Experimental study on size-dependency of effective permittivity of particle-gas mixture with agglomeration

The effective medium approximation (EMA) theory is the basis of a capacitance sensor used for concen-tration measurementof a particulate solid flow, its measurementresultis independenton particle size. In existence ofparticle agglomeration or aggradation, however, it is found that the effective permittivity of a gas/solid mixture is de-pendent on particle size. In this paper, a parallel plate, differential capacitance sensor is utilized to investigate theinfluence of particle size on the effective permittivity of the mixture in such a case. Static experiments using threematerials including glass, limestone and quartz particles were carried out in an off-line manner. The volume fractionof particles being tested ranged from20×10-6to 600×10-6, while the particle size was between 3 and 100μm.Experimental results showthat the effective permittivity of a particle-gas mixture with particle agglomeration is largerthan that predicted by EMA and the smaller the particle size, the larger the effective permittivity. The experimentprocess and analysis results are discussed in detail in the paper.

Gold/Mg-Al mixed oxides catalysts for oxidative esterification of methacrolein:Effects of support size and composition on gold loading

Gold catalysts supported on Mg-Al mixed oxides for oxidative esterification of methacrolein are prepared by impregnation.Effects of the support particle size,concentration of HAuCl4 solution and Mg/Al ratio on gold loading and catalytic properties are investigated.The catalysts are characterized by CO_(2)-TPD,EDS,XPS,STEM and XRD techniques.Catalysts with smaller support particle size show more uniform gold distribution and higher gold dispersion,resulting in a higher catalytic performance,and the uniformity of gold and the activity of the catalysts with larger support particle size can be improved by decreasing the concentration of HAuCl4 solution.The Mg/Al molar ratio has significant effect on the uniformity of gold and the activity of the catalyst,and the optimum Mg/Al molar ratio is 0.1–0.2.This study underlines the importance of engineering support particle size,concentration of HAuCl4 solution and density of adsorption sites for efficient gold loading on support by impregnation.

Effects of Ni particle size on amination of monoethanolamine over Ni-Re/SiO_2 catalysts

Ni-Re/SiO2 catalysts with controllable Ni particle sizes(4.5–18.0 nm)were synthesized to investigate the effects of the particle size on the amination of monoethanolamine(MEA).The catalysts were characterized by various techniques and evaluated for the amination reaction in a trickle bed reactor at 170℃,8.0 MPa,and 0.5 h^-1 liquid hourly space velocity of MEA(LHSVMEA)in NH3/H2 atmosphere.The Ni-Re/SiO2 catalyst with the lowest Ni particle size(4.5 nm)exhibited the highest yield(66.4%)of the desired amines(ethylenediamine(EDA)and piperazine(PIP)).The results of the analysis show that the turnover frequency of MEA increased slightly(from 193 to 253 h^-1)as the Ni particle sizes of the Ni-Re/SiO2 catalysts increased from 4.5 to 18.0 nm.Moreover,the product distribution could be adjusted by varying the Ni particle size.The ratio of primary to secondary amines increased from 1.0 to 2.0 upon increasing the Ni particle size from 4.5 to 18.0 nm.Further analyses reveal that the Ni particle size influenced the electronic properties of surface Ni,which in turn affected the adsorption of MEA and the reaction pathway of MEA amination.Compared to those of small Ni particles,large particles possessed a higher proportion of high-coordinated terrace Ni sites and a higher surface electron density,which favored the amination of MEA and NH3 to form EDA.

Effect of In_(2)O_(3)particle size on CO_(2) hydrogenation to lower olefins over bifunctional catalysts

A reaction-coupling strategy is often employed for CO_(2)hydrogenation to produce fuels and chemicals using oxide/zeolite bifunctional catalysts.Because the oxide components are responsible for CO_(2)activation,understanding the structural effects of these oxides is crucial,however,these effects still remain unclear.In this study,we combined In_(2)O_(3),with varying particle sizes,and SAPO‐34 as bifunctional catalysts for CO_(2)hydrogenation.The CO_(2)conversion and selectivity of the lower olefins increased as the average In_(2)O_(3)crystallite size decreased from 29 to 19 nm;this trend mainly due to the increasing number of oxygen vacancies responsible for CO_(2) and H_(2) activation.However,In_(2)O_(3)particles smaller than 19 nm are more prone to sintering than those with other sizes.The results suggest that 19 nm is the optimal size of In_(2)O_(3)for CO_(2)hydrogenation to lower olefins and that the oxide particle size is crucial for designing catalysts with high activity,high selectivity,and high stability.

Effect of Ni particle size on the production of renewable methane from CO_(2) over Ni/CeO_(2) catalyst

Production of’renewable Methane’has attracted renewed research interest as a fundamental probe reaction and process for CO_(2)utilization through potential use in Cl fuel production and even for future space exploration technologies.CO_(2)methanation is a structure sensitive reaction on Ni/CeO_(2)catalysts.To precisely elucidate the size effect of the Ni metal center on the CO_(2)methanation performance,we prepared2%Ni/CeO_(2)catalysts with pre-synthesized uniform Ni particles(2,4 and 8 nm)on a high surface area CeO_(2)support.Transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and ambient pressure X-ray photo spectroscopy(AP-XPS)characterization have confirmed that the catalyst structure and chemical state was uniform and stable under reaction conditions.The 8 nm sized catalyst showed superior methanation selectivity over the 4 and 2 nm counterparts,and the methanation activity in term of TOF is 10 times and 70 times higher than for the 4 and 2 nm counterparts,respectively.The DRIFTS studies revealed that the larger Ni(8 nm particles)over CeO_(2)efficiently facilitated the hydrogenation of the surface formate intermediates,which is proposed as the rate determining step accounting for the excellent CO_(2)methanation performance.

Particle Size Distribution,Powder Agglomerates and Their Effects on Sinterability of Ultrafine Alumina Powders

An intensive study of the particle size distribution of four commercial ultrafine alumina powders to obtain information about the powder agglomeration and relate them to the compactibility and the sinterability has been made.

Effect of initial nickel particle size on stability of nickel catalysts for aqueous phase reforming

The deactivation behavior by crystallite growth of nickel nanoparticles on various supports（carbon nanofibers, zirconia, Si C, α-Al2O3 and γ-Al2O3） was investigated in the aqueous phase reforming of ethylene glycol. Supported Ni catalysts of ~10 wt% were prepared by impregnation of carbon nanofibers（CNF）,Zr O2, SiC, γ-Al2O3 and α-Al2O3. The extent of the Ni nanoparticle growth on various support materials follows the order CNF ~ ZrO2〉 SiC 〉 γ-Al2O3〉〉 α-Al2O3 which sequence, however, was determined by the initial Ni particle size. Based on the observed nickel leaching and the specific growth characteristics; the particle size distribution and the effect of loading on the growth rate, Ostwald ripening is suggested to be the main mechanism contributing to nickel particle growth. Remarkably, initially smaller Ni particles（~12 nm） supported on α-Al2O3 were found to outgrow Ni particles with initially larger size（~20 nm）. It is put forward that the higher susceptibility with respect to oxidation of the smaller Ni nanoparticles and differences in initial particle size distribution are responsible for this behavior.

Transition and self-sustained turbulence in dilute suspensions of finite-size particles

We study the transition to turbulence of channel flow of finite-size particle suspensions at low volume fraction, i.e., φ ≈0.001. The critical Reynolds number above which turbulence is sustained reduces to Re ≈ 1675, in the presence of few particles, independently of the initial condition, a value lower than that of the corresponding single-phase flow, i.e., Re ≈1775. In the dilute suspension, the initial arrangement of the particles is important to trigger the transition at a fixed Reynolds number and particle volume fraction. As in single phase flows, streamwise elongated disturbances are initially induced in the flow. If particles can induce oblique disturbances with high enough energy within a certain time, the streaks breakdown, flow experiences the transition to turbulence and the particle trajectories become chaotic, Otherwise, the streaks decay in time and the particles immigrate towards the channel core in a laminar flow.

EFFECT OF PARTICLE SIZE ON THE FILMING PROCESS OF POLYSTYRENE LATEX STUDIED BY AFM

The film formation process of micro-PS particles (diameter 742 nm) and nano-PS particles (diameter 29 nm) was studied by atomic force microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. During a step heating process, the particles were annealed for 0.5 h at each selected temperature. It was found that the deformation and interdiffusion temperatures of the micro-PS particles are ca. 120-130degreesC and 140-150degreesC, that of the nano-PS particles are 90degreesC and 100-110degreesC respectively. The DSC traces of nano-PS particles showed that there was an exothermic peak near T-g after annealing for 0.5 h at the selected temperatures below 90degreesC; otherwise, the exothermic peak disappeared after annealing at 100degreesC or above. Compared with the micro-PS particles, the sintering process of nano-PS particles occurs at much lower temperature determined by the confined state of polymer chains with higher conformational energy in nano-particles, and completes in a much narrower temperature range driven mainly by the larger total surface energy.

Effect of Joule heating on the electroosmotic microvortex and dielectrophoretic particle separation controlled by local electric field

Dielectrophoresis(DEP)technology has become important application of microfluidic technology to manipulate particles.By using a local modulating electric field to control the combination of electroosmotic microvortices and DEP,our group proposed a device using a direct current(DC)electric field to achieve continuous particle separation.In this paper,the influence of the Joule heating effect on the continuous separation of particles is analyzed.Results show that the Joule heating effect is caused by the local electric field,and the Joule heating effect caused by adjusting the modulating voltage is more significant than that by driving voltage.Moreover,a non-uniform temperature distribution exists in the channel due to the Joule heating effect,and the temperature is the highest at the midpoint of the modulating electrodes.The channel flux can be enhanced,and the enhancement of both the channel flux and temperature is more obvious for a stronger Joule heating effect.In addition,the ability of the vortices to trap particles is enhanced since a larger DEP force is exerted on the particles with the Joule heating effect;and the ability of the vortex to capture particles is stronger with a stronger Joule heating effect.The separation efficiency can also be increased because perfect separation is achieved at a higher channel flux.Parameter optimization of the separation device,such as the convective heat transfer coefficient of the channel wall,the length of modulating electrode,and the width of the channel,is performed.

Particles Size Estimation of Polydopamine Based Polymeric Nanoparticles Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Combined with Linear Regression Method

The particle size is considered as a fundamental property of nanoparticles used for cargo delivery (CDS) purpose. The objective of this study was the particles size quantification of polydopamine nanoparticles (PDANS) via the near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with chemometrics tools. The successful synthesis of PDANS was proved using several characterization methods. Compared with the model extracted using raw spectral data, the accuracy and stability of the new model extracted from pre-processed data were significantly improved. The PDANS particle size samples have been predicted with acceptable accuracy. The correlation (R2) between NIRS and the TEM granulometrie data was 99.81%, while the root mean square error of calibration RMSEC was 0.196 nm. This research shows that NIRS combined with a regression method is a viable tool for the quality determination of CD system.

THE SIZE EFFECT ON THE DISPERSION OF A PARTICLE IN A HOMOGENEOUS ISOTROPIC TURBULENCE

The mechanism of the response motion of a suspended particle to turbulent motion of its surrounding fluid is different according to si:e of turbulent eddies. The particle is dragged by the viscous force of large eddies, and meanwhile driven randomly by small eddies. Based on this understanding, the dispersion of a particle with finite size in a homogeneous isotropic turbulence is calculated in this study. Results show that there are two competing effects: when enhanced by the inertia of a particle, the long-term particle diffusivity is reduced by the finite size of the particle.

Effects of particle size on residual stresses of metal matrix composites

A finite element analysis was carned out on the development of residual stresses during the cooling process from the fabrication temperature in the SiCp reinforced Al matrix composites. In the simulation, the two-dimensional and random distribution multi-particle unit cell model and plane strain conditions were used. By incorporating the Taylor-based nonlocal plasticity theory, the effect of particle size on the nature, magnitude and distribution of residual stresses of the composites was studied. The magnitude thermal-stress-induced plastic deformation during cooling was also calculated. The results show similarities in the patterns of thermal residual stress and strain distributions for all ranges of particle size. However, they show differences in magnitude of thermal residual stress as a result of strain gradient effect. The average thermal residual stress increases with decreasing particle size, and the residual plastic strain decreases with decreasing particle size.

Study of Effective Electrical Conductivity of Additive Free Electrodes Using a Homogenization Method

Conductive additives are used in the cathode of a Li-ion battery to improve electrical conductivity.However,these additives can negatively impact the ionic conductivity and specific capacity of the battery.Therefore,design of additive-free cathodes is gaining attention in the research community.In this paper,we explore the effective electrical conductivity of randomly generated two-phase conductive-free cathode microstructures using a mathematical homogenization method.Over thousand microstructures with various combinations of particle size,volume fraction and conductivity ratios are considered to evaluate effective electrical conductivity values using this method.An explicit formulation is proposed based on the results to provide a simple method for evaluation of the effective conductivity values.The intrinsic properties of each phase of the microstructure are used to obtain the effective electrical conductivity values.With the microstructure geometry information being utilized for the evaluation of the effective properties,the results obtained from this formulation are expected to be more accurate and reliable than those obtained using the popular Bruggeman’s approximation,providing better estimates of discharge characteristics.Finally,the significance of incorporation of micro-structural information to model cathodes is highlighted by studying the discharge characteristics of Li-ion battery system.

Synthesis of Nanometer Cobalt Blue Pigment by Microemulsion Method and Control of Diameter of Particle

The nanometer cobalt blue pigments were prepared by microemulsion method. Using dynamic light scattering(DLS) test method, the influences of water content on the size of liquid drop of microemulsion and the liquid drop of microemulsion on the final diameter of nanometer particle were studied in the course of preparation. Accordingly, the method to control the diameter of nanometer particle by changing water content was established. The nanometer cobalt blue particles were confirmed by XRD and TEM. Color parameters of pigments were determined. The quantum size effect of the pigments was discussed.

Microfluidic separation of particles by synergistic effect of geometry-induced hydrodynamics and magnetic field

Microfluidic combined with magnetic field have been demonstrated to be the promising solutions for fast and low-damage particles separation.However,the difficulties in the precise layout of magnets and accurate prediction of particle trajectories lead to under and over separation of target particles.A novel particle separation lab-on-chip(LOC)prototype integrated with microstructures and micropolar arrays is designed and characterized.Meanwhile,a numerical model for the separation of magnetic particles by the synergistic effect of geometry-induced hydrodynamics and magnetic field is constructed.The effect of geometry and magnetic field layout on particle deflection is systematically analyzed to implement accurate prediction of particle trajectories.It is found that the separation efficiency of magnetic particles increased from 50.2%to 91.7%and decreased from 88.6%to 85.7%in the range of depth factors from 15µm to 27µm and width factors from 30µm to 60µm,respectively.In particular,the combined effect of the offset distance of permanent magnets and the distance from the main flow channel exhibits a significant difference from the conventional perception.Finally,the developed LOC prototype was generalized for extension to arbitrary systems.This work provides a new insight and robust method for the microfluidic separation of magnetic particles.

Size-dependent catalytic activity of cobalt phosphides for hydrogen evolution reaction

Transition metal phosphides are a class of promising electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) to replace noble metals.In this work,we for the first time synthesize carbon supported CoP nanoparticles with the average particle sizes from 3.3 to 9.2 nm,via a solvothermal process followed by low-temperature topological phosphorization,and the size-dependent HER activity of the CoP is investigated by virtue of TEM,XRD,XPS and the electrochemical techniques.It is discovered that the 9.2nm-CoP particles possess high intrinsic HER catalytic activity as compared to the 3.3nm-CoP,although the smaller one displays a high mass activity due to the large surface area.Detailed studies manifest that the small CoP particles suffer from serious oxidation once exposing to air.In contrast,most cobalt remains in the quasi-metallic state in the relatively large CoP particles,which is beneficial for the desorption of Hads,the rate determining step of the HER process over CoP surface.In addition,the low charge transfer resistance across the liquid/solid interfaces also contributes to the excellent HER activity of the relatively large CoP particles.

Numerical study of size effect in concrete penetration with LDPM

Projectile size effect is of great importance since the scaling researches are extensively applied to concrete penetration investigations. This paper numerically deals with the projectile size effect on penetration resistance via the recently developed Lattice Discrete Particles Model(LDPM) which is featured with mesoscale constitutive laws governing the interaction between adjacent particles to account for cohesive fracture, strain hardening in compression and compaction due to pore collapse. Simulations of two different penetration tests are carried to shed some light on the size effect issue. The penetration numerical model is validated by matching the projectile deceleration curve of and predicting the depth of penetration(DOP). By constant velocity penetration simulations, the target resistance is found to be dependent on the projectile size. By best fitting numerical results of constant velocity penetration, a size effect law for target resistance is proposed and validated against literature data. Moreover, the size effect is numerically obtained in the projectile with longer extended nose part meanwhile the shorter extended nose is found to improve the DOP since the projectile nose is sharpened.

Analyses on uniformity of particles under HPGR finished grinding system

In order to deal with the disadvantages of excessive grinding and non-uniformity in finished particle under high-pressure grinding rolls （HPGR） finished grinding system, four aspects were investigated, including evaluating indicators, effects of operating factors, effect of particle uniformity on the flotation and formation mechanism of particle uniformity. Experiment of HPGR finished grinding system, cationic reverse flotation experiment and simulation test of particle bed comminution under the condition of quasi-static were carried out. Theoretical analyses indicated that both of uniformity coefficient and average particle size should be included in the uniformity analysis of the mineral particles. The results show that the effect of circulation fan impeller speed on particle uniformity is the most evident, HPGR working pressure and roll gap are second and HPGR roller speed is the last. Average particle size has a more obvious effect on the grade of flotation concentrate while uniformity coefficient has a more obvious effect on the flotation recovery. Considering the two aspects of grade and recovery, the optimal uniformity coefficient for flotation is 1.1-1.2 and the optimal average particle size for flotation is 50-55 μm. The operating factors which promote the shielding effect and compact effect in the HPGR finished grinding system should be strengthened based on the uniformity of particles.

PARTICULATE SIZE EFFECTS IN THE PARTICLE-REINFORCED METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES

The influences of I,article size on the mechanical properties of the particulate metal matrix composite;are obviously displayed in the experimental observations. However, the phenomenon can not be predicted directly using the conventional elastic-plastic theory. It is because that no length scale parameters are involved in the conventional theory. In the present research, using the strain gradient plasticity theory, a systematic research of the particle size effect in the particulate metal matrix composite is carried out. The roles of many composite factors, such as: the particle size, the Young's modulus of the particle, the particle aspect ratio and volume fraction, as well as the plastic strain hardening exponent of the matrix material, are studied in detail. In order to obtain a general understanding for the composite behavior, two kinds of particle shapes, ellipsoid and cylinder, are considered to check the strength dependence of the smooth or non-smooth particle surface. Finally, the prediction results will be applied to the several experiments about the ceramic particle-reinforced metal-matrix composites. The material length scale parameter is predicted.