Thermal matching performance of a geothermal ORC system using zeotropic working fluids

The thermal matching performance analysis is conducted for a geothermal organic Rankine cycle system using zeotropic mixtures as working fluids. The constant isentropic efficiency is replaced by internal efficiency of an axial flow turbine with given size for each condition, and the zeotropic mixtures of isobutane and isopentane is used as working fluids of the organic Rankine cycle, in order to improve thermal match in evaporator and condenser. The results showed the use of zeotropic mixtures leads to the prominent thermodynamic first law and second law efficiencies, especially at high minimum temperature difference in evaporator (Δt₁), and there exists an optimal thermal performance at some certain mole fraction of isopentane in zeotropic mixtures (x) and Δt₁. The geothermal organic Rankine cycle with x of 0.2 and Δt₁ of 16 K shows the maximal thermodynamic first law and second law efficiency in this research. The geothermal organic Rankine cycle system using zeotropic mixtures shows the optimal overall thermal performance at some certain x, which is not necessary to be the point with the maximal temperature glide. The use of zeotropic mixtures is not always lead to a high thermal to electricity efficiency compared to the pure working fluid, and its overall net power output of P_ORC is even lower than the pure working fluids compositions at some certain x.     

Performance analysis of the ejector-expansion refrigeration cycle using zeotropic mixtures

To evaluate the performance of the ejector-expansion refrigeration cycle (EERC) using zeotropic mixtures, a numerical study is conducted. A constant-pressure two-phase ejector model for zeotropic mixtures is established. The effects of both the fluid composition and the working conditions are investigated. Mixture R134a/R143a is selected as the working and the simulation results reveal that, the cycle COP increases first and then decreases as MF_t (the mass fraction of R134a) increases in the researched condition. The COP gets a maximum value of 4.18 with MF_t of 0.9 and yields a minimum value of 3.66 with MF_t of 0.5. With mixture 0.9/0.1, the COP improvement reaches a maximum value of 10.47%. This improvement rises at high condensing temperature or low evaporating temperature. The exergy analysis shows that the compressor and ejector contribute the most exergy destruction, and the cycle exergy efficiency achieves a maximum value with MF_t of 0.7.     

Defect-free MoS2 nanosheets: Advanced nanofillers for polymer nanocomposites

The preparation of defect-free MoS₂ nanosheets is a key challenge and essential for practical applications. Herein the dodecanethiol was firstly performed as the antioxidant and surface modifier to produce the defect-free MoS₂ by direct ultrasonication of bulk MoS₂ in N,N-dimethylformamide. Incorporating defect-free MoS₂ into polyethylene obviously improved the properties of PE/MoS₂ nanocomposites. For crystallization under quiescent condition, the half crystallization time (t₀.₅) of nanocomposites containing 0.2 wt% MoS₂ was reduced by 87.0% compared to that of neat PE. A 54.3 °C increase in the temperature of maximum weight loss (T_max) was observed by inclusion of as low as 0.7 wt% defect-free MoS₂ nanosheets. In addition, the uniformly distributed MoS₂ can considerably improve the mechanical properties of composites. These observations suggest that the robust nature, dramatic barrier action of defect-free MoS₂ and the strong nanosheets/matrix interfacial adhesion would be the motivation to improve the performance of the polymeric nanocomposites.     

Optimal control of discrete-time bilinear systems with applications to switched linear stochastic systems

This paper aims at characterizing the most destabilizing switching law for discrete-time switched systems governed by a set of bounded linear operators. The switched system is embedded in a special class of discrete-time bilinear control systems. This allows us to apply the variational approach to the bilinear control system associated with a Mayer-type optimal control problem, and a second-order necessary optimality condition is derived. Optimal equivalence between the bilinear system and the switched system is analyzed, which shows that any optimal control law can be equivalently expressed as a switching law. This specific switching law is most unstable for the switched system, and thus can be used to determine stability under arbitrary switching. Based on the second-order moment of the state, the proposed approach is applied to analyze uniform mean-square stability of discrete-time switched linear stochastic systems. Numerical simulations are presented to verify the usefulness of the theoretic results.     

Nanoseed-assisted rapid formation of ultrathin ZnO nanorods for efficient room temperature NO2 detection

The influence of ZnO nanoseeds on the formation of ZnO nanorods from ε-Zn(OH)₂ in NaOH solution at 80 °C was investigated, using ZnO nanoparticles with a diameter of 4–10 nm as the seeds. The experimental results indicated that the presence of ZnO nanoseeds promoted the rapid heterogeneous formation of ultrathin ZnO nanorods. Compared with the ZnO submicron rods with a diameter of 0.5–1.0 µm, the ultrathin ZnO nanorods with a diameter of 10–15 nm were found to be more sensitive for detecting NO₂ at room temperature owing to their higher variation of channel conduction to the diameter.     

In situ chemical reduction and functionalization of graphene oxide for electrically conductive phenol formaldehyde composites

We report an efficient one-step approach to reduce and functionalize graphene oxide (GO) during the in situ polymerization of phenol and formaldehyde. The hydrophilic and electrically insulating GO is converted to hydrophobic and electrically conductive graphene with phenol as the main reducing agent. Simultaneously, functionalization of GO is realized by the nucleophilic substitution reaction of the epoxide groups of GO with the hydroxyl groups of phenol in an alkali condition. Different from the insulating GO and phenol formaldehyde resin (PF) components, PF composites are electrically conductive due to the incidental reduction of GO during the in situ polymerization. The electrical conductivity of PF composite with 0.85 vol.% of GO is 0.20 S/m, nearly nine orders of magnitude higher than that of neat PF. Moreover, the efficient reduction and functionalization of GO endows the PF composites with high thermal stability and flexural properties. A striking increase in decomposition temperature is achieved with 2.3 vol.% of GO. The flexural strength and modulus of the PF composite with 1.7 vol.% GO are increased by 316.8% and 56.7%, respectively.     

Improved Oxygen Evolution Kinetics and Surface States Passivation of Ni-Bi Co-Catalyst for a Hematite Photoanode

This paper describes the combinational surface kinetics enhancement and surface states passivation of nickel-borate (Ni-B_i) co-catalyst for a hematite (Fe₂O₃) photoanode. The Ni-B_i-modified Fe₂O₃ photoanode exhibits a cathodic onset potential shift of 230 mV and a 2.3-fold enhancement of the photocurrent at 1.23 V, versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). The borate (B_i) in the Ni-B_i film promotes the release of protons for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER).     

Synthesis of nitrogen-doped porous carbon from zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 and phenolic resin for high performance supercapacitors

An one-pot method has been developed to synthesize a new type of composite material, which can be used as carbon source to produce electrode material for supercapacitors. Specifically, zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) crystal was synthesized firstly in 2-methylimidazol aqueous solution, then silica primary particles (from hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate) and phenolic resin (from aggregation of resorcinol and formaldehyde) co-condensed on the surface of ZIF-67 crystal in the same system. The key to realize one-pot method is that 2-methylimidazol aqueous solution shows alkalescence, which can catalyze the hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate and the aggregation of phenolic resin. After carbonization and remove of silica, the N-doped porous carbon (Carbon-ZSR) with high degree of graphitization, wide pore size distribution and maximum specific surface area was obtained. When it is used for supercapacitors as the electrode material, the Carbon-ZSR shows excellent electrochemical properties, large specific capacitance (305 Fg⁻¹ at 1 Ag⁻¹), high rate performance (229 Fg⁻¹ keeps at 10 Ag⁻¹) and excellent electrochemical stability (the specific capacitance maintains 98.4% after 5000 cycles at 10 Ag⁻¹), which suggest that the ZIF-derived nitrogen-doped porous carbon is an outstanding electrode material for energy storage devices.     

Triblock copolymer-assisted synthesis of hierarchical ZIF-67 in the presence of 1,3,5-trimenthylbenzene

A hierarchically porous ZIF-67 was successfully synthesized by using non-ionic block copolymers P123 as a supramolecular templating surfactant and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (TMB) as a swelling agent. It was noted that TMB was an effective swelling agent to expand the pore size. Pore size distribution analyses reveal that the as-synthesized hierarchical ZIF-67 has a typical trimodal pore size distribution showing simultaneous micro-, meso- and macropore channel systems. Due to the effect of TMB and P123, the diameter of ZIF-67 nanoparticles was about twice of that synthesized with P123 only and larger pores were formed among the enlarged nanoparticles. This strategy is expected to be a facile and efficient method for the preparation of hierarchical ZIF-67.     

Unique cyclic performance of post-treated carbide-derived carbon as an anode electrode

Carbide-derived carbon (CDC) is an attractive anode material for Li-ion battery applications because diverse pore textures and structures from amorphous to highly ordered graphite can be controlled by changing the synthesis conditions and precursor, respectively. To elucidate the unique cycling behavior of the post air-treated CDC anode, electrochemical performance was studied under variation of C-rates with structural changes before and after cycling. By tailoring the pore texture of CDCs as removal of amorphous phase by post air-activation, the anode electrode showed a high increase of capacity under prolonged cycling and under high C-rate conditions such as 0.3–1.0 C-rates. The discharge capacities of the treated CDC increased from 400 mAh g⁻¹ to 913 mAh g⁻¹ with increasing cycle number and were close to high initial irreversible value, 1250 mAh g⁻¹, at the 220th cycle under a 0.1C-rate condition, which are unique and unusual cyclic properties in carbon anode applications. Under high C-rate conditions, the discharge capacities started to increase from around 160 mAh g⁻¹ and values of 415 mAh g⁻¹, 372 mAh g⁻¹, and 336 mAh g⁻¹, were observed at 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0 C-rates, respectively, at 600 cycles, demonstrating stable capacity performance.