Flow field simulation and pressure drop modeling by a porous medium in PEM fuel cells

For proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, the distribution of reactant flow in the stack is critical to the fuel cell's efficiency. The uneven distribution of reactant flow in the stack may cause poor current density, low performance, and material degradation. To understand and accurately predict the flow field in the proton-exchange membrane fuel cell system, the present study aims to develop a simple correlation to analyze the pressure drop in fuel cell stacks. The flow channel in each cell of a stack is treated as a porous medium, and a power-law model is used to approximate the porous medium momentum source term. For the stacks with fewer cell numbers, namely, 1, 5, and 10 cells, the parameters in the power law are established based on the experimental data. Then, a correlation is developed to simulate the flow and predict the pressure drop in the stack with higher cell numbers (ie, 20 and 40 cells). The simulations show that the pressure drop in each cell of a stack is almost invariable, and the average pressure drop decreases with increasing the number of cells. The flow uniformity in the stacks with different cell numbers is evaluated using the dimensionless pressure drop and the pressure drop ratios. It suggests that the lower the cell number, the more uniform the pressure drop. The developed model is conducive to efficiently designing the flow channel for a fuel cell stack with large cell numbers.     

Fabrication of high-efficiency Yb:Y2O3 laser ceramics without photodarkening

High-efficiency Yb:Y₂O₃ laser ceramics were fabricated using the vacuum-sintering plus hot isostatic pressing (HIP) without sintering additives. High-purity well-dispersed nanocrystalline Yb:Y₂O₃ powder was synthesized using a modified co-precipitation method in-house. The green bodies were first vacuum sintered at a temperature as low as 1430°C and then HIPed at 1450°C. Finally, the samples were air annealed at 800°C for 10 h. Although no sintering aids were used, full density of the samples with excellent optical homogeneity and an inline transmission of 80% at 400 nm could be obtained. Moreover, photodarkening phenomenon was not detected in the ceramics. Preliminary laser experiment with the fabricated ceramics in a two-mirror cavity has demonstrated 32 W continuous-wave (CW) output at ∼1077 nm with an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 58.2%. To the best of our knowledge, this is so far the highest CW output power and optical-to-optical conversion efficiency achieved with the Yb³⁺-doped sesquioxide ceramics in a simple two-mirror cavity.     

Inorganic Electron Transport Materials in Perovskite Solar Cells

In the past decade, the perovskite solar cell (PSC) has attracted tremendous attention thanks to the substantial efforts in improving the power conversion efficiency from 3.8% to 25.5% for single-junction devices and even perovskite-silicon tandems have reached 29.15%. This is a result of improvement in composition, solvent, interface, and dimensionality engineering. Furthermore, the long-term stability of PSCs has also been significantly improved. Such rapid developments have made PSCs a competitive candidate for next-generation photovoltaics. The electron transport layer (ETL) is one of the most important functional layers in PSCs, due to its crucial role in contributing to the overall performance of devices. This review provides an up-to-date summary of the developments in inorganic electron transport materials (ETMs) for PSCs. The three most prevalent inorganic ETMs (TiO₂, SnO_2, and ZnO) are examined with a focus on the effects of synthesis and preparation methods, as well as an introduction to their application in tandem devices. The emerging trends in inorganic ETMs used for PSC research are also reviewed. Finally, strategies to optimize the performance of ETL in PSCs, effects the ETL has on J–V hysteresis phenomenon and long-term stability with an outlook on current challenges and further development are discussed.     

Structural Aspects of P2-Type Na0.67Mn0.6Ni0.2Li0.2O2 (MNL) Stabilization by Lithium Defects as a Cathode Material for Sodium-Ion Batteries

A known strategy for improving the properties of layered oxide electrodes in sodium-ion batteries is the partial substitution of transition metals by Li. Herein, the role of Li as a defect and its impact on sodium storage in P2-Na_0.67Mn_0.6Ni_0.2Li_0.2O₂ is discussed. In tandem with electrochemical studies, the electronic and atomic structure are studied using solid-state NMR, operando XRD, and density functional theory (DFT). For the as-synthesized material, Li is located in comparable amounts within the sodium and the transition metal oxide (TMO) layers. Desodiation leads to a redistribution of Li ions within the crystal lattice. During charging, Li ions from the Na layer first migrate to the TMO layer before reversing their course at low Na contents. There is little change in the lattice parameters during charging/discharging, indicating stabilization of the P2 structure. This leads to a solid-solution type storage mechanism (sloping voltage profile) and hence excellent cycle life with a capacity of 110 mAh g^-1 after 100 cycles. In contrast, the Li-free compositions Na_0.67Mn_0.6Ni_0.4O₂ and Na_0.67Mn_0.8Ni_0.2O₂ show phase transitions and a stair-case voltage profile. The capacity is found to originate from mainly Ni³⁺/Ni⁴⁺ and O^2-/O^2-δ redox processes by DFT, although a small contribution from Mn⁴⁺/Mn⁵⁺ to the capacity cannot be excluded.     

Suggestions to the article: medical professionalism research characteristics and hotspots

Scientometrics - The article published on 5 July 2021 is well-written and of interest. However, some improvements could be made, such as ten Tables/Figures can be shortened to highlight the focused...     

Manipulation of thick-walled PEEK bushing crystallinity and modulus via instrumented compression molding

An instrumented hot compression molding apparatus was fabricated to allow real-time monitoring and precise temperature control during the compaction and consolidation of large polyether ether ketone (PEEK) products. The objective was to determine the impact of controlled variables on the properties of the molded article. Four different strategies were designed to control the mold thermal profiles. The average crystallinity in a commercial molding process is restricted due to large thermal masses with low thermal conductivity. In contrast, this research was able to reduce the crystallinity range from 33% to 6% by developing a special controlled apparatus and implementing new processing methodologies. In this study, PEEK showed a significant increase in the modulus compared to typical values measured on commercially produced analogs, and a higher degree of property uniformity. In a single commercially molded PEEK billet, compressive modulus variability was 13% at room temperature, and 21% at 225°C. Properties of billets produced using the laboratory apparatus showed a reduction in variability to 2%.     

Oxygen vacancy levels on gadolinia-doped ceria interlayer deposited by atmospheric pressure plasma jet for solid oxide fuel cells

The oxygen vacancy levels as a factor on different gadolinia-doped ceria interlayer (GDCi) films deposited on yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte substrates by an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) via precursor solution of nitrate salts are investigated. Focusing on the effect of carrier gases, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are implemented for the materials characterization of the as-deposited GDCi films and sintered-GDCi films at various temperatures. The higher level of oxygen vacancies in GDCi films adhered on 8YSZ electrolyte are evidently analyzed using Ar as the carrier gas during the deposition, of which the interdiffusion resulted in the formation of (GDC + YSZ) solid solution for sintering over 1300?°C degraded the total conductivity. The deposition of GDCi films on 8YSZ by APPJ method using O₂ carrier gas significantly improved the total conductivities of the whole electrolyte layers. Moreover, this study provides the useful insight into the oxygen vacancy levels on GDC films as interlayer (GDCi) to improve the values of open circuit voltage in LSM/GDCi/YSZ/Pt full-cell, as well as offering the efficiency of APPJ as one step deposition process.