Engineering Commons^™

Thermal And Morphological Analysis Of Collagen-Plla Electrospun Blends, Angana Banerjee

Theses

Electrospinning of bovine Type I collagen and Poly (L-lactic acid) produces blended nanofiber scaffolds that may have application in tissue engineering, wound dressing and drug delivery.

The goal of this research work was to produce and characterize blended nanofibers of a protein, collagen, and a synthetic polymer, poly (L-lactic acid). This study focuses on the in-depth analysis of the appearance of the structural relaxation occurring at the glass transition temperature of PLLA in the collagen-PLLA blended electrospun mats. It is speculated that occurrence of this thermal event is more prominent in PLLA with high molecular weight due to the presence …

Surface Recordings Of Evoked Field Potentials From The Cerebellum With A Flexmea Microelectrode Array, Jonathan David Groth

Theses

The cerebellum is an integral part of multijoint control. There are two input pathways to the cerebellar cortex, the mossy fiber and the climbing fiber pathways. The mossy fiber pathway forms a disynaptic input to Purkinje cells through the granular cells. This disynaptic input produces a multicomponent field potential composed of the P1, N 1, N2, N3, N4, and P3 waves. The climbing fiber input forms a monosynaptic input to the Purkinje cells and thus creates a much simpler field potential.

The mossy and climbing fiber field potentials were recorded with a FlexMEA microelectrode array from the pial surface of …

Synthesis Of Corn-Derived Carbohydrate Derivatives As Effective Multifunctional Sunscreen, Xianhong Feng

Theses

The eighty-years-old sunscreen industry is sustained by the growing incidence of skin cancer and the continual exploration of skin aging. From the UVB-induced erythema to the UVA-induced persistent pigment darkening, scientists have used versatile methods to reveal that not only does UVB damage skin but also that longer wavelengths such as UVAIL (290nm ~ 340nm) and UVAL rays (340nm ~ 400nm) trigger skin cancer, premature skin aging and immunosuppression.

To meet a significant demand for improved photoprotection, a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a high extinction coefficient has been desired. As part of our ongoing studies on isosorbide-cinnamate derivatives, this work have …

Synthesis And Analysis Of Carbon Nanowalls And Their Raman Spectroscopy, Amit Mahajan

Theses

Growth of Carbon Nanowalls has been carried out by Radio Frequency Chemical Vapor Deposition (RF-PECVD) on various substrates. Hydrogen was used as an active gas for the growth where as Ethanol bubbled with Argon was used as carbon source for formation of Carbon Nanowalls (CNW). The growth was then confinned by Raman Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images. Also the need of using catalyst in CNW has been analyzed. The intensities of D and G bands obtained from Raman spectrum have been related to the length of Graphene walls, to study the CNW's length on different substrates.

The growth …

Synthesis And Electrochemical Characteristics Of Li[Li(0.167)Mn(0.583)Ni(0.25)]O2 Cathode Material, Ling-Yan Yu, Wei-Hua Qiu, Fang Lian, Jia-Yuan Huang, Xao-Li Kang, Wei Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The cathode material of Li[Li_0.167Mn_0.583Ni_0.25]O₂ was synthesized by low-heat solid state reaction.The results of XRD and FESEM indicated that the powders of the material were well crystallized with the uniform diameters ranging from 60 nm to 100 nm and could be indexed as α-NaFeO₂ structure(R3-m space). Galvanostatic charge-discharge tests showed that the electrode delivered the capacity of about 120 mAh/g with good cyclability when cycled in 2.5~4.4V at 0.5C. When the cut-off potential was set up to 4.6V, the cathode delivered much larger capacities with the maximum of 234 mAh/g. It was …

Performance Of Air Breathing Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Under Ambient Condition, Jian-Guo Liu, Jun Gu, Tao Yu, Zhi-Gang Zou, T.S Zhao

Journal of Electrochemistry

The performance of the passive DMFC was systematically investigated under an ambient condition by simulating a wide range of temperature and humidity in a high-quality environmentally controlled room.The results indicated that the performance of the passive DMFC was nearly independent of ambient humidity from 30% to 90% RH and water produced in the cathode was expelled mostly from the cell in a liquid state.Compared with the humidity,the ambient temperature has a significant effect on the performance of the passive DMFC.The power density of 30 mW·cm^-2 were obtained at 40℃,while only 10 mW·cm^-2 at 10 ℃.

Structure And Property Of Molecular Self-Assembled Membrane With Zirconium Ion, Tian-De Wang, Rong Wang, Xia-Qin Wu, Zhi-Gang Guo, Wei-Wei Ji

Journal of Electrochemistry

According to the complex interaction between dodecyl phosphonate and stainless steel surface as well as the zirconium ion,the self-assembled monolayer and double-layer dodecyl phosphonate modified 304 type stainless steel electrode were prepared.The electrodes were characteristiced by static contact angles and electrochemical polarization methods.The results suggested that the double-layer modified stainless steel electrode had better corrosion inhibition effect than the monolayer modified electrode.

Electrodeposition Of Sol-Gel Imprinted Films Modified Electrode And Its Application For 3,4-Dihydroxybenzoic Acids Determination, Gui-Lin Wang, Rong Wang, Xia-Qin Wu, Zong-Rang Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The sol-gel molecularly imprinted films modified glassy carbon electrode was prepared by electrodeposition of tetramethoxysilane(TMOS) and phenyltrimethoxysilane(PTMOS) with chronoamperometry in the presence of template molecules 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid(3,4-DHBA) followed by extraction with ethanol.The modified electrode could successfully avoid the polymerization of oxidized 3,4-DHBA and the interference of 2,4-DHBA.A linear concentration response curve was obtained from 1.0 × 10^-5 mol·L^-1 to 8.0×10^-4 mol·L^-1,with the detected concentration limit of 5.0 × 10^-6 mol·L^-1.

Preparation And Catalytic Activity Of Nanostructured Pd And Au-Pd Thin Films, Cui-Cui Qiu, Jin-Tao Zhang, Fang Tian, Hou-Yi Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

The nanostructured Pd thin films were directly formed on the glassy carbon electrode(GCE) substrates by using potential cycling method.The as-prepared Pd thin films deposited onto the GCE were able to absorb enough amount of hydrogen in acidic solutions at the cathodic potentials more negative than the hydrogen evolution potential.Moreover,the absorbed hydrogen could be used as the reducing agent to reduce gold(III) ions to Au nanoclusters,thereby forming bimetallic Au-Pd thin films on the GCE substrate.SEM and cyclic voltammetry characterization demonstrated that the Au-Pd thin films display much higher catalytic activity towards the electro-oxidation of ethanol than the pure Pd thin films.

Nano-Polymeric Carrier Influences Ultrasonic Drug Delivery To Tumors, Odgerel Badamjav, Ghaleb A. Husseini, Peter Jones, William G. Pitt, Beverly L. Roeder

Faculty Publications

Our overall research goal is to alleviate the severe side effects of chemotherapy while enhancing the effectiveness of the treatment by localizing the delivery of anti-cancer drugs to the cancer tissue only. To this end we are synthesizing ultrasonically-activated delivery systems that can control drug delivery in space and time. Ultrasound (US) is non-invasive (no surgery required) and can be focused on the specific tissue to be treated. Our past research has developed a nano-sized polymeric drug carrier that sequesters the therapeutic drug, such as Doxorubicin (Dox), within the carrier and releases the drug upon insonation by ultrasound. This drug-containing …

Electrochemical Performances Of Copper/Activated Carbon Composites, Lan-Ting Li, Qiang Xie, Wen Yan, Yan-Yan Wang, Wen-Wen Xing

Journal of Electrochemistry

The development and improvement of electrode materials can result in the enhancement of the performances of electrochemical capacitor.In this paper various copper/activated carbon composites were prepared in the presence of different amounts(from 0% to 40%) of copper nitrate from bituminous coal.Then different electrodes were prepared from copper oxide,activated carbon and copper/activated carbon composites,respectively,and were characterized by cyclic voltammetry,alternative current(AC) impedance,charge-discharge at constant current and maintenance of the self-potential.The results showed that the proper amount of copper in copper/activated carbon composites positively influenced the electrochemical performances of electrodes,and the capacitance of copper/activated carbon composites was larger than that of the total …

Preparation Of Zn-Ni Alloy Whisker By Electrochemical Method, Zhen-Hai Liang, Xi-Hua Xia

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Zn-Ni alloy whiskers were prepared by electrochemical method and were characterized by XRD, SEM and EDS methods. The results showed that Ni₅Zn₂₁ and Ni₃Zn₂₂ whiskers were obtained with the length of 2~4 μm and the diameter of 250 nm, thereby the rations of length/diameter fell between 8 and 16. The electrochemical behavior was investigated by cyclic voltammetry method simultaneously. A new method was provided on whisker preparation based on this work.

A Laboratory Study On The Effects Of Submerged Vertical And Semicircular Breakwaters On Near-Field Hydrodynamics And Morphodynamics, David Young

All Theses

A laboratory study is presented herein that investigates the effects of submerged vertical and semicircular breakwaters on near-field hydrodynamics and morphodynamics. Breakwaters are employed worldwide in order to reduce destructive wave forces often imparted on vulnerable shorelines; a task partially completed by reflecting incident wave energy back out to sea. However, two common side-effects of their function are the occurrence of scour at the breakwater, which can lead to structural problems; and offshore ripple formations, which are influential in scour protection failure and sediment transport patterns. This study aims to determine a relationship between breakwaters and the wave reflection coefficient …

Carbon Nanotube Array Electrodes Based Supercapacitors With 3.5v Working Voltage, Hao Zhang, Gao-Ping Cao, Yu-Sheng Yang, Zhen-Nan Gu, Bin Xu, Wen-Feng Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The carbon nanotube arrays(CNTA) were grown directly on the substrates of Ta and stainless steel by chemical vapor deposition.The button-like supercapacitors were fabricated based the CNTA electrodes.The electrochemical performance of CNTA based supercapacitors presentsed high working voltage(3.5 V),long cycle life,and good rate capability.The power and energy densities are were 928 kW·kg^-1 and 19 Wh·kg^-1,respectively(based on the mass of CNTA).

Direct Electrochemistry Of God On Glassy Carbon Electrode Modified With Mesoporous Carbon, Kun-Qi Wang, Lin Zhu, Wei Xing

Journal of Electrochemistry

Glucose oxidase(GOD) is immobilized on glassy carbon electrode mesoporous carbon by simple method.Cyclic voltammetric results indicated that on GOD of the modified electrode a quasi-reversible redox reaction took place(GCE) surface modified at a formal potential of-0.4294 V in 0.1 mol/L phosphate buffer solution(PBS)(pH 7.1).The electrochemical reaction consisted of a two-electron transfer coupled with a two-proton transfer.The GOD can completely catalyze oxidation of glucose via electron transfer intermedia of ferrocene monocarboxylic acid(FMCA) in saturated solutions with N₂.The bioactivity of GOD on the modified electrode with mesoporous carbon was obviously unattacked.

Electrochemical Performance Of C-Lifepo4 By Polyaniline Doping, Wei Wang, Li-Fang Jiao, Hua-Tang Yuan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The olivine LiFePO₄ cathode materials were synthesized using the solid state method in an inert atmosphere by doping polyaniline into the C-LiFePO₄.It was found that the electrochemical performance of polyaniline-doped C-LiFePO₄ slightly improved.At a low discharging rate(0.1C), the capability of(C-LiFePO₄)0.9(PANI)0.1 reached 164 mAh·g^-1.When the charge-discharge rate is increased to 0.5C and 1.0C,the showed capacities of 121.6 mAh·g^-1 and 110.1 mAh·g^-1 were obtained,respectively.

Electroless-Deposition Synthesis Of Highly Active Ptru/C And Ptrusn/C As Anode Catalysts For Defc, Jing Zhu, Yi Su, Hua Ma, Fang-Yi Cheng, Zhan-Liang Tao, Jing Liang, Jun Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper,the preparation,characterization,and ethanol electrocatalytic oxidation of Pt_0.5Ru_0.5/C and Pt_0.5Ru_0.15Sn_0.35/C electrocatalysts were reported.The electroless-deposition with sensitization-activation pretreatment was applied to prepare Pt_0.5Ru_0.5/C and Pt_0.5Ru_0.15Sn_0.35/C electrocatalysts. The XRD and TEM analyses showed that the as-prepared catalysts were composed of well-dispersed PtRu or PtRuSn nanoparticles with an average particle size of about 3 nm.The electrochemical measurements demonstrated that the as-prepared Pt_0.5Ru_0.5/C and Pt_0.5Ru_0.15Sn_0.35/C catalysts exhibited much enhanced peak current density for …

Electrocatalytic Performance Of Pt/C And Pt/Wo3/C Catalysts For Methanol Oxidation, Yuan-Yuan Chu, Bing Wu, Ya-Wen Tang, Tian-Hong Lu, Ying Gao

Journal of Electrochemistry

The catalysts of Carbon supported Pt(Pt/C) and carbon supported Pt/WO₃(Pt/WO₃/C) were prepared with liquid phase reduction method.It was found that the catalytic activity and stability of the Pt/WO₃/C catalysts were increased with the addition of WO₃.When the atomic ratio of Pt and W was 1∶1,the best electrocatalytic performance of the Pt/WO₃/C catalyst for the methanol oxidation was obtained.This is attributed to the larger electrochemical surface area of Pt/WO₃/C and the weeker adsorption of CO towards the catalyst.

Preparation And Electrochemical Capacitance Of Spherical-Like Polypyrrole Doped With Heparin Sodium, Hong-Yu Mi, Xiao-Gang Zhang, Su-Dong Yang, Xiang-Guo Ye

Journal of Electrochemistry

Spherical-like polypyrrole with an average diameter of 100 nm as the electrode material for supercapacitor was prepared by a self-assembly process with heparin sodium salt as the dopant at-10 ℃.The morphology and electrochemical properties were characterized by transmission electron microscopy(TEM),cyclic voltammetry(CV),galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) measurements.The results showed that the polypyrrole doped with heparin sodium salt exhibited good capacitive behavior.The specific capacitance of single electrode was up to 338 F/g at 3 mA/cm².

Synthesis Of Agv3O8 As High-Capacity Of Cathode Materials For Lithium Secondary Batteries Via A Soft Chemistry Technique, Xiao-Yu Cao, Tao Li, Ling-Ling Xie, Xiang-Yang Yan, Chi-Wei Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The layered cathode material of AgV₃O₈ has been prepared for the lithium secondary batteries via the soft chemistry technique. The so-synthesized powders were characterized by XRD(powder X-ray diffraction), SEM(scanning electron microscope) and LPSA(laser particle size analysis). The electrochemical property was investigated by the galvanostatic discharge-charge technique. The results indicated that the particale sizes of AgV₃O₈ prepared were small in the distribution of narrow range, which leads to high discharge capacity. Among them, the material synthesized at 400 ℃ displayed the first discharge capacity of 760.5 mAh/g.

Passivation Behaviors Of Mo, W Electrodes In Mgcl2-Kcl-Nacl-Cacl2 Molten Salt For Electrolysis Of Magnesium, Ye Chen, Ke Ye

Journal of Electrochemistry

The discharge process and passivation behaviors of Mg(Ⅱ) on cathode(Mo, W) in MgCl₂-KCl-NaCl-CaCl₂ molten salt system had been investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The composition of molten salt was MgCl(10%) + CaCl(20%) + NaCl(60%) + KCl(10%)(by mass) and the temperature of electrolysis was 725 ℃. The deposition potential of Mo was 37 mV more negative than that of W, while the peak current was sharper than Mo according to the voltammograms at 0.05 V/s, indicating that the passivation on Mo cathode is easier than W. The formation of MgO impurities during the electrolysis could …

The Effect Of Annealed Temperature On Properties Of Ru-Ir-Sn Oxide Anode Coatings, Lei Ji, Jun-Tao Wang, Li-Kun Xu, Wen-Bin Liu, Gui-Lin Xue

Journal of Electrochemistry

The anode coatings of Ru-Ir-Sn oxide were prepared by sol-gel method with different annealed temperatures.The influences of annealed temperature in properties of anode coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscope(SEM),energy dispersive X-ray detector(EDX),X-ray diffraction(XRD),potential of chlorine evolution,accelerated life,cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) tests.The results showed that the annealed temperature affected the morphology of coatings,while the electric quantities of cyclic voltammetry and double layer capacitances of anode coatings had a tendency to fall down and the potential of chlorine evolution and accelerated life had a tendency to increase as the annealed temperature increased.

Preparation And Photoelectrochemical Properties Of Fe-Doped Tio2 Nanotube Arrays, Jing Li, Lan Sun, Hui-Fang Zhuang, Cheng-Lin Wang, Rong-Gui Du, Chang-Jian Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Fe-doped TiO₂ nanotube arrays were fabricated in Fe(NO₃)₃-HF mixing solutions by electrochemical anodic oxidation method,and characterized by FESEM,Raman,XPS and DRS.The effect of Fe concentratiions on photoelectrochemical property of the arrays was also investigated.The diameters and lengths of Fe-doped TiO₂ nanotube arrays were 50~90 nm and about 200 nm,respectively.Compared with the undoped TiO₂ nanotube arrays,the absorption edge of Fe-doped TiO₂ nanotube arrays appeared red shifting.The more Fe content,the larger red shifting,in addition,the photocurrent of Fe-doped TiO₂ nanotube arrays increased obviously.

Cyclic Voltammetry And In Situ Ftir Studies Of Cyanide Adsorption On Nanostructured Au Film Electrode In Alkaline Solutions, Chun-Hua Zhen, Chun-Jie Fan, Shi-Gang Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

The adsorption of cyanide(CN^-) on electrodes of nanometer scale thin film of gold supported on glassy carbon(nm-Au/GC) in alkaline solutions were investigated using cyclic voltammetry and in situ FTIR spectroscopy.It has revealed that the electrodeposited nanostructured Au thin film exhibited AIREs(abnormal infrared effects) for CN^-adsorption,which manifested 3 nonlinear IR spectral features: inversion of the direction of CN^-band,enhancement of IR absorption of adsorbed CN-species(about 39.2 folds) and increase in the FWHM(full width at half maximum) of CN^-band.

Quick Tester With Usb Interface For The Corrosion Protection Properties Of Organic Coating, Xiang-Dong Zhuo, Chang-Jian Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

According to the principle of multiple dynamic potential scaning polarization,a quick tester with USB interface for the fast study of corrosion resistance properties of organic coating/ metal system has been developed.This tester is portable,facile,practical,and has a strong function for data collection and data treatment.It is not only suitable for the accelerated test in laboratory,but also for the quick test and evaluation to the corrosion resistance of the organic coating/metal system in industrial spots.

Drop Test Reliability Of Lead-Free Chip Scale Packages, Andrew Farris, Jianbiao Pan, Albert Liddicoat, Brian J. Toleno, Dan Maslyk, Dongkai Shangguan, Jasbir Bath, Dennis Willie, David A. Geiger

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This paper presents the drop test reliability of 0.5 mm pitch lead-free chip scale packages (CSPs). Fifteen 0.5 mm pitch CSPs were assembled on a standard JEDEC drop reliability test board with Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu lead-free solder. Eight boards were edge-bonded with a UV-cured acrylic; eight boards were edge- bonded with a thermal-cured epoxy; and twelve boards were assembled without edge bonding. Half of the edge-bonded test boards were subjected to drop tests at a peak acceleration of 1500 G with a pulse duration of 0.5 ms, and the other half subjected to drop tests at a peak acceleration of 2900 G …

Test 006: Case 10-20, Tractor Museum

Case-New Holland

Test 006: Case 10-20

All tractors tested at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory were certified by their manufacturers as being stock model machines, conforming to specifications filed with the application for test. No special or high-test fuels were used except as recommended by the manufacturer as necessary.

All results within the official tractor test report were actually attained in tests and are without correction or allowances for friction, temperature, altitude, etc. The results were initially accomplished with the tractor in charge of skilled operators employed by the University.

Unless otherwise noted, each tractor was apparently in good condition at the …

The Effect Of Vibratory Milling On The Powder Properties Of Zinc Oxide Varistors, Maura Kelleher, M.S.J. Hashmi

Articles

The formation of powders from multi-elemental oxides for the subsequent formation of a green and sintered compact body is a major processing operation in the manufacture of ZnO varistors. The physical and chemical properties of the metal oxides are crucial not only for the formation of a varistor component with optimum microstructure and thus electrical characteristics but also for avoiding the introduction of flaws and reduced yield during subsequent manufacturing stages. The effect of vibratory milling using cylindrical zirconia media on the physical and chemical properties of the mixed multi-elemental oxide additives of a commercial ZnO varistor formulation was studied. …

Emotional Speech Corpus Construction, Annotation And Distribution, Brian Vaughan, Charlie Cullen, Spyros Kousidis, John Mcauley

Conference papers

This paper details a process of creating an emotional speech corpus by collecting natural emotional speech assets, analysisng and tagging them (for certain acoustic and linguistic features) and annotating them within an on-line database. The definition of specific metadata for use with an emotional speech corpus is crucial, in that poorly (or inaccurately) annotated assets are of little use in analysis. This problem is compounded by the lack of standardisation for speech corpora, particularly in relation to emotion content. The ISLE Metadata Initiative (IMDI) is the only cohesive attempt at corpus metadata standardisation performed thus far. Although not a comprehensive …

Real-Time Power Management Of A Fuel Cell/Ultracapacitor Hybrid, Wesley Greenwell

All Theses

This thesis presents the system architecture design, system integration methodology, and real-time control of a fuel cell/ultracapacitor hybrid power system. The main objective is for the hybrid system to respond to real-world fluctuations in power without negatively impacting fuel cell life.
A Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell is an electrochemical device which converts the chemical energy of pure hydrogen into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen. The high conversion efficiency, zero harmful emissions, high power-to-weight ratio, scalability, and low temperature operation make PEM fuel cells very attractive for stationary and portable power applications. However, fuel cells are limited …