#silica
A gel that does not break or dry out
Developing robust gels full of ionic liquids
Researchers have developed a highly robust gel that includes large amounts of ionic liquid. The research team was led by Professor MATSUYAMA Hideto and Assistant Professor KAMIO Eiji (Kobe University Graduate School of Science, Center for Membrane and Film Technology). These findings were published on November 8 in Advanced Materials.
Ionic liquid is a substance made solely from ions, and it has unique properties – for example, it does not evaporate at normal temperatures or pressures, and it has high thermal stability. Gels that contain ionic liquid are known as ion gels. With the same properties as ionic liquids, as well as their ability to retain liquid form, they can potentially be used as electrolytes for rechargeable batteries and as membranes for gas separation. However, the low mechanical strength of typical ion gels limits their practical applications.
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Don’t you forget about me
When one of Eric Täuscher’s PhD students arrived at the lab one morning and discovered she had left a TLC plate in an iodine chamber overnight, she could have simply thrown it out. But something compelled her to take a close look at the neglected plate. When she did, she noticed the tiny crystals growing from the plate, the product of the iodine in the chamber reacting with the plate’s aluminum backing. The crystal growth had also caused the silica on the front of the plate to lift off in delicate flakes. Intrigued, she showed it to Täuscher. He also found the corroded plate strangely beautiful, so he snapped a photo.
Täuscher’s lab at the Ilmenau University of Technology studies fluorescent organic molecules for pH, temperature, and ion sensing applications. The student had been running the TLC to try and identify a mysterious non-UV-absorbing byproduct of a reaction. It took her all of ten minutes to redo the plate. — Brianna Barbu
Credit: Eric Täuscher. Follow him @heroofmolecules on Instagram
Do science. Take pictures. Win money. Enter our photo contest here.
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Advanced NMR captures new details in nanoparticle structures
Advanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have revealed surprising details about the structure of a key group of materials in nanotechology, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), and the placement of their active chemical sites.
MSNs are honeycombed with tiny (about 2-15 nm wide) three-dimensionally ordered tunnels or pores, and serve as supports for organic functional groups tailored to a wide range of needs. With possible applications in catalysis, chemical separations, biosensing, and drug delivery, MSNs are the focus of intense scientific research.
“Since the development of MSNs, people have been trying to control the way they function,” said Takeshi Kobayashi, an NMR scientist with the Division of Chemical and Biological Sciences at Ames Laboratory. “Research has explored doing this through modifying particle size and shape, pore size, and by deploying various organic functional groups on their surfaces to accomplish the desired chemical tasks. However, understanding of the results of these synthetic efforts can be very challenging.”
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Sea sponges stay put with anchors that bend but don’t break
Sea sponges known as Venus’ flower baskets remain fixed to the sea floor with nothing more than an array of thin, hair-like anchors made essentially of glass. It’s an important job, and new research suggests that it’s the internal architecture of those anchors, known as basalia spicules, that helps them to do it.
The spicules, each about half the diameter of a human hair, are made of a central silica (glass) core clad within 25 thin silica cylinders. Viewed in cross-section, the arrangement looks like the rings in a tree trunk. The new study by researchers in Brown University’s School of Engineering shows that compared to spicules taken from a different sponge species that lacks the tree-ring architecture, the basalia spicules are able to bend up to 2.4 times further before breaking.
“We compared two natural materials with very similar chemical compositions, one of which has this intricate architecture while the other doesn’t,” said Michael Monn a Brown University graduate student and first author of the research. “While the mechanical properties of the spicules have been measured in the past, this is the first study that isolates the effect of the architecture on the spicules’ properties and quantifies how the architecture enhances the spicules’ ability to bend more before breaking.”
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Rocks and views from a couple days camping around the Gifford Pinchot with @unearthed.minerals. Featuring Mt. Adams, various creeks and rivers, and a whole heck bunch of heulandite. More photo dumps to come
#rocks #crystals #rockhounding #washington #minerals #zeolite #quartz #pnw #rock #crystal #mtadams #wilderness #pockets #mining #mineral #agate #agates #silica #geology (at Dark Divide)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTQunLOlf1d/?utm_medium=tumblr
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Glowing golden calcite atop water clear chabazite crystals found today on a prospecting trip with my dude @c_rackelman of @unearthed.minerals at a site he honed in on in Columbia County. As we were mostly trying to find access, we didn’t bring any equipment but we’re pleasantly surprised by a bunch of great fresh float material. We’ll be back for sure soon with some buckets at the very least!
#rocks #crystals #geology #zeolites #rockhounding #oregon #rock #crystal #calcite #chabazite #quarry #mining #silica #mineral #minerals #microminerals #columbiacounty (at Soft Rock Cafe)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRxhlsABAXA/?utm_medium=tumblr
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Wild chunk of blue/green jade-like jasper or agate sandwiched in carnelian from the Nehalem River, Columbia County, Oregon. May 10th, 2017.
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Continued progress on the Ordinal Scaledress!
I put the sleeves into the lining, gathering about 1.5″ of them at the tops.
The completed lining side was sewn to the shell at the collar with two rows of stitching to reinforce it. The lining and shell were also sewn together at the sides of the zipper. I hand-sewed the layers closed at the top, near the collar, and very bottom, under the knit inset. The sleeves were finished as well.
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Getting the lining/facing pieces of the Ordinal Scale dress together
The lining pieces have the same staystitches as the shell pieces. The bottom hem of the bodice pieces were turned up by 0.375″, pressed, and overcasted. The front pieces were sewn together, as were the back pieces, with a 0.375″ pleat into the center back above the waist.
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Putting together the collar pieces for the Ordinal Scaledress.
The shell pieces have mediumweight interfacing.
Sewing all of those corners between the teal/white/black pieces on the outer shell of the collar was a hassle. The final product turned out to not stand vertically at the sides (shoulder seams), but I’m reluctant to redo the entire collar. This is what I get for not mocking it up…
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Putting all of the shell pieces of the Ordinal Scale dress together.
Poor Silica is so flat that the bust curves didn’t need to be notched.
The tops of the sleeves are gathered, but those details will be hidden by the jacket in the complete costume.
There is a line of stitching running down the middle of each of the black stripes on the front, but unfortunately the black thread didn’t show up against the black twill at all. I should’ve picked an off-black fabric.
An invisible zipper, cut to 19.5″ length, was sewn into the center front. I sacrificed a bit of accuracy here by having a zipper that closes at the bottom and prevents the dress from having a separating front.
The polyester twill drapes heavily, so horsehair braid will be added later to make the bottom hem flare out.
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All of the base pieces for Ordinal Scale dress cut out.
Shell is polyester twill. Lining is polyester. Black front stripe is polyester/cotton twill. Black panel at the bottom of the dress is heavy stretch suiting. White collar corners are heavy matte satin.
The back pieces will form a pleat in the center back to allow for movement. The sleeves were cut on the bias so that they can allow for ~20% stretch since I drafted the pattern to be extremely close-fitting.
Polyester twill was such a pain to lay down flat and straight because of its slipperiness. The black polyester/cotton twill was a magnet for lint and wool hairs…
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First draft of the Ordinal Scale dress turned out to be a decent mock-up! I only had to adjust most of the seam placements by about 0.125″ for the final draft.
I used my Euphonium and YuYuYu patterns as reference for this. The pattern was meant for Sinon (OS ver.). Silica (OS ver.) would be shaving 2 inches off the bust area. The final product would have a zipper front, standing collar, and sleeves, which were omitted in the mock-up.
The dress was a lot closer to a jacket in shape and form rather than a dress…
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New year, new cosplay season! The first project of the year is the Ordinal Scale outfit from Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale, in theaters February 18, 2017, in Japan and worldwide release to follow.
I’d been waiting since October 2015 for digital copies of the production art for Silica(andSinonlater on), but neither has manifested yet. With time running out and the US premiere of the movie on March 1, 2017, in Los Angeles, I had to use Asuna’s art for construction reference instead since the OS outfits are essentially palette swaps with minor sleeve variations between the girls.
Second image is from vol. 1 of the SAO Magazine. I used a physical copy of the magazine for color matching to Silica and Sinon’s outfits. The Kirito bedsheet image was used for reference on what the lining of the dress should look like.
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A costume from each year I’ve been cosplaying, 2007-2017. I probably averaged 2-3 costumes a year at least. It’s been fun!
I started with hand-sewing stuff onto T-shirts with the collar cut out and using sticky-back ribbon as trim. No wigs. I didn’t finish seams in the first two years or line anything in the first three. Between 2009-2011 I really favored cotton sateen for just about anything. 2014 was the year I went on semi-hiatus from cosplay and conventions, so there weren’t any decent costumes made during that time. I returned in full force in 2015 after a trip to Japan and here we are now, year 2017, 10 years since I started this intense hobby in my freshman year of college.
I’ve always said that I’ll scale back massively from cosplay once I hit 30, so next year, 2018, will likely be the final year I do some sort of age-inappropriate cosplay. If Sword Art Online season 3 promotion is in full force then, I’ll cosplay SAO for one last time and go out on a high note.
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Final cost of newly purchased materials for the Silica (OS ver.) costume was around $43. I reused a wig and circle lenses for the cosplay, which cut the cost down by at least half.
The most expensive investment (other than 2 months’ time) was the teal polyester twill for the dress and shoes at $8. I lucked out with the base shoes by finding a pair for $5. All of the buttons (12 on the dress, 4 on the gloves, 8 on the socks, 2 on the shoes) were around $6 after using a ton of 50% off coupons and finding 2 old buttons in my stash.
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Belt progress for Silica (OS ver.)The shell of the belt was white matte satin with interfacing backing and the lining was white poplin. Finished dimensions were around 25″-25.5″ long, 2.375″ wide. Black top thread detail.The buckle was 3D-printed and painted gold. The fabric backing was gold satin with interfacing and two snaps sewed in before being super glued to the buckle back. Matching snaps were also sewn on the to the ends of the belt.
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Here I skip straight to the finished Silica (OS ver.)cosplay.
Photos taken by a friend at the US premiere of Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on March 1, 2017! Pina was on loan from AGSMA Cosplay.
The movie was amazing. I would recommend people to see it for the final battle animation alone and all Kirito × Asuna shippers.
I’m so glad I was able to participate in the premiere. It was like three days of a con all packed into one.
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Silica (OS ver.) sock garters.
The pieces were made out of a performance knit and ladder-stitched together. The lower/outer pieces are 0.5" shorter than the higher/inner pieces. 0.25″ diameter gold button details, four on each garter (two in the front, two in the back). The garters were sewn to white thigh-high socks in the back. When worn, there is enough friction to keep the front of the garters from moving.
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