Anku+Madan

I love you Saumil, and Ashley, and Stefanie, and Shalini, and Sarah, and Eugene, and Akhil, and Nikita, and Kevin, and Jessica, and Akash

Canakci, M., Ozsezen, A. N., Arcaklioglu, E., & Erdil, A. (2009). Prediction of performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine fueled with biodiesel produced from waste frying palm oil. //Expert Systems with Applications//, //36//(5), 9268-9280. doi: 10.1016/j.eswa.2008.12.005.(Canakci, Ozsezen, Arcaklioglu, & Erdil, 2009)

People have been turning their attentions to biodiesel as an alternative source of fuel because of the high efficiency and higher energy density as well as the fuel properties and compatibility with petroleum based diesel fuel (PBDF). Turkish researchers recently did a study that predicted the engine performance and exhaust emissions carried out under five different neural networks to define the output under different blends of biodiesel being the inputs. Using an ANN (artificial neural network), the parameters being fuel properties, engine speed, and environmental conditions, from which were output flow rates, maximum injection pressure, emissions, engine load, maximum cylinder gas pressure, and thermal efficiency. This was also a way to test the usage of an ANN in actual experimental procedures. It was found that the ANN reproduced results and experimental data within 87-90% of confidence. The waste frying palm oil was obtained from Kocaeli Uzay Food (Frito-Lays Chips) Factory, and this oil had a very low acid value of .58 mg KOH/g, so transesterification (the process of exchanging alcohols in two organic material) was applied directly. The trials were repeated 3 times, and the results were averaged to decrease the error involved. The relationship between the fuel properties and engine performance-emissions can be found for various biodiesel blends by using the ANN.

Laskarakis, A., Georgiou, D., Logothetidis, S., Amberg-Scwhab, S., & Weber, U. (2009). Study of the optical response of hybrid polymers with embedded inorganic nanoparticles for encapsulation of flexible organic electronics. //Materials Chemistry and Physics//, //115//(1), 269-274. doi: doi: DOI: 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2008.11.058. Organic Light Emitting Diodes have started to make an appearance in the minds of large corporations such as Kodak and Sony, who have both developed digital photo frames and tvs, respectively, that utilize this OLED technology. OLEDs are of interest to these big corporation because of the many advantages of OLED vs LED. OLEDs shine brighter, use less power, are potentially flexible, and have a much wider color gamut than do normal LCDs. However, one huge problem of OLEDs and the ability to be flexible is that their encapsulation in the transparent system that is meant to protect the OLED from harm due to atmospheric gas molecules (H20 and O2). When these gases access an OLEDs inner circuitry, the active layers of an OLED begin to corrode. This makes the wholesale application of OLEDs in real life much less significant than they have the capability of being. A solution was proposed by ­­­­­­­­­­­some Greek Scientists, and they realized that the gas permeation of the layers of an OLED depends on the defective sites on each layer, they decided to stagger the layers, in an alternating inorganic to hybrid polymer and bad pattern. Instead of gases having to travel in a straight line to permeate the OLED, they are halted by the complex path. Enhancing the bonding network between the inorganic and organic layers would also cut back on the defects on each layer. To improve the crosslinking between the organic and inorganic layers, SiO2 nanoparticles were used to better create a more cohesive bonding network. The results of the experiment were measured in an extended spectral region from infrared to visible to ultraviolet. Using hybrid polymers such as the one shown above in combination with the staggered inorganic layers led to enhanced barrier response, reducing the gas permeation rate, though it was still not enough for flexible electronic devices to be viable. Analysis of the measured (//ω//), the refractive index of the hybrid polymers and the SiO2 nanoparticles was calculated, and it had adverse effects on the cohesiveness of the bonding between the inorganic and organic layers in the OLED circuitry. The silicon dioxide nanoparticles were distributed in the entire volume of the hybrid polymer, and because of that, some of them were found near the surface, affecting the optically transparent aspect of the OLED. To account for this, the contact angles of the hybrid polymers were measured, and the optical response then measured. Instead of increasing the cohesion of the organic-inorganic network, the silicon dioxide nanoparticle concentration was shown to increase because of the refractive index reduction as well as the increase of the Si-O bond vibration energy.

Kim, H. S., Kang, J. S., Park, J. S., Hahn, H. T., Jung, H. C., & Joung, J. W. (n.d.). Inkjet printed electronics for multifunctional composite structure. //Composites Science and Technology//, //In Press, Accepted Manuscript//. doi: 10.1016/j.compscitech.2009.02.034.(Kim et al., n.d.) Copper nano-ink is something that researchers have recently found that can be used in normal inkjet printers to do extraordinary things. Using a piezoelectric inkjet printing method, which involves thermally sintering the printing electrode, they can print solar cells. A multifunctional composite laminate which can collect and store solar energy was created using these printed electrodes. An amorphous silicon solar cell and a thin film solid state li-ion battery were joined and connected to a thin printed circuit board. All the other components such as resistors and diodes were connected to the PCB using silver pasting later. The composite structure has many functions, such as bearing the weight of the device, as well as energy harvesting and storage, sensing sunlight, etc. To do this, a conducting pattern is embedded in the structure.Using nano ink with Ag and Cu particles, they were able to print film with as high a conductivity as a conventionally produced film at a lower temperature, which saves a lot of energy. Structural integrity was not measured. The conducting circuits currently being used were printed on with standard inkjet printing. They also experimented with changing the thickness of the electrodes so as to increase structural integrity. Electrical resistivity was tested, and it was discovered that thicker and wider electrodes had better quality connections. The module is only .2 mm thin, so it has lots of applications in life, along with military applications in the future.

Li, Z., Wu, Z., & Li, K. (2009). The high dispersion of DNA-multiwalled carbon nanotubes and their properties. //Analytical Biochemistry//, //387//(2), 267-270. doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2009.01.043.(Z. Li, Wu, & K. Li, 2009)

The high dispersion of DNA- multiwalled carbon nanotubes and their properties

Utilizing a process called sonication, researchers from the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Harbin Medical University in China successfully obtained DNA-wrapped multiwalled carbon nanotubes, otherwise known as MWCNTs. Using Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, enough information was obtained about the solubility of the mixture of nanotubes that they were able to conclude that all the nanotubes were all dispersed uniformly and covered entirely with DNA. The stability of the nanotubes was also increased by severalfold, to several months. The reason for this was shown using a cyclic voltammogram that showcased the extremely efficient electrochemical properties of the MWCNT- DNA composite. It had been previously been found by researchers such as Zheng and coworkers that DNA coated CNT bundles have the best dispersion in water in comparison with other plain CNTs or other chemical composites. They also found that DNA, with its unique and versatile structure, is able to assemble itself and combine itself with both MWCNTs and SWCNTs. DNA, especially when added to solution, helped maintain the homogeneity of the mixture. The amount of MWCNTs used in this event in order to keep the dispersions at a constant rate was limited to less than 2 wt%, and another interesting discovery was that a ratio of 1:1 MWCNTs/DNA by weight was needed to reach a homogeneous dispersion. DNA- SWCNT composites were also created under the same conditions, and under comparison, it was realized that MWCNTs with their lower production costs are more promising in future commercial applications. Due to this, more ventures may be made in order to utilize CNTs for future applications.