Nacre-Inspired,Liquid Metal-Based Ultrasensitive Electronic Skin by Spatially Regulated Cracking Strategy

The realization of liquid metal-based wearable systems will be a milestone toward high-performance, integrated electronic skin. However, despite the revolutionary progress achieved in many other components of electronic skin, liquid metal-based flexible sensors still suffer from poor sensitivity due to the insufficient resistance change of liquid metal to deformation. Herein, a nacre-inspired architecture composed of a biphasic pattern (liquid metal with Cr/Cu underlayer) as “bricks” and strain-sensitive Ag film as “mortar” is developed, which breaks the long-standing sensitivity bottleneck of liquid metal-based electronic skin. With 2 orders of magnitude of sensitivity amplification while maintaining wide (>85%) working range, for the first time, liquid metal-based strain sensors rival the state-of-art counterparts. This liquid metal composite features spatially regulated cracking behavior. On the one hand, hard Cr cells locally modulate the strain distribution, which avoids premature cut-through cracks and prolongs the defect propagation in the adjacent Ag film. On the other hand, the separated liquid metal cells prevent unfavorable continuous liquid-metal paths and create crack-free regions during strain. Demonstrated in diverse scenarios, the proposed design concept may spark more applications of ultrasensitive liquid metal-based electronic skins, and reveals a pathway for sensor development via crack engineering.     

Turbulent boundary layer control with a spanwise array of DBD plasma actuators

The turbulent boundary layer control on NACA 0012 airfoil with Mach number ranging from 0.3 to 0.5 by a spanwise array of dielectric barrier discharge(DBD)plasma actuators by hot-film sensor technology is investigated.Due to temperature change mainly caused through heat produced along with plasma will lead to measurement error of shear stress measured by hot-film sensor,the correction method that takes account of the change measured by another sensor is used and works well.In order to achieve the value of shear stress change,we combine computational fluid dynamics computation with experiment to calibrate the hot-film sensor.To test the stability of the hot-film sensor,seven repeated measurements of shear stress at Ma = 0.3 are conducted and show that confidence interval of hot-film sensor measurement is from-0.18 to 0.18 Pa and the root mean square is 0.11 Pa giving a relative error 0.5％over all Mach numbers in this experiment.The research on the turbulent boundary layer control with DBD plasma actuators demonstrates that the control makes shear stress increase by about 6％over the three Mach numbers,which is thought to be reliable through comparing it with the relative error 0.5％,and the value is hardly affected by burst frequency and excitation voltage.     

Enhanced strains of Nb-doped BNKT-4ST piezoelectric ceramics via phase boundary and domain design

A strategy that constructs the morphotropic phase boundary and manipulates the domain structure has been used to design the component of 0.96[Bi_0.5(Na_0.84K_0.16)_0.5Ti_(1-x)Nb_xO₃]-0.04SrTiO₃ (BNKT-4ST-100xNb) to enhance the strain properties for actuator application. Non-equivalent Nb⁵⁺ donor doping modulates the phase transition from the mixture of rhombohedral and tetragonal phases to the pseudocubic phase and results in the coexistence of multiple phases. Moreover, the high-resolution TEM confirms the existence of polar nano regions that contribute to the macroscopic relaxor behaviour. The size of the domains is reduced with increasing Nb⁵⁺, resulting in an enhanced relaxor behaviour. The ferroelectric-relaxor transition temperature decreases from 85 to below 30 °C, implying a non-ergodic to ergodic relaxor transition. An improved strain of 0.56% and a giant normalized strain of 1120 pm/V were achieved for BNKT-4ST-1.5Nb, which were attributed to the unique domain structure in which nanodomains are embedded in an undistorted cubic matrix. Ferroelectric, antiferroelectric, and relaxor phases coexist. As the electric field is large enough, a reversible phase transition occurs. Furthermore, good temperature stability was obtained due to the stability of the nanodomains, and no degradation in strains was observed even after 10⁴ cycles, which may originate from the reversible phase transition and dynamic domain wall. The results show that this design strategy offers a reference way to improve the strain behaviour and that BNKT-4ST-100xNb ceramics could be a potential material for high-displacement actuator applications.     

Hydrogen sulfide gas detection by Au-decorated ZnO nanotube: a computational study and comparison to experimental observations

Based on the experimental reports, Au-decoration on the ZnO nanostructures dramatically increases the electronic sensitivity to H₂S gas. In the current study, we computationally scrutinized the mechanism of Au-decoration on a ZnO nanotube (ZON) and the influence on its sensing behavior toward H₂S gas. The intrinsic ZON weakly interacted with the H₂S gas with an adsorption energy of ?11.2 kcal/mol. The interaction showed no effect on the HOMO–LUMO gap and conductivity of ZON. The predicted response of intrinsic ZON toward H₂S gas is 6.3, which increases to 78.1 by the Au-decoration at 298 K. The corresponding experimental values are about 5.0 and 80.0, indicating excellent agreement with our findings. We showed that the Au atom catalyzes the reaction 3O₂?+?2H₂S?→?2SO₂?+?2H₂O. Our calculated energy barrier (at 298 K) is about 12.3 kcal/mol for this reaction. The gap and electrical conductance Au-ZON largely changed by this reaction are attributed to the electron donation and back-donation processes. The obtained recovery time is about 1.35 ms for desorption of generated gases from the surface of the Au-ZON sensor.     

Robust Metallic Actuators Based on Nanoporous Gold Rapidly Dealloyed from Gold–Nickel Precursors

Dealloyed nanoporous gold (np-Au) has applications as oxygen reduction catalysis in Li-air batteries and fuel cells, or as actuators to convert electricity into mechanical energy. However, it faces the challenges of coarsening-induced structure instability, mechanical weakness due to low relative densities, and slow dealloying rates. Here, monolithic np-Au is dealloyed from a single-phase Au₂₅Ni₇₅ solid-solution at a one-order faster dealloying rate, ultra-low residual Ni content, and importantly, one-third more relative density than np-Au dealloyed from conventional Au₂₅Ag₇₅. The small atomic radius and low dealloying potential of the sacrificing element Ni are intrinsically beneficial to fast produce high relative density np-Au, as predicted by a general model for dealloying of binary alloys and validated by experiments. Stable, durable, and reversible actuation of np-Au takes place under cyclic potential triggering in alkaline and acidic electrolytes with negligible coarsening-induced strain-shift. The thermal and mechanical robustness of bulk np-Au is confirmed by two-order slower ligament coarsening rates during annealing at 300 °C and 45 MPa macroscopic yielding strength distinctive from the typical early onset of plastic yielding. This article opens a rich direction to achieve high relative density np-Au which is essential for porous network connectivity, mechanical strength, and nanostructure robustness for electrochemical functionality.     

The influence of mining factors on seismic activity during longwall mining of a coal seam

In this article an attempt to determine the influence of mining factors on the seismic activity during the longwall mining of the upper layer of coal seam no. 405/2 in one of the Polish hard coal mines in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin was conducted. Two longwall panels were mined in analogous geological conditions and based on the same mining system and technology. However, there was significant difference with regards to the mining factors, which was reflected in the observed seismic activity. Some tools used in mining seismology were applied to illustrate the aforementioned influence of mining factors, e.g. the frequency-energy distribution, the frequency-magnitude distribution, the 2 D distribution of released seismic energy, the relationship between released seismic energy and the volume of mined coal, the Benioff strain release, and the Gutenberg-Richter(GR) b coefficient distribution(b is the proportion between high and low energy tremors). Concerning the Benioff strain release, a new solution, based on the slope of a fitted line in a moving time window, is proposed.     

Potential influence of microorganisms on the corrosion of carbon steel in the French high- and intermediate-level long-lived radioactive waste disposal context

In the context of the high-level radioactive waste disposal CIGEO, the corrosion rate due to microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) has to be evaluated. In France, it is envisaged to dispose of high- and intermediate-level long-lived radioactive waste at a depth of 500 m in a deep geological disposal, drilled in the Callovo-Oxfordian claystone (Cox) formation. To do so, a carbon steel casing will be inserted inside disposal cells, which are horizontal tunnels drilled in the Cox. A specific cement grout will be injected between the carbon steel casing and the claystone. A study was conducted to evaluate the possibility of MIC on carbon steel in the foreseeable high radioactive waste disposal. The corrosiveness of various environments was investigated at 50°C and 80°C with or without microorganisms enriched from samples of Andra's underground research laboratory. The monitoring of corrosion during the experiments was ensured using gravimetric method and real-time corrosion monitoring using sensors based on the measurements of the electrical resistance. The corrosion data were completed with microbiological analyses including cultural and molecular characterizations.     

基于PMU的电力系统监控体系结构优化设计

文中提出了一种利用有限数量的相量测量单元(PMU)和相量数据集中器(PDC)设计最优监控结构的方法。通过在大量的设定值场景下,使电力系统可观测性曲线的期望值最大化,同时使通信基础设施成本最小化,最终确定PMU和PDC的最佳位置。提出了一种非线性动态扩展卡尔曼滤波(EFK)状态观测器。这种状态观测器可以将暂态行为转换为由代数微分方程描述的广域电力系统,而无需非线性反演技术。最后以IEEE-5电力系统为例,说明了该方法的有效性。     

Differences between internal and external hydrogen effects on slow strain rate tensile test of iron-based superalloy A286

To investigate the evaluation method of hydrogen compatibility of A286 superalloy in high pressure hydrogen gas, SSRT tests of hydrogen-charged specimens were conducted at ambient temperature at various strain rates. The relative reduction in area (RRA), one of the ductility parameters, was determined. The hydrogen content in the hydrogen-charged specimen was the same as the equilibrium hydrogen content on the specimen surface at 150 °C in 70 MPa hydrogen gas. The strain rate dependence of RRA was smaller than that of RRA obtained in 70 MPa hydrogen gas at 150 °C. All the hydrogen-charged specimens showed slip-plane fractures in the grains in their cores. However, the specimens in 70 MPa hydrogen gas at 150 °C showed fracture surfaces morphology ranging from dimples to quasi-cleavages and intergranular fractures with decreasing strain rate. These dissimilarities are expected to arise from differences in the hydrogen concentration behaviors of the specimens during the deformation process.