Dense and core-rim structured B4C-TiB2 ceramics with Mo-Co-WC additive

B₄C-TiB₂ ceramics (TiB₂ ranging 5~70 vol%) with Mo-Co-WC as the sintering additive were prepared by spark plasma sintering. In comparison with B₄C-TiB₂ without additive, the enhanced densification was evident in the sintered specimen with Mo-Co-WC additive. Core-rim structured grain was observed around TiB₂ grains. The interface of the rim between TiB₂ and B₄C phases demonstrated different feature: the inner borderline of the rim exhibited a smooth feature, whereas a sharp curved grain boundary was observed between the rim and the B₄C grain. The formation mechanism is discussed: the epitaxial growth of (Ti,Mo,W)B₂ rim around the TiB₂ core may occur as a result of the solid solution and dissolution-precipitation between TiB₂ phase and the sintering additive. It was revealed that the fracture toughness increased as the content of TiB₂ content increased, alongside the decreased hardness. B₄C-30 vol% TiB₂ specimen demonstrated the optimal combination of mechanical properties, reaching Vickers hardness of 24.3 GPa and fracture toughness of 3.33 MPa·m^1/2.     

Influence of Sr ions on the structure and dielectric properties of Cu/Nb Co-doped BaTiO3 ceramics

Sr-modified Cu/Nb co-doped BaTiO₃ ceramics were prepared using solid-state reactions and the structures and dielectric properties were studied. All the samples had single-phase perovskite structures with no detectable secondary phases. In the low-temperature range, the dielectric constant decreased as the Sr content increased in the high- and low-frequency ranges. Two dielectric constant plateaus accompanied by dielectric relaxation peaks were present in the loss curves, and the relaxation process deviated from the Arrhenius law at low temperatures. The dielectric constants of different plateaus were related to inhomogeneous structures such as grain interiors and grain boundaries. The polarization strength of the grain boundaries in the low-frequency range increased with the temperature and that of the grain interiors demonstrated paraelectric behaviour in high-temperature ranges. An analysis of the electric modulus spectra indicated a close relationship between the relaxation process and resistivity of the grains for high-frequency relaxation. The impedance spectra at high temperatures consist of three electrical responses, corresponding to the effects of grains, grain boundaries, and electrodes. The dielectric relaxation appeared in high temperature range was related to the electrical properties of the grain boundaries.     

Effect of lattice structure evolution and stacking fault energy on the properties of Cu–ZrO2/GNP nanocomposites

A hybrid nanocomposite comprising nanosized ZrO₂ and graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)-reinforced Cu matrix was synthesised via powder metallurgy. The influence of sintering temperature and GNP content on the electrical and mechanical behaviour of the Cu–ZrO₂/GNP nanocomposite was investigated. The ZrO₂ concentration was fixed at 10% for all the composites. Upon increasing the GNP concentration up to 0.5%, a significant improvement was observed in the compressive strength, microhardness, and electrical conductivity of the composite. Furthermore, the properties were significantly improved by increasing the sintering temperature from 900 to 1000 °C. The compressive strength, hardness, and electrical conductivity of Cu–10%ZrO₂/0.5%GNP were higher than those of the Cu–ZrO₂ nanocomposite by 60, 21, and 23.8%, respectively. This improvement in the mechanical properties is because of the decrease in the crystallite size and dislocation spacing, which increases the dislocation density, thereby increasing the impedance towards dislocation movement. The lower stacking fault energy of the hybrid nanocomposites enables easier electron transfer within and between the Cu grains, resulting in an improved electrical conductivity. The enhancement in strength and electrical conductivity were aided by the GNPs and ZrO₂ nanoparticles that were dispersed widely in the Cu matrix.     

Effect of Y concentration and film thickness on microstructure and electrical properties of HfO2 based thin films

In this work, we introduced a simple solution processing method to prepare yttrium (Y) doped hafnium oxide (HfO₂) based dielectric films. The films had high densities, low surface roughness, maximum permittivity of about 32, leakage current < 1.0 × 10^?7 A/cm² at 2 MV/cm, and breakdown field >5.0 MV/cm. In addition to dielectric performance, we investigated the influence of YO_1.5 fraction on the electronic structure between Y doped HfO₂ thin films and silicon (Si) substrates. The valence band electronic structure, energy gap and conduction band structure changed linearly with YO_1.5 fraction. Given this cost-effective deposition technique and excellent dielectric performance, solution-processed Y doped HfO₂ based thin films have the potential for insulator applications.     

Low area field-programmable gate array implementation of PRESENT image encryption with key rotation and substitution

Lightweight ciphers are increasingly employed in cryptography because of the high demand for secure data transmission in wireless sensor network, embedded devices, and Internet of Things. The PRESENT algorithm as an ultra-lightweight block cipher provides better solution for secure hardware cryptography with low power consumption and minimum resource. This study generates the key using key rotation and substitution method, which contains key rotation, key switching, and binary-coded decimal-based key generation used in image encryption. The key rotation and substitution-based PRESENT architecture is proposed to increase security level for data stream and randomness in cipher through providing high resistance to attacks. Lookup table is used to design the key scheduling module, thus reducing the area of architecture. Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) performances are evaluated for the proposed and conventional methods. In Virtex 6 device, the proposed key rotation and substitution PRESENT architecture occupied 72 lookup tables, 65 flip flops, and 35 slices which are comparably less to the existing architecture.     

Crystallographic characteristics and microwave dielectric properties of Ni-modified MgTa2O6 ceramics

Ni²⁺ modified MgTa₂O₆ ceramics with a trirutile phase and space group P4₂/mnm were obtained. The correlations between crystallographic characteristics and microwave dielectric performance of MgTa₂O₆ ceramics were systematically studied based on the chemistry bond theory (PVL theory) for the first time. The results indicate that the introduction of Ni²⁺ causes a change in polarizability and the Mg–O bond ionicity, which contributes to the variation of dielectric constant. Moreover, the lattice energy, and packing fraction, full width at half maximum of the Raman peak of Ta–O bond, as the quantitative characterization of crystallographic parameters, regulate the dielectric loss of MgTa₂O₆ ceramics in GHz frequency band. In addition, the study of sintering behavior shows that the densification and micromorphology are the crucial factors affecting the microwave dielectric performance. Typically, Ni²⁺ doping on the A-site of MgTa₂O₆ can effectively promote the Q × f values to 173,000 GHz (at 7.43 GHz), which ensures its applicability in 5G communication technology.     

Advanced Understanding of the Electron Transfer Pathway of Cytochrome P450s

Cytochrome P450s are heme-thiolate enzymes that participate in carbon source assimilation, natural compound biosynthesis and xenobiotic metabolism in all kingdoms of life. P450s can catalyze various reactions by using a wide range of organic compounds, thus exhibiting great potential in biotechnological applications. The catalytic reactions of P450s are driven by electron equivalents that are sourced from pyridine nucleotides and delivered by cognate or matching redox partners (RPs). The electron transfer (ET) route from RPs to P450s involves one or more redox center-containing domains. As the rate of ET is one of the main determinants of P450 efficacy, an in-depth understanding of the P450 ET pathway should increase our knowledge of these important enzymes and benefit their further applications. Here, the various P450 RP systems along with current understanding of their ET routes will be reviewed. Notably, state-of-the-art structural studies of the two main types of self-sufficient P450 will also be summarized.     

基于魅力工学的传统器物设计评价应用研究

目的 在传统器物的创新设计中,最重要的环节是了解消费者对所使用产品的不同感受与意向并转换为具体的设计要素.研究消费者心理的感性因素与传统器物设计元素之间的联系,确定设计要素,从而对产品进行创新设计,为提升传统器物附加值作出贡献.方法 以中国传统器物茶宠为例,首先对8位相关的茶宠专家进行访谈,通过魅力工学中的评价构造法整理并提取魅力因子,设计出问卷调查表;然后以访谈内容为依据,使用问卷调查法得到大众对茶宠的魅力评价,共回收84份有效问卷;最后应用数量化一类分析茶宠魅力因子影响权重.结果 得到了数量化一类统计表,选取了其中影响因素较大的魅力因子作为茶宠设计前的风格定调考量.结论 通过茶宠的研究案例证明了该理论的可行性,为未来传统器物的设计提供了更多元且新颖的设计依据.