Inkjet printing is a rapidly growing technology for depositing functional materials in the production of organic electronics. Challenges lie among others in the printing of high resolution patterns with high aspect ratio of functional materials to obtain the needed functionality like e.g. conductivity. μPlasma printing is a technology which combines atmospheric plasma treatment with the versatility of digital on demand printing technology to selectively change the wetting behaviour of materials. In earlier research it was shown that with μPlasma printing it is possible to selectively improve the wetting behaviour of functional inks on polymer substrates using atmospheric air plasma. In this investigation we show it is possible to selectively change the substrate wetting behaviour using combinations of different plasmas and patterned printing. For air and nitrogen plasmas, increased wetting of printed materials could be achieved on both polycarbonate and glass substrates. A minimal track width of 320 μm for a 200 μm wide plasma needle was achieved. A combination of N2 with HMDSO plasma increases the contact angle for water up from <100 to 1050 and from 320 to 460 for DEGDMA making the substrate more hydrophobic. Furthermore using N2-plasma in combination with a N2/HMDSO plasma, hydrophobic tracks could be printed with similar minimal track width. Combining both N2 -plasma and N2/HMDSO plasma treatments show promising results to further decrease the track width to even smaller values.
Study goal: This study was carried out to answer the following research question: which motivation do healthy volunteers have to participate in phase I clinical trials? - Methods: A literature search was done through Google Scholar and Academic Search Premier, followed by three interviews with volunteers who had recently concluded their participation in a (non-commercial) phase I trial. - Results: Our literature search revealed mainly commercial motives for volunteers to participate in phase I clinical trials. The interviews (with volunteers in a non-commercial trial) showed that other factors may also play a decisive role, such as: (1) wish to support the investigator (2) wish to contribute to science, (3) access to more/better health care (4) sociability: possibility to relax and to communicate with other participants (5) general curiosity. Precondition is that risks and burden are deemed acceptable. - Conclusions: financial remuneration appears to be the predominant motive to participate voluntarily in a clinical trial. Other reasons were also mentioned however, such as general curiosity, the drive to contribute to science and the willingness to help the investigator. In addition, social reasons were given such as possibility to relax and to meet other people. Potential subjects state that they adequately assess the (safety) risks of participating in a trial as part of their decision process.
This study presents a detailed buckling analysis of laminated composites reinforced by multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) inclusions using a multiscale computational framework. It combines multiple analytical and computational techniques to assess the performance of these composites under varying hygro-thermo-mechanical conditions. The model incorporates nanoscopic MWCNT characteristics, estimates orthotropic constants, and investigates the impact of various factors on the critical buckling load of MWCNT-based laminates. Comparison with existing data validates our approach, marking the first usage of the multiscale finite element method for predicting the buckling behaviour of MWCNT-reinforced laminates. This research offers valuable design insights for various industries including aerospace and automotive.
