Comparative investigation on copper atmospheric corrosion by electrochemical impedance and electrical resistance sensors

Electrochemical impedance(EIS)and thin electrical resistance(ER)sensors were invented for atmospheric corrosion measurement of copper(Cu)during cyclic wetting−drying/high−low temperature tests and field exposure tests.Three-month field exposure results showed that average corrosion rate of Cu measured by ER sensor was well in accordance with that by weight loss method.During cyclic wetting−drying test,EIS was proven to reflect sensitively time of wetting and drying on the surface of sensor.Although corrosion rate obtained from EIS had a similar tendency to that obtained from ER sensors,the former was more dependent on environmental humidity than the latter.When relative humidity was low than 60%,corrosion rate of Cu measured by EIS was much lower than that by weight loss method,mainly attributing to the fact that impedance sensor failed to detect corrosion current of interlaced Cu electrodes due to the breakdown of conductive passage composed of absorbed thin liquid film under low humidity condition.Promisingly,ER sensor was proven to be more suitable for atmospheric corrosion monitoring than electrochemical techniques because it could sensitively monitor thickness loss of Cu foil according to the Ohmic law,no matter how dry or wet the sensor surface is.

Characterization of a New DC-Glow Discharge Plasma Set-Up to Enhance the Electronic Circuits Performance

The (DC-GDPAU) is a DC glow discharge plasma experiment that was designed, established, and operated in the Physics Department at Ain Shams University (Egypt). The aim of this experiment is to study and improve some properties of a printed circuit board (PCB) by exposing it to the plasma. The device consists of cylindrical discharge chamber with movable parallel circular copper electrodes (cathode and anode) fixed inside it. The distance between them is 12 cm. This plasma experiment works in a low-pressure range (0.15 - 0.70 Torr) for Ar gas with a maximum DC power supply of 200 W. The Paschen curves and electrical plasma parameters (current, volt, power, resistance) characterized to the plasma have been measured and calculated at each cm between the two electrodes. Besides, the electron temperature and ion density are obtained at different radial distances using a double Langmuir probe. The electron temperature (KTe) was kept stable in range 6.58 to 10.44 eV;whereas the ion density (ni) was in range from 0.91 × 1010 cm−3 to 1.79 × 1010 cm−3. A digital optical microscope (800×) was employed to draw a comparison between the pre-and after effect of exposure to plasma on the shaping of the circuit layout. The experimental results show that the electrical conductivity increased after plasma exposure, also an improvement in the adhesion force in the Cu foil surface. A significant increase in the conductivity can be directly related to the position of the sample surfaces as well as to the time of exposure. This shows the importance of the obtained results in developing the PCBs manufacturing that uses in different microelectronics devices like those onboard of space vehicles.

Testing of NAPL simulator to predict migration of a light nonaqueous phase liquid(LNAPL) under water table fluctuation in a sandy medium

Nanoqueous phase liquid(NAPL) simulator is a powerful and popular mathematical model for modeling the flow and transport of non-aqueous phase liquids in subsurface,but the testing of its feasibility under water table fluctuation has received insufficient attention.The feature in a column test was tested through two cycles of water table fluctuation.The sandy medium in the column was initially saturated,and each cycle of water table fluctuation consisted of one water table falling and one rising,resulting in a drainage and an imbibition of the medium,respectively.It was found that the difference between the simulated and measured results in the first drainage of the column test was minor.However,with the propagation of the water table fluctuations,the simulation errors increased,and the simulation accuracy was not acceptable except for the first drainage in the two fluctuation cycles.The main reason was proved to be the estimation method of residual saturation used in this simulator.Also,based on the column tests,it was assumed that the resulting residual saturation from an incomplete imbibition process was a constant,with a value equal to that of the residual value resulting from the main imbibition process.The results obtained after modifying NAPL simulator with this assumption were found to be more accurate in the first cycle of water table fluctuation,but this accuracy decreased rapidly in the second one.It is concluded that NAPL simulator is not adequate in the case of LNAPL migration under water table fluctuation in sandy medium,unless a feasible assumption to estimate residual saturation is put forward.

Droplet Size Distribution on the Large-holed Compound Sieve Tray in the Spray Regime

The droplet size distribution with large-holed compound sieve tray operating in the spray regime is measured by using a double electrical probes technique in a cold model column of 400 mm diameter. The results indicate that the hole F-factor F0 and surface tension are the main factors which influence the liquid dispersion expressed by the Sauter mean diameter D32. A correlation of D32 on surface tension, viscosity, .F-factor, weir height and liquid flow rate is proposed.

Si_2Sb_2Te_5 phase change material studied by an atomic force microscope nano-tip

The Si2Sb2Te5 phase change material has been studied by applying a nano-tip（30 nm in diameter） on an atomic force microscopy system.Memory switching from a high resistance state to a low resistance state has been achieved,with a resistance change of about 1000 times.In a typical I-V curve,the current increases significantly after the voltage exceeds～4.3 V.The phase transformation of a Si2Sb2Te5 film was studied in situ by means of in situ X-ray diffraction and temperature dependent resistance measurements.The thermal stability of Si2Sb2Te5 and Ge2Sb2Te5 was characterized and compared as well.

New measurements on hydrodynamics in a gas-liquid-solid expanded bed

The solid holdup,in a 150 mm-ID×2460 mm-height gas-liquid-solid expanded bed with air,water and glass beads(the diameter of particles is 0.6-0.8 mm)was firstly investigated based on the immersion-type online multiphase measuring instrument,and bubble behavior was studied via the BVW-2 double electrical conductivity probe.The effect of the superficial gas velocity and liquid velocity on the expanded ratio,the transition ratio,the bubble rising velocity,the gas holdup and the solid holdup was studied.It is discovered that compared with the gas velocity,the liquid velocity has stronger impact on the expanded ratio,but it is opposite for the transition ratio.The average gas holdup and solid holdup increase linearly as the superficial gas velocity goes up.Among it,the gas holdup increases greater in the center,while the solid holdup increases greater near the wall.Compared with it,when the superficial liquid velocity rises,the average gas holdup hardly changes,but the average solid holdup keeps decreasing,especially the solid holdup distributes flatter with the increase of the superficial liquid velocity.