Effect of Binder Coatings on the Fracture Behavior of Polymer–Crystal Composite Particles Using the Discrete Element Method

Polymer–crystal composite particles formed by crystals coated with binders are widely used in the fields of medicine, energy, the chemical industry, and civil engineering. Binder content is an important factor in determining the mechanical behavior of composite particles. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the underlying effect of binder coatings in the fracture micromechanics of polymer–crystal composite particles using the discrete element method (DEM). To achieve this objective, realistic particle and crystal shapes were first obtained and reconstructed based on X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) scanning and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. A series of single particle crushing tests and DEM simulations were conducted on real and reconstructed polymer–crystal composite particles, respectively. Based on the experimental and DEM results, the effect of binder coatings on the crushing strength and crushing patterns of polymer–crystal composite particles was measured. Moreover, the micromechanics of the development and distribution of microcracks was further investigated to reveal the mechanism by which binder coatings affect polymer–crystal composite particles.

Production of Intensifying Blue Light by Cherenkov Radiation Phenomena and Their Use as Power Source Applications

It is interesting to note in recent years for a large number of researchers the topic of photonic crystals (PhCs) because of their new and useful properties. In addition, there are many advantages to photonic crystals materials as a high reflectance materials as well as the high transmittance materials based on the target application. The calculations were done for Aluminum oxide and titanium oxide (Al2O3/TiO2) composite photonic crystal in one dimension, which shows a high reflectivity (~ 99 %). The chosen photonic crystal composite can be useful to reflect the Cherenkov light many times which comes out from Cherenkov radiation by using radioisotope 90Sr-90Y. The output intensified light has power 1.45 µwatt and 1.45 nwatt for 90Sr-90Y with the activity 1Ci and 1mCi respectively, that can be used for micro/nano-power source applications.