Efficient fault diagnosis method of PEMFC thermal management system for various current densities

The temperature of a fuel cell has a considerable impact on the saturation of a membrane, electrochemical reaction speed, and durability. So thermal management is considered one of the critical issues in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Therefore, the reliability of the thermal management system is also crucial for the performance and durability of a fuel cell system. In this work, a methodology for component-level fault diagnosis of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell thermal management system for various current densities is proposed. Specifically, this study suggests fault diagnosis using limited data, based on an experimental approach. Normal and five component-level fault states are diagnosed with a support vector machine model using temperature, pressure, and fan control signal data. The effects of training data at different operating current densities on fault diagnosis are analyzed. The effects of data preprocessing method are investigated, and the cause of misdiagnosis is analyzed. On this basis, diagnosis results show that the proposed methodology can realize efficient component-level fault diagnosis using limited data. The diagnosis accuracy is over 92% when the residual basis scaling method is used, and data at the highest operating current density is used to train the support vector machine.     

Deep freezing to maintain the freshness of pork loin during long-term storage

Food Science and Biotechnology - As storage temperature impacts frozen meat quality, we evaluated the ideal freezing and storage temperatures for pork loin, and effects of long-term storage...     

Combination of vegetable soup and glucan demonstrates synergistic effects on macrophage-mediated immune responses

Vegetable soup (VS), a plant-based functional food, has been used as a traditional folk medicine and is attracting attention for its ability to enhance the immune response. β-Glucan, a well-established and effective immunomodulator, has synergistic effects when used in combination with some bioactive compounds. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the synergistic immunomodulatory effects of the combination of VS and β-glucan on macrophage-mediated immune responses. β-Glucan was demonstrated to synergistically enhance the VS-stimulated immune response, including the production of interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and nitric oxide, mainly through the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in macrophages. In addition, this combination has the potential for further development in functional foods with immune-enhancing activity.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-021-00888-x.     

Human body model electrostatic discharge tester using metal oxide semiconductor-controlled thyristors

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) testing for human body model tests is an essential part of the reliability evaluation of electronic/electrical devices and components. However, global environmental concerns have called for the need to replace the mercury-wetted relay switches, which have been used in ESD testers. Therefore, herein, we propose an ESD tester using metal oxide semiconductor-controlled thyristor (MCT) devices with a significantly higher rising rate of anode current (di/dt) characteristics. These MCTs, which have a breakdown voltage beyond 3000 V, were developed through an in-house foundry. As a replacement for the existing mercury relays, the proposed ESD tester with the developed MCT satisfies all the requirements stipulated in the JS-001 standard for conditions at or below 2000 V. Moreover, unlike traditional relays, the proposed ESD tester does not generate resonance; therefore, no additional circuitry is required for resonant removal. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed ESD tester is the first study to meet the JS-001 specification by applying a new switch instead of an existing mercury-wetted relay.     

Electron Transfer-Induced Metal Spin-Crossover at NiCo2S4/ReS2 2D–2D Interfaces for Promoting pH-universal Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

The development of an efficient pH-universal hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst is essential for practical hydrogen production. Here, an efficient and stable pH-universal HER electrocatalyst composed of the strongly coupled 2D NiCo₂S₄ and 2D ReS₂ nanosheets (NiCo₂S₄/ReS₂) is demonstrated. The NiCo₂S₄/ReS₂ 2D–2D nanocomposite is directly grown on the surface of the carbon cloth substrate, which exhibits excellent HER performance with overpotentials of 85 and 126 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and Tafel slopes of 78.3 and 67.8 mV dec⁻¹ under both alkaline and acidic conditions, respectively. Theoretical and experimental characterizations reveal that the chemical coupling between NiCo₂S₄ and ReS₂ layers induces electron transfer from Ni and Co to interfacial Re-neighbored S atoms, enabling beneficial H atom adsorption and desorption for both acidic and alkaline HER. Simultaneously, an electron transfer-induced spin-crossover generates high-spin interfacial Ni and Co atoms that promote water dissociation kinetics at the NiCo₂S₄/ReS₂ interface, which is the origin of the superior alkaline HER activity. NiCo₂S₄/ReS₂ also shows decent catalytic activity and long-term durability for oxygen evolution reaction, and finally bifunctionality for overall water splitting. This study suggests a rational strategy to enhance water dissociation kinetics by inducing spin-crossover via electron transfer.     

All-Impurities Scavenging,Safe Separators with Functional Metal-Organic-Frameworks for High-Energy-Density Li-Ion Battery

Li-ion batteries (LIBs) have wide applications owing to their high-energy density and stable cycle characteristics. Nevertheless, with the rapid expansion of electric vehicle market, issues such as explosion of LIBs and the need to secure a longer driving distance have emerged. In this work, functional metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are introduced as a separator in LIBs, in which a highly heat-resistant polymer separator is fabricated through electrospinning. The MOFs can scavenge impurities (including gas, water, and hydrofluoric acid) that positively affect battery performance and safety. The multi-functional separator suppresses salt decomposition when a nickel-rich cathode is operated at high voltage and high temperature through it. This delays the deterioration of the cathode interface and results in a superb cycle stability with 75% retention even in the presence of 500 ppm of water in the electrolytes. In addition, the pouch cell is manufactured by enlarging the separator, and the degree of electrode swelling due to gas generation and interface degradation in the pouch state is alleviated to 50% or less. These findings highlight the necessity of scavenging impurities to maintain excellent performance and provides the development direction of functional separators in LIBs.     

Unveiled Ferroelectricity in Well-Known Non-Ferroelectric Materials and Their Semiconductor Applications

Ferroelectric materials are considered ideal for emerging memory devices owing to their characteristic remanent polarization, which can be switched by applying a sufficient electric field. However, even several decades after the initial conceptualization of ferroelectric memory, its applications are limited to a niche market. The slow advancement of ferroelectric memories can be attributed to several extant issues, such as the absence of ferroelectric materials with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility and scalability. Since the 2010s, ferroelectric memories have attracted increasing interest because of newly discovered ferroelectricity in well-established CMOS-compatible materials, which are previously known to be non-ferroelectric, such as fluorite-structured (Hf,Zr)O₂ and wurtzite-structured (Al,Sc)N. With advancing material fabrication technologies, for example, accurate chemical doping and atomic-level thickness control, a metastable polar phase, and switchable polarization with a reasonable electric field can be induced in (Hf,Zr)O₂ and (Al,Sc)N. Nonetheless, various issues still exist that urgently require solutions to facilitate the use of the ferroelectric (Hf,Zr)O₂ and (Al,Sc)N in emerging memory devices. Thus, ferroelectric (Hf,Zr)O₂ and (Al,Sc)N are comprehensively reviewed herein, including their fundamental science and practical applications.     

Unraveling the Missing Link of Bio-Electrical Stimulation from Body-Mediated Energy Transfer

As the technologies for treating diseases are attracting continuous attention, physical therapy methods, particularly electrical stimulation (ES), have been widely investigated owing to their high effectiveness. As ES essentially requires an external power source, various efforts are being devoted to achieving the application of ES to the human body using nanogenerators. Various studies have verified the effect of ES by applying the same output generated by the device to in vitro and in vivo bio-electrical stimulation. However, it is unknown whether the electrical output generated by the device can be transmitted equally in the cell unit, and this is considered a common missing link in bio-electrical stimulation research. Herein, the missing link between electrical devices and in vitro bio-electrical stimulations is unraveled by the ex vivo, 2D simulation, and in vitro study of body-mediated energy transfer (BmET) models. In addition, BmET-based ES is applied to pre-osteoblasts, and the increased cellular functions are verified.     

Unraveling the Significance of Li+/e−/O2 Phase Boundaries with a 3D-Patterned Cu Electrode for Li–O2 Batteries

The reaction kinetics at a triple-phase boundary (TPB) involving Li⁺, e⁻, and O₂ dominate their electrochemical performances in Li–O₂ batteries. Early studies on catalytic activities at Li⁺/e⁻/O₂ interfaces have enabled great progress in energy efficiency; however, localized TPBs within the cathode hamper innovations in battery performance toward commercialization. Here, the effects of homogenized TPBs on the reaction kinetics in air cathodes with structurally designed pore networks in terms of pore size, interconnectivity, and orderliness are explored. The diffusion fluxes of reactants are visualized by modeling, and the simulated map reveals evenly distributed reaction areas within the periodic open structure. The 3D air cathode provides highly active, homogeneous TPBs over a real electrode scale, thus simultaneously achieving large discharge capacity, unprecedented energy efficiency, and long cyclability via mechanical/electrochemical stress relaxation. Homogeneous TPBs by cathode structural engineering provide a new strategy for improving the reaction kinetics beyond controlling the intrinsic properties of the materials.