 7 to control the location of the branching zone. This allows structures with a fixed but also with a strictly alternating branching behavior. The morphology inside the branching zone is compared with finite element methods and shows semi-quantitative agreement. Thus our finding opens new perspectives for “programming” hierarchical wrinkling patterns with potential applications in optics, tribology, and biomimetic structuring of surfaces.
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    Experimental and computational analysis of thermoelectric modules based on melt-mixed polypropylene composites
    (Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2023) Doraghi, Qusay; Żabnieńska-Góra, Alina; Norman, Les; Krause, Beate; Pötschke, Petra; Jouhara, Hussam
    Researchers are constantly looking for new materials that exploit the Seebeck phenomenon to convert heat into electrical energy using thermoelectric generators (TEGs). New lead-free thermoelectric materials are being investigated as part of the EU project InComEss, with one of the anticipated uses being converting wasted heat into electric energy. Such research aims to reduce the production costs as well as the environmental impact of current TEG modules which mostly employ bismuth for their construction. The use of polymers that, despite lower efficiency, achieve increasingly higher values of electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficients at a low heat transfer coefficient is increasingly discussed in the literature. This article presents two thermoelectric generator (TEG) models based on data previously described in the literature. Two types of designs are presented: consisting of 4- and 49-leg pairs of p- and n-type composites based on polypropylene melt-mixed with single-walled carbon nanotubes. The models being developed using COMSOL Multiphysics software and validated based on measurements carried out in the laboratory. Based on the results of the analysis, conductive polymer composites employing insulating matrices can be considered as a promising material of the future for TEG modules.
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    Revealing Fast Proton Transport in Condensed Matter by Means of Density Scaling Concept
    (Washington, DC : Soc., 2020) Wojnarowska, Zaneta; Musiał, Małgorzata; Cheng, Shinian; Gapinski, Jacek; Patkowski, Adam; Pionteck, Jürgen; Paluch, Marian
    Herein, we investigate the charge transport and structural dynamics in the supercooled and glassy state of protic ionic material with an efficient interionic Grotthuss mechanism. We found that superprotonic properties of studied acebutolol hydrochloride (ACB-HCl) depend on thermodynamic conditions with the most favorable regions being close to the glass-transition temperature (Tg) and glass-transition pressure (Pg). To quantify the contribution of fast proton hopping to overall charge transport over a broad T–P space, we employed the density scaling concept, one of the most important experimental findings in the field of condensed matter physics. We found that isothermal and isobaric dc-conductivity (σdc) and dynamic light scattering (τα) data of ACB-HCl plotted as a function of (TVγ)−1 satisfy the thermodynamic scaling criterion with the ratio γσ/γα appearing as a new measure of fast charge transport in protic ionic glass-formers in the T–P plane. Such a universal factor becomes an alternative to the well-known Walden rule being limited to ambient pressure conditions.
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    Nanoscopic interactions of colloidal particles can suppress millimetre drop splashing
    (London : Royal Soc. of Chemistry, 2021) Thoraval, Marie-Jean; Schubert, Jonas; Karpitschka, Stefan; Chanana, Munish; Boyer, François; Sandoval-Naval, Enrique; Dijksman, J. Frits; Snoeijer, Jacco H.; Lohse, Detlef
    The splashing of liquid drops onto a solid surface is important for a wide range of applications, including combustion and spray coating. As the drop hits the solid surface, the liquid is ejected into a thin horizontal sheet expanding radially over the substrate. Above a critical impact velocity, the liquid sheet is forced to separate from the solid surface by the ambient air, and breaks up into smaller droplets. Despite many applications involving complex fluids, their effects on splashing remain mostly unexplored. Here we show that the splashing of a nanoparticle dispersion can be suppressed at higher impact velocities by the interactions of the nanoparticles with the solid surface. Although the dispersion drop first shows the classical transition from deposition to splashing when increasing the impact velocity, no splashing is observed above a second higher critical impact velocity. This result goes against the commonly accepted understanding of splashing, that a higher impact velocity should lead to even more pronounced splashing. Our findings open new possibilities to deposit large amount of complex liquids at high speeds.
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    Heterogeneous freezing on pyroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) thin films
    (Chichester [u.a.] : Wiley, 2020) Apelt, Sabine; Höhne, Susanne; Uhlmann, Petra; Bergmann, Ute
    Active deicing of technical surfaces, such as for wind turbines and heat exchangers, currently requires the usage of heat or chemicals. Passive coating strategies that postpone the freezing of covering water would be beneficial in order to save costs and energy. One hypothesis is that pyroelectric active materials can achieve this because of the surface charges generated on these materials when they are subject to a temperature change. High-quality poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) thin films with a high crystallinity, prefererd edge-on orientation, low surface roughness, and comprised of the β-analogous ferroelectric phase were deposited by spin-coating. Freezing experiments with a cooling rate of 1 K min−1 were made on P(VDF-TrFE) coatings in order to separate the effect of different parameters such as the poling direction, film thickness, used solvent, deposition process, underlying substrate, and annealing temperature on the achievable supercooling. The topography and the underlying substrate significantly changed the distribution of freezing temperatures of water droplets in contact with these thin films. In contrast, no significant effect of the thickness, morphology, or pyroelectric effect of the as-prepared domain-state on the freezing temperatures was found.
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    Field-induced interactions in magneto-active elastomers - a comparison of experiments and simulations
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2020) Metsch, P.; Schmidt, H.; Sindersberger, D.; Kalina, K.A.; Brummund, J.; Auernhammer, G.K.; Monkman, G.J.; Kästner, M.
    In this contribution, field-induced interactions of magnetizable particles embedded into a soft elastomer matrix are analyzed with regard to the resulting mechanical deformations. By comparing experiments for two-, three- and four-particle systems with the results of finite element simulations, a fully coupled continuum model for magneto-active elastomers is validated with the help of real data for the first time. The model under consideration permits the investigation of magneto-active elastomers with arbitrary particle distances, shapes and volume fractions as well as magnetic and mechanical properties of the individual constituents. It thus represents a basis for future studies on more complex, realistic systems. Our results show a very good agreement between experiments and numerical simulations—the deformation behavior of all systems is captured by the model qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Within a sensitivity analysis, the influence of the initial particle positions on the systems' response is examined. Furthermore, a comparison of the full three-dimensional model with the often used, simplified two-dimensional approach shows the typical overestimation of resulting interactions in magneto-active elastomers.
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    Impact of surface charge on the motion of light-activated Janus micromotors
    (Berlin ; Heidelberg : Springer, 2021) Huang, Tao; Ibarlucea, Bergoi; Caspari, Anja; Synytska, Alla; Cuniberti, Gianaurelio; de Graaf, Joost; Baraban, Larysa
    Control over micromotors' motion is of high relevance for lab-on-a-chip and biomedical engineering, wherein such particles encounter complex microenvironments. Here, we introduce an efficient way to influence Janus micromotors' direction of motion and speed by modifying their surface properties and those of their immediate surroundings. We fabricated light-responsive Janus micromotors with positive and negative surface charge, both driven by ionic self-diffusiophoresis. These were used to observe direction-of-motion reversal in proximity to glass substrates for which we varied the surface charge. Quantitative analysis allowed us to extract the dependence of the particle velocity on the surface charge density of the substrate. This constitutes the first quantitative demonstration of the substrate's surface charge on the motility of the light-activated diffusiophoretic motors in water. We provide qualitative understanding of these observations in terms of osmotic flow along the substrate generated through the ions released by the propulsion mechanism. Our results constitute a crucial step in moving toward practical application of self-phoretic artificial micromotors.
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    Blind Super-Resolution Approach for Exploiting Illumination Variety in Optical-Lattice Illumination Microscopy
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2021) Samanta, Krishnendu; Sarkar, Swagato; Acuña, Sebastian; Joseph, Joby; Ahluwalia, Balpreet Singh; Agarwal, Krishna
    Optical-lattice illumination patterns help in pushing high spatial frequency components of the sample into the optical transfer function of a collection microscope. However, exploiting these high-frequency components require precise knowledge of illumination if reconstruction approaches similar to structured illumination microscopy are employed. Here, we present an alternate blind reconstruction approach that can provide super-resolution without the requirement of extra frames. For this, the property of exploiting temporal fluctuations in the sample emissions using “multiple signal classification algorithm” is extended aptly toward using spatial fluctuation of phase-modulated lattice illuminations for super-resolution. The super-resolution ability is shown for sinusoidal and multiperiodic lattice with approximately 3- and 6-fold resolution enhancements, respectively, over the diffraction limit. © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society