A method of manufacturing a plurality of through-holes in a layer of first material, for example for the manufacturing of a probe comprising a tip containing a channel. To manufacture the through-holes in a batch process, a layer of first material is deposited on a wafer comprising a plurality of pits a second layer is provided on the layer of first material, and the second layer is provided with a plurality of holes at central locations of the pits; using the second layer as a shadow mask when depositing a third layer at an angle, covering a part of the first material with said third material at the central locations, and etching the exposed parts of the first layer using the third layer as a protective layer.

To provide a polymer material having properties that allow the polymer material to replace a polyimide and a polyamide synthesized from a petroleum raw material, said polymer material being synthesized from a raw material derived from natural molecules. [Solution] This polymer material is obtained by polymerizing a polymer raw material comprising a dimer of 4-amino cinnamic acid or a dimer of a 4-amino cinnamic acid derivative, which are natural molecules, wherein the carboxyl group is protected by an alkyl chain. The TGA curve of a polyamide acid (PAA-1) and a polyimide (PI-1) according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 5.

The invention includes a gas processing system for transforming a hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas into outflow gas products, where the system includes a gas delivery subsystem, a plasma reaction chamber, and a microwave subsystem, with the gas delivery subsystem in fluid communication with the plasma reaction chamber, so that the gas delivery subsystem directs the hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas into the plasma reaction chamber, and the microwave subsystem directs microwave energy into the plasma reaction chamber to energize the hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas, thereby forming a plasma in the plasma reaction chamber, which plasma effects the transformation of a hydrocarbon in the hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas into the outflow gas products, which comprise acetylene and hydrogen. The invention also includes methods for the use of the gas processing system.

The present invention discloses a non-thermal plasma treatment of metal powders in order to improve their processability by additive manufacturing (AM). The invention consists in bonding primary particles constituted of metals or metal alloys to a plurality of secondary particles constituted of metals, metal alloys, ceramics or polymers by the mean of a non-thermal plasma treatment. The primary particles have a larger mean diameter than the secondary. Both particles are injected through a non-thermal plasma glow discharge and/or in its afterglow region (region downstream the plasma discharge) where their surfaces are cleaned by removing contaminants and/or oxide layer and activated to react between each other. The functionalized metal powders are then collected and afterwards processed by AM leading to high quality parts. The functionalized metal powders produced by this plasma treatment improve the processability of metal by AM. Indeed, decreasing the reflectivity, removing contaminant and oxide layer, enhancing the isotropic solidification of melted materials and decreasing the sintering temperature enhance the efficiency of powder based AM processes.

A method for manufacturing a vertically aligned carbon nanotube substrate includes the steps of treating a vertically aligned carbon nanotube array in an untreated state with a plasma to generate a vertically aligned carbon nanotube array in a plasma-treated state and adhering a coating onto at least a portion of the vertically aligned carbon nanotube array in the plasma-treated state to generate a vertically aligned carbon nanotube array in a coated state. The step of treating can include exposing the vertically aligned carbon nanotube substrate in the untreated state to the plasma in a plasma chamber. The step of adhering can include using a process of thermal evaporation or e-beam ablation. The method can also include the step of adhering a plurality of fluorophores to at least a portion of the vertically aligned carbon nanotube array in the coated state.

A universal chemical processor (UCP) including a reactor vessel having a central longitudinal axis and main chamber comprises a first inlet port for a main feedstock, a second inlet port for a fluidizing medium and a third inlet port for one or more reactants. The UCP also includes a reactive radioactive chemical processor (R.sup.2CP) that contains a radioactive element positioned extending along the longitudinal axis in the main chamber. In operation, a fluidized bed can be supported in the main chamber when a fluidizing medium and feedstock are supplied to the main chamber through the first and second inlet ports and the radioactive element of the R.sup.2CP emits ionizing radiation that is capable of ionizing feedstock and reactants, inducing chemical reactions, and sterilizing and decomposing any organic materials within a radiation zone.

The invention includes a gas processing system for transforming a hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas into outflow gas products, where the system includes a gas delivery subsystem, a plasma reaction chamber, and a microwave subsystem, with the gas delivery subsystem in fluid communication with the plasma reaction chamber, so that the gas delivery subsystem directs the hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas into the plasma reaction chamber, and the microwave subsystem directs microwave energy into the plasma reaction chamber to energize the hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas, thereby forming a plasma in the plasma reaction chamber, which plasma effects the transformation of a hydrocarbon in the hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas into the outflow gas products, which comprise acetylene and hydrogen. The invention also includes methods for the use of the gas processing system.

The invention includes a gas processing system for transforming a hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas into outflow gas products, where the system includes a gas delivery subsystem, a plasma reaction chamber, and a microwave subsystem, with the gas delivery subsystem in fluid communication with the plasma reaction chamber, so that the gas delivery subsystem directs the hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas into the plasma reaction chamber, and the microwave subsystem directs microwave energy into the plasma reaction chamber to energize the hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas, thereby forming a plasma in the plasma reaction chamber, which plasma effects the transformation of a hydrocarbon in the hydrocarbon-containing inflow gas into the outflow gas products, which comprise acetylene and hydrogen. The invention also includes methods for the use of this gas processing system.

In order to prevent the global warming by taking hydrogen out of gases such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc., a reactor 70 made of stainless steel is heated, at a temperature above 500° C., at a bottom portion where alkaline metal such as Li, Na, Ka, etc. is accommodated to be melted so that fine particles fly out to a plasma space 74 formed above the alkaline metal and having a function to amplify energy by the heat-oscillation of metal, and the first electromagnetic waves are emitted from a reactor wall to generate the second electromagnetic waves having an amplified energy in the plasma space, and further the second electromagnetic waves separate protons of nitrogen gas, carbon dioxide gas, etc. to produce hydrogen.

Disclosed are a method and apparatus for smoothing a link-line power of an electrothermal microgrid using a thermal storage heat pump cluster. The method includes: determining a current link-line power control target and pre-distributing a smoothing task to the heat pump cluster; making, by a heat pump start-stop control layer cluster, a heat pump cluster start-stop scheme, determining a start-stop state of the heat pump cluster and a start-stop smoothing component of the heat pump cluster according to the smoothing task, obtaining a remaining fluctuating power based on link-line fluctuating power and the start-stop smoothing component of the heat pump cluster; smoothing, by a heat pump cluster power adjustment layer, some medium and low frequency components and outputting a smoothing component of the heat pump cluster with respect to a storage battery output optimization target based on the remaining fluctuating power; and simultaneously undertaking, by the storage battery, a smoothing task of the remaining fluctuating power and outputting a storage battery smoothing component to complete the smoothing of the fluctuating power in a control cycle.