Abstract: Pyrolysis and gasification of lignocellulosic (woody) biomass and its main components, cellulose, xylan, and lignin, were studied using a combined thermogravimetry and gas chromatography experimental setup at a heating rate of 10 °C min–1 in the temperature range of 140–900 °C using air and/or steam gasifying agents (100% air, 50% air/50% steam, 25% air/75% steam, and 70% steam/30% argon). Simulated biomass composed of a mixture of cellulose, xylan, and lignin at 50:25:25 wt % was also investigated. A three-parallel-reaction kinetic model was formulated on the basis of the weighted sum of reaction rates for the individual components and experimentally validated in terms of reaction rates, carbon conversions, and product gas yields for lignocellulosic and simulated biomass.

Abstract: A novel nano-sized Pt/ZnO catalyst has been prepared by impregnating 1 wt% Pt on a nano-sized ZnO supports, with spherical and rod-type morphology and tested for the water gas shift reaction at a gas hourly space velocity of 9,583 h−1. The Pt/ZnO catalyst with spherical ZnO morphology exhibited an almost thermodynamic equilibrium CO conversion value of 70 % at 400 °C with 100 % CO2 selectivity. The high activity/stability of the catalyst is due to a good interfacial contact between Pt and ZnO. A novel nano-sized Pt/ZnO catalyst has been prepared by impregnating 1 wt% Pt on a nano-sized ZnO supports, with spherical and rod-type morphology and tested for the water gas shift reaction at a gas hourly space velocity of 9,583 h−1. The Pt/ZnO catalyst with spherical ZnO morphology exhibited an almost thermodynamic equilibrium CO conversion value of 70 % at 400 °C with 100 % CO2 selectivity. The high activity/stability of the catalyst is due to a good interfacial contact between Pt and ZnO.

Abstract: We demonstrate a simple and reproducible technique to synthesize crystalline and superconducting In?Sn intermetallic nanowires sheathed in carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The method is based on the catalytic reaction of C2H2 over a mixture of both SnO2 and In2O3 particles. Importantly, tetragonal ?-In3Sn and hexagonal ?-InSn4 nanowires with diameters of less than 100?nm are selectively synthesized at different SnO2 to In2O3 weight ratios. CNTs may serve as cylindrical nanocontainers for continuous growth of liquid-phased In1?xSnx nanowires during growth process as well as for their solidification into In?Sn intermetallic nanowires during the cooling process. Microscopic and spectroscopic analyses clearly reveal evidence of a core?shell structure of the CNT-sheathed In?Sn intermetallic nanowires. Magnetization measurements show that the superconducting In?Sn nanowires have a critical magnetic field higher than the value of their bulk intermetallic compounds. Our method can be adopted to the nanofabrication of analogous binary and ternary alloys.

Abstract: A highly optimized catalyst layer, under low humidity conditions, was developed through an in situ sol–gel process with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in a Nafion ionomer solution with Pt/C in order to prepare a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). This method is quick and does not require the use of additional solvents to accomplish the sol–gel reaction of TEOS at high temperatures compared to other ex situ sol–gel methods. Amorphous SiO2 nanoparticles of <5 nm were distributed uniformly in the vicinity of the graphitic carbons and the Pt electrocatalysts without significant particle aggregation. In the in situ sol–gel reaction, due to their very high acidity, –SO3H groups attached to the Nafion polymer conveniently served as catalyst to facilitate the hydrolysis reaction. Hydrolyzed alkoxysilanes migrated to the negatively charged sulfonate groups (–SO3−) due to a rapid increase in the ζ potential of the SiO2 nanoparticles at pH < 2, which resulted in a core–shell structure in the catalyst ink during the drying of the membrane–electrode assemblies (MEAs). A core–shell structure that consisted of positively charged SiOH2+ groups and negatively charged –SO3− in the Nafion ionomer was evaluated for its enhancement of the water content in the polymer membranes, as well as its effect on the specific activity of Pt. When an MEA has SiO2 nanoparticles only within the cathode catalyst layer under low humidity, the chemically-adsorbed water molecules on the silanol groups are released into the cathode catalyst layer, increasing the water content at the cathode catalyst layer, which increases the water transport from the cathode to the anode (i.e., back diffusion). The enhanced back diffusion mitigated the dehydration of the membrane under low humidity conditions. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the core–shell structure between positively-charged SiOH2+ groups and negatively-charged –SO3− groups in the Nafion ionomer may reduce the specific adsorption of –SO3− groups on the surface of Pt, which enhances the kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the catalyst layer of the cathode.

Abstract: A highly sensitive tyrosinase (TYR)-based amperometric biosensor is prepared using biologically designed gold nanowires (AuNWs) for pesticide detection. The AuNWs were synthesized by dodecapeptide Midas-11 and were modified with the formation of self-assembled monolayer (SAM), followed by covalent binding with TYR. The prepared TYR-AuNWs-SPCE (screen printed carbon electrode) was compared with bare, AuNWs-, modified-AuNWs-SPCE by the measurement of cyclic voltammetry. The quantitative relationship between the inhibition percentage and the pesticide concentration at the TYR-AuNWs-SPCE was obtained by measuring the current response in various concentrations of pesticides. The reasonable detection range of parathion was determined to be 0.1 ppt through 10 ppb (R2=0.990) with 0.087 ppt of detection limits. The higher sensitivity and wider detection range of the TYR-based biosensor was achieved by the use of biologically synthesized AuNWs.

Abstract: The compositional distribution of elements is known to be significant for the high conversion efficiency of CZTSe solar cells. As detailed understanding of the Cu/(Zn+Sn) ratio in the light absorption layer is important, Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) films grown via the co-evaporation process under different copper fluxes were characterized. It is difficult to evaluate the Cu content effect on the properties of CZTSe films grown using a co-evaporation process with Cu, Zn, Sn, and Se elemental effusion sources because the Cu flux variation during the process also induces other element ratio changes. Furthermore, the Zn/Sn ratio shows significant correlation to the Cu/(Zn+Sn) ratio variation in CZTSe thin films. Replacing the zinc metal effusion source with the ZnSe compound source resulted in less fluctuation in the Zn/Sn variation according to Cu flux change during the CZTSe co-evaporation. This can be useful in evaluating the effect of the different Cu ratios on the CZTSe solar cell characteristics.

Abstract: This paper presents the hardware system integrating of an electric vehicle for Land mine detection The Vehicle is fully automated to fulfill three main objectives: 1) Detect the Land mines 2) Drive through the landmines and 3) store the landmines location The vehicle consists of two main robotics configurations Firstly a car like robot to provide the maneuverability in desert environment, where the landmines are found Secondly, a robotic arm with 2 Degrees of Freedom (2DOF) to provide the scanning for Landmines on the surface of 50 cm length and rotation of 180 degrees The kinematics modeling description is provided along with the overall control structure The hardware implementation is also explained in addition to the demonstration of experimental results to illustrate the system performance

Abstract: The battery charging control strategies with considering battery characteristics in the high power battery energy storage applications are limited, because it is difficult to obtain the overall electrochemical characteristics. However, this information is important, because they are related on life cycle, charging speed, and efficiency. In order to improve these factors, this paper proposes to control the ion conductivity, which is one of the electrochemical characteristics as an optimal charging control strategy. It results in reducing polarization impact. This control scheme needs to measure on-line battery impedance and track its saturation points. This control scheme enhanced the charging efficiency and moderate temperature rising rate. Experimental results based on a 14.6V 40Ah LiFeMgPO4 battery are used to validate and to demonstrate the performance of the proposed control scheme.

Abstract: In ubiquitous computing environment, smart objects get environmental data from sensors, and combine various sensor data. After processing these data, smart object can provide intelligent service to user. To do this, smart object should be compatible with sensors and service provider. In this paper, we propose a middleware for smart object in ubiquitous computing. A middleware uses metadata for interoperability between sensor and middleware and between service and middleware. This middleware could be used in u-healthcare, smart home, etc.

Abstract: A highly durable, anion exchange membrane with a uniform thickness of 23.4 μm was fabricated by the pore-filling approach in a porous substrate. The resulting membrane has a hydroxide conductivity in excess of 40 mS cm−1 at 20 °C and does not exhibit significant changes in ion conductivity and IEC in 5 M solution of NaOH at 50 °C for 1500 h.