Sharif Digital Repository

Dielectrophoresis is a robust approach for manipulating bioparticles in microfluidic devices. In recent years, many groups have developed dielectrophoresis-based microfluidic systems for separation and concentration of various types of bioparticles, where the gradient of the electric field causes dielectrophoresis force acting on the suspended particles. Enhancing the gradient of the electric field with three-dimensional (3D) electrodes can significantly improve the efficiency of the system. Implementing planar electrodes in a 3D arrangement is a simple option to form a 3D-electrode configuration. This paper reports the development of a novel dielectrophoretic microfluidic system for... 

A novel approach for particles size separation based on dielectrophoresis (DEP) method is introduced and analyzed both computationally and experimentally. The proposed technique has been utilized for the separation of polystyrene (PS) particles with 8, 6 and 2 μm diameters passing through microchannels with planar electrodes. The performance of the technique has been computationally analyzed using the finite element method (FEM). Considering the structure of the planar electrodes, we propose an approach based on applying an electric potential between one of the global electrodes, and a needle touched the top of the cell suspension. Results of both simulation and experiment show that by... 

Experiments are being conduced in a photography technique to examine flow of aluminum, cast iron and steel into the molds. The purpose is to observe some parameters such as gas gap length, foam decomposition products, metal front and mold filling time in lost foam casting of aluminum, cast iron and steel. Foam-metal interface reactions and gas evolution have been observed during mold filling. The results indicate that the metal pouring temperature and foam density and coating layer thickness affect mold filling time. In the steel lost foam casting, the gas gap length and gaseous products volume and the mold filling time are significantly larger than the cast iron. In both the cast iron and... 

A336 Al matrix composites containing different volume fraction and mean mass particle size of SiC particles as the reinforcing phase were synthesised by evaporative pattern casting (EPC) route. The process consisted of fabricating of EPS/SiCp composite pattern followed by EPC of A336 Al alloy. The EPS/SiCp pattern was made by blending SiC particles with expandable polystyrene (EPS) beads and placing them in expanding mould heating with steam until EPS beads expand completely. Uniform distributed SiC particles around the EPS beads and locally movement of them during pouring and degradation leads to homogenous distribution of particles in final Al/SiCp composite. Higher modulus, strength and... 

No-fines concrete has considerable drainage property and a relatively low strength. A wide aggregate grading range, with higher percentage of aggregate in lower bound, improves strength properties, however such grading results in lower drainage capability. The objective of this paper is to make high-performance single-sized No-fines Concrete mixes using polymer modification. An experimental program was carried out to study the parameters of water-cement ratio, aggregate-cement ratio, type of polymer, polymer content, setting time and curing period. The test specimens were 6×12 in. cylinders and were cast using hand rodding compaction in accordance with ASTM C 31-69. Initially a proper... 

Amyloid beta fibrillation can lead to major disorder of neurons processes and is associated with several neuronal diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's disease). We report here an importance of slight temperature changes, in the physiological range (35-42 °C), on the amyloid fibrillation process in the presence and absence of hydrophilic (silica) and hydrophobic (polystyrene) nanoparticles (NPs). The results highlight the fact that slight increases in temperature can induce inhibitory and acceleratory effects of hydrophobic and hydrophilic NPs on the fibrillation process, respectively. Using further in vivo considerations, the outcomes of this study can be used for considerable modifications on the... 

Here we report a versatile new method for endfunctionalizing polystyrene. In order to produce polystyrene with an amino end group, 2-(3-bromo-3- phenylpropyl) isoindoline-1,3-dione was synthesized and used as a novel initiator for ATRP. After ATRP polymerization, tri-n-butyltin hydride ((n-Bu) 3SnH) reductively replace existing halogens on polymer chains by hydrogen. Finally, the phthaloyl groups on polymer backbone were cleaved by treatment with hydrazine yielding amino terminated polystyrene. A polymer with M n≈10,350 and M w/M n01.17 was obtained. Therefore, this method allows the preparation of amino end functionalized polystyrene of narrow polydispersity with complete degree of... 

Understanding the dynamics of direct electrospinning is the key to control fiber morphologies that are critical for the development of new electrospinning methods and novel materials. Here, we propose the theory for direct electrospinning based on theories for (liquid) "rope coiling" and experimentally test it. For the experiments, the buckling of microscale liquid ropes formed from polymer solutions is studied systematically using three different electrospinning setups and for different polymer concentrations. We show that different buckling regimes exist, whose dynamics are governed by an interplay of electrical, inertial, and viscous forces, and that three different buckling regimes... 

Rubber particle cavitation has been the focus of many investigations because it dramatically affects the mechanical properties of polymeric blends. In this work, the effect of rubber particle cavitation on the mechanical behavior of high-impact polystyrene was studied. The extent of cavitation in rubber particles was varied via different thermal contraction/expansion cycles in the range of -100 to 23°C. Tensile, creep, and Charpy impact tests were conducted to evaluate the effects of the degree of cavitation on the general mechanical properties. The notch-tip damage zone and deformation micromechanisms were also investigated by a transmitted optical microscopy technique to reveal the effects... 

Optical tweezers are indispensable force spectroscopes. The trap stiffness and the linear force range of the instrument determine the working force range of the instrument. Here we show both theoretically and experimentallythat utilizing a circular obstruction at the back focal plane of the objective can significantly increase the maximumlinear force. For instance, utilizing a disk with an obstruction ratio of 0.773 could increase the maximum linearforce by a factor of ∼39 when a 3.4 μm polystyrene bead is trapped. We also show that this simple beam shapingmethod can significantly improve the maximum applicable force per unit power of the laser entering the objectivelens. © 2018 Optical... 

Impact and tensile strength of polystyrene and nylon 6 samples, which have been produced by injection molding before and after annealing in different conditions are obtained. Polystyrene samples that are heated on vacuum conditions can deform highly even in temperatures much less than polystyrene glass temperature. This phenomenon is reduced significantly by heating samples to annealing temperature in atmospheric pressure and then removing air from sample environment in constant temperature. Deformation problems for nylon were not so important but due to high temperature implied for annealing of nylon parts, some color change due to oxidative degradation are observed. So for nylon parts a... 

Polystyrene- (Styrene Ethylene Butylene Styrene-Maleic Anhydride) (SEBS-MA) composites with/without organoclay were prepared by melt intercalation method. The morphology, tensile and impact properties and deformation mechanism of these compounds were investigated. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and reflected and transmitted optical microscopy techniques were used to study the morphology and deformation mechanisms. The results show that incorporation of SEBS with/without organoclay notably affects morphology, mechanical properties and plastic deformation of polystyrene. Introduction of SEBS with/without organoclay can facilitate initiation and growth of crazing mechanism... 

Nowadays, the growth of energy consumption in buildings is an important topic. Rammed earth (RE) structures have attracted the attention of engineers and contractors in recent years due to their advantages such as sustainability, availability and low embodied energy content. These advantages result in less energy consumption in the life cycle of the RE structures. However, there is a lack of research on the mixture composition of RE materials containing admixtures. This research introduced integrated analytic network process (ANP) and genetic algorithm (GA) methodology to select the optimum mixture of RE material containing cement, expanded polystyrene(EPS), and phase change materials(PCM)... 

The biological identity of nanoparticles (NPs) is established by their interactions with a wide range of biomolecules around their surfaces after exposure to biological media. Understanding the true nature of the biomolecular corona (BC) in its native state is, therefore, essential for its safe and efficient application in clinical settings. The fundamental challenge is to visualize the biomolecules within the corona and their relationship/association to the surface of the NPs. Using a synergistic application of cryo-electron microscopy, cryo-electron tomography, and three-dimensional reconstruction, we revealed the unique morphological details of the biomolecules and their...