This book is an effort to tether all the exuberant observations on adding nanomaterial in the TPE matrix. With an enhanced processing property along with amplified recyclability and reprocessing feature, thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) proves to be one of the most significant polymeric materials till date. As the scientific world evolves, these advanced materials have attuned themselves with various anisotropic nanomaterials to induce an enhanced property effect on the final product. On an additional note, authors have done extensive research on graphene, the most multifaceted element in the filler family keeping TPE and its derivate as the matrix martial. Cogitating the idea of a multidimensional readership, authors have analyzed the synthesis, derivatization, and properties of graphene and its derivatives separately. Apart from reviewing the future prospects and the potential application of these nano-filled advanced materials, they have kept the structure-property relationship of graphene-based composites at the cynosure to provide firm understanding on the blossoming of these elastomeric composites. The authors believe this book is a potential content for both professionals and academicians.

This book presents new data on combustion processes for practical applications, discussing fire safety issues in the development of flame arresters and the use of noble metals in hydrogen recombiners for nuclear power plants. It establishes the basic principles of production of metal nanostructures, namely nanopowders of metals and compact products made of them, with the preservation of the unique properties of nanoproducts.

This book deals with the electro-chemo-mechanical properties characteristic of and unique to solid electrode surfaces, covering interfacial electrochemistry and surface science. Electrochemical reactions such as electro-sorption, electro-deposition or film growth on a solid electrode induce changes in surface stress or film stress that lead to transformation of the surface phase or alteration of the surface film. The properties of solid electrode surfaces associated with the correlation between electrochemical and mechanical phenomena are named "electro-chemo-mechanical properties". The book first derives the surface thermodynamics of solid electrodes as fundamentals for understanding the electro-chemo-mechanical properties. It also explains the powerful techniques for investigating the electro-chemo-mechanical properties, and reviews the arguments for derivation of surface thermodynamics of solid electrodes. Further, based on current experimental findings and theories, it discusses the importance of the contribution of surface stress to the transformation of surface phases, such as surface reconstruction and underpotential deposition in addition to the stress evolution during film growth and film reduction. Moreover, the book describes the nano-mechanical properties of solid surfaces measured by nano-indentation in relation to the electro-chemo-mechanical properties. This book makes a significant contribution to the further development of numerous fields, including electrocatalysis, materials science and corrosion science.

The many intriguing examples on the application of mechatronics reinforce the excitement of this creative field of technology. As a collection they present a stimulating resource to developers of future mechatronics technology, and to educators searching for interesting examples. From structured-light measurement of the build-up of detritus on railway bogies and detection of uncracked spores of Chinese medicine to a practical tractor vision guidance system embedded in a smart-phone application, the practical applications of mechatronics and machine vision abound. Fruits are counted on the tree, pasture biomass is measured and a robot collects camel dung as a resource. 3D printing is in vogue, but papers here discuss the construction and strategy of the printer itself. The measurement and analysis of myoelectric muscle signals enable a prosthesis to be controlled and a feeding robot is used for patient care. An exoskeleton has both soft and rigid links and an optical sensor analyses the tissue into which a surgical needle is being inserted. These are some of the papers in this collection from the 26th annual conference on Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice, carefully selected to exclude papers that are merely theoretical and to highlight those that show practical verification. Papers have been contributed from China, New Zealand, the Philippines, Emirates, Germany and of course Australia.

This book features selected papers presented at the 15th International Conference on Electromechanics and Robotics "Zavalishin's Readings" - ER(ZR) 2020, held in Ufa, Russia, on 15-18 April 2020. The contributions, written by professionals, researchers and students, cover topics in the field of automatic control systems, electromechanics, electric power engineering and electrical engineering, mechatronics, robotics, automation and vibration technologies. The Zavalishin's Readings conference was established as a tribute to the memory of Dmitry Aleksandrovich Zavalishin (1900-1968) - a Russian scientist, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences and founder of the school of valve energy converters based on electric machines and valve converters energy. The first conference was organized by the Institute of Innovative Technologies in Electromechanics and Robotics at the Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation in 2006.

This book features influential scholarly research and technical contributions, professional trajectories, disciplinary shifts, personal insights, and a combination of these from a group of remarkable women scholars within precision agriculture. The authors provide a holistic and critical overview of the field of precision agriculture (both crop and livestock), highlighting breakthroughs and impactful research led by women investigators including relevant technologies, decision making strategies, practices, applications, economics, opportunities and challenges. They discuss the urgent need for reduced cost, increased productivity, more optimal use of resources, and reduced impact on our environment. The leading female researchers contributing to this book are creating new technological advances that are revolutionizing agriculture. Focuses on advances in precision agriculture led by leading women researchers, scholars, and professionals; Provides insight into women's technical contributions in precision agriculture; Takes a holistic approach to precision agriculture, addressing both land and livestock applications.

This book introduces readers to the emerging carbon nanotube field-effect transistor (CNTFET) technology, and examines the problem of designing efficient arithmetic circuits in CNTFET technology. Observing that CNTFETs make it possible to achieve two distinct threshold voltages merely by altering the diameter of the carbon nanotube used, the book begins by discussing the design of basic ternary logic elements. It then examines efficient CNTFET-based design of single and multiple ternary digit adders by judicious choice of unary operators in ternary logic, as well as the design of a ternary multiplier in CNTFET technology, and presents detailed simulation results in HSPICE. Lastly, the book outlines a procedure for automating the synthesis process and provides sample code in Python.

This thesis builds on recent innovations in multi-phase emulsion droplet design to demonstrate that emulsion morphologies enable a useful variety of dynamic optical phenomena. Despite the highly dynamic nature of fluid morphologies and their utility for stimuli-responsive, dynamic optical materials and devices, fluid matter is underrepresented in optical technology. Using bi-phase emulsion droplets as refractive micro-optical components, this thesis realizes micro-scale fluid compound lenses with optical properties that vary in response to changes in chemical concentrations, structured illumination, and thermal gradients. Theoretical considerations of emulsions as optical components are used to explain a previously unrecognized total internal reflection-enabled light interference phenomenon in emulsion droplets that results in rich structural coloration. While this work is focused on the fundamental optics of emulsion droplets, it also facilitates the use of light-emitting emulsion morphologies as chemo-optical transducers for early-stage food-borne pathogen detection. This thesis beautifully demonstrates the virtue of fundamental interdisciplinary exploration of unconventional material systems at the interface of optics, chemistry, and materials science, and the benefits arising from translation of the acquired knowledge into specific application scenarios.

This book highlights the latest advances in bioMEMS for biosensing applications. It comprehensively reviews different detection methods, including colorimetric, fluorescence, luminescence, bioluminescence, chemiluminescence, biochemiluminescence, and electrochemiluminescence, and presents various bioMEMS for each, together with recent examples. The book also offers an overview of the history of BioMEMS and the design and manufacture of the first bioMEMS-based devices.

This book discusses key techniques of protection and fault ride-through in VSC-HVDC grids, including high-speed selective protection, DC fault current limitation, converter restarting, and DCCB reclosing strategies. It investigates how high-speed transient-variable-based protection can be used to improve grids' acting sensitivity, acting reliability, and ability to withstand high transition resistance compared with traditional protection. In addition, it discusses the applicability of the pilot protections, including the current differential protection and travelign-wave based protection, in the dc grid, as well as the improved methods. Furthermore, it proposes several DC FCL topologies, which are suitable for DC grids. Lastly, in the context of overhead line application conditions, it explores converter restarting and DCCB reclosing strategies, which not only identify the fault property, but also limit the secondary damage to the system, improving the system's operation security and reliability. As such, the book offers a comprehensive overview of original and advanced methods and techniques for the protection of VSC-HVDC grids.

This extensive and singular work focuses on current applications of nanotechnology in food systems. The functionality and applicability of food-related nanotechnology is covered in depth, presenting a view on the food processing, packaging,storage and safety assessment of nanotechnology in the food industry. Multiple nanostructures are covered, each with their specific ingredient choice, production strategy, functionality and application in food engineering. Individual chapters focus on current processing methods and applications of nanotechnology in foods. Nano-food Engineering Volume One brings together panels of highly accomplished experts in the field of composites, nanotechnology and chemical engineering and food technology. The work encompasses basic studies and addresses novel issues, covering all engineering aspects, opportunities and challenges and solutions of nano-foods.

This book covers the performance aspects of nanocomposite supercapacitor materials based on transition metal oxides, activated carbon, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, graphene and conducting polymers. It compares the performance of simple electrode materials versus binary and ternary composites, while highlighting the advantages and challenges of different supercapacitor electrode materials. This book is part of the Handbook of Nanocomposite Supercapacitor Materials. Supercapacitors have emerged as promising devices for electrochemical energy storage, playing an important role in energy harvesting for meeting the current demands of increasing global energy consumption. The handbook covers the materials science and engineering of nanocomposite supercapacitors, ranging from their general characteristics and performance to materials selection, design and construction. Covering both fundamentals and recent developments, this handbook serves a readership encompassing students, professionals and researchers throughout academia and industry, particularly in the fields of materials chemistry, electrochemistry, and energy storage and conversion. It is ideal as a reference work and primary resource for any introductory senior-level undergraduate or beginning graduate course covering supercapacitors.

The series Topics in Current Chemistry Collections presents critical reviews from the journal Topics in Current Chemistry organized in topical volumes. The scope of coverage is all areas of chemical science including the interfaces with related disciplines such as biology, medicine and materials science. The goal of each thematic volume is to give the non-specialist reader, whether in academia or industry, a comprehensive insight into an area where new research is emerging which is of interest to a larger scientific audience. Each review within the volume critically surveys one aspect of that topic and places it within the context of the volume as a whole. The most significant developments of the last 5 to 10 years are presented using selected examples to illustrate the principles discussed. The coverage is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of the field or include large quantities of data, but should rather be conceptual, concentrating on the methodological thinking that will allow the non-specialist reader to understand the information presented. Contributions also offer an outlook on potential future developments in the field.

The extended and revised edition of this textbook provides essential information for a comprehensive upper-level graduate course on the crystalline growth of semiconductor heterostructures. Heteroepitaxy is the basis of today's advanced electronic and optoelectronic devices, and it is considered one of the most important fields in materials research and nanotechnology. The book discusses the structural and electronic properties of strained epitaxial layers, the thermodynamics and kinetics of layer growth, and it describes the major growth techniques: metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy, molecular-beam epitaxy, and liquid-phase epitaxy. It also examines in detail cubic and hexagonal semiconductors, strain relaxation by misfit dislocations, strain and confinement effects on electronic states, surface structures, and processes during nucleation and growth. Requiring only minimal knowledge of solid-state physics, it provides natural sciences, materials science and electrical engineering students and their lecturers elementary introductions to the theory and practice of epitaxial growth, supported by references and over 300 detailed illustrations. In this second edition, many topics have been extended and treated in more detail, e.g. in situ growth monitoring, application of surfactants, properties of dislocations and defects in organic crystals, and special growth techniques like vapor-liquid-solid growth of nanowires and selective-area epitaxy.

This book presents nanomaterials as predicted by computational modelling and numerical simulation tools, and confirmed by modern experimental techniques. It begins by summarizing basic theoretical methods, then giving both a theoretical and experimental treatment of how alkali metal clusters develop into nanostructures, as influenced by the cluster's "magic number" of atoms. The book continues with a discussion of atomic clusters and nanostructures, focusing primarily on boron and carbon, exploring, in detail, the one-, two-, and three-dimensional structures of boron and carbon, and describing their myriad potential applications in nanotechnology, from nanocoating and nanosensing to nanobatteries with high borophene capacity. The broad discussion of computational modelling as well as the specific applications to boron and carbon, make this book an essential reference resource for materials scientists in this field of research.

This book comprehensively discusses the basic principles and working mechanism of all kind of batteries towards clean energy storage devices. In addition, it focuses on the synthesis of various electrode materials with 1D architecture via electrospinning technique. This book will give a clear idea about recent synthetic strategy towards nanofibers and nanocomposites for alkali-ion storage applications. The reader could understand the formation mechanism of nanofibers and their potential application in the future energy storage system.

This book presents a range of low-dimensional superlattice thermoelectric materials based on physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods and explores various material types, thicknesses, and processing conditions. With the advances made in the performance of semiconductor thermoelectric materials and the efficiency of thermoelectric devices in recent years, thermoelectric power generation systems are likely to replace traditional mechanical heat engines, offering an environmentally friendlier alternative. The use of low-dimensional, nanostructured materials can significantly increase the density of states near the Fermi level and greatly improve the thermoelectric properties of materials. In addition, the book demonstrates that it is possible to influence thermoelectric performance, establish more accurate mathematical models through the regulation of relevant parameters, and ultimately improve the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT).

This book presents selected peer-reviewed contributions from the 2019 International Conference on "Physics and Mechanics of New Materials and Their Applications", PHENMA 2019 (Hanoi, Vietnam, 7-10 November, 2019), divided into four scientific themes: processing techniques, physics, mechanics, and applications of advanced materials. The book describes a broad spectrum of promising nanostructures, crystals, materials and composites with special properties. It presents nanotechnology approaches, modern environmentally friendly techniques and physical-chemical and mechanical studies of the structural-sensitive and physical-mechanical properties of materials. The obtained results are based on new achievements in material sciences and computational approaches, methods and algorithms (in particular, finite-element and finite-difference modeling) applied to the solution of different technological, mechanical and physical problems. The obtained results have a significant interest for theory, modeling and test of advanced materials. Other results are devoted to promising devices demonstrating high accuracy, longevity and new opportunities to work effectively under critical temperatures and high pressures, in aggressive media, etc. These devices demonstrate improved comparative characteristics, caused by developed materials and composites, allowing investigation of physio-mechanical processes and phenomena based on scientific and technological progress.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-art in oxide nanostructures, carbon nanostructures and 2D materials fabrication. It covers mimicking of sensing mechanisms and applications in gas sensors. It focuses on gas sensors based on functional nanostructured materials, especially related to issues of sensitivity, selectivity, and temperature dependency for sensors. It covers synthesis, properties, and current gas sensing tools and discusses the necessity for miniaturized sensors. This book will be of use to senior undergraduate and graduate students, professionals, and researchers in the field of solid-state physics, materials science, surface science and chemical engineering.

This book summarizes the state of the art in the theoretical modeling of inorganic nanostructures. Extending the first edition, published in 2015, it presents applications to new nanostructured materials and theoretical explanations of recently discovered optical and thermodynamic properties of known nanomaterials. It discusses the developments in theoretical modeling of nanostructures, describing fundamental approaches such as symmetry analysis and applied calculation methods. The book also examines the theoretical aspects of many thermodynamic and the optical properties of nanostructures. The new edition includes additional descriptions of the theoretical modeling of nanostructures in novel materials such as the V2O5 binary oxide, ZnS, CdS, MoSSe and SnS2.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the field of functional finishing of textiles, describing the state-of-the-art research and well-established techniques applied in the textile industry, and covering all areas of textile dyeing and finishing. It is intended for academic researchers and professionals in related scientific and engineering fields, including textile engineering, chemistry, nanotechnology, material science, biotechnology and environmental science. The book also provides reference material for stakeholders looking for innovative technologies and insights into the environmental and sustainability issues in the development of functional textiles and related products.

This book summarizes the application of linear algebra-based controllers (LABC) for trajectory tracking for practitioners and students across a range of engineering disciplines. It clarifies the necessary steps to apply this straight-forward technique to a non-linear multivariable system, dealing with continuous or discrete time models, and outlines the steps to implement such controllers. In this book, the authors present an approach of the trajectory tracking problem in systems with dead time and in the presence of additive uncertainties and environmental disturbances. Examples of applications of LABC to systems in real operating conditions (mobile robots, marine vessels, quadrotor and pvtol aircraft, chemical reactors and First Order Plus Dead Time systems) illustrate the controller design in such a way that the reader attains an understanding of LABC.

This volume gathers the latest advances, innovations, and applications in the field of robotics engineering, as presented by leading international researchers and engineers at the Latin American Symposium on Industrial and Robotic Systems (LASIRS), held in Tampico, Mexico on October-November 30-01 2019. The contributions cover all major areas of R&D and innovation in simulation, optimization, and control of robotics, such as design and optimization of robots using numerical and metaheuristic methods, autonomous and control systems, industrial compliance solutions, numerical simulations for manipulators and robots, metaheuristics applied to robotics problems, Industry 4.0, control and automation in petrochemical processes, simulation and control in aerospace and aeronautics, and education in robotics. The conference represented a unique platform to share the latest research and developments in simulation, control and optimization of robotic systems, and to promote cooperation among specialists in machine and mechanism area.

This book provides a comprehensive reference to major neural interfacing technologies used to transmit signals between the physical world and the nervous system for repairing, restoring and even augmenting body functions. The authors discuss the classic approaches for neural interfacing, the major challenges encountered, and recent, emerging techniques to mitigate these challenges for better chronic performances. Readers will benefit from this book's unprecedented scope and depth of coverage on the technology of neural interfaces, the most critical component in any type of neural prostheses. Provides comprehensive coverage of major neural interfacing technologies; Reviews and discusses both classic and latest, emerging topics; Includes classification of technologies to provide an easy grasp of research and trends in the field.

These proceedings gather contributions presented at the 3rd International Conference of Mechatronics and Cyber-MixMechatronics/ICOMECYME, organized by the National Institute of R&D in Mechatronics and Measurement Technique in Bucharest, Romania, on September 5th-6th, 2019. Reflecting the expansion mechatronics, it discusses topics in the newer trans-disciplinary fields, such as adaptronics, integronics, and cyber-mixmechatronics. With a rich scientific tradition and attracting specialists from around the globe - including North America, South America, and Asia - ICOMECYME focuses on presenting the latest research. It is mainly directed at academics and advanced students, but also appeals to R&D experts, offering a platform for scientific exchange. These proceedings are a valuable resource for entrepreneurs who want to invest in research and who are open for collaborations.