Deep Integration of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (InE) Education in Chinese University Classrooms

Recently, InE has been regarded as a popular education strategy in Chinese universities. However, problems have been exposed in the adoption of InE, for example, in InE courses and competitions. The purpose of this paper is to provide a possible solution to the problems, which is to organize effective InE courses by integrating InE with Inter-Course-level Problem-Based Learning (ICPBL). A detailed case is demonstrated by an ICPBL elective course design with deep integration of InE in the teaching, learning, and assessments. This paper contributes to a new curriculum design for promoting InE education in practically for Chinese universities.     

Orientation Dependence of the Micro-Pillar Compression Strength in an Electron Beam Melted Ti–6Al–4V Alloy

An α/β two-phase Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy was fabricated by electron beam melting to obtain a basketweave structure.The orientation dependence of the mechanical properties of Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy was studied by micro-pillar compression and post-mortem transmission electron microscopy analysis.The results indicate that different grains have different mechanical responses,and the possible attributions were discussed.Besides the orientation effect,due to the limited volumes of micropillars,the size of the a phases,dispersion of the β phases,and the presence of the free dislocation path also affect the mechanical properties of the micropillars to a large extent.Although no direct link was discovered between the mechanical properties and the parent βorientations,this work provided a promising method to further study the anisotropic mechanical behavior in Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy.     

Enhanced electrode kinetics and electrochemical properties of low-cost NaFe2PO4(SO4)2 via Ca2+doping as cathode material for sodium-ion batteries

In recent years,sodium-ion batteries(SIBs)have been considered as one of the most promising alterna-tives to lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).Here,a new Na-super-ionic conductor(NASICON)cathode material NaFe2PO4(SO4)2 is successfully prepared through solid state method for SIBs.While the poor electronic conductivity of iron-based materials results in its poor rate and cycle performance.Then the electro-chemical is effectively promoting via Ca2+doping.Na0.84Ca0.08Fe2PO4(SO4)2 have achieved considerable electrochemical properties.The first discharge specific capacity is 121.6mAhg-1 at 25mAg-1 with the voltage platform(～3.1 V)corresponding to Fe2+/3+.After 100 cycles,the capacity retention is 55.1％.The excellent electrochemical performance is caused by some Na+is substituted by Ca2+and leading to the fast sodium kinetics,which is well proved by the powder X-ray diffraction pattern and well corresponding to the galvanostatic intermittent titration technique and cyclic voltammetry testing result(the diffusivity values are around at 10-12 cm2 s-1).     

A digital-twin visualized architecture for Flexible Manufacturing System

The new generation of industrial 4.0 intelligent manufacturing system consists of Human-Cyber-Physical System (HCPS), integrating human with cyber and physical systems. In manufacturing, a digital-twin visualization architecture is to solve the human-machine interaction problem that concerns digital-twin modeling on the Cyber-Physical (C-P) side and on the Human-Cyber side. Although there are many related research and applications, there lacks attention in terms of full life cycle functional services and lightweight architecture. This paper presents a general architecture of digital-twin visualization for flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). How the digital-twin C-P modeling of multi-source heterogeneous information can be described is investigated and how the 3D visualized human-machine interaction with digital-twin scenario information is explored in the proposed architecture. Besides, the visualization method of high-value information, relating to the life cycle planning, design, debugging and service stages, is studied and discussed thoroughly. Also, a digital-twin modeling concept of "Geometric information (G)-Historical samples (H)-Object attribute (O)-Snapshot collection (S)-Topology constraint (T)" (GHOST) is proposed, and methods for developing virtual digital-twin scenes architecture are presented. Based on the proposed modeling concept of GHOST for digital-twin, prototypes have been developed for the general platform of digital-twin RESTful services and the cross-platform general visual mock-up software. Experimental results show that this method is effective in the FMS lifecycle in various aspects.     

Impact of the SiC addition on the morphological,structural and mechanical properties of Cu-SiC composite powders prepared by high energy milling

The effect of the SiC content on the microstructural, mechanical, and magnetic properties of Cu(1 − x)SiC(x) composite powders (x = 0, 2, 10 and 15 wt%) prepared by high energy milling for 30 h was investigated. The results showed that Cu particles were severely deformed and formed plate like particles of different sizes, while SiC particles were fragmented and embedded in the Cu phase, thus, forming composite particles. As the SiC content increased, the average particle size decreased from 40.75 to 12.84 µm. Besides, XRD data showed a decrease in the crystallite sizes of the Cu phase (from 23.66 to 21.56 nm), accompanied by an increase in the lattice micro-strain (from 0.41 to 0.46%). Changes in the lattice parameters of the Cu phase were observed. The Vickers microhardness were measured in compacted powder samples and reached a maximum value of 135.22 HV for the sample with 15 wt% SiC. The samples showed hysteresis magnetic behavior at 300 K, and with a maximum saturation magnetization of 0.123 emu/g. The weak magnetic signal is mainly due to Co impurities present in the WC from the milling media.     

Customers segmentation in eco-friendly hotels using multi-criteria and machine learning techniques

This study aims to investigate the travellers' choice behaviour towards green hotels through existing online travel reviews on TripAdvisor. Accordingly, a method combining segmentation and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) techniques was developed to segment travellers based on their provided reviews and to prioritize green hotel attributes based on their level of importance in each segment. The data were taken from travellers' online reviews of Malaysian eco-friendly hotels on TripAdvisor. The results showed that the sleep quality was one of the most imporant factors for eco-hotel selection in the majority of segments. The developed method in this study was able to analyse travellers’ reviews and ratings on eco-friendly hotels to identify the future choice behaviour and aid travellers in their decision-making process. The study provides new insights for hotel managers and green policy makers on developing environmental-friendly practices.     

Combustion and emission characteristics of an Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE) spark ignition engine with hydrogen direct injection

Butanol could reduce emissions and alleviate the energy crisis as a bio-fuel used on engines, but the production cost problem limits the application of butanol. During the butanol production, ABE (Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol) is a critical intermediate product. Many studies researched the direct application of ABE on engines instead of butanol to solve the production cost problem of butanol. ABE has the defects of large ignition energy and vaporization heat. Hydrogen is a gaseous fuel with small ignition energy and high flame temperature. In this research, ABE port injection combines with hydrogen direct injection, forming a stratified state of the hydrogen-rich mixture around the spark plug. The engine speed is 1500 rpm, and λ is 1. Five αH₂ (hydrogen blending fractions: 0, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) and five spark timings (5°, 10°, 15°, 20°, 25° CA BTDC) are studied to observe the effects of them on combustion and emissions of the test engine. The results show that hydrogen addition increases the maximum cylinder pressure and maximum heat release rate, increases the maximum cylinder temperature and IMEP, but the exhaust temperature decreases. The flame development period and flame propagation period shorten after adding hydrogen. Hydrogen addition improves HC and CO emissions but increases NO_x emissions. Particle emissions decrease distinctly after hydrogen addition. Hydrogen changes the combustion properties of ABE and improves the test engine's power and emissions. The combustion in the cylinder becomes better with the increase of αH₂, but a further increase in αH₂ beyond 5% brings minor improvements on combustion.     

Manganese oxides treated with organic compounds as catalysts for water oxidation reaction

Manganese oxides of different crystalline structures: α-MnO₂, δ-MnO₂, α,γ-MnO₂ and Mn₂O₃; were treated with the organic compounds picolinic acid, ethylenediamine and pyridine; and were applied as catalysts in the chemical water oxidation reaction using Ce(IV) ammonium nitrate as sacrificial oxidant. The treatment led to modifications in the oxides properties, such as reduction of the particle size, increase of surface area and partial reduction of Mn⁴⁺ to Mn³⁺ for the Mn(IV) oxides, or of Mn³⁺ to Mn²⁺ for Mn₂O₃, because of favored interactions of the organic molecules with the lattice planes with higher d spacing. Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) tests showed the superior catalytic activity of the treated Mn(IV) oxides, for instance α,γ-MnO₂-en presented TOF five times higher than pure α,γ-MnO₂. The increase in surface area as well as the higher Mn³⁺ content caused by the treatment of the Mn(IV) oxides were correlated with the improvement in the OER catalytic activity.     

Tungsten(VI) oxide supported rhodium nanoparticles: Highly active catalysts in hydrogen generation from ammonia borane

Herein, we report the use of tungsten(VI) oxide (WO₃) as support for Rh⁰ nanoparticles. The resulting Rh⁰/WO₃ nanoparticles are highly active and stable catalysts in H₂ generation from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane (AB). We present the results of our investigation on the particle size distribution, catalytic activity and stability of Rh⁰/WO₃ catalysts with 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.0% wt. Rh loadings in the hydrolysis reaction. The results reveal that Rh⁰/WO₃ (0.5% wt. Rh) is very promising catalyst providing a turnover frequency of 749 min^?1 in releasing 3.0 equivalent H₂ per mole of AB from the hydrolysis at 25.0 °C. The high catalytic activity of Rh⁰/WO₃ catalyst is attributed to the reducible nature of support. The report covers the results of kinetics study as well as comparative investigation of activity, recyclability, and reusability of colloidal(0) nanoparticles and Rh⁰/WO₃ (0.5 % wt. Rh) catalyst in the hydrolysis reaction.