The Polyurethane (PU) mixture is a high−performance engineering material with different dynamic properties compared to a hot−mixed asphalt mixture (HMA). This paper analyzed whether the Kramers−Kronig (K−K) relation and thermo−rheological simple properties were applicable to the PU mixture. Based on the result discussion, the PU mixture exhibited thermo−rheological simple properties within the test conditions. The time−temperature superposition principle (TTSP) was applicable for the PU mixture to construct the dynamic modulus master curve using the standard logistic Sigmoidal (SLS) model, the generalized logistic sigmoidal (GLS) model, and the Havriliak−Negami (HN) model. The Hilbert integral transformed SLS and GLS models for the phase angle can accurately fit the measured phase angle data with newly fitted shift factors and predict the phase angle within the viscoelastic range. The Core−Core and black space diagrams both displayed single continuous smooth curves, which can be utilized to characterize the viscoelastic property of the PU mixture. The K−K relation is applicable for the PU mixture to obtain the phase angle master curve model, storage modulus, and loss modulus from the complex modulus test results. The phase angle of the PU mixture cannot be derived from the dynamic modulus data and currently needs to be derived from the laboratory measurement.

In implantology, among the key choices, to obtain predictable results, it is essential to establish, on the basis of radiographic examinations, the bone site where to insert the implants; these selected locations must be identified first on the mucosa and then on the cortical bone. Surgical guides represent a valid aid especially in complex cases with more than 3 or 4 implants, whereas in single implant cases they are rarely used. This study evaluates the clinical precision with which the implant sites, on the patient's mucosa, are identified in surgical procedures planned without any templates. The verification of this precision is carried out through thermo-printed templates with radiopaque references which could however help the clinician to identify these sites in a simple, rapid and economical way.

The reduction in rheological parameters and dissolution rate of precursors in geopolymer coatings during early hydration significantly contributes to sagging. This study aims to improve the sag resistance of these coatings by incorporating diatomite filler. Rheological testing was conducted to assess the impact of diatomite and its concentration on yield stress, plastic viscosity, and thixotropy of the geopolymer coatings. The results indicated that diatomite's large specific surface area and high reactivity have a significant influence on the rheological parameters and early dissolution rate of precursors. With a diatomite concentration of 1.1%, the coating exhibited a yield stress of 2.749 Pa and a plastic viscosity of 0.921 Pa·s, maintaining stability, homogeneity, and no sagging at a thickness of 600 μm. Furthermore, the highly active SiO2 in diatomite participates in the secondary hydration reaction of the geopolymer materials, leading to the formation of substantial C-(A)-S-H gel. This gel enhances internal interconnectivity within the coating, thereby improving its rheological and mechanical properties.

Biobased greases are derived from renewable resources, being considered more environmentally friendly, and offering comparable performance with petroleum-based greases. In this study, lubricating greases from frying cooking oils were prepared, thus valorizing waste, in order to obtain sustainable and environmentally friendly products. 12 batches (500 g each) were produced from sunflower and palm frying oils, with 20% by weight calcium/ lithium stearate soaps prepared in situ, and additivated with 15% wt. cellulose or lignin sulphate. The greases were rheologically characterized. Their consistency was assessed by the penetration test, performed before and after working the greases. Dropping point determinations offered information about the stability at higher temperatures, and oil bleeding tests were performed. The average values of the friction coefficient (COF), the contact resistance and the wear scar diameter were measured, through mechanical tests. Additivated greases prove to be comparable with those obtained from mineral oils, with good rheological properties, soft consistency and good antiwearing behavior, e.g.in open or total- loss lubricating systems, like in open gears and certain food processing machinery; they are thermally stable, and prone for use in low-loading working mechanisms.

The crosslinking behavior of polyethylene (PE) determines its exceptional performance and application. In this study, we investigated the crosslinking behaviors of different PE resins through model simulation and rheological methods. Specifically, the mathematical equation of "S" model was established for PE resin. According to this equation, the optimal maximum gel content for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was found to be around 85%. Moreover, the maximum crosslinking degrees for different PE resins depended largely on their density and molecular weight. The melt viscosities before crosslinking in PE resins were highly influenced by their melt index. The higher melt indexes resulted in the lower storage moduli, improving melt processability during processing. In addition, the crosslinking rates of PE resins were strongly influenced by peroxide concentration, independent of PE resin structures. For high molecular weight and low-density PE resins, they exhibited decreased ti values, increased A0 values, and decreased k6 values. However, there were no noticeable variations in the values of k2 and phi among different PE resins. And all simulated modeling outcomes showed the remarkable consistency with the experimental rheological data. These findings are of utmost significance in the industrial manufacture of PE resin.

The article discusses the results of investigations performed during a thermo-mechanical treatment of forgings made of chromium-molybdenum 42CrMo4 grade steel. The treatment was realized during a regular series production. The forging process was combined with a heat treatment carried out directly after forging on a specially adapted station. Such a production technology will make it possible to eliminate the step of repeated heating of the forgings. On the example of an element of a steering gear, it was demonstrated how it is possible to perform an isothermal annealing process starting from the temperature at which the trimming of the forgings ends. During the cooling of the forgings, it is enough to maintain the temperature at the proper level in order for the exothermal phase transformation of austenite into pearlite to take place. With an appropriate design of the processing line, the heat released during the transformation could be used to maintain the applied temperature, thus limiting the consumption of energy needed to power the devices. The test results show that, with the properly selected temperature of isothermal annealing, it is possible to obtain an equilibrial ferritic-pearlitic structure in the required hardness scope. Introducing such a solution into the industrial practice would allow significant savings of the energy used for the heat treatment.

This paper introduces a closed-loop control strategy for maintaining consistency of liquid temperature in commercial Drop on Demand (DoD) inkjet printing. No additional sensors or additional actuators are installed in the printhead while achieving the consistency in liquid temperature. To this end, this paper presents a novel in situ sensing-actuation policy at every individual liquid-nozzle, where the jetting mechanism has three distinct roles. It is used for jetting liquid droplet onto the print media based on the print-job. It is used as a soft sensor to estimate the real-time liquid temperature of the jetting nozzle. While not jetting liquid, it is used as a heating actuator to minimize the gradient of liquid temperature among nozzles. The soft sensing based in situ controller is implemented in an experimentally validated digital twin that models the thermo-fluidic processes of the printhead. The digital twin is scalable and flexible to incorporate an arbitrary number of liquid-nozzles, making the control strategy applicable for future designs of the printhead.

Controlling surface-protein interaction during wastewater treatment is the key motivation for developing functionally modified membranes. A new biocatalytic thermo-responsive poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF)/nylon-6,6/poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)(PNIPAAm) ultrafiltration membrane was fabricated to achieve dual functionality of protein-digestion and thermo-responsive self-cleaning. The PVDF/nylon-6,6/PNIPAAm composite membranes were constructed by integrating a hydrophobic PVDF cast layer and hydrophilic nylon-6,6/PNIPAAm nanofiber layer where trypsin enzymes were covalently immobilized. The immobilization density of enzymes on the membrane surface decreased with increasing PNIPAAm concentration, due to the decreased number of amine functional sites. Through a ultrafiltration study using a model solution containing BSA/NaCl/CaCl₂, the PNIPAAm containing biocatalytic membranes demonstrated a combined effect of enzymatic and thermo-switchable self-cleaning. The membrane without PNIPAAm revealed superior fouling resistance and self-cleaning with an R_PD of 22%, compared to membranes with 2 and 4 wt% PNIPAAm with 26% and 33% R_PD, respectively, after an intermediate temperature cleaning at 50°C, indicating that higher enzyme density offers more efficient self-cleaning than the combined effect of enzyme and PNIPAAm at low concentration. The conformational volume phase transition of PNIPAAm did not affect the stability of immobilized trypsin on membrane surface. Such novel surface engineering design offer a promising route to severe surface-protein contamination remediation in food and wastewater applications.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of sous-vide and pressure-cooker heating of pork muscles (Longissimus lumborum) on the physicochemical and technological characteristics of pork. The study included an analysis of the basic composition, colour, texture, nutritional value (vitamin B1 content), and rheological properties of meat heated at 60°C for 6-18h and, for comparison, in an autoclave at 121.1°C. The heating conditions affected the weight loss, colour, thiamine content, texture, and rheological properties of the meat. As the heating time increased, the texture determinants of firmness and chewiness decreased, which resulted in softer meat. The differences in the rheological properties of the sous-vide- and autoclave-heated meat resulted from different organ-isation of the spatial matrix of proteins and changes in the structure of muscle fibres caused by the high temperature.

In this study, rheological properties of the bread wheat flour dough from 6 wheat genotypes were determined. For the pereparation of flour, 3 red bread (Pandas, Sagitorya, Pehlivan) and 3 white bread (Kaşifbey, Göktan, Ceyhan-99) were selected as wheat genotype. To determine the rheological properties of the wheat flour dough, farinograph, extensograph, mixolab and glutograph devices were used. According to the results of the Farinograph analysis, the average development time of wheat White and red genotypes were 1.95 minutes and 8.96 minutes, respectively. According to the extensograph results of the flour samples, the most extended stability value was determined with 7.47 min in Ceyhan-99 cultivar. As a result of the research, it was determined that flour yields of red bread varieties were higher other genotypes, gas retention capacities of white bread flours were showed high result in extensograph application and resistance of dough to elongation was higher. In the Mixolab analysis, it determined that white bread wheat varieties have higher values in terms of kneading properties and gluten properties, and red bread wheat varieties have higher values in values of viscosity, amylase value and starch retrogradation.

The current study emphasizes on optimizing a suitable ratio of enzymatically hydrolyzed potato powder (EHPP) and whole milk powder (WMP) to produce a quality yogurt by evaluating the physicochemical and rheological properties. The results showed that the addition of EHPP decreased the pH towards acidic conditions which resulted in the high acidity of yoghurt. The proximate composition showed that EHPP increased the ash, protein, water holding capacity (WHC) while fat, synersis, color parameters and total solid were decreased when compared to control yoghurt (CY) sample. Moreover, texture profile (TPA) analysis showed that the addition of EHPP decreased the hardness and cohesiveness while springiness did not show significant difference. Furthermore, rheological properties revealed that EHPP decreased the storage modulus (G’) and loss modulus (G”) when compared with control. In addition to this, sensory analysis revealed that the treatment P4M (1:3) was found as optimum ratio regarding taste, flavor, and aroma. Besides this, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirms that the high amount of EHPP resulted in the void holes while CY showed dense gel structure. The prepared yogurt with EHPP provides an excellent flavor, satisfying sweetness and homogeneous texture. These findings suggest the optimum formulation ratio of prepared yogurt was found to be P4M (1:3) for desirable attributes and consumer acceptance. The prepared yogurt from the EHPP presents the potential industrial applications.

The large-scale processing of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.) generates significant quantities of solid wastes annually. Cassava peels (CP) account for 5 wt.% - 30 wt.% of wastes from the processing of cassava tubers. The poor disposal and management of CP pose risks to human health, safety and the environment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify and examine low cost, socially acceptable and environmentally friendly strategies to mitigate the immediate and long terms disposal and management challenges. Lack of such measures results in the accumulation of CP wastes, which are currently buried, combusted, or dumped in open fields. Therefore, this paper reviewed the potential routes for the biochemical, thermochemical, and plasma valorisation of CP. The literature reviewed revealed that biochemical technologies such as anaerobic digestion (AD) and fermentation are the most widely utilised approaches currently adopted for CP valorisation. AD produces biogas (methane 50-72 vol. % and carbon dioxide 25-45 vol. %), whereas fermentation yields bioethanol. However, the numerous challenges such as substrate-induced inhibition, associated with the biochemical processes hamper microbial degradation, methane formation, and process efficiency. Furthermore, the processes generate secondary wastes or digestate/sludge, which requires additional processing before disposal. Therefore, innovative thermal, thermochemical, and plasma technologies were proposed to valorise CP into syngas, biofuels, bioenergy, biochemicals, and fertilizers, among others. However, the waste products of fermentation cannot be effectively utilised as bio-fertilizers, whereas bioethanol causes corrosion in engines. Overall, the biochemical, thermal, thermochemical and plasma technologies can effectively valorise CP for effective net energy generation.

Novel multifunctional fluorescent chemosensors composed of electrospun (ES) nanofibers with high sensitivity toward pH, mercury ions (Hg²⁺), and temperature were prepared from poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide-co-N-methylolacrylamide-co-rhodamine derivative) (poly(NIPAAm-co-NMA-co-RhBN2AM)) by employing electrospinning process. NIPAAm and NMA moieties provide hydrophilic and thermo-responsive properties (absorption of Hg²⁺ in aqueous solutions), and chemical cross-linking sites (stabilization of the fibrous structure in aqueous solutions), respectively. The fluorescent probe, RhBN2AM is highly sensitive toward pH and Hg²⁺. Synthesis of poly(NIPAAm-co-NMA-co-RhBN2AM) with different compositions were carried on via free-radical polymerization. ES nanofibers prepared from sensory copolymers with a 71.1:28.4:0.5 NIPAAm: NMA: RhBN2AM ratio (P3 ES nanofibers) exhibited significant color change from nonfluorescent to red fluorescence while sensing pH or Hg²⁺, and high reversibility of on/off switchable fluorescence emission when Hg²⁺ and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were sequentially added. The P3 ES nanofibrous membranes had a higher surface-to-volume ratio to enhance their performance than did the corresponding thin films. In addition, the fluorescence emission of P3 ES nanofibrous membranes exhibited second enhancement above the lower critical solution temperature. Thus, the ES nanofibrous membranes prepared from P3 with on/off switchable capacity and thermo-responsive characteristics can be used as multifunctional sensory devise for specific heavy transition metal (HTM) in aqueous solutions.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a safe and non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid with a wide range of potential therapeutic antiinflamatory and antioxidant activity. Due to its lipophilicity, it is normally available dissolved in oily phases. The main aim of this work was to develop and characterize a new formulation of a microemulsion with a potential anti-inflammatory and antioxidant action for topical treatment of inflammatory skin disorders. The micro-emulsion system was obtained from a 20% CBD oil as hydrophobic phase, Labrasol/Plurol Oleique (1:1) as surfactant and cosurfactant (S/CoS) respectively and an aqueous vegetal extract obtained from S. ebulus L. ripe fruits, with a potential anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, as water phase. A pseudo-ternary phase diagram was elaborated, selecting an optimal proportion of 62% (S/CoS), 27% CBD oil and 11% water and, after testing its reproducibility, the aqueous phases were replaced by the vegetal hydrophilic extract. The defined systems were characterized in terms of conductivity, droplet size by laser scattering, compatibility of components by differential scanning calorimetry and rheological properties using a rotational rheometer. The designed microemulsion showed good stability and a slight pseudo-plastic behavior. The release properties of CBD from the oil phase and caffeic acid from the water phase of the microemulsion were studied by in vitro diffusion experiments using flow-through diffusion cells in comparison to a CBD oil and a microemulsion only with CBD as active substance. It was evidenced that the inclusion of the original oil in microemulsions did not provoke a significant modification of the release of CBD, incorporating the possibility of including hydrophilic active compounds in the formulation, stablishing an interesting strategy for the development of future formulations.

The chemically synthesized polymer polyacrylamide (HPAM) in conventional reservoirs has achieved excellent oil displacement, but its oil displacement is poor in extreme reservoir environments. To develop biopolymer oil flooding agent under extreme reservoir conditions, the viscosity increasing and rheological properties of three biopolymers, diutan gum, xanthan gum, and scleroglucan, were studied under extreme reservoir conditions (high salt, high temperature, strong acid, and alkali), and the effects of temperature, mineralization, pH, and other factors on their viscosities and long-term stability properties were analyzed and compared. The results showed that under the temperature of 90℃ and below, the three kinds of biopolymers had the best viscosity-increasing ability. The viscosity of the three kinds of biopolymers was 80.94, 11.57, and 59.83mPa·s, respectively, when the concentration was 1500mg/L and the salinity was 220g/L. At the shear rate of 250s-1,100℃~140℃, scleroglucan has the best viscosification. At 140℃, the solution viscosity is 19.74mPa·s, and the retention rate can reach 118.27%. The results of the long-term stability study showed that the solution viscosity of scleroglucan with mineralization level of 220 mg/L was 89.54% viscosity retention in 40 days, and the diutan gum could be stabilized for 10 days, and the viscosity was maintained at 90 mPa·s. All three biopolymers are highly acid and alkali-resistant, with viscosity variations of less than 15% in the pH3~10 range. Rheological tests have shown that both of them have better viscoelastic properties than xanthan gum due to the peculiar double-helix structure of xanthan gum and the rigid triple-helix structure of scleroglucan. Therefore, the two biopolymers, diutan gum, and scleroglucan have the potential for extreme reservoir oil displacement applications, and it is recommended to use diutan gum for oil displacement in reservoirs up to 90℃ and scleroglucan for oil displacement in reservoirs between 100℃ and 140℃.

Silicone RTV-based engineering rubber composite products have been widely used for several applications in various fields as a major component such as structure, automotive, and medical. In its application, the rubber composite product is placed in an open area that is directly exposed to sunlight and rain. It has a significant negative impact on changes in chemical and rheological properties, making the product life of rubber composite products shorter. Therefore, in this study, changes in the chemical and rheological properties of both isotropic and anisotropic magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) treated with accelerated weathering were studied compared to untreated specimens with specimens that had been treated. MRE specimens with 40% by weight CIP were prepared with no current excitation and another sample were made under 1.5 T of magnetic flux density. Each specimen was treated in an accelerated weathering machine Q-Sun Xe-1 Xenon Test Chamber with a UV light exposure cycle for 102 minutes and 18 minutes of UV light combined with water spray for 24 hours followed by a condensation cycle of 4 hours in a dark period. Material characterization was carried out using FTIR and Rheometer to determine the changes in chemical and rheological properties. The morphological analysis results showed that the surface was rough and more cavities occurred after being given weather treatment. Rheometer test results showed a decrease in storage modulus in each MRE specimen that had been treated compared to untreated MRE specimens. Meanwhile, FTIR testing showed a change in wave peak between untreated and treated MRE specimens.

Efficient heat management and control in optical devices, facilitated by advanced thermo-optic materials, is critical for many applications such as photovoltaics, thermal emitters, mode-locked lasers, and optical switches. Here, we investigate the thermo-optic properties of 2D graphene oxide (GO) films by precisely integrating them onto microring resonators (MRRs) with control over the film thicknesses and lengths. We characterize the refractive index, extinction coefficient, thermo-optic coefficient, and thermal conductivity of for the GO films with different layer numbers and degrees of reduction, including reversible reduction and enhanced optical bistability induced by photo-thermal effects. Experimental results show that the thermo-optic properties of 2D GO films vary widely with the degree of reduction, with significant polarization anisotropy, enabling efficient polarization sensitive devices. The versatile thermo-optic response of 2D GO substantially expands the scope of functionalities and devices that can be engineered, making it promising for a diverse range of thermo-optic applications.

Lightweight component design is effectively achievable through the sandwich structures, many past research studies in the aerospace and racing sectors (since 1920s) has proven it. To extend their application into automotive and other transport industries, the manufacturing cycle times must be reduced. This can be achieved by thermoplastic sandwich materials of continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) cover layers and thermoplastic honeycomb cores. To widespread the application of flat thermoplastic-based sandwich panels into complex parts, a novel forming technology was developed by the Fraunhofer Institute of Microstructure of Materials and Systems (IMWS). For an increase in reproducibility of the sandwich component production and a decrease in manufacturing defects, numerical modelling methods and experimental validation are needed. The finite element (FE) modelling of this thermoforming process is a thermo-mechanical assignment with all three: material, geometry, and boundary non-linearities. In the scope of this work, the material behavior of different sandwich components (cover layers, honeycomb core, interface) under thermo-mechanical loads is characterized in detail, and a complex numerical model is developed to describe the thermoforming process of thermoplastic-based sandwich laminate. The critical forming condition like wrinkling that occurs due to friction in a sandwich or poor intra-ply shear in cross-ply studied, validated, and optimized. A thermoplastic sandwich made of polypropylene (PP) honeycomb core and polypropylene glass fibre (PP/GF) cross-ply as cover layers was used for this study, and numerical modelling was executed in LS-DYNA software.

The utilization and engineering of thermo-optic effects have found broad applications in integrated photonic devices, facilitating efficient light manipulation to achieve various functionalities. Here, we perform both an experimental characterization and theoretical analysis of these effects in integrated micro-ring resonators in high index doped silica (HIDS), which has had many applications in integrated photonics and nonlinear optics. By fitting the experimental results with theory, we obtain fundamental parameters that characterize their thermo-optic performance, including the thermo-optic coefficient, the efficiency for the optically induced thermo-optic process, and the thermal conductivity. The characteristics of these parameters are compared to those of other materials commonly used for integrated photonic platforms, such as silicon, silicon nitride, and silica. These results offer a comprehensive insight into the thermo-optic properties of HIDS based devices. Understanding these properties is essential for efficiently controlling and engineering them in many practical applications.

THz radiation has assumed a great importance thanks to the efforts in the development of technological tools used in this versatile band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Here we propose a reflecting bi-mirror axicon-like device with wavelength-independent long focusing performances in the THz band, by exploiting the high thermo-mechanical deformation of the elastomer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). This deformation permits to achieve significant optical path modulations in the THz band and effective focusing. The surface of a PDMS layer is covered with a gold thin film, acting as heater thanks to its absorption for wavelengths below ~500 nm . An invariance property of the Fresnel integral has been exploited to verify experimentally the THz performances of the device with an ordinary visible laser source, finding excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions at 1 and 3 THz. The same property allowed also to verify experimentally that the axicon focus has a longitudinal extension much greater than that one exhibited by a benchmark cylindrical mirror with the same optical power. The axicon is thermo-mechanically stable up to a heating power of 270 mW, although it might be potentially exploited at higher powers with a minor degradation of the optical performances.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the citric acid on the properties of solid pine wood, which were submitted to thermomechanical treatment. A preliminary test was performed in a previous study to evaluate the influence of different temperatures of pressing and concentrations of citric acid over the physical properties of wood. After choosing the best treatments (170°C and 5% and 10% of citric acid) it was evaluated the effect of these on the chemical properties (SEM, FTIR and pH), on the density profile using an X-ray microtomography, and on the resistance to ageing through abrasion test. The result of the chemical analysis allowed to observe an increase of the presence of ester functional groups, as well as a better coverage and higher acidity of the surface. The density profile technique allowed to observe the formation of peaks of density on the surface where the acid was applied. Lastly, it was also possible to verify an increase in the resistance to abrasion because of the application of the citric acid.

Acetaldehyde decomposition was performed under heating at the temperature range of 25-125oC and UV irradiation on TiO2 doped by the metallic Ni powder and TiO2 supported on the nickel foam. Process was carried out in high temperature reaction chamber “The Praying MantisTM”, with simultaneous in situ FTIR measurements and UV irradiation. Ni powder was added to TiO2 in the quantity of 0.5 to 5.0 wt%. Photothermal measurements of acetaldehyde decomposition indicated, that the highest yield of acetaldehyde conversion on TiO2 und UV irradiation was obtained at 75oC. Doping of nickel to TiO2 did not increase its photocatalytic activity. Contrary to that, application of nickel foam as a support for TiO2 appeared to be highly advantageous, because increased decomposition of acetaldehyde from 31 to 52% at 25oC and then to 85% at 100oC by comparison with TiO2 itself. At the same time mineralisation of acetaldehyde to CO2 increased two times at the presence of nickel foam. However, oxidised nickel foam used as support for TiO2 was detrimental. Most likely, different mechanisms of electrons transfer between Ni-TiO2 and NiO-TiO2 occurred. Application of nickel foam greatly enhanced separation of free carriers in TiO2. As a consequence, high yields of the photocatalytic reactions were obtained.

This paper reports design of a 2 × 4 hybrid multimode interferometer-Mach-zehnder interferometer (MMI-MZI) configuration and compact thermo-optical switch consisting of slab waveguides on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI), platform. The device consisted of two identical MMIs as power splitters and couplers that are connected with two identical MMI-based phase shifters, and linear tapers at both ends of the MMIs to minimize the power coupling loss. A thin Al pad is used as a heating element, and a trench is created around this pad to prevent heat from spreading and to minimize loss. The calculated average thermo-optical switching power consumption, excess loss, and power imbalance are 1.4 mW, 0.9 dB, and 0.1 dB, respectively. The overall footprint of the device is 6 × 304 μm². The new heating method has advantages of compact size, ease of fabrication on SOI platform with the current CMOS technology, and offers low excess loss and power consumption as demanded by devices based on SOI technology. The device can act as two independent optical switches in one structure.

This study presented a novel and sustainable method for producing chitin nanocrystals (PA-ChNCs) using phosphoric acid hydrolysis. The produced PA-ChNCs were used as stabilizers for Pickering emulsions and their physicochemical properties as well as stabilization mechanisms were systematically investigated. The PA-ChNCs exhibited small particle sizes and high surface areas, enabling an effective adsorption at the oil/water interface, which prevented coalescence in Pickering emulsions. The particle size and surface charge PA-ChNCs were strongly pH-dependent, which were critical factors for stabilizing Pickering emulsions. The study showed that emulsions with higher O:W ratios (50%) exhibited larger droplets but greater viscosity, forming a stable gel-like matrix that was more stable than emulsions with other O:W ratios after storage for 30 days. Emulsions with higher PA-ChNCs concentrations (2.0 wt%) and higher pH values (pH 10) showed small droplets and high viscosity, leading to stable emulsions. This research contributes to the development of sustainable and effective emulsifiers for use in the food industry, making utilization of seafood waste in an eco-friendly manner possible. Overall, this study highlights the potential of using newly developed PA-ChNCs as stabilizers for Pickering emulsions in food products.

In this paper, the effects on the rheological properties, particle size distribution, and fluorescence properties of red wine were investigated under microwave irradiation, and the mechanism of the effects of microwave irradiation on the sensory properties of red wine was discussed. The results showed that the effect of microwave on the rheological properties in red wine could be fitted by the Power-law model and Carson model, through the analysis of the rheological constants, yield stress, and viscosity coefficient of wine, it was found that microwave treatment could improve leg phenomenon and thickening effect by the change of rheological properties; the particle size distribution in wine indicated that microwave irradiation did change the particle size distribution through friction effect and oxidative polymerization, resulting in the wine’s visual effect and mouthfeel; the wine quality could be improved by enhancing the fluorescence intensity under different microwave conditions, which meant that microwave technology could speed up the formation of fluorescent substances, such as the polymerization of flavan-3-ols. In conclusion, microwave treatment could modify the sensory characteristics of wine, and further provide the theoretical basis for the application of microwave in winemaking.

Bio-based packaging materials and efficient drug delivery systems are gaining attention, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is one of the most soluble cellulose derivatives, is a good candidate material due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and reproducibility. However, CMC-based films are lack of sufficient mechanical properties, limiting its widespread application. In this paper, the molecular interactions between CMC and additives with different molecular structures have been studied with rheological method. The additives are chitosan and cellulose derivatives including O-carboxymethylated chitosan (O-CMCh), N-2-hydroxypropyl-3-trimethylammonium-O-carboxymethyl chitosan (HTCMCh), hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan (HACC), cellulose nanofibers (CNC), and cellulose nanofibers (CNF). The influencing factors, such as molecular structure, concentration of additives and temperature on the rheological properties were studied, which results revealed the information intermolecular interactions. Based on the rheological properties, several systems were selected to prepare films, which show very good transparency, wettability, mechanical properties, biodegradability, and cytotoxicity. These good characteristics of the selected films also proved the good biocompatibility of CMC and chitosan and cellulose derivatives. This work will provide an idea to prepare CMC-based food packaging and effective drug delivery materials with specific properties.

Photocatalytic decomposition of ethylene was performed under UV-Led irradiation at the presence of nanocrystalline TiO2 (anatase, 15 nm) supported on the porous nickel foam. Process was carried out in the high temperature chamber with regulated temperature from ambient to 125°C under flow of reacted gas (ethylene in a synthetic air, 50 ppm) with simultaneous FTIR measurements of sample surface. Ethylene was decomposed with higher efficiency in elevated temperatures with maximum of 28% at 100-125°C. The nickel foam used as support for TiO2 allowed to enhance the ethylene decomposition at the temperature of 50°C. However, at 50°C the stability of ethylene decomposition was not retained within the following reaction run, but it was at 100°C. Performed photocatalytic measurements at the presence of some radicals scavengers indicated that higher efficiency of ethylene decomposition was obtained due to the improved separation of charge carriers and increased formation of superoxide anionic radicals, which were formed at the interface of thermally activated nickel foam and TiO2.

The paper focuses on two unconventional magnetic field-based treatment regimes applied to an alloyed steel before applying a thermochemical treatment. This study was conducted in order to improve the behavior of the chosen material during the wear process. Increasing the wear resistance and the micro-hardness of the superficial layer obtained from the treatments are a priority, as well as improving the mechanical properties of a Cr-Mo alloyed steel. Thermomagnetic treatment, applied before plasma nitriding treatment, improves the mechanical properties of the base material, especially in the case of a steel with a considerable chromium content (1,02%). This paper is a review of my own researches in the last years.

Thermal energy storage (TES) is a key technology to enhance the efficiency of energy systems as well as to increase the share of renewable energies. In this context, the present paper reports a literature review of the recent advancement in the field of adsorption TES systems. After a first introduction about different heat storage technologies, the adsorption TES working principle is explained and compared to the other technologies. Subsequently, promising features and critical issues at material, component and system levels are deeply analyzed and the ongoing activities to make this technology ready for marketing are introduced.

Technical components should be produced sustainably and are subject to growing demands in terms of durability and reliability. To meet these expectations, the development of thermochemical processes is auspicious. Titanium alloys, which have a comparatively high gas solubility, allow temporary hydrogen (H) loading, often called thermo hydrogen treatment (THT). THT causes lattice deformation and reduces the β transformation temperature. These effects enable an adjustment of the microstructure, which improves the mechanical properties as compared to those produced conventionally. Furthermore, the process is applicable to complex geometries that cannot be surface hardened by mechanical surface treatment techniques. The investigation presented intends to realize a local microstructure gradient in additively via laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) manufactured cylindrical Ti–6Al–4V specimens by changing the distribution and morphology of strengthening precipitates as well as the β grain size depending on the distance to the surface, which should improve the material fatigue properties. To evaluate the mechanical properties of such THT-induced microstructure gradients, the resulting change in fatigue life in the LCF and HCF range was determined by stress-controlled cyclic deformation tests. Besides, the resulting microstructure was characterized by means of XRD and TEM. In addition to the additively manufactured and thermo hydrogen treated cylindrical specimens, conventionally produced tube-like specimens were thermo hydrogen treated and examined. For the THT-induced microstructure gradients, numerically simulated H concentration profiles as well as experimentally determined hardness profiles were used for the evaluation of the THT process. The study shows that H-loading at 500°C and H-degassing at 750°C, followed by aging at 550°C, allows the establishment of a microstructure gradient that shows an 8% improvement in fatigue properties compared to a reference condition without THT. The reason for this improvement is an increased volume fraction secondary alpha phase in the near-surface area of the specimens. Moreover, the results show that the process is applicable a tube-like specimen with varying wall thicknesses.

This study examines the behavior of stearic acid (SA) and 12-hydroxystearic acid (12-HSA) aqueous mixtures as a function of temperature and 12-HSA/SA molar ratio (R). Whatever R, the system exhibits a morphological transition at a given threshold temperature, from multilamellar self-assemblies at low temperature towards small micelles at high temperature, as shown by a combination of transmittance measurements, Wide Angle X-ray diffraction (WAXS), small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments. Such transition originates from the melting of the crystallized fatty acids within the lamellar phase. The precise determination of the threshold temperature, which ranges between 20°C and 50°C depending on R, allows for the construction of the whole phase diagram of the system as a function of R. At high temperature the micelles that are formed are oblate for pure SA solutions (R = 0) and prolate for pure 12-HSA solution (R = 1). In the case of mixtures, there is a progressive continuous transition from oblate to prolate shape when increasing R, with micelles that are almost purely spherical for R = 0.33.

The photoelectric effect induced by blackbody radiation could be a mechanism to harvest ambient thermal energy at a uniform temperature. Here, I describe (without going too much into mathematical details) the theoretical model I developed starting from 2010 to study that phenomenon, and I summarize the results of the numerical simulations. Simulations tell us that the process must be there. Moreover, at least two experimental tests have been performed in the past years that seem to corroborate, although not definitely, the alleged functioning of the proposed mechanism. Unfortunately, at present, the obtainable power density is extremely low and inadequate for immediate practical applications.

In this study, we successfully synthesized a novel branched polyamide 6 with ε-caprolactam(CPL) and α-Amino-ε-caprolactam(ACL) through hydrolytic ring-open co-polymerization. The NMR characterization and rheological test result proved the existence of branched chain structure additionally. The branched chain structure caused a remarkable enhancement in the rheological properties. The met index(MFR),zero shear rate viscosity and storage modulus at low frequency region had a remarkable increase.The shear thinning phenomenon became more obvious. The thermal properties test determined by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) showed that the melting point and crystallinity of co-polymers decreased with the increase of ACL addition.However, the crystal structure of the samples remained unchanged. The appropriate addition amount of ACL can improve the tensile mechanical properties of the co-polymers. When the amount of ACL was 1%, the tensile strength and fracture elongation rate of the co-polymers had the most significant increase.

High-methoxyl apple pectin (AP) derived from apple was employed as the main ingredient facilitating rheological modification features for developing dysphagia-friendly fluidized alimentary matrices. Xanthan gum (XG) was also included as a composite counterpart to modify the viscoelastic properties of the thickened system under different thermal processes. The results indicate that AP is extremely sensitive to thermal processing, and the viscosity is greatly depleted under a neutral pH level. Moreover, the inclusion of calcium ions echoed a modification effect on the rheological properties of AP, and both the elastic property and viscosity value are promoted after thermal processing. The modification effect of viscoelastic properties (Gʹ and Gʹʹ) is observed while XG is incorporated into the composite formula. By promoting the XG ratio from 7: 3 to 6: 4 (AP: XG), it triggers the rheological transformation from a liquid-like form to a solid-like state, and the viscosity value shows that the AP-XG composite system exhibits better thermal stability after thermal processing. The ambient modifiers of pH (pH < 4) and calcium chloride concentration (7.5%) with an optimal AP-XG ratio of 7:3 lead to weak-gel-like behavior (Gʹʹ < Gʹ), helping to maintain the texture properties of dysphagia-friendly features similar to those prior to the thermal processing.

Increasing the availability of alternative protein from insects is important to solving food shortages. Not only are insects a rich source of protein, the use of insect ingredi-ents can reduce food waste. Insects are thus a potentially valuable ingredient for food industries and even food eaten on deep-space missions. The three-dimensional produc-tion of food on space missions has gained attention owing to its potential to reduce au-tonomous food production and produce sustainable food for long-duration space mis-sions. This study investigated the printability and rheological properties of a high-protein food system derived from mealworms and guar gum used as a stabilizer to im-prove printability. Stability and rheological properties were analyzed for various print-ing parameters. The results indicate that as the guar gum concentration was increased from 0 to 1.75%, the yield stress of the mealworm paste increased from 39 to 1096 Pa. Increasing the guar gum concentration thus resulted in a mealworm paste that was more viscous, exhibited shear thinning behavior, could support itself and was thus more stable. In summary, introducing guar gum resulted in a mealworm paste with rheological properties more suitable for printing in terms of printability and stability.

One of the major limitations of the current 3D-concrete-printing technology is incorporation of reinforcement. Furthermore, there is a need to decrease the ecological footprint of printable concrete. As a possible solution for these challenges, this paper presents a 3D-printable strain-hardening geopolymer composite (3DP-SHGC) that shows pseudo-ductile behaviour under direct tension. The developed 3DP-SHGC is composed of one-part (just-add-water) geopolymer binder made of slag (GGBFS), fly ash (FA) and solid activator. The one-part geopolymer binder eliminates the need for elevated temperature curing and handling of corrosive alkaline liquids. At first, an optimum matrix was identified by studying the effects of FA to GGBFS ratio on the rheological properties and compressive strength. Subsequently the optimum matrix was reinforced by PVA fibres to make the 3DP-SHGC, which printing performance and rheological properties were evaluated. In addition, the influences of curing temperature on the compressive, flexural and tensile performances of the printed specimens were also investigated. The results were compared with those obtained for the mould-cast specimens. The 3DP-SHGC exhibited superior flexural performance, higher tensile strength, and comparable tensile strain capacity to the mould-cast counterpart. Further, the curing temperature had influence on the mechanical properties of both 3D-printed and mould-cast SHGCs. The underlying reasons for the differences are discussed.

High molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) and Low molecular weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS) in mature grains play important roles in the formation of glutenin macropolymer and gluten quality. To characterize the expressed glutenin genes of the bread wheat variety Xinmai 26 during seed development, in this study, we measured the dough rheological properties of mature grains through farinograph and gluten testing system, and revealed its strong gluten quality. The compositions of HMW-GS and LMW-GS were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Further, a total of 18 full-length transcripts were obtained by third-generation RNA sequencing, including 5 transcripts of HMW-GS genes and 13 transcripts of LMW-GS genes (8 intact genes and 5 pseudogenes). The deduced protein structures of transcript sequences exhibit the typical HMW-GS and LMW-GS structural characteristics. Moreover, a specific functional marker was developed to make better use of the extra cysteine residue of 1Dx5 subunit. This study provides an efficient method to accurately identify glutenin genes in bread wheat through matching full-length transcripts to their spectrum of glutenin, which will be helpful to understand the contributions of glutenin genes to wheat quality.

Materials characterised by magnetorheological properties are non-classic engineering materials. A significant increase in the interest of scientific community in materials from this group can be observed over the recent several years. The results of research presented in this article are oriented on the examination of said materials’ mechanical properties. In order to do so, stress relaxation tests were conducted on cylindrical samples of magnetorheological elastomers loaded with compressive stress for various values of magnetic induction (B1 = 0 mT, B2 = 32 mT, B3 = 48 mT, and B4 = 64 mT) and temperature (T1 = 25° C, T2 = 30° C, and T3 = 40° C). The results of these tests indicate that the stiffness of examined samples increases along with the increase of magnetic field induction and decreases along with the increase of temperature. On this basis, it has been determined that: the biggest stress amplitude change caused by the influence of magnetic field was σ0ΔB = 12.7% and the biggest stress amplitude change caused by the influence of temperature was σ0ΔT = 11.3%. As a result of applying a mathematical model, it has been indicated that the stress relaxation in the examined magnetorheological elastomer for the adopted time range (t = 3600 s) has a hyperbolic decline nature. The collected test results point to examined materials being characterised by extensive rheological properties, which leads to a conclusion that it is necessary to conduct further tests in this scope.

Arthrospira platensis, commercially known as Spirulina, is a fresh-water cyanobacterium that is gaining even more attention in the last years due to its high biological and nutritional value. For this reason, it has been employed in several food applications, to obtain or enhance functional and technological properties of cheese, yogurt, bread, cookies or pasta. The aim of this work was to evaluate the potential boosting effect of two different concentrations (0.25% and 0.50%) of Arthrospira platensis on the fermentation capability of several starter LAB strains, 1 probiotic and 4 commercial mix culture. These strains were used to ferment three different substrates and their fermentation behaviors were evaluated by impedance analyses together with rheological and color measurements. It was demonstrated that the booster effect took place, but it was variable and dependent not only on the strain or mix culture used, but also on the substrate and Arthrospira platensis concentration. Also, rheological and color modifications were found to be dependent of these factors.

Currently, efficient utilization of low-grade thermal energy is a great challenge. Thermoelectricity is an extremely promising method of generating electrical energy from temperature differences. As a promising energy conversion technology, thermo-electrochemical cells (TECs) have attracted much attention in recent years for their ability to convert thermal energy directly into electricity with high thermal power. Within TECs, anions and cations gain and lose electrons, respectively at the electrodes using the potential difference between the hot and cold terminals of the electrodes by redox couples. Additionally, the anions and cations therein are constantly circulating and mobile via concentration diffusion and thermal diffusion, providing an uninterrupted supply of power to the exterior. This review article focuses mainly on the operation of TECs, recent ad-vances in redox couples, electrolytes, and electrodes. The outlook for optimization strategies re-garding TECs is also presented in this paper.

The decreasing width, increasing aspect ratio RDL presents significant challenges to design for reliability (DFR) of advanced package. Therefore, this paper proposes a ML based RDL modeling and simulation method. In the method, RDL is divided into blocks and subdivided into pixels of metal percentage, and the RDL is digitalized as tensors. Then, an ANN-based surrogate model is built and trained by a subset of tensors to predict the equivalent material properties of each block. Lastly, all blocks are transformed into elements for simulations. For validation, line bending simulations were conducted on an RDL, with the reaction force as accuracy indicator. The results show that neglecting layout impact causes critical errors as substrate thins. By the method, the reaction force error is 2.81% and the layout impact can accurately be considered with 200×200 elements. For application, the TCT maximum temperature state simulation was conducted on a CPU chip. The simulation indicates that for advanced package the maximum stress more likely occurs in RDL rather than bumps, both RDL and bumps are critical impacted by layouts, and RDL stress is also impacted by vias/bumps. The proposed method precisely concerns layout impacts with little resources, presents an opportunity of efficiency improvement.

A computational simulation of a PT6A gas turbine engine operating at off-design conditions is described in the present article. The model consists of a 0-dimensional thermo-fluidic description of the engine by applying the mass, linear momentum, angular momentum, and energy balances in each engine's component. The transient behavior of the engine is simulated for different blends of the original JET-A1 fuel with bio-diesel. Simulated thermodynamic variables of the air at each engine's component, as well as some performance parameters correspond to the reported experimental measurements. The numerical results also demonstrate the ability of the computational simulation to predict acceptable fuel blends, such that the efficiency of the engine is maximized and its structural integrity is maintained.

During the recent decades, global warming by greenhouse gas evolution has attracted worldwide attention and evermore strict regulations thereon have become institutionalized as international policies. In the process, more environment-friendly power generation technologies have been developed utilizing fossil fuels with a view to timely commercialization. As one of such “clean coal” technology, Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell system is a promising power generation means and COS hydrolysis reactor is installed downstream of coal syngas to remove acidic gas constituents such as H2S and COS. The most significant design parameters affecting performance of the COS hydrolysis reactor were selected to be GHSV, (catalytic) reaction temperature, and length ratio and numerical modeling was performed considering heat and fluid flow transfer as well as chemical reaction kinetics. Effect of the selected design parameters on the variation of conversion rate and reactant gas mixture concentration were comprehensively investigated to predict performance of COS hydrolysis reactor. Stochastic modeling of reactor performance was finally performed using Monte Carlo simulation and linear regression fitting.

This study introduces an efficient strategy for synthesizing polyhydroxyurethane-based multicomponent hydrogels with enhanced rheological properties. In a single-step process, 3D materials composed of Polymer 1 (PHU) and Polymer 2 (PVA or gelatin) were produced. Polymer 1, a crosslinked polyhydroxyurethane (PHU) grew within a colloidal suspension of Polymer 2, forming an interconnected network. The synthesis of Polymer 1 utilized a Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane (NIPU) methodology based on the aminolysis of bis(cyclic carbonate) (bisCC) monomers derived from 1-thioglycerol and 1,2-dithioglycerol (monomers MA and ME, respectively). This method, applied for the first time in Semi Interpenetrating Network (SIPN) formation, demonstrated exceptional orthogonality, since the functional groups in Polymer 2 do not interfere with Polymer 1 formation. Optimizing PHU formation involved a twenty-trial methodology, identifying influential variables such as polymer concentration, temperature, solvent (an aprotic and a protic solvent), and the organo-catalyst used [a thiourea derivative (TU) and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU)]. The highest molecular weights were achieved under near-bulk polymerization conditions using TU-protic and DBU-aprotic as catalyst-solvent combinations. ME-based PHU exhibited higher (M_w ) ̅ than MA-based PHU (34,100 Da and 16,400 Da, respectively). Applying the enhanced methodology to prepare ten multicomponent hydrogels using PVA or gelatin as the polymer scaffold revealed superior rheological properties in PVA-based hydrogels, exhibiting solid-like gel behavior. Incorporating ME enhanced mechanical properties and elasticity (with loss tangent values of 0.09 and 0.14). SEM images unveiled distinct microstructures, including a sponge-like pattern in certain PVA-based hydrogels when MA was chosen, indicating the formation of highly superporous interpenetrated materials. In summary, this innovative approach presents a versatile methodology for obtaining advanced hydrogel-based systems with potential applications in various biomedical fields.

Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA), the most common knee degenerative disease, involve a slow destructive process, leading to disability and ultimately total knee replacement. The progression of KOA is related to the loss of rheological properties of the synovial fluid (SF), due to slow immunological, inflammatory and enzymatic processes that cleave the hyaluronic acid (HA) and decrease the concentration of specific proteins. Since no effective treatments have been found to halt the progression of KOA, injection of HA-based viscoelastic gels combined with physiotherapy (PT) is an alternative to symptomatic therapies. In order to evaluate the effect of viscosupplementation and PT on the SF characteristics, the SF aspirated from the KOA was spectrophotometrically and rheological analyzed, comparing the receiving groups of HA Kombihylan® and groups that received Kombihylan® and complex PT. In patients treated with PT, SF extracted 6 weeks after viscosupplementation had a superior elastic moduli (G') and viscous moduli (G") profile behavior, having a homogeneous distribution of proteins and polysaccharides in the SF, stimulating stronger interactions. In the absence of PT the G' and G" profiles are non-uniform, suggesting an unorganized supplemented SF with some clustering phenomena, proteins aggregation and a low level of entanglement between HA and macromolecular components in the SF.

To improve the interfacial bonding of sisal fiber reinforced polylactide biocomposites, polylactide (PLA) and sisal fibers (SF) were melt-blended to fabricate bio-based composites via in situ reactive interfacial compatibilization with the addition of an epoxy-functionalized oligomer (ADR). The FTIR analysis and SEM characterization demonstrated that PLA molecular chain was bonded to the fiber surface and epoxy-functionalized oligomer played a hinge-like role between sisal fibers and PLA matrix, which resulted in improved interfacial adhesion between fibers and PLA matrix. The interfacial reaction and microstructures of composites were further investigated by thermal and rheological analyses, which indicated that the mobility of the PLA molecular chain in composites was restricted because of the introduction of ADR oligomer, which in turn reflected the improved interfacial interaction between SF and PLA matrix. These conclusions were further investigated by the calculated activation energies of glass transition relaxation (△Ea) of composites via dynamic mechanical analysis. The mechanical properties of PLA/SF composites were simultaneously reinforced and toughened via addition of ADR oligomer. The interfacial interaction and structure-properties relationship of composites are key points of this study.

Purpose: this paper evaluates the effect of thermo-formed aligners with complementary biomechanical attachments (CBA) on periodontal ligaments (PDL) during the expansion process of the maxillary arch using simulations based on the finite element method (FEM). Methods: four types of teeth (canine 3, premolar 4, premolar 5 and molar 6) were modeled using 3D CAD. In addition, aligners, CBAs and PDL were also 3D modeled. With this information, a FEM model was generated, and a clinical rehabilitation scenario was simulated. For the validation of the results, a comparison with medical records was performed. Results: for canine 3, the displacement was 0.134 mm with a maximum stress of 4.822 x10-3MPa in the amelocemental junction. For premolar 4, the displacement was 0.132 mm at a maximum stress of 3.273x10-3MPa in the amelocemental junction. Premolar 5 had a displacement of 0.129 mm and a stress of 1.358 x10-3MPa at 1 mm from the amelocemental junction. Molar 6 had a displacement of 0.124 mm and a maximum stress of 2.440 x10-3MPa. Conclusions: The simulations showed that the use of CBA reduces tooth tipping. The model with Vestibular CBA presented the best results in terms of the dental movement of expansion of the maxillary arch with the use of thermoformed aligners. Significance: Considering the difficulty of performing in vivo tests that evaluate the configuration effectiveness of the different CBA alternatives in thermoformed aligners, FEM techniques were used to reduce time and costs, and get accurate results with minimal errors.

In order to search possible residual minor phases in Y-Ba-Cu-O family, powdered mixtures of Y₂O₃ + BaCO₃ + CuO and, independently, superconducting compound YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x have been treated in evacuated cells and elevated temperatures.YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x was reduced to YBa₂Cu₃O₅ by use of the special home designed Taconis-Knudsen vacuum device. A subsequent doping by oxygen converts produced insulator YBa₂Cu₃O₅ to semiconductor or metal YBa₂Cu₃O_5+x (0<x<0.3). In addition to YBa₂Cu₃O₅, 0.05 volume percent of the minor delafossite phase Y₂Cu₂O₄ was being spotted in the powder mixture 1/2 Y₂O₃ + 2BaCO₃+6Cu₂O, heated up to 818 °C in an inert gas atmosphere. An attempt to prepare the insulating bulk delafossite samples was successful, and subsequent doping by oxygen produces novel metallic phases.

Silicon-based microchannel technology offers unmatched performances for cooling high energy physics silicon-pixels detectors. Although Si-Si direct bonding, used for the fabrication of cooling plates, meets the stringent requirements of this application, in particular high-pressure resistance (~200 bar), it is reported to be a challenging and expensive process. In this work, we have evaluated two alternative bonding methods towards a more cost-effective fabrication process: Si-Glass-Si anodic bonding (AB) with a thin-film glass and Au-Au thermocompression (TC). The bonding strength of the two methods were evaluated with destructive pressure burst tests (0 - 690 bar) on test structures, each made of a 1×2 cm² silicon die etched with a tank and an inlet channel and sealed with a plain silicon die using AB or TC bonding. The pressure resistance of the structures was measured to be higher for the TC sealed samples (max. 690 bar) than for the AB ones (max. 530 bar) but less reproducible. The failure analysis indicates that the AB structure resistance is limited by the adhesion force of the deposited layers. Nevertheless, both the TC and AB methods provided sufficient bond quality to hold the high pressure required for the high energy physics pixel detectors cooling application.

The aim of this paper is to expose the main involved physical phenomena underlying the alteration of convective heat transfer in a heat exchanger subjected to imposed vibrations. This technique seems to have interesting features and industrial applications, such as efficiency increase, heat transfer rate control and cleanliness action. However, a clear description and comprehension of how vibrations may alter the convective heat transfer coefficient in a heat exchanger is no still reached due to the complexity of the involved physical mechanisms. For this reason, after a presentation and a schematisation of the analyzed thermodynamic system, the fundamental alterations of the thermo-fluid dynamics fields are described. Then, the main involved physical phenomena are exposed for the three cases of gaseous, monophasic liquid and boiling liquid mediums. Finally, on the basis of the characteristics of these described phenomena, some considerations and indications of general validity are presented.

Based on the Generalized bracket, or Beris-Edwards, formalism of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, we have recently proposed [Stephanou et al. Materials, 13, 2867 (2020)] a new differential constitutive model for the rheology of entangled polymer melts and solutions. It has amended the shortcomings of a previous model that was too strict in the values of the convective constraint release parameter for the model not to violate the second law of thermodynamics and has been shown capable of predicting a transient stress undershoot (following the overshoot) at high shear rates. In this work, we wish to further examine this model’s capability of predicting the rheological response of industrial polymer systems by extending it to its multiple-mode version. The comparison against industrial rheological data (High-Density Polyethylene resins), as compared against available experimental data in (a) Small Amplitude Oscillatory shear, (b) start-up shear, and (c) start-up uniaxial elongation, is noted to be good.

The shear factor of ore drawing is one of the important factors affecting the formation of underground debris flow, and it has an important contribution to the formation of underground debris flow. The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of mining shear factor on underground debris flow in natural caving method. Based on the research background of the underground debris flow in Plan copper mine, this paper analyzes the characteristics of the slurry material structure of the underground debris flow, the influence of drawing shear factor on formation mechanism of underground debris flow is analyzed. The results show that the slurry of the underground debris flow in Plan mine is not only a pseudoplastic fluid but also a thixotropic fluid. It is indicated that once there is shearing force in drawing, it will deform, and its viscosity will decrease with the increase of shear rate and time. It is considered that the shear force produced by the flow of ore particles first produces shear action on the paste in the shear boundary region of ore drawing, it is reduced in viscosity and increased in fluidity, so that its “Activation” and then become a flowable paste, along with the bulk ore flow through the mouth. The continuous ore drawing process will continuously shear the new moraine slurry in the ore drawing channel and continuously “Activate” the moraine slurry in the ore drawing channel, finally, a certain scale and destructive down-hole debris flow accident. This paper is the first to study the effect of ore drawing shear factor on the formation mechanism of underground debris flow. It not only broadens the research field of debris flow, but also fills up the deficiency of systematic research on underground debris flow, and provides theoretical guidance for the prevention and control of underground debris flow.

Interior permanent magnet motors (IPMSMs) are extensively used as traction motors today because of their exceptional torque and power density, and wide constant power operating range. Under real-world usage, an IPMSM rotor undergoes varying electromagnetic, thermal, and mechanical loads. Under such conditions, fatigue life-based design criteria should be utilized over stress-based design criteria to ensure the structural integrity of the rotor. Moreover, the driving dynamics can change the rotor temperature continuously, which affects the electromagnetic, mechanical, and fatigue properties of rotor material. This paper proposes a robust thermo-mechanical rotor fatigue simulation workflow considering the significant loads acting on an IPMSM rotor and the temperature variation throughout a drive cycle. It discusses an accelerated fatigue life estimation approach based on peak valley extraction to reduce the simulation time significantly for stress and fatigue analysis. Then, it presents a method for stress-life curve generation for a variable loading. It also presents a sensitivity study with a median S-N curve, and a 90%-reliability 95%-confidence (R90C95) S-N curve.

Waste heat recovery stands out as a promising technique to tackle both energy shortages and environmental pollution. Currently, this valuable resource, generated from processes like fuel combustion or chemical reactions, is often dissipated into the environment, despite its potential to significantly contribute to the economy. To harness this untapped potential, a travelling-wave thermo-acoustic generator has been designed and subjected to comprehensive experimental analysis. Fifty-two data corresponding to different working conditions of the system were extracted to build ANN, ANFIS and ANN-PSO models. Evaluation of performance metrics reveals that the ANN-PSO model demonstrates the highest predictive accuracy (R^2=0.9959), particularly in relation to output voltage. This research demonstrates the potential of machine learning techniques for the analysis of thermo-acoustic systems. By doing so, it is possible to get an insight into nonlinearities inherent to thermo-acoustic systems. This advancement empowers researchers to forecast the performance characteristics of alternative configurations with a heightened level of precision.

This paper reports 2 × 4 hybrid Mach-zehnder interferometer (MZI) - multi-mode interferometers (MMI) based compact thermo-optical switch consisting of slab waveguides on silicon-on-insulator, SOI, platform. The device consists of two identical MMIs, each of 6 μm wide and 140 μm long connected with two phase shifters MMIs each with 2 μm wide and 8 μm long and linear tappers each 4 μm long, connected at both ends of the MMIs to minimize the power coupling loss. The loss for linear taper is found to be below 0.02dB. The footprint of the whole device is six 6 μm × 324 μm. This structure is based on unique multimode region shape, which leads optical switch to have less coupling loss and reduced cross-talk. The average thermo-optical switching power consumption is 1.4 mW, the excess losses are 0.8 dB, and the imbalances are 0.1 dB. Aluminum is used as a heating pad, and a trench is created around this pad to prevent from spreading of heat and reduce power loss almost by a factor of 2 to the adjacent phase shifter. Our new heating method has advantages of compact size and ease of fabrication with the current CMOS technology.

Reducing meat consumption is better for the environment. Unfortunately, commercial plant-based meat substitutes are often more expensive than meat and thus have not seen widespread adoption. This paper analyzes commercially-available spirulina, soy, pea, and brown rice protein isolates characteristics to provide data for non-meat protein cost reductions. Thermal and rheological properties, viscosity, density, and particle size distribution are analyzed for further study on alternative protein-based food processing. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis produced dry amorphous-shaped curves and paste curves with a more distinct endothermic peak. Extracted linear temperature ranges for processing in food production for spirulina was 70-90ºC; soy protein was 87-116ºC; pea protein was 67-77ºC; and brown rice protein was 87-97ºC. Viscosity analysis determined each protein material was shear-thinning and that viscosity increased with decreased water concentration, with rice being an exception to the latter trend. The obtained viscosity range for spirulina was 15,100-78,000cP; soy protein was 3,200-80,000cP; pea protein was 1,400-32,700cP; and brown rice protein was 600-3,500cP. The results indicate that extrusion is a viable method for further processing of the protein isolates as this technique has a large temperature operating range and variable screw speed. Data provided here can be used to make single or multi-component protein substitutes.

The use of cemented aeolian sand-fly ash backfill (CAFB) material to fill the mining area to improve the surface subsidence damage caused by underground coal mining is in the development stage. Their performance with large overflow water and strength loss is not well understood. Few research has been conducted to understand the effects of aeolian sand and coal gangue on the rheological properties of CAFB with plasticizers. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a plasticizer on the rheological properties, specifically yield stress and viscosity, of CAFB prepared with aeolian sand and coal gangue. CAFB mixes containing 0%, 0.05%, and 0.1% plasticizer were prepared, and yield stress and viscosity were determined at different time intervals over the period. Additional tests, such as thermal analysis and zeta potential analysis were also conducted. It was found that the rheological properties of CAFB is the comprehensive manifestation of the composite characteristics of various models. Reasonable particle size distribution and less amount of plasticizer can ensure the stability of slurry structure, reduce the slurry settlement and the risk of pipe blocking. The findings of this study will be beneficial in the design and production of CAFB material.

Development of load-bearing polymer composite constructions in civil engineering, such as industrial chimneys and gas ducts, requires filling some research gaps. These gaps are related to long-term behavior under mechanical and temperature loads, cyclic ones as well. Such conditions mean that viscoelasticity should be considered. First of all, viscoelastic parameters should be calculated, based on the used inner structure model. Then, due to the high working temperatures, thermal aging should be considered as well. This research is devoted to effects of thermal aging on viscoelastic behavior of polymers. Two sets of experiments were conducted: creep tensile tests and cyclic heating in constrained state. The Kelvin-Voigt viscoelasticity model was used to determine the rheological parameters of binder from experimental creep curves. Thermally-aged binder turned out to lose its viscous properties and became elastic. Cyclic heating was used to compare the behavior of normal and thermally-aged binder and to evaluate the possibility of temperature stress accumulation. Similar to creep tests, cyclic heating showed that aged binder lost viscosity and worked almost perfectly elastic. Non-aged binder was prone to stress accumulation much more. As a result, the rheological behavior of aged and non-aged binder was compared and showed a significant difference. In addition, the influence of temperature stress accumulation on stress—strain state was evaluated and turned out to be significant as well. The obtained results can be further used to predict the mechanical behavior of structures made of polymer composites operating for a long time at elevated temperatures, including those exceeding the glass transition temperature.

High-performance properties of interpenetration polymer network (IPN) hydrogels, based on physically crosslinked chitosan (CS) and chemically crosslinked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAM), have been successfully developed. The IPN of CS/PNiPAM is proposed to overcome the limited mechanical properties of the single CS network. In this study, the viscoelastic behaviors of prepared materials in both solution and gel states have been extensively examined, considering the UV exposure time and crosslinker concentration as key factors. The effect of these factors on gel formation, hydrogel structures, thermal stabilities of networks, and HeLa cell adhesion were studied sequentially. The sol-gel transition was effectively demonstrated through the scaling law, which agrees well with Winter and Chambon's theory. By subjecting the CS hydrogel to the process operation in an ethanol solution, its properties can be significantly enhanced with increased crosslinker concentration, including the shear modulus, crosslinking degree, gel strength, and thermal stability in its swollen state. The IPN samples exhibit a smooth and dense surface with irregular pores, allowing for much water absorption. The HeLa cells were adhered to and killed using the CS surface cationic derivative, then released through hydrolysis by utilizing the hydrophilic/hydrophobic switchable property or thermo-reversible gelation of the PNiPAM network. The results demonstrated that IPN is a highly attractive candidate for anti-fouling materials.

Ni-Al alloys have good corrosion-resistant properties making them preferable as a material of choice compared to ordinary metals. A good understanding of the phase diagram and thermodynamic properties of the Ni-Al alloy binary system is essential in determining relevant industrial applications of the system. The Ni-Al phase diagram is being reassessed since those found in the literatures are based on very old experimental studies. The phase diagram and thermodynamic properties of the Ni-Al alloy is determined using the Thermo-Calc 2022b software over a temperature range of 200 K to 2000 K and 1 atm of pressure. A total of nineteen fields (including elemental Al and Ni) comprising of five single solid phases, one liquid phase, and twelve double regions was obtained from the equilibrium calculation. The thermodynamic calculation has six invariant reactions comprising of two eutectic reactions (914.83 ± 0.025 K and 1641.80 ± 0.025 K), three peritectic reactions (1123.55 ± 0.025 K, 1400.72 ± 0.025 K and 1642.65 ± 0.025 K), and one peritectoid reaction (913.96 ± 0.025 K). The solubility of Al in Ni is also determined. The Thermo-Calc temperature – composition of the Ni-Al alloy is compared with the existing experimental studies to identify the physical properties of the different thermodynamic properties of the Ni-Al alloy binary system.

Recently, Indium Tin Oxide, a highly transparent, well conductive, and CMOS-compatible material, has been paying strong attention to the thermo-optic controlled silicon photonics industry because it allows a miniature of the gap between the core silicon and the heater, thus enabling reducing the electric power consumption and enhancing the switching speed. In this article, we propose an ultralow loss and small-size ITO microheater for the phase shift tuning. The designated microheater is manipulated in realizing a numerical co-design of compact and high bandwidth three-mode converter and three-mode selective router. Simulation results illustrate the 3-dB bandwidth for the three-mode converter and three-mode selective router as much as 100-nm and 40-nm during crosstalk under -25 dB, respectively. Besides, co-designed devices attain relatively large fabrication tolerances corresponding to width and height tolerances of ±50 nm and ±5 nm. In addition, the proposed devices consumed less than 90 mW total power consumption and took a fast switching time below 8 μs. Moreover, both two co-designs can be integrated into an estimated compact footprint of 8 μm2160 μm. Such excellent performances demonstrate the attractive potential of ITO as low-loss thermo-optic phase shifters and open an alternative way for enabling ultrafast and high-speed mode division multiplexing systems and very large-scale photonic integrated circuits.

A formulation of nonequilibrium thermo field dynamics has been performed using the nonequilibrium statistical operator method by D.N. Zubarev. Generalized transfer equations for a consistent description of kinetics and hydrodynamics of the dense quantum-field system with strongly coupled states are derived.

Curcumin, a nontoxic and cheap natural medicine, has high therapeutic efficacy for many diseases including diabetes and cancers. Unfortunately, its exceedingly low water-solubility and rapid degradation in the body severely limit its bioavailability. In this work, we prepare a series of biocompatible poly(vinyl anisole)@nonlinear poly(ethylene glycol) (PVAS@PEG) core-shell nanogels with different PEG gel shell thickness to provide high water solubility, good stability, and controllable sustained release of curcumin. The PVAS nanogel core is designed to attract and store curcumin molecules for high drug loading capacity and the hydrophilic nonlinear PEG gel shell is designed to offer water dispersibility and thermo-responsive drug release. The obtained nanogels are monodispersed in spherical shape with clear core-shell morphology. The size and shell thickness of the nanogels can be easily controlled by changing the core-shell precursor feeding ratios. The optimized PVAS@PEG nanogels display a high curcumin loading capacity of 38.0 wt%. The nanogels can stabilize the curcumin from degradation at pH =7.4 and release the curcumin in response to heat in the physiologically important temperature range. The nanogels can enter cells effectively and exhibit negligible cytotoxicity to both the B16F10 and HL-7702 cells at a concentration up to 2.3 mg/mL. Such designed PVAS@PEG nanogels have a great potential to be used for delicate drug delivery.

Steam boiler has a significant role in the industrial sector. The failure in boiler tubes significantly reduces the availability of the plant. Furthermore, deposits on the inner tube wall contribute to such failure by changing the thermal resistance of the wall, which causes a significant increase in the tube wall's temperature and, consequently, lower allowable stress. The presented thermal-fluid model is developed for the water tube. The model is implemented using ANSYS FLUENT to estimate the wall maximum water tube wall temperature considering the deposits layer and then determine the minimum thickness of the tube wall via ASME standards to assure safe operation. The model is verified via a mesh independence test. The minimum tube thickness is recommended and justified given the thermo-mechanical performance of the water tubes at several operating loads of 50, 75, and 100 %. These loads are implemented by different convective heat transfer coefficients of flue gases under different deposit thicknesses, thermal conductivity, and flue gas temperature. The present work contributes to the literature by recommending the minimum thickness of the water wall tubes and highlighting the thermo-mechanical effect of the deposits on water tube resilience under different operating conditions.

This study presents a vibration control using actively tunable vibration absorbers (ATVA) to suppress vibration of a thin plate. The ATVA’s is made of a sandwich hollow structure embedded with the electrorheological fluid (ERF). ERF is considered to be one of the most important smart fluids and it is suitable to be embedded in a smart structure due to its controllable viscosity property. ERF’s apparent viscosity can be controlled in response to the electric field and the change is reversible in 10 microseconds. Therefore, the physical properties of the ERF-embedded smart structure, such as the stiffness and damping coefficients, can be changed in response to the applied electric field. A mathematical model is difficult to be obtained to describe the exact characteristics of the ERF embedded ATVA because of the nonlinearity of ERF’s viscosity. Therefore, a fuzzy modeling and experimental validations of ERF-based ATVA from stationary random vibrations of thin plates are presented in this study. Because Type-2 fuzzy sets generalize Type-1 fuzzy sets so that more modelling uncertainties can be handled, a semi-active vibration controller is proposed based on Type-2 fuzzy sets. To investigate the different performances by using different types of fuzzy controllers, the experimental measurements employing type-1 fuzzy and interval type-2 fuzzy controllers are implemented by the Compact RIO embedded system. The fuzzy modeling framework and solution methods presented in this work can be used for design, performance analysis, and optimization of ATVA from stationary random vibration of thin plates.

innate and adaptive immune responses lead to wound healing by regulating a complex series of events promoting cellular cross-talk. An inflammatory response is presented with its characteristic clinical symptoms: heat, pain, redness, and swelling. Some smart thermo-responsive polymers like chitosan can be used to create biocompatible and biodegradable scaffolds with 3D architectures similar to human structures, allowing their efficient and safe use as tissue engineering and drug delivery systems in chronic wounds. Locally heated tumors above polymer lower critical solution temperature can induce its conversion into a hydrophobic form, enhancing drug release until the thermal stimulus is gone, where a lower release is due to the swelling of the material. This paper integrates the relevant reported contributions of bioengineered scaffolds for thermo-responsive drug delivery in wound healing. Therefore, we present a comprehensive review that aims to demonstrate the capacity of these systems to provide spatially and temporally controlled release strategies for one or more drugs used in wound healing. In this sense, the novel manufacturing techniques of 3D-printing and electrospinning are explored for the tuning of their physicochemical properties to adjust therapies according to the patient’s convenience, as well as reduce drug toxicity and side effects.

The present study evaluates mold fungal resistance of newly developed loose-fill thermal insulation materials from wheat straw, corn stalk and water reed. Three different processing methods of raw materials was performed by mechanical crushing (Raw, ≤ 20 mm), thermal-mechanical pulping (TMP) using 4% NaOH and steam explosion pulping (SEP). An admixture of boric acid (8%) and tetraborate (7%) was applied to all processed substrates due to their anti-fungal properties. Additionally, the fourth sample group was prepared from SEPs of all raw species without boric acid and tetraborate (SEP*) as control. Samples from all treatments were separately inoculated by 5 different fungal species and incubated in darkness for 28 days at 28 ℃ and RH &gt;90%. The highest resistance to the colonization of mold fungi was achieved by TMP and SEP processing coupled with addition of boric acid and tetraborate, where molds infest only around 35% to 40% of the inoculated sample area. The lowest mold fungi resistance was detected for Raw and SEP* samples, each ~75% that was affected by rich amount of accessible nutrients, suggesting that boric acid and tetraborate additives alone did not prevent mold fungal growth as effective as in combination with TMP and SEP treatments. Together, the achieved fungal colonization scores after combined fungicide and pulping treatments are acceptable for the application of various renewable materials in future thermal insulation product development.

The contribution aims to bring forth a novel synthesis route in developing transparent UV-LED curable coatings accounting various exposure options. A selection of perfluoropolyether (PFPE)-urethane methacrylate and acrylate resins, free-radical photo-initiator Omnirad 2100, and two distinct silane based crosslinking agents were blended under a weight ratio of 75:20:5 (without crosslinker) and 70:15:5:10, respectively. The coatings were cured under a UV-LED 4 x 3 matrix light emitting source, in a chamber under controlled atmosphere, by means of an in-house developed conveyor belt type platform, at different conveyor belt speed (5, 50, 150, 250, and 500 mm/s). The morphologies of fabricated coatings were characterized by FTIR revealing high conversion rates (e.g., from 98 to 100%) for increased exposure time as resulted from the 5 or 50 mm/s values, on all combinations. Dynamic-mechanical and optical properties of UV-LED cured transparent coatings were also investigated. A negative shift of a glass transition temperature values with a decrease in exposure time, in all combinations, from about 60 °C to 30 °C, along with storage moduli lowering in the glassy plateau further favor on higher exposure times for curing. The refractive indices of polymers were from 1.38 to 1.40, whereas the thermo-optic coefficients are showing minor changes around value of 2.55∙10-4 K-1.

The aspirated hypersonic air-breathing propulsion system requires a large amount of power generation, but its special structure makes it impossible to adopt common power generation methods. The high-temperature gaseous hydrocarbon fuel thermal power generation (TPG) system was developed to solve the power generation problem for hypersonic air-breathing propulsion system. But off-design operating conditions of the hypersonic propulsion system results in a more complex process for both propulsion system and the TPG system. To better analyzing the dynamic thermos-physical characteristics of hypersonic airbreathing propulsion system considering thermal-mechanical coupling process among cooling/TPG system, a dynamic analytical model was developed, and the dynamic thermos-physical characteristics of TPG system under different off-design working conditions were conducted. It can be concluded from the analytical results that the dynamic process of thermos-physical characteristics shows a complex trend under the flight Mach number and fuel equivalence ratio off-design working conditions. Such complexity of dynamic characteristics brings difficulties in fuel supply for the propulsion system.

A heterograft copolymer with an alginate backbone, hetero-grafted by polymer pendant chains displaying different Lower Critical Solution Temperatures (LCSTs), combined with a pH-responsive Poly(2-vinyl pyridine)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (P2VP-b-PEO) diblock copolymer forming micellar nanoparticles, was investigated in aqueous media at various pH. Due to its thermoresponsive side chains, the copolymer forms hydrogels with thermo–induced sol–gel transition, above a critical temperature, Tgel (thermo–thickening). However, by lowering pH of the medium in acidic regime, a remarkable increase of the elasticity of the formulation was observed. This effect was more pronounced in low temperatures (below Tgel) suggesting secondary physical crosslinking, which induces significant changes in the hydrogel thermoresponsiveness, transforming the sol–gel transition to soft gel–strong gel. Moreover, the onset of thermothickening shifted to lower temperatures followed by broadening of the transition zone, implying intermolecular interactions between the uncharged alginate backbone with the PNIPAM side chains, likely through H–bonding. The shear–thinning behavior of the soft gel in low temperatures provides injectability, which allows 3D–printing potential applications. Furthermore, the heterograft copolymer/nanoparticles composite hydrogel, encapsulating a model hydrophobic drug in the hydrophobic cores of the nanoparticles, was evaluated as pH-responsive drug delivery system. The presented tunable drug delivery system might be useful for biomedical potential applications.

This research is completed in development of researches devoted to relations between elastic modulus (MoE) and thermal expansivity (CTe) of different materials. This study experimentally confirmed the relation of MoE and CTe for thermosetting polymers and FRPs both under normal and heating temperatures. As the thermosetting polymers, the epoxy compositions were used and glass fiber and mineral additives for FRP. The experiment was based on dilatometric and elastic deformations’ testing. Also, the relaxation model of MoE/CTe was proposed, that is based on physical properties of polymers’ supramolecular structures. The comparative analyzing of MoE/CTes’ different models is done. The most accurate models are determined, and the relaxation model has demonstrated the high accuracy.

Antibody-mediated targeting is an efficient strategy to enhance the specificity and selectivity of polymer nanomedicines towards the target site, typically a tumor. However, direct covalent coupling of an antibody with a polymer usually results in a partial damage of the antibody binding site accompanied with a compromised biological activity. Here, an original solution based on well-defined non-covalent interactions between tris-nitrilotriacetic acid (trisNTA) and hexahistidine (His-tag) groups, purposefully introduced to the structure of each macromolecule, is described. Specifically, trisNTA groups were attached along the chains of a hydrophilic statistical copolymer based on N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA), and at the end or along the chains of thermo-responsive di-block copolymers based on N-isopropylmethacrylamide (NIPMAM) and HPMA; His-tag was incorporated to the structure of a recombinant single chain fragment of an anti-GD2 monoclonal antibody (scFv-GD2). Static and dynamic light scattering analyses confirmed that mixing of polymer with scFv-GD2 led to the formation of polymer/scFv-GD2 complexes; those prepared from thermo-responsive polymers formed stable micelles at 37 °C. Flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy clearly demonstrated antigen-specific binding of the prepared complexes to GD2 positive murine T-cell lymphoma cells EL-4 and human neuroblastoma cells UKF-NB3, while no interaction with GD2 negative murine fibroblast cells NIH-3T3 was observed. These non-covalent polymer protein complexes represent a new generation of highly specific actively targeted polymer therapeutics or diagnostics.

A major advance of drug discovery and targeted therapy directed to cancer cells may be achieved by exploitation and immunomodulation of their unique biological property. This re-view summarizes our efforts to develop novel chemo-thermo-immuno-therapy (CTI therapy) by conjugating a melanogenesis substrate, N-propionyl cysteaminylphenol (NPrCAP: amine analog of tyrosine), with magnetite nanoparticles (MNP). In our approach, NPrCAP provides a unique drug delivery system (DDS) because of its selective incorporation into melanoma cells. It also functions as a melanoma-targeted therapeutic drug because of its production of highly reactive free radicals (melanoma-targeted chemotherapy). Moreover, utilization of MNP is a platform to develop thermo-immunotherapy because of heat shock protein (HSP) generation upon exposure to an alternating magnetic field (AMF). The feasibility of our approach was successfully shown in experimental in vivo and in vitro mouse melanoma models and in preliminary clinical trials to a limited number of advanced melanoma patients.

Ground-based high-power lasers enable to, in principle, deorbit any kind of space debris object from the low Earth orbit (LEO) by remotely inducing laser-ablative momentum. However, the assessment of efficiency and operational safety depends on many factors like atmospheric constraints or the risk of debris disintegration during irradiation. We analyze laser momentum for a great variety of target geometries and sizes, and – for the first time in a large-scale simulation – include thermal constraints for laser irradiation configuration. Using a coherently coupled 100 kJ laser system at 1030 nm wavelength, 5 ns pulse duration in an optimized pointing elevation angle range, the pulse frequency should amount to less than 10 Hz to prevent fragment meltdown. For mechanically intact payloads or rocket bodies, repetition rates should be even lower. Small debris fragments sized between 10 and 40 cm can be de-orbited by around 100 to 400 station passes with head-on irradiation while objects exceeding 2 m typically require far more than 1000 irradiations for deorbit. Hence, laser-based debris removal cannot be considered a prime space sustainability measure tackling the top-risk large debris, yet it can provide for remediation of a multitude of small-sized debris using small networks of globally distributed laser sites.