Tailoring the electron-blocking layer by addition of YSZ to Ba-containing anode for improvement of ceria-based solid oxide fuel cell

The in-situ fabrication of an electron-blocking layer between the Ba-containing anode and the ceria-based electrolyte is an effective approach in suppressing the internal electronic leakage in ceria-based solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). To improve the thickness of the electron-blocking layer and to research the effect of the layer thickness on the improvement of SOFC, a Ba-containing compound (0.6NiO-0.4BaZr_0.1Ce_0.7Y_0.2O_3-δ) modified by Y stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was employed as a composite anode in this research. SEM analyses demonstrated that the thickness of the interlayer can be simply controlled by regulating the proportion of YSZ at anode. The in-situ formed interlayer in the cell with the anode modified by 20?mol% YSZ possesses a thickness of 0.9?µm which is more suitable for the cell achieving an enhanced performance.     

Theoretical Prediction of Chiral 3D Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskites

Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOIPs), in particular 3D HOIPs, have demonstrated remarkable properties, including ultralong charge‐carrier diffusion lengths, high dielectric constants, low trap densities, tunable absorption and emission wavelengths, strong spin–orbit coupling, and large Rashba splitting. These superior properties have generated intensive research interest in HOIPs for high‐performance optoelectronics and spintronics. Here, 3D hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites that implant chirality through introducing the chiral methylammonium cation are demonstrated. Based on structural optimization, phonon spectra, formation energy, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, it is found that the chirality of the chiral cations can be successfully transferred to the framework of 3D HOIPs, and the resulting 3D chiral HOIPs are both kinetically and thermodynamically stable. Combining chirality with the impressive optical, electrical, and spintronic properties of 3D perovskites, 3D chiral perovskites is of great interest in the fields of piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity, ferroelectricity, topological quantum engineering, circularly polarized optoelectronics, and spintronics.     

Imaging of two-dimensional unsaturated moisture flows in uncracked and cracked cement-based materials using electrical capacitance tomography

The development of visualizing tools to monitor unsaturated moisture flow in cement-based materials is of great importance, as most degradation processes in cement-based materials are connected to and take place in the presence moisture. This paper investigates the ability of electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) to image two-dimensional (2D) unsaturated moisture flow in cement-based materials. In ECT, the electrical permittivity distribution within an object is reconstructed based on measured capacitances between electrodes attached on the object’s surface. In a series of experiments, mortar specimens with and without discrete cracks were imaged with ECT during a 2D moisture ingress. The results show that ECT is able to monitor the evolution of the moisture flow, and to approximate the shape and position of the moisture front. These findings indicate that ECT is a viable method for monitoring and visualizing 2D unsaturated moisture flow in cement-based materials in the presence and absence of discrete cracks.     

Appraisal of Agriglass in Promoting Maize Production Under Abiotic Stress Conditions

An agriglass composition containing different oxides acts as a slow release for macro and micro nutrients and was chosen to improve maize yield under most important abiotic stresses which affecting agriculture development; salinity and drought. A field experiment was performed in salt affected soil (EC =?7.5 dSm^??1) by using different water deficit rates (I1 = 100, I2 = 85 and I3 = 70% of maize water requirements). Irrigation levels were located in main plots. Every main-plot divided into six sub-plots contained glassy fertilizer treatments [F1 = 55 kg fed^?1 with 1/2 mm diameter of agriglass (fed. =?4200 m²), F2 = 55 kg fed^?1 with 1 mm diameter, F3 = 80 kg fed^?1 with 1/2 mm diameter, F4 = 80 kg fed^?1 with 1 mm diameter, F5 = Recommendations of Ministry of Agriculture and F6 = control]. The experimental results demonstrated that, ears, straw, grains and biological yields increased with increasing both water and agriglass rates. Application of agriglass as a slow release fertilizer improved yield more than mineral fertilizer. Some growth parameters, water use efficiency (IWUE), macronutrients concentration and their relations were included. Other studies on residual effect of agriglass and the annual application rates to withstand salinity and drought stress by strategic crops are required.     

Single-Crystalline TiO2(B) Nanobelts with Unusual Large Exposed {100} Facets and Enhanced Li-Storage Capacity

The {100} facet of single-crystalline TiO₂(B) is an ideal platform for inserting Li ions, but it is hard to be obtained due to its high surface energy. Here, the single-crystalline TiO₂(B) nanobelts from H₂Ti₃O₇ with nearly 70% {100} facets exposed are synthesized, which significantly enhances Li-storage capacity. The first-principle calculations demonstrate an ab in-plane 2D diffusion through the exposed {100} facets. As a consequence, the nanobelts can significantly accommodate Li ions in LiTiO₂ formula with specific capacity up to 335 mAh g⁻¹, which is in good agreement with the electrochemical characterizations. Coating with conductive and protective poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate), the cut-off discharge voltage is as low as 0.5 V, leading to a capacity of 160.7 mAh g⁻¹ after 1500 cycles with a retention rate of 66% at 1C. This work provides a practical strategy to increase the Li-ion capacity and cycle stability by tailoring the crystal orientation and nanostructures.     

Evaluation model of green supply chain cooperation credit based on BP neural network

Neural Computing and Applications - More and more enterprises hope to achieve cooperation and win–win. However, many companies often have problems such as insufficient partner credit, which...     

Effect of ZnO layer thickness upon optoelectrical properties of NiO/ ZnO heterojunction prepared at room temperature

In this work, p-NiO/n-ZnO heterostructures were successfully prepared at room temperature using RF sputtering technique. The influence of ZnO layer thickness on the performance of the heterojunction was investigated. The deposited ZnO layers have a hexagonal Wurtzite structure with preferable growth orientations along (002) and (103) for thinner films. Increasing the thickness results in more crystallographic orientation randomness. The current–voltage measurements of the realized heterojunctions showed a clear rectifying behavior. The measured ideality factor varies from 2.5 to 1.6 according to the thickness of ZnO layer. The series resistance of the device is enlarged with increasing ZnO thickness. The deduced parameters from the I–V characteristics suggest that 200 nm is the optimal thickness of the ZnO layer according to our experimental conditions. We attribute the relatively better performance of this thickness to achieving reasonable compensation between serial resistance and ideality factor. The best heterojunction was tested and successfully used as a UV detector.     

Cross-Layer Optimization of Dynamic Packet Assignment for Video Transmission Over IEEE 802.11e Networks

Video transmission over IEEE 802.11e wireless networks still shows poor performance for large bandwidth demand and frequently changed environments. Thus, several enhancements of IEEE 802.11e were proposed. On the other hand, big frames and simultaneous sending of adjacent frames always cause packet dropping for buffer overflow. In the past, we proposed an IEEE 802.11e enhancement named DFAA and a content aware mechanism to solve the above problems. The motivation of this paper is to find a proper way to integrate these two mechanisms. A DFAA enhancement (DFAA-E) is proposed to make up the insufficiency of content aware mechanism. Experiments results show that the combination of DFAA-E and content aware mechanism improves the video decoded quality greatly. And its performance can be further enhanced by selecting the suitable settings of certain parameters.     

Compressive properties of pristine and SiC-Te-added MgB2 powders,green compacts and spark-plasma-sintered bulks

Pristine and (SiC+Te)-added MgB₂ powders, green and spark plasma sintered (SPS) compacts were investigated from the viewpoint of quasi-static and dynamic (Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar, SHPB) compressive mechanical properties The amount of the additive (SiC+Te) was selected to be the optimum one for maximization of the superconducting functional parameters. Pristine and added MgB₂ show very similar compressive parameters (tan δ, fracture strength, Vickers hardness, others) and fragment size in the SHPB test. However, for the bulk SPSed samples the ratio of intergranular to transgranular fracturing changes, the first one being stronger in the added sample. This is reflected in the quasi-static K_IC that is higher for the added sample. Despite this result, sintered samples are brittle and have roughly similar fragmentation behavior as for brittle engineering ceramics. In the fragmentation process, the composite nature of our samples should be considered with a special focus on MgB₂ blocks (colonies) that show the major contribution to fracturing. The Glenn-Chudnovsky model of fracturing under dynamic load provides the closest values to our experimental fragment size data.