Practical Applications of Investigative Analyses

The many papers in this proceedings are partitioned into very abstruse theoretical analyses of structure and stability of quasicrystals on the one hand, and practical studies of surface structures, mechanical properties and potential applications. The subject shows signs of becoming as deeply divided between theorists and practical investigators, out of touch with each other, as magnetism became in the preceding century. 

In addition to the two combustors introduced briefly above, researches and development on the application of gas-continuous impinging streams to combustion has been carried out since the 1970s, e.g., the investigations made by Goldberg and Essenhigh [ 146], Ziv etal. [12], Goldman [147-149] and Liu et al. [150]. Mostly, these works involve experimental studies and model analyses, and mainly aimed at the improvements of combustor structure and the arrangement of burners in order to increase combustion efficiency. Most of the experimental combustors employed were very small and their application seems far from practical. 

Transformation techniques, including CC, HT, and FT, have been successfully combined with CE and ME techniques. Significant improvement in the S/N ratio was achieved for both capillary and microchip electrophoresis when CC and FIT were employed. Fundamental studies of FT-ME and SCOFT have shown promising results, as demonstrated by enhancement in analyte sensitivity. These fundamental studies verified that these techniques work well theoretically and experimentally. However, how these techniques can be used in practical chemical analyses remains unclear. Therefore, further investigation should be aimed at discovery of important applications of these techniques, especially of FT and SCOFT. 

The range of pyrolysis products is a function of the composition and structure of the pyrolysed sample, which accounts for the applicability of Py—GC in quantitative analysis and structural studies. Determining the composition of polymer systems (mixtures and copolymers) and establishing the structure of the analysed polymers are practically important and complex problems. Py—GC is used successfully in solving these problems and is one of the few methods that can be employed in investigating insoluble polymers. 

Military application of sweat sensors mounted on a printed electronic plaster are currently being investigated by a research cell at the United States Air Force (USAF) (Nelson, 2014). The label motmted on the skin (Figure 11.2) can actively analyse sweat for biological information. This method will provide sweat results directly instead of the current practice of taking blood and examining it in a laboratory. 

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