Novel organic dyes containing N-bridged oligothiophene coplanar cores for dye-sensitized solar cells

Three novel organic dyes adopting fully-fused coplanar heteroarene as the donor moieties end-capped with two cyanoacrylic acids as acceptors and anchoring groups have been synthesized, characterized, and used as the sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The photophysical and electrochemical properties of the novel dyes and the characteristics of the DSSCs based on the novel organic dyes were investigated. The incorporation of the coplanar cores with electron-donating N-bridges are beneficial for the better intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), giving these new dyes good light-harvesting capability. The LUMO energy levels of these coplanar heteroacene-based dyes are sufficiently high for the efficient electron injection to TiO₂ upon photo-excitation, while the suitable HOMOs allow the regeneration of oxidized dyes with the electrolyte redox (I⁻/I₃⁻). The structural features of the coplanar cores (penta vs. hexa heteroarene) as well as the alkyl substitutions play crucial roles in governing the physical properties and device performance. Among these three novel organic sensitizers, the EHTt dye composed of a fully fused hexa-arene core and less bulky N-alkyl groups caused the DSSC to show the best photovoltaic performance with an open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.58 V, a short-circuit photocurrent density (J_SC) of 13.72 mA/cm², and a fill factor (FF) of 0.69, yielding an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.52% under AM 1.5G solar irradiation.     

Resistive switching characteristics of ZnO–graphene quantum dots and their use as an active component of an organic memory cell with one diode-one resistor architecture

We investigated the resistive switching characteristics of a polystyrene:ZnO–graphene quantum dots system and its potential application in a one diode-one resistor architecture of an organic memory cell. The log–log I–V plot and the temperature-variable I–V measurements revealed that the switching mechanism in a low-current state is closely related to thermally activated transport. The turn-on process was induced by a space-charge-limited current mechanism resulted from the ZnO–graphene quantum dots acting as charge trap sites, and charge transfer through filamentary path. The memory device with a diode presented a ∼10³ I_ON/I_OFF ratio, stable endurance cycles (10² cycles) and retention times (10⁴ s), and uniform cell-to-cell switching. The one diode-one resistor architecture can effectively reduce cross-talk issue and realize a cross bar array as large as ∼3 kbit in the readout margin estimation. Furthermore, a specific word was encoded using the standard ASCII character code.     

Use of heat-moisture treated maize starch to modify the properties of wheat flour and the quality of noodles

Waxy, normal and high-amylose maize starches were subjected to heat-moisture treatment (HMT) and then added to wheat flour (WF) in different ratios (1%, 5% and 10%). The properties of blends and their cooked noodles were studied to investigate the effects of HMT starches. The incorporation of HMT starch in WF led to an increase in swelling power, peak viscosity and breakdown and to a decrease in setback, thus inhibiting retrogradation, hence enhancing resultant noodle softness. Compared to the same addition ratio of native starch to WF, HMT starch led to higher tensile strength and extensibility in resultant noodles. WF with added HMT starch had higher resistant starch than with native starch. This study showed that addition of HMT maize starch has potential to bring nutritional benefits. However, it is necessary to select the proper blending ratio and amylose content of starch to add, in consideration of its effect on noodle quality.     

基于CPSS平行系统懒惰强化学习算法的实时发电调控

为解决电力系统中存在的多种时间尺度下经济调度和发电控制的协同问题，即长时间尺度下优化，短时间尺度下优化和实时控制的问题，本文提出了一种统一时间尺度的实时经济发电调度和控制框架，并为该框架提出了懒惰强化学习方法（Lazy reinforcement learning，LRL）.该方法将懒惰控制器引入以人工社会——计算实验——平行执行和社会系统为基础的强化学习中，使得机组组合，经济调度，自动发电控制和发电命令调配的问题有机结合在一起，取代过去传统的发电控制框架.为了减少仿真所需的真实时间，平行系统包含多个虚拟系统和一个真实系统.仿真实验比较了懒惰学习算法，松弛人工网络以及4608种组合常规发电控制算法在IEEE新英格兰10机39节点仿真系统的控制效果.实验表明，懒惰强化学习方法的控制效果最优.仿真结果验证了懒惰强化学习方法在基于ACP和社会系统的REG框架下具有有效性和可行性.     

Probing the degenerate pattern growth of {100}<011> orientation in a directionally solidified Al-4.5 wt% Cu alloy

Degenerate pattern is a seemingly disordered morphology but it exhibits the inherently ordered crystal connected with tip-splitting and limited stability which makes it difficult to observe in the metallic system. Here we employ (100)[011] orientated planar-front seeds using directional solidification and reveal the fundamental origins of the degenerate pattern growth in an Al-4.5 wt% Cu alloy. We find that the spacing of the tip-splitting (λ) in the degenerate of the alloys followed a power law, λ∝V^−0.5, and the frequency (f) of the splitting was related to the growth velocity (V) by ƒ∝V^1.5. The dimensionless growth direction (θ/θ₀) increased monotonously and approached 0.6 with faster velocity, attributed to its anisotropy in the interface kinetics. Once growth velocity exceeded a threshold, two types of pattern transitions from degenerate to regular dendrites were proposed. One of them exhibited a random and chaotic mode and the other underwent a rotation in growth direction.     

Effects of short carbon fiber on the macro-properties,mechanical performance and microstructure of SiSiC composite fabricated by selective laser sintering

Selective laser sintering was combined with reactive melt infiltration to fabricate SiSiC part, and the effects of carbon fiber (C_f) on the properties of the SLS green body, the carbonized and final SiSiC sample were investigated. Results show that the addition of an appropriate amount of C_f (1.59 wt%~2.97 wt%) can increase the bulk density and geometric precision of the sample at all stages, and improve the mechanical properties of green and carbonized samples. The main phases composed of the SiSiC composite were free Si, a-SiC, β-SiC, plus a very small amount of Al–Si alloy. With 1.59 wt% C_f addition, a relatively comprehensive favorable macro-properties of both the green sample and carbonized sample was achieved, and the homogeneous microstructure of the latter favored the decreased free Si content and increased β-SiC content of the final composite. The evolution mechanism of C_f added to the raw material is inferred to be the mutual diffusion of [C] and [Si] that occurred at the C_f/Si melt boundary leading to the formation of the siliconized C_f with relatively large diameter size (24.3 μm) and high aspect ratio (>30). Amorphous C, which derived from the pyrolysis of epoxy resin E12, undergone a dissolution-precipitation mechanism with the formation of fine-grain β-SiC.     

Synthesis of Zn0·1Cd0·9S heterostructure with N-doped graphene quantum dots and graphene for enhancing photoelectric performance in UV–visible light

In the present study, a heterostructure based on Zn_0·1Cd_0·9S, N-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs), and graphene was successfully prepared by a simple method. Various analyses are conducted to determine the structure, morphology, and materials performance of the synthesized composite. The results exhibit that the Zn_0·1Cd_0·9S/N-GQDs/graphene heterostructure presents excellent photoelectric performance with a high photocurrent of 4.43 × 10⁻⁵ A/cm² and 3.43 × 10⁻⁵ A/cm² under light irradiation of 365 nm and 405 nm, respectively. It demonstrates a two-fold photocurrent enhancement in comparison to blank Zn_0·1Cd_0.9S. This remarkable improvement is ascribed to a mechanism in which the N-GQDs act as photosensitizers, enhancing the absorption ability. Concurrently, graphene serves as a carrier mobility substrate, facilitating the separation of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs. The synergetic effect between Zn_0·1Cd_0·9S, the N-GQDs, and graphene enhances the photoelectric performance. The Zn_0·1Cd_0·9S/N-GQDs/graphene heterostructure provides a new route for the enhancement of the photoelectric performance of a semiconductor under UV–visible light.     

Study of the hinge thickness deviation for a 316L parallelogram flexure mechanism fabricated via selective laser melting

3D printing offers great potential for developing complex flexure mechanisms. Recently, thickness-correction factors (TCFs) were introduced to correct the thickness and stiffness deviations of powder-based metal 3D printed flexure hinges during design and analysis. However, the reasons for the different TCFs obtained in each study are not clear, resulting in a limited value of these TCFs for future design and fabrication. Herein, the influence of the porous layer of 3D printed flexure hinges on the hinge thickness is investigated. Samples of parallelogram flexure mechanisms (PFMs) were 3D printed using selective laser melting (SLM) and 316L stainless steel powder. A 3D manufacturing error analysis was completed for each PFM sample via 3D scanning, surface roughness measurement and morphological observation. The thickness of the porous layer of the flexure hinge was independent of the designed hinge thickness and remained close to the average powder particle diameter. The effective hinge thickness could be estimated by subtracting twice the value of the porous layer thickness from the designed value. Guidelines based on finite element analysis and stiffness experiments are proposed. The limitations of the presented method for evaluating the effective hinge thickness of flexure hinges 3D printed via SLM are also discussed.

     

逆向工程中带孔洞的曲面对象三角剖分法研究

在分析现有的一些三角剖分方法的基础上，提出一种新的基于边界扩展的3D三角剖分方法，该方法首先采用一种空间栅格装点法来进行初始点云数据精简；再构造种子三角形，通过连接已剖分网格区域的边界边与最优扩展点来形成三角形网格从而向外扩展。该法可以对带有内孔等其他非凸壳的复杂曲面对象点云直接进行三角剖分，无需人工分区。实际应用表明采用该法可以快速、有效地从三维数据点集建立几何模型。     

Study of miscibility,crystallization, mechanical properties,and thermal stability of blends of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) and poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐4‐hydroxybutyrate)

Natural amorphous polymer poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐4‐hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB4HB) containing 41 mol % of 4HB was blended with poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) with an aim to improve the properties of PHB. The influence of P3HB4HB contents on thermal and mechanical properties of the blends was evaluated with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, stress–strain measurement and thermo gravimetric analyzer. Miscibility of PHB/P3HB4HB blends was mainly decided by the contents of P3HB4HB. When P3HB4HB exceeded 50 wt %, the two polymer phases separated and showed immiscibility. The addition of P3HB4HB did not alter the crystallinity of PHB, yet it diluted the PHB crystalline phase as revealed by DSC studies. DSC and FTIR results showed that the overall crystallinity of the blends decreased remarkably with increasing of P3HB4HB contents. Decreased glass transition temperature and crystallinity imparted desired flexibility for the blends. The ductility of the blends increased progressively with increasing of P3HB4HB content. Thus, the PHB mechanical properties can be modulated by changing the blend composition. P3HB4HB did not significantly improve the thermal stability of PHB, yet it is possible to melt process PHB without much molecular weights loss via blending it with suitable amounts of P3HB4HB. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007