Investigation of the Effects of Roller Spreading Parameters on Powder Bed Quality in Selective Laser Sintering.

Powder spreading is one of crucial steps in selective laser sintering (SLS), which controls the quality of the powder bed and affects the quality of the printed parts. It is not advisable to use empirical methods or trial-and-error methods that consume lots of manpower and material resources to match the powder property parameters and powder laying process parameters. In this paper, powder spreading in realistic SLS settings was simulated using a discrete element method (DEM) to investigate the effects of the powder's physical properties and operating conditions on the bed quality, characterized by the density characteristics, density uniformity, and flatness of the powder layer. A regression model of the powdering quality was established based on the response surface methodology (RSM). The relationship between the proposed powdering quality index and the research variables was well expressed. An improved multi-objective optimization algorithm of the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) was used to optimize the powder laying quality of nylon powder in the SLS process. We provided different optimization schemes according to the different process requirements. The reliability of the multi-objective optimization results for powdering quality was verified via experiments.

Micellar liquid chromatographic determination of carbaryl and 1-naphthol in water, soil, and vegetables.

A liquid chromatographic procedure has been developed for the determination of carbaryl, a phenyl-N-methylcarbamate, and its main metabolite 1-naphthol, using a C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm) with a micellar mobile phase and fluorescence detection at maximum excitation/emission wavelengths of 225/333 nm, respectively. In the optimization step, surfactants sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), Brij-35 and N-cetylpyridinium chloride monohydrate, and organic solvents propanol, butanol, and pentanol were considered. The selected mobile phase was 0.15 M SDS-6% (v/v)-pentanol-0.01 M NaH(2)PO(4) buffered at pH 3. Validation studies, according to the ICH Tripartite Guideline, included linearity (r > 0.999), limit of detection (5 and 18 ng mL(-1), for carbaryl and 1-naphthol, resp.), and limit of quantification (15 and 50 ng mL(-1), for carbaryl and 1-naphthol, resp.), with intra- and interday precisions below 1%, and robustness parameters below 3%. The results show that the procedure was adequate for the routine analysis of these two compounds in water, soil, and vegetables samples.

Rapid and sensitive determination of nicotine in formulations and biological fluid using micellar liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

Nicotine can be determined in pharmaceuticals and biological fluids by micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) using a C18 column, a mobile phase containing sodium dodecyl sulphate 0.15M-6% (v/v) pentanol-NaH(2)PO(4) 0.01 M (pH 6)-KCl 0.001 M, with electrochemical detection at 0.8 V. In the optimization step, the influence of the modifiers propanol, butanol and pentanol, and the voltage has been studied. With the proposed method the analysis time is below than 8 min, linearity better than 0.999, limits of detection and quantification (ng/ml) was 4 and 12 respectively, repeatability and intermediate precision below 1.8%, and all these parameters are adequate for the quantification of nicotine in chewing gum, dermal patches, tobacco and serum samples either by a pharmacologist, pathologist or toxicologist.

Determination of the insecticide imidacloprid in fruit juices using micellar high-performance liquid chromatography.

A simple and reliable HPLC method was developed to determine imidacloprid, a chloronicotinyl insecticide that has a highly specific affinity to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor of insects, above its permissible limit of consumption in fruit juices (orange, apple, and a mixture of pineapple and pear). Samples were injected directly into a Kromasil C18 column, without any pretreatment step, using the micellar mobile phase 0.10 M sodium dodecyl sulfate and 2.5% (v/v) propanol buffered at pH 7 and UV detection at 210 nm. Under these conditions, imidacloprid was eluted in < 4 min with no interference by the endogenous compounds of the juice fruits. The analytical parameters' linearity (r > 0.9998) and intraday and interday precision (RSD 0.1-2.8 and 0.07-7%, respectively) were obtained in the method validation. LOD and LOQ were calculated to be 0.4 and 1.5 ng/mL, respectively. Recoveries were in the 98-103% range. The simplicity of the method makes it a good candidate for application in routine analysis in the area of food control and quality evaluation.

The chemisorption of tetracene on Si(100)-2x1 surface.

The adsorption of tetracene on Si(100)-2x1 substrate has been studied by ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS). Six features deriving from the organic material are located at 1.22, 2.41, 3.63, 4.67, 7.11, and 8.77 eV below the Fermi level. These features shift in binding energy with increasing the thickness of the organic film. In the case of a monolayer, angle-resolved UPS measurements suggest that the molecular plane is parallel to the substrate. Further theoretical density functional theory calculation reveals the most stable structure of tetracene molecule on Si substrate in which six covalent Si-C chemical bonds are formed between carbon atoms of the tetracene molecule and the Si atoms on the substrate.

Interfacial electronic states of tetracene deposited on Si(111).

The interfacial electronic states of tetracene on Si(111) 7x7 substrate were studied by using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). After deposition of tetracene on the Si(111) 7x7 surface, the features originating from the tetracene molecule appear at 1.55, 3.36, 6.78, 9.24, and 10.76 eV below the Fermi level; they shift in binding energy with increasing organic film coverage. From the UPS measurements, the work function of the sample surface was found to decrease with increasing molecular coverage in the submonolayer range suggesting that an interfacial dipole is formed. A density functional theory calculation had also been carried out to determine the favorable adsorption structure. The molecule near the top of a center adatom with the longer molecular axis along the [110] azimuth is the most favorable.