Experimental Study on Hybrid Organic Phase Change Materials Used for Solar Energy Storage

The solar energy utilization in built environment has been limited due to its low heat flux, uneven distribution in time and space and temporal difference in day and night. The phase change materials have been used to collect the fluctuant solar energy to form a stable energy source for the terminal equipment of the buildings. In this study, the hybrid organic phase change materials was prepared for the capillary radiant heating system which formed a cascade utilization of solar energy. Firstly, lauric acid and stearic acid were selected as the basic organic phase change materials and the binary equilibrium phase diagram was completed based on the method of step cooling curve according to the experimental tests data. The results showed that the phase transition temperature of the mixed acid at the lowest eutectic point was 31.2℃ and the latent heat value was 264.3 kJ/kg when the mass mixing ratio was 70% for lauric acid and 30% for stearic acid. Secondly, the expanded graphite was used as an additive to enwrap the mixed acid and enhance the heat conductivity. The experimental results showed that when the mass proportion of expanded graphite in the mixed acid was 10%, the mixed acid could be completely enclosed by expanded graphite and the stability of melting and solidification was optimal. Additionally, the phase transition temperature of the hybrid phase change material was 31.5℃ and the latent heat value was 217.4 kJ/kg. The novel hybrid phase change material has a lower eutectic point and a higher latent heat of phase change, so it has a large application space and is quite suitable for the cascade utilization of solar energy with capillary network heating system.     

Fabrication of Cu/graphite film/Cu sandwich composites with ultrahigh thermal conductivity for thermal management applications

Effective thermal management of electronic integrated devices with high powder density has become a serious issue, which requires materials with high thermal conductivity (TC). In order to solve the problem of weak bonding between graphite and Cu, a novel Cu/graphite film/Cu sandwich composite (Cu/GF/Cu composite) with ultrahigh TC was fabricated by electro-deposition. The micro-riveting structure was introduced to enhance the bonding strength between graphite film and deposited Cu layers by preparing a rectangular array of micro-holes on the graphite film before electro-deposition. TC and mechanical properties of the composites with different graphite volume fractions and current densities were investigated. The results showed that the TC enhancement generated by the micro-riveting structure for Cu/GF/Cu composites at low graphite content was more effective than that at high graphite content, and the strong texture orientation of deposited Cu resulted in high TC. Under the optimizing preparing condition, the highest in-plane TC reached 824.3 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹, while the ultimate tensile strength of this composite was about four times higher than that of the graphite film.     

Large scale cathodic exfoliation of graphite using deep eutectic solvent and water mixture

A short-time and low-cost synthesis route was used to produce large lateral size (from 2 to 15 μm) from monolayers to few layers of graphene by a two-step process of electrochemical exfoliation with a deep eutectic solvent in a mixture with water that can be reused, and ultrasonic bath. The graphene was characterized by SEM, TEM, AFM, Raman and electrochemical activity. During the electrochemical exfoliation, high expanded graphene particles were obtained and these were dispersed in a mixture of water with 5%wt ethylene glycol by an ultrasonic bath in order to complete the exfoliation process. An enhancement of the electrical conductivity of these dispersions was obtained with the increase of graphene concentration, 0.38 mg/mL, which best result was achieved with 30 wt% water and a DC voltage of 10 V. It was possible to add a conductive layer to a glass substrate with the graphene obtained and Tyndall effect was observed.     

Properties and microstructure of copper-alloyed solid solution-strengthened ductile iron

Solid solution-strengthened ductile iron (DI) exhibits outstanding mechanical properties due to the high silicon content. The strengthening by silicon addition is limited since additions above 4.3?wt-% lead to embrittlement. For a further improvement of mechanical properties, other alloying elements need to be considered. In the present work, the effect of various copper additions on the microstructure and the mechanical properties of solid solution-strengthened DI were investigated. The results show that no appreciable strengthening can be achieved by copper addition without the formation of pearlite in the matrix. The pearlite content increases considerably for Cu-additions above 0.23?wt-% and is independent of the cooling rate for the cooling conditions analysed.     

Design and computational analysis of a metal hydride hydrogen storage system with hexagonal honeycomb based heat transfer enhancements-part A

In this study, design and performance analysis is carried out for a 10 kWh metal hydride based hydrogen storage system. The system is equipped with distinctive aluminium hexagonal honeycomb based heat transfer enhancements (HTE) having higher surface area to volume ratio for effective heat transfer combined with low system weight addition. The system performance was studied under different operating conditions. The optimum absorption condition was achieved at 35 bar with water at room temperature as heat transfer fluid where up to 90% absorption was completed in 7200 s. The performance of the reactor was observed to significantly improve upon the addition of the HTE network at a minimal system weight penalty.     

熔融制样-X射线荧光光谱法测定硅铁中硅磷锰铝钙铬

熔融制样-X射线荧光光谱法(XRF)测定硅铁合金样品,需重点解决样品前处理中合金样品侵蚀铂-黄坩埚的难题。硅铁样品以四硼酸锂-碳酸锂预氧化剂在石墨垫底瓷坩埚中高温预氧化熔融后,再将熔融物转移至铂-黄坩埚中,用四硼酸锂熔融制成玻璃熔片,实现了熔融制样-X射线荧光光谱法对硅铁合金中硅、磷、锰、铝、钙、铬的测定。实验讨论了预氧化熔融的熔剂体系及氧化方法、试样与熔剂的稀释比,结果表明,试样与熔剂以1∶35的稀释比,以10滴300g/L碘化钾溶液为脱模剂,在1100℃熔融30min,熔融制得的玻璃片均匀、透明、无气泡,符合测定要求。用具有浓度梯度的系列硅铁有证标准样品制作校准曲线,各待测元素校准曲线的线性相关系数均大于0.9995。方法应用于硅铁合金实际样品中硅、磷、锰、铝、钙、铬的测定, 结果的相对标准偏差(RSD,n=11)在0.1%~5.8%之间;正确度试验表明,硅铁标准样品的测定结果与认定值相符,硅铁实际样品的测定结果与国家标准方法测定值一致,能满足常规分析要求。     

基体稀释或基体匹配石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定土壤样品中铅和镉

用石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定土壤样品中Pb和Cd时,有时候直接按照方法标准GB/T 17141—1997操作,测定结果不能满足质控要求。研究结果表明,目标元素系列标准溶液中,分别含和不含土壤基体元素Na、Mg、Al、Si、Fe、Ca等元素混合成分时,校准曲线斜率明显不同。为减小基体效应的影响,基于文献调研和实验结果,对上述方法标准实验步骤进行了下列改进:(1)取相同体积实际样品消解液混合后,定量加入到用于建立校准曲线的系列标准溶液中,用于基体匹配;(2)对消解液进行适度稀释,仍采用标准溶液建立校准曲线。用4个土壤标样和土壤样品加标测定结果对改进后的方法进行了验证,结果表明,基体稀释法测定Pb的回收率范围分别为90.4%~114%;测定低含量Cd时,回收率范围为84.1%~125%。基体匹配法测定Pb和Cd的回收率范围分别为93.0%~105%和102%~119%,基本满足土壤样品中重金属回收率为80%~120%的质控要求。样品中痕量镉在测定下限附近时,应严格控制稀释倍数,或采用基体匹配法测定。改进后的操作步骤适合日常检测工作中大批量土壤样品中Pb和Cd的准确测定。     

Enzymatic degradation,electronic, and thermal properties of graphite- and graphene oxide-filled biodegradable polylactide/poly(ε-caprolactone) blend composites

Commodity polymers are the most widely used materials for electronic packaging applications. However, they are nondegradable and causing serious environmental damage. Addressing this challenge, the relative effects of graphite (G) and graphene oxide (GO) dispersion on the enzymatic degradation, electronic properties, thermal degradation, and crystallization behavior of enzyme degradable polylactide/poly(ε-caprolactone) blend composites is investigated. Owing to the oxygenated surface functionalities and excellent thermal conductivity arising from the carbon structure, the randomly dispersed GO particles do not provide electrical pathways and facilitate large enhancements in the electrical resistivity (126%) and thermal conductivity (72%) of the blend composites. However, while the G particles enhanced the thermal conductivity of the composites, they had little effect on enzymatic degradation. Furthermore, they reduced the electrical resistivity, particularly at high concentration (0.25 wt % G), as a result of the conducting delocalized electrons in the G structure and due to network formation. We also find that the energy required to initiate and propagate the thermal degradation process for GO-filled blend composites is relatively lower than that of G-filled blend composite. However, the former composites show higher crystallization rate coefficients value than that of G-filled composites and the neat blend, thereby providing better crystallization ability and miscibility with the matrix. In summary, the GO-filled blend composites are observed to show potential for use in sustainable materials for thermal management applications. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47387.