Penalties on car rental agreements

Examines the Cambridge County Court ruling in Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Ltd v Ramage on whether a clause in a car hire contract which allowed the finance company, upon repudiation of the contract after the hirer fell into arrears, to claim compensation equivalent to the lost future rental payments was unenforceable as a penalty clause, rather than being a reasonable pre-estimate of actual loss. Refers to case law including the Court of Appeal ruling in Anglo Auto Finance Co v James in considering the differing losses which would occur during the course of the hire term according to the natural depreciation of the value of the car. Notes the reasoning of the Court on: (1) contracts of hire compared with hire purchase agreements; (2) the comparative position of the parties and the freedom to contract elsewhere; and (3) the reasonable prediction of future losses.

Resulting trusts, joint borrowers and beneficial share

Reviews case law illustrating the courts' approach to beneficial ownership of property purchased in joint name by means of a joint mortgage but without any declaration of beneficial interest, the resulting trust and joint beneficial interest presumptions. Contrast the approach adopted in cases where one party made no contribution to the mortgage payments with those where both parties made a contribution. Highlights the courts' treatment of the right to buy discount afforded tenant purchasers and property purchased as a commercial venture rather than a home.

Metal oxide photoanodes for solar hydrogen production

The development of sustainable hydrogen production is a key target in the further facilitation of a hydrogen economy. Solar hydrogen generation through the photolytic splitting of water sensitised by semiconductor materials is attractive as it is both renewable and does not lead to problematic by-products, unlike current hydrogen sources such as natural gas. Consequently, the development of these semiconductor materials has undergone considerable research since their discovery over 30 years ago and it would seem prescient to review the more practical results of this research. Among the critical factors influencing the choice of semiconductor material for photoelectrolysis of water are the band-gap energies, flat band potentials and stability towards photocorrosion; the latter of these points directs us to focus on metal oxides. Careful design of thin films of photocatalyst material can eliminate potential routes of losses in performance, i.e., recombination at grain boundaries. Methods to overcome these problems are discussed such as coupling a photoanode for photolysis of water to a photovoltaic cell in a 'tandem cell' device.

An investigation into the rheological properties of different lead-free solder pastes for surface mount applications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rheological behaviour of three different lead-free solder pastes used for surface mount applications in the electronic industry.Design/methodology/approach – This study concerns the rheological measurements of solder paste samples and is made up of three parts. The first part deals with the measurement of rhelogical properties with three different measuring geometries, the second part looks into the effect of frequencies on oscillatory stress sweep measurements and the final part reports on the characterisation and comparison of three different types of Pb-free solder pastes. Findings – Among the three geometries, the serrated parallel plate was found effective in minimising the wall-slip effect. From the oscillatory stresssweep data with different frequencies; it was observed that the linear visco-elastic region is independent of frequency for all the solder paste samples. To understand the shear thinning behaviour of solder paste, the well known Cross and Carreau models were fitted to the viscosity data. Moreover,creep-recovery and dynamic frequency-sweep tests were also carried out without destroying the sample’s structure and have yielded useful information on the pastes behaviour.Research limitations/implications – More extensive research is needed to fully characterise the wall-slip behaviour during the rheological measurements of solder pastes. Practical implications – The rheological test results presented in this paper will be of important value for research and development, quality control and facilitation of the manufacturing of solder pastes and flux mediums. Originality/value – This paper shows how wall-slip effects can be effectively avoided during rheological measurements of solder pastes. The paper also outlines how different rheological test methods can be used to characterise solder paste behaviours