Search results for "25"
showing 10 items of 3263 documents
Structural performances of pultruded GFRP emergency structures – Part 1: Experimental characterization of materials and substructure
2019
Abstract This paper presents an experimental study in the field of structures made of pultruded fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) elements to be used for emergency purposes. A preliminary design of a 3D pultruded glass fiber reinforced polymer structure is presented with the mechanical characterization of the constituting elements. The axial and flexural properties of laminate and I-shaped GRFP profiles are discussed considering the short term creep. In a companion paper, the benefits, the limits and the reliability of the structure analyzed for emergency applications are discussed. In details, the numerical structural analysis of the full-scale 3D model is described followed by the experimen…
Droplet cell investigation of intergranular corrosion on AA2024
2017
An original method combining a droplet cell with direct optical interrogation of the reverse side of a 50μm thick foil AA2024 has been tested to evaluate the possible analysis of the current during intergranular corrosion tests. The foil microstructure and the selected orientation were suitable for recording the current generated during the propagation in volume of a well-defined grain boundary trace. Even if it is impossible to reach a charge and mass balance from these preliminary attempts, it was demonstrated that it is possible, despite hydrogen evolution, to record a current transient resulting from the full penetration of an intergranular path. Keywords: Intergranular corrosion, Alumi…
A nanostructured sensor of hydrogen peroxide
2017
Abstract A nanostructured electrochemical sensor of hydrogen peroxide was fabricated growing self-standing Pd nanowires (Pd NWs) into polycarbonate (PC) membranes through a simple metal galvanic deposition. Conditions of deposition were adjusted in order to attain 2–5 μm long Pd wires. Characterization of Pd-NWs was performed by scanning electrode microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Properties of the nanostructured sensor were studied by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry in phosphate buffer—ethanol solution. Addition of pure ethanol to the test solution was essential in order to increase wettability of the nanostructures. Sensing features were comp…
Histological and histomorphometrical analysis of a silica matrix embedded nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite bone substitute using the subcutaneous impla…
2010
The clinical suitability of a bone substitute material is determined by the ability to induce a tissue reaction specific to its composition. The aim of this in vivo study was to analyze the tissue reaction to a silica matrix-embedded, nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite bone substitute. The subcutaneous implantation model in Wistar rats was chosen to assess the effect of silica degradation on the vascularization of the biomaterial and its biodegradation within a time period of 6 months. Already at day 10 after implantation, histomorphometrical analysis showed that the vascularization of the implantation bed reached its peak value compared to all other time points. Both vessel density and vascula…
PEM electrolyzer characterization with carbon-based hardware and material sets
2021
Abstract The research and development of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is an upcoming and growing area due to a rising interest in hydrogen as an energy carrier. Operating conditions are harsher than in a fuel cell system, particularly because the potentials required for the oxygen evolution reaction are significantly higher. In commercial water electrolysis systems, this is compensated by typically using titanium material sets that are often protected against oxidation through coating processes. Such material choices make small scale research hardware and porous transport layers expensive and difficult to source. In this work, we show that the stability of traditional…
Highly activated screen-printed carbon electrodes by electrochemical treatment with hydrogen peroxide
2018
An easy effective method for the activation of commercial screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) using H2O2 is presented to enhance sensing performances of carbon ink. Electrochemical activation consists of 25 repetitive voltammetric cycles at 10 mV s−1 using 10 mM H2O2 in phosphate buffer (pH 7). This treatment allowed us to reach a sensitivity of 0.24 ± 0.01 μA μM−1 cm−2 for the electroanalysis of H2O2, which is 140-fold higher than that of untreated SPCEs and 6-fold more than screen-printed platinum electrodes (SPPtEs). Electrode surface properties were characterized by SEM, EIS and XPS. The results revealed atomic level changes at the electrode surface, with the introduction of new ca…
Electrochemical characterization of natural gold samples using the voltammetry of immobilized particles
2017
The application of the voltammetry of immobilized particles for characterizing natural gold samples from different geological settings and dating vein deposits is described. This is based on recording characteristic electrochemical oxidation signatures of gold and silver following the attachment of metal sub-microsamples to graphite electrodes. Keywords: Electrochemistry, Gold, Mineralogy, Placer deposits, Vein deposits, Nuggets
Synthesis of self-standing Pd nanowires via galvanic displacement deposition
2009
This work shows that it is possible to obtain self-standing Pd nanowires into anodic alumina membranes by a simple metal displacement deposition. By using a proper arrangement, specifically designed in order to optimize the process, polycrystalline Pd nanowires were deposited from a solution containing Pd(NH3)4(NO3)2 as precursor. Morphological analysis showed the formation of perfectly aligned nanowires with a uniform diameter throughout the entire length. This last parameter was controlled by both the deposition time and the ratio between the anodic area (active metal) and the cathodic area (pore bottom). Keywords: Displacement deposition, Template synthesis, Palladium nanowires, Alumina …
Use of RGB digital video analysis to study electrochemical processes involving color changes
2017
Color changes on an electrode surface during the course of electrochemical processes were monitored by in situ digital video recording. The evolution of standard red, green and blue (sRGB) intensity channels extracted from digital images showed a close relationship with the electrochemical processes taking place. In particular, the derivative of the sRGB mean intensity with respect to time (dI−/dt) gave useful insights into the electrochemical mechanism. The standard deviation (std) of the sRGB intensity provided information about the color homogeneity of the studied region on the electrode surface. We selected poly(o-toluidine) electrochromism on a transparent electrode and anodic copper d…
Enhancement of photoconversion efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells exploiting pulsed laser deposited niobium pentoxide blocking layers
2015
Abstract Among all the photovoltaic technologies developed so far, dye-sensitized solar cells are considered as a promising alternative to the expensive and environmentally unfriendly crystalline silicon-based solar cells. One of the possible strategies employed to increase their photovoltaic efficiency is to reduce the charge recombination at the cell conductive substrate through the use of a compact blocking layer. In this paper, we report on the fabrication and characterization of dye-sensitized solar cells employing niobium pentoxide (Nb 2 O 5 ) thin film blocking layer deposited through the pulsed laser deposition technique on conductive substrates. The careful selection of the optimal…