Appliance Design - September 2007 - (Page 22) NEWS WATCH graphene oxide sheets. After filtering the water, the team was able to fabricate pieces of graphene oxide ‘paper’ more than 5 inches in diameter and with thicknesses from about one to 100 microns, in which the individual micron-sized graphene oxide sheets are stacked on top of each other. POLYMERS BEND TO SHAPE. 2107 SERIES Diaphragm Pumps and Compressors • • Oil-less operation Die-cast aluminum housings and heads Balanced for smooth, low vibration operation Field service capability 115/60/1Hz – 110/50/1Hz 220/50/1Hz Flow to 1.65 CFM A cross-section after fracture of a papermaterial comprised of individual and layered sheets of graphene oxide (prepared by Sasha Stankovich). This is a scanning electron microscope image, scale bar is 1 micrometre in length. The inset shows a strip of this ‘graphene oxide paper’ held with metal tweezers. (Images by Dmitriy Dikin.) Researchers at the Hebrew University’s Racah Institute of Physics have succeeded in programming polymer sheets to bend and wrinkle by themselves into prescribed structures. The researchers made flat discs of a soft gel that, when warmed gently, curved into domes, saddles and even sombrero shapes. The sheets change shape because the gel — a web of cross-linked polymers — shrinks at temperatures above 33 DegC by an amount determined by the local polymer density. When the density varies across the disc, the sheet buckles to relieve the pressure of uneven shrinkage. The researchers worked out what shrinkage patterns would produce the structures they wanted, then used an automated mixing system to produce “cocktails” of gels with the right properties. BROADBAND GROWS SLOW. The rate of broadband adoption is slowing in the United States, as early technology adopters have already made the switch and oth- • • • • • For more information on the 2107 Series, or our complete line of Diaphragm pumps and compressors, visit thomaspumps.com/2107ad For more Information Enter 109 22 applianceDESIGN AD01072Thom.indd 1 For more Information Enter 110 www.applianceDESIGN.com 8/7/07 10:44:48 AM September 2007 AD09074Sol.indd 1 11/28/06 5:22:16 PM http://www.thomaspumps.com/2107ad http://www.soler-palauinc.com http://www.thomaspumps.com/2107ad http://www.soler-palauinc.com http://www.appliancedesign.com
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