Tailoring electromagnetic absorption performances of TiO2/Co/carbon nanofibers through tuning graphitization degrees

Low density, high stability and strong dielectric loss capacity endow carbon-based nanocomposites with superb microwave dissipation performances. Different from grapheme or carbon nanotubes, the graphitization degrees of carbon-based composites derived from the organic precursor pyrolysis can be accurately regulated by controlling the carbonization temperature. As such, their electromagnetic properties can be easily tuned. In this work, we report the preparation of TiO₂/Co/Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) through a combined approach of electrospun and carbonization at different temperatures. The nanofibers with an average diameter of 300 nm were coated by a dense layer of TiO₂ and embedded by Co/CoO nanoparticles. The performance evaluation indicated the composite obtained at 700 °C exhibits remarkably strong absorption of −63.2 dB at 9.8 GHz and wide effective absorption bandwidth of 6.4 GHz with a pretty low filling rate of 15 wt%. Further analysis on the electromagnetic behaviors shows that the composite possesses regulable impedance matching characteristic and absorption performances, implying the huge application potential under various demand conditions.     

聚乙烯醇对过氧化银电极分解和电性能的影响

采用不同浓度的聚乙烯醇(PVA)溶液对过氧化银(Ag O)电极进行浸渍处理。采用示差扫描量热法(DSC)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、化学分析和单片放电对电极进行表征和电性能测试。结果表明,经浓度为1.0%的PVA溶液处理后,电极性能远远优于未处理的过氧化银电极,表现在过氧化银分解表观活化能为143.91 k J/mol,70 o C高温贮存后Ag O分解率仅为0.9%,放电容量衰减仅为18.4%。     

增效过磷酸钙的增效机制及其对玉米生长的影响

利用猪毛、风化煤和腐植酸钠的水解液为增效剂制备了一种增效过磷酸钙,探讨了增效过磷酸钙的增效机制及其对玉米生长的影响。结果表明,蒸馏水浸提条件下,增效过磷酸钙能减缓水溶磷的释放,具备较高的pH值缓冲性。与普通过磷酸钙相比,增效过磷酸钙处理的玉米生物量平均增加了41.9%,吸磷量和吸钙量分别增加了61.7%和27.8%,根系活力增加了24.3%。该研究结果对过磷酸钙生产的技术改进具有指导意义。     

Hydrogen storage and electrochemical properties of annealed low-Co AB5 type intermetallic compounds

The structure, hydrogen storage and electrochemical properties of annealed low-Co AB₅-type intermetallic compounds have been investigated. La-alloy, Nd-alloy and Cr-alloy are used to represent La_0.8Ce_0.2Ni₄Co_0.4Mn_0.3Al_0.3, La_0.6Ce_0.2Nd_0.2Ni₄Co_0.4Mn_0.3Al_0.3 and La_0.6Ce_0.2Nd_0.2Ni_3.8Co_0.4Mn_0.3Al_0.3Cr_0.2, respectively. The XRD results indicated that annealed samples are all single-phase alloys with CaCu₅ type structure. The maximum of both hydrogen content and discharge capacity is obtained for La-alloy 1.23 wt%H₂ and 321.1 mA h/g, respectively. All the investigated alloys are quiet stable with ΔH of hydrogen desorption about 36–38 kJ/mol H₂. Cycle life of alloy electrode has been improved by partial substitution of La for Nd and Ni for Cr. The highest capacity retention of 92.2% after 100 charge/discharge cycles at 1C has been observed for Nd-alloy. The hydrogen diffusion coefficient measured by PITT is higher at the start of charging process and dramatically reduces by 2–3 order of magnitude with saturation of β-hydride. The highest value 6.9 × 10^?13 cm²/s is observed for La alloy at 100% SOC. Partial substitution La for Nd and Cr for Ni in low-Co AB₅ metal hydride alloys slightly reduces maximum discharge capacity, HRD performance and hydrogen diffusion kinetics. Low-Co alloys show good overall electrochemical properties compared to high-Co alloys and might be perspective materials for various electrochemical applications.     

Designing amino-based ionic liquids for improved carbon capture: One amine binds two CO2

Generally, amine group captures CO₂ according to 2:1 or 1:1 stoichiometry. Here, we report a kind of improved carbon capture using amino-functionalized ionic liquids (ILs) through 1:2 stoichiometry. A serial of amino-functionalized ILs various with basicity and steric hindrance of anion were designed, prepared, and applied in CO₂ capture. Through a combination of absorption experiment, quantum chemical calculation, spectroscopic investigation and calorimetric method, the results indicated that one amine group could bind two CO₂ through proton transfer (PT) process and intramolecular hydrogen bond formation, which leading to enhanced capacity that breaks through equimolar. The basicity and steric hindrance of anion play a significant role in promoting amine group to capture two CO₂. [P₆₆₆₁₄]₂[Asp] with dual anion was further designed and synthesized to promote PT process, which showed high capacity of 1.96 mol/mol IL at 30°C and 1 atm as well as excellent reversibility. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 65: 230–238, 2019     

Optimal operation of cogeneration system coordinated by aggregator for providing the demand and supply regulation capacity

Recent growth of renewable energy generations with natural variability, such as photovoltaic generation and wind turbine generation, would make the demand and supply control in a whole power system more difficult, and therefore, alternatives for demand and supply regulation resources would be required. The authors focus on cogeneration system (CGS) as one of regulation resources. In order to procure adequate volume of regulation capability, an aggregator coordinates a number of CGSs efficiently and flexibly considering the wide variety of electricity/thermal demands of CGS owners. This paper proposes a novel optimal operation strategy of CGS coordinated by the aggregator considering the energy balance and operation cost of individual CGS owner. This paper also demonstrates the availability of CGSs for regulation capability by numerical case studies in which the actual consumption profile is employed.     

A case study of socio-cultural and technical factors in automobile design: Discourses between designers and potential users on a new electric vehicle in Africa

Technological artifacts emerge and develop within social contexts, inextricably interconnecting technology and society. This article addresses this interconnection empirically, analyzing the implementation of an electric vehicle designed and built by students of automotive engineering at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany. The students created this vehicle to address problems of mobility for rural populations in Africa, aiming to provide local residents with better access to necessities of life such as healthcare, education, and transportation. The article examines African perceptions of and responses to the vehicle, as well as specific suggestions for future improvement. It discusses not only African reactions to the vehicle and its potential social impact on African societies, but also the concepts and ideas of the designers behind this automotive construction. It also acknowledges the ways in which the engineers based their work on assumptions about African needs rather than on substantial ethnographic research, which diminished their ability to succeed.     

How does a bank's involvement interplay with a firm's capacity investment? An analysis and comparison of different consortium structures

As nonrecourse project finance (rather than financing on a sovereign basis) is becoming more prevalent worldwide, financing institutions have to collaborate more closely with firms to optimize capacity‐investment and financing decisions. Under this background, this paper presents a stylized Stackelberg games model, taking into account the firm's capacity investment as well as the bank's interest rate and funding ratio decisions. Consortium structures between bank and firm are formalized into five modes based on industry practice, namely, the integrated consortium, pure shareholder funding, bank as leader, full coordination, and bank as follower. The optimality and equilibrium of each of the five modes are analytically derived, and their existence and uniqueness are demonstrated. Valuable economic insights are obtained through both modeling analysis and numerical experiments, with the main findings including the following: (i) a lack of bank financing leads to insufficient capacity investment and poor consortium performance; (ii) interest rate and funding ratio play important but different roles in the bank's risk management; (iii) the bank's proactivity in leading and coordinating the consortium is critical for the two parties’ overall performance; and (iv) if the bank is the follower, the firm's capacity decision is irrelevant to the bank's loan contract, and the consortium cannot be coordinated to the first‐best level of performance.     

环氧树脂涂层表面亲水性对微藻黏附性能的影响

在固体材料表面黏附成膜是微藻细胞的一种生理特性。近些年基于微藻生物膜的生物过程，如生物膜贴壁培养和防附着技术受到了很多关注。微藻在固体材料表面的黏附受藻细胞与材料表面之间的相互作用的影响，建立黏附强度与材料表面性质参数间的关系对于通过材料选择来强化或控制微藻生物膜具有非常重要的意义。本工作的目的是揭示和明确材料亲疏水性对微藻黏附的影响，提出了一种双酚A环氧(EP)树脂表面亲疏水改性的方法。通过将亲水性的二乙醇胺(DEA)或疏水性的聚甲基聚硅氧烷(PMHS)加入到EP树脂中反应，EP树脂表面水接触角在36.80?~98.34?范围内可通过加入不同量的DEA或PMHS实现任意可调，材料的表面水接触角与DEA或PMHS加入量之间有线性关系。重要的是这种改性方法获得的材料，其形貌、结构、表面粗糙度等表面性质几乎没有变化，从而在研究和关联微藻黏附量与材料表面亲疏水性(表面水接触角)之间的关系时可以排除亲疏水性之外的其他表面性质的影响；其次，考察了小球藻和栅藻在不同亲疏水性材料表面的黏附行为，结果表明小球藻和栅藻在亲水性和疏水性材料表面均能黏附成膜，但在亲水性材料表面黏附更多更快；建立了微藻最大黏附容量与材料表面接触角之间关联关系，表明微藻最大黏附容量随材料表面水接触角的增大而线性降低，栅藻的表面黏附容量比小球藻大。     

Influence of carboxymethylation on the gelling capacity,rheological properties,and antioxidant activity of feruloylated arabinoxylans from different sources

Feruloylated arabinoxylans (FAX) are gelling polysaccharides presenting antioxidant activity (AC) and potential application as delivery systems. The influence of carboxymethylation on the gelling capacity, rheological properties, and AC of FAX from wheat flour (FAX1) and maize distillers grains (FAX2) was analyzed. The degree of substitution of carboxymethyl groups was 0.27 and 1.77 for carboxymethylated FAX1 (CFAX1) and FAX2 (CFAX2), which presented a change in M _n from 446 to 362 kDa and from 120 to 180 kDa, and a loss in FA content from 1.05 to traces and from 10.13 to 0.12, respectively, after carboxymethylation. G′ value at the end of rheological tests for FAX1 (71 Pa) and FAX2 (726 Pa) was higher than the corresponding G″ value. In contrast, G″ value for CFAX1 (0.35 Pa) and CFAX2 (0.03 Pa) was higher than the respective G′ value, indicating that they do no form gels. The AC increased in CFAX1 in relation to FAX1 from 4.49 to 8.30 mmol Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) kg⁻¹, respectively, while it decreased in CFAX2 with regard to FAX2 from 11.31 to 9.43 mmol TEAC kg⁻¹, respectively. Carboxymethylation could be a path to design FAX derivatives offering alternative potential applications. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48325.