Spherical Particles Of Different Sizes Research Articles

Numerical study of particle dispersion in the wake of a static and rotating cylinder at Re = 140 000

In this study, the particle-laden flow in the wake of a static and a rotating cylinder at Reynolds number of 140 000 was investigated using the Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes numerical approach. Three turbulence models such as k–ω shear stress transport, Reynolds stress model, and local-correlation transition model (LCTM) were selected to predict the flow topology. Lagrangian approach with one-way coupling was used to track solid spherical particles of different sizes (0.01, 0.1, 2.5, 10, and 50 μm). The study reveals that LCTM is the most accurate to predict the flow topology in both cases. Cylinder's rotation generates different effects on flow structure. It breaks the wake's symmetry and reduces its width, and increases the frequency of vortex shedding and the size of the recirculation zone. Particle transport analysis has revealed that particles' response to the flow depends on their Stokes number and wake flow topology. Particles of 0.01, 0.1, and 2.5 μm distribute in and around vortex cores, while particles of 10 and 50 μm do not penetrate vortex cores. Instead, 10 μm particles accumulate mainly around the periphery of vortices, while 50 μm particles skip the vortex street to the thin shear flow region between vortices to be transported by the mainstream flow. Finally, cylinder rotation reduces the particle spread in the vertical direction and shifts all particle distributions in the cylinder's rotation direction. Analysis of particle dispersion functions showed that cylinder's rotation reduces differences in dispersion extent depending on particle size.

The effect of shear-induced segregation on bidisperse suspension settling

Shear is a common phenomenon in practical mineral processes, particularly in pipeline transportation. When applied to realistic polydisperse systems consisting of particles of different sizes, shear can lead to distinct interactions of each size component with the carrier fluid, resulting in segregation between sizes. This paper focuses on the effect of size segregation induced by shear on the settling process of suspension flows containing different-sized spherical particles. In this regard, the bidisperse system is considered as the simplest example of polydisperse flows, ensuring the investigation retains the essential features of the system of interest without added complexity. The Volume Penalization Immersed Boundary Method, as a resolved Eulerian–Lagrangian CFD-DEM approach, is employed to gain detailed information on individual particles. A simple cross shear is generated by the moving side walls, and its effect is initially evaluated on two simulation cases containing single spherical particles of different sizes. The results from the single particle simulation cases reveal a higher acceleration of the larger particle towards the centreline due to the higher lateral force proportional to its size. The resolved approach is then used for the bidisperse multiparticle systems with diameter ratios of l=2 and l=5, both subjected to a similar sheared field. In the suspension with l=2, the scalar dispersion function, which measures the degree of migration of each size component between the side walls, indicates segregation by size as the shear rate increases. This is evident in the motion of large particles towards the centre and the accumulation of smaller particles near the walls, which arises from higher proportional force on the larger particles observed in the single particle simulation cases. Although the increase in the diameter ratio to l=5 does not significantly change the migration behaviour of large particles, it provides a more uniform distribution of smaller ones. In this case, the small particles find it more easily to fit into the gaps between the large particles for l=5. Overall, this accumulation of each size component at specific regions in the sheared domain affects the local interaction of settling particles with the fluid flow, resulting in an increase in the settling rate of large particles up to 40% in the considered bidisperse cases. This highlights the impact of shear on the interaction of spherical particles in a multiple sized system, specifically in the practical sheared applications including mineral slurries transportation.

Flow and clogging behavior of a mixture of particles in a silo

We investigated the clogging behavior observed during the flow of aspherical particles from a silo in the presence of spherical particles of different sizes and proportions using flow visualization experiments and discrete element method simulations. The size of the avalanche, essentially the tendency of clogging, exhibits non-monotonic dependence on the spherical particle volume fraction. For small enough content of spherical particles, the clogging tendency intensifies, whereas it reduces rapidly for high enough spherical particle fractions, with a minimum in between. The non-monotonic behavior is observed to persist over for different spherical particle sizes. The overall behavior is shown to arise due to competing effects between the localized total particle fraction influencing avalanche strength and mean size of the particles exiting the silo, influencing the probability of arch formation.

Asymmetric Silicon Dimers Made by Single‐Shot Laser‐Induced Transfer Demultiplex Light of Different Wavelengths

AbstractNanofabrication technologies significantly influence the development of modern optical science. One of such technologies is laser‐induced transfer, which allows the creation of single Mie‐resonant spherical particles on a wide range of substrates. This study shows that this method can provide asymmetric dimers at the output: a single femtosecond pulse being focused on a silicon‐on‐insulator wafer results in appearing two nearly spherical particles of different sizes. The resulting dimers are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, elastic light scattering and Raman spectroscopy to gain insight into their structural properties. Back focal plane imaging and variable‐color evanescent‐wave illumination are then employed to measure the light scattering patterns from isolated dimers. Due to the interference of the excited resonances, the observed patterns are strongly asymmetric in a range of visible wavelengths, which is consistent with theoretical predictions. The results demonstrate the potential of asymmetric silicon dimers made by single‐shot laser‐induced transfer for color routing at visible light.

Properties of Packed Bed Structures Formed during Filtration: A Two and Three-Dimensional Model.

Agglomeration is an issue that causes many problems during secondary processing for pharmaceutical companies, causing material to need further processing and costing additional time and resources to ensure a satisfactory outcome. A potential source of agglomeration arises from the particle contacts established during filtration that lead to robust agglomerates forming during drying, so that a necessary first step toward understanding agglomeration is to study the packing properties of filtration beds. Here, we present two and three-dimensional models simulating the formation of packed bed structures during filtration. The models use circular and spherical particles of different sizes, mimicking the bimodal particle size distributions sometimes encountered in industrial practice. The statistics of packing and void formation, along with the distribution of interparticle contacts and percolation structures, are presented and discussed in the context of filtration, drying, and agglomeration. The model paves the way for predictive capabilities that can lead to the rational design of processes to minimize the impact of agglomeration.

Numerical study of the formation and stability of a pair of particles of different sizes in inertial microfluidics

The formation of pairs and trains of particles in inertial microfluidics is an important consideration for device design and applications, such as particle focusing and separation. We study the formation and stability of linear and staggered pairs of nearly rigid spherical particles of different sizes in a pressure-driven flow through a straight duct with a rectangular cross section under mild inertia. An in-house lattice-Boltzmann-immersed-boundary-finite-element code is used for three-dimensional simulations. We find that the stability and properties of pairs of heterogeneous particles strongly depend on particle sizes and their size ratio, while the formation of the pairs is also determined by the initial lateral position and the axial order of the particles. Our findings imply that perturbations of particle trajectories caused by other particles, as they are expected to happen even in dilute suspensions, can be important for the formation of stable pairs in inertial microfluidics.

Random matrix theory of polarized light scattering in disordered media

In this work we present a method for generating random matrices describing electromagnetic scattering from disordered media containing dielectric particles with prescribed single particle scattering characteristics. Resulting scattering matrices automatically satisfy the physical constraints of unitarity, reciprocity and time reversal, whilst also incorporating the polarization properties of electromagnetic waves and scattering anisotropy. Our technique therefore enables statistical study of a variety of polarization phenomena, including depolarization rates and polarization-dependent scattering by chiral particles. In this vein, we perform numerical simulations for media containing isotropic and chiral spherical particles of different sizes for thicknesses ranging from the single to multiple scattering regime and discuss our results, drawing comparisons to established theory.

Computational Insights into Ru, Pd and Pt fcc Nano-Catalysts from Density Functional Theory Calculations: The Influence of Long-Range Dispersion Corrections

Ruthenium, palladium and platinum fall within the group of noble metals that are widely used in catalysis, especially for the electrocatalytic production of hydrogen. The dominant phase of the bulk Ru metal is hexagonal close-packed (hcp), which has been studied extensively. However, significantly less attention has been paid to the face-centred cubic (fcc) phases, which have been observed in nanoparticles. In this study, we have carried out density functional theory calculations with long-range dispersion corrections [DFT-D2, DFT-D3 and DFT-D3-(BJ)] to investigate the lattice parameters, surface energies and work functions of the (001), (011) and (111) surfaces of Ru, Pd and Pt in the fcc phase. When investigating the surface properties of the three metals, we observed that the DFT-D2 method generally underestimated the lattice parameters by up to 2.2% for Pt and 2.8% for Ru. The surface energies followed the observed trend (111) < (001) < (011) for both Ru and Pd with all three methods, which is comparable to experimental data. For Pt the same trend was observed with DFT-D2 and DFT-D3(BJ), but it deviated to Pt (111) < Pt (011) < Pt (001) for the DFT-D3 method. DFT-D2 overestimated the surface energies for all three Miller Indexes by 82%, 73%, and 60%, when compared to experimental values. The best correlation for the surface energies was obtained with the DFT-D3 and DFT-D3(BJ) methods, both of which have deviate by less than 15% deviation for all surfaces with respect to experiment. The work function followed the trend of Φ (111) < Φ (001) < Φ (011) for all three metals and calculated by all three methods. Five different types of Ru, Pd and Pt nanoparticles were considered, including icosahedral, decahedral, cuboctahedral, cubic and spherical particles of different sizes. The bulk, surface and nanoparticle calculations showed that the DFT-D2 method for Pt overestimated the exchange-correlation, leading to higher energy values that can be contributed erroneously to a more stable structure. The calculations showed that as soon as the surface-to-bulk ratio > 1, the energy per atom resembles bulk energy values.

Direct numerical simulation of turbulent dispersion of evaporative aerosol clouds produced by an intense expiratory event.

Airborne particles are a major route for transmission of COVID-19 and many other infectious diseases. When a person talks, sings, coughs, or sneezes, nasal and throat secretions are spewed into the air. After a short initial fragmentation stage, the expelled material is mostly composed of spherical particles of different sizes. While the dynamics of the largest droplets are dominated by gravitational effects, the smaller aerosol particles, mostly transported by means of hydrodynamic drag, form clouds that can remain afloat for long times. In subsaturated air environments, the dependence of pathogen-laden particle dispersion on their size is complicated due to evaporation of the aqueous fraction. Particle dynamics can significantly change when ambient conditions favor rapid evaporation rates that result in a transition from buoyancy-to-drag dominated dispersion regimes. To investigate the effect of particle size and evaporation on pathogen-laden cloud evolution, a direct numerical simulation of a mild cough was coupled with an evaporative Lagrangian particle advection model. The results suggest that while the dispersion of cough particles in the tails of the size distribution are unlikely to be disrupted by evaporative effects, preferential aerosol diameters (30–40 μm) may exhibit significant increases in the residence time and horizontal range under typical ambient conditions. Using estimations of the viral concentration in the spewed fluid and the number of ejected particles in a typical respiratory event, we obtained a map of viral load per volume of air at the end of the cough and the number of virus copies per inhalation in the emitter vicinity.

Effective Elastic Properties of 3-Phase Particle Reinforced Composites with Randomly Dispersed Elastic Spherical Particles of Different Sizes

Higher-order multiscale structures are proposed to predict the effective elastic properties of 3-phase particle reinforced composites by considering the probabilistic spherical particles spatial distribution, the particle interactions, and utilizing homogenization with ensemble volume average approach. The matrix material, spherical particles with radius a₁, and spherical particles with radius a₂, are denoted as the 0^th phase, the 1^st phase, and the 2^nd phase, respectively. Particularly, the two inhomogeneity phases are different particle sizes and the same elastic material properties. Improved higher-order (in ratio of spherical particle sizes to the distance between the centers of spherical particles) bounds on effective elastic properties of 3-phase particle reinforced proposed Formulation II and Formulation I derive composites. As a special case, i.e., particle size of the 1^st phase is the same as that of the 2^nd phase, the proposed formulations reduce to 2-phase formulas. Our theoretical predictions demonstrate excellent agreement with selected experimental data. In addition, several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the competence of the proposed frameworks.

Electrophoretic ratcheting of spherical particles in well/channel microfluidic devices: Making particles move against the net field.

We examine the electrophoresis of spherical particles in microfluidic devices made of alternating wells and narrow channels, including a system previously used to separate DNA molecules. Our computer simulations predict that such systems can be used to separate spherical particles of different sizes that share the same free-solution mobility. Interestingly, the electrophoretic velocity shows an inversion as the field intensity is increased: while small particles have higher velocities at low field, the situation is reversed at high fields with the larger particles then moving faster. The resulting nonlinearity suggests that asymmetric pulsed electric fields could be used to build separation ratchets: particles then have a net size-dependent velocity in the presence of a zero-mean external field. Exploiting the inversion mentioned above, we show how to design pulsed field sequences that make particles move against the mean field (an example of negative mobility). Finally, we demonstrate that it is possible to use pulsed fields to make particles of different sizes move in opposite directions, even though their charge have the samesign.

Structure and properties of organic xerogels derived from tannins and ethanol lignins of the Siberian fir

The organic xerogels, prepared from tannins and ethanol lignins of the fir (Abies sibirica), were synthesized for the first time. The influence of the composition of initial mixture and pH on the characteristics of xerogels obtained by sol-gel condensation of formaldehyde with polyphenols of fir has been studied. The possibility of regulating the density and porosity of gels by varying of the concentration of ethanol lignin in the initial mixture was established. It was found that tannin-lignin-formaldehyde gel with low-density (0.11 g/cm3), and very high porosity (92%) is formed at a mass ratio tannins and lignins equal to 1. According to FTIR data, the process of xerogel formation is carried out by cross-linking due to the formation of carbon-carbon and alkyl ethers bonds. SEM method confirmed the formation of branched macromolecular structure of gels from interconnected spherical particles of different sizes. Thermogravimetric analysis demonstrates greater thermal stability of tannin-formaldehyde gels compared with the tannin-lignin-formaldehyde gels. The increase of lignin concentration in gels more than 50–65% (by the mass) reduced the temperature of their intensive mass loss on 23–63 °С. The obtained organic gels are non-flammable polymers, and they can be used as thermal and fire retardant materials.

Static light scattering for determination of physical parameters of macro- and nanoparticles

The work is dedicated to determination of physical parameters of micro- and nanoparticles by static light scattering method. We present static light scattering device and theory to determine sizes of particles in suspensions. We analyze calculated distributions of scattering intensity for particles of different sizes and compare it with experimental data, received for spherical particles of different sizes. We also suggest theory to calculate form factor of scattering intensity for micro- and nanoparticles of different shapes. We also demonstrated that Rayleigh scattering theory is better to be applied for small particles investigation.

Structural Analysis of Thin Ni-P Layers

The deposition mechanism by autocatalytic reduction method is a chemical one, which does not lead to structures as shown in the Ni-P balance diagram. In the experiments of the present work, Ni-P layers were made deposited on thin steel strip with low carbon content. By optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy by (SEM) it was analyzed the appearance and surface morphology of the deposited layers depending on the content of phosphorus and working parameters (temperature, pH, stirring speed). The layer structure was analyzed in the cross section and on the break surface. The analysis results show that thin coatings of Ni-P have a surface topography that follows faithfully the steel support. Depending on the content of phosphorus, on the layer surface of low phosphorus content, spherical particles of different sizes can be seen while high and average phosphorus content coatings feature a smooth surface with nanometer-sized grains. Analysis of the cut-off /break section of the Ni-P layer structure, show a more or less porous structure depending on the stirring speed and pH level.

Toward Phase and Catalysis Control: Tracking the Formation of Intermetallic Nanoparticles at Atomic Scale

Summary Intermetallic nanoparticles (iNPs) have yielded enormous successes in catalytic applications by the formation of ordered phases. However, atomic-level understanding of the alloying mechanism, which plays a pivotal role in controlling intermetallic phases and tailoring their catalytic properties, is still elusive. In this study, we discovered a consecutive formation of ordered Pt3Sn and PtSn phases during the growth of Pt-Sn iNP inside a well-defined nano-reactor at elevated temperature by using in situ scanning transmission electron microscopy. We found that the surface-mediated diffusion of Sn controls overall dynamics of the reaction, while the unique coherent interfacial structure is determinative for the PtSn transformation. We then further controlled the phase selection of Pt-Sn iNPs and demonstrated their distinguishable catalytic behaviors. Our findings not only provide detailed experimental evidence on the alloying mechanism in intermetallic nanoscale systems but also pave the way for mechanistic control of synthesis and catalytic properties of iNPs.

Removal of Microparticles by Ciliated Surfaces—an Experimental Study

AbstractBiological cilia are versatile hair‐like organelles that are very efficient in manipulating particles for, e.g., feeding, antifouling, and cell transport. Inspired by the versatility of cilia, this paper experimentally demonstrates active particle‐removal by self‐cleaning surfaces that are fully or partially covered with micromolded magnetic artificial cilia (MAC). Actuated by a rotating magnet, the MAC can perform a tilted conical motion, which leads to the removal of spherical particles of different sizes in water, as well as irregular‐shaped sand grains both in water and in air. These findings can contribute to the development of novel particulate manipulation and self‐cleaning/antifouling surfaces, which can be applied, e.g., to prevent fouling of (bio)sensors in lab‐on‐a‐chip devices, and to prevent biofouling of submerged surfaces such as marine sensors and water quality analyzers.

Encapsulation of Citrus By-Product Extracts by Spray-Drying and Freeze-Drying Using Combinations of Maltodextrin with Soybean Protein and ι-Carrageenan.

The effect of different combinations of maltodextrin (MD) coating agents (MD, MD + soybean protein, and MD + ι-carrageenan) on the encapsulation of lemon by-product aqueous extracts using freeze-drying and spray-drying were investigated. The total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) of the microparticles were evaluated. Freeze-drying with the mixture of MD + soybean protein resulted in the highest retention of TPC, TFC, and FRAP (1.66 ± 0.02 mg GAE/g d.b., 0.43 ± 0.02 mg CE/g d.b., and 3.70 ± 0.05 mM TE/g, respectively). Freeze-drying resulted in microparticles with lower moisture content (MC) and water activity (aw) than those produced by spray-drying. Specifically, the MC and aw of the microparticles produced by freeze-drying ranged from 1.15 to 2.15% and 0.13 to 0.14, respectively, while the MC and aw of the microparticles produced by spray-drying ranged from 6.06% to 6.60% and 0.33 to 0.40, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that spray-drying resulted in the formation of spherical particles of different sizes regardless of the type of coating agent. Although freeze-drying resulted in microparticles with amorphous glassy shapes, the mixture of MD + soybean protein resulted in the formation of spherical porous particles. X-ray diffraction revealed a low degree of crystallinity for the samples produced by both techniques.

Characterization of biomass ashes produced at different temperatures from olive-oil-industry and greenhouse vegetable wastes

Reuse and recycling of biomass ashes as new resources can boost the development of a circular and sustainable economy. This requires knowledge concerning the characteristics and properties of the ash for different applications. In this study, novel biomass ashes from combustion, at different temperatures, of olive-oil wastes and from the gasification of greenhouse vegetables wastes were characterized and compared by ICP-MS, XRF, XRD, FT-IR, and SEM-EDS among other analytical techniques. All ashes were alkaline (pH between 9.9 and 13.3) and had high salinity (42–132dSm−1). They had high amounts of Si, Ca, and K; moderate of P, Mg, Al, S, and Cl; and low Na and heavy metals. By comparison, the ash from greenhouse vegetables waste was richer in aluminosilicates and calcite whereas those from olive-oil wastes showed the presence of soluble minerals such as carbonates, sulphates, and chlorides. The high K amounts (23–58gkg−1) found in the ashes from olive wastes would enable its reuse as natural K fertilizer or as a raw material in the manufacture of K chemical fertilizers. The ashes resulting from higher temperatures had lower carbon contents, higher amounts of particles <250µm, smaller surface areas and higher hygroscopicity which would influence the use of these materials as potential catalyst or sorbents. High combustion temperatures favoured the presence of numerous spherical particles of different sizes, associated with the presence of silica, and also particle aggregates coated by laminar microcrystalline particles. The ashes produced at lower temperatures were dominated by plane crystalline particles and other large, long, carbonaceous shapes with reticular structures.

Inflection Point of the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Peak: A General Method to Improve the Sensitivity.

The shift of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectrum is widely used in bio- and chemical sensing. Traditionally, the shift is monitored at the peak maximum of the extinction spectrum. We demonstrate that the inflection point at the long wavelength side of the peak maximum shows better refractive index sensitivity than the peak maximum. A consistent improvement in bulk refractive index sensitivity of 18-55% is observed for six different nanoparticles such as spherical particles of different sizes, nanostar and nanorods with different aspect ratios. Local refractive index changes induced by molecular adsorption confirm the superior performance of the method. We contribute this improvement in sensitivity to the change in shape of the LSPR peak in response to an increase of the local refractive index. We further illustrate the advantage of using the inflection point method for analyzing DNA adsorption on U-shaped metamaterials, and for using 17 nm spherical gold nanoparticles for detection of matrix metalloprotease 7 (MMP-7), a biomarker that is heavily up-regulated during certain cancers. With the inflection point, the limit of detection (LOD) for MMP-7 is improved to 0.094 μg/mL from 0.22 μg/mL. This improvement may facilitate early diagnosis of salivary and colorectal cancers. We also envision that this generic method can be employed to track minute optical responses in other analytical areas.

FORMATION AND PROPERTIES OF CARBON IN POROUS SPACE OF SILICA-ALUMINA CERAMICS

By using of XRD, IR, SEM methods and microanalysis, it was investigated the process of carbon formation during thermo destruction of sucrose inside pores of silica-alumina ceramics in conditions of oxygen deficient. It was found that for carbon formation inside pores, temperature treatment of sucrose must be 600oC and time of heating 15 min. At such regime of carbonization, carbon material is produced in the form of islets on the surface of pores and in the form of spherical particles of different sizes. Carbon particles present a set of aggregates from chaotic graphene clusters. On surface of carbon particles is formed grapheme oxide. Obtained results show that the carbonized ceramics adsorbs in a good degree the dyes from water solution.