Search results for "engineering.material"
showing 10 items of 2352 documents
Time-resolved X-ray microtomographic measurement of water transport in wood-fibre reinforced composite material
2016
Natural fibre composites are prone to absorb moisture from the environment which may lead to dimensional changes, mold growth, degradation of mechanical properties or other adverse effects. In this work we develop a method for direct non-intrusive measurement of local moisture content inside a material sample. The method is based on X-ray microtomography, digital image correlation and image analysis. As a first application of the method we study axial transport of water in a cylindrical polylactic acid/birch pulp composite material sample with one end exposed to water. Based on the results, the method seems to give plausible estimates of water content profiles inside the cylindrical sample.…
Aqueous Processed Biopolymer Interfaces for Single-Cell Microarrays
2020
Single-cell microarrays are emerging tools to unravel intrinsic diversity within complex cell populations, opening up new approaches for the in-depth understanding of highly relevant diseases. However, most of the current methods for their fabrication are based on cumbersome patterning approaches, employing organic solvents and/or expensive materials. Here, we demonstrate an unprecedented green-chemistry strategy to produce single-cell capture biochips onto glass surfaces by all-aqueous inkjet printing. At first, a chitosan film is easily inkjet printed and immobilized onto hydroxyl-rich glass surfaces by electrostatic immobilization. In turn, poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether is graft…
Enhanced supercontinuum generation in tapered tellurite suspended core fiber
2015
Abstract We demonstrate 400-THz (0.6–3.3 µm) bandwidth infrared supercontinuum generation in a 10 cm-long tapered tellurite suspended core fiber pumped by nJ-level 200-fs pulses from an optical parametric oscillator. The increased nonlinearity and dispersion engineering extended by the moderate reduction of the fiber core size are exploited for supercontinuum optimization on both frequency edges (i.e., 155-THz overall gain), while keeping efficient power coupling into the untapered fiber input. The remaining limitation of supercontinuum bandwidth is related to the presence of the high absorption beyond 3 µm whereas spectral broadening is expected to fully cover the glass transmission window…
Physicochemical characteristics of drip waters: Influence on mineralogy and crystal morphology of recent cave carbonate precipitates
2014
Speleothems are one of the most intensively explored continental archives for palaeoclimate variability. The parameters, however, that control speleothem petrography and its changes with time and space, specifically calcite crystal morphology and carbonate mineralogy, are still poorly understood. In order to shed light on processes and their products, precipitation experiments of recent carbonate crystals on watch glasses and glass plates were performed in seven selected caves. Drip water sites were analysed for their fluid Mg/Ca molar ratio, pH, degree of saturation for calcite and aragonite and drip rates. Corresponding precipitates were analysed with respect to their mineralogy, calcite …
Pd nanoparticles immobilized on the poly-dopamine decorated halloysite nanotubes hybridized with N-doped porous carbon monolayer: A versatile catalys…
2020
A hybrid catalyst, Pd@Hal-pDA-NPC, with the utility for promoting both C–C coupling reactions (Sonogashira, Heck and Suzuki reactions) and hydrogenation of nitrocompounds is prepared through two main steps. First, Pd(0) nanoparticles was immobilized on the poly-dopamine decorated halloysite nanotubes (Hal-pDA) and then Pd@Hal-pDA was hybridized with the layers of a novel multi-N-doped porous carbon monolayer derived from 4,4′,4″-((1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triyl)tris(azanediyl))tribenzonitrile. The results established that the catalyst could catalyze all the reactions efficiently under mild reaction condition. Moreover Pd@Hal-pDA-NPC exhibited high recyclability (up to ten reac…
Comparison of the effects of compost and vermicompost soil amendments in organic production of four herb species
2020
The aim of this study was to compare the effects of using compost and vermicompost as soil amendments in organic herb production, using four herb species (Dracocephalum moldavica L., Melissa offici...
Antibacterial drug release from a biphasic gel system: Mathematical modelling
2019
Bacterial infections represent an important drawback in the orthopaedic field, as they can develop either immediately after surgery procedures or after some years. Specifically, in case of implants, they are alleged to be troublesome as their elimination often compels a surgical removal of the infected implant. A possible solution strategy could involve a local coating of the implant by an antibacterial system, which requires to be easily applicable, biocompatible and able to provide the desired release kinetics for the selected antibacterial drug. Thus, this work focusses on a biphasic system made up by a thermo-reversible gel matrix (Poloxamer 407/water system) hosting a dispersed phase (…
Pectin as Drug-Release Vehicle
2020
Pectin as a natural biopolymer is extensively used for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, essentially due to its gelling properties that could be influenced by pectin sources and extraction methods. This chapter focuses on an overview of pectin drug delivery systems classified by their administration routes. Oral drug delivery systems have been mainly developed, as pectin could be used in tablets as binder or matrix excipients and in microparticles/beads obtained by ionotropic gelation. The main objective is to target the colon, as pectin is resistant in acidic pH and sensitive to pectinolytic enzymes in the colon. To obtain suitable properties, pectin could be used in its native s…
Chemical and biological evaluation of cross-linked halloysite-curcumin derivatives
2020
Abstract Well designed and safe nano drug carrier systems are an important tool in biomedical applications. The combination of two or more drugs has been used in medicine both to enhance the therapeutic effect and to decrease the side effects of drugs. Biocompatible halloysite nanotubes, that possess two different surfaces, are a suitable nanomaterial for a simultaneous carrier and release of two drugs that can exert a synergistic effect against cancer cells. In this study, three curcumin derivatives and doxorubicin were loaded by supramolecular and covalent linkage at the lumen and external surface of the halloysite nanotubes. The obtained multifunctional systems were characterized by seve…
Passive and transpassive behaviour of Alloy 31 in a heavy brine LiBr solution
2013
The passive and transpassive behaviour of Alloy 31, a highly alloyed austenitic stainless steel (UNS N08031), has been investigated in a LiBr heavy brine solution (400 g/l) at 25 °C using potentiostatic polarisation combined with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Mott–Schottky analysis. The passive film formed on Alloy 31 has been found to be p-type and/or n-type in electronic character, depending on the film formation potential. The thickness of the film formed at potentials within the passive region increases linearly with applied potential. The film formed at transpassive potentials is thinner and more conductive than the film formed within the passive region. These observations…