Universität Stuttgart
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Item Open Access Comprehensive study of failure mechanisms of field-aged automotive lead batteries(2023) Conradt, Rafael; Schröer, Philipp; Dazer, Martin; Wirth, Jonathan; Jöris, Florian; Schulte, Dominik; Birke, Kai PeterModern vehicles have increasing safety requirements and a need for reliable low-voltage power supply in their on-board power supply systems. Understanding the causes and probabilities of failures in a 12 V power supply is crucial. Field analyses of aged and failed 12 V lead batteries can provide valuable insights regarding this topic. In a previous study, non-invasive electrical testing was used to objectively determine the reasons for failure and the lifetime of individual batteries. By identifying all of the potential failure mechanisms, the Latin hypercube sampling method was found to effectively reduce the required sample size. To ensure sufficient confidence in validating diagnostic algorithms and calculating time-dependent failure rates, all identified aging phenomena must be considered. This study presents a probability distribution of the failure mechanisms that occur in the field, as well as provides insights into potential opportunities, but it also challenges diagnostic approaches for current and future vehicles.Item Open Access The Bacteroidetes Aequorivita sp. and Kaistella jeonii produce promiscuous esterases with PET-hydrolyzing activity(2022) Zhang, Hongli; Perez-Garcia, Pablo; Dierkes, Robert F.; Applegate, Violetta; Schumacher, Julia; Chibani, Cynthia Maria; Sternagel, Stefanie; Preuss, Lena; Weigert, Sebastian; Schmeisser, Christel; Danso, Dominik; Pleiss, Jürgen; Almeida, Alexandre; Höcker, Birte; Hallam, Steven J.; Schmitz, Ruth A.; Smits, Sander H. J.; Chow, Jennifer; Streit, Wolfgang R.Certain members of the Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria are known to degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Here, we describe the first functional PET-active enzymes from the Bacteroidetes phylum. Using a PETase-specific Hidden-Markov-Model- (HMM-) based search algorithm, we identified several PETase candidates from Flavobacteriaceae and Porphyromonadaceae. Among them, two promiscuous and cold-active esterases derived from Aequorivita sp. (PET27) and Kaistella jeonii (PET30) showed depolymerizing activity on polycaprolactone (PCL), amorphous PET foil and on the polyester polyurethane Impranil® DLN. PET27 is a 37.8 kDa enzyme that released an average of 174.4 nmol terephthalic acid (TPA) after 120 h at 30°C from a 7 mg PET foil platelet in a 200 μl reaction volume, 38-times more than PET30 (37.4 kDa) released under the same conditions. The crystal structure of PET30 without its C-terminal Por-domain (PET30ΔPorC) was solved at 2.1 Å and displays high structural similarity to the IsPETase. PET30 shows a Phe-Met-Tyr substrate binding motif, which seems to be a unique feature, as IsPETase, LCC and PET2 all contain Tyr-Met-Trp binding residues, while PET27 possesses a Phe-Met-Trp motif that is identical to Cut190. Microscopic analyses showed that K. jeonii cells are indeed able to bind on and colonize PET surfaces after a few days of incubation. Homologs of PET27 and PET30 were detected in metagenomes, predominantly aquatic habitats, encompassing a wide range of different global climate zones and suggesting a hitherto unknown influence of this bacterial phylum on man-made polymer degradation.Item Open Access The role of dimensionality and geometry in quench-induced nonequilibrium forces(2021) Nejad, Mehrana Raeisian; Khalilian, Hamidreza; Rohwer, Christian M.; Moghaddam, Ali GhorbanzadehWe present an analytical formalism, supported by numerical simulations, for studying forces that act on curved walls following temperature quenches of the surrounding ideal Brownian fluid. We show that, for curved surfaces, the post-quench forces initially evolve rapidly to an extremal value, whereafter they approach their steady state value algebraically in time. In contrast to the previously-studied case of flat boundaries (lines or planes), the algebraic decay for curved geometries depends on the dimension of the system. Specifically, steady-state values of the force are approached in time as t-d/2 in d-dimensional spherical (curved) geometries. For systems consisting of concentric circles or spheres, the exponent does not change for the force on the outer circle or sphere. However, the force exerted on the inner circles or sphere experiences an overshoot and, as a result, does not evolve to the steady state in a simple algebraic manner. The extremal value of the force also depends on the dimension of the system, and originates from curved boundaries and the fact that particles inside a sphere or circle are locally more confined, and diffuse less freely than particles outside the circle or sphere.Item Open Access Direct electron beam patterning of electro-optically active PEDOT:PSS(2024) Doshi, Siddharth; Ludescher, Dominik; Karst, Julian; Floess, Moritz; Carlström, Johan; Li, Bohan; Mintz Hemed, Nofar; Duh, Yi-Shiou; Melosh, Nicholas A.; Hentschel, Mario; Brongersma, Mark; Giessen, HaraldThe optical and electronic tunability of the conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) has enabled emerging applications as diverse as bioelectronics, flexible electronics, and micro- and nano-photonics. High-resolution spatial patterning of PEDOT:PSS opens up opportunities for novel active devices in a range of fields. However, typical lithographic processes require tedious indirect patterning and dry etch processes, while solution-processing methods such as ink-jet printing have limited spatial resolution. Here, we report a method for direct write nano-patterning of commercially available PEDOT:PSS through electron-beam induced solubility modulation. The written structures are water stable and maintain the conductivity as well as electrochemical and optical properties of PEDOT:PSS, highlighting the broad utility of our method. We demonstrate the potential of our strategy by preparing prototypical nano-wire structures with feature sizes down to 250 nm, an order of magnitude finer than previously reported direct write methods, opening the possibility of writing chip-scale microelectronic and optical devices. We finally use the high-resolution writing capabilities to fabricate electrically-switchable optical diffraction gratings. We show active switching in this archetypal system with >95 % contrast at CMOS-compatible voltages of +2 V and -3 V, offering a route towards highly-miniaturized dynamic optoelectronic devices.Item Open Access Adjustable polystyrene nanoparticle templates for the production of mesoporous foams and ZnO inverse opals(2020) Abitaev, Karina; Qawasmi, Yaseen; Atanasova, Petia; Dargel, Carina; Bill, Joachim; Hellweg, Thomas; Sottmann, ThomasThe manifold applications of porous materials, such as in storage, separation, and catalysis, have led to an enormous interest in their cost-efficient preparation. A promising strategy to obtain porous materials with adjustable pore size and morphology is to use templates exhibiting the appropriate nanostructure. In this study, close-packed polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles, synthesized by emulsion polymerization, were used to produce porous PS and ZnO inverse opals. The size and distribution of the polystyrene nanoparticles, characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), were controlled via the concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Systematic measurements of the water/styrene-interfacial tension show that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the ternary water–styrene–SDS system, which determines whether monodisperse or polydisperse PS particles are obtained, is considerably lower than that of the binary water–SDS system. The assemblies of close-packed PS nanoparticles obtained via drying were then studied by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and SEM. Both techniques prove that PS nanoparticles synthesized above the CMC result in a significantly unordered but denser packing of the particles. The polystyrene particles were subsequently used to produce porous polystyrene and ZnO inverse opals. While the former consists of micrometer-sized spherical pores surrounded by extended open-cellular regions of mesopores (Rpore ≈ 25 nm), the latter are made of ZnO-nanoparticles forming a structure of well-aligned interconnected pores.Item Open Access Lab-scale investigation of palm shell char as tar reforming catalyst(2020) Chen, Yen-Hau; Schmid, Max; Chang, Chia-Chi; Chang, Ching-Yuan; Scheffknecht, GünterThis research investigated the application of palm shell char as a catalyst for the catalytic steam reforming of tar after the sorption enhanced gasification (SEG) process. The catalytic activities of palm shell char and metal-supported palm shell char were tested in a simulated SEG derived syngas with tar model compounds (i.e., toluene and naphthalene) at a concentration of 10 g m-3 NTP. The results indicated that palm shell char had an experimentally excellent catalytic activity for tar reforming with toluene and naphthalene conversions of 0.8 in a short residence time of 0.17 s at 900 °C. A theoretical residence time to reach the complete naphthalene conversion was 1.2 s at 900 °C for palm shell char, demonstrating a promising activity similar to wood char and straw char, but better than CaO. It was also found that potassium and iron-loaded palm shell chars exhibited much better catalytic activity than palm shell char, while the parallel reaction of gasification of K-loaded palm shell char influenced the conversion with its drastic mass loss. Moreover, contrary to CaO, palm shell char presented relatively low selectivity to benzene, and its spontaneous gasification generated extra syngas. In summary, the present study demonstrated that the low-cost material, palm shell char, can successfully be used as the tar-reforming catalyst after SEG process.Item Open Access Modeling and experimental investigation of the interaction between pressure-dependent aging and pressure development due to the aging of lithium-ion cells(2023) Avdyli, Arber; Fill, Alexander; Birke, Kai PeterIn order to meet the increasing demands of the battery in terms of range, safety and performance, it is necessary to ensure optimal operation conditions of a lithium-ion cell. In this thesis, the influence of mechanical boundary conditions on the cell is investigated theoretically and experimentally. First, fundamental equations are derived that lead to coupled models that can be parameterized based on specific cell measurements and predict the pressure evolution due to capacity aging and vice versa. The model is used to derive optimal operating points of the cell, which can be considered in the module design.Item Open Access Impact of combined sewer systems on the quality of urban streams : frequency and duration of elevated micropollutant concentrations(2020) Dittmer, Ulrich; Bachmann-Machnik, Anna; Launay, Marie A.Water quality in urban streams is highly influenced by emissions from WWTP and from sewer systems particularly by overflows from combined systems. During storm events, this causes random fluctuations in discharge and pollutant concentrations over a wide range. The aim of this study is an appraisal of the environmental impact of micropollutant loads emitted from combined sewer systems. For this purpose, high-resolution time series of river concentrations were generated by combining a detailed calibrated model of a sewer system with measured discharge of a small natural river to a virtual urban catchment. This river base flow represents the remains of the natural hydrological system in the urban catchment. River concentrations downstream of the outlets are simulated based on mixing ratios of base flow, WWTP effluent, and CSO discharge. The results show that the standard method of time proportional sampling of rivers does not capture the risk of critical stress on aquatic organisms. The ratio between average and peak concentrations and the duration of elevated concentrations strongly depends on the source and the properties of the particular substance. The design of sampling campaigns and evaluation of data should consider these characteristics and account for their effects.Item Open Access Lateral torsional buckling of glulam beam-columns : axial compression and bending verification(2024) Töpler, Janusch; Kuhlmann, Ulrike; Schänzlin, JörgItem Open Access Patterns of autologous and nonautologous interactions between core nuclear egress complex (NEC) proteins of α-, β- and γ-herpesviruses(2020) Häge, Sigrun; Sonntag, Eric; Borst, Eva Maria; Tannig, Pierre; Seyler, Lisa; Bäuerle, Tobias; Bailer, Susanne M.; Lee, Chung-Pei; Müller, Regina; Wangen, Christina; Milbradt, Jens; Marschall, ManfredNuclear egress is a regulated process shared by α-, β- and γ-herpesviruses. The core nuclear egress complex (NEC) is composed of the membrane-anchored protein homologs of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) pUL50, murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) pM50, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) BFRF1 or varicella zoster virus (VZV) Orf24, which interact with the autologous NEC partners pUL53, pM53, BFLF2 or Orf27, respectively. Their recruitment of additional proteins leads to the assembly of a multicomponent NEC, coordinately regulating viral nucleocytoplasmic capsid egress. Here, the functionality of VZV, HCMV, MCMV and EBV core NECs was investigated by coimmunoprecipitation and confocal imaging analyses. Furthermore, a recombinant MCMV, harboring a replacement of ORF M50 by UL50, was analyzed both in vitro and in vivo. In essence, core NEC interactions were strictly limited to autologous NEC pairs and only included one measurable nonautologous interaction between the homologs of HCMV and MCMV. A comparative analysis of MCMV-WT versus MCMV-UL50-infected murine fibroblasts revealed almost identical phenotypes on the levels of protein and genomic replication kinetics. In infected BALB/c mice, virus spread to lung and other organs was found comparable between these viruses, thus stating functional complementarity. In conclusion, our study underlines that herpesviral core NEC proteins are functionally conserved regarding complementarity of core NEC interactions, which were found either virus-specific or restricted within subfamilies.