Highly‐efficient Cd‐free CuInS2 thin‐film solar cells and mini‐modules with Zn(S,O) buffer layers prepared by an alternative chemical bath process

Recent progress in fabricating Cd‐ and Se‐free wide‐gap chalcopyrite thin‐film solar devices with Zn(S,O) buffer layers prepared by an alternative chemical bath process (CBD) using thiourea as complexing agent is discussed. Zn(S,O) has a larger band gap (E_g = 3·6–3·8 eV) than the conventional buffer material CdS (E_g = 2·4 eV) currently used in chalcopyrite‐based thin films solar cells. Thus, Zn(S,O) is a potential alternative buffer material, which already results in Cd‐free solar cell devices with increased spectral response in the blue wavelength region if low‐gap chalcopyrites are used. Suitable conditions for reproducible deposition of good‐quality Zn(S,O) thin films on wide‐gap CuInS₂ (‘CIS’) absorbers have been identified for an alternative, low‐temperature chemical route. The thickness of the different Zn(S,O) buffers and the coverage of the CIS absorber by those layers as well as their surface composition were controlled by scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X‐ray excited Auger electron spectroscopy. The minimum thickness required for a complete coverage of the rough CIS absorber by a Zn(S,O) layer deposited by this CBD process was estimated to ∼15 nm. The high transparency of this Zn(S,O) buffer layer in the short‐wavelength region leads to an increase of ∼1 mA/cm² in the short‐circuit current density of corresponding CIS‐based solar cells. Active area efficiencies exceeding 11·0% (total area: 10·4%) have been achieved for the first time, with an open circuit voltage of 700·4 mV, a fill factor of 65·8% and a short‐circuit current density of 24·5 mA/cm² (total area: 22·5 mA/cm²). These results are comparable to the performance of CdS buffered reference cells. First integrated series interconnected mini‐modules on 5 × 5 cm² substrates have been prepared and already reach an efficiency (active area: 17·2 cm²) of above 8%. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anodic oxidation of phenol for waste water treatment

The electrochemical oxidation of phenol for waste water treatment was studied at a platinum anode. Analysis of reaction intermediates and a carbon balance has shown that the reaction occurs by two parallel pathways; chemical oxidation with electrogenerated hydroxyl radicals and direct combustion of adsorbed phenol or/and its aromatic intermediates to CO₂.     

Dynamics of photosynthetic pigments in an Andean lake in Colombia

Guatavita Lake is a small, sheltered tropical high mountain lake located in the Colombian Andes, with a closed watershed and a maximum depth of 25 m. It is the freshwater source for human consumption in nearby small towns, as well as being a site of cultural value for the country, as it was a sacred place to indigenous peoples until about five centuries ago. As the structure and function of this aquatic ecosystem is poorly understood, this study provides initial knowledge on its phytoplankton biomass dynamics, which should be useful in designing efficient management plans with environmental baseline information for similar lakes elsewhere. Physical and chemical data, and photosynthetic pigment concentrations, were measured for the period November 1999–November 2000 at the central vertical axis of Guatavita Lake. The vertical profile of the chlorophyll‐a concentration was closely related to the dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations and the thermal stratification characteristics. The maximum chlorophyll‐a concentration in the metalimnion was recorded for the thermal stratification period (November 1999–June 2000). Deepening of the maximum chlorophyll‐a concentration began in February, continuing to June, when it reached its lowest value at the 15 m depth. The phytoplankton biomass values showed an increment within the entire water column at the beginning of the mixing period (July). The relation between the metalimnetic peak of chlorophyll‐a and the dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentration suggests the growth of the phytoplankton community is limited mainly by the availability of nitrogen.     

Viscous and Aeroelastic Effects on Wind Turbine Blades. The VISCEL project. Part I: 3D Navier–Stokes Rotor simulations

Aerodynamic modelling of HAWT rotors by means of “engineering methods” has reached a saddle point, where no further development can be expected without a breakthrough in understanding the physics of unsteady, rotating three‐dimensional flows. However, such a breakthrough becomes ever more necessary, as the size of the wind turbines increases. With the experimental work in that direction being mostly limited to observing the phenomena and interpreting the associated mechanisms, and its increased cost, alternatives are being sought. The use of CFD techniques and state‐of‐the‐art Navier–Stokes solvers is considered a very serious contender, a belief shared by the members of the present consortium, which has worked on the VISCEL JOR3‐CT98‐0208 Joule III project. This project's goal was to determine the aerodynamic characteristics as well as the aeroelastic behaviour of wind turbine blades across their broad range of operational conditions, from attached to highly separated flow regimes. The work programme included specific tasks for the validation and assessment of existing 3D solvers, for the parametric study of 3D flow around realistic blades and for the investigation of aeroelastic stability, at the blade section level. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aqueous Gelcasting of Fused Silica Using Colloidal Silica Binder

An aqueous‐based gelcasting of fused silica ceramics by using colloidal silica binder was developed. Fused silica slurries having different volume percentage of solid loading from 63 to 74 vol% in colloidal silica were made and the rheological properties were evaluated. It was found that the slurry with 73 vol% of solid loading with viscosity 0.70 Pa.s is suitable for this gelcasting system. The influence of solid loading on physical and mechanical properties of gelcast green and sintered bodies has been studied. The fabricated green body by using colloidal silica binder exhibited a flexural strength of 9 MPa and 88% of theoretical density with 2.2% of drying shrinkage while the sintered sample exhibited flexural strength of 60 MPa and 95% of theoretical density with 4.3% of sintering shrinkage. It was observed that, the nano silica particles from the colloidal silica binder is filling the interstitial positions in the consolidated fused silica green body and enhancing physical and mechanical properties.     

Pyropheophytin a and 1,2-Diacyl-glycerols Over Time Under Different Storage Conditions in Natural Olive Oils

The effect of storage conditions (light, temperature, container types) and time on the quality of natural olive oils from different cultivars and Australian regions were studied. The oils’ changing quality was monitored through several physico-chemical methods (free fatty acids, peroxide value, UV-spectrometry (K₂₃₂, K ₂₇₀ and ΔK), induction time, total polyphenol content, bitterness, pyropheophytin a and 1,2-diacyl-glycerol content) and sensory analysis over 24 months. Pyropheophytins a and 1,2-diacyl-glycerols criteria showed very good performance as indicators of overall olive oil quality and freshness as well as highlighting any problems during the storage of the product. Pyropheophytin a increment averaged 7 % per year and the 1,2-diacyl-glycerols decreased at an average of 23 % per year at normal storage conditions over time.     

On modified Runge-Kutta trees and methods

Modified Runge-Kutta (mRK) methods can have interesting properties as their coefficients may depend on the step length. By a simple perturbation of very few coefficients we may produce various function-fitted methods and avoid the overload of evaluating all the coefficients in every step. It is known that, for Runge-Kutta methods, each order condition corresponds to a rooted tree. When we expand this theory to the case of mRK methods, some of the rooted trees produce additional trees, called mRK rooted trees, and so additional conditions of order. In this work we present the relative theory including a theorem for the generating function of these additional mRK trees and explain the procedure to determine the extra algebraic equations of condition generated for a major subcategory of these methods. Moreover, efficient symbolic codes are provided for the enumeration of the trees and the generation of the additional order conditions. Finally, phase-lag and phase-fitted properties are analyzed for this case and specific phase-fitted pairs of orders 8(6) and 6(5) are presented and tested.     

A wavelet based multiresolution algorithm for rotation invariant feature extraction

The present work aims at proposing a new wavelet representation formula for rotation invariant feature extraction. The algorithm is a multilevel representation formula involving no wavelet decomposition in standard sense. Using the radial symmetry property, that comes inherently in the new representation formula, we generate the feature vectors that are shown to be rotation invariant. We show that, using a hybrid data mining technique, the algorithm can be used for rotation invariant content based image retrieval (CBIR). The proposed rotation invariant retrieval algorithm, suitable for both texture and nontexture images, avoids missing any relevant images but may retrieve some other images which are not very relevant. We show that the higher precision can however be achieved by pruning out irrelevant images.     

Efficient medium arbitration of FSAN‐compliant GPONs

The steadily rising demand for multimedia and data services, the falling cost and omnipresence of Ethernet and the maturity of passive optical networks (PON) technology, promise to radically change the landscape in the local loop. The heart of a gigabit PON system (recently standardized by FSAN/ITU) is the medium access controller (MAC), which arbitrates access to the upstream link among users with fluctuating traffic demands and effects the multiplexing and concentration policy. At the same time, it has to safeguard the service quality and enforce the parameters agreed in the service level agreements (SLAs) between the users and the service provider. In this paper, a MAC protocol designed to serve any mix of services according to their quality of service (QoS) needs, employing four priority levels along with a high number of logically separate data queues is presented. The architecture and implementation in hardware of a MAC algorithm capable of allocating bandwidth down to a resolution of a byte with QoS differentiation is the focus of this paper. It employs the bandwidth arbitration tools of the FSAN/ITU G.984.3 standard and maps SLA parameters to GPON service parameters to create an efficient, fair and flexible residential access system. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.