#less sample consumption and wide range of standard curve.

[fknmed]

[nuttydefendoryouth]

Development of a Wireless Temperature Sensor Using Polymer-Derived Ceramics

A temperature sensor has been developed using an embedded system and a sensor head made of polymer-derived SiAlCN ceramics (PDCs). PDC is a promising material for measuring high temperature and the embedded system features low-power consumption, compact size, and wireless temperature monitor. The developed temperature sensor has been experimentally tested to demonstrate the possibility of using such sensors for real world applications.

1. Introduction

Accurate temperature measurements are crucial for many applications, such as chemical processing, power generation, and engine monitoring. As a result, development of temperature sensors has always been a focus of microsensor field. A variety of materials have been studied for temperature sensor applications, for example, semiconducting silicon and silicon carbide. Silicon based sensors are typically used at temperatures lower than 350°C due to accelerated material degradation at higher temperature [1, 2]. Silicon carbide based sensors are better than silicon based sensors in high temperature measurement and can be applied in temperatures up to 500°C [3–5].

Polymer-derived SiAlCN ceramics (PDCs) are another widely studied material that demonstrate properties such as excellent high temperature stability [6] as well as good oxidation/corrosion resistance [7]. PDCs have been considered as a promising material for measuring high temperature [8]. Our early works have showed that PDC sensor head can accurately measure high temperature up to 830°C [9] using data acquisition system from National Instruments. The cost and size of the sensor system must be significantly reduced before it can be deployed for real world applications. In this paper, we develop a temperature sensor using PDC and an embedded system. Comparing to the National Instruments data acquisition equipment used in the previous paper, the newly developed embedded sensor is much smaller (9.7 dm3 versus 0.3 dm3), lighter (5.97 kg versus 0.19 kg), and cheaper (approximately $8000 versus $170). A WiFi module is also added so the temperature measurement can be transmitted wirelessly. The embedded board and WiFi module used in this paper are commercially available. The experiments in this paper demonstrate the possibility of deploying PDC based sensors for real world applications.

2. Fabrication of the PDC Sensor Head

In this study, the PDC sensor head is fabricated by following the procedure reported previously [9]. In brief, 8.8 g of commercially available liquid-phased polysilazane (HTT1800, Kion) and 1.0 g of aluminum-tri-sec-butoxide (ASB, Sigma-Aldrich) are first reacted together at 120°C for 24 hours under constant magnetic stirring to form the liquid precursor for SiAlCN. The precursor is then cooled down to room temperature, followed by adding 0.2 g of dicumyl peroxide (DP) into the liquid under sonication for 30 minutes. DP is the thermal initiator which can lower the solidification temperature and tailor the electrical properties [10]. The resultant liquid mixture is solidified by heat-treatment at 150°C for 24 hours. The disk-shaped green bodies are then prepared by ball-milling the solid into fine powder of ~1 μm and subsequently uniaxially pressing. A rectangular-shaped sample is cut from the discs and pyrolyzed at 1000°C for 4 hours. The entire fabrication is carried out in high-purity nitrogen to avoid any possible contamination.

Pt wires are attached to the sensor head by two ceramic fasteners on the two mounting holes on the diagonal of the sensor head. To improve the conductivity, both mounting holes are coated with Pt plasma; see Figure 1.

To measure temperature using the PDC sensor, the processor needs to perform the following tasks: () supply voltage  to the circuit through DAC7724; () sample the circuit output  using AD7656 and convert the output to temperature measurement; and () transmit data to readers from the RS232 port.

The input signal  to the conversion circuit is a sinusoidal signal of ±10 V. The sinusoidal signal can bypass the parasitic capacitor in series to the PDC probe. The noise from the furnace coil can also be greatly subdued. The sensor output voltage  is approximately sinusoidal as well and its magnitude can be computed using Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) or curve fitting using recursive least square method (RLSM) [11]. Comparing to FFT, RLSM is more computationally efficient but may have numerical instability because TMS320F28335 only supports IEEE 754 floating-point arithmetic. Here we prefer FFT for fast prototyping purpose because Texas Instruments provides FPU library that performs floating FFT routines on C2000 series microcontroller. Next we explain how the sensor works.

A high-priority interrupt service request (ISR1) based on a CPU timer continues reading a look-up-table and drives the DAC7724 to generate the input signal . The frequency of  is controlled by the frequency of ISR1. ISR1 also samples circuit output from AD7656 and adds the data to a 1024-point buffer if there is no FFT running. Once the buffer is filled up, ISR1 stops writing the buffer and the FFT routine starts. The FFT routine is implemented in another slower low-priority interrupt service (ISR2). Once the FFT routine is completed, ISR2 will give ISR1 the permission to clean and write the input buffer again. The magnitude from the FFT is used as the circuit output . The software flowchart is shown in Figure 4.

High temperature sensors capable of operating in harsh environments are needed in order to prevent disasters caused by structural or system functional failures due to increasing temperatures. Most existing temperature sensors do not satisfy the needs because they require either physical contact or a battery power supply for signal communication, and furthermore, neither of them can withstand high temperatures nor rotating applications. This paper presents a novel passive wireless temperature sensor, suitable for working in harsh environments for high temperature rotating component monitoring. A completely passive LC resonant telemetry scheme, relying on a frequency variation output, which has been applied successfully in pressure, humidity and chemical measurement, is integrated with a unique high-k temperature sensitive ceramic material, in order to measure the temperatures without contacts, active elements, or power supplies within the sensor. In this paper, the high temperature sensor design and performance analysis are conducted based on mechanical and electrical modeling, in order to maximize the sensing distance, the Q factor and the sensitivity. In the end, the sensor prototype is fabricated and calibrated successfully up to 235ºC, so that the concept of temperature sensing through passive wireless communication is proved.

This paper aims to develop a prototype for a web-based wireless remote temperature monitoring device for patients. This device uses a patient and coordinator set design approach involving the measurement, transmission, receipt and recording of patients’ temperatures via the MiWi wireless meter iot solution. The results of experimental tests on the proposed system indicated a wider distance coverage and reasonable temperature resolution and standard deviation. The system could display the temperature and patient information remotely via a graphical-user interface as shown in the tests on three healthy participants. By continuously monitoring participants’ temperatures, this device will likely improve the quality of the health care of the patients in normal ward as less human workload is involved.

Background

During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, hospitals became treatment centres in most countries. Because a patient’s core body temperature is one vital parameter for monitoring the progress of the patient’s health, it is often measured manually at a frequency ranging from once every few hours to once a day [1]. However, such manual measurement of the temperature of patients requires the efforts of many staff members. In addition, when the patients suffer from conditions that result in abrupt changes of the core body temperature, e.g., due to infection at a surgical site after surgery, the staff on duty will not know such a temperature change occurred until the next temperature measurement. Such a delay may lead to patients being unnoticed while their health conditions worsen, which is dangerous because a difference of 1.5 degrees Celsius can result in adverse outcomes [2]. Furthermore, there is always a need to have a monitoring system to improve the quality of health care [3], such as temperature monitoring of elderly and challenged persons using a wireless remote temperature monitoring system.

Body temperature can be used to monitor the pain level of a patient following an operation [4] or after shoulder endoprosthesis [5]. In some cases, the tissue transient temperature was monitored during microwave liver ablation [6] for the treatment of liver metastases. Instead of using a temperature sensor, pulse-echo ultrasound [7] was used to visualize changes in the temperature of the patient’s body. In addition, a non-contact temperature-measuring device, such as a thermal imaging camera [8], was successfully used to detect human body temperature during the SARS outbreak. However, it can be quite expensive to equip each patient room with a thermal imaging camera. In addition, there are a few wireless temperature measuring solution (e.g., CADIT™, Primex™, and TempTrak™) on the market that are used to monitor and store a patient’s temperature for medical research by using body sensor networks [9]. Most of these systems consist of an electronic module and a temperature-sensing device. The systems include a stand-alone electronic module with a display screen that allows the temperature sensor data to be transmitted over a secure wireless network.

However, these systems can be difficult to reconfigure to suit the current database system used in the hospital. In addition, the current systems using short message service (SMS)-based telemedicine [10] systems with hardware equipment were developed to monitor the mobility of patients. However, proper hardware and software to manage the messages and the patient’s temperature for display on mobile phones are not widely available.

Hence, a medical device to continuously measure the body temperature of patients using a wireless temperature receiver [4,11,12] is required. With such a wireless temperature sensor system, nurses will no longer have to manually measure the temperature of patients, which will free their time for other tasks and also reduce the risk associated with coming into contact with patients with contagious diseases, such as SARS. The readings will be transmitted wirelessly to the central nurse station, where they can be monitored by the staff-on-duty. In addition, the current and past history of the body temperature measurements can be stored in an online database, which allows the medical staff to access the database when they are not in the hospital.

To the best of our knowledge, a MiWi wireless (besides using the Zigbee[11]) temperature-monitoring system using a patient and coordinator set design that provides remote internet access to the temperature database has not been reported in any publication. The objective is therefore to develop and implement a prototype temperature-monitoring system for patients using a MiWi wireless remote connection to the nurse’s station for frequent real-time monitoring. The temperature monitoring system was designed based on a proposed patient and coordinator set design approach. The proposed temperature-monitoring system for use in normal ward will likely to improve the quality of the health care of the patients as the nursing workload is reduced. In this paper, the discussion on medical regulations and policy will not be included.

[juniperpublishersajop]

Study on Melt Structure and Viscosity Properties of CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2-FeO-Cr2O3 system

Abstract

The viscosity and structure properties of CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2-FeO-Cr2O3 system are investigated to illuminate the melt properties of Cr2O3-bearing BF vanadium slag. The viscosity decreases to 1.5 Pa·s at the temperature above 1565 K for the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2 system, the polymerization degree is low due to the main structures of silicate and as monomer. With the introduction of 1.5 wt% Cr2O3 and 5 wt% FeO into CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2 system, the viscosity significantly increases and decreases to 1.5 Pa·s until temperature beyond 1640 K due to that part of the chromium forms spinels, and the polymerization degree is drastically enhanced. With further increasing 10 wt% FeO into the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2-1.5wt% Cr2O3 system, the viscosity decreases and is 1.5 Pa·s at about 1620 K, the polymerization degree deceases and spinels disappear to improve the viscosity of slag. In general, when existing an amount of FeO and TiO2 in the slag, the polymerization degree and the viscosity decrease due to a decrease of as a chain structure and an increased number of discrete Si-O-Ti and Ti-O-Ti structures. But the polymerization degree drastically increases with Cr2O3 introduction due to the formation of Cr-O-Cr in chain structures and the high melting-point spinels to increase the viscosity of the system.

Keywords:Cr2O3-bearing BF vanadium slag; viscosity; polymerization degree; structure

Introduction

Vanadium, as one of the most important alloying elements, is widely used in metallurgy, chemical engineering and aerospace due to its ability to enhance mechanical properties, such as tensile strength, hardness, and fatigue resistance [1-4]. With the gradual increase of special steel production in the 21st century, vanadium demand is rapidly increasing due to that 85% vanadium is added as alloying elements in the special steels used in automobiles, ships and spacecraft [5-7]. Natural vanadium mainly exists as vanadium-titanium magnetite (VTM), which is one kind of characteristic resource in China, South Africa, Russia, and America [8-10]. Generally, VTM is reduced in a blast furnace to produce vanadium-bearing hot metal, which is then pre-oxidized in a vanadium-extraction converter (VEC) by blowing oxygen to obtain semi-steel and vanadium-bearing slag, and then the vanadium-bearing slag is treated by the sodium roasting and leaching to obtain V2O5 [11,12]. With the gradual consumption of high quality VTM, the low-grade chromium-bearing VTM (namely Hongge type V-bearing titanomagnetite, with an approximate composition of 45.5 wt% TFe, 10.6 wt% TiO2, 0.4 wt% V2O5, and 0.2 wt% Cr2O3)[8,11,12] has caused much attention and is beginning to be used by industrial production. It is reported that the proven reserves of Hongge type V-bearing titanomagnetite are over 2.0 billion tons only in Panxi and Chengde regions of China [10-12]. However, when existing Cr2O3 in the raw materials, the softening and melting properties of pellet and sinter, the properties of the slag (such as the melting temperature, viscosity, molten structure) significantly change during the vanadium-reduction process, which can change the position of the cohesive zone and dropping zone in the BF and deteriorate the dynamics condition to affect permeability index, coke ratio, the yield ratio of elements as well as BF smooth operation [13-18]. Therefore, studying the influence of Cr2O3 on the properties of CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2-FeO-Cr2O3 system slag is very crucial to understand the change of the physicochemical properties in cohesive zone and dropping zone for improving the smelting technology and the yield ratio of elements during the vanadium-reduction process from the chromium-bearing VTM in the BF [19-23].

Many studies on the properties of the slag with CaO-SiO2-TiO2 system have been carried out to promote the use of VTM in blast furnaces.[23,23] The properties of FeO-SiO2-V2O3-TiO2-Cr2O3 systems have also been reported to study the effect of Cr2O3 and TiO2 on the yield of vanadium during the vanadium-extraction process in the converter.[3,4] Besides, the Al2O3-CaO-Cr2O3 system has been studied to obtain a high yield ratio of chromium during stainless steel smelting [24-28]. However, few studies on the properties of the slag with CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2-FeO system, especially the Cr2O3-bearing system slag of CaO-MgOSiO 2-Al2O3-TiO2-FeO-Cr2O3 have been reported. Meanwhile, the composition of Cr2O3-bearing BF vanadium slag is different from that of converter slag and traditional blast furnace slag (Table 1), which leads to the different physicochemical properties of the slag [29,30]. With the increase of TiO2 and Cr2O3 in the slag, spinels can form and strongly affect physicochemical properties of BF slag such as melting temperature, viscosity and crystallization ability, which will cause instability and even problems during the smelting process. The physicochemical properties of melts strongly depend on the structure characteristics which are closely related to the polymerization degree of melts. Thus, it is necessary to study the structure properties of the chromium-bearing BF vanadium slag to expound the relation between macroscopic characteristic and microscopic structure, which is benefit to improving the smelting process of the low-grade chromium-bearing VTM. Therefore, in this study, the viscosity and structure of the CaO-MgO-SiO2- Al2O3-TiO2-FeO-Cr2O3 system with different contents of Cr2O3 and FeO are investigated using the rotating cylinder method and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. The purpose of this study is to illuminate the structure information of the Cr2O3-bearing BF vanadium slag and establish its relationship with the viscosity of slag for optimizing the vanadium-reduction process [25,31,32].

Experimental

Reagent grade powders of CaCO3(>99.50 wt%), MgO(>99.50 wt%), Al2O3(>99.50 wt%), Cr2O3 (>99.50 wt%), FeC2O4(>99.50 wt%), TiO2(>99.50 wt%), and high purity SiO2(>99.99 wt%) are used as raw materials. These seven kind powders are dried at 473 K for 4 hours in a drying oven to remove moisture, and then are well mixed in ball mill in the required proportion according to the actual components of the Cr2O3-bearing BF vanadium slag as shown in (Table 2) (with external adding of FeO and Cr2O3). Then the mixed powders are pressed into tablet samples and heated at 1823 K for 2 h in a corundum crucible to prepare pre-melted slag under Ar gas flowing atmosphere (purity of 99.999vol%, a flow of 400ml·min-1). After heating, a sample is rapidly taken out from the furnace and quenched by water to avoid the oxidation of elements during the cooling process. In addition, during the heating process, the sample is held at 873 K for 1 h and 1073 K for 1 h to decarburize FeC2O4 and CaCO3.

After completion of the pre-melting process, 150 g of the pre-melted sample is put into a corundum crucible and heated in a rotatory viscometer under high-purity Ar gas [29,30]. When reaching the target temperature, it is maintained for more than 30 min to homogenize the molten slag. Subsequently, the molybdenum bob is immersed in liquid slag for 10 mm and rotated at a fixed speed of 180 r/min, the viscosity of slag is measured at different temperatures (with temperature step of 5 K) during temperature dropping process. The schematic illustration of a rotatory viscometer and the dimension of crucible and a molybdenum bob are shown in Figure 1. In addition, calibration measurements of the apparatus are carried out at room temperature using a standard oil of known viscosity before measuring the viscosity [33,34]. In order to clarify the effects of Cr2O3 and FeO on the structure characteristics of the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2-FeO- Cr2O3 system slag, 8 g of the pre-melted slag is placed in a corundum crucible (with inner diameter of 15 mm and height of 20 mm) for molten state in a resistance furnace at approximately 1823 K for 2 hours under high-purity Ar gas, and then a sample is also quenched in water to form the homogeneous glass. In addition, the samples are rapidly taken out from the furnace and quenched by water. The whole process of taking out sample and quenching takes less than 5 s and water temperature is lower than 298 K to avoid any precipitation in glass phase during the cooling process [35].

The quenched slags are characterized by mineralogical phases, microstructures, and structural properties. The mineralogical phases are examined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD; X’pert PRO, PANalytical, Netherlands) using Cu Kα1 radiation (λ=1.5406 Å) with a step of 0.02° (2θ) and scanning rate of 2° min-1 in a range of 10° to 90°. The microstructures, as well as a compositional analysis of the phases in the samples, are determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM; SSX-550, Shimadzu, Japan) with an attached energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX). The structural properties are analyzed by Raman spectroscopy (Horiba Jobinyvon HR800) using an excitation wavelength of 633 nm with the laser power of 2 mw at room temperature in the frequency range of 50-2000 cm-1. To be reminded, five different sites in a sample are tested to verify the accuracy of the results. In addition, the spectra of Raman are fitted by assuming Gaussian line shapes for the peaks of different structural units.

Results and Discussion

Viscosity Property of Slags with CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgOTiO 2-FeO- Cr2O3 System

The curves of viscosity versus temperature with different contents of Cr2O3 and FeO are shown in Figure 2. It is observed that the viscosity of all the samples first decreases rapidly and then decreases gradually with increasing the temperature, and finally it is close to a constant value. Due to that Cr2O3-bearing BF vanadium slag is low basicity slag, the inflection values of viscosity change gradually compared to the basic slag. The inflection values are different with various compositions at different temperatures, it is about 1.3 Pa·s for sample 1 at 1570 K, about 1.3 Pa·s for sample 2 at 1600 K, about 1.0 Pa·s for sample 3 at 1660 K, about 1.1 Pa·s for sample 4 at 1630 K, but about 1.3 Pa·s for sample 5 at 1695 K, respectively. In addition, the viscosity is decreased with increasing the temperature due to the depolymerization of the complex polymers in molten slag [30,35]. When finishing the depolymerization of the complex polymers, the simple structures with high stability in the molten slag are generated at a certain temperature range, the viscosity is close to a constant value [30,36]. Consequently, the constant value is different for different component samples. It is observed from Figure 2 that the value is about 0.35 Pa·s for sample 1 at temperature above 1740 K, about 0.45 Pa·s for sample 2 at temperature above 1745 K, about 0.55 Pa·s for sample 3 at temperature above 1745 K, and about 0.47 Pa·s for sample 4 at temperature above 1740 K, and about 0.86 Pa·s for sample 5 at temperature above 1750 K, respectively. For the traditional BF smelting, the slag viscosity is required to be 1.5 Pa·s at about 1600 K, which is beneficial to working smoothly and enhancing BF operation [30,35,36]. The critical temperatures for the viscosity decreasing to 1.5 Pa·s are 1565 K, 1585 K, 1640 K, 1620 K and 1680 K for sample 1, sample 2, sample 3, sample 4 and sample 5 respectively, which indicates that the viscosity of the samples significantly increases with increasing the Cr2O3 content in this system, but complexly changes with introduction of FeO.

>Raman Spectroscopy

All original spectra for glassy samples with different contents of Cr2O3 and FeO are shown in Figure 3. It is observed that the dominant peak of the Raman spectrum for the slag with CaO-SiO2- Al2O3-MgO-TiO2 system in sample 1 is at about 850 cm-1. With the introduction of 1.5 wt% Cr2O3 into this system for sample 2, the shape and position of dominant peak of the Raman spectrum slightly change. With the introduction of 1.5 wt% Cr2O3 and 5 wt% FeO into the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2 system for sample 3, the relative intensity of the main band at about 850 cm-1 is reduced by more than 50%, but the peak width obviously increases. With further introduction 10 wt% FeO in the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2 -1.5wt% Cr2O3 system for the sample 4, the band at about 850 cm-1 nearly disappears, but the relative intensity of band at about 700 cm-1 becomes stronger. With further increasing Cr2O to 3 wt% in the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2-10wt%FeO-1.5wt% Cr2O system for sample 5, the relative intensity of band at 900~1050 cm-1 becomes stronger and its peak width increases.

Phase Compositions and Microstructure

Figure 4 shows the XRD patterns of the quenched samples with different Cr2O3 and FeO contents. For the sample 1 without Cr2O3 and FeO addition, the crystal phases are not detected, which indicates that the slag with CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2 system completely melts and does not form any spinels. In addition, with only introduction of a small amount of Cr2O3 (1.5 wt%) in the system for sample 2, the XRD patterns hardly change and new phases don’t form in slag. With introduction of the 5 wt% FeO in the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2 -1.5wt% Cr2O3 system for sample 3, the composite spinel phase ((Mg,Fe)(Cr,Al)2O4) and Ca3Mg(SiO4)2 generate. With further increasing of w(FeO) to 10 wt% in the CaOSiO 2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2-1.5wt% Cr2O3-5wt%FeO system for sample 4, the high-melting crystal phases disappear. On this basis, with further increasing w(Cr2O3) to 3 wt% in the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgOTiO 2-1.5wt%Cr2O3-10wt%FeO system for sample 5, the spinel phase appears again and changes from (Mg,Fe)(Cr,Al)2O4 to Fe(Al,Cr)2O4, and the peaks intensity of spinel becomes stronger than that of sample 3.

To further investigate the effect of Cr2O3 and FeO on the microstructure of the molten slag, SEM/EDX is employed for the microstructure and compositional analysis of phases on the polished surface of the quenched sample 5, as shown in Figure 5. It is observed that the coexisting phases are composed of liquid phase and spinel phase, which is consistent with the results of X-ray diffraction analysis. In the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2- 3wt%Cr2O3- 10wt%FeO system, CaO, SiO2, TiO2, MgO and part of Cr2O3, FeO, Al2O3 form a homogenous liquid phase as shown in Figure 5(c). In addition, some of FeO can react with Cr2O3 and Al2O3 to form the composite spinel (Fe(Al,Cr)2O4) as shown in Figure 5(b), which will significantly improve the viscosity of slag. Meanwhile, it can also know from Figures 4 & 5 that the low melting-point solids (olivine and feldspar) are not found in the quenched samples, thus it is considered that the precipitation of crystal phases is avoided during the quenching process [30,36].

Discussion

The different Raman bands are related to the different structure units, as summarized in Table 3. According to previous studies for silicate glasses, the low wavenumber regions (below 600 cm-1) are assigned to the vibrations such as the bending motions of Si-O-Si angles, the breathing modes of three-and four-membered rings, and the motions of the metal cations [15,25,31,37,38]. Around 780 cm-1, a peak may appear in certain glass compositions and has been attributed to the motions of Si against its tetrahedral oxygen cage [39-41]. The high wavenumber region at about 850-1060 cm-1 mainly characterizes the stretching vibration modes of Si-O bond in the SiO44 − tetrahedron, and corresponds to the silicate sites for the Q0, Q1, Q2, and Q3 structure units (superscripts 0, 1, 2 and 3 represent the numbers of bridging oxygen per SiO44 − tetrahedron) [25,31]. The bands at about 600-750cm-1 are attributed to the structural units of titanium in the melts, but 830-850cm-1 are attributed to Ti-O-Si structure which forms due to Ti4+ substituting Si4+ in tetrahedron [25,31]. The bands at about 690-710 cm-1 and 730-750 cm-1 are assigned to the structural units of chromium in melts [26,32,42-44]. As the alkaline oxides in molten slag form the metal cations (Ca2+, Fe2+, Mg2+, Mn2+) with smaller radius for a certain system and hardly affect the structural properties of slag, therefore the wavenumber region of the metal cations will not discuss in the following analysis. Considering that the structural behavior of anions is different in the different system slag, the subsequent work should investigate the structural behavior of various anion and solid oxides in CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2-Cr2O3- FeO system slag.

Three possible structural roles of titanium in Ti-bearing glasses, suggested in previous reports, are considered: (1) Ti4+ substitutes for Si4+ in tetrahedral coordination in the structural units; (2) Ti4+ forms TiO2-like clusters in tetrahedral coordination; (3) Ti4+ as a network modifier possibly occurs in five-fold or sixfold coordination [25,30]. As can be seen from Figure 3 (samples 1-5), the second and third models can be employed to explain the results due to the fact that the band at about 600-750cm-1 are detected in the glassy samples. It means that Ti4+ as a network modifier occurs in five-fold or six-fold coordination, which can significantly decrease the polymerization degree of silicates. And a small number of Ti4+ can form TiO2-like clusters in tetrahedral coordination. In addition, as the first model stated, Ti4+ is substituted for Si4+ in tetrahedral coordination in structural units of the glassy slags, the number of average bridging oxygen will be significantly increased and reaches about 2 for samples with about 10 wt% TiO2 in the slag, and the polymerization degree of the silicates will be significantly enhanced according to Li’s study and Huang’s study [25,44]. Accordingly, the first model cannot consistently predict the number of average bridging oxygen of silicates with the present results, as listed in Table 5. The second and the third models are the most appropriate to describe the role of titanium in structure.

With the introduction of 1.5 wt% CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgOTiO 2 system for sample 2, the main bands are hardly changed compared with sample 1. However, the band about 720cm-1 is shifted to about 780 cm-1 and its peak width increases due to the coexistence bands of Cr-O-Cr (about 730-750cm-1), O-Si-O or O-Ti-O (about 600-750cm-1) and Cr-O (about 840-850cm-1) [45-47]. Meanwhile the band about 920 cm-1 is enhanced and its peak width obviously increases. On this basis, with introduction of 5 wt% FeO in CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2-1.5wt%Cr2O3 system for sample 3, the Raman spectrum is obviously changed. The band at about 720 cm-1 appears again and its peak intensity and width are increased, which is considered to be the coexistence bands of FeCr2O4 (about 670cm-1), O-Si-O or O-Ti-O (600-750cm-1) [46,48,49]. The band about 780 cm-1 is considered the coexistence bands of Cr-O (about 840-850cm-1) and Cr-O-Cr (about 730-750cm- 1),[45,46] and its peak becomes narrower compared with sample 2 due to the formation of crystal phases (spinels). With further increasing 10 wt% FeO in CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2-1.5wt%Cr2O3 slag for sample 4, the peak of coexistence band at about 710 cm-1 is strengthened and other peaks are weakened due to the fact that the addition of FeO is disintegrated into Fe2+ (with main band about 710cm-1) and O2-, which will impede the formation of complex chains (Q1 and Cr-O-Cr) and the crystallization of spinels in molten slag [37,38,45,46]. With further increasing 3wt%Cr2O3 in CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2-10wt%FeO slag for sample 5, the peaks of bands about 800 and 920 cm-1 are obviously enhanced, and the plenty of spinels are formed in molten slag. The plenty of the Cr-OCr bands are the consequence of the constraints imposed by their membership of a ring structure, which includes Cr-O-Cr and Si-OSi bonds [47]. Meanwhile, according to previous reports,[45,48] SiO2 can stabilize the supported Cr3+ in tetrahedral coordination to enhance the ring structure. According to the Raman analysis, it is known that the crystal phases can form in CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgOTiO 2-Cr2O3-FeO system slags for sample 3 and sample 5 as shown in Figure 3. The crystal phases are mainly spinel phase (MgCr2O4, FeCr2O4, with main bands about 670cm-1), which is consistent with XRD and SEM/ EDX analysis.

The bands at 830-1000 cm-1 corresponds to the silicate sites for Q0, Q1, Q2, and Q3 structure units,[25,31] as shown in Table 3. Considering that the molar fractions of different structure units are related to the band areas, all samples are deconvolved using the Gauss-Deconvolution method by assuming contribution from the structural units of Qn with the minimum correlation coefficient r2≥0.99 to study the effect of different components. Different Qn species can be described as follows

As the scattering coefficients (θn) of Qn are different in the Raman spectrum as listed in Table 4, the mole fraction of the silicate structure units can be calculated as [31,36]

where xn is the mole fraction of the silicate structure units, An is the area fraction of each structural unit [31]. The number of non-bridging oxygen in the silicate slag can be obtained as follows[31,36]

Where n(NOB/T) is the number of non-bridging oxygen in the silicate slags. In addition, the average number of bridging oxygen in each sample is also used to explain the change of the silicate structures in melts, which can be estimated by the area ratio of each structural unit (Qn) multiplied by the number of its bridging oxygen. The best-fit simulations are conducted by the Gauss- Deconvolution method. The summary of the deconvolution and calculation results is listed in Table 5.

As can be seen from Table 5, the change of the number of nonbridging oxygen is contrary to the average number of bridging oxygen, which verifies the accuracy of the calculation results. Table 5 also shows that the number of non-bridging oxygen rapidly decreases when increasing Cr2O3 from 0 to 1.5 wt% in the slag, which can be explained by the reason that Cr2O3 plays the role of forming chain to increase the polymerization degree of the silicate slag. This result indicates that the majority of Cr3+ will form the bands of Cr-O-Cr in tetrahedral coordination and can change the polymerization degree of the silicates. In addition, Table 5 also shows that the number of non-bridging oxygen slightly decreases as the content of FeO increases from 0 to 5 wt% for sample 3, indicating that the polymerization degree of silicates increases due to the increase of Q1 and spinels in the molten slag. With further increasing 10 wt% FeO in the slag for sample 4, the number of non-bridging oxygen slightly increases due to the dissociation of the free cation (Fe2+) and O2- from FeO to interrupt the chain structures (Cr-O-Cr, Ti-O-Ti and Si-O-Si). With further introduction of 3 wt% Cr2O3 in slag for sample 5, the polymerization degree of silicate increases and the number of non-bridging oxygen obviously decreases due to the formation of solid spinel and Cr- O-Cr in the chain structure. As the field strength (change/radius) of the cations is Si4+>Cr3+>Al3+>Ti4+, the bond lengths of Si-O, Cr-O, Al-O Ti-O, and Fe-O are 1.63, 1.65, 1.81, 1.94, 2.16 , respectively [25,45,50]. The combined capacity between the cations and O2- is also presented by comparing their bond length; the ranks of the stability are Si-O>Cr-O>Al-O>Ti-O, which is opposite to their band length, as proposed by Zhang, Hino, and Baddour-Hadjean’s studies [31,45,50]. Thus, it can be concluded that FeO and TiO2 in slag can break up the 3-dimensional networks and the chain structures formed by Si and O, and hamper the crystallization of spinels, which is consistent with the conclusion proposed in Park’s work [25].

From above analysis, the spinel phases only form in the sample 3 and 5 for the Cr2O3-bearing BF vanadium system slag. In addition, the polymerization degree is low and the spinel (MgCr3O4) does not form in CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2-1.5wt% Cr2O3 slag due to the existence of a large amount of TiO2 in the slag, which can decrease as a chain structure, increase a number of discrete Si-O-Ti as well as Ti-O-Ti structural units to hamper the crystallization of MgCr2O4 as the main crystal phase in the slag, and thus the viscosity of the system is lower than that of BF slag. With introduction of 5 wt% FeO in the system, a small amount of spinel (main of FeCr3O4) is formed due to the fact that the Gibbs free energy of FeCr2O4 formation is lower and its molecular binding force is stronger, compared with that of MgCr2O4. On the other hand, the formation of FeCr2O4 offers the crystal nucleus to promote the production of (Mg,Fe)(Cr,Al)2O4 and Ca3Mg(SiO4)2 in the system. On the contrary, the polymerization degree becomes weaker and spinels disappear with increasing FeO from 5wt% to 10wt% due to an increased number of Fe2+, oxygen ion (O2-) and discrete Si-O-Ti as well as Ti-O-Ti structural units, which will break the chain structure and hamper the crystallization of spinels (MgCr2O4, FeCr2O4, MgAl2O4 and FeAl2O4) in the slag [46]. Furthermore, the crystallization ability of the SiO2-TiO2 system will decrease with increasing of TiO2 according to Dines’s study [45]. SiO2 and Cr2O3 can form liquid slag at temperature above 1573 K according to Healy and Schottmiller’s suggestion.[51] And TiO2 can increase the solubility of Cr2O3 in FeO-SiO2-V2O3-Cr2O3- TiO2 system slag according to Huang revelation [44]. According to this study, it knows that the existence of plenty of TiO2 and FeO in the CaO-SiO2-Al2O3-MgO-TiO2-Cr2O3-FeO slag can hamper the formation of spinels when the content of Cr2O3 is low in the molten slag. So the spinels do not form in the samples 2 and 4.

Correlation between the structural information and physiochemical properties of Cr2O3-bearing BF vanadium slag will naturally be expected. Many researchers have reported that the viscosity and melting temperature of the slag increase with an increase of w(Cr2O3) and decrease with an increase of w(FeO) and w(TiO2) [15,25]. According to the present study, the polymerization degree drastically increases with Cr2O3 introduction because of the formation of Cr-O-Cr in chain structures and the high meltingpoint spinel (FeCr2O4, with the melting temperature about 2273 K) in this system. According to the literature,[30,35] if the high melting-point solid exists in the liquid, it not only affects the homogenized liquid but also forms the plenty of solid-liquid phase interface in molten slag to dramatically increase internal friction, which will significantly increase the slag viscosity. Thus it is considered that the bond of Cr-O-Cr and the precipitation of spinels may affect the slag viscosity, but the effect of spinels is greater than that of the Cr-O-Cr bond. On the contrary, when existing an amount of FeO and TiO2 in the slag, the polymerization degree will decrease due to a decrease of as a chain structure and an increased number of discrete Si-O-Ti as well as Ti-O-Ti structural units, which can hamper the crystallization of FeCr2O4 as the main crystallization product in the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3- TiO2-FeO-Cr2O3 system, thus the viscosity of system can decrease.

Conclusion

The melt structure and property of CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3- TiO2system with varied FeO and Cr2O3 contents are investigated by the rotating cylinder method and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. Based on the above results, the following conclusions have been drawn:

a. The viscosity of the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2 system is decreased to 1.5 Pa·s at temperatures above 1565 K. With the introduction of 1.5 wt% Cr2O3 and 5 wt% FeO into CaO-MgOSiO 2-Al2O3-TiO2 system, the viscosity significantly increases and is decreased to 1.5 Pa·s until temperature higher than 1640 K. With further increasing 10 wt% FeO into the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2-1.5wt%Cr2O3 system, the viscosity decreases and is 1.5 Pa·s at about 1620 K. However, the viscosity increases again after the increase of Cr2O3 to 3 wt% in the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2-10wt%FeO system, the viscosity is decreased to 1.5 Pa·s until temperature higher than 1680 K.

b. Ti4+ mainly exists in the form of discrete Si-O-Ti and Ti- O-Ti as monomer which hampers the crystallization of FeCr2O4 in the molten slag and decreases the polymerization degree of the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2-FeO-Cr2O3 system. Most of Cr3+ exists in the bond of Cr-O-Cr to form network structures, and part of the chromium exists in the form of solid spinels, which can dramatically enhance the polymerization degree of the system slag. FeO should disintegrate into Fe2+ and O2- to decrease the polymerization degree of the slag. Furthermore, part of FeO can form spinels when Cr2O3 exists in the slag to obviously increase the polymerization degree of the slag.

c. The polymerization degree of silicate structures is lower in the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2 system due to the main existence of Q0 as a monomer structure in the slag. With the introduction of 1.5 wt% Cr2O3 into the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2 system, the polymerization degree of the silicate structure is enhanced due to the formation of Q1 in a chain structure. With the introduction of 5 wt% FeO into the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2-1.5wt%Cr2O3 system, the polymerization degree of silicate significantly increases due to the increase of Q1 and spinels in the slag. With further increasing 10wt% FeO in the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2-1.5wt%Cr2O3 system, the polymerization degree decreases and spinel disappears. When increasing Cr2O3 to 3 wt% in the CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-TiO2-10wt%FeO system, spinels appear again and transform into Fe(Al,Cr)2O4, and the polymerization degree of the slag obviously increases.

For more Open Access Journals in Juniper Publishers please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/

For more articles in  Academic Journal of Polymer Science please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/ajop/index.php

[igeekphonedotcom]

The iQOO 5 series of mobile phones were officially released, including iQOO 5 and iQOO 5 Pro. The latter not only has a 120Hz high-brush curved screen but also launched Vivo’s 120W FlashCharge ultra-fast flash charging technology. It can be said that the iQOO brand is a masterpiece of the 18 months since its birth. The normal version of the iQOO 5 mobile phone is also a powerful flagship mobile phone. In addition to the performance iron triangle, it also brings a hardware configuration such as Samsung’s 120Hz super-visual flexible screen, which makes up for the lack of high-level brushes of the predecessor iQOO 3 Regret of the screen, of course, the new experience brought by the Vivo iQOO 5 series phones is far more than that. And now we bring you the experience of getting started with this product.

iQOO 5 Design & Appearance   

As the successor of iQOO 3, the appearance design of iQOO 5 has undergone major changes. Compared with the sense of power and speed emphasized by iQOO 3, iQOO 5 has more “order” in design, especially in detail. , IQOO 5 series is more refined and high-end. iQOO 5 has two color schemes: Blue & Black. This color scheme is more low-key, the look and feel are closer to deep space gray, and it exudes a metal-specific texture.

iQOO 5 also uses AG frosted glass on the back of the phone, which feels very delicate and smooth, and is less likely to be stained with fingerprints and sweat. At the same time, the overall color matching of Haoying also uses a gradient color design that is not particularly obvious, from top to bottom, the color of the fuselage is from dark to light, the color of the upper half is deeper, and the color of the lower half of the fuselage is closer to silver gray. The overall look is atmospheric, calm, and low-key.

In order to achieve visual unity, the middle frame of the iQOO 5 body also uses a similar gradient color design. The top middle frame is close to light pink, and the bottom middle frame is silver gray. The iQOO Logo on the back of the fuselage adopts a bright design and is on a uniform level with the camera on the back.

The rear camera design is similar to the vivo X50. Although it does not use a cloud-level design, if you look closely, you will find that the rear camera shape of the iQOO 5 adopts a progressive design. The bottom of the camera is wrapped by a protective ring, and the main camera is higher than the camera. The module plane thus forms a gradual camera from high to low and from small to large, just like the moment when a water droplet spreads.

In terms of detailed design, the power button of iQOO 5 uses texture and color contrast design. The power button is surrounded by CNC highlight chamfering and sprayed with a layer of orange to make the power button more conspicuous. Above the power button is the volume button. The middle frame position where they are located is processed with a slower groove. These details are designed very carefully and ingeniously, and the high-end design sense of the whole machine also emerges spontaneously.

On the front, iQOO 5 uses a 6.56-inch, 1080P resolution AMOLED full-scale screen. This screen has a great background. It is not only a Samsung flexible screen but also a diamond pixel arrangement, with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and 240Hz touch sampling. The user’s swipe operation, touch operation in-game scenes, etc. are smoother and faster to respond to hands.

In addition, the iQOO 5 display also supports HDR10+ standard certification, supports 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, screen contrast of 6000000:1, screen brightness of 500nit, and local brightness of up to 1300nit. This screen has also passed the SGS screen certification, which can reduce the harmful blue light of the screen to less than 7.5% and reduce the power consumption of the screen. There is a small detail, iQOO 5’s front-screen camera punch has been transferred from the right side of iQOO 3 to the left side of the screen.

The body size of Vivo iQOO 5 is 160.4*75.6*8.32mm, and the weight is about 197g, which is not light, but as an all-around 5G flagship mobile phone, it can control the weight to a handful of less than 200g, and iQOO 5 is fully configured Under the premise of the upgrade, it is much lighter than iQOO 3. At the same time, iQOO 5 has a large 4500 mAh battery inserted into the fuselage, and the Z-axis linear motor is retained, so the weight control of 197g is already very good.

In terms of audio-visual, the Vivo iQOO 5 series is equipped with 2 professionally customized ultra-linear large-amplitude 1210-core internal magnetic speaker units to bring excellent surround sound effects. More importantly, the iQOO 5 series inherits the fine tradition of an independent Hi-Fi chip. The body has built-in CS43131 independent Hi-Fi chip, supports Hi-Res audio certification, and passes 3.5mm adapter cable/Type-C headphone output high fidelity For audio, compared with the previous generation iQOO 3’s AK4377A chip, the CS43131 signal-to-noise ratio SNR is approximately doubled, the state range DNR is approximately doubled, stereo dual speakers + Super Audio sound effects, iQOO 5 brings super shocking audio-visual effects to players enjoy.

iQOO 5 Hardware & Performance

The configuration has always been the strength of iQOO mobile phones. Vivo iQOO 5 continues the performance iron triangle combination of Snapdragon 865, Samsung LPDDR5 storage and UFS3.1 ultra-fast flash memory, and provides a maximum storage specification of 12GB.

Everyone is already familiar with the Snapdragon 865. It uses TSMC’s 7nm process technology. It has a Kryo 585 Prime ultra-large core customized based on A77. The main frequency reaches 2.84Ghz. There are 3 large Kryo 585 Gold cores with A77 architecture. 2.42Ghz, there are 4 small Kryo 585 Silver cores of A55 architecture, 1.8Ghz. Compared with the previous generation Snapdragon 855 processor, CPU performance has increased by 25% and power consumption has been reduced by 25%. In terms of GPU, the new Adreno 650 graphics processor also has a 25% performance improvement over the previous generation Adreno 650, and power consumption is reduced by 35%.

Let’s take a look at the performance of iQOO 5’s running score.

As shown in the figure above, through GeekBench4 running points, iQOO 5 single-core reached 4289 points, multi-core reached 13531 points; through GeekBench5 running points, iQOO 5 single-core reached 920 points, multi-core reached 3272 points; In the Antutu (V8.4.3) test, iQOO 5 scored 629,510 points, surpassing 99% of users.

According to official data, UFS 3.1 under normal circumstances, sequential read reaches 1800MB/s, and sequential write reaches 700MB/s. For comparison, UFS3.0 is 1500MB/s and 500MB/s respectively. The sequential read speed of iQOO 5 will reach 1727MB/s, the sequential write speed will reach 759MB/s, the random read speed will reach 277MB/s, and the random write speed will reach 233MB/s, iQOO 5 In the face of downloading, copying, installation, switching large applications, file transfer, and other operations, the response is faster and the processing efficiency is higher.

From the frame rate curve, it is not difficult to see that the image quality of these two files is close to full-frame, and It cannot perceive frame rate fluctuations in the actual game experience. This performance can basically represent the highest level of the current Android camp.

In terms of charging, iQOO 5 has been upgraded to 55W super flash charging, and it only takes about 55 minutes to fully charge. The charging of iQOO 5 Pro reached 120W. According to the actual measurement conducted by The power of iQOO 5 Pro can be charged from 0 to 55% in 5 minutes and 30 seconds. At 14 minutes and 32 seconds, the phone has a pop-up “charging completed” “The speed is amazing. This is also the fastest mobile phone charging speed I have experienced so far.

iQOO 5 Cameras

Compared with iQOO 3, iQOO 5’s camera has also been greatly improved, including a 50-megapixel super-outsole main camera, a 13-megapixel super wide-angle, and a 13-megapixel image (2X telephoto). Don’t look at only three lenses, but each is powerful Among them, the main camera of iQOO 5 is the same GN1 of the X50 super cup, the sensor size reaches 1/1.3 inches, has a higher light performance, and also supports full-pixel four-in-one dual-core focusing. Everyone is very familiar with the 13MP image lens. This lens uses the most classic 50mm focal length and is excellent for shooting portraits.

With a 1/1.3-inch main camera with a large aperture of f/1.8, iQOO 5 is remarkable in terms of color, brightness, white balance, and other aspects of the picture during the day, especially the color consistency of the super wide-angle and main camera samples. High, there is almost no problem with color changes caused by switching between different lenses.

The night scene performance of iQOO 5 has been greatly upgraded. With the support of the “Super Night Scene 4.0” technology, night shooting has become a bonus item for the iQOO 5 series of mobile phones. In the night environment, the first impression of the iQOO 5 proofs is that they are transparent and clean, the sky has no noise, and the branches and leaves in the proofs can withstand magnification.

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Ultra Wide

1x

2x

Vivo iQOO 5 is also very good in color reproduction. For example, the LED strips of different colors in the picture below are almost visible to the naked eye. At the same time, iQOO 5 handles both light and dark very well, the light strip is not obviously overexposed but also retains the color, the overall look is very comfortable, very pleasing to the eye.

Of course, this is also inseparable from the color adjustment of the iQOO camera. In terms of color, iQOO 5 still ” makes colors more vivid on the basis of reality “, such as the sample below, when I took the photo, I rotated the yellow, blue and white of the little bee. The ceiling did not attract the author’s attention, but after the shooting, you can clearly feel that the colors of the ceiling are very bright and rich, and it looks more layered.

Read Also: Redmi K30 Extreme Commemorative Edition Review: Cost-Efficient Phone

Verdict

The Vivo iQOO 5 series is a transformation of the iQOO brand. In the past, iQOO was obsessed with “extreme performance”, which may have led to some deviations. However, through the iQOO 5 series, you can clearly feel that iQOO has started a more balanced development and has inherited In addition to the two main tracks of “extreme performance” and “e-sports”, the iQOO 5 series has more differences.

Vivo iQOO 5 has both excellent high-value design and good camera performance, which guarantees continuous performance The release of the large battery has also achieved a better feel and weight. It can even be said that the iQOO 5 series is a product with the most flagship configuration and the most experience since the birth of the iQOO brand.

Vivo iQOO 5 Review: Most Budget Flagship Phone of 2020 The iQOO 5 series of mobile phones were officially released, including iQOO 5 and iQOO 5 Pro.

[pctestbench]

When it comes to the best gaming set up, everyone has their own opinions and preferences. Some like gaming on a triple monitor set up, while others prefer a single, high refresh rate screen. I say a 34″ ultra-wide is the best of both worlds. So, when we were asked to take a look at the AOC CU34G2X 34″ ultra-wide, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. The CU34G2X from AOC is a 34″ ultra-wide with a 21:9 aspect ratio. With a refresh rate of 144 Hz, a 1 MS response time, and a beautiful 3440 x 1440 resolution, the CU34G2X is designed with gaming in mind. However, there are several other benefits to having an ultra-wide monitor that goes beyond just gaming.  So, we put the CU34G2X to the test to see the benefits out way the cost of on paper, what looks to be a great option for anyone looking for an ultra-wide monitor. But specs aside, how does the CU34G2X perform, let’s find out.

  We would like to thank AOC for providing us a sample of the CU34G2X to check out!

Specifications

Monitor color

Black Red

Monitor size

34 inch

Resolution

3440×1440

Refresh rate

144Hz

Response time 

1 ms

Panel type

VA

Backlight

WLED

Aspect ratio

21:9

Brightness

300

Contrast (dynamic)

80M:1

Pixel pitch

0.23175

Active Screen Area

797.22 x 333.72

Viewing Angle

178/178 º

Colors

16.7 Million

Bezel type

Frameless

OSD languages

EN, FR, ES, PT, DE, IT, NL, SE, FI, PL, CZ, RU, KR, CN (T), CN (S), JP

Connections

Signal input

HDMI 2.0 x 2

DisplayPort 1.4 x 2

Display Port version

1.4

USB Input

USB 3.2 (Gen1) x 4

Audio output

Headphone out (3.5 mm)

Features

Curved screen Curved

What’s in the box

HDMI Cable 1.8 m

Displayport Cable 1.8 m

Power shuko c5 Cable 1.8 m

Sustainability

RoHS 

Ergonomics

Swivel -30°±2°~+30±2° °

Tilt -5±2°~+23±2° °

Ergonomic height amount 130mm

Base removal 

VESA 100×100

Power

Power supply

Internal

Power Consumption On

37W watt

Power Consumption Standby

<0.5W watt

Dimensions

Carton dimensions mm x mm x mm

903x548x280

Net weight excluding packaging

8 kg

Gross weight including packaging

9.47 kg

Warranty

Warranty period 3 Years

A Closer Look at the AOC CU34G2X

Being an ultra-wide, the CU34G2X takes up a fair amount of desk space measuring 903 mm x 548 mm x 280 mm. However it also gives you a fair amount of screen space without having to deal with annoying bezels like on multi-screen set-ups. The CU34G2X is also a curved monitor. We all know the benefits of a curved screen. A curved screen offers wider viewing angles. The shape also gives you the illusion of panoramic viewing. But overall, a curved ultra-wide screen offers an all-around more immersive experience than even a flat ultra-wide can.

  The CU34G2X from AOC is a 34″ ultra-wide with an aspect ratio of 21:9, a resolution of 3440 x 1440, a 1 ms response time, and a refresh rate of 144 Hz. The CU32G2X has a vertical alignment or VA panel that is back-lit by white light-emitting diodes, or WLEDs. The VA panel on the CU32G2X has a dynamic contrast ratio of 80M:1. The CU32G2X has a viewing angle of 178/178° and sports 16.7 million colors. The stand on the CU34G2X does both swivel and tilt. The swivel range is between -30°±2°~+30±2° and the tilt range is between -5±2°~+23±2°.

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In addition to both tilt and swivel, the height of the CU34G2X can also be adjusted. At its highest point, the bottom edge of the CU34G2X sits 6.25″ or 158.75 mm from the top of the desk. At its lowest point, the bottom edge of the monitor sits only 1.25″ or 31.75 mm from the top of the desk.

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The CU34G2X has the standard 100 mm x 100 mm VESA mount. It even comes equipped with VESA mount screws already attached to the back of the monitor. The included stand does not require screws to install. It simply slides into place at the top of the VESA mount cutout and clicks into place at the bottom. There is a release switch on the mounting plate on the stand. Pushing this switch up releases the stand from the monitor.

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The Stand for the CU34G2X is made prominently out of plastic, aside from the part that attaches to the actual monitor. But more on that later.  As we mentioned earlier, the stand on the CU34G2X both swivels, as well as raises and lowers. Also, there is a cutout in the actual stand made for cable management. This is a small but welcomed feature. Especially when you have as many cables running through your office as I do.

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On the back panel, there are four USB 3.2 (Gen 1) ports and one USB B port. Using a USB A to B cable, you can power the other USB ports on your monitor. The Yellow USB 3.2 (Gen 1) port is an always-on port.  So, as long as the USB A to B cable is connected to your PC, even when the PC is off, this port will have power. I keep my phone charger plugged into the always-on port so I can always charge my phone.  For video, there are two HDMI 2.0 ports and two Display Port 1.4 ports. Last, there is a single 3.5 mm audio out port for headphones, speakers, or a soundbar.

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The CU34G2X has an internal power supply. This means, no external power brick. When on, the CU34G2X consumers about 37 watts per hour. When on stand by, the CU34G2X uses less than 0.5 watts per hour. The CU34G2X uses a standard computer power cord (NEMA 5-15P to IEC 320 C13). The port for the power cable is located left of the monitor when looking at it from the front. Just below the port for the power cord is a Kensington Security Slot for a Kensington Lock. For those who may not know what a Kensington Lock is, more on that here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Security_Slot

AOC describes the CU34G2X as having a frame-less bezel. Unlike traditional monitors that have a bezel around the screen, the panel on the CU34G2X goes directly to the edge. So, if you were to pair two or more of these monitors together, there wouldn’t be a large gap between monitors. But, there is only so much to say about the outside of a monitor. So, let’s get into the initial assembly.

Assembly

This section will consist of assembling the actual monitor. The assembly of the CU34G2X is rather straight forward. The base has four feet. Two small feet on the back and two large feet on the front. In the center of the base, there are two metal nipples, for lack of a better word. In the center, you can see the tip of a bolt that will attach the stand to the arm.

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The center of the base has a red ring around the part that swivels. There is a cutout in the middle of this red ring for the stand arm to sit in, as well as slots for the stand base to sit in on the arm. There is a screw with a wing nut on the bottom of the base of the stand. This screw tightens down to secure the arm to the base.

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As we mentioned earlier, the CU34G2X has a standard 100 x 100 VESA mount. The Stand is made up of mostly plastic. However, there is a metal VESA mounting plate on the arm. This is the part that attaches to the actual monitor. there are two metal clips at the top of the plate, and two plastic clips at the bottom. The plastic clips are what snaps the monitor on to the stand. On the back of the mounting plate, there is a release switch for the monitor stand.

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Now that our CU34G2X is assembled, its time to get into the OSD, or on-screen display.

On-Screen Display

I’ll admit, I never, ever go into the OSD, or on-screen display for any monitor I buy. I generally find them annoying and tedious to use. I am still holding out hope that someone will put out a monitor with a remote. That being said, the OSD for the CU34G2X from AOC wasn’t difficult to navigate at all. My one complaint on the OSD is I have a hard time seeing the icons on the bezel. But, that is due to my poor eyesight.  However, my camera can see them. So, going from right to left, there is first a light that indicates power. If the monitor is on, the light will be in. Next, there is a power button. For the actual OSD controls, there is the Menu button, that brings up the OSD, the scroll right and scroll left buttons, and the Go Back, or return button.

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Before we get into the OSD, there are a couple of quick menus that can be brought up with the touch of a button. Pressing the “Go Back” button for the OSD will bring up the input selection menu. Pressing the left arrow button will bring up gaming mode. Pressing it again when the Game Mode box is on the screen, it will allow you to scroll through the different game modes. Pressing the right arrow will put a crosshair on the center of the screen. Now, on to the menu.

When using the OSD for the CU34G2X, the fist section the menu will open to is Luminance. In this section, you can adjust settings such as contrast, brightness, and Gamma. Here is where you can also enable modes such as ECO Mode, DCR, and HDR mode.

The next section on the OSD is the Color Set-Up section. Here, you can set the color temperature. You can also enable DCR, or Dynamic Contrast Ratio mode, as well as enable the DCR demo. Enabling the DCR demo will initiate a split-screen mode. One side with DCR enabled and the other with it disabled. This is more meant for when the monitor is on display at say a retailer like Best Buy or Microcenter. Also in color setup, you and adjust the RGB levels. By this I mean the red, green, and blue levels on the display. Not RGB lighting, The RGB levels can only be adjusted when the color temp is in User Mode.

The picture boost section has an option called Bright Frame. This allows you to create a picture frame of sorts in any position on the monitor, at any size. Inside the picture frame you create, you can control the brightness and contrast of that section of the screen, separately from the rest of the screen.

The OSD settings allow you to adjust the settings of the On-Screen Display. you can adjust everything from position to transparency. You can also switch between several different languages including English, French, and Spanish just to name a few. a full list is in the Specifications section of this review. There is also an option to adjust the volume of the audio output, as well as the timeout of the OSD. I wish I had played with that one before trying to take pictures of the OSD.

The PIP, or Picture in Picture menu allows you to set up just that, the picture in picture feature. It allows you to select from the four inputs, what one you want as the main display, and what one you want as the secondary display. You can select from three different sizes, small, medium, and large. You can enable or disable the audio as well and select the position you want the secondary display.

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The Gaming section is where you can customize your CU34G2X for gaming. Here you can enable game mode. Game mode will lower your response time, but usually at the cost of image quality. But not that much. The gaming settings also have shadow control, game color, and MBR, or Motion Blur Reduction sliders. You can also enable Adaptive Sync, Pixel Overdrive, and LowBlue modes in the Gaming section. But, my favorite feature in the Gaming Settings has to be the FPS counter that can be enabled.

The final section of the OSD is the Extras section. here you can select the different inputs, reset all settings, and set an off timer. Now, let’s get into my personal experience with the CU34G2X from AOC.

Testing and Benchmarks

Test System

Processor

Intel Core I7 9700K (Confidential Processor)

Motherboard

Aorus Z390 Pro

 Graphics Card

AORUS RTX 2080 Waterforce

Memory

Aorus RGB Memory 3200 MHz Cas 16

Storage

512 GB Crucial P1 NVM3 M.2 SSD

Power Supply

850 Watt EVGA SuperNova P2 80+ Platinum

Cooler

Custom Cooled

XSPC D5 pump

XSPC Photon 270 ml Reservoir

360 mm x 60 mm Radiator

3 Fractal Design Prisma Fans

3 EK Vardar Fans

EK Vector RGB Waterblock

Case

Thermaltake Core P5

Games

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Far Cry New Dawn

Far Cry 5

Strange Brigade (DX12)

Strange Brigade (Vulcan)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (DX12)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Vulcan)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Wolfenstein Young Blood

Testing a monitor is unlike testing say a graphics card. It isn’t much different I’d do from my day to day uses as most of the experience is very subjective. However, there is a process for everything. So, the first step once the monitor was set up and ready was to calibrate the screen using the Spider5 calibration tool and the Spider5 Express software as that’s what came with the actual tool. Once Spider 5 Express was installed, we placed the sensor on the screen, and it took about 4 or 5 minutes to calibrate as the screen changed to several different colors.

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Once the CU34G2X from AOC was calibrated, it was time to get to the real-world testing. Now, I’ve been using the CU34G2X for about a month and a half. I previously had a 34″ ultra-wide that I sent an umbrella stand through. When it came time to replace it, I ended up with a 32″ 144 Hz screen in its place. I have felt empty ever since. Until the CU34G2X hit my desk. Now, for gaming, an ultra-wide is a great option. However, the benefits of an ultra-wide go far beyond just gaming. Originally, I had a 3 27″ 1080p monitors and I used to game in surround. When I first started writing reviews, I opted for an ultra-wide simply so I could include 3440 x 1440 resolution in my gaming results.  Then, I started getting into editing in Photoshop and Premiere Pro. No, it wasn’t Photoshop that made me fall in love with this monitor as I have a 10-Bit 4k monitor for editing pictures and the CU34G2X is only an 8-bit panel. It wasn’t even gaming, but Premiere Pro. I forgot how great it is to have all that extra screen space dedicated to my timeline.

With a 1 ms response time and 144 Hz refresh rate, the CU34G2X was designed with gaming in mind. and it does an excellent job in-game. The 144 Hz refresh rate gives you buttery-smooth game play. But, depending on the game, there are random dips here and there. So, I enabled adaptive sync as well as the on-screen frame counter. Adaptive sync dynamically adjusts the refresh rate to match the refresh rate of the GPU. The CU34G23X is the first monitor I’ve ever tested that has adaptive sync. I have Freesync monitor sure, but I’ve never had a GPU that supports FreeSync. So, I had never really used adaptive sync before, until testing the CU34G2X.  I was so impressed with how well adaptive sync works. It kept even RDR2 running at 144 Hz and it looked amazing. We decided to add in some gaming benchmarks for the RTX 2080 Waterforce in amazing 3440 x 1440 resolution, at 144 Hz and adaptive sync off.

All games were tested at their highest preset. in 3440 x 1440 resolution. The system we used consisted of an i7-9700k, AORUS RTX 2080 Waterforce, and 16 GB of AORUS RGB memory running at 3600 MHz. The two best performing games were Strange Brigade in Vulcan and Wolfenstein Young Blood. Strange Brigade in Vulcan averaged 104 frames per second on the RTX 2080 Waterforce in 3440 x 1440 resolution. Wolfenstein Young Blood was second with an average of 102 frames per second. Strange Brigade in DX12 was next with an average of 88 frames per second. Far Cry New Dawn and Far Cry 5 were both close in averages. Far Cry New Dawn averaged 76 frames per second and Far Cry 5 averaged 74. Shadow of the Tomb Raider was next on our list with an average of 57 frames per second followed by Deus Ex with an average of 51 frames per second. Red Dead Redemption 2 in Vulcan averaged 49 frames per second. In DX12, Red Dead Redemption 2 tied with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey with an average of 46 Frames Per Second. Now with all that being said, enabling adaptive sync the built-in frame counter was always at 144 Hz in any game I played. Except for one. My absolute favorite experience with the CU34G2X from AOC had to be playing modded Skyrim in 3440 x 1440 resolution. Although the game doesn’t support a 21:9 aspect ratio, it can be tweaked in the INI files of the game to support 3440 x 1440 resolution. and it looks great. But this was the one game that the frame counter was locked at 100. Without adaptive sync, Skyrim usually stays locked at 60 frames per second, or at least won’t go higher than 60 frames per second.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Overall, I can’t say enough good about the CU34G2X from AOC. I’ve owned other ultra-wide monitors before. However, this is the first time I’ve had a 34″ ultra-wide with a 144 Hz refresh rate in my office. I remember now why I originally switched from a triple screen set up to a single ultra-wide. The CU34G2X offers an amazing and immersive gaming experience. The curved screen offers better viewing angles than a flat version would and it just looks better than any flat screen I own. For an 8-it panel, the CU34G2X offers very vivid and bright colors, as well as deep, dark blacks. This makes the CU34G2X a great option for gamers who also do some editing on the side. For a YouTuber who is just uploading twitch streams or talking head videos, the colors on the CU34G2X are more than good enough for editing both video and even stills. Now, if you edit on a more professional level and get into color grading, then this probably isn’t the monitor for you. But again, this is a gaming monitor, not a professional one.

Games ran great on the CU34G2X. The gaming features on this monitor are plenty. One feature I never expected to use was the picture in picture feature. This was a very useful feature, especially when bench-marking. When running benchmarks, I won’t run anything else on that system in case it messes up the benchmark. So, having a picture in picture was great. I had two computers hooked up to the CU34G2X and when I was running benchmarks, I could still watch YouTube or and my benchmark on the same screen. It’s the little things in life. This was my first experience with adaptive sync and I fell in love with it. It is one of those features that you can’t go back to not using once you experience it. When my previous ultra-wide broke, I just couldn’t afford to drop another $1000 on a 34″ ultra-wide. So, I’ve put it off for a very long time. Generally, the features I am personally looking for in an ultra-wide would run between $700 and $1000. But, the MSRP of the CU34G2X from AOC when it officially launches on May 12, 2020, is only USD 449.99. That is an amazing price for the number of features AOC crammed into this 34″ ultra-wide. The CU34G2X is the ultra-wide monitor I have been waiting for for a very long time. Try it out, you won’t be disappointed!

[sc name=”award-editors-choice” ]

      AOC CU34G2X 34″ Curved Ultra Wide Monitor Review When it comes to the best gaming set up, everyone has their own opinions and preferences. Some like gaming on a triple monitor set up, while others prefer a single, high refresh rate screen.

[robertkstone]

2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro First Drive: Shocking Development

Why the sudden fascination with pickups capable of driving really fast across a rocky, dusty desert? Nobody knew we needed any such thing until Ford introduced its wide-fendered, tall-enough-to-need-clearance-lights Raptor. Chevy eventually responded with the dimensionally tidier Colorado ZR2, and now Toyota is taking aim squarely at Chevy (and preemptively at Ford, should it decide to bring the Ranger Raptor here) by redesigning the suspension of its 2019 Tacoma TRD Pro for Baja racing.

FANCY SNORKEL Anybody can Sawzall a hole in the fender and bolt a snorkel to the A-pillar, but the TRD Pro snorkel is designed in. Its fender hole is stamped in the raw steel at the factory, and hence gets the full anti-corrosion paint treatment. It also attaches to a built-in roof-rack fastening point on the roof, so no new holes are created up there. The head can be swiveled backwards to prevent ingesting snow in blizzard driving, and the head is tethered to remain with the truck should a bird or debris knock it loose. Please don’t rely on this snorkel for fording 6-foot deep water, though, as there are water drain holes down low that will admit engine-killing external water.

Key to each of these trucks’ saguaro-slaloming capabilities is a sophisticated set of name-brand shock absorbers. Chevy made big headlines by utilizing Multimatic spool-valve shocks—a technology previously utilized primarily on cars that race on paved circuits. Toyota (and Ford) chose to go with a more typical supplier of off-road racing dampers—Fox Shox. What they all strive to do is provide comfy, cushy ride quality over the sorts of small bumps one finds on paved roads, while ramping up the damping rates as the speed and size of the bump events increases to keep the suspension from bottoming out harshly, which can cause serious damage. Fox does this using internal bypass passages that provide position-dependent damping-rate variability.

Here’s how the Fox Shox work on the Tacoma: As the 1.8-inch-diameter piston moves up and down through its range of travel (which is increased by 0.7 inch in front, 0.8 inch in back relative to base and TRD Off Road Tacomas) various different orifices are exposed for the oil to travel through. Each provides a different damping rate. The front shocks feature five jounce and three rebound zones; the rears provide seven jounce and four rebound rates. The lightest damping rate near the center of the shock’s travel promises noticeably smoother on-road ride relative to the previous model’s simpler Bilstein shocks and relative to the base Tacoma shocks. The rear shocks also feature 2-inch “piggyback” external reservoirs that serve to increase the volume of hydraulic oil and thereby keep all the oil cooler during prolonged desert running. One downside of the Fox design—its position-dependent nature means that adding aftermarket lift kits and so forth without replacing the shocks could drastically alter the truck’s driving dynamics.

Instead of tubes, orifices, and springy shim packs, Multimatic shocks send oil through spool valves that move inside sleeves, at a rate controlled by a spring. These valves and sleeves each have orifices laser-cut in them for oil to flow through, and by using computational fluid dynamics to precisely design the size and shape of these orifices, Multimatic claims that nearly any force/damping curve an engineer desires can be delivered with high accuracy and vastly less iterative development work than is typically required when developing shimmed-orifice shocks. Each Colorado shock uses three spool valves. This design tends to be pretty expensive.

Before we take the Tacoma for a spin, let’s run through the rest of its 2019 upgrades, which include new front springs that add 1 inch of ride height, a larger front anti-roll bar—1.2 versus 1.1 inch diameter (still hollow), progressive-rate off-road leaf springs out back that allow more jounce travel on rough terrain, and 16-inch TRD Pro wheels that add an inch of track width front and rear. (Note that the stiffer front bar is designed to make the truck more eager to rotate and hence more fun to drive on and off road at some tiny expense of its rock-crawling articulation.) There’s also a snortier cat-back exhaust with a black-chrome tip and a new Desert Air Intake that keeps the engine breathing cleaner, less dusty air from above the windshield. Neither the intake nor the exhaust alters the output of the 278-hp V-6. Rigid Industries LED foglamps brighten nighttime trail rides, and a TRD Pro–badged quarter-inch-thick front skidplate is strong enough to be used to jack up the vehicle. New standard equipment includes a moonroof and the Entune Premium JBL audio system. All these upgrades increase the price by just $940 (with the manual) or $1,645 (automatic).

To test out the new Tacoma TRD Pro, Toyota attempted to create a mini Baja in its backyard at a former limestone quarry known as Northwest OHV Park in Bridgeport, Texas, about 80 miles northwest of Dallas. The desert simulation was compromised by several inches of falling rain that added to what was already the wettest September in recorded Texas history.

My first few trails involve careful tiptoeing up and down some precipitous and slick rocky hills, which the truck’s Crawl Control system accomplishes with astonishing ease. I especially like being able to select among the system’s five speed settings using a dedicated rotary knob on the overhead console instead of toggling a cruise-control button or something. The knob lets me see at a glance what speed is selected when slowing back down to a crawl. The 265/70R16 Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure tires impress with their levels of grip despite tread blocks filled with greasy red clay.

Next I head down to the broad sand/mud pit where the trucks can reach higher speeds to really get those Fox Shox pumping. Maybe the rain and continued use by multiple journalists has made the course particularly rough, but the seat of my pants is recording a level of ride quality that ranks well short of plush. And plush is kind of what I was hoping for, having once ridden shotgun with Ironman Ivan Stewart in one of his SCORE Toyota off-road racing trucks. Sure it had 2-plus feet’s worth of suspension travel, external bypass shocks, and the like, but that rig swallowed bumps with a plushness that I was reminded of when I sampled a Colorado ZR2 in 2016. That drive involved jumping and bouncing off a bunch of large but man-made obstacles set up in a parking lot, though, and vastly different conditions experienced years apart do not a valid comparison make. Clearly the question of which shock technology reigns supreme can only be answered by a proper Head 2 Head comparison. Maybe in Baja?

What’s New with the Other TRD Pros

2019 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro

Fox Shox like the Tacoma’s, but with unique tuning and more bypass zones—seven jounce and four rebound in front, eight and four in back—and “piggyback” reservoirs on the front shocks

TRD-tuned front springs add 2.0 inches to the ride height

Wheel travel is increased 1.5 inches in front, 2.0 inches in the rear

18-inch forged five-spoke satin black hand-polished BBS wheels that each weigh 3.35 pounds less than previous cast wheels (tires are 275/65R18 Michelin LTX A/T2s)

Quarter-inch-thick aluminum skidplate with red “Toyota” lettering

Cat-back exhaust with black-chrome tip (adds sound not power)

Rigid Industries foglamps

New grille, hood scoop

Pickup bed outer quarter panels get “TRD Pro” stamped into the steel

2019 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro

Fox Shox like the Tacoma’s, but with unique tuning and four jounce bypass zones and three rebound zones in front, seven and four in back. Rear shocks are inverted for tire clearance and feature “roost shields” that prevent rocks from striking the exposed piston rod

TRD-tuned front springs add 1.0 inch to the ride height

Wheel travel is increased 1.0 inch front and rear

17-inch matte-black TRD wheels with an offset that widens the track by nearly an inch front and rear

New 265/70R17 Nitto Terra Grappler All Terrain tires

Quarter-inch-thick aluminum skidplate with red “TRD” lettering

Unique roof rack for stowing dirty gear

LED foglamps

Blackout grille

Standard Entune Premium JBL audio system with navigation and app suite

2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro BASE PRICE $43,705 VEHICLE LAYOUT Front-engine, 4WD, 5-pass, 4-door truck ENGINE 3.5L/278-hp/265-lb-ft Atkinson-cycle DOHC 24-valve V-6 TRANSMISSIONS 6-speed manual, 6-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT 4,450 lb (mfr) WHEELBASE 127.4 in LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT 212.3 x 74.4 x 71.6 in 0-60 MPH 7.1-7.3 sec (MT est) EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 17-18/20-23/18-20 mpg ENERGY CONSUMPTION, CITY/HWY 187-198/147-169 kW-hrs/100 miles CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB 0.97-1.06 lb/mile ON SALE IN U.S. Currently

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