Cooperative Decode‐and‐Forward Relaying for Secure Multicasting

In this paper, secure multicasting with the help of cooperative decode‐and‐forward relays is considered for the case in which a source securely sends a common message to multiple destinations in the presence of a single eavesdropper. We show that the secrecy rate maximization problem in the secure multicasting scenario under an overall power constraint can be solved using semidefinite programing with semidefinite relaxation and a bisection technique. Further, a suboptimal approach using zero‐forcing beamforming and linear programming based power allocation is also proposed. Numerical results illustrate the secrecy rates achieved by the proposed schemes under secure multicasting scenarios.     

Channel Selection for Spectrum Sharing in Wireless Networks

In this paper, we study a spectrum sharing network (SSN) where a spectrum sharing device (SSD) coexists with multiple wireless communication systems (WCSs) in the same channel. The SSD can operate with either a duty cycle (DC) channel access mechanism or a listen‐before‐talk (LBT) channel access mechanism, whereas WCSs operate with an LBT mechanism. An opportunistic channel selection scheme for the SSD in the SSN is first proposed to minimize the outage probability. The optimal data transmission time for the DC‐based SSD is derived to further improve the outage probability. We also derive the exact and closed‐form outage probability of the proposed channel selection in the SSN by assuming that the number of WCSs operating in each channel is uniformly distributed. The simulation results show that the proposed channel selection scheme outperforms other channel selection schemes. It was also observed that a DC‐based SSD with an optimal data transmission time provides a better outage performance than an LBT‐based SSD. As the number of available channels increases, the channel selection scheme plays an important role in minimizing the outage probability of the SSNs.     

High Performance Flexible Actuator of Urchin‐Like ZnO Nanostructure/Polyvinylenefluoride Hybrid Thin Film with Graphene Electrodes for Acoustic Generator and Analyzer

A bass frequency response enhanced flexible polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) based thin film acoustic actuator is successfully fabricated. High concentrations of various zinc oxide (ZnO) is embedded in PVDF matrix, enhancing the β phase content and the dielectric property of the composite thin film. ZnO acts as a nucleation agent for the crystallization of PVDF. A chemical vapor deposition grown graphene is used as electrodes, enabling high electron mobility for the distortion free acoustic signals. The frequency response of the fabricated acoustic actuator is studied as a function of the film thickness and filler content. The optimized film has a thickness of 80 μm with 30 wt% filler content and shows 72% and 42% frequency response enhancement in bass and midrange compared to the commercial PVDF, respectively. Also, the total harmonic distortion decreases to 82% and 74% in the bass and midrange regions, respectively. Furthermore, the composite film shows a promising potential for microphone applications. Most of all, it is demonstrated that acoustic actuator performance is strongly influenced by degree of PVDF crystalline.     

Ultrastrong Medium‐Entropy Single‐Phase Alloys Designed via Severe Lattice Distortion

Severe lattice distortion is a core effect in the design of multiprincipal element alloys with the aim to enhance yield strength, a key indicator in structural engineering. Yet, the yield strength values of medium‐ and high‐entropy alloys investigated so far do not substantially exceed those of conventional alloys owing to the insufficient utilization of lattice distortion. Here it is shown that a simple VCoNi equiatomic medium‐entropy alloy exhibits a near 1 GPa yield strength and good ductility, outperforming conventional solid‐solution alloys. It is demonstrated that a wide fluctuation of the atomic bond distances in such alloys, i.e., severe lattice distortion, improves both yield stress and its sensitivity to grain size. In addition, the dislocation‐mediated plasticity effectively enhances the strength–ductility relationship by generating nanosized dislocation substructures due to massive pinning. The results demonstrate that severe lattice distortion is a key property for identifying extra‐strong materials for structural engineering applications.     

Preparation of cobalt oxide from concentrated cathode material of spent lithium ion batteries by hydrometallurgical method

Cobalt oxide was prepared from spent lithium ion batteries (LIBs) by reductive leaching, copper sulfide precipitation, cobalt oxalate precipitation and thermal decomposition. The cobalt rich non-magnetic ?16 mesh fraction obtained from spent LIBs by mechanical separation was leached using 2 M H₂SO₄, 6 vol% H₂O₂, reaction temperature 60 °C, agitation speed 300 rpm, pulp density 100 g/L, reaction time 1 h. The leaching efficiency of cobalt was more than 99% and its concentration was 27.4 g/L. Copper was removed (99.9%) as CuS by precipitating with Na₂S. The crystalline solid CoC₂O₄·2H₂O selectively precipitated by treating the copper-free liquor with oxalic acid was calcined to produce crystalline Co₃O₄, of which primary average particle size was 340 nm.     

Reflective color display using thermochromic pigments

A reflective thermochromic display fabricated by a very simple method using three kinds of thermochromic pigments is produced and its thermo-optical characteristics are investigated. The display exhibits maximum red, green, and blue reflectances of 38%, 30%, and 35%, respectively. The reflective display cell shows continuous gray color with changing temperature, which is crucial for multicolor displays. It also shows an excellent viewing angle above 80° without any of the additional optical components that are required in liquid crystal displays. We expect that this display technology will be used for outdoor billboard information display applications.