Electrical Conduction (electrical + conduction)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


A Glass Hook Allows Fishing of Hexa- peri -hexabenzocoronene Graphitic Nanotubes: Fabrication of a Macroscopic Fiber with Anisotropic Electrical Conduction,

ADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 10 2006
Y. Yamamoto
Fishing of graphitic nanotubes with a macroscopic glass hook: A ,30,mm long fiber (see figure and cover) is readily processed from a suspension of self-assembled nanotubes with one-handed helical chirality, formed from the (R)- or (S)-enantiomer of chiral amphiphile 2. The majority of the nanotubes in the fiber are unidirectionally oriented along the fiber axis. Upon doping with I2, the fiber displays an anisotropic electrical conduction along the fiber axis more than an order of magnitude greater than that across the fiber axis. [source]


Effect of insulin infusion on electrocardiographic findings following acute myocardial infarction: importance of glycaemic control

DIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 2 2009
R. M. Gan
Abstract Aims, To determine the effects of insulin infusion and blood glucose levels during acute myocardial infarction (AMI) on electrocardiographic (ECG) features of myocardial electrical activity. Methods, ECGs at admission and 24 h were examined in a randomized study of insulin infusion vs. routine care for AMI patients with diabetes or hyperglycaemia. Results were analysed according to treatment allocation and also according to average blood glucose level. Results, ECG characteristics were similar at admission in both groups. Patients allocated to conventional treatment had prolongation of the QT interval (QTc) after 24 h but those receiving infused insulin did not. In patients with a mean blood glucose in the first 24 h > 8.0 mmol/l, new ECG conduction abnormalities were significantly more common than in patients with mean blood glucose , 8.0 mmol/l (15.0% vs. 6.0%, P < 0.05). Conclusions, Prevention of QTc prolongation by administration of insulin may reflect a protective effect on metabolic and electrical activity in threatened myocardial tissue. Abnormalities of cardiac electrical conduction may also be influenced by blood glucose. [source]


Carbon Nanotubes: High Electromechanical Response of Ionic Polymer Actuators with Controlled-Morphology Aligned Carbon Nanotube/Nafion Nanocomposite Electrodes (Adv. Funct.

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 19 2010
Mater.
Abstract Recent advances in fabricating controlled-morphology vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VA-CNTs) with ultrahigh volume fraction create unique opportunities for markedly improving the electromechanical performance of ionic polymer conductor network composite (IPCNC) actuators. Continuous paths through inter-VA-CNT channels allow fast ion transport, and high electrical conduction of the aligned CNTs in the composite electrodes lead to fast device actuation speed (>10% strain/second). One critical issue in developing advanced actuator materials is how to suppress the strain that does not contribute to the actuation (unwanted strain) thereby reducing actuation efficiency. Here, experiments demonstrate that the VA-CNTs give an anisotropic elastic response in the composite electrodes, which suppresses the unwanted strain and markedly enhances the actuation strain (>8% strain under 4 V). The results reported here suggest pathways for optimizing the electrode morphology in IPCNCs using ultrahigh volume fraction VA-CNTs to further enhanced performance. [source]


High Electromechanical Response of Ionic Polymer Actuators with Controlled-Morphology Aligned Carbon Nanotube/Nafion Nanocomposite Electrodes

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 19 2010
Sheng Liu
Abstract Recent advances in fabricating controlled-morphology vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VA-CNTs) with ultrahigh volume fraction create unique opportunities for markedly improving the electromechanical performance of ionic polymer conductor network composite (IPCNC) actuators. Continuous paths through inter-VA-CNT channels allow fast ion transport, and high electrical conduction of the aligned CNTs in the composite electrodes lead to fast device actuation speed (>10% strain/second). One critical issue in developing advanced actuator materials is how to suppress the strain that does not contribute to the actuation (unwanted strain) thereby reducing actuation efficiency. Here, experiments demonstrate that the VA-CNTs give an anisotropic elastic response in the composite electrodes, which suppresses the unwanted strain and markedly enhances the actuation strain (>8% strain under 4 V). The results reported here suggest pathways for optimizing the electrode morphology in IPCNCs using ultrahigh volume fraction VA-CNTs to further enhanced performance. [source]


Metal Ion Implantation for the Fabrication of Stretchable Electrodes on Elastomers

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 3 2009
Samuel Rosset
Abstract Here, the use of low-energy metal ion implantation by filtered cathodic vacuum arc to create highly deformable electrodes on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes is reported. Implantation leads to the creation of nanometer-size clusters in the first 50,nm below the surface. When the elastomer is stretched, these small clusters can move relative to one another, maintaining electrical conduction at strains of up to 175%. Sheet resistance versus ion dose, resistance versus strain, time stability of the resistance, and the impact of implantation on the elastomer's Young's modulus are investigated for gold, palladium, and titanium implantations. Of the three tested metals, gold has the best performance, combining low and stable surface resistance, very high strain capabilities before loss of electrical conduction, and low impact on the Young's modulus of the PDMS membrane. These electrodes are cyclically strained to 30% for more than 105 cycles and remain conductive. In contrast, sputtered or evaporate metals films cease to conduct at strains of order 3%. Additionally, metal ion implantation allows for creating semi-transparent electrodes. The optical transmission through 25-µm-thick PDMS membranes decreases from 90% to 60% for Pd implantations at doses used to make stretchable electrodes. The implantation technique presented here allows the rapid production of reliable stretchable electrodes for a number of applications, including dielectric elastomer actuators and foldable or rollable electronics. [source]


Shaping Carbon Nanotubes and the Effects on Their Electrical and Mechanical Properties,

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 11 2006
S. Wang
Abstract A method is developed and shown to be able to shape a carbon nanotube (CNT) into a desired morphology while maintaining its excellent electrical and mechanical properties. Single, freestanding nanotubes are bent by a scanning tunneling microscopy probe, and their morphology is fixed by electron-beam-induced deposition (inside a transmission electron microscope) of amorphous carbon on the bent area. It is shown that the mechanical strength of the bent CNT may be greatly enhanced by increasing the amount of carbon glue or the deposition area, and the electrical conduction of the nanotube shows hardly any dependence on the bending deformation or on the deposition of amorphous carbon. Our findings suggest that CNTs might be manipulated and processed as interconnections between electronic devices without much degradation in their electrical conductance, and be used in areas requiring complex morphology, such as nanometer-scale transport carriers and nanoelectromechanical systems. [source]


Three-dimensional Electrical Property Mapping with Nanometer Resolution

ADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 48 2009
Alexander Alekseev
The conductivity behavior of MWCNT networks within the volume of polymer nanocomposite samples is analyzed with nanometer resolution in all three dimensions. It is demonstrated that close to but above the percolation threshold for electrical conduction most of the MWCNTs do not contribute to the conductive network within the nanocomposite. [source]


A Glass Hook Allows Fishing of Hexa- peri -hexabenzocoronene Graphitic Nanotubes: Fabrication of a Macroscopic Fiber with Anisotropic Electrical Conduction,

ADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 10 2006
Y. Yamamoto
Fishing of graphitic nanotubes with a macroscopic glass hook: A ,30,mm long fiber (see figure and cover) is readily processed from a suspension of self-assembled nanotubes with one-handed helical chirality, formed from the (R)- or (S)-enantiomer of chiral amphiphile 2. The majority of the nanotubes in the fiber are unidirectionally oriented along the fiber axis. Upon doping with I2, the fiber displays an anisotropic electrical conduction along the fiber axis more than an order of magnitude greater than that across the fiber axis. [source]


Investigation of electrical conduction mechanism in double-layered polymeric system

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, Issue 1 2009
Prashant Shukla
Abstract The electrical conduction in solution-grown polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) and PMMA-PVDF double-layered samples in the sandwich configuration (metal-polymer-metal) was investigated at different fields in the range 100,120 kV/cm as a function of temperature in the range 293,423 K for samples of constant thickness of about 50 ,m. Certain effects which lead to a large burst of current immediately after the application of field were observed in double-layered samples. An attempt was made to identify the nature of the current by comparing the observed dependence on electric field, electrode material and temperature with the respective characteristic features of the existing theories on electrical conduction. The observed linear I-V characteristics show that the electrical conduction follows Pool-Frenkel mechanism in PMMA and PVDF samples. Whereas, the non-linear behavior of current-voltage measurements in PMMA-PVDF double-layered samples have been interpreted on the basis of space charge limited conduction (SCLC) mechanism. The conductivity of the polymer films increased on formation of their double-layer laminates. The polymer-polymer interface act as charge carrier trapping centres and provides links between the polymer molecules in the amorphous region. The interfacial phenomenon in polymer-polymer heterogeneous system has been interpreted in terms of Maxwell-Wagner model. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009 [source]


Sintering Behavior and Conductivity Study of Yttrium-Doped BaCeO3,BaZrO3 Solid Solutions Using ZnO Additives

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 11 2009
He Wang
The effect of ZnO on the crystal structure, sintering behavior, and electrical conductivity of yttrium-doped BaCeO3,BaZrO3 was investigated by unfixing or fixing the yttrium content noted as BaCe0.5Zr0.3Y0.2,xZnxO2.9,0.5x and BaCe0.5Zr0.3Y0.2O2.9+yZnO, respectively. Studies on the two series revealed that BaO·ZnO eutectic, rather than ZnO, was responsible for the sintering densification. For BaCe0.5Zr0.3Y0.2,xZnxO2.9,0.5x, the evaporation of ZnO·BaO eutectic was observed after sintering at 1300°C for 10 h, and few impurities were detected by XRD with x<0.20. For BaCe0.5Zr0.3Y0.2O2.9+yZnO, the concomitant loss of BaO with ZnO caused A-site deficiency and led to impurities of Y2O3 for y=0.08 and 0.14, and Y2BaZnO5 for y=0.20 during the sintering. For both series, ZnO enhanced the relative density, which was above 97% with x or y varying from 0.02 to 0.08. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis revealed that ZnO hardly entered the perovskite phase. The conductivity study also suggested that ZnO did not serve as a dopant and that yttrium content was essential for sustaining a high ionic conduction. Excessive ZnO was especially detrimental to the grain boundary conduction and thus lowered the total electrical conduction. The optimized composition of BaCe0.5Zr0.3Y0.2O2.9+0.04ZnO has been obtained, with both a high relative density (,98.5%) and a high electrical conductivity (1.35 × 10,2 S/cm at 600°C). [source]


Influences of ZnO on the Properties of SrZr0.9Y0.1O2.95 Protonic Conductor

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 5 2008
Zhenzhen Peng
The effects of ZnO additive on the microstructure, phase formation, and electrical conduction of yttrium-doped strontium zirconate were investigated. The sintering temperature of SrZr0.9Y0.1O2.95 can be lowered to 1350°C by addition of ZnO. The electrical conduction is found to be strongly correlated with the ZnO contents. When the ZnO content is <5 mol%, the electrical conductivity increased with an increase in the ZnO contents. Electromotive force measurements under fuel cell conditions indicated a pure ionic conduction over this range of ZnO contents. However, it had a detrimental effect on the electrical conduction when the ZnO content was more than 6 mol%. The main reason for this is discussed according to the defect chemistry and microstructure. [source]


Electrical Properties of Superlattice-Structured Bi4Ti3O12,PbBi4Ti4O15 Single Crystals

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 9 2007
M. Ikezaki
Single crystals of superlattice-structured ferroelectrics composed of Bi4Ti3O12 and PbBi4Ti4O15 were grown and the properties of polarization hysteresis and leakage current along the a -axis were investigated. Oxidation treatment led to a marked increase in leakage current at room temperature, showing that electron hole acts as a detrimental carrier for electrical conduction. A well-developed polarization hysteresis with a remanent polarization of 41 ,C/cm2 was observed, which is suggested to originate from the peculiar ferroelectric displacement of Bi in the Bi2O2 layers. [source]


Cardiovascular Involvement in 8 Dogs with Blastomyces dermatitidis Infection

JOURNAL OF VETERINARY INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2006
Chad Schmiedt
Background:Blastomycosis is a common systemic fungal infection in dogs. Hypothesis:Dogs with cardiovascular involvement may have abnormalities in electrical conduction and valvular function, and may have a worse prognosis. Animals:Eight client-owned animals. Methods:Dogs with cardiovascular lesions caused by blastomycosis were identified from retrospective evaluation of medical records. Results:Five dogs had de novo infections and 3 had recurrences of previously treated infections. Harsh labored breathing, lethargy, and anorexia were the most common historic complaints. Three dogs had syncope. Physical examination and clinicopathologic data were typical of blastomycosis and included dyspnea, increased lung sounds, and lethargy. In addition, 3 dogs had heart murmurs and 1 had a third-degree atrioventricular block. Four dogs had myocarditis and 2 had pericarditis or epicarditis. Two dogs had cardiac signs attributed to extracardiac compression by fungal granulomas and clinical signs were relieved by treatment. Half of the remaining 6 dogs were euthanized; 2 of these were not treated. Of the remaining 3 dogs, 1 dog died acutely while sleeping; the second died intraoperatively during an attempt to place an epicardial pacemaker; and the third had Blastomyces -induced endocarditis and died of heart failure. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Blastomycosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of dogs from endemic areas with inflammatory myocarditis, heart block, heart base or intracardiac mass lesions, syncope, or endocarditis. [source]


On a hierarchy of models for electrical conduction in biological tissues

MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN THE APPLIED SCIENCES, Issue 7 2006
M. Amar
Abstract In this paper we derive a hierarchy of models for electrical conduction in a biological tissue, which is represented by a periodic array of period , of conducting phases surrounded by dielectric shells of thickness ,, included in a conductive matrix. Such a hierarchy will be obtained from the Maxwell equations by means of a concentration process , , 0, followed by a homogenization limit with respect to ,. These models are then compared with regard to their physical meaning and mathematical issues. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]