Metal deposition by electroplating has been extensively used and analyzed for industrial applications, but it remains insufficiently characterized for fabricating compliant micromechanisms. This research presents a new fabrication process for heterogeneous optimized compliant mechanisms that consists of placing two materials side by side as opposed to the convention of stacking materials layer ...

Thresholding is a popular image segmentation method that converts a gray-level image into a binary image. The selection of optimum threshold has remained a challenge over decades. Many image segmentation techniques are developed using information about image in other space rather than the image space itself. Most of the technique based on histogram analysis information-theoretic approaches. In ...

In this research work, the sensitivity of TiO2 nanoparticles towards C2H5OH, H2 and CH4 gases was investigated. The morphology and phase content of the particles was preserved during sensing tests by prior heat treatment of the samples at temperatures as high as 750 °C and 1000 °C. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction ...

The electrical and structural behavior of uniformly mixed films of boron subphthalocyanine chloride (SubPc) and C60 and their performance in organic photovoltaic cells is explored. Device performance shows a strong dependence on active-layer donor–acceptor composition, and peak efficiency is realized at 80 wt.% C60. The origin of this C60-rich optimum composition is elucidated in terms of morph...

A two part study utilizing polyoxymethylene (POM) was undertaken to investigate a three stage process (melt-extrusion/annealing/uniaxial-stretching) (MEAUS) utilized to produce microporous films. In this report, the thermal annealing (second stage) and subsequent uniaxialstretching (third stage) results of selected POM films from two commercial resins, labeled D & F, are discussed. Specifically...

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimum membrane filter structure and characteristics for recovery of coliform organisms. Additionally, other factors such as sterilization method and membrane composition were examined. Fecal coliform growth tests with varied samples indicated that the most critical factor in recovery was surface pore morphology and not other factors previously su...

Reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization enabled the synthesis of welldefined A–BC–A triblock copolymers containing a synergy of pendant ether and imidazolium sites. The soft central BC block comprises low Tg di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (DEGMEMA) and 1-(4-vinylbenzyl) methyl imidazolium units. External polystyrene blocks provide mechanical reinfor...

BACKGROUND The evolutionary role of postcopulatory sexual selection in shaping male reproductive traits, including sperm morphology, is well documented in several taxa. However, previous studies have focused almost exclusively on the influence of sperm competition on variation among species. In this study we tested the hypothesis that intraspecific variation in sperm morphology is driven by the...

Effect of hydrothermal treatment, acid washing and annealing temperature on the structure and morphology of TiO2 nanotubes during the formation process was assessed. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis were conducted to describe the formation and characterization of the structure and morp...

The effect of coating silica with polyethylene glycol on the adsorption iron and phosphate ions in industrial wastewater was investigated. Variable factors were temperature time coating, PEG concentration, to ratio. Infrared spectroscopy scanning electron microscopy used evaluate chemical structure morphology PEG-coated silica. Optimum removal efficiency obtained using a 50°C, 15 min, concentra...