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Search results for: IMPROVED DIALOGUE INTELLIGIBILITY
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Measurement of luminance and color uniformity of displays using the large-format scanner
PublicationUniformity of display luminance and color is important for comfort and good perception of the information presented on the display. Although display technology has developed and improved a lot over the past years, different types of displays still present a challenge in selected applications, e.g. in medical use or in case of multi-screen installations. A simplified 9-point method of determining uniformity does not always produce...
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Performance of the PEM fuel cell module. Part 2. Effect of excess ratio and stack temperature
PublicationThe paper describes a fuel cell based system performance under different thermal conditions. The system could be fed with bottled hydrogen or with very high purity hydrogen obtained from reforming of methanol. The system is based on two fuel cell units (1.2 kW each, produced by Ballard Power Systems Inc. and called Nexa), DC/DC converter, DC/AC inverter, microprocessor control unit, load unit, bottled hydrogen supply system and...
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Novel condition monitoring of induction motor bearings via motor current signature analysis
PublicationThe paper authors are researching the assessment of bearing conditions in induction motors. The methods developed by the authors are based on measurements and analysis of the motor supply current, which is particularly attractive in the absence of access to the engine. The article provides an overview of selected methods of induction motor bearings diagnostic based on Motor Current Signature Analysis (MCSA). However, there is no...
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Application of g-C3N4/ZnO nanocomposites for fabrication of anti-fouling polymer membranes with dye and protein rejection superiority
PublicationPolysulfone (PSf) membranes are privileged for water and wastewater treatment, but because of their hydrophobic nature, they suffer from fouling, which lowers their performance and lifetime. In this work, g-C3N4 and g-C3N4/ZnO nanomaterials were synthesized via a hydrothermal method to modify the PSf membrane for effective dye separation and reduction of organic fouling. Since g-C3N4/ZnO possesses –OH and –NH reactive groups, g-C3N4/ZnO/PSf...
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Non-Perfect Propagation of Information to a Noisy Environment with Self-Evolution
PublicationWe study the non-perfect propagation of information for evolving a low-dimensional environment that includes self-evolution as well as noisy initial states and analyse the interrelations between the degree of objectivization and environment parameters. In particular, we consider an analytical model of three interacting qubits and derive its objectivity parameters. The numerical analysis shows that the quality of the spectrum broadcast...
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Biopolyols obtained via microwave-assisted liquefaction of lignin: structure, rheological, physical and thermal properties
PublicationThe present study examined the application of polyols obtained via microwave-assisted liquefaction of lignin in the production of rigid polyurethane foam. Lignin was liquefed in crude glycerol and 1,4-butanediol at diferent temperatures (130–170 °C), without a catalyst and using various biomass concentrations (15 and 30 wt%). The physicochemical properties, process yield, and FTIR-based identifcation of the obtained polyols were...
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Antibacterial Activity and Cytocompatibility of Bone Cement Enriched with Antibiotic, Nanosilver, and Nanocopper for Bone Regeneration
PublicationBacterial infections due to bone replacement surgeries require modifications of bone cement with antibacterial components. This study aimed to investigate whether the incorporation of gentamicin or nanometals into bone cement may reduce and to what extent bacterial growth without the loss of overall cytocompatibility and adverse effects in vitro. The bone cement Cemex was used as the base material, modified either with gentamicin...
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Effects of Na+, K+ and B3+ Substitutions on the Electrical Properties of La10Si6O27 Ceramics
PublicationDoping of Na and K at La sites and of B at Si site in La10Si6O27 with oxyapatite structure and fabrication of their ceramics were made by the solid-state reaction method. It was found that partial substitution of Na+ and K+ on La sites decreased the sinterability of the La10Si6O27 based ceramics, whereas partial substitution of B3+ on the Si site improved the sinterability. Na+ and K+ substitutions in La10−xNaxSi6O27−x and La10−xKxSi6O27−x...
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Fabrication of anti-corrosion nitrogen doped graphene oxide coatings by electrophoretic deposition
PublicationThis work assesses anti-corrosion properties of graphene and N-doped graphene coatings deposited on copper by an electrophoretic method. Graphene oxide (GO) precursor was synthesized by an improved Hummers' method, whereas N-doping was performed hydrothermally in the presence of ammonia. After nitrogenation, doped graphene oxide samples (NGO) contained a reduced amount of oxygen and about 9% w/w nitrogen as pyridinic, pyrrole,...
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GTR/NBR/Silica Composites Performance Properties as a Function of Curing System: Sulfur versus Peroxides
PublicationIn this work, conventional sulfur and two types of organic peroxides (dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and di-(2-tert-butyl-peroxyisopropyl)-benzene (BIB)) curing systems were used to investigate the possibility for tailoring of the performance properties of GTR/NBR blends reinforced with a variable content of highly dispersive silica (0–30 phr). The curing characteristics, static mechanical and acoustical properties, swelling behavior,...
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Spectacular Oxygen Evolution Reaction Enhancement Through Laser Processing of the Nickel-Decorated Titania Nanotubes
PublicationThe selective, laser-induced modification of the nickel-decorated titania nanotubes provides remarkable enhancement toward oxygen evolution reaction. Particularly, the irradiation of the laterally spaced crystalline TiO2 nanotubes, results in the formation of the tight closure over irradiated end, preserving their hollow interior. The shape of the absorbance spectra is modulated along with applied energy, and the new absorption...
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Flow cytometric approach to evaluate the impact of hydro-technical concrete compounds’ release to the freshwater microbiome
PublicationThe aim of this research was to test the potential of applying a flow cytometric procedure to evaluate the impact of concrete compounds’ release to the freshwater microbiome. Cells from the collected samples were stained with a fluorogenic redox indicator dye that measures the redox potential of microbial cells. This novel approach was combined with the assessment of microorganisms’ penetration into the internal structures of concrete...
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MXenes Antibacterial Properties and Applications: A Review and Perspective
PublicationThe mutations of bacteria due to the excessive use of antibiotics, and generation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria have made the development of new antibacterial compounds a necessity. MXenes have emerged as biocompatible transition metal carbide structures with extensive biomedical applications. This is related to the MXenes’ unique combination of properties, including multifarious elemental compositions, 2D-layered structure,...
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Enzymatic and Chemical Cross-Linking of Bacterial Cellulose/Fish Collagen Composites—A Comparative Study
PublicationThis article compares the properties of bacterial cellulose/fish collagen composites (BC/Col) after enzymatic and chemical cross-linking. In our methodology, two transglutaminases are used for enzymatic cross-linking—one recommended for the meat and the other proposed for the fish industry—and pre-oxidated BC (oxBC) is used for chemical cross-linking. The structure of the obtained composites is characterized by scanning electron...
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Obtaining and Characterization of the PLA/Chitosan Foams with Antimicrobial Properties Achieved by the Emulsification Combined with the Dissolution of Chitosan by CO2 Saturation
PublicationA new method of obtaining functional foam material has been proposed. The materials were created by mixing the poly lactic acid (PLA) solution in chloroform, chitosan (CS) dissolved in water saturated with CO2 and polyethylene glycol (PEG), and freeze-dried for removal of the solvents. The composite foams were characterized for their structural (SEM, FT-IR, density, porosity), thermal (DSC), functional (hardness, elasticity, swelling...
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Expedited Design Closure of Antenna Input Characteristics by Trust Region Gradient Search and Principal Component Analysis
PublicationOptimization-based parameter tuning has become an inherent part of contemporary antenna design process. For the sake of reliability, it is typically conducted at the level of full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulation models. This may incur considerable computational expenses depending on the cost of an individual EM analysis, the number of adjustable variables, the type of task (local, global, single-/multi-objective optimization),...
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Photocatalytic and Antimicrobial Properties of Ag2O/TiO2 Heterojunction
PublicationAg2O/TiO2 heterojunctions were prepared by a simple method, i.e., the grinding of argentous oxide with six different titania photocatalysts. The physicochemical properties of the obtained photocatalysts were characterized by diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The photocatalytic activity was...
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Curing epoxy with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) surface-functionalized Co Fe3-O4 magnetic nanoparticles
PublicationIn this work, the bulk and surface composition of Fe3O4 supermagnetic nanoparticles were modified for efficient epoxy curing. The bare, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) capped, and cobalt (Co)-doped EDTA capped Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized electrochemically. The crystalline structure and phase information, surface capping, morphology and magnetization behavior of nanoparticles were studied by X-Ray diffraction (XRD),...
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A Computationally Efficient Model for Predicting Successful Memory Encoding Using Machine-Learning-based EEG Channel Selection
PublicationComputational cost is an important consideration for memory encoding prediction models that use data from dozens of implanted electrodes. We propose a method to reduce computational expense by selecting a subset of all the electrodes to build the prediction model. The electrodes were selected based on their likelihood of measuring brain activity useful for predicting memory encoding better than chance (in terms of AUC). A logistic...
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Selection of circuit geometry for miniaturized microwave components based on concurrent optimization of performance and layout area
PublicationThe paper presents a framework for automated EM-driven circuit geometry selection of miniaturized microwave components. Selection of a particular layout is based directly on miniaturization rates achieved for a set of candidate circuit geometries. Size reduction of the considered structures is obtained by replacing their main building blocks (i.e., conventional transmission lines) with slow-wave composite cells and meander lines....
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Obtaining and Characterization of the PLA/Chitosan Foams with Antimicrobial Properties Achieved by the Emulsification Combined with the Dissolution of Chitosan by CO2 Saturation
PublicationA new method of obtaining functional foam material has been proposed. The materials were created by mixing the poly lactic acid (PLA) solution in chloroform, chitosan (CS) dissolved in water saturated with CO2 and polyethylene glycol (PEG), and freeze-dried for removal of the solvents. The composite foams were characterized for their structural (SEM, FT-IR, density, porosity), thermal (DSC), functional (hardness, elasticity, swelling...
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Enhanced electrochemical kinetics of highly-oriented (111)-textured boron-doped diamond electrodes induced by deuterium plasma chemistry
PublicationNovel highly-oriented (111)-textured boron-doped diamond electrodes (BDDD) featuring high electrochemical activity and electrode stability toward electrochemical analytics were fabricated by deuterium-rich microwave plasma CVD. The high flux deuterium plasma-induced preferential formation of (111)-faceted diamond as revealed by XRD. The highly-oriented diamond surface exhibited improved boron dopant incorporation and activation,...
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Innovative Turbine Intake Air Cooling Systems and Their Rational Designing
PublicationThe improved methodology of the engine intake air cooling system designing based on the annual effect due to cooling was developed. It involves determining the optimal value of cooling capacity, providing the minimum system sizes at maximum rate of annual effect increment, and its rational value, providing a close to maximum annual effect without system oversizing at the second maximum rate of annual effect increment within the...
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Acoustic lifecycle study of the double-layer porous asphalt on E4 in Huskvarna, Sweden
PublicationIn 2010 a double-layer porous asphalt concrete (DPAC) pavement was constructed on the E4 motorway through the Swedish city Huskvarna. Earlier experience in Sweden indicated that it was feasible to obtain a high initial noise reduction but due to the widespread use of studded tires in winter, clogging and ravelling created losses of around 2 dB per year, with an expected acoustical lifetime of only 3 years. However, the improved...
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In vivo performance of intraperitoneal onlay mesh after ventral hernia repair
PublicationBackground: Ventral hernia repair needs to be improved since recurrence, postoperative pain and other complications are still reported in many patients. The behavior of implants in vivo is not sufficiently understood to design a surgical mesh mechanically compatible with the human abdominal wall. Methods: This analysis was based on radiological pictures of patients who underwent laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. The pictures...
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Preparation of Well-Compatibilized PP/PC Blends and Foams Thereof
PublicationThe performance of polypropylene-poly(ethylene brassylate) block and graft copolymers and a polypropylene-polycaprolactone graft copolymer as compatibilizers for polypropylene-rich polypropylene/bisphenol A polycarbonate (PP/PC, 80/20 wt/wt) blends was elucidated. The copolymers were synthesized either by metal-catalyzed ring-opening polymerization or transesterification of a presynthesized polyester, initiated by hydroxyl-functionalized...
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Process layout planning and optimised product range selection in manufacture of wooden construction sets
PublicationThis paper introduces a systematic deterministic framework for planning and the analysis of facility layouts aimed at manufacturing a variety of parts, as components of specific end products. The essence of the proposed approach lies in the decomposition of a traditional job-shop into layout modules of generic material flow patterns, that inherently yields improved efficiency of the entire system. It entails the use of a relevant...
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Influence of selected additives and admixtures on underwater concrete and the environment
PublicationThe intensive civilization development has an influence on searching for new possibilities connected with extension of city agglomerations, both the areas of flat building and the industrial areas. One of the most interesting solution is to use water reservoirs, rivers and sea areas. The extension of buildings has an influence on building materials, especially hydrotechnical, which means development of production of hydrotechnical...
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Tailoring of Optical Properties of Methacrylate Resins Enriched by HPHT Microdiamond Particles
PublicationDiamond particles have great potential to enhance the mechanical, optical, and thermal properties of diamond–polymer composites. However, the improved properties of diamond–polymer composites depend on the size, dispersibility, and concentration of diamond particles. In the present study, diamond–polymer composites were prepared by adding the microdiamond particles (MDPs) with different concentrations (0.2–1 wt.%) into polymers...
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Injectable bone cement based on magnesium potassium phosphate and cross-linked alginate hydrogel designed for minimally invasive orthopedic procedures
PublicationBone cement based on magnesium phosphate has extremely favorable properties for its application as a bioactive bone substitute. However, further improvement is still expected due to difficult injectability and high brittleness. This paper reported the preparation of novel biocomposite cement, classified as dual-setting, obtained through ceramic hydration reaction and polymer cross-linking. Cement was composed of magnesium potassium...
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Comparative Study on Assisted Solvent Extraction Techniques for the Extraction of Biologically Active Compounds from Sideritis raeseri and Sideritis scardica
PublicationThe plants in the Sideritis genus are postulated to exhibit several important medicinal properties due to their unique chemical composition. To isolate the targeted phytochemical compounds, the selection of a suitable extraction method is of primary importance. In this work, a comparative study on the phytochemical profiles of various Sideritis raeseri and Sideritis scardica extracts has been carried out. An untargeted metabolomics...
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Investigation on Filaments for 3D Printing of Nasal Septum Cartilage Implant
PublicationSeptoplasty is a widely used method in treating deviated septum. Although it is successfully implemented, there are problems with excessive bleeding, septal perforation, or infections. The use of anatomically shaped implants could help overcome these problems. This paper focuses on assessing the possibility of the usage of a nasal septum cartilage implant 3D printed from various market-available filaments. Five different types...
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Nano soil improvement technique using cement
PublicationNano soil-improvement is an innovative idea in geotechnical engineering. Nanomaterials are among the newest additives that improve soil properties. Herein, laboratory tests, such as unconfined compressive strength, direct shear test, and initial tests, were conducted to investigate the geotechnical properties of Kelachay clay with micro- and nanosized cement to evaluate its particles in untreated soil and observe changes in the...
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Resonator-Loaded Waveguide Notch Filters with Broad Tuning Range and Additive-Manufacturing-Based Operating Frequency Adjustment Procedure
PublicationThis article presents a new class of ring-resonator-loaded waveguide notch filters with a broad tuning range, low cost, and improved performance. The proposed approach employs a comple-mentary asymmetric split ring resonator coupled to a microstrip transmission line and excited in a rectangular waveguide. An equivalent circuit model is proposed to explain the working principle of the proposed notch filter. The adjustment of the...
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The influence of plant protection by effective microorganisms on the content of bioactive phytochemicals in apples
PublicationThe phytochemicals of two apple cultivars (Yellow Transparent and Early Geneva) protected in two ways, conventionally with chemical pesticides or by effective microorganisms (EM), were compared. Two types of components were determined: lipids synthesised constitutively and generated via inducible pathways polyphenols along with antioxidant activity and profiles. The antioxidant activities assessed with ABTS, DPPH and Folin–Ciocalteu...
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Thermoplastic polyurethanes with glycolysate intermediates from polyurethane waste recycling
PublicationThe polyol is a major component in polyurethane formulations and therefore introducing to the formulation recycled polyol (obtained during decomposition process) allows decreasing the usage of pure petrochemical components. In this work, thermoplastic polyurethanes were prepared using various mixtures of a petrochemical macrodiol poly(ethylene-butylene adipate)diol (PEBA) and a recycled glycolysate intermediate, called glycolysate...
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Heptaene macrolides biosynthesis by Streptomyces species
PublicationPolyene macrolides are one of the groups of secondary metabolites, generated by microorganisms belonging to the Streptomyces genus. These compounds, containing 3 - 7 conjugated double bonds systems in their molecules exhibit high antifungal activity against a broad spectrum of fungal pathogens with heptaenes demonstrating the highest antifungal potential. At the large extent, efficiency of biosynthesis of these natural products...
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INVESTIGATION OF ACIDIC SOLUTIONS BY POTENTIOMETRIC TASTE SENSOR WITH ALL SOLID STATE ELECTRODES
PublicationPotentiometric taste sensors with electrodes containing lipophilic compound / polymer membranes were already used to distinguish commercial liquid products. In this paper a new potentiometric taste sensor consisting of six All Solid State Electrodes (ASSEs) has been presented. Each of the membrane contains a selected lipophilic compound. The set-up consists of a reference electrode and six ASSEs. The inner layer made of a conducting...
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The best porous asphalt pavement in Sweden so far
PublicationIn 2010 a double-layer porous asphalt concrete (DPAC) pavement was constructed in various versions on the E4 motorway through the Swedish city Huskvarna. As a result of a court decision the Swedish Transport Administration had to reduce noise emission by applying a low noise road surface that would reduce A-weighted noise levels by 5 dB, as an average. Earlier experience in Sweden indicated that it was possible to obtain a high...
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Strategy towards the use of ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis for industrial water recovery and reuse as part of the Green Deal Implementation
PublicationIn line with the European Parliament’s Resolution of February 10th, 2021 on the new action plan for a closed economy, most of the activities undertaken in the wastewater treatment process should focus on the search for new technologies that use wastewater as a source of water and nutrients. The paper reviews the concept of water reuse in industrial installations, with special emphasis on the use of membrane technologies for this...
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Experimental investigation on heat pipes supported by soy wax and lauric acid for electronics cooling
PublicationThis paper presents an experimental study of heat pipes for electronics cooling that were supported by energy storage materials (i.e. phase change materials - PCMs) coated at the adiabatic section. The PCMs utilized included two materials, namely lauric acid and soy wax, the latter being considered as a more cost-effective alternative. The study focused on three different powers: 20 W, 25 W, and 30 W. Both heating, cooling, and...
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Designing a high-sensitivity dual-band nano-biosensor based on petahertz MTMs to provide a perfect absorber for early-stage non-melanoma skin cancer diagnostic
PublicationThe purpose of this study is development of a novel high-performance low-Petahertz (PHz) biosensor for non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) diagnosis. The presented device is designed to work within a microwave imaging regime, which is a promising alternative to conventional diagnostic methods such as visual examination, dermoscopy, and biopsy. The suggested biosensor incorporates a dual-band perfect absorber (operating bands at 0.909...
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Solid phase microextraction: state of the art, opportunities and applications
PublicationSolid phase microextraction is one of the most popular green techniques used for sample preparations in analytical chemistry. It is a simple, rapid, sensitive, and solvent-free technique. Since SPME was first introduced in the early 1990s, there has been an intensification of research in order to elaborate new methodical solutions in many research facilities around the world, which could increase the use of this technique. More...
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Ionic liquid as morphology-directing agent of two-dimensional Bi2WO6: New insight into photocatalytic and antibacterial activity
PublicationAn efficient and durable utilization of light to drive photocatalytic reactions still requires the overcoming of barriers. Herein, two-dimensional (2D) ultrathin IL_Bi2WO6 (IL_BWO) photocatalysts were prepared for the first time via ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal route by adjusting the amount of tetrabutylammonium chloride [TBA][Cl], synthesis temperature and duration. IL played the role of morphology-directing agent given...
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Impact and stretching standardized tests as useful tools for assessment of viscoelastic behavior for highly rubberized asphalt binder
PublicationAsphalt binder is generally identified as a brittle material at low service temperature or under high-speed load, and the brittleness becomes serious after weathering aging. Improving the toughness of asphalt binder through adding high-content of crumb tire rubber is an efficient method to solve this problem. Devulcanized rubber modified asphalt binder (DRMA) with different contents (15–40%) of devulcanized rubber (DR) were prepared...
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Prediction of fracture toughness in fibre-reinforced concrete, mortar, and rocks using various Machine learning techniques
PublicationMachine Learning (ML) method is widely used in engineering applications such as fracture mechanics. In this study, twenty different ML algorithms were employed and compared for the prediction of the fracture toughness and fracture load in modes I, II, and mixed-mode (I-II) of various materials, including fibre-reinforced concrete, cement mortar, sandstone, white travertine, marble, and granite. A set of 401 specimens of “Brazilian...
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Ag modified ZnO microsphere synthesis for efficient sonophotocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and CO2 conversion
PublicationThe synthesis and design of non-precious and efficient sonophotocatalyts by an environment friendly technique are requisites for solar energy conversion and environmental remediation. This work reports the preparation of Ag/ZnO microspheres with different Ag contents through deposition–precipitation method for pollutant degradation and CO2 conversion. Detail structural investigation reveals that ZnO microspheres and Ag-ZnO microspheres...
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Partial inhibition of borohydride hydrolysis using porous activated carbon as an effective method to improve the electrocatalytic activity of the DBFC anode
PublicationCarbon materials are commonly used catalyst supports in various types of fuel cells. Due to the possibility of designing their properties, they seem to be attractive and functional additives. In Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells (DBFCs), the electrooxidation reaction of borohydride competes with the undesirable hydrolysis reaction, therefore our work aimed to modify anodes based on a multi-component hydrogen storage alloy with a small...
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Magnetically sensitive fiber probe with nitrogen-vacancy center nanodiamonds integrated in a suspended core
PublicationEfficient collection of photoluminescence arising from spin dynamics of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond is important for practical applications involving precise magnetic field or temperature mapping. These goals may be realized by the integration of nanodiamond particles with optical fibers and volumetric doping of the particles alongside the fiber core. That approach combines the advantages of robust axial fixation of...
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Enhanced stability of electrochemical performance of few-layer black phosphorus electrodes by noncovalent adsorption of 1,4-diamine-9,10-anthraquinone
PublicationIn this paper, the novel noncovalent functionalisation strategy of few-layer black phosphorus by 1,4-diamine-9,10-anthraquinone electrode was proposed and studied. The degradation of few-layer black phosphorus under exposure to oxygen and water is a significant obstacle to its use as an electroanalytical electrode. The anthraquinone compound adsorbed at black phosphorus flakes results in improved prevention of the phosphorus surface...