Morpholinium functionalized poly[ethylene pyrrole/ethylene ketone/propylene ketone] membranes prepared through microwave assisted Paal-Knorr reaction for anion conducting membranes

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are key components in emerging electrochemical technologies and are attracting increasing interest as alternatives to proton exchange membranes (PEMs). Polyketones have recently emerged as low-cost and easily tunable precursors for AEM fabrication; however, their conventional functionalization through the 1,4-diketonic moieties by convection heating requires prolonged reaction times (48-72 h), limiting process scalability and sustainability.Here, we report a mi...

Extreme value statistics and fracture mechanics for assessing the effect of as-built surfaces on the fatigue thresholds of additively manufactured light alloys and steels

The assessment of the effect of surface quality on the fatigue behaviour of additively manufactured parts is essential for guaranteeing the structural durability. This investigation applies a recently proposed fracture mechanics model based on an equivalent crack size definition that accounts for the weakening effect of as-built surfaces on the fatigue limit of additively manufactured parts. The purpose is to further validate the model, starting from the as-built surface texture characterisat...

Exoplanetary atmospheres retrieval via a quantum extreme learning machine

The study of exoplanetary atmospheres traditionally relies on forward models to analytically compute the spectrum of an exoplanet by fine-tuning numerous chemical and physical parameters. However, the high-dimensionality of parameter space often results in a significant computational overhead. In this work, we introduce a novel approach to atmospheric retrieval leveraging on quantum extreme learning machines (QELMs), a quantum version of the classical Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) – a fast m...

An ultra-short-period super-Earth and a sub-Neptune orbiting the K dwarf TOI-4311