Thermoelectric properties of Fe0.2Co3.8Sb12−xTex skutterudites

Skutterudites Fe_0.2Co_3.8Sb_12?xTe_x (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6) were synthesized by induction melting at 1273 K, followed by annealing at 923 K for 144 h. X-ray powder diffraction and electron microprobe analysis confirmed the presence of the skutterudite phase as the main phase. The temperature-dependent transport properties were measured for all the samples from 300 to 818 K. A positive Seebeck coefficient (holes are majority carriers) was obtained in Fe_0.2Co_3.8Sb₁₂ in the whole temperature range. Thermally excited carriers changed from n-type to p-type in Fe_0.2Co_3.8Sb_11.9Te_0.1 at 570 K, while in all the other samples, Fe_0.2Co_3.8Sb_12?xTe_x (x = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6) exhibited negative Seebeck coefficients in the entire temperature range measured. Whereas for the alloys up to x = 0.2 (Fe_0.2Co_3.8Sb_11.8Te_0.2) the electrical resistivity decreased by charge compensation, it increased for x > 0.2 with an increase in Te content as a result of an increase in the electron concentration. The thermal conductivity decreased with Te substitution owing to carrier–phonon scattering and point defect scattering. The maximum dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT = 1.04 at 818 K, was obtained with an optimized Te content for Fe_0.2Co_3.8Sb_11.5Te_0.5 and a carrier concentration of ～n = 3.0 × 10²⁰ cm^?3 at room temperature. Thermal expansion (α = 8.8 × 10^?6 K^?1), as measured for Fe_0.2Co_3.8Sb_11.5Te_0.5, compared well with that of undoped Co₄Sb₁₂. A further increase in the thermoelectric figure of merit up to ZT = 1.3 at 820 K was achieved for Fe_0.2Co_3.8Sb_11.5Te_0.5, applying severe plastic deformation in terms of a high-pressure torsion process.     

Evolution of Crystallographic Texture and Microstructure During Cold Rolling of Twinning-Induced Plasticity (TWIP) Steel: Experiments and Simulations

A systematic investigation of the evolution of deformation microstructure and texture of twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steel during cold rolling has been carried out using electron backscatter diffraction and X-ray diffraction, as well as viscoplastic self-consistent simulations. It is found that extensive twinning leads to the formation of the strong Brass {110}??112?? and Goss {110}??001?? components in TWIP steel even at low strains. At higher reduction, heterogeneous deformation contributes to further strengthening of Brass (Bs) component. The origin and stability of Bs component as well as the impact of the evolution of texture and microstructure on mechanical anisotropy is further explored using viscoplastic self-consistent simulations.     

Optical quality micromachining of glass with focused laser-produced metal plasma etching in the atmosphere

Recent results are reported about the optical quality surface finish obtained on glass substrates with focused laser beam produced metal plasma etching in the atmosphere. The bombardment of high-speed, high-temperature electrons from an underdense plasma on the surface of glass substrates appears to play a dominant role in this process. The effective laser fluence window for this high-quality glass machining on common microscope slides is relatively narrow. With a Corning microslide 2947, and by use of carbon steel as the plasma source, we obtained parameters between 3.5 and 4.5 J/cm2. Above the upper limit, laser-induced optical breakdown occurs in the glass material and leads to the formation of microcracks. Below the lower limit, the process was found to be ineffective. In these experiments highly defined, clean, sharp-edged, 50 x 50 micropit arrays of 15.0-microm diameter with a depth of 3.2 microm and a center-to-center separation of 18.0 microm were fabricated on Corning microslide 2947 glass substrates.     

Fuzzy Tuned PID Controller for Envisioned Agricultural Manipulator

Machine Intelligence Research - The implementation of image-based phenotyping systems has become an important aspect of crop and plant science research which has shown tremendous growth over the...     

Optical and structural properties of pulsed laser deposited Ti:Al2O3 thin films

Spectrally selective solar absorber coatings using metal–dielectric composites offer a high degree of flexibility since their solar selectivity can be optimized by the proper choices of constituents, coating thickness, metal particle concentration, size, shape, and orientation. In this article, Ti:Al₂O₃ composite films of various Ti contents were prepared by the pulsed laser deposition technique, and their structural and optical properties were investigated by scanning electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscope, and X-ray diffraction methods. The results demonstrate promising solar spectrally selective behavior indicating Ti:Al₂O₃ composite as an excellent choice for solar thermal applications.     

Evolution of texture during equal channel angular extrusion of commercially pure aluminum: Experiments and simulations

The evolution of crystallographic texture has been comprehensively studied for commercially pure Al as a function of amount of ECAE deformation for the three major routes of ECAE processing. It has been observed that processing through different routes leads to different type of texture, in both qualitative as well as quantitative sense. The results have been analyzed on the basis of existing concepts on ECAE deformation and simulations have been carried out using the simple shear model of ECAE implemented into the Viscoplastic Self Consistent model of polycrystal plasticity. The simulations revealed that non-octahedral slip is needed to reproduce the experimental texture development.     

Low temperature solid oxide fuel cells with pulsed laser deposited bi-layer electrolyte

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) using a pulsed laser deposited bi-layer electrolyte have been successfully fabricated and have shown very good performance at low operating temperatures. The cell reaches power densities of 0.5 W cm⁻² at 550 °C and 0.9 W cm⁻² at 600 °C, with open circuit voltage (OCV) values larger than 1.04 V. The bi-layer electrolyte contains a 6–7 μm thick samarium-doped ceria (SDC) layer deposited over a ∼1 μm thick scandium-stabilized zirconia (ScSZ) layer. The electrical leaking between the anode and cathode through the SDC electrolyte, which due to the reduction of Ce⁴⁺ to Ce³⁺ in reducing environment when using a single layer SDC electrolyte, has been eliminated by adopting the bi-layer electrolyte concept. Both ScSZ and SDC layers in the bi-layer electrolyte prepared by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique are the highly conductive cubic phases. Poor conductive (Zr, Ce)O₂-based solid solutions or β-phase ScSZ were not found in the bi-layer electrolyte prepared by the PLD due to low processing temperatures of the technique. Excellent reliability and flexibility of the PLD technique makes it a very promising technique for the fabrication of thin electrolyte layer for SOFCs operating at reduced temperatures.     

A 2.4 GHz double balanced downconversion mixer with improved conversion gain in 180-nm technology

In this paper a 2.4-GHz non-return to zero (abbreviated as NRZ) active downconversion mixer for transceiver system is demonstrated. It features with the double- balanced topology, NRZ mechanism, an effecting biasing technique and a current mirror technique are used to achieve the requirements. Downconversion mixer is realized on 180 nm CMOS technology. Despite of trade-off between conversion gain and linearity we can achieve very high conversion gain with moderate linearity. Simulations using cadence tool exhibits a conversion gain of 24.61 dB, a third order intercept point of 6.17 dB, a 1-dB compression point of − 5.86 dB and a second order intercept point of + 87.66 dB at 1.8 V supply.

     

Microstructure and Texture Development during Cold Rolling in UNS S32205 and UNS S32760 Duplex Stainless Steels

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - In the present study, microstructure and texture evolution during cold rolling in UNS S32205 and UNS S32760 duplex stainless steel was investigated....