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Organic solar cells have shown great promise of becoming a cheaper alternative to inorganic solar cells. Additionally, they can also be made semitransparent. To avoid using expensive indium tin oxide electrodes in organic solar cells the electrodes can be made from conductive polymer, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). However, these so-called PEDOT-PEDOT solar cells are prone to short-circuiting. The work behind this thesis thus aimed to find the cause of these short circuits. The initial working hypothesis assumed the hygroscopic PSS in the bottom electrode could attract water across the active layer when the top electrode layer was applied. This would then swell the bottom electrode and cause the active layer to crack leading to short circuits. Accordingly, swelling was investigated as it was suspected to be the main cause of the shorts. This was achieved by coating reflective substrates with different layers from the solar cell, dropping water on top of the stack and then filming the thin film interference effects. SEM, AFM and IR were also used for further analysis. Although the bottom electrode swells, it was found that water does not cause permanent cracking. Instead, the research unveiled that water causes a formation of blisters, which are suspected to be made of PSS. The exact mechanism for the formation of the shorts remains unclear however.

No / Municipalities and recycling and environmental authorities are concerned about the growing amount of carpet waste produced by household, commercial and industrial sectors. It is reported that 500,000 tonnes of carpet waste fibre are plunged into landfills annually in the UK. In the United States of America, around 10 million tonnes of textile waste was generated in 2003. In geotechnical engineering, expansive clay soils are categorised as problematic soils due to their swelling behaviour upon increase in the moisture content. The problematic nature of such soils is intensified with the increase in the plasticity index. This paper presents results of a comprehensive investigation into utilisation of carpet waste fibres in order to improve the swelling characteristics of compacted cohesive soils. Therefore, two different clay soils with markedly different plasticity indices (i.e. 17.0 and 31.5 %) were treated with two different types of carpet waste fibre. Waste fibres were added to prepare specimens with fibre content of 1, 3 and 5 % by dry weight of soil. Soil specimens with different dry unit weights and moisture contents were prepared so as to the swelling behaviour of fibre reinforced compacted clays is completely attained under various scenarios. The results indicated that the behaviour of the fibre reinforced soils seems highly dependent on the initial compaction state and secondary on the moisture content. It was found that the swelling pressure drops rapidly as the percentage of fibre increases in samples prepared at the maximum dry unit weight and optimum moisture content. Reducing the dry unit weight, while maintaining constant moisture content or increasing the moisture content at constant dry unit weight was found to reduce the swelling pressure.

Lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) are the most popular choice in the shift towardselectrification due to their high volumetric energy and power density. An importantaspect to study is the effect of swelling on the mechanical performance of LiBsas it plays an important role in determining the forces in the battery module.During charge/discharge a battery cell swells/shrinks and over the lifetime of thebattery, swelling becomes permanent. The swelling increases with cycling that causesincreasing forces in the module. Excessive pressure generated due to cycling in themodule may electrically short the cells and/or cause mechanical damage to the cells.Compression pads placed between cells in the battery module absorb the swelling. Thematerial properties and size of the compression pads used influence the module forcesat End of Life (EoL).In this study, a 1D phenomenological model is built to predict the swelling forces. Themodel differs from others in literature in a way that the swelling forces are predictedwith cycling rather than State of Charge (SoC) and a stress-strain based constitutivemodel is used rather than a spring model. A process to eliminate the need for multipletests is also proposed in the thesis to predict swelling forces for different compressionpads and preloads.The proposed model is relatively simple and can improve existing battery managementsystems by predicting the swelling and the magnitude of swelling forces for differentcompression pads and preloads during the operational life of the battery.

<p dir="ltr">This thesis delves into the dynamics and driving factors of thermal transport via natural convection, the onset and severity of quiescent cavitation and its impact of auto-injector device performance, and the controlled release of rapidly swelling pharmaceutical tablets. In each of these instances showcases how variations in external conditions or the introduction of new variables can disrupt the equilibrium of fluid systems, leading to complex behaviors. Vertical thermal convection illustrates how temperature gradients induce fluid movement and patterns; cavitation inception focuses on the formation of vapor cavities due to pressure drops within a fluid; and rapid tablet swelling explores the interaction between solid materials and liquids, leading to significant changes in concentration and mass transfer. These studies collectively enhance our understanding of transport dynamics, highlighting pathways to achieve optimal transport and delivery conditions for various industrial and pharmaceutical processes.</p>

Yes / This paper focuses on monitoring the evolution of lime-clay reactions using geotechnical parameters as a function of lime content and environmental temperature. Lime contents of 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13% by dry weight of expansive clay powder were added to prepare lime-clay specimens. The specimens were prepared at the same dry unit weight of 12.16 kN/m3 and moisture content of 40% except for tests aimed at the determination of dry unit weight as a function of mellowing period. Prepared specimens were mellowed or cured at two different ambient temperatures of 20 °C and 40 °C. Results attained from Unconfined Compressive Strength and permeability tests were employed to assess the impact of lime content on the mechanical and hydraulic properties of lime treated expansive clays. The results revealed that at the beginning, the rate of strength gain is remarkably fast for a particular period of time which is dependent on lime content. Furthermore, the strength gain on specimens cured at 40 °C is 8 times higher than that observed on specimens cured at 20 °C which highlights significant effect for the environmental temperature on accelerating the chemical reactions. Reduced dry unit weight due to increased resistance to compactability is observable with increasing lime content and higher environmental temperature. Accelerated pozzolanic reaction at higher environmental temperature resulted in permeability coefficient of specimens mellowed for 24 h at 40 °C to be higher than those mellowed at 20 °C. The results also highlighted that the permeability coefficient would be relatively stable when expansive clays were treated with small amounts of lime e.g. 5%.

Yes / Polymeric hydrogels are a complex class of materials with one common feature—the ability to form three-dimensional networks capable of imbibing large amounts of water or biological fluids without being dissolved, acting as self-sustained containers for various purposes, including pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. Transdermal pharmaceutical microneedles are a pain-free drug delivery system that continues on the path to widespread adoption—regulatory guidelines are on the horizon, and investments in the field continue to grow annually. Recently, hydrogels have generated interest in the field of transdermal microneedles due to their tunable properties, allowing them to be exploited as delivery systems and extraction tools. As hydrogel microneedles are a new emerging technology, their fabrication faces various challenges that must be resolved for them to redeem themselves as a viable pharmaceutical option. This article discusses hydrogel microneedles from a material perspective, regardless of their mechanism of action. It cites the recent advances in their formulation, presents relevant fabrication and characterization methods, and discusses manufacturing and regulatory challenges facing these emerging technologies before their approval.

Jämtlands berggrund består till stora delar av sedimentära bergarter som har genomgått olika grader av metamorfos under den kaledoniska orogenesen. I Östersunds centrala delar påträffas nästan enbart svartskiffer med låg metamorfosgrad. På flera platser i Östersund har det uppkommit skador på byggnader till följd av svällning i skiffern. Svällning uppstår när berggrunden exponeras för luft och vatten. Pyrit och kalcit som finns i skiffern reagerar och bildar gips, vilket orsakar volymökning. Under arbetet genomfördes laborativt svällförsök, där en del av proverna hölls torrt medan en del fuktades. Proverna undersöktes vidare med röntgendiffraktion för att kvantifiera mineralhalter. Svällförsöket genomfördes i syfte att utveckla en metod för bedömning av svällrisk i projekteringsskede för nya anläggningar i berg. För att förhindra skador till följd av svällning har flertal åtgärder testats, där försöken har inneburit att stänga ute syre från berggrunden genom att hålla berggrunden under grundvattennivån eller på olika sätt försegla exponerade bergytor. Det finns flertal faktorer som påverkar svällbenägenhet, i arbetet diskuteras bland annat påverkan av svavelhalt, pH och temperatur. Slutligen observerades &lt;0,1wt% gips i samtliga prover från undersökningsområdet genom XRD analys, samtliga prover hade även en låg halt av pyrit och magnetkis. De låga halterna och standardavvikelse för analysmetoden medförde att skillnad i mineralogi före och efter utfört svällförsök ej kunde påvisas. Det är fortsatt viktigt att ha i åtanke att berggrunden i området har rätt förutsättningar för svällning även om resultaten inte visar någon skillnad i gipshalt före och efter utfört svällförsök. / Jämtlands bedrock mainly consists of sedimentary rocks that has been metamorphosed during the Caledonian orogenesis. In the central parts of Östersund almost only black shale with a low grade of metamorphism is encountered. Damages on buildings has occurred due to swelling in shale in several places in Östersund. Swelling occurs when the bedrock is exposed to water and air. Pyrite and Calcite in the shale reacts and forms gypsum, which causes volume expansion. During this study laboratory swelling tests were performed, where one part of the samples was kept dry while the other part was exposed to water. The samples were examined with x-ray diffraction to quantify the mineral content. The swelling tests were performed with the purpose of evaluating XRD as a method for predicting the swelling risk in the early stage of planning for new facilities in the bedrock.To prevent damages caused by swelling several methods have been tested, where the attempts included shutting out oxygen from the bedrock by keeping it below the ground water level and by sealing the rock surface in different ways. There are multiple factors that affects the swelling risk, this work discusses influence from sulfur content, pH and temperature. Lastly &lt;0,1wt% gypsum was observed in all samples from the survey area through XRD analysis, a low amount of pyrite and pyrrhotite was also seen in all samples. The low amounts in combination with standard deviation in the analysis made it difficult to prove any difference in mineralogy due to the swelling tests. Hence it is still important to keep in mind that the bedrock in the area has the right conditions for swelling even though the results show no difference in the amount of gypsum between the dry and wet samples.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第25262号 / 工博第5221号 / 新制||工||1996(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科都市社会工学専攻 / (主査)教授 岸田 潔, 教授 安原 英明, 准教授 橋本 涼太 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Les vésicules géantes unilamellaires (GUV) permettent d’étudier efficacement les interactions entre les lipides et les peptides. Dans ce manuscrit, il a été montré que les interactions attractives lipides-peptides sont supprimées par l’attachement de polypeptides de type élastine (ELP) sur des peptides riches en arginine et peuvent être modulées par l’auto-assemblage en micelles ainsi que par le nombre de groupements arginine dans la séquence des peptides capables de pénétrer les cellules. De plus, une nouvelle méthode pour former des GUV à partir de systèmes complexes en seulement quelques minutes a été développée. Cette méthode est basée sur le gonflement d’un film de PVA sous une bicouche lipidique. Elle supprime la dégradation des molécules pendant la formation des GUV de lipides synthétiques, tels que des glycolipides et des phospholipides portant des groupements amides, où les méthodes traditionnelles ne réussissent pas à produire des vésicules non endommagées. / Giant Unilamellar Vesicles (GUVs) are a valuable tool to study lipid bilayer-biomolecule interactions in simplified cell-like model systems. In this work, a new method to efficiently form GUVs within minutes from more complex systems was developed. This method is based on swelling of a PVA-film under a lipid bilayer and minimizes damage of involved molecules during GUV formation. It also opens up many interesting perspectives for the formation of GUVs composed from new classes of synthetic lipids, such as glycolipids and amide-bearing phospholipids, where the traditional methods fail to efficiently produce “undamaged” vesicles. GUVs were also used for studying lipid-peptide interactions of a new class of elastin-like polypeptides functionalized with arginine-rich residues. It is shown that attractive interactions between lipids and peptides are suppressed by cargo-attachment and can be tuned by self-assembly into micelles and the arginine-amount of the cell penetrating residue.