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Paper des Monats
- ja (68)
In the past two decades, numerous relaxation or physical aging experiments of metallic glasses have revealed signatures of intermittent atomic-scale processes. Revealed via intensity cross-correlations from coherent scattering using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS), the observed abrupt changes in the time-domain of atomic motion does not fit the picture of gradual slowing down of relaxation times and their origin continues to remain unclear. Using a binary Lennard-Jones model glass subjected to microsecond-long isotherms, we show here that temporally and spatially heterogeneous atomic-cluster activity at different length-scales drive the emergence of highly non-monotonous intensity cross-correlations. The simulated XPCS experiments reveal a variety of time-dependent intensity-cross correlations that, depending on both the structural evolution and the 𝑞-space sampling, give detailed insights into the possible structural origins of intermittent aging measured with XPCS.
Distributed fiber optic sensors for structural health monitoring of composite pressure vessels
(2024)
In diesem Beitrag geben wir einen umfassenden Überblick über unsere Forschung auf dem Gebiet der verteilten faseroptischen Sensorik für die strukturelle Zustandsüberwachung von Wasserstoffdruckbehältern aus Verbundwerkstoffen. Insbesondere zeigen wir, wie die Integration von faseroptischen Sensoren in Druckbehälter aus Verbundwerkstoffen die Sicherheit erhöht und gleichzeitig die Wartungskosten senkt. Die geringe Größe von Lichtwellenleitern ermöglicht ihre Integration in Verbundwerkstoffstrukturen während des Herstellungsprozesses, wodurch eine kontinuierliche Überwachung sowie eine präzise Erkennung und Lokalisierung von Strukturschäden während des Betriebs der Druckbehälter ermöglicht wird. Wir erörtern auch das Potenzial modernster Signalverarbeitungsmethoden und des maschinellen Lernens für die Weiterentwicklung der vorausschauenden Instandhaltung. Die von uns vorgestellten Anwendungen von faseroptischen Sensoren zeigen, dass sie einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Energiewende hin zu erneuerbaren Energien leisten können.
Polymers with intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) are gaining attention as gas separation membranes. Nevertheless, they face limitations due to pronounced physical aging. In this study a covalent organic framework containing λ5-phosphinine moieties, CPSF-EtO were incorporated as a nanofiller (concentration range 0-10 wt%) into a PIM-1 matrix forming dense films with a thickness of ca. 100 μm. The aim of the investigation was to investigate possible enhancements of gas transport properties and mitigating effects on physical aging. The incorporation of the nanofiller occurred on aggregate level with domains up to 100 nm as observed by T-SEM and confirmed by X-ray scattering. Moreover, the X-ray data show that the structure of the microporous network of the PIM-1 matrix is changed by the nanofiller.
As the molecular mobility is fundamental for gas transport as well as for physical aging, the study includes dielectric investigations of pure PIM-1 and PIM-1/CPSF-EtO mixed matrix membranes to establish a correlation between the molecular mobility and the gas transport properties. Using the time-lag method the gas permeability and the permselectivity were determined for N2, O2, CH4 and CO2 for samples with variation in filler content. A significant increase in the permeability of CH4 and CO2 (50 % increase compared to pure PIM-1) was observed for a concentration of 5 wt% of the nanofiller. Furthermore, the most pronounced change in the permselectivity was found for the gas pair CO2/N2 at a filler concentration of 7 wt%.
Irradiation of solid surfaces with high intensity, ultrashort laser pulses triggers a variety of secondary processes that can lead to the formation of transient and permanent structures over a large range of length scales from mm down to the nano‐range. One of the most prominent examples are LIPSS – Laser‐Induced Periodic Surface Structures. While LIPSS have been a scientific evergreen for of almost 60 years, experimental methods that combine ultrafast temporal with the required nm spatial resolution have become available only recently with the advent of short pulse, short wavelength free electron lasers. Here, the current status and future perspectives in this field are discussed by exploiting the unique possibilities of these 4th‐generation light sources to address by time‐domain experimental techniques the fundamental LIPSS‐question, namely why and how laser irradiation can initiate the transition of a “chaotic” (rough) surface from an aperiodic into a periodic structure.
The Varestraint test and its variant Transvarestraint are one of the most widely used techniques for evaluating a material solidification cracking sensitivity during welding. The result of such tests is a crack length which is proportional to the material’s cracking susceptibility. Nevertheless, the welding and load parameters can unintentionally influence the crack length, which in some cases can distort the material evaluation. An approach is described as to how these effects can be assessed with the aid of a digital crack analysis. The crack lengths are compared position-dependently with their possible propagation due to the weld pool movement during continuous loading. The index derived from this can be used by the operator to evaluate his test parameters. In addition, a comparison of the results of different Varestraint setups is made possible. Alongside experimental results, a numerical sensitivity analysis is presented on how individual welding and loading parameters can affect the crack lengths.
With the reduction of large oil spills because of stricter regulations and safety measures, the question of how to manage smaller oil spills arises. Few on-site analytical tools are available for first responders or other law enforcement personnel to rapidly test for crude oil in the early management of localized polluted areas. The approach reported here relies on well-described computer-assisted multivariate data analysis of the intrinsic fluorescence fingerprints of crude oils to build a multivariate model for the rapid classification of crude oils and the prediction of their properties. Thanks to a dedicated robust portable reader, the method allowed classification and accurate prediction of various properties of crude oil samples like density (according to API, the American Petroleum Institute and viscosity as well as composition parameters such as volume fractions of paraffins or aromatics. In this way, autonomous operation in on-site or in-the-field applications becomes possible based on the direct (undiluted and untreated) measurement of samples and a rapid, tablet-operated readout system to yield a robust and simple analytical test with superior performance. Testing in real-life scenarios allowed the successful classification and prediction of a number of oil spill samples as well as weathered samples that closely resemble samples collected by first responders.
AbstractSince the 1950s, Warfarin has been used globally as both a prescription drug and a rodenticide. Research has shown that warfarin and other rodenticides are present in the environment and food chain. However, emerging contaminants are subject to degradation by biotic and abiotic processes and advanced oxidation processes. In some cases, detecting the parent compound may not be possible due to the formation of structurally changed species. This approach aims to identify hydroxylated transformation products of warfarin in a laboratory setting, even after the parent compound has undergone degradation. Therefore, the Fenton reaction is utilized to insert hydroxylation into the parent compound, warfarin, by hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl radicals generated by Fe2+/Fe3+ redox reaction with hydrogen peroxide. Using multiple reaction monitoring, a GC–MS/MS method, incorporating isotopically labeled reference compounds, is used to quantify the expected derivatized species. The analytes are derivatized using trimethyl-3-trifluoromethyl phenyl ammonium hydroxide, and the derivatization yield of warfarin is determined by using isotopically labeled reference compounds. The method has a linear working range of 30 to 1800 ng/mL, with detection limits ranging from 18.7 to 67.0 ng/mL. The analytes are enriched using a C18-SPE step, and the recovery for each compound is calculated. The Fenton reaction generates all preselected hydroxylated transformation products of warfarin. The method successfully identifies that 4′-Me-O-WAR forms preferentially under the specified experimental conditions. By further optimizing the SPE clean-up procedures, this GC–MS-based method will be suitable for detecting transformation products in more complex matrices, such as environmental water samples. Overall, this study provides a better understanding of warfarin’s degradation and offers a robust analytical tool for investigating its transformation products.
Multiple principal element alloys encompass the well-known high entropy alloys (HEA). The alloy system represents a new class of materials consisting of at least three alloying elements, each containing 5 to 35 at.%. Thus, this alloying concept differs fundamentally from conventional materials such as steel or nickel alloys. For this purpose, the alloying elements are specifically selected, the microstructures are adjusted in a single-phase and, in some cases, multi-phase manner. In particular, conflicting goals, such as the trade-off between strength and ductility in conventional steels, are overcome. However, in the last 20 years, the focus has been on material synthesis. With the increase in available material quantities, the focus is now on processing issues such as joining and welding processes. The weldability of HEAs has received very little attention so far. The experience with dissimilar metal welds is completely lacking but is essential for the application of these materials in combination with conventional materials. The present study presents comprehensive experimental results on the weldability of an equimolar CoCrFeMnNi-HEA in cold-rolled and heat-treated condition, which was joined by tungsten inert gas welding to an austenitic steel AISI 304. The mechanical properties of the dissimilar metal welds were characterized by cross-weld tensile samples, whereas the local deformation in the weld of the different welding zones was measured by digital image correlation. In accordance with the respective initial HEA condition (cold-rolled vs. heat-treated), the local strain behavior was divergent and influenced the global mechanical properties of both DMW types. Nonetheless, the experiments provided proof in principle of the weldability for dissimilar joints of the CoCrFeMnNi-HEA welded to conventional materials like austenitic stainless steels ensuring a corresponding capability for mechanical loading. This allows further considerations on the application of these innovative materials.
The LOBSTER (Deringer et al., 2011;Maintz et al., 2013 ,2016 ;Nelson et al., 2020 ) software aids in extracting quantum-chemical bonding information from materials by projecting the plane-wave based wave functions from density functional theory (DFT) onto an atomic orbital basis. LobsterEnv, a module implemented in pymatgen (Ong et al., 2013) by some of the authors of this package, facilitates the use of quantum-chemical bonding information obtained from LOBSTER calculations to identify neighbors and coordination environments. LobsterPy is a Python package that offers a set of convenient tools to further analyze and summarize the LobsterEnv outputs in the form of JSONs that are easy to interpret and process. These tools enable the estimation of (anti) bonding contributions, generation of textual descriptions, and visualization of LOBSTER computation results. Since its first release, both LobsterPy and LobsterEnv capabilities have been extended significantly. Unlike earlier versions, which could only automatically analyze Crystal Orbital Hamilton Populations (COHPs) (Dronskowski & Blöchl, 1993), both can now also analyze Crystal Orbital Overlap Populations (COOP) (Hughbanks & Hoffmann, 1983) and Crystal Orbital Bond Index (COBI) (Müller et al., 2021). Extracting the information about the most important orbitals contributing to the bonds is optional, and users can enable it as needed. Additionally, bonding-based features for machinelearning (ML) studies can be engineered via the sub-packages “featurize” and “structuregraphs”. Alongside its Python interface, it also provides an easy-to-use command line interface (CLI) that runs automatic analysis of the computations and generates a summary of results and publication-ready figures. LobsterPy has been used to produce the results in Ngo et al. (2023), Chen et al. (2024), Naik et al. (2023), and it is also part of Atomate2 (2023) bonding analysis workflow for generating bonding analysis data in a format compatible with the Materials Project (Jain et al., 2013) API.
Numerical and experimental assessment of liquid metal embrittlement in externally loaded spot welds
(2024)
Zinc-based surface coatings are widely applied with high-strength steels in automotive industry. Some of these base materials show an increased brittle cracking risk during loading. It is necessary to examine electrogalvanized and uncoated samples of a high strength steel susceptible to liquid metal embrittlement during spot welding with applied external load. Therefore, a newly developed tensile test method with a simultaneously applied spot weld is conducted. A fully coupled 3D electrical, thermal, metallurgical and mechanical finite element model depicting the resistant spot welding process combined with the tensile test conducted is mandatory to correct geometric influences of the sample geometry and provides insights into the sample’s time dependent local loading. With increasing external loads, the morphology of the brittle cracks formed is affected more than the crack depth. The validated finite element model applies newly developed damage indicators to predict and explain the liquid metal embrittlement cracking onset and development as well as even ductile failure.
Hydrogen has great potential on the path towards decarbonization of the energy and transport sectors and can mitigate the urgent issue of global warming. It can be sustainably produced through water electrolysis with potentially zero emissions, and efficiently used (e.g., in fuel cell systems). Despite its environmental advantages, hydrogen-metal interactions could result in the degradation of the mechanical properties of several structural materials. In order to determine the magnitude of the material degradation in relation to hydrogen exposure, extensive material testing is required. The standardized procedure for in-situ testing for the quantification of the impact of compressed gaseous hydrogen (CGH2) relies on the utilization of an autoclave around the tested specimen. Such test set-up is complex, expensive, time-consuming and requires special equipment, trained personnel, and strict safety procedures. A relatively recent method to circumvent these issues and provide affordable results consists of using hollow specimens, thus applying the hydrogen pressure inside rather than outside the specimen. It allows to reduce the volume of hydrogen by several orders of magnitude and to perform the tests more efficiently and in a safer manner. This study focuses on evaluating the tensile properties of X65 vintage pipeline steel tested in a high-pressure hydrogen environment using hollow specimens. Tests are performed in 6 MPa H2 and Ar at the nominal strain rate of 10−6 s−1 to evaluate the reduced area at fracture and the elongation loss. The effect of surface finishing on crack initiation and propagation is investigated by comparing two different manufacturing techniques. In this way, this study provides insights into the applicability of a novel, reliable, and safe testing method which can be used to assess the hydrogen-assisted ductility loss in metallic materials.
The processes of hydrogen reduction of silicon and germanium chlorides under the conditions of high-frequency (40.68 MHz) counteracted arc discharge stabilized between two rod electrodes are investigated. The main gas-phase and solid products of plasma-chemical transformations are determined. Thermodynamic analysis of SiCl4 + H2 and GeCl4 + H2 systems for optimal process parameters was carried out. Using the example of hydrogen reduction of SiCl4 by the method of numerical modeling, gas-dynamic and thermal processes for this type of discharge are investigated. The impurity composition of gas-phase and solid reaction products is investigated. The possibility of single-stage production of high-purity Si and Ge mainly in the form of compact ingots, as well as high-purity chlorosilanes and trichlorogermane, is shown.
Luminescence lifetimes are an attractive analytical method for detection due to its high sensitivity and stability. Iridium probes exhibit luminescence with long excited-state lifetimes, which are sensitive to the local environment. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is listed as a chemical of high concern regarding its toxicity and is classified as a “forever chemical”. In addition to strict limits on the presence of PFOA in drinking water, environmental contamination from industrial effluent or chemical spills requires rapid, simple, accurate, and cost-effective analysis in order to aid containment. Herein, we report the fabrication and function of a novel and facile luminescence sensor for PFOA based on iridium modified on gold surfaces. These surfaces were modified with lipophilic iridium complexes bearing alkyl chains, namely, IrC6 and IrC12, and Zonyl-FSA surfactant. Upon addition of PFOA, the modified surfaces IrC6-FSA@Au and IrC12-FSA @Au show the largest change in the red luminescence signal with changes in the luminescence lifetime that allow monitoring of PFOA concentrations in aqueous solutions. The platform was tested for the measurement of PFOA in aqueous samples spiked with known concentrations of PFOA and demonstrated the capacity to determine PFOA at concentrations >100 μg/L (240 nM).
The European Commission has recently announced two guiding principles for EU product policy: First, product policy shall ensure that the performance of front-runner products in terms of sustainability becomes the norm, and second, the effectiveness of the current Ecodesign legislative framework is going to be significantly improved. Within this paper, already existing front-runner approaches and recent and ongoing product policy-making processes were reviewed. Based on the results, an EU front-runner approach is outlined. The presented approach (i) refers to performance levels of the best products already available on the market, (ii) aggregates information in existing databases, and (iii) works semi-automated. Together, all three attributes have a high potential to facilitate and accelerate the specification of appropriate minimum requirements for products at the EU level. This way, EU policymakers can deliver on the core objectives of the Ecodesign legislative framework much better. The basic mechanism and its legal entrenchment of the approach are illustrated for the energy efficiency of energy-related products. In addition, the Front-Runner Approach can be applied to any product group in the scope of the upcoming Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and to a wide range of product-related minimum requirements, such as durability, reparability, or recycled content. The study’s objective is to suggest a tailor-made and dynamic approach to keep the EU product legislation up to date using innovative technology based on the investigation of current regulations and identify the gap. Experiences from three international case studies suggest that a front-runner approach to setting energy-performance standards can drive innovation and reduce energy consumption via promoting energy-efficient products; transparency about available products is one of the key factors and can be established by a database. The EU front-runner approach comprises extending the existing energy label database (or making use of the digital product passport) and introducing a legislative procedure that triggers changes in the energy efficiency requirements in the specific EU regulations if the database shows that a certain threshold value is reached. Challenges such as limited EU staff capacities and opportunities such as increased dynamic are discussed.
A poly(L-lactide) with a trifluoroethyl ester end group and an average degree of polymerization (DP) of 50 was synthesized by ROP of L-lactide initiated with trifluoroethanol. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) in combination with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements revealed an average crystal thickness of 13 nm, corresponding to 45 repeat units. This suggests that most crystallites were formed by extended PLA chains, and both flat surfaces were covered by CF3 groups. The crystalline PLAs were annealed at 140 or 160 °C in the presence of two catalysts: tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate, (SnOct2) or dibutyltin bis(pentafluorophenoxide) (BuSnPhF). The chemical reactions, such as polycondensation and cyclization, proceeded in the solid state and were monitored by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-offlight (MALDI TOF) mass spectrometry and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) measurements. Under optimal conditions a large fraction of linear chains was transformed into crystallites composed of extended cycles. Additionally, MALDI TOF MS analysis of GPC fractions from samples annealed for 28 or 42 days detected chain elongation of the linear species up to a factor of 20.
The cleaning of aged silk fibers poses a common challenge in the conservation of textiles, since traditional cleaning techniques often yield unsatisfactory results or even harm objects. In this regard, cleaning objects with laser radiation is a promising addition to the range of available methods. Due to it being contactless, even brittle and touch-sensitive objects with disfiguring or harmful soiling could potentially be cleaned and therefore made accessible for research and presentation. Examples of treatment have sometimes shown spectacular results. Still there is some skepticism concerning the safety of this treatment for textile materials, which has been strengthened through previous 532 nm wavelength nanosecond laser cleaning studies on silk fibers. Taking these published results into account, the range of examined laser parameters has been extended in this study, from 532 nm nanosecond laser to 1064 nm nanosecond and even 800 nm femtosecond laser, reevaluating the effect of this treatment on the fibers. The physicochemical processes taking place on the silk fibers when cleaning with lasers are complex and still not fully understood. The aim of this project was therefore to bring more clarification about potential effects of those processes on the condition of silk samples treated with a set of different parameters for wavelength, pulse duration, energy density and number of pulses per spot. It also looks at the influence of the presence of soiling on the results. The analysis of potential effects was then carried out using statistical methods and advanced analytics. Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and colorimetry technology provided the required insights to better assess the effects. Results show that laser cleaning of silk fibers, like most other conventional cleaning techniques, is not completely without risk, but knowing what the possible effects are helps making decisions on whether the benefits of the technique used justify these risks.
Acceleration sensors are vital for assessing engineering structures by measuring properties like natural frequencies. In practice, engineering structures often have low natural frequencies and face harsh environmental conditions. Understanding sensor behavior on such structures is crucial for reliable masurements. The research focus is on understanding the behavior of acceleration sensors in harsh environmental conditions within the low-frequency acceleration range. The main question is how to distinguish sensor behavior from structural influences to minimize errors in assessing engineering structure conditions. To investigate this, the sensors are tested using a long-stroke calibration unit under varying temperature and humidity conditions. Additionally, a mini-monitoring system configured with four IEPE sensors is applied to a small-scale support structure within a climate chamber. For the evaluation, a signal-energy approach is employed to distinguish sensor behavior from structural behavior. The findings show that IEPE sensors display temperature-dependent nonlinear transmission behavior within the low-frequency acceleration range, with humidity having negligible impact. To ensure accurate engineering structure assessment, it is crucial to separate sensor behavior from structural influences using signal energy in the time domain. This study underscores the need to compensate for systematic effects, preventing the underestimation of vibration energy at low temperatures and overestimation at higher temperatures when using IEPE sensors for engineering structure monitoring.
Here, we show that calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum) can be directly, rapidly and reversibly converted to calcium sulfate hemihydrate (bassanite) in high salinity solutions (brines). The optimum conditions for the efficient production of bassanite in a short time (<5 min) involve the use of brines with c(NaCl) > 4 M and maintaining a temperature, T > 80 °C. When the solution containing bassanite crystals is cooled down to around room temperature, eventually gypsum is formed. When the temperature is raised again to T > 80 °C, bassanite is rapidly re-precipitated. This contrasts with the better-known behaviour of the bassanite phase in low-salt environments. In low-salinity aqueous solutions, bassanite is considered to be metastable with respect to gypsum and anhydrite, and therefore gypsum-to-bassanite conversion does not occur in pure water. Interestingly, the high-salinity transformation of gypsum-to-bassanite has been reported by many authors and used in practice for several decades, although its very occurrence actually contradicts numerical thermodynamic predictions regarding solubility of calcium sulfate phases. By following the evolution of crystalline phases with in situ and time-resolved X-ray diffraction/scattering and Raman spectroscopy, we demonstrated that the phase stability in brines at elevated temperatures was inaccurately represented in the thermodynamic databases. Most notably for c(NaCl) > 4 M, and T > 80 °C gypsum becomes readily more soluble than bassanite, which induces the direct precipitation of the latter from gypsum. The fact that these transformations are controlled by the solution provides extensive opportunities for precise manipulation of crystal formation. Our experiments confirmed that bassanite remained the sole crystalline phase for many hours before reverting into gypsum. This property is extremely advantageous for practical processing and efficient crystal extraction in industrial scenarios.
Reliable measurement of the size of polydisperse, complex-shaped commercial nanopowders is a difficult but necessary task, e.g., for regulatory requirements and toxicity risk assessment. Suitable methods exist for the accurate characterization of the size of non-aggregated, stabilized, spherical and monodisperse nanoparticles. In contrast, industrial nanoscale powders usually require dedicated sample preparation procedures developed for the analysis method of choice. These nano-powders tend to agglomerate and/or aggregate, a behavior which in combination with an innate broad particle size distribution and irregular shape often significantly alters the achievable accuracy of the measured size parameters. The present study systematically tests two commercially available nanoscale powders using different sample preparation methods for correlative analysis by scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, Brunauer–Emmet–Teller method and differential mobility analysis. One focus was set on the sample preparation by embedding nanoparticles in carbon-based hot-mounting resin. Literature on this topic is scarce and the accuracy of the data extracted from cross sections of these particles is unclearly stated. In this paper systematic simulations on the deviation of the size parameters of well-defined series of nanoparticles with different shapes from the nominal value were carried out and the contributing factors are discussed.
The global trend towards decarbonization and the demand for energy security have put hydrogen energy into the spotlight of industry, politics, and societies. Numerous governments worldwide are adopting policies and strategies to facilitate the transition towards hydrogen-based economies. To assess the determinants of such transition, this study presents a comparative analysis of the technological innovation systems (TISs) for hydrogen technologies in Germany and South Korea, both recognized as global frontrunners in advancing and implementing hydrogen-based solutions. By providing a multidimensional assessment of pathways to the hydrogen economy, our analysis introduces two novel and crucial elements to the TIS analysis: (i) We integrate the concept of ‘quality infrastructure’ given the relevance of safety and quality assurance for technology adoption and social acceptance, and (ii) we emphasize the social perspective within the hydrogen TIS. To this end, we conducted 24 semi-structured expert interviews, applying qualitative open coding to analyze the data. Our results indicate that the hydrogen TISs in both countries have undergone significant developments across various dimensions. However, several barriers still hinder the further realization of a hydrogen economy. Based on our findings, we propose policy implications that can facilitate informed policy decisions for a successful hydrogen transition.
Simulation-Assisted Augmentation of Missing Wedge and Region-of-Interest Computed Tomography Data
(2024)
This study reports a strategy to use sophisticated, realistic X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) simulations to reduce Missing Wedge (MW) and Region-of-Interest (RoI) artifacts in FBP (Filtered Back-Projection) reconstructions. A 3D model of the object is used to simulate the projections that include the missing information inside the MW and outside the RoI. Such information augments the experimental projections, thereby drastically improving the reconstruction results. An X-ray CT dataset of a selected object is modified to mimic various degrees of RoI and MW problems. The results are evaluated in comparison to a standard FBP reconstruction of the complete dataset. In all cases, the reconstruction quality is significantly improved. Small inclusions present in the scanned object are better localized and quantified. The proposed method has the potential to improve the results of any CT reconstruction algorithm.
AbstractHigh-strength aluminum alloys used in aerospace and automotive applications obtain their strength through precipitation hardening. Achieving the desired mechanical properties requires precise control over the nanometer-sized precipitates. However, the microstructure of these alloys changes over time due to aging, leading to a deterioration in strength. Typically, the size, number, and distribution of precipitates for a quantitative assessment of microstructural changes are determined by manual analysis, which is subjective and time-consuming. In our work, we introduce a progressive and automatable approach that enables a more efficient, objective, and reproducible analysis of precipitates. The method involves several sequential steps using an image repository containing dark-field transmission electron microscopy (DF-TEM) images depicting various aging states of an aluminum alloy. During the process, precipitation contours are generated and quantitatively evaluated, and the results are comprehensibly transferred into semantic data structures. The use and deployment of Jupyter Notebooks, along with the beneficial implementation of Semantic Web technologies, significantly enhances the reproducibility and comparability of the findings. This work serves as an exemplar of FAIR image and research data management.
This study investigates the mechanochemical reactions between AgBr 3-picolylamine and 4-picolylamine. The use of different stoichiometry ratios of the reagents allows [(AgBr)(n-pica)]n and [(AgBr)2(n-pica)]n to be obtained, and we report the new structures of [(AgBr)2(3-pica)]n and [(AgBr)2(4-pica)]n which are characterized by the presence of the following: (a) infinite inorganic chains, (b) silver atom coordinated only by bromide atoms and (c) argentophilic interactions. Furthermore, we studied the interconversion of [(AgBr)(n-pica)]n/[(AgBr)2(n-pica)]n by mechanochemical and thermal properties. The in situ experiments suggest that [(AgBr)(3-pica)]n is kinetically favoured while [(AgBr)2(3-pica)]n is converted into [(AgBr)(3-pica)]n only with a high excess of the ligand. Finally, the liquid nature of the ligands is not sufficient to assist the grinding process, and the complete reaction is observed with the addition of a small quantity of acetonitrile.
Acetogenic bacteria produce CO2-based chemicals in aqueous media by hydrogenotrophic conversion of CO2, but CO is the preferred carbon and electron source. Consequently, coupling CO2 electrolysis with bacterial fermentation within an integrated bio-electrocatalytical system (BES) is promising, if CO2 reduction catalysts are available for the generation of CO in the complex biotic electrolyte. A standard stirred-tank bioreactor was coupled to a zero-gap PEM electrolysis cell for CO2 conversion, allowing voltage control and separation of the anode in one single cell. The cathodic CO2 reduction and the competing hydrogen evolution enabled in-situ feeding of C. ragsdalei with CO and H2. Proof-of-concept was demonstrated in first batch processes with continuous CO2 gassing, as autotrophic growth and acetate formation was observed in the stirred BES in a voltage range of −2.4 to −3.0 V. The setup is suitable also for other bioelectrocatalytic reactions. Increased currents and lower overvoltages are however required. Atomically-dispersed M−N−C catalysts show promise, if degradation throughout autoclaving can be omitted. The development of selective and autoclavable catalysts resistant to contamination and electrode design for the complex electrolyte will enable efficient bioelectrocatalytic power-to-X systems based on the introduced BES.
The ISO 3690 standard “Determination of hydrogen content in arc weld metal” requires a thermal activation of the diffusible hydrogen in a piece of weld metal for the subsequent ex situ concentration measurement by carrier gas hot extraction CGHE or thermal desorption spectroscopy (TCD). Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) offers a time and spatially resolved, almost non-destructive, in situ measurement of hydrogen at surfaces without sample preparation. We measured hydrogen in steels, which were charged either electrochemically or by high-pressure hydrogen gas, and compared the results. Further, the feasibility of quantitative hydrogen line scan measurements with LIBS was demonstrated by measuring hydrogen at water jet cut surfaces. The hydrogen concentrations measured with the help of LIBS were compared with CGHE measurements. It was observed that hydrogen can be reliably measured with LIBS for concentrations larger than 2 wt.-ppm. The maximum hydrogen concentration achieved using electrochemical charging was 85.1 ppm. The results show that LIBS is a promising technique for time- and spatially resolved measurements of hydrogen in steels.
The usefulness of seven different Tin catalysts, Bismuth subsalicylate and Titan tetra(ethoxide) for the polycondensation of ethyl L-lactate (ELA) was examined at 150 °C/6 d. Dibutyltin bis(phenoxides) proved to be particularly effective. Despite the low reactivity of ELA, weight average molecular masses (Mw) up to 12 500 were found along with partial crystallization. Furthermore, polylactides (PLAs) of similar molecular masses were prepared via ELA-initiated ROPs of L-lactide by means of the four most effective polycondensation catalysts. The crystalline linear PLAs were annealed at 140 or 160 °C in the presence of these catalysts. The consequences of the transesterification reactions in the solid PLAs were studied by means of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI TOF) mass spectrometry, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The results indicate that polycondensation and formation of cycles proceed in the solid state via formation of loops on the surface of the crystallites. In summary, five different transesterification reactions are required to explain all results.
Knowledge representation in the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) domain is a vast and multi-faceted challenge: Overlap, ambiguity, and inconsistency in terminology are common. Invariant (consistent) and variant (context-specific) knowledge are difficult to align cross-domain. Generic top-level semantic terminology often is too abstract, while MSE domain terminology often is too specific. In this paper, an approach how to maintain a comprehensive MSE-centric terminology composing a mid-level ontology–the Platform MaterialDigital Core Ontology (PMDco)–via MSE community-based curation procedures is presented. The illustrated findings show how the PMDco bridges semantic gaps between high-level, MSE-specific, and other science domain semantics. Additionally, it demonstrates how the PMDco lowers development and integration thresholds. Moreover, the research highlights how to fuel it with real-world data sources ranging from manually conducted experiments and simulations with continuously automated industrial applications.
Understanding the susceptibility to spalling of concrete members in case of fire is important to evaluate the residual load-bearing capacity. The investigations of the spalling phenomenon of a concrete mixture using real scale members are necessary but expensive to carry out. Reducing the specimen size leads to an increase of boundary effects that can result in a reduced spalling or absence of spalling. In this study, fire tests were carried out on unrestrained, single-sided exposed, cuboid shaped specimens (0.6 m x 0.6 m x 0.29 m) as well as unrestrained and steel ring restrained cylindrical specimens (Ø = 0.47 m, h = 0.29 m), which induce different boundary conditions. These fire tests were carried out on two ordinary concrete mixtures. The two mixtures differ only in the type of aggregates (quartz gravel and basalt grit) and were used to investigate the influence of the thermal expansion of the aggregate on the spalling behaviour of the concrete. The results show a significant increase of
the spalling depth due to the restrained thermal expansion achieved by the applied steel rings. Additionally, the type of aggregate has a direct influence on the spalling behaviour of a concrete mixture. The reduction of the boundary effects by the steel rings recreate the test conditions in the centre of a large concrete member. Thus, this type of specimen is suitable to determine the susceptibility to spalling of a material (screening-tests) as preliminary investigations to full scale fire tests.
A route to a ZrF4 catalyst active in room temperature Friedel–Crafts and dehydrofluorination reactions was developed via a fluorolytic sol–gel route, which was followed by a postfluorination step using a stream of CHClF2. The behaviour of different Zr(IV) precursors in a sol–gel reaction with anhydrous isopropanol/HF solution was investigated. The subsequent post-fluorination step was optimised in its temperature ramp and confirmed the necessity of a fluorination of the generated xerogels to obtain catalytic activity. The process is discussed in the context of the analysis of the materials using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis (BET), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The local structure of the amorphous catalyst was elucidated by extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS).
High-strength steels offer potential for weight optimization due to reduced wall thicknesses in modern constructions. Additive manufacturing processes such as Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) enable the resource-efficient production of structures. In the case of defects occurring in weld seams orWAAM components due to unstable process conditions, the economical solution is local gouging or machining and repair welding. It is important to understand the effects of machining steps on the multiaxial stress state in conjunction with the design-related shrinkage restraints. Research into how welding and slot milling of welds andWAAM structures affects residual stresses is still lacking. For this reason, component-related investigations with high-strength steels with yield strengths ≥790 MPa are carried out in our research. In-situ digital image correlation (DIC) and ex-situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to analyze the stresses and strains induced on specimens during and after milling. The systematic analyses revealed a significant interaction of the stiffness and microstructure of the specimens with the initial residual stresses induced by welding. Subsequent repair welds can result in significantly higher residual stresses.
We present Jobflow, a domain-agnostic Python package for writing computational workflows tailored for high-throughput computing applications. With its simple decorator-based approach, functions and class methods can be transformed into compute jobs that can be stitched together into complex workflows. Jobflow fully supports dynamic workflows where the full acyclic graph of compute jobs is not known until runtime, such as compute jobs that launch
other jobs based on the results of previous steps in the workflow. The results of all Jobflow compute jobs can be easily stored in a variety of filesystem- and cloud-based databases without the data storage process being part of the underlying workflow logic itself. Jobflow has been intentionally designed to be fully independent of the choice of workflow manager used to dispatch the calculations on remote computing resources. At the time of writing, Jobflow
workflows can be executed either locally or across distributed compute environments via an adapter to the FireWorks package, and Jobflow fully supports the integration of additional workflow execution adapters in the future.
The unusual behavior observed in the coefficient of thermal expansion and specific heat capacity of CrFeNi, CoCrNi, and CoCrFeNi medium/high-entropy alloys is commonly referred to as the K-state effect. It is shown to be independent of the Curie temperature, as demonstrated by temperature-dependent magnetic moment measurements. CoCrFeNi alloy is chosen for detailed characterization; potential reasons for the K-state effect such as texture, recrystallization, and second-phase precipitation are ruled out. An examination of the electronic structure indicates the formation of a pseudo-gap in the Density of States, which suggests a specific chemical interaction between Ni and Cr atoms upon alloying. Hybrid Monte Carlo/Molecular Dynamic (MC/MD) simulations indicate the presence of non-negligible chemical short-range order (CSRO). Local lattice distortions are shown to be negligible, although deviations around Cr and Ni elements from those expected in a fully disordered structure are experimentally observed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The determined bonding distances are in good agreement with MC/MD calculations. A mechanism is proposed to explain the anomalies and calorimetric experiments and their results are used to validate the mechanism.
Irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) is a form of intergranular stress corrosion cracking that occurs in irradiated austenitic alloys. It requires an irradiated microstructure along with high temperature water and stress. The process is ubiquitous in that it occurs in a wide range of austenitic alloys and water chemistries, but only when the alloy is irradiated. Despite evidence of this degradation mode that dates back to the 1960s, the mechanism by which it occurs has remained elusive. Here, using high resolution electron backscattering detection to analyze local stress-strain states, high resolution transmission electron microscopy to identify grain boundary phases at crack tips, and decoupling the roles of stress and grain boundary oxidation, we are able to unfold the complexities of the phenomenon to reveal the mechanism by which IASCC occurs. The significance of the findings impacts the mechanical integrity of core components of both current and advanced nuclear reactor designs worldwide.
AbstractThe high-temperature corrosion behaviors of the equimolar CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy and CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy were studied in a gas atmosphere consisting of a volumetric mixture of 10% H2O, 2% O2, 0.5% SO2, and 87.5% Ar at 800 °C for up to 96 h. Both alloys were initially single-phase fcc with a mean grain size of ~ 50 μm and a homogeneous chemical composition. The oxide layer thickness of CrMnFeCoNi increased linearly with exposure time while it remained constant at ~ 1 μm for CrCoNi. A Cr2O3 layer and minor amounts of (Co,Ni)Cr2O4 developed on the latter while three oxide layers were detected on the former, i.e., a thin and continuous chromium rich oxide layer at the oxide/alloy interface, a dense (Mn,Cr)3O4 layer in the center and a thick and porous layer of Mn3O4 and MnSO4 at the gas/oxide interface. Additionally, a few metal sulfides were observed in the CrMnFeCoNi matrix. These results were found to be in reasonable agreement with thermodynamic calculations.
This contribution reports the development of a polymerizable BODIPY-type fluorescent probe targeting small-molecule carboxylates for incorporation into molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). The design of the probe crosslinker includes a urea recognition site p-conjugated to the 3-position of the BODIPY core and two methacrylate moieties. Titration experiments with a carboxylate-expressing antibiotic, levofloxacin (LEVO), showed a blue shift of the absorption band as well as a broadening and decrease in emission, attributed to hydrogen bonding between the probe’s urea group and the carboxylate group of the antibiotic. Using this probe crosslinker, core–shell particles with a silica core and a thin MIP shell were prepared for the detection of LEVO. The MIP exhibited highly selective recognition of LEVO, with an imprinting factor of 18.1 compared to the non-imprinted polymer. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the core–shell structure and spectroscopic studies revealed that the receptor’s positioning leads to a unique perturbation of the polymethinic character of the BODIPY chromophore, entailing the favourable responses. These features are fully preserved in the MIP, whereas no such response was observed for competitors such as ampicillin. The sensory particles allowed to detect LEVO down to submicromolar concentrations in dioxane. We have developed here for the first time a BODIPY probe for organic carboxylates and incorporated it into polymers using the imprinting technique, paving the way for BODIPY-type fluorescent MIP sensors.
This technical note highlights the fact that CF-LIBS algorithms work in mole fractions, while results of spectrochemical analysis are usually reported in mass fractions or mass percent. Ignoring this difference and not converting mole fractions to mass fractions can lead to errors in reported concentrations determined by the CF-LIBS method and inadequate comparison of these concentrations with certified concentrations. Here, the key points of the CF-LIBS algorithm are reproduced and the formulae for converting a mole fraction to a mass fraction and vice versa are given. Several numerical examples are also given, which show that the greater the difference between the molar mass of an individual element in a sample and the average molar mass, the greater the discrepancy between the mole and mass fractions.
The energy demand of private households contributes globally to 36.5% of the total CO2 emissions. To analyze the emissions reduction potential, we conducted a comparative life cycle assessment of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell in a residential application and a conventional system with a stand-alone gas condensing boiler and electricity from a grid mix. The period under review was referred to as the service life of the PEMFC and is assumed to be 10 years (83,038 h of PEMFC). The applicability of this in a single-family house built between 1991 and 2000 under German climatic conditions was investigated. The functional unit is set to the thermal energy demand of 16,244 kWh/a and electricity demand of 4919 kWh/a of a single-family house. The impact assessment method “CML 2001–August 2016” was used in this investigation. The manufacturing phase of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell showed disadvantages, whereby the use phase had significant advantages in most of the environmental impact categories as compared to the conventional energy supply system. Considering the whole life cycle, the advantages from the use phase could outperform the disadvantages from the manufacturing phase in most of the impact categories, except for ADP elements and TETP.
Multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) are gaining interest in corrosion and electrocatalysis research due to their electrochemical stability across a broad pH range and the design flexibility they offer. Using the equimolar CrCoNi alloy, we observe significant metal dissolution in a corrosive electrolyte (0.1 M NaCl, pH 2) concurrently with the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in the transpassive region despite the absence of hysteresis in polarization curves or other obvious corrosion indicators. We present a characterization scheme to delineate the contribution of OER and alloy dissolution, using scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) for OER-onset detection, and quantitative chemical analysis with inductively coupled-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ultraviolet visible light (UV-Vis) spectroscopy to elucidate metal dissolution processes. In-situ electrochemical atomic force microscopy (EC-AFM) revealed that the transpassive metal dissolution on CrCoNi is dominated by intergranular corrosion. These results have significant implications for the stability of MPEAs in corrosion systems, emphasizing the necessity of analytically determining metal ions released from MPEA electrodes into the electrolyte when evaluating Faradaic efficiencies of OER catalysts. The release of transition metal ions not only reduces the Faradaic efficiency of electrolyzers but may also cause poisoning and degradation of membranes in electrochemical reactors.
AbstractSorbents are promising materials for applications in atmospheric water harvesting, thermal energy storage, and passive cooling, thereby addressing central challenges related to water scarcity and the global energy transition. Recently, hygroscopic hydrogel composites have emerged as high‐performance sorbents. However, many of these systems are fabricated with unsustainable and costly sorbent materials, which hinders their wide deployment. Here, the synthesis of high‐performance, cost‐efficient polyacrylamide hydrogels loaded with unprecedented amounts of calcium chloride is demonstrated. To this end, the swelling procedure of polyacrylamide hydrogels in aqueous calcium chloride solutions is optimized. The achievable salt loading in the hydrogel is characterized as a function of temperature, calcium chloride concentration in the swelling solution, and the hydrogel preparation conditions. The obtained hydrogel‐salt composites are shown to be stable under repeated sorption‐desorption cycling and enable water uptakes of 0.92 and 2.38 grams of water per gram of dry materials at 30% and 70% relative humidity, respectively. The resulting cost‐performance ratio substantially exceeds lithium chloride‐based systems. Further, the mechanistic insights on hydrogel salt interactions can guide the design of sustainable and low‐cost sorbent materials for future applications in water and energy.
In situ chemical analysis of duplex stainless steel weld by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy
(2024)
The high corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties of duplex stainless steel (DSS) are due to its special chemical composition, which is a balanced phase ratio of ferrite (α) and austenite (γ). Many industrial applications require the integration of DSS components. For this, Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is an excellent choice, as it allows an automated operation with high reproducibility. However, when the weld pool solidifies, critical ratios of α- and γ- phases can occur, which lead to solidification cracking, increased susceptibility to corrosion, and a decrease in ductility and critical strength. Previous studies have shown that these defects can be caused by the accumulation of manganese and chromium in the heat affected zone (HAZ), requiring ongoing monitoring of this accumulation. A suitable method for such monitoring is laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), which can be used in two operating modes: calibration using standard reference samples and calibration-free. Unlike conventional quantitative LIBS measurements, which require reference samples to generate a calibration curve, calibration-free LIBS (CF-LIBS) allows chemical compositions to be determined solely from the emission spectrum of the plasma. Numerous publications show that CF-LIBS is a fast and efficient analytical method for the quantitative analysis of metal samples. In this work, CF-LIBS is applied to spectra obtained during GTAW DSS welding and the result is compared with those obtained by PLS analysis. A good correlation was found between both types of analysis, demonstrating the suitability of the CF-LIBS method for this application. The CF-LIBS method has a significant advantage over conventional LIBS due to the rapid in situ measurement of concentrations of major alloying elements without calibration procedure. This, combined with fast feedback and appropriate adjustment of welding parameters, helps prevent welding defects.
Tests for assessing prestressing steels' susceptibility to hydrogen‐induced stress corrosion cracking are essential for approvals, in‐house monitoring, and third‐party material testing. According to ISO 15630‐3, the time to brittle fracture by constant load under corrosive conditions in thiocyanate test solutions (A or B) at 50°C is measured. In the literature, a high scattering in stress corrosion tests is reported, which questions the integrity of the test procedure. This paper shows the results of studies about the influence of solution composition on hydrogen charging in electrochemical and permeation measurements. Electrochemical experiments show that polished steel surfaces without common drawing layers have more consistent free corrosion currents, polarization resistances, and B‐values in solution A with low scattering compared to the solution B experiments. The influence of temperature at 50°C and an ambient temperature of 22°C was also tested.
A high precision nail‐penetration (NP) tool for characterizing the mechanically induced thermal‐runaway (TR) of lithium‐ion battery (LIB) cells in a defined range of temperatures down to −140 °C was developed. To understand the cell specific behavior at low temperatures aiming at the determination of safe handling conditions, different scenarios are analyzed. First, accuracy tests of the NP‐tool regarding motion and penetration depth are conducted with cylindrical cells at different temperatures. Thus, postmortem computer tomographic (CT) images are compared to the data measured with the newly integrated 3‐axis force sensor which is further combined with a high‐resolution position sensor. The herein developed setup allows evaluation of the NP‐metrics at an accuracy of ±1 pierced electrode layer without CT‐scans. Further NP examinations at 20 °C of fully charged cylindrical lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide cells reveal a reproducible minimum damage as a reliable TR‐trigger. Moreover, NP‐tests at low temperature disclose a relation of the short circuit conductivity and TR‐reactions during subsequent rethermalization to room temperature. Finally, the implementation of a novel fixture for a controlled very fast cooling of LIB‐cells during critical damage opens the way to investigate the individual steps during a TR and, thus, to gain important information of the specific TR‐mechanism of different LIB‐cells.
The dripping behaviour of polymers is often observed experimentally through the UL94 flammability standard test. In this work, polymeric dripping under fire is investigated numerically using particle finite element method. A parametric analysis was carried out to observe the influence of a single property on overall dripping behaviour via a UL94 vertical test model. Surrogates and property ranges were defined for variation of the following parameters: glass transition temperature (Tg), melting temperature (Tm), decomposition temperature (Td), density (ρ), specific heat capacity (Cp), apparent effective heat of combustion of the volatiles, char yield (μ), thermal conductivity (k), and viscosity (η). Polyamide, poly(ether ether ketone), poly(methyl methacrylate), and polysulfone were used as benchmarks. Simulated results showed that specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity, and char yield allied with viscosity were the properties that most influenced dripping behaviour (starting time and occurrence).
On-line coupled high performance liquid chromatography-gas chromatography-flame ionisation detection (HPLC-GC-FID) was used to compare the effect of hydrogen, helium and nitrogen as carrier gases on the chromatographic characteristics for the quantification of mineral oil hydrocarbon (MOH) traces in food related matrices. After optimisation of chromatographic parameters nitrogen carrier gas exhibited characteristics equivalent to hydrogen and helium regarding requirements set by current guidelines and standardisation such as linear range, quantification limit and carry over. Though nitrogen expectedly led to greater peak widths, all required separations of standard compounds were sufficient and humps of saturated mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOSH) and aromatic mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOAH) were appropriate to enable quantitation similar to situations where hydrogen or helium had been used. Slightly increased peak widths of individual hump components did not affect shapes and widths of the MOSH and MOAH humps were not significantly affected by the use of nitrogen as carrier gas. Notably, nitrogen carrier gas led to less solvent peak tailing and smaller baseline offset. Overall, nitrogen may be regarded as viable alternative to hydrogen or helium and may even extend the range of quantifiable compounds to highly volatile hydrocarbon eluting directly after the solvent peak.
Abstract. In power electronics, compound semiconductors with large bandgaps, like silicon carbide (SiC), are increasingly being used as material instead of silicon. They have a lot of advantages over silicon but are also intolerant of nanoscale material defects, so that a defect inspection with high accuracy is needed. The different defect types on SiC samples are measured with various measurement methods, including optical and tactile methods. The defect types investigated include carrots, particles, polytype inclusions and threading dislocations, and they are analysed with imaging ellipsometry, coherent Fourier scatterometry (CFS), white light interference microscopy (WLIM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). These different measurement methods are used to investigate which method is most sensitive for which type of defect to be able to use the measurement methods more effectively. It is important to be able to identify the defects to classify them as critical or non-critical for the functionality of the end product. Once these investigations have been completed, the measurement systems can be optimally distributed to the relevant defects in further work to realize a hybrid analysis of the defects. In addition to the identification and classification of defects, such a future hybrid analysis could also include characterizations, e.g. further evaluation of ellipsometric data by using numerical simulations.
A widespread recovery of waste heat requires a cost‐effective production of thermoelectric generators. Thermoelectric oxides are predestined for use at high temperatures. For manufacturing reasons, a multilayer generator design will be easily scalable and cost‐effective. To evaluate the potential of ceramic multilayer technology for that purpose, a multilayer of the promising thermoelectric oxides calcium cobaltite (Ca3Co4O9), calcium manganate (CMO, CaMnO3), and glass–ceramic insulation layers is fabricated. Cracks and reaction layers at the interfaces are observed in the microstructure. The compositions of these reaction layers are identified by energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction. Mechanical and thermal properties of all layers are compiled from literature or determined by purposeful sample preparation and testing. Based on this data set, the internal stresses in the multilayer after co‐firing are calculated numerically. It is shown that tensile stresses in the range of 50 MPa occur in the CMO layers. The reaction layers have only a minor influence on the level of these residual stresses. Herein, it is proven that the material system is basically suitable for multilayer generator production, but that the co‐firing process and the layer structure must be adapted to improve densification and reduce the tensile stresses in the CMO.
Amphiphilic nanogels (ANGs) are promising carriers for hydrophobic cargos such as drugs, dyes, and catalysts.
Loading content and release kinetics of these compounds are controlled by type and number of hydrophobic groups in the amphiphilic copolymer network. Thus, understanding the interactions between cargo and colloidal carrier is mandatory for a tailor-made and cargo-specific ANG design. To systematically explore the influence of the network composition on these interactions, we prepared a set of ANGs of different amphiphilicity and loaded these ANGs with varying concentrations of the solvatochromic dye Nile Red (NR). Here, NR acts as a hydrophobic model cargo to optically probe the polarity of its microenvironment. Analysis of the NR emission spectra as well as measurements of the fluorescence quantum yields and decay kinetics revealed a decrease in the polarity of the NR microenvironment with increasing hydrophobicity of the hydrophobic groups in the ANG network and dye–dye interactions at higher loading concentrations. At low NR concentrations, the hydrophobic cargo NR is encapsulated in the hydrophobic domains. Increasing NR concentrations resulted in probe molecules located in a more hydrophilic environment, i.e., at the nanodomain border, and favored dye–dye interactions and NR aggregation.
These results correlate well with release experiments, indicating first NR release from more hydrophilic network locations. Overall, our findings demonstrate the importance to understand carrier–drug interactions for efficient loading and controlled release profiles in amphiphilic nanogels.
Changes in Black Truffle (Tuber melanosporum) Aroma during Storage under Different Conditions
(2024)
The enticing aroma of truffles is a key factor for their culinary value. Although all truffle species tend to be pricy, the most intensely aromatic species are the most sought after. Research into the aroma of truffles encompasses various disciplines including chemistry, biology, and sensory science. This study focusses on the chemical composition of the aroma of black truffles (Tuber melanosporum) and the changes occurring under different storage conditions. For this, truffle samples were stored under different treatments, at different temperatures, and measured over a total storage time of 12 days. Measurements of the truffle aroma profiles were taken with SPME/GC–MS at regular intervals. To handle the ample data collected, a systematic approach utilizing multivariate data analysis techniques was taken. This approach led to a vast amount of data which we made publicly available for future exploration. Results reveal the complexity of aroma changes, with 695 compounds identified, highlighting the need for a comprehensive understanding. Principal component analyses offer initial insights into truffle composition, while individual compounds may serve as markers for age (formic acid, 1-methylpropyl ester), freshness (2-Methyl-1-propanal; 1-(methylthio)-propane), freezing (tetrahydrofuran), salt treatment (1-chloropentane), or heat exposure (4-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-butanone). This research suggests that heat treatment or salt contact significantly affects truffle aroma, while freezing and cutting have less pronounced effects in comparison. The enrichment of compounds showing significant changes during storage was investigated with a metabolomic pathway analysis. The involvement of some of the enriched compounds on the pyruvate/glycolysis and sulfur pathways was shown.
The present work addresses powder bed binder jetting additive manufacturing by selective magnesium phosphate cement activation. Despite the potential of this technology to aid the digitalization of the construction industry, the effect of processing parameters on the mechanical performance of printed materials has not yet been studied to generate a guideline for the further development of the technology. Statistical methodologies were used to screen the effect of four printing process parameters (printing speed, layer thickness, raster angle, and build direction on flexural and compressive strength). As the exploited technology works with constant fluid pressure, the physical interpretation of the effect of each factor can be considered taking into account the interactions between the binder materials in the powder bed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that printing speed and layer thickness significantly affect mechanical performances. Furthermore, the layout of samples for the printing process is preferable to be parallel the printhead movement. An anisotropic behavior was observed, and the samples subjected to compressive forces parallel to the layer plane possessed lower strength values. This effect can be interpreted as a result of a weak area of low density in between layers, leading to a pronounced delamination under compression. Even though the strength of the printed material is not suitable for a structural concrete, it can be marginally improved by design of experiment and optimized for non-structural applications, such as for porous artificial stone. Design of experiment coupled with ANOVA methods can be used in the future to support the development of novel material mixtures, thus expanding the fields of application of this novel additive manufacturing technology.
Confocal micro-X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) spectroscopy facilitates three-dimensional (3D) elemental imaging of heterogeneous samples in the micrometer range. Laboratory setups using X-ray tube excitation render the method accessible for diverse research fields but interpretation of results and quantification remain challenging. The attenuation of X-rays in composites depends on the photon energy as well as on the composition and density of the material. For confocal micro-XRF, attenuation severely impacts elemental distribution information, as the signal from deeper layers is distorted by superficial layers. Absorption correction and quantification of fluorescence measurements in heterogeneous composite samples have so far not been reported. Here, an absorption correction approach for confocal micro-XRF combining density information from microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) data with laboratory X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and synchrotron transmission measurements is presented. The energy dependency of the probing volume is considered during the correction. The methodology is demonstrated on a model composite sample consisting of a bovine tooth with a clinically used restoration material.
Relation of craze to crack length during slow crack growth phenomena in high‐density polyethylene
(2024)
The craze‐crack mechanism occurring in high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) causing slow crack growth and environmental stress cracking is investigated in detail with respect to the relation of crack length and the related craze zone. This is essential for the understanding of the resulting features of the formed fracture surface and their interpretation in the context of the transition from crack propagation to ductile shear deformation. It turns out that an already formed craze zone does not inevitably result in formation of a propagating crack, but could also undergo ductile failure. For the examination, the full notch creep test (FNCT) was employed with a subsequent advanced fracture surface analysis that was performed using various imaging techniques: light microscopy, laser scanning microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X‐ray micro computed tomography scan. FNCT specimens were progressively damaged for increasing durations under standard test conditions applying Arkopal, the standard surfactant solution, and biodiesel as test media were used to analyze the stepwise growth of cracks and crazes. From considerations based on well‐established fracture mechanics approaches, a theoretical correlation between the length of the actual crack and the length of the preceding craze zone was established that could be evidenced and affirmed by FNCT fracture surface analysis. Moreover, the yield strength of a HDPE material exposed to a certain medium as detected by a classic tensile test was found to be the crucial value of true stress to induce the transition from crack propagation due to the craze‐crack mechanism to shear deformation during FNCT measurements.
Highlights
- Progress of crack formation in high‐density polyethylene is analyzed by different imaging techniques
- Determined growth rates depend on distinction between craze zone and crack
- The ratio of the present crack to the anteceding craze zone is validated theoretically
- The transition from crack propagation to ductile shear deformation is identified
- An already formed craze zone may still fail by ductile mechanisms
The effect of resting time on the rheological properties of cement suspensions is generally explained by early formed structure and overconsumption of polycarboxylate superplasticizers (PCEs). In this paper, we propose that the influence of resting time on the rheological properties is closely related to size variation of non-absorbed PCE. To identify this, glass bead suspensions were prepared with various amounts of PCE and ionic solution, and their rheological properties were evaluated at various times. We found that the yield stress increases with time at higher PCE concentrations and higher ionic strength solutions. Adsorbed PCE during resting tends to bridge the particles rather than disperse them. In addition, it was found that hydrodynamic radius of PCE increased with resting time, and depletion forces resulting from non-absorbed PCE size changes correlate well with the increased yield stress.
The current lack of quantitative knowledge on processing-microstructure–property relationships is one of the major bottlenecks in today’s rapidly expanding field of additive manufacturing. This is centrally rooted in the nature of the processing, leading to complex microstructural features. Experimentally-guided modeling can offer reliable solutions for the safe application of additively manufactured materials. In this work, we combine a set of systematic experiments and modeling to address creep anisotropy and its correlation with microstructural characteristics in laser-based powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) additively manufactured Inconel-738LC (IN738LC). Three sample orientations (with the tensile axis parallel, perpendicular, and 45° tilted, relative to the building direction) are crept at 850 °C, accompanied by electron backscatter secondary diffraction (EBSD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations. A crystal plasticity (CP) model for Ni-base superalloys, capable of modeling different types of slip systems, is developed and combined with various polycrystalline representative volume elements (RVEs) built on the experimental measurements. Besides our experiments, we verify our modeling framework on electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB/M) additively manufactured Inconel-738LC. The results of our simulations show that while the crystallographic texture alone cannot explain the observed creep anisotropy, the superlattice extrinsic stacking faults (SESF) and related microtwinning slip systems play major roles as active deformation mechanisms. We confirm this using TEM investigations, revealing evidence of SESFs in crept specimens. We also show that the elongated grain morphology can result in higher creep rates, especially in the specimens with a tilted tensile axis.
Processing and cytocompatibility of Cu-doped and undoped fluoride-containing bioactive glasses
(2024)
Sintered or additive-manufactured bioactive glass (BG) scaffolds are highly interesting for bone replacement applications. However, crystallization often limits the high-temperature processability of bioactive glasses (BGs). Thus, the BG composition must combine high bioactivity and processability. In this study, three BGs with nominal molar (%) compositions 54.6SiO2-1.7P2O3-22.1CaO-6.0Na2O-7.9K2O-7.7MgO (13–93), 44.8SiO2-2.5P2O3-36.5CaO-6.6Na2O-6.6K2O-3.0CaF2 (F3) and 44.8SiO2-2.5P2O3-35.5CaO-6.6Na2O-6.6K2O-3.0CaF2-1.0CuO (F3–Cu) were investigated. The dissolution and ion release kinetics were investigated on milled glass powder and crystallized particles (500–600 μm). All glasses showed the precipitation of hydroxyapatite (HAp) crystals after 7 days of immersion in simulated body fluid. No significant differences in ion release from glass and crystalline samples were detected. The influence of surface roughness on cytocompatibility and growth of preosteoblast cells (MC3T3-E1) was investigated on sintered and polished BG pellets. Results showed that sintered BG pellets were cytocompatible, and cells were seen to be well attached and spread on the surface after 5 days of incubation. The results showed an inverse relation of cell viability with the surface roughness of pellets, and cells were seen to attach and spread along the direction of scratches.
AbstractPowder Bed Fusion with Laser Beam of Metals (PBF-LB/M) has gained more industrial relevance and already demonstrated applications at a small series scale. However, its widespread adoption in various use cases faces challenges due to the absence of interfaces to established Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) that support customers in the predominantly data-driven quality assurance. Current state-of-the-art PBF-LB/M machines utilize communication architectures, such as OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA), Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) and Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST API). In the context of the Reference Architecture Model Industry 4.0 (RAMI 4.0) and the Internet of Things (IoT), the assets, particularly the physical PBF-LB/M machines, already have an integration layer implemented to communicate data such as process states or sensor values. Missing is an MES component acting as a communication and information layer. To address this gap, the proposed Extract Transform Load (ETL) pipeline aims to extract relevant data from the fabrication of each build cycle down to the level of scan vectors and additionally to register process signals. The suggested data schema for archiving each build cycle adheres to all terms defined by ISO/TC 261—Additive Manufacturing (AM). In relation to the measurement frequency, all data are reorganized into entities, such as the AM machine, build cycle, part, layer, and scan vector. These scan vectors are stored in a runtime-independent format, including all metadata, to be valid and traceable. The resulting machine log represents a comprehensive documentation of each build cycle, enabling data-driven quality assurance at process level.
For a deep process understanding of the laser powder bed fusion process (PBF-LB/M), recording of the occurring surface temperatures is of utmost interest and would help to pave the way for reliable process monitoring and quality assurance. A notable number of approaches for in-process monitoring of the PBF-LB/M process focus on the monitoring of thermal process signatures. However, due to the elaborate calibration effort and the lack of knowledge about the occurring spectral directional emissivity, only a few approaches attempt to measure real temperatures. In this study, to gain initial insights into occurring in the PBF-LB/M process, measurements on PBF-LB/M specimens and metal powder specimens were performed for higher temperatures up to T = 1290 °C by means of the emissivity measurement apparatus (EMMA) of the Center for Applied Energy Research (CAE, Wuerzburg, Germany). Also, measurements at ambient temperatures were performed with a suitable measurement setup. Two different materials—stainless steel 316L and aluminum AlSi10Mg—were examined. The investigated wavelength λ ranges from the visible range (λ-VIS= 0.40–0.75 µm) up to the infrared, λ = 20 µm. The influence of the following factors were investigated: azimuth angle φ, specimen temperature TS, surface texture as for PBF-LB/M surfaces with different scan angles α, and powder surfaces with different layer thicknesses t.
High‐temperature KCl‐induced corrosion of high Cr and Ni alloys investigated by in‐situ diffraction
(2024)
High‐temperature KCl‐induced corrosion in laboratory air was observed in situ utilizing X‐ray diffraction. High Cr‐containing model alloys (Fe‐13Cr, Fe‐18Cr‐12Ni, and Fe‐25Cr‐20Ni) were coated with KCl and exposed to dry air at 560°C. KCl‐free alloys were studied in the equivalent atmosphere as a reference. After exposure to KCl‐free environments, all alloys showed the formation of very thin oxide layers, indicating good corrosion resistance. In contrast, KCl‐bearing alloys showed distinct damage after exposure.
Pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes are used in several industrial applications such as con-struction, railway vehicles and the automotive sector,where the burning behavior is ofcrucial importance. Flame retarded adhesivetapes are developed and provided, however,often without considering the interaction of adhesive tapes and the bonded materialsduring burning nor the contribution of the tapes to fire protection goal of the bondedcomponents in distinct fire tests. This publication delivers an empirical comprehensiveknowledge how adhesive tapes and their flame retardancy effect the burning behaviorof bonded materials. With a special focus on the interaction between the single compo-nents, one flame retarded tape and one tapewithout flame retardant are examined inscenarios of emerging and developing fires, along with their bonds with the commonmaterials wood, zinc-plated steel, mineral wool, polycarbonate, and polymethylmethacry-late. The flame retardant significantly improved the flame retardancy of the tape as afree-standing object and yielded a V-2 rating in UL 94 vertical test and raised the OxygenIndex by 5 vol.%. In bonds, or rather laminates, the investigations prove that the choiceof carrier and substrates are the factors with the greatest impact on the fire propertiesand can change the peak of heat release rate and the maximum average rate of heatemission up to 25%. This research yielded a good empirical overall understanding of thefire behavior of adhesive tapes and bonded materials. Thus, it serves as a guide for tapemanufacturers and applicants to develop tapes and bonds more substrate specific.
Additive manufacturing of concrete structures is a novel and emerging technology. Freecontouring in civil engineering, which allows for entirely new designs, is a significant advantage. Inthe future, lower construction costs are expected with increased construction speeds and decreasingrequired materials and workers. However, architects and civil engineers rely on a certain quality ofexecution to fulfil construction standards. Although several techniques and approaches demonstratethe advantages, quality control during printing is highly challenging and rarely applied. Due to thecontinuous mixing process commonly used in 3D concrete printing, it is impossible to exclude varia-tions in the dry mixture or water content, and a test sample cannot be taken as a representative samplefor the whole structure. Although mortar properties vary only locally, a defect in one layer duringprinting could affect the entire integrity of the whole structure . Therefore, real-time process monitor-ing is required to record and document the printing process.At the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) a new test rig for the additive man-ufacturing of concrete is built. The primary purpose is measuring and monitoring the properties of amortar during the printing process.The following study investigates an approach for calculating yield stress and plastic viscosity based onexperimentally recorded pressure data. The calculations assume that fresh mortar behaves as a Bing-ham fluid and that the Buckingham-Reiner-equation is applicable. A test setup consisting of rigid pipeswith integrated pressure sensors at different positions is utilized.Monitoring the printing process with different sensors is crucial for the quality control of an ongoingprocess.
Barriers to transitioning to a circular bio-based economy: Findings from an industrial perspective
(2024)
The transition from a linear fossil-based to a circular bio-based economy represents an opportunity and a suitable pathway for achieving several sustainable development goals. However, the transition is a complex process since it requires transformative policies, purposeful innovation, access to finance, risk-taking capacity as well as new and sustainable business models and markets. Accordingly, the first step in this transition process is the identification of barriers that are hampering the transition to a sustainable circular bio-based economy. With this motivation in mind, this study reviews grey literature to identify barriers focusing on four critical sectors facing major challenges within the current linear economy and requiring a sustainable transition most urgently: construction, chemicals, plastics, and textile sectors. Employing an adapted STEEP methodology (Social, Technological, Economical, Environmental, Political), a total of 193 different barriers have been identified and clustered under six categories: cultural, technical, economic, environmental, governance, and structural. Regardless of the sector, cultural and structural barriers are identified as the most prominent; the lack of incentives for consumer behaviour change and lack of stakeholder collaboration were the most cited barriers among the literature records. From a value chain perspective, most of the barriers are related to the material processing and product manufacturing stage. Finally, potential solutions, extracted from the grey literature, are proposed to fill the gaps and overcome the identified barriers. Many of the identified barriers are common across the four investigated sectors, indicating the solutions or measures can be applicable in a wider perspective to promote the transition in the right direction.
Various software products for the simulation of industrial X-ray radiography have been developed in recent years (e.g., aRTist 2, CIVA CT, Scorpius XLab, SimCT, Wilcore) and their application potential has been shown in numerous works. However, full systematic approaches to characterise a specific CT system for these simulation software products to obtain a truthful digital twin are still missing. In this contribution, we want to present two approaches to obtain realistic grey values in X-ray projections in aRTist 2 simulations based on measured projections. In aRTist 2, the displayed grey value of a pixel is based on the energy density incident on that pixel.
The energy density is calculated based on the X-ray tube spectrum, the attenuation between source and detector as well as an energy-dependent sensitivity curve of the detector. The first approach presented in this contribution uses the sensitivity curve as a free modelling parameter. We measured the signal response at different thicknesses of Al EN-AW6082 at different tube voltages (i.e., different tube spectra). We then regarded the grey values displayed by these projections as a data regression respectively an optimisation problem and obtained the sensitivity curve that is best able to reproduce the measured behaviour in aRTist 2. The resulting sensitivity curve does not necessarily hold physical meaning but is able to simulate the real system behaviour in the simulation software.
The second approach presented in this contribution is to estimate the sensitivity curve based on assumptions about the characteristics of the scintillation detector (e.g., scintillator material, scintillator thickness and signal processing characteristics). For this approach, a linear response function (linear relationship between the deposited energy per pixel and the resulting grey value) is assumed. If the detector characteristics, which affect the simulated deposited energy, are properly modelled, the slope and offset of the response function to match the measured grey values should be the same for different tube spectra. As the offset is constant and given by the grey values measured at no incident radiation, the slope is the remaining parameter to evaluate the success of the detector modelling. We therefore adapted the detector characteristics by changing the detector setup until the slope was nearly the same for all measured tube spectra. We are aware that the resulting parameters of the scintillator material and thickness might not be the real ones, but with those modelling parameters we are able to simulate realistic grey values in aRTist 2. Both of those approaches could potentially be a step forward to a full systematic approach for a digital twin of a real CT system in aRTist 2.
Machine learning-assisted equivalent circuit identification for dielectric spectroscopy of polymers
(2024)
Polymers have become indispensable across fields of application, and understanding their structure–property relationships and dynamic behaviour is essential for performance optimization. Polymer membranes, particularly ion exchange membranes, play a crucial role in renewable energy conversion technologies, fuel cells, solar energy conversion, and energy storage. In this context, broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) offers a powerful, non-destructive approach to investigate the electrical response and relaxation dynamics of polymers. These properties are investigated by parametrizing the system’s impedance response in terms of a network of circuit elements, i.e. the electrical equivalent circuit (EEC), whose impedance resembles the one of the system under investigation. However, the determination of the EEC from BDS data is challenging due to system complexity, interdependencies of circuit elements, and researcher biases. In this work, we propose a novel approach that incorporates a convolutional neural network (CNN) model to predict the EEC topology. By reducing user bias and enhancing data analysis, this approach aims to make BDS accessible to both experienced users and those with limited expertise. We show that the combination of machine learning and BDS provides valuable insights into the dynamic behaviour of polymer membranes, thus facilitating the design and characterization of tailored polymers for various applications. We also show that our model outperforms state-of-the-art machine learning methods with a top-5 accuracy of around 80% for predicting the circuit topology and a parameter fitting error as low as 0.05%.
Homochirality is an obvious feature of life on Earth. On the other hand, extraterrestrial samples contain largely racemic compounds. The same is true for any common organic synthesis. Therefore, it has been a perplexing puzzle for decades how these racemates could have formed enantiomerically enriched fractions as a basis for the origin of homochiral life forms. Numerous hypotheses have been put forward as to how preferentially homochiral molecules could have formed and accumulated on Earth. In this article, it is shown that homochirality of the abiotic organic pool at the time of formation of the first self-replicating molecules is not necessary and not even probable. It is proposed to abandon the notion of a molecular ensemble and to focus on the level of individual molecules. Although the formation of the first self-replicating, most likely homochiral molecule, is a seemingly improbable event, on a closer look, it is almost inevitable that some homochiral molecules have formed simply on a statistical basis. In this case, the non-selective leap to homochirality would be one of the first steps in chemical evolution directly out of a racemic “ocean”. Moreover, most studies focus on the chirality of the primordial monomers with respect to an asymmetric carbon atom. However, any polymer with a minimal size that allows folding to a secondary structure would spontaneously lead to asymmetric higher structures (conformations). Most of the functions of these polymers would be influenced by this inherently asymmetric folding. Furthermore, a concept of physical compartmentalization based on rock nanopores in analogy to nanocavities of digital immunoassays is introduced to suggest that complex cell walls or membranes were also not required for the first steps of chemical evolution. To summarize, simple and universal mechanisms may have led to homochiral self-replicating systems in the context of chemical evolution. A homochiral monomer pool is deemed unnecessary and probably never existed on primordial Earth.
The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac (DCF) is an important environmental contaminant occurring in surface waters all over the world, because, after excretion, it is not adequately removed from wastewater in sewage treatment plants. To be able to monitor this pollutant, highly efficient analytical methods are needed, including immunoassays. In a medical research project, monoclonal antibodies against diclofenac and its metabolites had been produced. Based on this monoclonal anti-DCF antibody, a new indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed and applied for environmental samples. The introduction of a spacer between diclofenac and the carrier protein in the coating conjugate led to higher sensitivity. With a test midpoint of 3 mg L−1 and a measurement range of 1–30 mg L−1, the system is not sensitive enough for direct analysis of surface water. However, this assay is quite robust against matrix influences and can be used for wastewater. Without adjustment of the calibration, organic solvents up to 5%, natural organic matter (NOM) up to 10 mg L−1, humic acids up to 2.5 mg L−1, and salt concentrations up to 6 g L−1 NaCl and 75 mg L−1 CaCl2 are tolerated. The antibody is also stable in a pH range from 3 to 12. Cross-reactivity (CR) of 1% or less was determined for the metabolites 40-hydroxydiclofenac (40-OH-DCF), 5-hydroxydiclofenac (5-OH-DCF), DCF lactam, and other NSAIDs. Relevant cross-reactivity occurred only with an amide derivative of DCF, 6-aminohexanoic acid (DCF-Ahx), aceclofenac (ACF) and DCF methyl ester (DCF-Me) with 150%, 61% and 44%, respectively. These substances, however, have not been found in samples. Only DCF-acyl glucuronide with a cross-reactivity of 57% is of some relevance. For the first time, photodegradation products were tested for cross-reactivity. With the ELISA based on this antibody, water samples were analysed. In sewage treatment plant effluents, concentrations in the range of 1.9–5.2 mg L−1 were determined directly, with recoveries compared to HPLC-MS/MS averaging 136%.
Concentrations in lakes ranged from 3 to 4.4 ng L−1 and were, after pre-concentration, determined with an average recovery of 100%
The biogenesis of iron–sulfur (Fe/S) proteins entails the synthesis and trafficking of Fe/S clusters, followed by their insertion into target apoproteins. In eukaryotes, the multiple steps of biogenesis are accomplished by complex protein machineries in both mitochondria and cytosol. The underlying biochemical pathways have been elucidated over the past decades, yet the mechanisms of cytosolic [2Fe-2S] protein assembly have remained ill-defined. Similarly, the precise site of glutathione (GSH) requirement in cytosolic and nuclear Fe/S protein biogenesis is unclear, as is the molecular role of the GSH-dependent cytosolic monothiol glutaredoxins (cGrxs). Here, we investigated these questions in human and yeast cells by various in vivo approaches. [2Fe-2S] cluster assembly of cytosolic target apoproteins required the mitochondrial ISC machinery, the mitochondrial transporter Atm1/ABCB7 and GSH, yet occurred independently of both the CIA system and cGrxs. This mechanism was strikingly different from the ISC-, Atm1/ABCB7-, GSH-, and CIA-dependent assembly of cytosolic–nuclear [4Fe-4S] proteins. One notable exception to this cytosolic [2Fe-2S] protein maturation pathway defined here was yeast Apd1 which used the CIA system via binding to the CIA targeting complex through its C-terminal tryptophan. cGrxs, although attributed as [2Fe-2S] cluster chaperones or trafficking proteins, were not essential in vivo for delivering [2Fe-2S] clusters to either CIA components or target apoproteins. Finally, the most critical GSH requirement was assigned to Atm1-dependent export, i.e. a step before GSH-dependent cGrxs function. Our findings extend the general model of eukaryotic Fe/S protein biogenesis by adding the molecular requirements for cytosolic [2Fe-2S] protein maturation.
The presence of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) in water poses a significant threat to human and animal health, as recognized by regulatory agencies throughout the world. The Yeast Estrogen Screen (YES) assay is an excellent method to evaluate the presence of these compounds in water due to its simplicity and capacity to assess the bioaccessible forms/fractions of these compounds. In the presence of a compound with estrogenic activity, Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, containing a lacZ reporter gene encoding the enzyme β-galactosidase, are induced, the enzyme is synthesised, and released to the extracellular medium. In this work, a YES-based approach encompassing the use of a lacZ reporter gene modified strain of S. cerevisiae, microcarriers as solid support, and a fluorescent substrate, fluorescein di-β-D-galactopyranoside, is proposed, allowing for the assessment of EDCs’ presence after only 2 h of incubation. The proposed method provided an EC50 of 0.17 ± 0.03 nM and an LLOQ of 0.03 nM, expressed as 17β-estradiol. The assessment of different EDCs provided EC50 values between 0.16 and 1.2 × 103 nM. After application to wastewaters, similar results were obtained for EDCs screening, much faster, compared to the conventional 45 h spectrophotometric procedure using a commercial kit, showing potential for onsite high-throughput screening of environmental contamination.
The emission of ultrafine particles from small desktop Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printers has been frequently investigated in the past years. However, the vast majority of FFF emission and exposure studies have not considered the possible occurrence of particles below the typical detection limit of Condensation Particle Counters and could have systematically underestimated the total particle emission as well as the related exposure risks. Therefore, we comparatively measured particle number concentrations and size distributions of sub-4 nm particles with two commercially available diethylene glycol-based instruments – the TSI 3757 Nano Enhancer and the Airmodus A10 Particle Size Magnifier. Both instruments were evaluated for their suitability of measuring FFF-3D printing emissions in the sub-4 nm size range while operated as a particle counter or as a particle size spectrometer. For particle counting, both instruments match best when the Airmodus system was adjusted to a cut-off of 1.5 nm. For size spectroscopy, both instruments show limitations due to either the fast dynamics or rather low levels of particle emissions from FFF-3D printing in this range. The effects are discussed in detail in this article. The findings could be used to implement sub-4 nm particle measurement in future emission or exposure studies, but also for the development of standard test protocols for FFF-3D printing emissions.
AbstractThe increasing threat of forest fires on a global scale is not only a matter of concern due to the potential harm they may cause to both human and animal life but also due to their significant role in exacerbating climate change. In light of these circumstances, one might inquire as to whether forest soil can self‐ignite and, if so, under what conditions and at what temperatures this phenomenon may occur. This question is being addressed in the German pilot “Fire science of wildfires and safety measures” of the EU project TREEADS, and the first results are presented below. The importance of basic research into the self‐ignition of forest soil cannot be underestimated, as it provides crucial knowledge to prevent forest fires and protect human and animal health. Furthermore, mitigating the occurrence of forest fires can also play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global efforts to combat climate change. The procedure of the hot storage test is an effective means of determining whether a material can self‐ignite. During the investigation of six soil samples, it was found that five of them were indeed capable of self‐ignition. In addition to determining whether the material ignites, the modified hot storage test also analyzed the resulting smoke gases and measured their concentration. The research question of whether regional forest soil is capable of self‐ignition can be answered with yes based on these initial tests. Further experiments are needed to determine if self‐ignition causes forest fires.
Peptide pools consist of short amino acid sequences and have proven to be versatile tools in various research areas in immunology and clinical applications. They are commercially available in many different compositions and variants. However, unlike other reagents that consist of only one or a few compounds, peptide pools are highly complex products which makes their quality control a major challenge. Quantitative peptide analysis usually requires sophisticated methods, in most cases isotope-labeled standards and reference materials. Usually, this would be prohibitively laborious and expensive. Therefore, an approach is needed to provide a practical and feasible method for quality control of peptide pools. With insufficient quality control, the use of such products could lead to incorrect experimental results, worsening the well-known reproducibility crisis in the biomedical sciences. Here we propose the use of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) with two detectors, a standard UV detector at 214 nm for quantitative analysis and a high-resolution mass spectrometer (HRMS) for identity confirmation. To be cost-efficient and fast, quantification and identification are performed in one chromatographic run. An optimized protocol is shown, and different peak integration methods are compared and discussed. This work was performed using a peptide pool known as CEF advanced, which consists of 32 peptides derived from cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and influenza virus, ranging from 8 to 12 amino acids in length.
Quantitative microstructural analysis of XCT 3D images is key for quality assurance of materials and components. In this paper we implement a Graph Convolutional Neural Network (GCNN) architecture to segment a complex Al-Si Metal Matrix composite XCT volume (3D image). We train the model on a synthetic dataset and we assess its performance on both synthetic and experimental, manually-labeled, datasets. Our simple GCNN shows a comparable performance, measured via the Dice score, to more standard machine learning methods, but uses a greatly reduced number of parameters (less than 1/10 of parameters), features low training time, and needs little hardware resources. Our GCNN thus achieves a cost-effective reliable segmentation.
The number of vehicles using or transporting cryogenic fuels such as Liquefied Hydrogen (LH2) or Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) increases fast in the land transportation sector. Does this also entail new risks? The storage of cryogenic fuels requires tanks with Thermal Super Insulations (TSI) to keep the fluid cold and limit the formation of boil-off gas. TSI has proven itself in some applications since the middle of the 20th century, but in the land transport sector they are still quite new, where accidents involving fires, collisions, and their combination are to be expected. This work focuses on investigating the behavior of different types of TSI while exposed to a heat source representing a fire. To this aim, a High-Temperature Thermal Vacuum Chamber (HTTVC) was applied, which allows the thermal loading of a thermal insulation material in a vacuum and measuring the heat flow transported through the TSI in parallel. In this study, the results of 6 samples are presented regarding 3 types of MLI, rock wool, perlites, and microspheres. The thermal exposure caused different effects on the samples. In practice, this can be connected to the rapid release of flammable gases as well as to a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion (BLEVE). These results are relevant for reducing the risks to people and infrastructures in the progressive establishment of tanks for cryogenic fluids in our industry and society. The data presented in the study can be used to improve the design of tanks and TSIs, the assessment of accident scenarios, and the development of measures for first responders.
Discotic ionic liquid crystals (DILCs) consist of self-assembled superdiscs of cations and anions that spontaneously stack in linear columns with high one-dimensional ionic and electronic charge mobility, making them prominent model systems for functional soft matter. Compared to classical nonionic discotic liquid crystals, many liquid crystalline structures with a combination of electronic and ionic conductivity have been reported, which are of interest for separation membranes, artificial ion/proton conducting membranes, and optoelectronics. Unfortunately, a homogeneous alignment of the DILCs on the macroscale is often not achievable, which significantly limits the applicability of DILCs. Infiltration into nanoporous solid scaffolds can, in principle, overcome this drawback. However, due to the experimental challenges to scrutinize liquid crystalline order in extreme spatial confinement, little is known about the structures of DILCs in nanopores. Here, we present temperaturedependent high-resolution optical birefringence measurement and 3D reciprocal space mapping based on synchrotron X-ray scattering to investigate the thermotropic phase behavior of dopamine-based ionic liquid crystals confined in cylindrical channels of 180 nm diameter in macroscopic anodic aluminum oxide membranes. As a function of the membranes’ hydrophilicity and thus the molecular anchoring to the pore walls (edge-on or face-on) and the variation of the hydrophilic−hydrophobic balance between the aromatic cores and the alkyl side chain motifs of the superdiscs by tailored chemical synthesis, we find a particularly rich phase behavior, which is not present in the bulk state. It is governed by a complex interplay of liquid crystalline elastic energies (bending and splay deformations), polar interactions, and pure geometric confinement and includes textural transitions between radial and axial alignment of the columns with respect to the long nanochannel axis. Furthermore, confinement-induced continuous order formation is observed in contrast to discontinuous first-order phase transitions, which can be quantitatively described by Landau-de Gennes free energy models for liquid crystalline order transitions in confinement. Our observations suggest that the infiltration of DILCs into nanoporous solids allows tailoring their nanoscale texture and ion channel formation and thus their electrical and optical functionalities over an even wider range than in the bulk state in a homogeneous manner on the centimeter scale as controlled by the monolithic nanoporous scaffolds.
Concretes produced from salt aggregate and hybrid alkaline cements, an alkali-activated slag/fly ash blend, or a Portland cement were exposed to a magnesium chloride-rich saline solution ([Mg2+] = 3.6 m, [Cl−] = 8.3 m), representing a solution formed after contact of surface water with evaporite rock (rock salt) in a nuclear waste repository. The hydration and deterioration of the concretes were studied with X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, pH mapping and permeability measurements. The results show that calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) or sodium-substituted calcium aluminium silicate hydrate (C-N-A-S-H) and Friedel's salt were the major reaction products in the concretes prior to exposure to the saline solution. During exposure to the saline solution, increasing amounts of C-S-H/C-N-A-S-H dissolved, and gypsum and a secondary AFm phase formed. The durability of the concretes improved with increasing amounts of Portland clinker in the cements, due to the associated differences in permeability and chemical resistance. Nevertheless, a massive increase of permeability occurred for all concretes, likely caused by crack formation due to the formation of gypsum from anhydrite in the salt aggregate. Thus, the behavior of the concretes differed from, and was more complex than, the behavior of plain cement pastes.
A systematic series of industrial-relevant polystyrene-based anion exchange resins that are functionalized with hydro- or fluorocarbon chains are compared regarding their adsorption behavior toward perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCA) in respect to their charge, chain length, and type of chain. The results clearly show the dominance of electrostatic interactions in the adsorption process as uncharged adsorber materials showed no adsorption at all. In contrast, the charged adsorber materials showed in general a PFCA removal of 80% to 30% over the experiment depending on effluent fraction.
Unexpectedly, for perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) the highest removal rate is found with consistently >90%. Despite observing significant benefits in the adsorption of PFCA for fluoroalkylated adsorbers in comparison to their non-fluorinated counterparts, this effect of fluoroalkylation is comparatively small and can not be clearly attributed to fluorophilic interactions between the fluoroalkyl chains. These findings help clarifying that the introduction of fluorocarbon moieties in adsorber materials is not necessary in order to remove fluorocarbon molecules from the environment.
Sacrifice Few to Save Many: Fire Protective Interlayers in Carbon- Fiber-Reinforced Laminates
(2024)
The fire protection of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates often relies on flame-retardant coatings, but in some applications, their efficacy may diminish upon direct fire exposure due to rapid pyrolysis. This study introduces an innovative approach by integrating protective interlayers within the laminate structure to enhance the fire resistance. Various materials, including ceramic composite WHIPOX, titanium foil, poly(etherimide) (PEI) foil, basalt fibers, rubber mat, and hemp fibers, were selected as protective interlayers. These interlayers were strategically placed within the laminate layout to form a sacrificial barrier, safeguarding the integrity of the composite. Bench-scale fire resistance tests were conducted, where fire (180 kW/m2) was applied directly to the one side of the specimen by a burner while a compressive load was applied at the same time. Results indicate significant prolongation of time to failure for CFRP laminates with protective interlayers, which is up to 10 times longer. This innovative approach represents a potential advance in fire protection strategies for CFRP laminates, offering improved resilience against fire-induced structural failure.
Exploring the electrochemical and physical stability of lithium-ion cells exposed to liquid nitrogen
(2024)
The transport and storage of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries — damaged or in an undefined state — is a major safety concern for regulatory institutions, transportation companies, and manufacturers. Since (electro)chemical reactivity is exponentially temperature-dependent, cooling such batteries is an obvious measure for increasing their safety.
The present study explores the effect of cryogenic freezing on the electrochemical and physical stability of Li-ion cells. For this purpose, three different types of cells were repeatedly exposed to liquid nitrogen (LN2).
Before and after each cooling cycle, electrical and electrochemical measurements were conducted to assess the impact of the individual freezing steps. While the electrochemical behavior of the cells did not change significantly upon exposure to LN2 , it became apparent that a non-negligible number of cells suffered from physical changes (swelling) and functional failures. The latter defect was found to be caused by the current interrupt device of the cylindrical cells. This safety mechanism is triggered by the overpressure of expanding nitrogen which enters the cells at cryogenic temperatures.
This study underlines that the widely accepted reversibility of LN2 -cooling on a material scale does not allow for a direct extrapolation toward the physical integrity of full cells. Since nitrogen enters the cell at cryogenic temperatures and expands upon rethermalization, it can cause an internal overpressure. This can, in turn, lead to mechanical damage to the cell. Consequently, a more appropriate temperature condition — less extreme than direct LN2 exposure — needs to be found
Recent publications indicate that the order of electrochemical anodization (before or after the laser processing step) plays an important role for the response of bone-forming osteoblasts—an effect that can be utilized for improving permanent dental or removable bone implants. For exploring these different surface functionalities, multimethod morphological, structural, and chemical characterizations are performed in combination with electrochemical pre- and postanodization for two different characteristic microspikes covered by nanometric laser-induced periodic surface structures on Ti–6Al–4V upon irradiation with near-infrared ps-laser pulses (1030 nm wavelength, ≈1 ps pulse duration, 67 and 80 kHz pulse repetition frequency) at two distinct sets of laser fluence and beam scanning parameters. This work involves morphological and topographical investigations by scanning electron microscopy and white light interference microscopy, structural material examinations via X-ray diffraction, and micro-Raman spectroscopy, as well as near-surface chemical analyses by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results allow to qualify the mean laser ablation depth, assess the spike geometry and surface roughness parameters, and provide new detailed insights into the near-surface oxidation that may affect the different cell growth behavior for pre- or postanodized medical implants.
Impact of organic phosphates on the structure and composition of short-range ordered iron nanophases
(2024)
Organic phosphates (OP) are important nutrient components for living cells in natural environments, where they readily interact with ubiquitous iron phases such as hydrous ferric oxide, ferrihydrite (FHY). FHY partakes in many key bio(geo)chemical reactions including iron-mediated carbon storage in soils, or iron-storage in living organisms. However, it is still unknown how OP affects the formation, structure and properties of FHY. Here, we document how β-glycerophosphate (GP), a model OP ligand, affects the structure and properties of GP–FHY nanoparticles synthesized by coprecipitation at variable nominal molar P/Fe ratios (0.01 to 0.5). All GP–FHY precipitates were characterized by a maximum solid P/Fe ratio of 0.22, irrespective of the nominal P/Fe ratio. With increasing nominal P/Fe ratio, the specific surface area of the GP–FHY precipitates decreased sharply from 290 to 3 m2 g−1, accompanied by the collapse of their pore structure. The Fe–P local bonding environment gradually transitioned from a bidentate binuclear geometry at low P/Fe ratios to monodentate mononuclear geometry at high P/Fe ratios. This transition was accompanied by a decrease in coordination number of edge-sharing Fe polyhedra, and the loss of the corner-sharing Fe polyhedra. We show that Fe(III) polymerization is impeded by GP, and that the GP–FHY structure is highly dependent on the P/Fe ratio. We discuss the role that natural OP-bearing Fe(III) nanophases have in biogeochemical reactions between Fe–P and C species in aquatic systems.
Although the use of noble metal catalysts can increase the efficiency of hydrogen evolution reaction, the process is still limited by the characteristics of the metal-hydrogen (M−H) bond, which can be too strong or too weak, depending on the metal employed. Studies revealed that the hydrogen affinity for the metal surface (i.e. H absorption/desorption) is regulated also by the potential at the metal nanoparticles. Through controlled periodic illumination (CPI) of a series of metal/TiO2 suspensions, here we demonstrated that an increase of the HER efficiency is possible for those photodeposited metals which have a Tafel slope below 125 mV. Two possible explanations are here reported, in both of them the M−H interaction and the metal covering level play a prominent role, which also depend on the prevailing HER mechanism (Volmer-Heyrovsky or Volmer-Tafel).
Cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) with different charge densities were prepared and investigated by a combination of different complementary techniques sensitive to the structure and molecular dynamics of the system. The morphology of the materials was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS). The latter measurements were quantitatively analyzed yielding to molecular parameters in dependence of the charge density like the diameter of the fibrils, the distance between the fibrils, and the dimension of bundles of nanofibrils, including pores. The influence of water on the properties and the charge density is studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and broadband dielectric spectroscopy. The TGA measurements reveal two mass loss processes. The one at lower temperatures was related to the loss of water, and the second process at higher temperatures was related to the chemical decomposition. The resulting char yield could be correlated to the distance between the microfibrils. The DSC investigation for hydrated CNFs revealed three glass transitions due to the cellulose segments surrounded by water molecules in different states. In the second heating scan, only one broad glass transition is observed. The dielectric spectra reveal two relaxation processes. At low temperatures or higher frequencies, the β-relaxation is observed, which is assigned to localized fluctuation of the glycosidic linkage. At higher temperatures and lower frequencies, the α-relaxation takes places. This relaxation is due to cooperative fluctuations in the cellulose segments. Both processes were quantitatively analyzed. The obtained parameters such as the relaxation rates were related to both the morphological data, the charge density, and the content of water for the first time.
Multiphoton lithography (MPL), an emerging truly 3D microfabrication technique, exhibits substantial potential in biomedical applications, including drug delivery and tissue engineering. Fabricated micro-objects are often expected to undergo shape morphing or bending of the entire structure or its parts. Furthermore, ensuring precise property tuning is detrimental to the realization of the functionality of MPL microstructures. Herein, novel MPL materials based on interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) are presented that effectively combine the advantages of acrylate and epoxy systems. IPNs with varying component ratios are investigated for their microfabrication performance and structural integrity with respect to thermal and micromechanical properties. A variety of high-resolution techniques is applied to comprehensively evaluate IPN properties at the bulk, micron, and segmental levels. This study shows that the MPL laser scanning velocity and power, photoinitiator content, and multi-step exposure can be used to tune the morphology and properties of the IPN. As a result, a library of 3D MPL IPN microstructures with high 3D structural stability and tailored thermal and micromechanical properties is achieved. New IPN microstructures with Young’s moduli of 3–4 MPa demonstrate high-to-fully elastic responses to deformations, making them promising for applications in morphable microsystems, soft micro-robotics, and cell engineering.
Hydrogen pressure vessels are among the most essential components for reliable hydrogen technology. Under current regulations, a mostly conservative strategy is employed, restricting the usage time of hydrogen pressure vessels without providing information on the real remaining lifetime. During the service life, pressure vessels are inspected periodically. However, no established method that can provide continuous monitoring or information on the remaining safe service life of the vessel. In this paper, we propose a sensor network for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of hydrogen pressure vessels where data from all sensors are collected and centrally evaluated. Specifically, we integrate three different SHM sensing technologies namely Guided Wave ultrasonics (GW), Acoustic Emission testing (AT), and distributed Fiber Optic Sensing (FOS). This integrated approach offers significantly more information and could therefore enable a transition from costly and time-consuming periodic inspections to more efficient and modern predictive maintenance strategies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based evaluation. This does not only have a positive effect on the operational costs but enhances safety through early identification of critical conditions in the overall system in real-time. We demonstrate an experimental set-up of a lifetime test where a Type IV Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel (COPV) is investigated under cyclic loading instrumented with AT, FOS, and GW methods. We acquired data from the sensor network until the pressure vessel failed due to material degradation. The data collected using the three different SHM sensor technologies is planned to be evaluated individually, using data fusion, and AI. In the future, we aim to integrate the measurement setup into a hydrogen refueling station with the data stream implemented into a digital signal processing chain and a digital twin.
Structural health monitoring of hydrogen pressure vessels using distributed fiber optic sensing
(2024)
We report on distributed fiber optic sensing-based monitoring of hydrogen composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV) to simultaneously increase the operational lifespan and mitigate maintenance costs. Our approach represents, to the best of our knowledge, the first application of distributed fiber optic sensing for COPV Type IV monitoring, where the sensing fibers are attached to the surface, rather than integrated into the composite material. Specifically, we attach an optical fiber of 50 m to the pressure vessel's surface, covering both the cylindrical and dome sections. We note that our fiber optic sensing technique relies on swept wavelength interferometry providing strain information along the entire length of the optical fiber with high spatial resolution even at the millimeter scale. When the vessel is pressurized, the sensing optical fiber shows a linear strain response to pressure at every position along the fiber. After thousands of load cycles, the vessel finally fails with the optical fiber detecting and precisely localizing the damage in the vessel’s blind dome area. Furthermore, we discuss the potential of state-of-the-art signal processing methods and machine learning for advancing predictive maintenance. This could reduce the number of regular inspections, mitigate premature maintenance costs, and simultaneously increase the vessel’s remaining safe service life. We believe that the structural health monitoring of hydrogen pressure vessels with fiber optic sensors can enhance trust in hydrogen technology contributing to the energy transition in the future.
The transition toward a hydrogen-based economy requires a widespread transport and distribution network, and repurposed natural gas pipelines are a viable option. An assessment of the hydrogen-induced degradation of pipeline steels is needed to inject H2 gas into the existing infrastructure safely. The conservative and standardized method consists of in-situ tensile tests in an autoclave filled with high-pressure hydrogen gas. A proposed alternative method involves
using a hollow specimen as containment volume and applying the gas pressure in the inner cavity.
This technique has lower costs and shorter test preparation time but is not standardized yet. This study aims to evaluate and compare the tensile properties of API 5L X65 pipeline steel in two states: vintage and modern. The influence of the surface roughness is investigated through parallel tests with drilled and reamed specimens. Hydrogen tests are compared with reference tests in an inert environment. A significant hydrogen-induced decrease in tensile properties is observed, and no significant difference between vintage and modern X65 can be drawn. The reduction in tensile properties is more significant in specimens with higher inner surface roughness. The evaluation of surface conditions appears crucial when assessing the HE susceptibility of hydrogen transport and storage equipment.
Additively manufactured components are characterized by heterogeneous mechanical properties due to variations of the microstructure, flaws and residual stresses resulting from the inhomogeneous fabrication process. The large number of influencing factors poses a further challenge in understanding the correlation between material properties, process parameters and component geometry. Therefore, the qualification of components based on witness specimens produced within the same job is questionable. This work aims to present a new strategy for the characterization of PBF-LB/M components based on representative specimens. The key assumption is the feasibility of a transfer of the thermal history from a component to a specimen. It is assumed that similar material properties are determined for components and specimens produced adopting a similar thermal history. After the definition of a region of interest in the component, a combination of thermal analyses by means of finite elements and in-situ experimental determination of the thermal history through infrared thermography is used to produce test coupons with a similar thermal history. The effectiveness of the procedure is demonstrated on a pressure vessel for applications in the chemical industry.
Compared to mechanisms like solid solution strengthening, the stacking fault energy (SFE) should be considered as a further factor that influences the material properties. The effect of SFE of alloys or individual elements on strength and resistance can vary considerably. In the high-temperature regime above 700 ◦C, there are still significant gaps in the knowledge about the effect of the SFE on the mechanical properties of single-phase alloys. The effect of SFE on creep resistance of two face-entered cubic equiatomic medium and high entropy alloys, CrCoNi and CrMnFeCoNi, respectively, is evaluated to fill parts of these gaps. Using the Bridgman solidification process, the alloys were produced as single crystals and crept under vacuum at 700 ◦C up to 1100 ◦C. This work shows a significant impact of the lower SFE of CrCoNi on the creep behavior compared to the results of previous investigations of CrMnFeCoNi. The creep resistance of the former is higher over the complete temperature range. At very high temperatures, the strengthening effect of the stacking faults is significantly present. The formation of tetragonal stacking faults and extended dislocation nodes can be identified as the reason for this effect.
Distributed fiber optic strain sensing for structural health monitoring of 70 MPa hydrogen vessels
(2024)
We report on the development and testing of 70 MPa hydrogen pressure vessels with integrated fiber optic sensing fibers for automotive use. The paper deals with the condition monitoring of such composite pressure vessels (CPVs) using the optical backscatter reflectometry (OBR) applied for a distributed fiber optic strain sensing along fully integrated polyimide-coated single-mode glass optical fiber (SM-GOF). The sensing fibers were embedded into the vessel structure by wrapping them over the polymer liner during the manufacturing process of the carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). Detecting local strain events by the integrated fiber optic sensors can be an opportunity for monitoring the material degradation of CPVs under static and cyclic loading.
We present a distributed polymer optical fiber sensor system for deformation monitoring of geotechnical infrastructure. The sensor system is based on the digital incoherent optical frequency domain reflectometry (I-OFDR) for the detection of local strain events along a perfluorinated polymer optical fiber (PF-POF) used as a sensing fiber. For the best possible load transfer, the PF-POFs were integrated onto geosynthetics which pose a sensor carrier for the sensing fiber. By using elastic PF-POF instead of a standard glass fiber as a sensing fiber the strain range of geosynthetics-integrated fiber optic sensors could be extended up to 10 % in accordance with the end-user requirements.
Modern dry pressing of ceramic powders using spray‐dried granulates cannot avoid the occurrence of defects related to persisting inter‐ and intra‐granulate interstitial voids. These constitute the parent defect size population limiting the application of polycrystalline ceramics in high‐stress conditions. The mitigation of such defects could widen the range of application in technical and biomedical engineering, reduce the safety range for design, and extend the lifetime of components. Herein, the Weibull size‐effect on strength in size‐partitioned Yttria‐stabilized zirconias (YSZ) feedstocks is used to explore the viability of changing the density distribution of granulate sizes as an effective strategy to obtain a denser particle packing that could reduce the size distribution of strength‐limiting pressing defects. In a direct assessment of critical defect size using multiscale strength testing with a dataset of ≈1300 values, the success of such an approach in increasing the strength reliability for small volume components is demonstrated, along with its ultimate failure in altering the defect size distribution in sintered YSZ ceramics across several length scales. Finally, it is shown that granule morphology (spherical or dimpled) fails to affect the defect density and size distribution in YSZ ceramics.