UK – Page 21 – TechConnect Briefs

8nm cerium oxide as a fuel additive for fuel consumption and emissions reduction

Wakefield G., Gardener M., Oxonica Materials Ltd, UK

8nm cerium oxide is surface functionalised for diesel compatibility and added to fuel at a level of 5-8ppm. Static engine tests and large scale field trials show that engine fuel consumption is reduced by 5-8% [...]

Synthesis of Water Soluble Gold Nanoparticles and Adsorption of Dyes onto Gold Nanoparticles

Narband N., Parkin I., Wilson M., Gil Thomas J., University College London, UK

The synthesis of gold nanoparticles was performed by the Turkevich method. The effect of adding various dyes to gold hydrosols was investigated. It was found that the U. V. absorption characteristics of the dyes change [...]

Scale up production of nanoparticles using hydrothermal synthesis

Lester E., Poliakoff M., Li J., Guy B., Tinsley N., Blood P., The University of Nottingham, UK

This paper shows how continuous hydrothermal synthesis can be scaled up for commercial scale production using a patented reactor design. There are severe limitations with most nanomaterial manufacturing methods not excluding hydrothermal synthesis. Hydrothermal synthesis [...]

TiO2:Mn nanoparticles as enhanced UVA absorption, photostable sunscreen components

Duggan A., Wakefield G., Oxonica Materials Ltd, UK

Conventional sunscreen formulations typically contain, in addition to organic UV absorbers, inorganic nanoparticles such as titanium oxide or zinc oxide. Titanium oxide nanoparticles have significant drawbacks due to a high photoactivity which results in degradation [...]

Predicting the Positive Effects of Combined Metallurgical and Thermo-Mechanical Impacts on the Reliability of Solder Joint Interconnections

Khoshnaw F.M., LU, UK

Generally speaking, solder joints fail due to both fatigue and creep. Therefore both mechanisms are strongly considered by designers and manufacturers as an important design criteria. However, since most designers take parameters individually, their designs [...]

Nano-mechanical testing of Novel bioactive carbon nanotubes/HAP nano particles composite coatings

Singh I., Allan P., Brunel University, UK

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) is an important material for biomedical implants, as its chemical composition is similar to that of bone tissue. Synthetic HAP is a biocompatible prosthetic material, bonding strongly to the bone and promoting the [...]

Mechanical Properties of Polycrystalline 3C-SiC Heteroepitaxial Layers

Pozzi M., Harris A.J., Burdess J.S., Lee K.K., Cheung R., Newcastle University, UK

Silicon carbide (SiC) is widely recognised as the leading candidate to replace silicon in Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices operating in harsh environments. The superiority of SiC over Si as regards mechanical, chemical and electronic [...]

8nm cerium oxide as a fuel additive for fuel consumption and emissions reduction

Wakefield G., Gardener M., Oxonica Materials Ltd, UK

8nm cerium oxide is surface functionalised for diesel compatibility and added to fuel at a level of 5-8ppm. Static engine tests and large scale field trials show that engine fuel consumption is reduced by 5-8% [...]

A Microfluidic Mixer for Chaotic Mixing of Magnetic Particles

Zolgharni M., Azimi S.M., Bahmanyar M.R., Balachandran W., Brunel University, UK

Magnetic isolation of specific biological entities through utilizing super-paramagnetic micro-particles has been of great interest in both bench-top and microfluidic platforms. Since the magnetic particles and target entities are suspended in separate fluids, prior to [...]

A method for the highly parallel analysis of gene expression of single cells

Meuleman W.R.A., Milner N., Lueerssen D.W.K., Southern E.M., Oxford Gene Technology, UK

Presented is a method for carrying out rapid single cell gene expression analyses on a large number of cells in parallel. The entire analysis is carried out on a DNA microarray. We demonstrate single molecule [...]