Golden section criterion to achieve droplet trampoline effect on metal-based superhydrophobic surface.

Clarifying the consecutive droplet rebound mechanisms can provide scientific inspirations to regulate dynamic wettability of superhydrophobic surface, which facilitates the practical applications on efficient heat control and active anti-icing. Generally, droplet rebound behaviors are directly affected by surface structure and Weber number. Here, we report a novel "golden section" design criterion to regulate the droplet rebound number determined by the structure spacing, subverting conventional knowledge. Especially, the droplet can continuously rebound for 17 times on the metal-based surface, exhibiting an amazing phenomenon of "droplet trampoline". The droplet rebound number has been experimentally revealed to be closely related to Weber number. We propose novel quantitative formulas to predict droplet rebound number and clarify the coupling effect of the structure spacing and the Weber number on the rebound mechanisms, which can be utilized to establish the regulation criteria of rebound numbers and develop novel metal-based superhydrophobic materials.

A new scaling number reveals droplet dynamics on vibratory surfaces.

HYPOTHESIS: Droplet spreading on surfaces is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature and is relevant with a wide range of applications. In practical scenarios, surfaces are usually associated with certain levels of vibration. Although vertical or horizontal modes of vibration have been used to promote droplet dewetting, bouncing from immiscible medium, directional transport, etc., a quantitative understanding of how external vibration mediates the droplet behaviors remains to be revealed. METHODS: We studied droplets impacting on stationary and vibratory surfaces, respectively. In analogy to the Weber number We=ρUi2D0/γ, we define the vibration Weber number We*=ρUv2D0/γ to quantitively analyze the vibration-induced dynamic pressure on droplet behaviors on vibratory surfaces, where ρ,γ,D0,UiandUv are liquid density, surface tension, initial droplet diameter, impact velocity of the droplet, and velocity amplitude of vibration, respectively. FINDINGS: We demonstrate that the effect of vibration on promoting droplet spreading can be captured by a new scaling number expressed as We*/[We1\2sin(θ/2)], leading to (Dm - Dm0)/Dm0 âˆ We*/[We1\2sin(θ/2)], where θ is the contact angle, and Dm0 and Dm are the maximum diameter of the droplet on stationary and vibratory surfaces, respectively. The scaling number illustrates the relative importance of vibration-induced dynamic pressure compared to inertial force and surface tension. Together with other well-established non-dimensional numbers, this scaling number provides a new dimension and framework for understanding and controlling droplet dynamics. Our findings can also find applications such as improving the power generation efficiency, intensifying the deposition of paint, and enhancing the heat transfer of droplets.

Effects of T6 Treatment, Tensile Temperature, and Mass Fraction of SiC on the Mechanical Properties of SiCp/6061Al Composites.

SiCp/6061Al composites have been developed and widely applied in many fields, such as automobile, aerospace, shipping, and so on. Considering heat treatment, service environment, and strength of composites, this paper comprehensively studies the mechanical properties of SiCp/6061Al composites with a large range of SiC mass fractions under T6 treatments and different tensile temperatures. SiCp/6061Al composites were successfully prepared by hot press sintering at various SiC mass fractions (0-30%), and the influences of SiC concentration and T6 treatment on the mechanical properties of composites were characterized via tensile tests at room temperature, 100, and 200 °C. Microstructure and fracture surfaces of composites with various SiC concentrations were further analyzed by optical microscope and SEM. The formula for the biggest critical reinforcement concentration for the saturated distribution of SiC is proposed to reveal the strengthening rule of different SiC concentrations. Results show that the effect of T6 treatment on the mechanical properties of composites is a marked increase in tensile strength and an obvious decrease in elongation. The increase in the SiC mass fraction, except at 30%, is able to bring an increase in tensile strength and a decrease in elongation, and the change of the elongation is insignification in T6-treated specimens. The tensile strength of T6-treated specimens decreases as temperature increases, and the composite has a maximum elongation at 100 °C.

Model-based design of an intermittent simulated moving bed process for recovering lactic acid from ternary mixture.

An intermittent simulated moving bed (3F-ISMB) operation scheme, the extension of the 3W-ISMB to the non-linear adsorption region, has been introduced for separation of glucose, lactic acid and acetic acid ternary-mixture. This work focuses on exploring the feasibility of the proposed process theoretically and experimentally. Firstly, the real 3F-ISMB model coupled with the transport dispersive model (TDM) and the Modified-Langmuir isotherm was established to build up the separation parameter plane. Subsequently, three operating conditions were selected from the plane to run the 3F-ISMB unit. The experimental results were used to verify the model. Afterwards, the influences of the various flow rates on the separation performances were investigated systematically by means of the validated 3F-ISMB model. The intermittent-retained component lactic acid was finally obtained with the purity of 98.5%, recovery of 95.5% and the average concentration of 38 g/L. The proposed 3F-ISMB process can efficiently separate the mixture with low selectivity into three fractions.

Recovery of monosaccharides from dilute acid corncob hydrolysate by nanofiltration: modeling and optimization.

In this work nanofiltration technology has been employed for removal of inhibitors and recovery of monosaccharides from dilute acid lignocellulose hydrolysates. The influences of feed solution pH, permeate flux, and Na2SO4 concentration on the rejection of monosaccharides and inhibitors were investigated. The results showed that the pH for the separation of carboxylic acids and furans from monosaccharides should be as low as possible. With increase of Na2SO4 concentration carboxylic acid and furan rejection decreased. Subsequently, the Donnan steric pore and dielectric exclusion model coupled with mass balance was used to predict the rejection of solutes at different permeate fluxes. In order to select a suitable permeate flux and operating time, multi-objective optimization was carried out to obtain the maximum total inhibitor removal efficiency, the maximum monosaccharide recovery rate, and the minimum water consumption. The optimal operating conditions were then verified using the real hydrolysate as feed solutions. More specifically, for the treatment of 6 L of a hydrolysate solution, 13 L of water and a treatment time of 35 min were required. This process allowed the removal of 90% inhibitors, while 93.55% glucose, 90.75% xylose, and 90.53% arabinose were recovered. Finally, a batch column equipped with a strong acid cation exchange resin was employed to recover the monosaccharides from the hydrolysate. Using water as an eluent, 95.37% of the sulfuric acid and 94.87% of the monosaccharides were recovered. In all, we demonstrated that the combination of nanofiltration with electrolyte exclusion chromatography is a promising integrated process for the recovery of monosaccharides and inorganic acids from dilute acid corncob hydrolysates.

Recovery of lactic acid from the pretreated fermentation broth based on a novel hyper-cross-linked meso-micropore resin: Modeling.

An innovative benign process for recovery lactic acid from its fermentation broth is proposed using a novel hyper-cross-linked meso-micropore resin and water as eluent. This work focuses on modeling the competitive adsorption behaviors of glucose, lactic acid and acetic acid ternary mixture and explosion of the adsorption mechanism. The characterization results showed the resin had a large BET surface area and specific pore structure with hydrophobic properties. By analysis of the physicochemical properties of the solutes and the resin, the mechanism of the separation is proposed as hydrophobic effect and size-exclusion. Subsequently three chromatographic models were applied to predict the competitive breakthrough curves of the ternary mixture under different operating conditions. The pore diffusion was the major limiting factor for the adsorption process, which was consistent with the BET results. The novel HD-06 resin can be a good potential adsorbent for the future SMB continuous separation process.