Novel energy-saving window coating based on F doped TiO2 nanocrystals with enhanced NIR shielding performance

To reduce the energy consumption of cooling in the hot summer days, searching for novel NIR shielding materials for buildings is of great value. In this report, monodispersed F doped TiO₂ nanocrystals with an average size of 8.6 nm were synthesized as novel solar shielding materials for energy-saving windows. All the products adopted an anatase TiO₂ structure. After doping of F ions, the morphology of TiO₂ was transformed from an irregular shape to a pseudospherical shape. The Raman shift and XPS depth analysis confirmed the successful doping of F⁻ ions into the lattice oxygen sites in the TiO₂ structure. The introduction of F⁻ ions generated free electrons and bulk Ti³⁺ in TiO₂ crystals, which activated a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption in the NIR region. Correspondingly, the NIR shielding performance of the TiO₂ films improved with increasing F doping amounts. The NIR shielding value of the films increased from 1.3% to 43.2% when the molar ratio of F to Ti increased from 0 to 0.3. The reason can be attributed to the enhanced NIR absorption induced by the increased electron concentration after doping of fluorine ions. The F–TiO₂ films showed superior visible transmittance (90.1–96.7%). Moreover, the F–TiO₂ films lowered the indoor temperature of the heat box by 5.3 °C in the thermal tests. Overall, the prepared F–TiO₂ nanocrystals show a great potential to be used for energy-saving windows.     

基于NR-Transformer的集群作业运行时间预测

高性能集群的作业调度通常使用作业调度系统来实现，准确填写作业运行时间能在很大程度上提升作业调度效率。现有的研究通常使用机器学习的预测方式，在预测精度和实用性上还存在一定的提升空间。为了进一步提高集群作业运行时间预测的准确率，考虑先对集群作业日志进行聚类，将作业类别信息添加到作业特征中，再使用基于注意力机制的NR-Transformer网络对作业日志数据建模和预测。在数据处理上，根据与预测目标的相关性、特征的完整性和数据的有效性，从历史日志数据集中筛选出7维特征，并按作业运行时间的长度将其划分为多个作业集，再对各作业集分别进行训练和预测。实验结果表明，相比于传统机器学习和BP神经网络，时序神经网络结构有更好的预测性能，其中NR-Transformer在各作业集上都有较好的性能。     

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.     

格点QCD基础求解器及其异构计算实现的性能优化

格点量子色动力学(格点QCD)是研究夸克、胶子等微观粒子间相互作用的重要理论和方法. 通过将时空离散化为四维结构网格, 并将量子色动力学的基本场量定义在网格上, 让研究人员可以使用数值模拟方法, 从第一性原理出发研究强子间相互作用和性质, 但这个过程中的计算量极大, 需要进行大规模并行计算. 格点QCD计算的核心基础为格点QCD求解器, 是程序运行主要的计算热点模块. 本文研究在国产异构计算平台下格点QCD求解器的实现与优化, 提出一套格点QCD求解器的设计实现, 实现了BiCGSTAB求解器, 显著降低了迭代次数; 通过对奇偶预处理技术, 降低了所求问题的计算规模; 针对国产异构加速卡的特点, 优化了Dslash模块的访存操作. 实验测试表明, 相比优化前的求解器获得了约30倍的加速比, 为国产异构超算下格点QCD软件性能优化提供了有益的参考价值.     

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.     

Mixing characteristics for the single and air-water two-phase flows in miniaturized parallel multichannel-based devices

Investigation on the miniaturized parallel multichannel-based devices packed with glass beads to improve the mass exchange execution is the critical focal point of the current study. One of the essential parameters to specify the miniaturized devices' flow distribution is the residence time distribution (RTD). In the present context, the RTDs of a liquid tracer were investigated for the air-water multiphase flows (concurrent) across the multichannel-based miniaturized devices (comprising of 11 similar dimensional parallel channels). The devices were variable in height and packed with glass beads. The conductivity estimations generated the RTD curves and were addressed by the axial dispersion model (ADM). The fluid-flow rates differed within the range of 5–23 ml min⁻¹. The axial dispersion coefficients and the rate of the specific energy dispersion were investigated. The effects of pressure difference and geometry on the hydrodynamic attributes and mixing properties were well-illustrated, and the new correlations were suggested.     

Designing amorphous formulations of polyphenols with naringin by spray-drying for enhanced solubility and permeability

Naringin (NAR), a major flavanone (FVA) glycoside, is a component of food mainly obtained from grapefruit. We used NAR as a food additive to improve the solubility and permeability of hydrophobic polyphenols used as supplements in the food industry. The spray-dried particles (SDPs) of NAR alone show an amorphous state with a glass transition temperature (T_g) at 93.2 °C. SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols, such as flavone (FVO), quercetin (QCT), naringenin (NRG), and resveratrol (RVT) were prepared by adding varying amounts of NAR. All SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols with added NAR were in an amorphous state with a single T_g, but SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols without added NAR showed diffraction peaks derived from each crystal. The SDPs with NAR could keep an amorphous state after storage at a high humidity condition for one month, except for SDPs of RVT/NAR. SDPs with NAR enhanced the solubility of hydrophobic polyphenols, especially NRG solubility, which was enhanced more than 9 times compared to NRG crystal. The enhanced solubility resulted in the increased membrane permeability of NRG. The antioxidant effect of the hydrophobic NRG was also enhanced by the synergetic effect of NAR. The findings demonstrated that NAR could be used as a food additive to enhance the solubility and membrane permeability of hydrophobic polyphenols.     

Numerical study on the loss of fast ions produced by minority ion cyclotron resonance heating in EAST

The classical prompt loss of fast ions produced by minority ion cyclotron resonance heating(ICRH)is studied by a guiding center orbit following code in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST).It is found that the loss of fast ions produced by ICRH mainly appears in both ends of the resonance layer,while the loss of fast ions in the middle resonance layer is very small.The dominant fast loss comes from trapped ions,rather than from passing ions.Controlling the location of resonance layer at the plasma core may be more beneficial to the EAST tokamak ICRH.In addition,the loss distribution of fast ions is studied.The results show that the fast ions are mainly lost near the midplane in the poloidal direction,but almost uniformly in the toroidal direction.Moreover,we investigate the dependence of fast ion loss on the ICRH power.The simulation results show that the loss fraction of fast ions in both ends of the resonance region increases with the ion cyclotron range of frequencies(ICRF)power,but barely affects the loss of fast ions in the middle region.     

Mechanistic study of the effect of Ca–Sn co-doping on the microwave dielectric properties and magnetic properties of YIG

To investigate the crystal structure, electrical properties, and magnetic properties of Ca–Sn co-doped Y_3-xCa_xFe_5-xSn_xO₁₂ (x = 0.00–0.25 in steps of 0.05), solid-state reaction experiments, first principles calculations, and complex crystal bonding theoretical calculations were performed. The relative permittivity (ε_r) is strongly correlated with the average bond ionicity when Ca²⁺ is added. Furthermore, appropriate Sn⁴⁺ substitution significantly lowers the dielectric loss (tanδ_ε) associated with the lattice energy. The right amount of Ca–Sn co-doping can change the saturation magnetization (4πM_S) and improve the microscopic morphology of YIG, lowering the ferromagnetic resonance linewidth (ΔH) of YIG. The optimized microwave dielectric and magnetic properties are as follows: ε_r = 14.7, tanδ_ε = 4.15 × 10^?4, 4πM_S = 1680 G, and ΔH = 53 Oe for Y_2.8Ca_0.2Fe_4.8Sn_0.2O₁₂ sintered for 6 h at 1425 °C. Based on this material, a simple 3D model of a strip-line circulator with an insertion loss of less than 0.3 dB at each port and isolation greater than 20 dB in the 10–12 GHz range was developed, indicating the potential of the material for microwave high-frequency components such as circulators.     

Greatly improved NIR shielding performance of CuS nanocrystals by gallium doping for energy efficient window

In this work, gallium doped copper sulfide (Ga-doped CuS) nanocrystals were prepared using a solvothermal method. The effects of Ga doping on the crystal structures, chemical composition, morphology, optical properties and thermal performance of copper sulfide (CuS) were investigated. The Ga-doped CuS nanocrystals had a hexagonal structure comparable to that of pure CuS. The Cu⁺/Cu²⁺ ratio first decreased and then increased with increasing Ga³⁺ doping. Both CuS and Ga-doped CuS exhibited nanoplate and nanorod morphologies. The visible transmittance of the Ga-doped CuS films was in the range of 61–77.1%. Importantly, the near-infrared (NIR) shielding performance of the films can be tuned by adjusting the concentration of the Ga dopant. The NIR shielding value of the optimal Ga-doped CuS film was 72.4%, which was approximately 1.5 times as high as that of the pure CuS film. This can be ascribed to the enhanced plasmonic NIR absorption that resulted from an increase in the hole concentration after doping with Ga³⁺ ions. In the thermal performance test, the Ga-doped CuS film lowered the interior temperature of the heat box by 9.1 °C. Therefore, the integration of good visible transmittance and high NIR shielding performance make the Ga-doped CuS nanocrystals a promising candidate for energy-efficient window coatings.