Stochastic stabilization and destabilization of nonlinear and time‐varying hybrid systems by noise

The aim of this article is to design a suitable strength function g(t,x,r(t)) such that the Wiener noise g(t,x(t),r(t))dw(t) either stabilizes or destabilizes a given nonlinear and time‐varying hybrid system . To this end, the basic properties, including the existence and uniqueness of the local and global solutions and the nonzero property of solutions of the nonlinear and time‐varying hybrid stochastic systems, are first investigated as the theoretical basis of the article. Second, two theorems and the corresponding corollaries on the stability and instability of the hybrid stochastic systems are established. Third, the design method for the noise strength g(t,x,r(t)) is then proposed based on the established theorems. We also point out that the Markov jump r(t) may have a stabilizing (respectively, destabilizing) effect when we design the noise strength g(t,x,r(t)) so that the introduced noise g(t,x(t),r(t))dw(t) stabilizes (respectively, destabilizes) the corresponding hybrid system. Finally, we illustrate our method using two examples. Compared with the existing literature, our method is suitable for a wider class of nonlinear and time‐varying systems with weaker conditions than quasi‐linear systems.     

Synthesis of Ionic Ultramicroporous Polymers for Selective Separation of Acetylene from Ethylene

The design of highly stable and efficient porous materials is essential for developing breakthrough hydrocarbon separation methods based on physisorption to replace currently used energy-intensive distillation/absorption technologies. Efforts to develop advanced porous materials such as zeolites, coordination frameworks, and organic polymers have met with limited success. Here, a new class of ionic ultramicroporous polymers (IUPs) with high-density inorganic anions and narrowly distributed ultramicroporosity is reported, which are synthesized by a facile free-radical polymerization using branched and amphiphilic ionic compounds as reactive monomers. A covalent and ionic dual-crosslinking strategy is proposed to manipulate the pore structure of amorphous polymers at the ultramicroporous scale. The IUPs exhibit exceptional selectivity (286.1–474.4) for separating acetylene from ethylene along with high thermal and water stability, collaboratively demonstrated by gas adsorption isotherms and experimental breakthrough curves. Modeling studies unveil the specific binding sites for acetylene capture as well as the interconnected ultramicroporosity for size sieving. The porosity-engineering protocol used in this work can also be extended to the design of other ultramicroporous materials for the challenging separation of other key gas constituents.     

Highly efficient chemical mechanical polishing method for SiC substrates using enhanced slurry containing bubbles of ozone gas

In this study, a highly efficient method for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of silicon carbide (SiC) substrates using enhanced slurry was proposed and developed. The enhanced slurry contains bubbles of ozone gas generated by ozone gas generator in pure water mixed with a conventional commercially available slurry. Therefore, the enhanced slurry has an oxidizing effect on the Si-face of SiC substrates. To confirm the effectiveness of bubbles enclosing ozone gas, both nano-indentation test and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis were conducted. As a result, the hardness decrease of the Si-face of the SiC substrate was confirmed through the nano-indentation test, and the generation of reaction products was confirmed on Si-face of SiC substrate in the XPS analysis. According to a series of experimental results of our proposed highly efficient CMP method for SiC substrates, the removal rate can be increased when the enhanced slurry was applied, comparing with that for the not only conventional commercially available slurry but also commercially available dedicated slurry.     

CuInS2/SiNWs/Si composite material for application as potential photoelectrode for photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation

This work aims at developing a new composite material based on nanosized semiconducting CuInS₂ (CIS) particles combined with silicon nanowires grown on a silicon substrate (SiNWs/Si) for photoelectrochemical (PEC)-splitting of water. The CIS particles were prepared via a colloidal method using N-methylimidazole (NMI) as the solvent and an annealing treatment. The SiNWs were obtained by chemical etching of silicon (100) substrates assisted by a metal. The CIS/SiNWs/Si composite material was obtained by deposition of an aliquot of a suspension of CIS particles onto the SiNWs/Si substrate, using spin coating followed by a drying step. The XRD pattern demonstrated that CuInS₂ grows in the tetragonal/chalcopyrite phase, while SiNWs/Si presents a cubic structure. The SEM images show semi-spherical particles (～10 nm) distributed on the surface of silicon nanowires (～10 μm). The EIS measurements reveal n-type conductivity for CIS, SiNWs/Si and CIS/SiNWs/Si materials, which could favour the oxidation reaction of water molecules.     

Preparation of YSZ porous ceramics with precise porosity control

Conventional preparation of porous ceramics often hard to accurately control the porosity of the samples. In this paper, by improving the foaming method, the foaming process is placed in the limited space of the ball mill tank, and YSZ porous ceramics with different porosity are obtained by changing the amount of slurry. Initial results showed that the porosity of the sample varies linearly with the increasing of addition of slurry. From the microscopic morphology, it can be seen that the increase in slurry content will reduce the number of pore with little changed size, which lead to the decrease in porosity. Therefore, with simple calculation YSZ porous ceramics with 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, and 65% porosity can be obtained using the method of foaming in limited space by ball milling.     

纳米纤维素的疏水改性及应用研究进展

纳米纤维素作为一种性能优越的可再生纳米材料，应用前景极为广阔。然而，由于纳米纤维素结构上富含羟基，使其具有极强的亲水性，严重影响了纳米纤维素的疏水性能，并且在一定程度上限制了其在复合材料领域的应用。综述了纳米纤维素疏水改性的研究进展，从物理吸附、表面化学修饰（甲硅烷化、烷酰化、酯化等）、聚合物接枝共聚3个方面简述了目前应用较为广泛的疏水化改性方法，并对疏水纳米纤维素在包装材料、造纸、水净化等方面的应用现状进行了总结。最后对疏水改性纳米纤维素的未来发展进行了展望，旨在为疏水纳米纤维素的研究和应用提供参考。     

太赫兹可调谐滤波器设计

为了实现太赫兹信号的可调谐滤波，设计了一种基于柔性材料的太赫兹可调谐滤波器。通过扭曲特氟龙（Teflon）波导形成环型谐振器，实现了160～200 GHz频段的带阻滤波功能。改变谐振腔长可实现自由频谱范围（FSR）和滤波频点的调谐，实验测试了自由频谱范围在1.9 GHz和2.8 GHz间切换以及相应的滤波特性。研究表明，谐振腔长一定时，改变弯曲半径可实现滤波阻带抑制度的调节，柔性材料太赫兹环型谐振器可用于可调谐滤波，且具有较高的自由度。     

Temperature- and pH-sensitive core–shell nanogels as efficient carriers of doxorubicin with potential application in lung cancer treatment

Temperature- and pH-sensitive core–shell nanogels were prepared by one-pot soapless emulsion polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide and 2-methacryloyloxy benzoic acid with the aid of a crosslinker (core) using poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate as stabilizer (shell). The size of nanogels depended on the crosslinker used, being considerable smaller (around 100?nm) with the use of the acid-labile crosslinker 9-divinyl-2,4,8,10-tetraoxaspiro[5.5]-undecane (DVA). Doxorubicine (DOX) was loaded in nanogels with good efficiency. The empty nanogels were biocompatible for a lung cancer cell line (NCI-H1437), while the DOX-loaded, DVA-crosslinked nanogels resulted with efficient cytotoxicity for that cell line.     

The thermodynamic characteristics of a Stirling/pulse tube hybrid cryocooler

A Stirling/pulse tube hybrid cryocooler (SPC), comprised of a Stirling cryocooler as the first stage and a pulse tube cryocooler as the second stage, features the ability of shifting cooling capacity between stages by adjusting the movement of the displacer in the first stage. Such an ability allows an SPC to accommodate itself to time-varying heat loads at different temperatures, which makes it a competitive candidate in space applications. However, due to the gas coupling, there exists a significant mutual effect between stages which endows an SPC with special thermodynamic characteristics and has a significant effect on the SPC’s capability of shifting cooling capacity between stages. With the phasor analysis and the thermodynamic analysis, this paper establishes an idealized model of an SPC. The model is then used to study the effect of the second stage on the first stage and reveal the condition that an SPC is able to shift cooling capacity between stages. Also, the model is compared with a Sage numerical model and the two models are consistent on the overall trend. Though it is unable to reflect reality precisely, the idealized model can interpret the mechanism and highlight some of the essential nature of an SPC, which will eventually benefit the appropriate design of an SPC.     

Developing microencapsulated 12‐hydroxystearic acid (HSA) for phase change material use

Phase change materials (PCM) have an increasingly more important role as a thermal energy storage (TES) media. However, leakage problem of PCM causes limitation during their integration in TES systems. Therefore, the encapsulation of PCMs is attracting research interest to extend usage of PCMs in real TES applications in recent years. In this study, hydroxystearic acid (HSA) was encapsulated with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and different PMMA comonomer shells via emulsion polymerization method for the first time in literature. HSA with high melting temperature range (74–78°C) can widen the scope of using PCMs, and the encapsulated form can make it more versatile. The chemical structures, morphologies, and thermophysical properties of capsules were determined by FT‐IR, SEM, DSC, TGA, and thermal infrared camera. Among the produced HSA capsule candidates, PMMA‐HEMA is the most promising with latent heat of 48.5 J/g with melting range of 47 to 85°C. SEM analysis indicated that the capsules have spherical shape with compact surface at nano‐micro (100–440 nm) size range; however, some capsules exhibited agglomeration.