Electrodes based on nano-tree-like vanadium nitride and carbon nanotubes for micro-supercapacitors

Vanadium nitride(VN) was deposited by DC-sputtering on a vertically aligned carbon nanotube(CNTs)template for the purpose of nano-structuration. This led to the fabrication of hierarchically composite electrodes consisting of porous and nanostructured VN grown on vertically aligned CNTs in a nano-treelike configuration for micro-supercapacitor application. The electrodes show excellent performance with an areal capacitance as high as 37.5 m F cm~(-2) at a scan rate of 2 mV s~(-1) in a 0.5 MK_2SO_4 mild electrolyte solution. Furthermore, the capacitance decay was only 15% after 20,000 consecutive cycles. Moreover,the capacitance was found to increase with VN deposit thickness. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses of the electrodes before and after cycling suggest that the oxide layers that form at the VN surface is the responsible for the redox energy storage in this material. Such electrodes can compete with other transition metal nitride based electrodes for micro-supercapacitors.     

The contextualization of divergent outlooks in a Greenfield master-planned community: a pathway towards reflexivity

Comprehensive design schemes and specifications have progressively shaped Master-Planned Communities (MPCs). The market largely predetermines these outcomes, with background input from communities. Therefore, this paper endeavours to define the fundamental structures that generate differences between market actors and residents within the North Lakes MPC. This study employs ‘habitus theory’, which is a sociological phenomenon describing the divergence of personal outlooks and expertise. The application of this theory is thus illustrative of the evolution of distinct observations within MPCs. Contemporary studies have under-researched these inherent gaps between communities, authorities, and critics, and these frictions could be exacerbated within restrictive developmental contexts. Epistemic and objectified content analyses collated over many years and sources will uncover the underlying differences between the relevant groups. These analyses will enable the progression of a framework for understanding power relation biases and how reflexivity can enhance current consultative methods.     

Mathematical Morphology on the Spherical CIELab Quantale with an Application in Color Image Boundary Detection

Mathematical morphology is a theory with applications in image processing and analysis. This paper presents a quantale-based approach to color morphology based on the CIELab color space in spherical coordinates. The novel morphological operations take into account the perceptual difference between color elements by using a distance-based ordering scheme. Furthermore, the novel approach allows for the use of non-flat structuring elements. An illustrative example reveals that non-flat dilations and erosions may preserve more features of a color image than their corresponding flat operations. Furthermore, the novel non-flat morphological operators yielded promising results on experiments concerning the detection of the boundaries of objects on color images.     

Industrial uses of geothermal energy a framework for application in a developing country

This paper presents a model of approach for agroindustrial development utilizing geothermal energy in an agriculturally based tropical developing country. Presented is the complexity of patterns in raw materials productivity, demand and the present problems of preserving their quality from biological deterioration thru drying.Utilization of a geothermal agroindustrial estate have to be carefully studied and programmed in reply to an almost constant heat demand profile consistent with seasonal available raw materials. This study uses the Tongonan Geothermal Field in Leyte Island as the model for presentation.     

Determination of the optical depth of a DI diesel spray

The optical depth is responsible of limiting the optical diagnostic using visible wavelength in the sprays. This paper proposes to measure the optical depth directly in a real Diesel spray through line-of-sight laser extinction measurements. This easily reproducible method which does not require expensive or complex optical techniques is detailed and the measurement procedure is presented in this paper. As diesel sprays are mostly optically thick, the measurements in the denser region are not reliable and a fuel concentration model has been used to derive the results to the entire spray. This work provides values of SMD at different distance from the nozzle tip depending on the specific parameters like injection pressure or discharge density. The values extracted from a combined experimental/computational approach have been compared to PDPA measurements under the same testing conditions. The results have shown that the maximum optical depth was higher than 10 and that an increase of the injection pressure led to higher τ values. The SMD values appeared to be below the results measured by the PDPA and the droplet diameter showed to be the main responsible of the optical depth of the jet under the tested conditions.     

Influence of the growth conditions on the defect density of single-walled carbon nanotubes

The influence of the temperature and precursor pressure on the defect density of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) grown by catalytic chemical vapor deposition was studied for several catalyst–precursor couples. The SWCNT defect density was assessed by studying the Raman D band. In situ Raman monitoring was used to determine experimental conditions allowing the preparation of samples free of pyrolytic carbon and not altered by air exposure. The most striking feature is that the Arrhenius plots of the I_G/I_D ratio systematically display a convex shape, i.e. the apparent activation energy decreases with increasing temperature. From HRTEM observations and oxidation experiments, this evolution of the D band features is ascribed to the catalytic growth of long SWCNTs with few defects at high temperature and of short and defective SWCNTs and carbon structures at low temperature. The convex Arrhenius behavior is well accounted by two kinetic models: (i) a model considering a change of intermediate states as a function of the temperature (for instance due to a phase transition of the catalyst particle or a change of intermediate carbon species) and (ii) a model considering a high-temperature process of defect creation (for instance by reaction with reactive gas species).     

Corrosion behavior of thermoelectric clathrates α- and β-Eu8Ga16−xGe30+x in air

The corrosion of thermoelectric clathrates α- and β-Eu₈Ga_16−xGe_30+x is studied under static air (DSC/TG) up to 650 °C. Oxidation product layers with thicknesses of 10.5 μm (α-Eu₈Ga_16−xGe_30+x) and 4.5 μm (β-Eu₈Ga_16−xGe_30+x) are formed. The oxidation begins at 360 and 380 °C, respectively. XRD pattern of the β-Eu₈Ga_16−xGe_30+x oxidized layer shows Ge and four Eu₂O₃ reflections; while α-Eu₈Ga_16−xGe_30+x data (sample crushed and grinded) shows α-Eu₈Ga_16−xGe_30+x reflections (majority phase), two EuGa_2±xGe_4?x strongest reflections and Ge (minority phases). These results indicate the amount of oxides is very small or they are amorphous. High temperature powder XRD measurements on α-Eu₈Ga_16−xGe_30+x under air confirm the oxidation onset temperature determined in DSC studies.     

商用车涂料为水性聚氨酯涂料拓展更广泛的应用领域

随着环保重要性的不断增加以及法规压力的不断加大,西欧地区形成了各种低排放交通工具涂料的概念.本文着重介绍了双组分水性聚氨酯体系的应用情况,以及相关的原材料、技术和原理.     

A microscopic interpretation of the RF noise performance of fabricated FDSOI MOSFETs

In this paper, a detailed research of the high-frequency noise sources and figures of merit (FOMs) of fabricated deep-submicrometer n-channel fully depleted silicon-on-insulator MOSFETs is carried out. Special care is given to reproduce the main topology parameters, together with the most relevant parasitic elements of real devices in order to accomplish an accurate and reliable simulation. The information provided by the Monte Carlo (MC) tool allows getting a physical insight of the relationship between internal quantities and the main noise sources inside the device; moreover, the spectral density of velocity fluctuations has been analyzed spatially in order to determine the local current noise source in the gradual channel and velocity overshoot sections of the effective channel. Together with the calculation of intrinsic noise sources, the MC simulator is able to reproduce the measurements for the main noise FOMs in the RF and microwave frequency ranges. Moreover, the whole simulation framework allows addressing the importance of parasitic elements in the final value of these FOMs.