Search results for "material"
showing 10 items of 32550 documents
Affordances and Agential Realism : A Relational Ontology for a Relational Theory
2018
Relational view of affordance theory has emerged as a viable theory in Information Systems (IS) research to explain variation in IS use. According to this theory, what a specific person can achieve with a technology is neither inherent in the person himself nor on the technology but emerges from their interaction. Despite that such relational view implies relational ontology, the ontological foundations have been insufficiently theorized which limits both its practical and theoretical applicability and explanatory power. In this paper, I suggest that Karen Barad’s relational ontology, known as agential realism, provides coherent and solid foundations for affordances that are especially suit…
Extraordinary Performance of Carbon‐Coated Anatase TiO 2 as Sodium‐Ion Anode
2015
The synthesis of in situ polymer‐functionalized anatase TiO2 particles using an anchoring block copolymer with hydroxamate as coordinating species is reported, which yields nanoparticles (≈11 nm) in multigram scale. Thermal annealing converts the polymer brushes into a uniform and homogeneous carbon coating as proven by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The strong impact of particle size as well as carbon coating on the electrochemical performance of anatase TiO2 is demonstrated. Downsizing the particles leads to higher reversible uptake/release of sodium cations per formula unit TiO2 (e.g., 0.72 eq. Na+ (11 nm) vs only 0.56 eq. Na+ (40 nm)) while the …
Local mechanical properties by Atomic Force Microscopy nanoindentations
2008
The analysis of mechanical properties on a nanometer scale is a useful tool for combining information concerning texture organization obtained by microscopy with the properties of individual components- Moreover, this technique promotes the understanding of the hierarchical arrangement in complex natural materials as well in the case of simpler morphologies arising from industrial processes. Atomic Force Microscopy, AFM, can bridge morphological information, obtained with outstanding resolution, to local mechanical properties. When performing an AFM nanoindentation, the rough force curve, i.e., the plot of the voltage output from the photodiode vs. the voltage applied to the piezo-scanner, …
A Channel-Aware Adaptive Modem for Underwater Acoustic Communications
2021
Acoustic underwater channels are very challenging, because of limited bandwidth, long propagation delays, extended multipath, severe attenuation, rapid time variation and large Doppler shifts. A plethora of underwater communication techniques have been developed for dealing with such a complexity, mostly tailoring specific applications scenarios which can not be considered as one-size-fits-all solutions. Indeed, the design of environment-specific solutions is especially critical for modulations with high spectral efficiency, which are very sensitive to channel characteristics. In this paper, we design and implement a software-defined modem able to dynamically estimate the acoustic channel c…
Influence of Calcium Carbonate Nanoparticles on the Soil Burial Degradation of Polybutyleneadipate-Co-Butylenetherephthalate Films.
2022
A polybutyleneadipate-co-butylenetherephthalate (PBAT) sample, commercially known as Ecoflex®, was processed via melt extrusion with CaCO3 nanoparticles coated with a hydrophobic coating. Blown films of PBAT and two composites with nanofiller (2% and 5%wt) were prepared and degradation tests in soil at 30 °C up to 180 days were carried out with weight loss measurements. Furthermore, biodegradation test according to ISO 14851 was carried out at 30 °C. The effect of CaCO3 on soil burial degradation was assessed by surface wettability and SEM. ATR-FTIR and XPS analyses highlighted chemical modifications induced by soil degradation. CaCO3 nanoparticles decreased surface wettability …
Soil forming factors
2007
The Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev (1846–1903), considered the father of soil science, was the first to identify and discuss, at the end of 19th century, what we know today as the “factors of soil formation”. He introduced the idea that soil is not something inert and stable, but it develops and evolves under the influence of climatic agents and vegetation that operate over time on a given geological substrate
Ti Alloyed α-Ga2O3: Route towards Wide Band Gap Engineering
2020
The suitability of Ti as a band gap modifier for &alpha
Bi-2212 and Y123 highly curved single-crystal-like objects: whiskers, bows and ring-like structures
2012
High-temperature superconducting objects of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 and Y Ba2Cu3O7 highly curved in the ab-plane, such as curved/kinked whiskers, bows and ring-like structures, were obtained within a solid?liquid?solid (SLS) grass-like growth mechanism. As-grown objects are crystals with three-dimensional epitaxy similar to conventional single crystals: they can be viewed as crystal parts ?cut? from a conventional rectangular crystal. Between our curved objects and conventional crystals, whiskers or thin films there are some differences in the superconducting properties induced only by the shape factors and no new physics is observed. Some details of the growth mechanism are discussed, emphasizing cu…
Effect of different processing techniques and presence of antioxidant on the chitosan film performance
2022
In the last two decades, the naturally occurring polysaccharides have gained great attention because of their potential applications in different sectors, for example, from food to biomedical sectors. Chitosan is a cationic polysaccharide with good transparency, and currently, it has been considered also as suitable material for the formulation film and coating in cultural heritage protection. In this work, the chitosan films (Ch), with and without natural antioxidant such as citric acid (CA), are formulated considering two different processing techniques: (i) conventional solvent casting and (ii) compression molding, that is an unconventional method for this polysaccharide, giving the poss…
Sonication-Induced Modification of Carbon Nanotubes: Effect on the Rheological and Thermo-Oxidative Behaviour of Polymer-Based Nanocomposites.
2018
The aim of this work is the investigation of the effect of ultrasound treatment on the structural characteristics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and the consequent influence that the shortening induced by sonication exerts on the morphology, rheological behaviour and thermo-oxidative resistance of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)-based nanocomposites. First, CNTs have been subjected to sonication for different time intervals and the performed spectroscopic and morphological analyses reveal that a dramatic decrease of the CNT's original length occurs with increased sonication time. The reduction of the initial length of CNTs strongly affects the nanocomposite rheological behavio…