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Basalt fiber (BF) is deemed a new environmentally friendly and high-performance fiber material due to its high strength, electrical insulation, corrosion resistance and high temperature resistance. Yet, the surface inertness restricts its practical application. In this work, the BF was irradiated and activated by electron beam, followed by in situ growth of SiO2 using a hydrothermal method, then composites with polypropylene (PP) were prepared by microinjection molding. According to the results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), more active sites can be formed after irradiation, thus more SiO2 nanoparticles were generated on the surface of BF. Consequently, the rough surface of modified BF could provide stronger shear force during melt processing and resulted in a higher orientation of the molecular chains, increasing the lamellar thickness and generating more highly ordered β crystals in the composites. I400BF-gSiO2 exhibited the highest content of β crystals with the crystallinity of 53.62% and orientation of β (300) crystal plane of 0.91, which were 8.66% and 0.04 higher than those of the composite with pristine BF. Furthermore, due to the perfection of crystals, increased interfaces and interfacial interlocking between PP molecules and modified BF, I400BF-gSiO2 showed good overall performance, with storage modulus of 8000 MPa at −100 °C, glass transition temperature of 23.03 °C and tensile strength of 62.2 MPa, which was 1900 MPa, 1.23 °C and 29.6 MPa higher than neat PP. Hence, the surface roughing strategy proposed in this work is expected to provide some insight and promote the application of BF reinforced thermoplastic composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bow-flared section may be simplified in the prediction of slamming loads and whipping responses of ships. However, the difference of hydrodynamic characteristics between the water entry of the simplified sections and that of the original section has not been well documented. In this study, the water entry of several different bow-flared sections was numerically investigated using the computational fluid dynamics method based on Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. The motion of the grid around the section was realized using the overset mesh method. Reasonable grid size and time step were determined through convergence studies. The application of the numerical method in the water entry of bow-flared sections was validated by comparing the present predictions with previous numerical and experimental results. Through a comparative study on the water entry of one original section and three simplified sections, the influences of simplification of the bow-flared section on hydrodynamic characteristics, free surface evolution, pressure field, and impact force were investigated and are discussed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), which has been successfully applied in commercial lithium-ion batteries for portable devices, possesses a theoretical specific capacity of 274 mAh g−1. However, its actual capacity is only half of the theoretical specific capacity, because the charging voltage is restricted below 4.2 V. If a higher charging voltage is applied, an irreversible phase transition of LiCoO2 during delithiation would occur, resulting in severe capacity fading. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the electrochemically driven phase transition of LiCoO2 cathode material to approach its theoretical capacity. In this work, it was observed that LiCoO2 partially degraded to Co3O4 after 150 charging-discharging cycles. From the perspective of crystallography, the conventional cell of LiCoO2 was rebuilt to an orthonormal coordinate, and the transition path from layered LiCoO2 to cubic Co3O4 proposed. The theoretical analysis indicated that the electrochemically driven phase transition from LiCoO2 to Co3O4 underwent several stages. Based on this, an experimental verification was made by doping LiCoO2 with Al, In, Mg, and Zr, respectively. The doped samples theoretically predicted behavior. The findings in this study provide insights into the electrochemically driven phase transition in LiCoO2, and the phase transition can be eliminated to improve the capacity of LiCoO2 to its theoretical value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waterborne polyurethane (WPU) coatings hold advantages of good toughness, low cost and environmental protection. However, the low water contact angle (WCA), poor wear and corrosion resistance make them unsuitable for application in the superhydrophobic coatings such as antipollution flashover coatings for transmission lines, self-cleaning coatings for outdoor equipment and waterproof textiles. A series of superhydrophobic WPU composites (SHWPUCs) with micro-rough surface structure was prepared by electrostatic spraying nano-SiO2 particles on WPU composites with low surface energy. It showed that as the hydrophobic system content rose the WCAs of the composites first increased and then remained stationary; however, the adhesion and corrosion resistance first increased and then decreased. An appropriate addition of the hydrophobic system content would lead to a dense coating structure, but an excessive addition could increase the interfaces in the coating and then reduce the coating performance. When the mass ratio of the WPU dispersion, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) particles and modified polydimethylsiloxane was 8:0.3:0.4, 10 g/m2 nano-SiO2 particles were sprayed on the uncured coating surface to construct the SHWPUC with a WCA of 156°. Compared with pure WPU coating, its adhesion and corrosion resistance increased by 12.5% and one order of magnitude, respectively; its wear rate decreased by 88.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because flammable organic solvents are emitted during the construction process, oil-based conductive coatings generally result in potential safety problems. A high content of conductive mediums can also weaken the adhesive and protective abilities of existing conductive coatings. Therefore, an anticorrosive and conductive coating was prepared on Q235 steel substrate by spraying the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/waterborne polyurethane (WPU) dispersion with a low MWCNT content in this work. The effect of the MWCNT content on the electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, and adhesive strength of the WPU conductive coating was investigated. It was concluded that a spatial network structure of MWCNTs-WPU was formed to make the coating structure more compact. The electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, and adhesive strength of the WPU conductive coating first increased and then decreased as the MWCNT content increased. When the MWCNT content was only 0.2 wt % (which was far lower than that of the existing conductive coatings at 1 wt %), the coating began to conduct electricity; its resistivity was 12,675.0 Ω·m. The best combination property was the 0.3 wt % MWCNTs/WPU conductive coating. Its adhesive strength was 19.99% higher than that of pure WPU coating. Its corrosion rate was about one order of magnitude lower than that of pure WPU coating after being immersed in 3.5 wt % NaCl solution for 17 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cytokine profile during acute chikungunya infection that predicts future chronic arthritis has not yet been investigated. We conducted a nested case-control study comparing serum cytokine concentrations during acute chikungunya infection in cases (n = 121) that reported the presence of chronic joint pain versus age- and gender-matched controls (n = 121) who reported recovery at 20 months post infection. We observed that a robust cytokine response during acute infection was correlated with a decreased incidence of chronic joint pain and that low TNFα, IL-13, IL-2, and IL-4 during acute infection was predictive of chronic joint pain. These data suggest that a robust cytokine response is necessary for viral clearance and cytokines that are related to immune tolerance during acute infection may be protective for chronic arthritis pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]