Transformation of β-Ni(OH)2 to NiO nano-sheets via surface nanocrystalline zirconia coating: Shape and size retention

Shape and size of the synthesized NiO nano-sheets were retained during transformation of sheet-like β-Ni(OH)₂ to NiO at elevated temperatures via nano-sized zirconia coating on the surface of β-Ni(OH)₂. The average grain size was 6.42 nm after 600 °C treatment and slightly increased to 10 nm after 1000 °C treatment, showing effective sintering retardation between NiO nano-sheets. The excellent thermal stability revealed potential application at elevated temperatures, especially for high temperature catalysts and solid-state electrochemical devices.     

Static output feedback control via PDE boundary and ODE measurements in linear cascaded ODE–beam systems

This paper addresses the problem of feedback control design for a class of linear cascaded ordinary differential equation (ODE)–partial differential equation (PDE) systems via a boundary interconnection, where the ODE system is linear time-invariant and the PDE system is described by an Euler–Bernoulli beam (EBB) equation with variable coefficients. The objective of this paper is to design a static output feedback (SOF) controller via EBB boundary and ODE measurements such that the resulting closed-loop cascaded system is exponentially stable. The Lyapunov’s direct method is employed to derive the stabilization condition for the cascaded ODE–beam system, which is provided in terms of a set of bilinear matrix inequalities (BMIs). Furthermore, in order to compute the gain matrices of SOF controllers, a two-step procedure is presented to solve the BMI feasibility problem via the existing linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimization techniques. Finally, the numerical simulation is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design method.     

Finite-time coordination in multiagent systems using sliding mode control approach

Finite-time stability in dynamical systems theory involves systems whose trajectories converge to an equilibrium state in finite time. In this paper, we use the notion of finite-time stability to apply it to the problem of coordinated motion in multiagent systems. Specifically, we consider a group of agents described by fully actuated Euler–Lagrange dynamics along with a leader agent with an objective to reach and maintain a desired formation characterized by steady-state distances between the neighboring agents in finite time. We use graph theoretic notions to characterize communication topology in the network determined by the information flow directions and captured by the graph Laplacian matrix. Furthermore, using sliding mode control approach, we design decentralized control inputs for individual agents that use only data from the neighboring agents which directly communicate their state information to the current agent in order to drive the current agent to the desired steady state. Sliding mode control is known to drive the system states to the sliding surface in finite time. The key feature of our approach is in the design of non-smooth sliding surfaces such that, while on the sliding surface, the error states converge to the origin in finite time, thus ensuring finite-time coordination among the agents in the network. In addition, we discuss the case of switching communication topologies in multiagent systems. Finally, we show the efficacy of our theoretical results using an example of a multiagent system involving planar double integrator agents.     

Automated procedure to determine the thermodynamic stability of a material and the range of chemical potentials necessary for its formation relative to competing phases and compounds

We present a simple and fast algorithm to test the thermodynamic stability and determine the necessary chemical environment for the production of a multiternary material, relative to competing phases and compounds formed from the constituent elements. If the material is found to be stable, the region of stability, in terms of the constituent elemental chemical potentials, is determined from the intersection points of hypersurfaces in an (n−1)$(n-1)$-dimensional chemical potential space, where n$n$ is the number of atomic species in the material. The input required is the free energy of formation of the material itself, and that of all competing phases. Output consists of the result of the test of stability, the intersection points in the chemical potential space and the competing phase to which they relate, and, for two- and three-dimensional spaces, a file which may be used for visualization of the stability region. We specify the use of the program by applying it both to a ternary system and to a quaternary system. The algorithm automates essential analysis of the thermodynamic stability of a material. This analysis consists of a process which is lengthy for ternary materials, and becomes much more complicated when studying materials of four or more constituent elements, which have become of increased interest in recent years for technological applications such as energy harvesting and optoelectronics. The algorithm will therefore be of great benefit to the theoretical and computational study of such materials.     

Electrical double layer characteristics of nanoporous carbon derived from titanium carbide

Electrochemical parameters of the nanoporous carbide-derived carbon|organic electrolyte have been studied by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The gas adsorption measurements have been used for evaluating the specific surface area, pore size distribution and porosity as the essential parameters influencing the double layer performance of carbon. The region of ideal polarizability, values of series and parallel resistance, capacitance and other important electrical double layer parameters were established. It was shown that specific capacitance of typical nanoporous carbon derived from titanium carbide is in the range of 70-90 F cm⁻³ or 100-130 F g⁻¹ and it depends on the synthesis conditions. The influence of the electrolyte solvent to the capacitance was insignificant, although acetonitrile was advantageous with respect of smaller viscosity.     

线性多智能体系统一致性问题的部分稳定性方法（英文）

A linear transformation is proposed to deal with the consensus problem of high-order linear multi-agent systems(LMASs).In virtue of the linear transformation, the consensus problem is equivalently translated into a partial stability problem. We discuss three issues of the LMASs under a generalized linear protocol: 1) to find criteria of consensus convergence; 2) to calculate consensus function; 3) to design gain matrices in the linear consensus protocol. Precisely, we provide a necessary and sufficient criterion of consensus convergence in terms of Hurwitz stability of a matrix and give an analytical expression of the consensus function. In addition, we set up a relation between the gain matrices in the protocol and the convergence time and consensus accuracy of the agents, and then design the gain matrices with respect to a pre-specified convergence time and a required consensus accuracy.     

原料中杂质对丙烯与苯烷基化催化剂性能的影响

分析了原料中杂质对催化剂活性和稳定性的影响及脱除杂质的方法。不同来源的丙烯所含杂质不同 ,炼厂丙烯杂质主要是氮化物和双烯 ,而裂解丙烯杂质主要是双烯 ;苯的主要杂质是饱和烷烃和微量水 ,这些杂质对催化剂活性和稳定性都有影响。实验结果表明 ,杂质含量越高 ,催化剂的活性和稳定性越低 ,而采用强酸性阳离子交换树脂可以脱除丙烯中的杂质。     

溶剂沉淀法制备的聚酰胺粉末之溶剂与粉末结构和热稳定性的关系

使用粒度分布仪、白度仪、电子显微镜和差热仪测定四种溶剂沉淀法制备的聚酰胺粉末发现：每种方法所获得的粉末粒径、比表面积、白度均不相同；以乙醇 氯化钙混合溶剂制备的粉末内部具有多孔结构；以乙醇 盐酸 水混合溶剂制备的粉末热稳定性较高     

Adhesion and Hydrolytic Stability of the Interface Between High-Modulus Polyethylene Fibers and Acrylic Resins

The effects of oxyen plasma treatment on the surface chemistry of Spectra 1000® high modulus polyethylene fibers and on the mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced composites of the fibers in a Bis-GMA based acrylic resin have been studied. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance FTIR spectroscopy have been used to show that the majority of oxygen on the fiber surface exists mostly in the form of ether and/or epoxy linkages, with carbonyl-, carboxylic- and ester-containing compounds accounting for less than 10 percent of the total. While the untreated and plasma-treated fibers have similar chemical compositions, the surfaces of the plasma-treated fibers are more polar and the oxygen is chemically bonded instead of being merely physisorbed. The interfacial shear strength between the fibers and the acrylic resin is increased by a factor of 2.3 by the plasma treatment indicating the presence of a weak boundary layer on the surface of the untreated fibers. The hydrolytic stability of the composite interfaces was investigated for fibers sized with several Bis-GMA-based adhesives. Maximum stability was attained by sizing with Bis-GMA containing a peroxide catalyst or an amine accelerator. The flexural properties of composites utilizing plasma-treated and untreated fibers were compared in three-point bending. The ultimate bending loads for composites using treated fibers were much higher than those for composites with untreated fibers, but only a fraction of that for glass or Kevlar®-reinforced materials.     

离子交换增强玻璃表面化学稳定性的研究

系统研究了化学钢化及盐溶液后处理对Na2O-CaO-SiO2玻璃表面化学稳定性的影响。详细考察了用熔融KNO3化学钢化的玻璃以及用适当盐溶液后处理的化学钢化玻璃,在受水侵蚀后R2O的沥滤量和失重以及受碱侵蚀后SiO2的溶出量和失重。结果表明,用熔融KNO3对玻璃进行钢化处理后,玻璃的耐水性和耐碱性均有明显下降。而将化学钢化的玻璃利用适当盐溶液处理后,可以改善钢化玻璃的化学稳定性,因而可以进一步提高化学钢化玻璃的使用性能和拓展其使用范围。