Die Kühlung thermisch hoch belasteter Bauteile wird häufig mit Kühlverfahren realisiert, die auf dem Prinzip des Massetransports durch die Bauteilwand beruhen. Neben der Film- und Transpirationskühlung gehört die Effusionskühlung zu diesen Verfahren und basiert auf einer Reihe oder einem Raster von Bohrungen. Dieser Ansatz ermöglicht sowohl den Abtransport von Wärme aus dem Bauteil als auch die Ausbildung eines schützenden Kühlmittelfilms auf der Bauteiloberfläche. Viele Autoren beschäftigten sich in ihren Arbeiten mit den Auswirkungen der Filmkühlung auf den Wärmeübergang an der Bauteilwand und definierten einen Filmkühlwirkungsgrad, der die Effektivität der Kühlung widerspiegelt. Auch die Freistrahlen aus Effusionskühlbohrungen wurden mit diesen Mitteln untersucht und eine Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Einflussgrößen auf den Filmkühlwirkungsgrad identifiziert. Dazu gehören insbesondere geometrische Bedingungen, wie z.B. der Bohrungswinkel, das Verhältnis von Länge zu Durchmesser der Bohrung und die Austrittsgeometrie der Bohrungen. In späteren Beiträgen analysierten verschiedene Autoren die Einflüsse der Turbulenz sowie der Stoffwerte von Kühlmittel und Hauptströmung. Dabei kamen meist Luft und seltener Kohlendioxid oder Stickstoff als Kühlmittel zum Einsatz. In den letzten Jahren wurde das Verhalten des Kühlmittelstrahls vor allem numerisch untersucht. Dabei beschränkte sich das Berechnungsgebiet oftmals auf das direkte Umfeld der Effusionskühlbohrung und die Identifikation und Beschreibung auftretender Wirbelstrukturen. Der Bereich weiter stromab der Bohrung blieb oft unberücksichtigt. Die vorliegende Arbeit verfolgt den Ansatz, den Kühlmittelstrahl in der Hauptströmung zu beobachten. Das wird durch die Verwendung von Helium und Argon als Kühlmittel möglich, denn diese Gase können in der Luftströmung detektiert werden. Durch eine in zwei Richtungen bewegliche Kombisonde wird Gas aus der Grenzschicht abgesaugt und die Konzentration des Kühlmittels bestimmt. Die so an diskreten Punkten stromab der Effusionskühlbohrung erhaltenen Konzentrations- und Geschwindigkeitsprofile ermöglichen die Verfolgung des Kühlmittelstrahls und dessen Wechselwirkungen mit der Hauptströmung. Für eine vergleichende Analyse der gemessenen Profile entstand ein empirisches Verfahren zur Systematisierung der gesamten Messdaten. Die Definition einer mittleren Kühlmittelkonzentration innerhalb einer zweckmäßig festgelegten Höhe über der Wand und eines normierten Einblasparameters, der das Verhältnis der molaren Massen von Kühlmittel und Hauptströmung berücksichtigt, sind der Kern des empirischen Verfahrens. Für Vergleiche mit der Literatur erfolgte die Berechnung eines Filmkühlwirkungsgrads auf Basis der Massebilanz in der Grenzschicht und der mittleren Kühlmittelkonzentration. Während der Datenauswertung zeigte sich, dass der Bohrungswinkel einen geringen Einfluss auf die mittlere Kühlmittelkonzentration hat und so ein Bohrungswinkel von 30° ein guter Kompromiss zwischen Herstellungsaufwand und Kühlwirkung ist. Kühlmedien mit geringer molarer Masse und hoher spezifischer Wärmekapazität sollten bevorzugt werden, da deren Kühlwirkung hoch, der Einfluss auf die Grenzschicht aber gering ist. / The cooling of thermally heavily loaded components is commonly performed by injecting a mass flow through the component’s wall into the hot flow, which is called Film cooling. The main goal is to form a coolant film to reduce the hot side heat transfer and to absorb thermal energy in order to protect the component’s wall. There are different techniques available called film cooling, transpiration cooling and effusion cooling. By applying transpiration cooling, the cooling fluid is injected through a porous material into the hot gas flow. Unfortunately, these porous materials do not have the physical strength required to work within gas turbines. If the injection is done with a row or a pattern of holes so the cooling film is renewed at certain positions, the cooling technique is called effusion cooling. Film cooling means the injection of fluid through a slot without renewing the film. Many authors analyze the effect of the film or effusion cooling on the wall temperature, the heat transfer coefficient or the cooling effectiveness. Many influencing factors were identified, such as the length to diameter relation, the hole’s alignment, fluid properties as well as turbulence and vortices. Recent works use numerical simulations to investigate the turbulent flow and vortex development in the near field of the injection hole. Due to the complexity of the simulation, the effects far downstream area were not covered by these simulations. This work investigates the behavior of the cooling jet within the boundary layer above the wall. Therefore a foreign gas (Helium, Argon) was injected as coolant into a cross flow and a pitot probe was used to get gas samples out of the boundary layer and the coolant gas fraction was measured. The measured concentration was empirically systematized by comparative data analysis. Therefore, a mean concentration within a certain height above the wall was calculated. Also a normed blowing rate was used to include the molar masses of coolant and cross flow. With this mean concentration a cooling effectiveness is calculated based on a balance model and compared to the results in the literature. As a result of the data evaluation, the hole’s angle was found to have a minor influence on the mean coolant concentration. An angle of about 30° is a good compromise between production effort and cooling efficiency. Also coolant fluids with a low molar mass and high specific heat capacity should be preferred because of their low impact on the boundary layer.

Das Potenzial mentaler Modelle zur Entwicklung benutzergerechter, technischer Systeme wurde bereits in zahlreichen Studien aufgezeigt. Jedoch existieren noch immer nur wenige konkrete Methoden zur Nutzung mentaler Modelle im Zuge der Produktentwicklung. Diese Arbeit stellt daher einen konkreten Methodenansatz vor, anhand dessen es Entwicklern ermöglicht werden kann, Optimierungspotenziale mit Hilfe der mentalen Modelle zu identifizieren und diese zu beeinflussen. Dazu werden verschiedene Werkzeuge definiert, die gezielt Einfluss auf die individuelle und kollektive Modellbildung der Nutzer nehmen. In einem Versuch wird der Einfluss dieser Werkzeuge bei visueller Informationsübertragung anhand eines Defibrillators untersucht. Mithilfe eines Interface-Mock-ups werden verschiedene Use Cases im Rahmen einer erweiterten User-Interface-Prototyping-Untersuchung durchlaufen. Die Auswertung der Antwortzeiten und Lösungsstrategien zeigt auf, dass die Werkzeuge einen Einfluss auf die Bildung individueller und kollektiver Modellstrukturen haben. Der Einfluss äußert sich in einem benutzergerechten Verhalten der Versuchspersonen, welches nachweisbar durch die gezielten Interfaceanpassungen gefördert wurde.

Human spatial behavior has been the focus of hundreds of previous research studies. However, the conclusions and generalizability of previous studies on interpersonal distance preferences were limited by some important methodological and sampling issues. The objective of the present study was to compare preferred interpersonal distances across the world and to overcome the problems observed in previous studies. We present an extensive analysis of interpersonal distances over a large data set (N = 8,943 participants from 42 countries). We attempted to relate the preferred social, personal, and intimate distances observed in each country to a set of individual characteristics of the participants, and some attributes of their cultures. Our study indicates that individual characteristics (age and gender) influence interpersonal space preferences and that some variation in results can be explained by temperature in a given region. We also present objective values of preferred interpersonal distances in different regions, which might be used as a reference data point in future studies.

The present study mainly focus on two parts: one was the optimization of FactSage calculation, compared with HT-XRD measurements on mineral matter behaviors during the heating of coal and blend ashes from 500 °C to 1000 °C in reducing atmosphere. The aim was to obtain the optimized input parameters and options for FactSage calculation, and the outputs should be as close as possible to HT-XRD results. The other was the application of FactSage on ash melting behaviors. Since the maximum temperature of HT-XRD measurement in laboratory was 1000 °C in reducing atmosphere, the optimized FactSage was applied to investigate the ash melting behaviors in temperature range between 600 °C and 1600 °C for coal, biomass and their blends. The FactSage calculation was optimized by investigations of several input parameters and options including the mass ratio of reactant gas amount to ash sample, solution species and compound solid species. The results obtained from the optimized calculation were much better to fit the mineral transformations measured by HT-XRD. However, there were still some differences between the results from optimized FactSage calculations and HT-XRD measurements. This is mainly due to the amorphous substances which occurred as solid phases and liquid slag in FactSage outputs but cannot be detected by HT-XRD. Besides, several factors, such as the diffusion, particle size distribution and so on, affect the actual measurements greatly but been neglected in thermodynamic calculations, which enhance the distinctions. In addition, the effects of atmosphere were investigated and the differences of mineral matter behaviors were mainly embodied in sulphur-rich minerals, iron-rich minerals and amorphous substance. For application of FactSage on ash melting behaviors, AFTs tests for coal, biomass and their blends were adopted, and the results were well investigated by ash chemical components analyzed by XRF and also equilibrium phases calculated by FactSage. Hemispheric temperature and flowing temperature were mainly dependent on the high melting point substances at high temperature, such as free CaO in HKN and SWC, SiO2 in WS and KOL. The sintering temperature was largely affected by alkali oxides, which could combine with other oxides to form low melting point substances. For blended ashes, AFTs of the blended ash of HKN and WS shown a V shape with WS addition mass ratio rising, and the minimum values of AFTs appeared at 50 wt.% WS addition. AFTs of KOL changed in a small scale when mixed with WS, due to their similar ash composition (high in SiO2). As the SWC ash contents is much less than HKN and KOL, it did not affect the AFTs much when blended with coals. Moreover, the biomass addition affection on the blended ashes AFTs were also well illustrated by the liquid phases mass fraction and also the mineral matter transformations calculated by FactSage.

Führung gilt als zentraler Einflussfaktor auf den Erfolg von Organisationen und Arbeitsgruppen. Im Gegensatz zu formalen Führungskräften, welche sich meistens in einer hierarchisch höhergestellten Leitungsposition innerhalb der Organisation befinden und meist von der Organisation mit einem gewissen Maß an Macht oder Autorität ausgestattet sind, entwickelt sich die informelle Führung durch das Verhalten der Teammitglieder untereinander und manifestiert sich in der interpersonalen Wahrnehmung. Informelle Führungsstrukturen haben Auswirkungen auf die Leistung von und Zufriedenheit in Teams. Damit jedoch Organisationen und Arbeitsgruppen von informellen Führungsstrukturen profitieren können, sind wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zu den genauen Antezedenzien, Wirkmechanismen und Bedingungen ihrer Entwicklung unabdingbar. Trotz der umfangreichen empirischen Evidenz zu den Antezedenzien und Auswirkungen informeller Führung, sind grundlegende Fragen zu den interpersonellen und intrapersonalen Prozessen noch unbeantwortet. Diese Dissertation leistet einen Beitrag zur informellen Führungsforschung durch die Analyse dynamischer Zusammenhänge objektiven, sowie subjektiv wahrgenommenen Verhaltens und der Wahrnehmung von Führung in Arbeitsgruppen. Die Kapitel der Dissertation stützen sich dabei auf drei zentrale theoretische Ansätze: Evolutionäre Führungstheorie, Theorien zur geteilten Führung, sowie Informationsverarbeitungstheorie. Das erste Kernkapitel der Dissertation stellt eine Integration und Synthese relevanter theoretischer Ansätze zu Verhalten und Führung in Arbeitsgruppen dar. Das zweite Kernkapitel befasst der Rolle kognitiver Schemata in der individuellen Wahrnehmung der informellen Führungsstruktur und der eigenen interpersonalen Kommunikation.:List of Tables 4 List of Figures 5 Abstract 6 Zusammenfassung 9 1. Introduction 13 1.1. Relevance 13 1.2. Research Objectives 15 1.3. Dissertation Structure 17 2. Core Constructs and Conceptual Clarifications 18 3. Theoretical Framework 19 3.1. Evolutionary Leadership Theory 20 3.2. Shared Leadership Theory 22 3.3. Information Processing Theories 23 4. Methodological Framework 28 4.1. Social Network Analysis 28 4.2. Temporal Dynamics of Social Networks 31 5. Status Quo of Research 33 5.1. Antecedents of Informal Leadership in Teams 34 5.1.1. Antecedents of team-level informal leadership structures 34 5.1.2. Individual (ego)-level predictors of informal leadership perceptions 35 5.1.3. Dyadic-level antecedents of informal leadership perceptions 36 5.2. Observable Behavior and Informal Leadership Perceptions 37 5.3. Longitudinal Developments: Stability and Change of Informal Leadership Perceptions 39 6. Overview of the Research Program 41 7. Observing Leadership as Behavior– An Evolutionary Approach to Theory and Research on Team-Level Leadership Structures 44 7.1. Introduction 46 7.2. Shared Leadership in Teams: The Role of Interpersonal Behavior 48 7.3. Propositions 52 7.4. Leadership Assessment in Ethology 57 7.5. Leadership as Dyadic Ties: Implications for the Assessment of Behavior-based Networks 59 7.5.1. Behavior directions 60 7.5.2. Interpersonal behavior sequences 63 7.5.3. Compiling dyadic behavior to the group level 66 7.6. Discussion 67 7.6.1. Theoretical implications 67 7.6.2. Methodological implications 69 7.6.4. Practical implications 70 7.6.5. Limitations and outlook 71 8. Perceiving Leadership in Teams: The Effects of Cognitive Schemas and Perceived Communication 73 8.1. Introduction 75 8.2. Individual Perceptions of Leadership in Team 77 8.3. Individual Differences and Perceptions of Leadership in Teams 79 8.4. Leadership Structure Schemas 80 8.5. The Mediating Role of Perceived Communication 82 8.6. The Moderating Role of Affective Motivation to Lead 84 8.7. Overall Model 87 8.8. Method 88 8.8.1. Sample 89 8.8.2. Measures 89 8.9. Results 92 8.9.1. Descriptive analysis 92 8.9.2. Analytical approac 93 8.9.3. Hypotheses testing 95 8.10. Discussion 100 8.10.1. Implications for research 101 8.10.2. Practical implications 104 8.10.3. Limitations 105 9. Adapting Leadership Perceptions across Tasks: Micro-Origins of Informal Leadership Transitions 106 9.1. Introduction 108 9.2. Informal Leadership in Teams 110 9.3. Stability and Change of Informal Leadership Perceptions 113 9.4. How do Leadership Perceptions Change? Social Interactions as Micro-Processes 114 9.5. When do Leadership Perceptions Change? The Role Perceived Shifts in Competence Allocation 117 9.6. Methods 121 9.6.1. Overview and sample 121 9.6.2. Baseline assessment (T0) 122 9.6.3. Laboratory measurement (T1) 122 9.7. Results 127 9.7.1. Descriptive analyses 127 9.7.2 Analytical approach 129 9.7.3. Tests of hypotheses 131 9.8. Discussion 134 9.8.1. Implications for informal leadership research 135 9.8.2. Limitations 139 9.8.3. Practical implications 141 9.8.4. Conclusions 142 10. General Discussion 143 10.1. Summary of Conceptual Propositions 143 10.2. Summary of the Empirical Findings 143 10.3. Integration and Theoretical Implications 145 10.3.1. Observable behavior versus perceived behavior 145 10.3.2. The nature and content of cognitive schemas 147 10.3.3. When and why leadership perceptions change 150 10.4. Practical Implications 151 10.5. Limitations 154 10.6. Future Research 155 10.7. Conclusion 156 11. References 159 12. Acknowledgements 181 13. Curriculum Vitae 183 14. Declaration 187 / Leadership is a central factor of influence for team and organizational success. Whereas formal leadership features the occupation of management positions within the organizational hierarchy, often accompanied by a certain degree of power and authority, informal leadership develops naturally through team members’ behavior and manifests in their interpersonal perceptions. Informal leadership structures of teams have an impact on their performance and satisfaction. However, for organizations and teams to benefit from informal leadership, insights to the antecedents, mechanisms, and moderators for the development are indispensable. Although a considerable amount of research attends to the antecedents and effects of informal leadership, fundamental questions regarding the interpersonal and intrapersonal processes are yet unanswered. This dissertation contributes to informal leadership research by providing analyses of the dynamic associations between behavior, perceived behavior, and leadership perceptions in work groups. The chapters therefore refer to three central theoretical approaches: Evolutionary Leadership Theory, Shared Leadership Theory, and theory on information processing. The first main chapter of the dissertation provides an integration and synthesis of the relevant theoretical approaches to behavior and leadership in teams. The second main chapter attends to the relevance of cognitive schemas in the individual perception of both the informal leadership structure and the own interpersonal communication. The third main chapter puts an additional focus on the dynamics of leadership perceptions on the level of dyadic relations. The theoretical propositions and empirical findings of this dissertation provide important first steps towards the fine-grained and multi-level analysis of the intra- and interindividual processes of the development and change of informal leadership perceptions in work teams, and the integration of future and past evidence in the overarching context of the meaning of leadership structures for group performance.:List of Tables 4 List of Figures 5 Abstract 6 Zusammenfassung 9 1. Introduction 13 1.1. Relevance 13 1.2. Research Objectives 15 1.3. Dissertation Structure 17 2. Core Constructs and Conceptual Clarifications 18 3. Theoretical Framework 19 3.1. Evolutionary Leadership Theory 20 3.2. Shared Leadership Theory 22 3.3. Information Processing Theories 23 4. Methodological Framework 28 4.1. Social Network Analysis 28 4.2. Temporal Dynamics of Social Networks 31 5. Status Quo of Research 33 5.1. Antecedents of Informal Leadership in Teams 34 5.1.1. Antecedents of team-level informal leadership structures 34 5.1.2. Individual (ego)-level predictors of informal leadership perceptions 35 5.1.3. Dyadic-level antecedents of informal leadership perceptions 36 5.2. Observable Behavior and Informal Leadership Perceptions 37 5.3. Longitudinal Developments: Stability and Change of Informal Leadership Perceptions 39 6. Overview of the Research Program 41 7. Observing Leadership as Behavior– An Evolutionary Approach to Theory and Research on Team-Level Leadership Structures 44 7.1. Introduction 46 7.2. Shared Leadership in Teams: The Role of Interpersonal Behavior 48 7.3. Propositions 52 7.4. Leadership Assessment in Ethology 57 7.5. Leadership as Dyadic Ties: Implications for the Assessment of Behavior-based Networks 59 7.5.1. Behavior directions 60 7.5.2. Interpersonal behavior sequences 63 7.5.3. Compiling dyadic behavior to the group level 66 7.6. Discussion 67 7.6.1. Theoretical implications 67 7.6.2. Methodological implications 69 7.6.4. Practical implications 70 7.6.5. Limitations and outlook 71 8. Perceiving Leadership in Teams: The Effects of Cognitive Schemas and Perceived Communication 73 8.1. Introduction 75 8.2. Individual Perceptions of Leadership in Team 77 8.3. Individual Differences and Perceptions of Leadership in Teams 79 8.4. Leadership Structure Schemas 80 8.5. The Mediating Role of Perceived Communication 82 8.6. The Moderating Role of Affective Motivation to Lead 84 8.7. Overall Model 87 8.8. Method 88 8.8.1. Sample 89 8.8.2. Measures 89 8.9. Results 92 8.9.1. Descriptive analysis 92 8.9.2. Analytical approac 93 8.9.3. Hypotheses testing 95 8.10. Discussion 100 8.10.1. Implications for research 101 8.10.2. Practical implications 104 8.10.3. Limitations 105 9. Adapting Leadership Perceptions across Tasks: Micro-Origins of Informal Leadership Transitions 106 9.1. Introduction 108 9.2. Informal Leadership in Teams 110 9.3. Stability and Change of Informal Leadership Perceptions 113 9.4. How do Leadership Perceptions Change? Social Interactions as Micro-Processes 114 9.5. When do Leadership Perceptions Change? The Role Perceived Shifts in Competence Allocation 117 9.6. Methods 121 9.6.1. Overview and sample 121 9.6.2. Baseline assessment (T0) 122 9.6.3. Laboratory measurement (T1) 122 9.7. Results 127 9.7.1. Descriptive analyses 127 9.7.2 Analytical approach 129 9.7.3. Tests of hypotheses 131 9.8. Discussion 134 9.8.1. Implications for informal leadership research 135 9.8.2. Limitations 139 9.8.3. Practical implications 141 9.8.4. Conclusions 142 10. General Discussion 143 10.1. Summary of Conceptual Propositions 143 10.2. Summary of the Empirical Findings 143 10.3. Integration and Theoretical Implications 145 10.3.1. Observable behavior versus perceived behavior 145 10.3.2. The nature and content of cognitive schemas 147 10.3.3. When and why leadership perceptions change 150 10.4. Practical Implications 151 10.5. Limitations 154 10.6. Future Research 155 10.7. Conclusion 156 11. References 159 12. Acknowledgements 181 13. Curriculum Vitae 183 14. Declaration 187

Sandwichkonstruktionen mit Deckschichten aus dünnen Metallblechen und Stahlbeton stellen seit Jahrzehnten bewährte und wirtschaftliche Verbundkonstruktionen für Gebäudehüllen dar. Der Einsatz von dünnen Deckschichten aus textilbewehrtem Beton verbindet deren Vorteile und ermöglicht auch bei steigenden Anforderungen an den Wärmeschutz geringe Konstruktionsdicken. Der Beitrag berichtet über die Entwicklung von Ingenieurmodellen zur wirklichkeitsnahen Beschreibung des Tragverhaltens von Sandwichquerschnitten aus textilbewehrtem Beton, Hartschaumdämmkern und geeigneten Verbundmitteln. / Sandwich constructions made of thin metal sheets and structural concrete have been reliable and economic composite structures in the past decades. The application of thin-walled facings made of Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) combines the advantages of this construction and allows for slender construction thicknesses despite the progressing demands on thermal insulation. This contribution reports on the development of models, which enable the realistic mechanical description of the load-bearing behavior of the sandwich panels made of two TRC-facings and a core of polymeric rigid foam together with suitable connecting devices.

We present a mean field model for a mixture of AB diblock-copolymers and A-block selective nanoparticles confined between two identical non-selective walls. A horizontally symmetric lamellar structure of the nanocomposite is considered where nanoparticles are allowed to segregate between the polymer–wall interfaces. For a fixed value of wall separation, we study changes in the free energy as a function of the number of lamellar layers and the amount of nanoparticle uptake in the A-phase denoted by y = ϕx with 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 for a given value of ϕ, where ϕ is the overall nanoparticle volume fraction. The absorption isotherm for nanoparticle uptake in the A-phase as a function of ϕ shows saturation beyond a threshold value ϕs, and the optimal value of uptake y increases with increasing strength of monomer–nanoparticle attractive interaction. Increasing ϕ above ϕs produces a decrease in the optimal number of lamellar layers which is related to a jump-like transition of the chain extension. The effect of varying film thickness is also studied. By considering A-block selective walls we also investigated a wetting transition of the copolymer film and found the transition to be discontinuous. A corresponding phase diagram is constructed. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

The increasing demand for more efficient cooling options in the areas of fuel cell technology motivates the development of novel cooling strategies with improved heat transfer. Cooling through phase transition of the coolant from the liquid to the gaseous state is therefore a suitable approach. In this context, the phase transition behaviour in the inner structure of bipolar plates, which is determined by the flow field and its surface properties, must be understood and designed as a central functional element for cooling in a fuel cell. For the integrated development of a metallic bipolar plate based on the phase change cooling with modified surfaces, this paper discusses the design of the flow field, the design of the associated forming technology as well as the coating technology that meets the requirements of the bipolar plates with phase change cooling principle. In this regard, the wetting and the corrosion behaviour of different surface coatings and the in-situ phase transition behaviour within the bipolar plates are demonstrated and discussed.

An environment is defined by a set of field values, such as temperature, electro-magnetic field, light intensity, air humidity and air composition. Smart materials, such as hydrogels, are able to react to these kinds of stimuli. The spatial and time development of environmental values is governed by transport equations. Hence the reaction, i.e. actuation or sensing, of the smart material can be described based on the same assumptions. The displacement, here swelling and deswelling, of the material depends on the combination of the environmental parameters. Smart materials are called multi-sensitive, when more than one parameter is purposely used (i) to manipulate the material, i.e. as an actuator or (ii) to measure the quantities, i.e. as a (multi-)sensor. However, the material can also perform (iii) the objective of a logic processing unit in addition to (i) and (ii). In the current work, we present a device that realizes this concept: An automatic window opener that senses environmental parameters (light-level and air temperature) and reacts accordingly. The hydrogel material that is included in the simplistic device simultaneously acts as sensor, logic processing unit and actuator.

Organic hybrid composites based on carboxylated nitrile rubber and nylon-12 reinforced with mercerized and diisocyanated lignocellulose residue (LCR) was prepared. The influence of the LCR on the viscoelastic properties of these organic hybrids was investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis and thermal analysis (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)). It is found that either the position of the damping peak was shifted to higher values or the intensity of the damping peak was significantly increased with LCR. These results could imply that the LCR enhanced the damping properties of the composites. The thermal stability of the composites was evaluated with the mean values obtained using thermogravimetrical analysis. The decomposition rate was investigated using differential thermal gravimetry. The crystallization behavior of the prepared composites was checked by DSC.