Features of Electrophoretic Deposition of a Ba-Containing Thin-Film Proton-Conducting Electrolyte on a Porous Cathode Substrate

This paper presents the study of electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of a proton-conducting electrolyte of BaCe0.89Gd0.1Cu0.01O3-δ (BCGCuO) on porous cathode substrates of LaNi0.6Fe0.4O3−δ (LNFO) and La1.7Ba0.3NiO4+δ (LBNO). EPD kinetics was studied in the process of deposition of both a LBNO sublayer on the porous LNFO substrate and a BCGCuO electrolyte layer. Addition of iodine was shown to significantly increase the deposited film weight and decrease the number of EPD cycles. During the deposition on the LNFO cathode, Ba preservation in the electrolyte layer after sintering at 1450 °C was achieved only with a film thickness greater than 20 μm. The presence of a thin LBNO sublayer (10 μm) did not have a pronounced effect on the preservation of Ba in the electrolyte layer. When using the bulk LBNO cathode substrate as a Ba source, Ba was retained in a nominal amount in the BCGCuO film with a thickness of 10 μm. The film obtained on the bulk LBNO substrate, being in composition close to the nominal composition of the BCGCuO electrolyte, possessed the highest electrical conductivity among the films deposited on the various cathode substrates. The technology developed is a base step in the adaptation of the EPD method for fabrication of cathode-supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) with dense barium-containing electrolyte films while maintaining their nominal composition and functional characteristics.

A new wrinkle on liquid sheets: Turning the mechanism of viscous bubble collapse upside down

Viscous bubbles are prevalent in both natural and industrial settings. Their rupture and collapse may be accompanied by features typically associated with elastic sheets, including the development of radial wrinkles. Previous investigators concluded that the film weight is responsible for both the film collapse and wrinkling instability. Conversely, we show here experimentally that gravity plays a negligible role: The same collapse and wrinkling arise independently of the bubble’s orientation. We found that surface tension drives the collapse and initiates a dynamic buckling instability. Because the film weight is irrelevant, our results suggest that wrinkling may likewise accompany the breakup of relatively small-scale, curved viscous and viscoelastic films, including those in the respiratory tract responsible for aerosol production from exhalation events.

DEGRADATION OF DEPROTEINIZED NATURAL RUBBER BY GORDONIA SP. ISOLATED FROM ENRICHMENT CONSORTIA

Biodegradation is a potential way of decomposing deproteinized natural rubber (DPNR). The enrichment consortia were demonstrated from a rubber processing factor waste. Nine DPNR-degrading bacteria were isolated from those consortia. The highest DPNR film weight loss in a mineral salt medium (MSM) was 43.92 ± 2.30 % after 30 days incubation using strain 5A1. The formation of aldehyde group during rubber degradation of 5A1 was determined using Schiff staining and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The 16S rRNA gene sequence, of 5A1 showed the highest identity with that of Gordonia soli CC-AB07. This is the first report to demonstrate a strong ability to degrade DPNR by Gordonia sp.

Estimating ink mileage of dry toners in electrophotography

This work investigates the ink mileage of dry toners in electrophotography (EP). Four different substrates were printed on a dry-toner color production Xerox iGen3 EP press. The print layout contained patches with different cyan, magenta, yellow, and black tonal values from 10% to 100%. Toner amounts on cyan patches were measured using an analytical method. Printed patches and unprinted paper samples, as well as dry toners, were dissolved in concentrated nitric acid. The copper concentrations in the dissolved solutions were analyzed by a Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer. Analytical results were calculated to determine the toner amounts on paper for different tonal values. Their corresponding reflection densities were also measured. All data were plotted with OriginPro® 8 software, and four mathematical models were used for curve fitting. It was found that the C-S model fitted the experimental data of the two uncoated papers better than the other three models. None of the four models fitted the experimental data of the two coated papers, while the linear model was found to fit the data well. Linear fitting was the best in the practical density region for the two coated papers. Ink mileage curves obtained from curve fitting were used to estimate how much ink was required to achieve a target density for each paper; hence, the ink mileage was calculated. The highest ink mileage was 3.39 times the lowest ink mileage. The rougher the paper surface, the higher the requirement for ink film weight, and the lower ink mileage. No correlation was found between ink mileage and paper porosity.

Measurement of the Particle Size of a High-Lightfastness Direct Dye in Cellulose by p-Nitrophenol Adsorption

The p-nitrophenol adsorption method has been used to determine the specific surface, and hence the particle size and aggregation number, of a high-lightfastness direct dye (C.I. Direct Green 26) in regenerated cellulose film. The particle size found at high concentrations is of the same order as that found for other dyes of this type, in cellulose film, by Weissbein and Coven, using electron microscopy. The aggregation number rises rapidly with rise in dye concentration in the film to a maximum of the order of 106 at shade depths above about two percent pure dye on film weight.

Compositional Determination of Sputtered Tantalum—Aluminum Thin Films

Tantalum–aluminum thin film composition has been determined destructively by atomic absorption and nondestructively by x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Samples representing several compositions (20–80 at.% aluminum) and thicknesses (500–6000 Å) were sputtered on glass, graphite, and platinum substrates. The films were dissolved from the platinum substrates for the determination of aluminum by atomic absorption. The weights of tantalum per unit area obtained by difference using this destructive technique were applied to the same samples on glass substrates for correlation with nondestructive x-ray fluorescence measurements. A linear curve, which is free from enhancement and absorption effects, is obtained for tantalum. This curve relates the nondestructive fluorescence intensities to film weights (µg/cm2) of tantalum. The composition of the film is determined nondestructively by utilizing this curve and the total film weight which is obtained by weighing the substrate before and after sputtering. Alternately, composition may be determined destructively by atomic absorption utilizing films dissolved from platinum substrates