Current spirometers on the market often have retail prices of over $1,000. As a result of this high cost, many physicians practicing in developing countries lack the resources to purchase spirometry equipment. The development of a low-cost, reliable spirometer would allow these physicians to make more quantitative assessments of their patients' pulmonary health. A standardized coaching program ...

Ettringite-based thermochemical energy storage has been recommended to be used in buildings for thermal supply because of its low material cost (<1000 €/m3), working temperature and high capacity. However, several physicochemical properties ettringite were still not clear, such as reversible reaction enthalpies, thermodynamic equilibrium, kinetics the dehydration/hydration reactions. In this st...

We focus on a three-stage supply chain problem for fast moving consumer goods including a supplier, a manufacturer and customers. There are different orders over identical cycles, to be processed in production site. The problem is to find a joint cyclic schedule of raw material procurement and job scheduling minimized the total cost comprised of raw material ordering cost and holding cost, prod...

Aerogels are a special class of porous material, which have excellent physicochemical properties such as low density, high porosity, high surface area and adjustable surface chemistry. Aerogels were first prepared several decades ago, but never truly commercialized due to their high cost. Technological advancements in the production and quality of different types of aerogel cut costs down and m...

Carbon coated TiO2 (TiO2@C) is fabricated by a convenient and green one-pot solvothermal method, in which ethylene glycol serve as both the reaction medium and carbon source without the addition of any other carbon additives. During the solvothermal process, ethylene glycol polymerize and coordinate with Ti4+ to form the polymeric ligand precursor, then the polymer brushes carbonize and convert...

A low-cost bio-mass-derived carbon substrate has been employed to synthesize MoS2@carbon composites through a hydrothermal method. Carbon fibers derived from natural cotton provide a three-dimensional and open framework for the uniform growth of MoS2 nanosheets, thus hierarchically constructing coaxial architecture. The unique structure could synergistically benefit fast Li-ion and electron tra...