Spirobifluorene Dimers: Understanding How The Molecular Assemblies Drive The Electronic Properties

Spirobifluorene (SBF) is one of the most important scaffolds used in the design of organic semi-conductors (OSCs) for electronics. In recent years, among all the structures developed for these applications, SBF dimers have been highlighted due to their great potential in thermally activated delayed fluorescence and in phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes. Attaching two SBF units generate 10 dimers, each possessing its own structural specificity, which in turn drives its electronic properties. These ten SBF dimers are gathered herein. Understanding how the molecular assembly determines the electronic properties has been one of the pillars of organic electronics. This is the goal of this article. As positional isomerism is a key tool to design OSCs, defining the design guidelines for the SBF scaffold appears of interest for the future of this building block. Herein, the importance of the two main parameters involved in the electrochemical and photophysical properties, namely the nature of the phenyl linkages and the steric congestion between the two SBF units is discussed. The combination of these two parameters drives the electronic properties but their respective weight is different as a function of the regioisomer involved or of the property considered (frontier orbitals energy level, absorption, fluorescence, phosphorescence).     

一种磁控管用扼流线圈仿真设计

采用电路仿真软件仿真滤波组件S参数曲线,观察曲线随器件参数的变化;介绍利用三维全波电磁仿真软件HFSS简化设计流程的方法,并与测试结果对比。结果表明:利用3D仿真软件在满足器件设计精度的同时可以简化线圈的设计流程。     

Heterogeneously Catalyzed Methanolysis of Gmelina Seed Oil to Biodiesel

The heterogeneous catalysis of transesterification of gmelina seed oil to biodiesel is evaluated. The oil was extracted from the seeds with n‐hexane by solvent extraction and characterized to determine its physiochemical properties. Response surface methodology was applied to optimize the effect of process variables on the biodiesel yield. The base‐activated clay catalyst performed as montmorillonite clay with the characteristic property of a Brønsted acid. It has an improved surface area after activation that enhanced its catalytic activity on transesterification reaction. Under optimal conditions, the biodiesel yield was 70.1 %, thus demonstrating that the model predicted well the biodiesel production.     

Deconvoluting Energy Transport Mechanisms in Metal Halide Perovskites Using CsPbBr3 Nanowires as a Model System

Understanding energy transport in metal halide perovskites is essential to effectively guide further optimization of materials and device designs. However, difficulties to disentangle charge carrier diffusion, photon recycling, and photon transport have led to contradicting reports and uncertainty regarding which mechanism dominates. In this study, monocrystalline CsPbBr₃ nanowires serve as 1D model systems to help unravel the respective contribution of energy transport processes in metal-halide perovskites. Spatially, temporally, and spectrally resolved photoluminescence (PL) microscopy reveals characteristic signatures of each transport mechanism from which a robust model describing the PL signal accounting for carrier diffusion, photon propagation, and photon recycling is developed. For the investigated CsPbBr₃ nanowires, an ambipolar carrier mobility of μ = 35 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ is determined, and is found that charge carrier diffusion dominates the energy transport process over photon recycling. Moreover, the general applicability of the developed model is demonstrated on different perovskite compounds by applying it to data provided in previous related reports, from which clarity is gained as to why conflicting reports exist. These findings, therefore, serve as a useful tool to assist future studies aimed at characterizing energy transport mechanisms in semiconductor nanowires using PL.     

Corrosion behaviour of Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Ag alloy components with different sizes after cooling

The corrosion behaviour of Mg-6Gd-3Y-1Zn-0.3Ag (wt.%) alloy components with different sizes after cooling was investigated. The alloys in the small components (SC) cooled fast, which were composed of α-Mg matrix and coarse long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) phases. The alloys in the large components (LC) cooled slowly, and there were thin lamellar LPSO phases precipitating inside the grains, except for α-Mg matrix and coarse LPSO phases. The hydrogen evolution test revealed that the corrosion rate of LC sample was higher than that of SC sample. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) test showed that the surface film on LC alloys provided worse protection. The corrosion morphologies indicated that the precipitation of the thin lamellar LPSO phases in LC sample caused severe micro-galvanic corrosion, which accelerated the rupture of the surface film.     

致密砂岩油藏能量补充方式评价及优化

针对致密砂岩油藏大规模体积压裂开发后能量补充困难的问题,利用自主设计制作的大型人造三维岩心物理模型和物理模拟实验舱,开展致密砂岩油藏能量补充方式优化研究。实验结果表明:致密砂岩油藏压裂开发过程中,地层能量损耗严重,采取注水或注气的方式可有效进行能量补充;地层中裂缝规模越大,越有利于原油渗流,后续补充能量的传播范围越广,有助于进一步提高原油采收率;从提高驱油效率和扩大波及系数方面优选吞吐渗吸介质,CO₂均优于活性水,CO₂吞吐开发在矿场试验中取得了显著的增油效果,因此,CO₂吞吐作为一种有效的能量补充方式在致密油开发中展现了良好的应用前景。该文分析了致密砂岩储层水平井压裂开发的渗流规律,优选出致密砂岩储层大规模压裂开发后最佳渗吸介质,可为致密砂岩油藏开发设计提供重要的理论依据。     

Efficient Visible-to-UV Photon Upconversion Systems Based on CdS Nanocrystals Modified with Triplet Energy Mediators

Developing high-performance visible-to-UV photon upconversion systems based on triplet–triplet annihilation photon upconversion (TTA-UC) is highly desired, as it provides a potential approach for UV light-induced photosynthesis and photocatalysis. However, the quantum yield and spectral range of visible-to-UV TTA-UC based on nanocrystals (NCs) are still far from satisfactory. Here, three different sized CdS NCs are systematically investigated with triplet energy transfer to four mediators and four annihilators, thus substantially expanding the available materials for visible-to-UV TTA-UC. By improving the quality of CdS NCs, introducing the mediator via a direct mixing fashion, and matching the energy levels, a high TTA-UC quantum yield of 10.4% (out of a 50% maximum) is achieved in one case, which represents a record performance in TTA-UC based on NCs without doping. In another case, TTA-UC photons approaching 4 eV are observed, which is on par with the highest energies observed in optimized organic systems. Importantly, the in-depth investigation reveals that the direct mixing approach to introduce the mediator is a key factor that leads to close to unity efficiencies of triplet energy transfer, which ultimately governs the performance of NC-based TTA-UC systems. These findings provide guidelines for the design of high-performance TTA-UC systems toward solar energy harvesting.     

Surface treatment of titanium dioxide nanopowder using rotary electrode dielectric barrier discharge reactor

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanopowder (P-25;Degussa AG) was treated using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in a rotary electrode DBD (RE-DBD) reactor.Its electrical and optical characteristics were investigated during RE-DBD generation.The treated TiO2 nanopowder properties and structures were analyzed using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).After RE-DBD treatment,XRD measurements indicated that the anatase peak theta positions shifted from 25.3° to 25.1°,which can be attributed to the substitution of new functional groups in the TiO2 lattice.The FTIR results show that hydroxyl groups (OH) at 3400 cm-1 increased considerably.The mechanism used to modify the TiO2 nanopowder surface by air DBD treatment was confirmed from optical emission spectrum measurements.Reactive species,such as OH radical,ozone and atomic oxygen can play key roles in hydroxyl formation on the TiO2 nanopowder surface.     

Techno-economic analysis of a hybrid energy system for CCHP and hydrogen production based on solar energy

A typical problem in Northeast China is that a large amount of surplus electricity has arisen owing to the serious photovoltaic power curtailment phenomenon. To effectively utilize the excess photovoltaic power, a hybrid energy system is proposed that uses surplus electricity to produce hydrogen in this paper. It combines solar energy, hydrogen production system, and Combined Cooling Heating and Power (CCHP) system to realize cooling, heating, power, and hydrogen generation. The system supplies energy for three public buildings in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, China, and the system configuration with the lowest unit energy cost (0.0615$/kWh) was obtained via optimization. Two comparison strategies were used to evaluate the hybrid energy system in terms of unit energy cost, annual total cost, fossil energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions. Subsequently, the annual total energy supply, typical daily loads, and cost of the optimized system were analyzed. In conclusion, the system is feasible for small area public buildings, and provides a solution to solve the phenomenon of photovoltaic power curtailment.     

A columnar regular-porous stainless steel reaction support with high superficial area for hydrogen production

To improve hydrogen production (HP) performance of regular-porous structure (RPS), a columnar RPS with small specific surface area and high superficial area is developed. A numerical simulation model of regular-porous stainless steel structure (RPSSS) is established. Subsequently, heat transfer performance, pressure loss, temperature, methanol concentration, H₂ concentration distributions and HP performance of the columnar RPSSS with small specific surface area and high superficial area and the body-centered cubic RPSSS with high specific surface area and small superficial area are compared. Then, temperature, methanol concentration, H₂ concentration distributions and HP performance of axial and longitudinal size-enlarged columnar RPSSSs are studied. The results show that compared to the body-centered cubic RPSSS, the columnar RPSSS has higher methanol conversion, larger H₂ flow rate and higher CO selectivity. Especially in the condition of 300 °C wall temperature and 12 mL/h methanol-water mixture injection rate (MWMIR), the methanol conversion, H₂ flow rate and CO selectivity of the columnar RPSSS are increased by 12.3%, 9.24% and 30%, respectively, indicating that the superficial area of RPSSS is more important for its HP performance compared to its specific surface area. Compared to the longitudinal size-enlarged columnar RPSSS, the axial size-enlarged columnar RPSSS has higher methanol conversion, larger H₂ flow rate and higher CO selectivity. This research work provides a new method for the optimization of hydrogen production reaction support (HPRS).