Generalized differential quadrature analysis of MHD mixed convective motion of Casson fluids past an isothermal irregular slender geometry via Cattaneo–Christov's approach

Classical Fourier's theory is well-known in continuum physics and thermal sciences. However, the primary drawback of this law is that it contradicts the principle of causality. To explore the thermal relaxation time characteristic, Cattaneo–Christov's theory is adopted thermally. In this regard, the features of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mixed convective flows of Casson fluids over an impermeable irregular sheet are revealed numerically. In addition, the resulting system of partial differential equations is altered via practical transformations into nonlinear ordinary differential equations. An advanced numerical algorithm is developed in this respect to get higher approximations for temperature and velocity fields, as well as their corresponding wall gradients. For validating our numerical code, the current outcomes are compared with the available literature results. Moreover, it is revealed that the velocity field is more prominent in the suction flow situation as compared with the injection flow case. It is also found that the Casson fluid is hastened in the case of lower yield stress. Larger values of thermal relaxation parameters create a lessening trend in the temperature distribution and its related boundary layer breadth.     

Initial and residual trapping of hydrogen and nitrogen in Fontainebleau sandstone using nuclear magnetic resonance core flooding

Hydrogen is among a few promising energy carriers of the future mainly due to its zero-emission combustion nature. It also plays an important role in the transition from fossil fuel to renewable. Hydrogen technology is relatively immature and serious knowledge gaps do exist in its production, transport, storage, and utilization. Although the economical generation of hydrogen to the scale required for such transition is still the biggest technical and environmental challenge, unlocking the large-scale but safe storage is similarly important. It is difficult to store hydrogen in solid and liquid states and storing it in the gaseous phase requires a huge volume which is just available in subsurface porous media. Sandstone is the most abundant and favourable medium for such storage as carbonate rock might not be suitable due to potential geochemical reactions.It is well established in the literature that interaction of the host rock-fluid and injected gas plays a crucial role in fluid flow, residual trapping, withdrawal, and more generally storing capacity. Such data for the hydrogen system is extremely rare and are generally limited to contact angle measurements, while being not representative of the reality of rock-brine-hydrogen interaction(s). Therefore, we have conducted, for the first time, a series of core flooding experiments using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to monitor hydrogen (H₂) and Nitrogen (N₂) gas saturations during the drainage and imbibition stages under pressure and temperature that represent shallow reservoirs. To avoid any geochemical reaction during the test, we selected a clean sandstone core plug of 99.8% quartz (Fontainebleau with a gas porosity of 9.7% and a permeability of 190 mD).Results show significantly low initial and residual H₂ saturations in comparison with N₂, regardless of whether the injection flow rate or capillary number were the same or not. For instance, when the same injection flow rate was used, H₂ saturation during primary drainage was 4% and it was <2% after imbibition. On other hand, N₂ saturation during the primary drainage was 26% and it was 17% after imbibition. However, when the same capillary number of H₂ was utilised for the N₂ experiment, the N₂ saturation values were ～15% for initial gas saturation and 8% for residual gas saturation. Our results promisingly support the idea of hydrogen underground storage; however, we should emphasise that more sandstone rocks of different clay mineralogy should be investigated before reaching a conclusive outcome.     

Effects of multiple freeze–thaw cycles on meat quality,nutrients, water distribution and microstructure in bovine rumen smooth muscle

This study investigated the effect of 5 freeze–thaw cycles (freezing at −18°C for 12 h and then thawing at 4°C for approximately 12 h) on the meat quality, proximate composition, water distribution and microstructure of bovine rumen smooth muscle (BSM). As the number of freeze–thaw cycles increased, BSM pH, shear force, water content and protein content decreased by 3.06%, 35.50%, 14.49% and 21.11%, respectively, whereas BSM thawing loss, cooking loss, pressing loss, total aerobic count (TAC), ash content and fat content increased by 108.12%, 47.75%, 78.33%, 90.99%, 105% and 35.20%, respectively. The freeze–thaw cycles resulted in greater protein and lipid oxidation, as evidenced by a 36.46% reduction in the sulfhydryl content and a 209.06% and 338.46% increase in the carbonyl and malondialdehyde contents, respectively. Ice crystal formation disrupted the structural integrity of the muscle tissue. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance results showed that the freeze–thaw cycles prolonged the relaxation times (T_2b, T₂₁ and T₂₂), indicating that immobile water shifted to free water, and consequently, free water mobility increased. After 3 freeze–thaw cycles, the decline in shear force slowed, the increase in thawing loss became accelerated, and the TAC approached the domain value (6 log colony-forming units/g). Therefore, the number of freeze–thaw cycles of smooth muscle during transport, storage and distribution should be controlled to 3 or fewer. The current results provide a theoretical basis and data support for the further utilisation and culinary processing of smooth muscle.     

Behavior of phase transformation of Baotou mixed rare earth concentrate during oxidation roasting

Based on the new process named “Combination Method” for metallurgy and separation of Baotou mixed rare earth concentrate (BMREC), the aim of this paper is to clearly elucidate the phase change behavior of BMREC without additives during oxidative roasting at 450–800 °C. The results indicate that the bastnaesite in BMREC is decomposed at 450–550 °C, the weight loss is about 10.3 wt%, and the activation energy (E) is 144 kJ/mol. The bastnaesite in BMREC is decomposed into rare earth fluoride, rare earth oxides (La₂O₃, Ce₇O₁₂, Pr₆O₁₁ and Nd₂O₃), and CO₂, particularly, with the increase of roasting temperature, bastnaesite in BMREC is more completely decomposed into LaF₃, which causes a decrease in leaching rate of La during the HCl leaching process. Additionally, the maximum cerium oxidation efficiency reaches about 60 wt% when the roasting temperature is equal to or above 500 °C, and the oxidation reaction rate of cerium increases with the increasing roasting temperature.     

Influence of temperature on acoustic emission source location accuracy in underground structure

An acoustic emission (AE) experiment was carried out to explore the AE location accuracy influenced by temperature. A hollow hemispherical specimen was used to simulate common underground structures. In the process of heating with the flame, the pulse signal of constant frequency was stimulated as an AE source. Then AE signals received by each sensor were collected and used for comparing localization accuracy at different temperatures. Results show that location errors of AE keep the same phenomenon in the early and middle heating stages. In the later stage of heating, location errors of AE increase sharply due to the appearance of cracks. This provides some beneficial suggestions on decreasing location errors of structural cracks caused by temperature and improves the ability of underground structure disaster prevention and control.     

Microstructural and mechanical properties assessment of transient liquid phase bonding of CoCuFeMnNi high entropy alloy

The transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding of CoCuFeMnNi high entropy alloy (HEA) was studied. The TLP bonding was performed using AWS BNi-2 interlayer at 1050 °C with the TLP bonding time of 20, 60, 180 and 240 min. The effect of bonding time on the joint microstructure was characterized by SEM and EDS. Microstructural results confirmed that complete isothermal solidification occurred approximately at 240 min of bonding time. For samples bonded at 20, 60 and 180 min, athermal solidification zone was formed in the bonding area which included Cr-rich boride and Mn₃Si intermetallic compound. For all samples, the γ solid solution was formed in the isothermal solidification zone of the bonding zone. To evaluate the effect of TLP bonding time on mechanical properties of joints, the shear strength and micro-hardness of joints were measured. The results indicated a decrement of micro-hardness in the bonding zone and an increment of micro-hardness in the adjacent zone of joints. The minimum and maximum values of shear strength were 100 and 180 MPa for joints with the bonding time of 20 and 240 min, respectively.     

Three distinct optical-switching states in phase-change materials containing impurities:From physical origin to material design

Ge2Sb2Tes is the most widely utilized chalcogenide phase-change material for non-volatile photonic applications,which undergoes amorphous-cubic and cubic-hexagonal phase transition under external excitations.However,the cubic-hexagonal optical contrast is negligible,only the amorphous-cubic phase transition of Ge2Sb2Te5 is available.This limits the optical switching states of traditional active dis-plays and absorbers to two.We find that increasing structural disorder difference of cubic-hexagonal can increase optical contrast close to the level of amorphous-cubic.Therefore,an amorphous-cubic-hexagonal phase transition with high optical contrast is realized.Using this phase transition,we have developed display and absorber with three distinct switching states,improving the switching perfor-mance by 50％.Through the combination of first-principle calculations and experiments,we reveal that the key to increasing structural disorder difference of amorphous,cubic and hexagonal phases is to intro-duce small interstitial impurities(like N)in Ge2Sb2Tes,rather than large substitutional impurities(like Ag)previously thought.This is explained by the formation energy and lattice distortion.Based on the impurity atomic radius,interstitial site radius and formation energy,C and B are also potential suit-able impurities.In addition,introducing interstitial impurities into phase-change materials with van der Waals gaps in stable phase such as GeSb4Te7,GeSb2Te4,Ge3Sb2Te6,Sb2Te3 will produce high optical con-trast amorphous-metastable-stable phase transition.This research not only reveals the important role of interstitial impurities in increasing the optical contrast between metastable-stable phases,but also proposes varieties of candidate matrices and impurities.This provides new phase-change materials and design methods for non-volatile optical devices with multi-switching states.     

High-Throughput Screening for Phase-Change Memory Materials

Phase change memory (PCM) is an emerging non-volatile data storage technology concerned by the semiconductor industry. To improve the performances, previous efforts have mainly focused on partially replacing or doping elements in the flagship Ge-Sb-Te (GST) alloy based on experimental “trial-and-error” methods. Here, the current largest scale PCM materials searching is reported, starting with 124 515 candidate materials, using a rational high-throughput screening strategy consisting of criteria related to PCM characteristics. In the results, there are 158 candidates screened for PCM materials, of which ≈68% are not employed. By further analyses, including cohesive energy, bond angle analyses, and Born effective charge, there are 52 materials with properties similar to the GST system, including Ge₂Bi₂Te₅, GeAs₄Te₇, GeAs₂Te₄, so on and other candidates that have not been reported, such as TlBiTe₂, TlSbTe₂, CdPb₃Se₄, etc. Compared with GST, materials with close cohesive energy include AgBiTe₂, TlSbTe₂, As₂Te₃, TlBiTe₂, etc., indicating possible low power consumption. Through further melt-quenching molecular dynamic calculation and structural/electronic analyses, Ge₂Bi₂Te₅, CdPb₃Se₄, MnBi₂Te₄, and TlBiTe₂ are found suitable for optical/electrical PCM applications, which further verifies the effectiveness of this strategy. The present study will accelerate the exploration and development of advanced PCM materials for current and future big-data applications.     

Magnetically Guidable Proteinaceous Adhesive Microbots for Targeted Locoregional Therapeutics Delivery in the Highly Dynamic Environment of the Esophagus

The esophagus is a tubular-shaped muscular organ where swallowed fluids and muscular contractions constitute a highly dynamic environment. The turbulent, coordinated processes that occur through the oropharyngeal conduit can often compromise targeted administration of therapeutic drugs to a lesion, significantly reducing therapeutic efficacy. Here, magnetically guidable drug vehicles capable of strongly adhering to target sites using a bioengineered mussel adhesive protein (MAP) to achieve localized delivery of therapeutic drugs against the hydrodynamic physiological conditions are proposed. A suite of highly uniform microparticles embedded with iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles (MAP@IO MPs) is microfluidically fabricated using the genipin-mediated covalent cross-linking of bioengineered MAP. The MAP@IO MPs are successfully targeted to a specific region and prolongedly retained in the tubular-structured passageway. In particular, orally administered MAP@IO MPs are effectively captured in the esophagus in vivo in a magnetically guidable manner. Moreover, doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded MAP@IO MPs exhibit a sustainable DOX release profile, effective anticancer therapeutic activity, and excellent biocompatibility. Thus, the magnetically guidable locomotion and robust underwater adhesive properties of the proteinaceous soft microbots can provide an intelligent modular approach for targeted locoregional therapeutics delivery to a specific lesion site in dynamic fluid-associated tubular organs such as the esophagus.