Development of green extraction process to produce antioxidant-rich extracts from purple coneflower

The present study was conducted to develop subcritical water extraction (SWE) of Echinacea purpurea flowers. The influence of temperature and extraction time on quality of extracts considering total phenols content, total flavonoids content, antioxidant capacity and extraction yield, was determined. Optimized extraction parameters for maximised investigated responses were as follows: 147.56 °C and 8.43 min. The experimental values agreed with the values predicted, thus indicating the adequacy of central composite experimental design for modelling the SWE of bioactive compounds from E. purpurea. Results of the study also highlighted the potential application of E. purpurea subcritical water extracts as a source of valuable bioactive compounds.     

Enhancing the Tribological Behavior of Lubricating Oil by Adding TiO2, Graphene,and TiO2/Graphene Nanoparticles

This article investigates the tribological behavior of nanoparticles (NPs) of titanium dioxide anatase TiO₂ (A), graphene, and TiO₂ (A) + graphene added to the pure base oil group ΙΙ (PBO-GΙΙ). The morphology of these two nanostructures of TiO₂ (A) and graphene was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Oleic acid (OA) was blended as a surfactant into the formulation to help stabilize the NPs in the lubricant oil. A four-ball test rig was used to determine the tribological performance of six different samples, and an image acquisition system was used to examine and measure the wear scar diameter of the stationary balls. Field emission–scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to examine the wear morphology. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), element mapping, and Raman spectroscopy were employed to confirm the presence of (TiO₂ (A) + graphene) and the formation of a tribolayer/film on the mating surfaces. Moreover, a 3D optical surface texture analyzer was utilized to investigate the scar topography and tribological performance. The experiments proved that adding (0.4?wt% TiO₂ (A) + 0.2?wt% graphene) to the PBO-GΙΙ optimized its tribological behavior. These excellent results can be attributed to the dual additive effect and the formation of a tribofilm of NPs during sliding motion. Furthermore, the average reductions in the coefficient of friction (COF), wear scar diameter (WSD), and specific wear rate (SWR) were 38.83, 36.78, and 15.78%, respectively, for (0.4?wt% TiO₂ (A) + 0.2?wt% graphene) nanolubricant compared to plain PBO-GΙΙ lubricant.     

电磁搅拌对大圆坯结晶器冶金行为影响的探讨

 为了探究结晶器电磁搅拌(M EMS)对大圆坯结晶器内综合冶金行为的影响。以大断面圆坯连铸结晶器冶金行为为研究对象，基于电磁热流体与凝固传输理论建立三维耦合数值模型。揭示大圆坯连铸常用五孔水口浇注条件下结晶器内电磁场、流场、传热与凝固等综合冶金行为，提出电磁搅拌对结晶器冶金性能影响的多参量评价方法。以中碳铬钼齿轮钢650 mm大圆坯连铸为例，指出结晶器电磁搅拌存在最佳搅拌电流，可获得相对较好的综合冶金效果。具体表现为弯月面保持一定的切向速度和过热度，有利于保护渣的熔化和夹杂物的上浮去除；液面波动幅度在控制范围内，可避免卷渣、改善表面质量；结晶器内钢液过热得到有效耗散，有利于等轴晶形核改善铸坯内部质量；侧孔出流钢液速度得到有效控制，可抑制注流对初凝坯壳的冲刷，提高了初生坯壳生长的均匀性。此外，电磁搅拌产生的水平旋流强度也可得到有效控制，有利于避免常见的皮下白亮带现象。     

Optimal interval type-2 fuzzy fractional order super twisting algorithm: A second order sliding mode controller for fully-actuated and under-actuated nonlinear systems

In this paper, a novel interval type-2 fuzzy fractional order super twisting algorithm (IT2FFOSTA) which is essentially a second order sliding mode controller is presented. The proposed IT2FFOSTA enhances fractional order super twisting algorithm (FOSTA) by taking advantage of an interval type-2 fuzzy fractional order sliding surface (IT2FFOSS) for some classes of fully-actuated and under-actuated nonlinear systems in presence of uncertainty. The FOSTA significantly reduces the amount of chattering and the IT2FFOSS results in decreasing the tracking error, control effort, and chattering level. In order to control under-actuated systems, a hierarchical sliding surface is employed. The multi-tracker optimization algorithm is utilized to adjust the controller’s parameters; this leads to an optimal performance for the IT2FFOSTA. To examine the performance of the IT2FFOSTA, some simulation and experimental tests on three examples of different classes of fully-actuated and under-actuated systems, including ball and plate, inverted pendulum, and ball and beam systems are carried out. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the IT2FFOSTA in reducing the amount of chattering, tracking error, and control effort compared to those of the other control methods.     

Low-threshold lasing in a plasmonic laser using nanoplate InGaN/GaN

Plasmonic nanolaser as a new type of ultra-small laser,has gain wide interests due to its breaking diffraction limit of light and fast carrier dynamics characters.Normally,the main problem that need to be solved for plasmonic nanolaser is high loss induced by optical and ohmic losses,which leads to the low quality factor.In this work,InGaN/GaN nanoplate plasmonic nanolaser with large interface area were designed and fabricated,where the overlap between SPs and excitons can be en-hanced.The lasing threshold is calculated to be ～6.36 kW/cm2,where the full width at half maximum (FWHM) drops from 27 to 4 nm.And the fast decay time at 502 nm (sharp peak of stimulated lasing) is estimated to be 0.42 ns.Enhanced lasing charac-ters are mainly attributed to the strong confinement of electromagnetic wave in the low refractive index material,which im-prove the near field coupling between SPs and excitons.Such plasmonic laser should be useful in data storage applications,bio-logical application,light communication,especially for optoelectronic devices integrated into a system on a chip.     

果实表面颜色计算机视觉分级技术研究

本文借助计算机中的视觉自动检测技术来测量在果实表面的着色度,并对该颜色进行了分级,进一步的对颜色进行分析与研究,进而来获得出最终的水果果实的彩色图像,进一步的分析出对应的结果。因此,在本文中,对果实表面颜色进行了全面综合的分析与研究,进而来得出对应的果实颜色分级标准和原则。     

Greatly improved NIR shielding performance of CuS nanocrystals by gallium doping for energy efficient window

In this work, gallium doped copper sulfide (Ga-doped CuS) nanocrystals were prepared using a solvothermal method. The effects of Ga doping on the crystal structures, chemical composition, morphology, optical properties and thermal performance of copper sulfide (CuS) were investigated. The Ga-doped CuS nanocrystals had a hexagonal structure comparable to that of pure CuS. The Cu⁺/Cu²⁺ ratio first decreased and then increased with increasing Ga³⁺ doping. Both CuS and Ga-doped CuS exhibited nanoplate and nanorod morphologies. The visible transmittance of the Ga-doped CuS films was in the range of 61–77.1%. Importantly, the near-infrared (NIR) shielding performance of the films can be tuned by adjusting the concentration of the Ga dopant. The NIR shielding value of the optimal Ga-doped CuS film was 72.4%, which was approximately 1.5 times as high as that of the pure CuS film. This can be ascribed to the enhanced plasmonic NIR absorption that resulted from an increase in the hole concentration after doping with Ga³⁺ ions. In the thermal performance test, the Ga-doped CuS film lowered the interior temperature of the heat box by 9.1 °C. Therefore, the integration of good visible transmittance and high NIR shielding performance make the Ga-doped CuS nanocrystals a promising candidate for energy-efficient window coatings.     

Surface Reconstruction Engineering with Synergistic Effect of Mixed-Salt Passivation Treatment toward Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Surface passivation treatment is a widely used strategy to resolve trap-mediated nonradiative recombination toward high-efficiency metal-halide perovskite photovoltaics. However, a lack of passivation with mixture treatment has been investigated, as well as an in-depth understanding of its passivation mechanism. Here, a systematic study on a mixed-salt passivation strategy of formamidinium bromide (FABr) coupled with different F-substituted alkyl lengths of ammonium iodide is demonstrated. It is obtained better device performance with decreasing chain length of the F-substituted alkyl ammonium iodide in the presence of FABr. Moreover, they unraveled a synergistic passivation mechanism of the mixed-salt treatment through surface reconstruction engineering, where FABr dominates the reformation of the perovskite surface via reacting with the excess PbI₂. Meanwhile, ammonium iodide passivates the perovskite grain boundaries both on the surface and top perovskite bulk through penetration. This synergistic passivation engineer results in a high-quality perovskite surface with fewer defects and suppressed ion migration, leading to a champion efficiency of 23.5% with mixed-salt treatment. In addition, the introduction of the moisture resisted F-substituted groups presents a more hydrophobic perovskite surface, thus enabling the decorated devices with excellent long-term stability under a high humid atmosphere as well as operational conditions.     

Comprehensive analysis on anomalous phenomenon of ethanol-soluble poly(vinyl butyral) membrane for ethanol recovery via pervaporation

Poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) is selected as a promising ethanol-permselective membrane based on the solubility parameter theory; however, it exhibits anomalous water perm-selectivity in practical pervaporation (PV) process. Comprehensive analysis based on experimental and theoretical methods were carried out to explore the inherent mechanism of the anomalous performance. Firstly, sum frequency generation vibrational spectra and contact angle were developed to quantify the surface reconstruction of membrane in air and ethanol, which indicated that hydrophilic hydroxyl tended to expose on membrane surface with ethanol thus improving the membrane affinity to water. Meanwhile, swelling behaviors proved more water would accumulate in the ethanol swollen membrane. Furthermore, theoretical analysis in terms of sorption and diffusion process, based on the UNIFAC-FV model and Fujita free-volume theory, confirmed the mechanism of anomalous phenomenon of PVB membrane. The comprehensive investigation was expected to provide insights into the basic separation mechanism of PV process.     

时间效应在悬滴法测定表面张力中的影响

表面张力是流体重要的物理性质,测定表面张力的方法通常包括毛细管上升法、最大气泡压力法、拉环法、旋滴法和悬滴法等。目前,最普遍的表面张力的测定方法为国家标准推荐的平板法或拉环法。然而,悬滴法作为一项成熟的表面张力测定方法且具备静态表面张力及动态表面张力测定功能,目前使用该法测定的较少。文章使用悬滴法测定较低含量的表面活性剂溶液静态表面张力时发现结果与拉环法差异较大,而测定单组分液体及含量较大的表面活性剂溶液,悬滴法与拉环法的测定数据差异较小,这种情况的相关报道较少。另外,使用动态表面张力测定探索了静态测定时出现差异的原因,并对应用悬滴法进行表面张力测定的适用范围进行了总结。使用悬滴法测定表面张力时,应注意时间效应的影响。