Zinc ferrite based gas sensors: A review

Flammable, explosive and toxic gases, such as hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide and volatile organic compounds vapor, are major threats to the ecological environment safety and human health. Among the available technologies, gas sensing is a vital component, and has been widely studied in literature for early detection and warning. As a metal oxide semiconductor, zinc ferrite (ZnFe₂O₄) represents a kind of promising gas sensing material with a spinel structure, which also shows a fine gas sensing performance to reducing gases. Due to its great potentials and widespread applications, this article is intended to provide a review on the latest development in zinc ferrite based gas sensors. We first discuss the general gas sensing mechanism of ZnFe₂O₄ sensor. This is followed by a review of the recent progress about zinc ferrite based gas sensors from several aspects: different micro-morphology, element doping and heterostructure materials. In the end, we propose that combining ZnFe₂O₄ which provides unique microstructure (such as the multi-layer porous shells hollow structure), with the semiconductors such as graphene, which provide excellent physical properties. It is expected that the mentioned composites contribute to improving selectivity, long-term stability, and other sensing performance of sensors at room or low temperature.     

Creep testing of carbon containing refractories under reducing conditions

Mechanical testing of carbon containing refractories at high temperatures requires measures to protect the sample from oxidation. Therefore, special setups for tensile and compressive creep testing were developed to prevent the oxidation of carbon in the sample. A MgO-C refractory was selected for a case study. These developments allow the quantification of the tensile and compressive creep behaviour of MgO-C refractories at temperatures up to 1500?°C. The creep parameters are determined by an inverse evaluation method for the obtained experimental data. They enable the consideration of creep in a thermomechanical finite element simulation of refractory linings in service.     

Investigation of the piezoelectric and anti-reduction properties of (Ba,Ca) (Ti,Sn, Hf) textured ceramics prepared under low oxygen partial pressure conditions at low sintering temperatures

Multilayer piezoelectric ceramics must be sintered in a reducing atmosphere, preventing oxidation of the inner base metal. Plate-like textured (Ba, Ca)(Ti, Sn, Hf)O₃ ceramics with a <001> preferred orientation were successfully developed at a low oxygen partial pressure (PO₂:10^?8 atm) using a BaTiO₃ (BT) template with sintering temperatures < 1300 °C, which is beneficial for multilayer applications using base metal co-firing with ceramics. When adding the 3 wt% BT template, the proposed samples had a Lottgering factor of 84 %, piezoelectric coefficients d₃₃ = 324 pC/N, -d₃₁ = 122 (pC/N), and Q_m = 452, and the strain values increased from 0.07 % for the randomly oriented ceramics to 0.115 % at 20 kV/cm for the textured ceramics, confirming that the texturing behavior assisted the grain growth and improved both the soft and hard behaviors and insulation resistance of the proposed lead-free ceramics. These findings make a significant contribution to the production of high-power piezoelectric components.     

Transient shrinkage behavior of wustite-centered binary/ternary/quaternary/quinary-component oxide packed beds in a reducing atmosphere up to 1773 K

Wustite (FeO)-centered multicomponent oxides play an important role in the ironmaking process, and a complete understanding of their high temperature behaviors is of great importance for process optimization to achieve high efficiency and low emissions during industrial production. In this work, the transient shrinkages of FeO-centered multicomponent oxide packed beds are quantitatively determined in a reducing atmosphere up to 1773 K, and the effects of the interactions between the oxides on the shrinkage rate (SR) are qualitatively evaluated. The results show that although mixing CaO with FeO increases the SR to 0.42%/K below 1173 K, further mixing with SiO₂ or Al₂O₃ significantly limits this enhancement effect due to the formation of an olivine or spinel phase. However, in the subsequent stage, the SR increases to as high as 0.44%/K after CO is injected. The interaction between FeO and MgO leads to an SR of greater than 0.20%/K at lower temperatures, but it causes a decrease in the SR from 0.33%/K to 0.16%/K between 1173 K and 1273 K. Meanwhile, adding SiO₂ slows the reduction reaction, and the SR correspondingly decreases further to 0.04%/K. On the other hand, the interaction between CaO and Al₂O₃ takes precedence over the interaction between SiO₂ and MgO and dominates the shrinkage process in the quinary-component case, and the preferentially formed CaAl₂O₄ spinel phase hinders the formation of the Mg₂SiO₄ olivine phase.     

生态城市中住宅区的"可持续发展"与"再生"

都市再生的个案中正好是推广可持续发展建筑、景观环境的根本.为了因应现实环境需求面的考量,都市再生不断的继续在演变、发展,以调整出最合适、最合宜的内容与程序,让建筑物由被动的"消耗最少地球资源,制造最少废弃物的建筑物"转而为积极的"生态、健康的建筑物"定义.     

EXAFS speciation and phytoavailability of Pb in a contaminated soil amended with compost and gypsum

Due to unregulated uses of lead pellets for hunting purposes in Japan, soils and sediments in some river basins and wetlands have become highly contaminated with Pb. Deterioration of natural vegetation has occurred sporadically in these areas, and therefore revegetation is needed for ecological restoration. The objectives of the present study were to assess the effects of surface applications of compost and gypsum amendments on Pb availability to a watercress plant (Nasturtium officinale W.T. Aiton) and molecular-scale speciation of Pb in soil solid phases. The compost and gypsum amendments significantly decreased dissolved Pb and Sb in pore water. The concentration of Pb in aboveground plant tissues was 190 mg kg^− 1 in the control soil and was reduced to < 20 mg kg^− 1 in the compost and gypsum-amended soils. The concentration of Sb in plants grown in the control soil was 13 mg kg^− 1, whereas that in the soils receiving compost and gypsum decreased below detectable levels. Redox potential was higher in vegetated soils (ave. 349 mV) than in the unvegetated soils (ave. 99 mV) due to oxygen introduced by plant roots. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy illustrated that Pb occurred as Pb sorbed on birnessite and/or ferrihydrite (Pb-Mn/Fe, ~ 60%) and Pb sorbed on organic matter (Pb-org, ~ 15%), and galena (PbS, ~ 10%) in the vegetated and unvegetated control soils. The compost amendment increased the proportion of Pb-org by 2-fold than in the control soils. The amended soils with plant growth decreased the proportion of Pb-Mn/Fe phases by half of that without plant growth. Galena and anglesite (PbSO₄) were not detected in compost-amended soils and even in gypsum-amended soils since a significant soil reduction to anoxic levels did not occur in the entire soil. The present study indicated that, under flooded conditions, surface applications of compost and gypsum amendments reduced plant Pb uptake from the Pb contaminated soil.     

一种2R1T类球面并联机构的瞬时速度分析

对一种2R1T（R表示旋转,T表示平移）的类球面并联机构进行了瞬时速度分析. 由于机构的动平台中心与基座中心始终关于过3个球关节的平面对称,利用几何法很容易获得动平台的位置解,然而机构的瞬时速度的计算则相对复杂,尤其是角速度的计算严重依赖姿态矩阵或完整雅克比矩阵的正确求解,并且计算效率低、容易出错. 为此,采用Riemann对称空间理论方法,从机构子链旋量系的对称性出发,建立各子链关节运动的约束,从而简化机构动平台瞬时速度的计算,机构所有可能的瞬时速度组成了一个线性空间,这个空间的基正好解释了机构的瞬时自由度. 最后,给出算例验证了该方法的正确性和有效性. 通过ADAMS（Automatic Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems,机械系统动力学）软件仿真与理论计算对比,角速度误差控制在-0.004~0.006 rad/s以内,线速度误差控制在-0.01~0.015 mm/s以内,采用对称空间理论方法计算瞬时速度用时5.187 s.     

3D ECT reconstruction by an improved Landweber iteration algorithm

Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is a relatively mature non-invasive imaging technique that attempts to map dielectric permittivity of materials. Recently, 3D ECT has gained interest because of its potential to generate volumetric images. The study of a fast and accurate image reconstruction algorithm is a challenge task, especially for 3D reconstruction. In this paper, we propose an improved Landweber iteration algorithm. We incorporate an additional acceleration term into the cost function and apply an adaptive threshold operation to the image obtained in each iteration for reducing artefacts. The algorithm proposed is tested by the noise-free and noise-contaminated capacitance data. Sensitivity matrixes and capacitance data of a 3D ECT sensor are obtained by using the finite element (FE) method. Extensive simulations in 3D reconstruction are carried out. The results verify the effectiveness of these improvements. Both the reconstruction time and the artefacts in the reconstructed image are reduced obviously. The experimental results of 3D reconstruction of objects in the shape of letters U and L confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm further.     

Copper–4,4′-dipyridyl coordination compound as solid reagent for spectrophotometric determination of reducing sugar employing a multicommutation approach

In this work a multicommuted flow system employing copper–4,4′- dipyridyl coordination compound as the solid-phase reagent for the spectrophotometric determination of reducing sugar was developed. The coordination compound was synthesized through a reaction of the 4,4′-dipyridyl and copper (II) nitrate, under hydrothermal conditions. The complex was characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), power X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Based on the characterization, a multicommuted spectrophotometric procedure for the determination of reducing sugar using copper (II) complex as solid reagent is proposed. The proposed method was based on the redox reaction between a monosaccharide, such as fructose and glucose (reducing sugar) and Cu(II). This reaction, mediated in an alkaline medium, produces a yellow compound that can be determined by absorption electronic spectroscopy (λ_ABS = 420 nm). Under optimum experimental conditions, a linear response ranging from 1.0 to 20.0 g L⁻¹ (R = 0.9978 and n = 5), a detection (3σ criterion) and quantification (10σ criterion) limit estimated at 0.23 and 0.75 g L⁻¹, respectively, a standard deviation relative of 4.7% (n = 7), for a reference solution of 10.0 g L⁻¹ reducing sugar, and a sampling rate of 75 determinations per hour were achieved. The proposed system was applied to the determination of reducing sugars in coconut water and juices. The analysis of ten samples and the application of the t-test to the results found, and those obtained using reference procedures (AOAC), provided no significant differences at a 95% confidence level. This system enabled the analysis of reducing sugar with ease and simplicity, providing a significant economy of the solid reagent (600 μg per determination) and reducing effluent generation.     

Study on the erosion mechanism of acid coal slag interactions with silicon carbide materials in the simulated atmosphere of a coal gasifier

In this paper, the dynamic erosion of silicon carbide interaction with acid coal slag was studied in an improved rotary drum furnace under the simulated conditions of a slagging gasifier at temperature of 1500 °C. Microstructures of corroded samples were observed by SEM, and the erosion mechanism was investigated by thermodynamic simulation based on SEM analysis. This revealed that SiC reacted with FeO to form a Si-Fe-C alloy on the sample surface, and the active oxidation of SiC was conducted in the experimental atmosphere. Furthermore, SiO₂(s), SiO(g), CO(g), and CO₂(g) were formed. Finally, SiO₂ dissolved in the molten slag, and SiO(g), CO(g), and CO₂(g) spread continuously. The pore structures on were altered by the oxidation reaction, which facilitated slag penetration into the samples through the pores to form a thin reaction layer.