Fabrication of Nano-TiO2 Coating for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell by Vacuum Cold Spraying at Room Temperature

Deposition of nanocrystalline TiO₂ coating at low temperature is becoming more attractive due to the possibility for continuous roll production of the coating for assembly lines of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) at a low cost. In this study, porous nano-TiO₂ coating was deposited by vacuum cold spraying (VCS) at room temperature on a conducting glass substrate using commercial P25 nanocrystalline TiO₂ powder. The microstructure of TiO₂ coating was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and nitrogen adsorption test. A commercial dye (N719) was adsorbed on the surface of TiO₂ particles within the coating to assemble a DSC. The cell performance was evaluated by employing simulated solar light at an intensity of 100 mW/cm². The results showed that TiO₂ coating was deposited by the agglomerates of nano-TiO₂ powders. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) test of the as-sprayed TiO₂ coating yielded a porosity of 49% and an average pore size of 17 nm. The assembled solar cell yielded a short-circuit current density of 7.3 mA/cm² and an energy conversion efficiency of 2.4%. The test results indicate that VCS was a promising method to deposit nanocrystalline TiO₂ coatings at low temperature applied to DSCs. This article is an invited paper selected from presentations at the 2007 International Thermal Spray Conference and has been expanded from the original presentation. It is simultaneously published in Global Coating Solutions, Proceedings of the 2007 International Thermal Spray Conference, Beijing, China, May 14-16, 2007, Basil R. Marple, Margaret M. Hyland, Yuk-Chiu Lau, Chang-Jiu Li, Rogerio S. Lima, and Ghislain Montavon, Ed., ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 2007.     

Intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell based on fully integrated plasma-sprayed components

This work addresses the fabrication of membrane-type solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operating at medium temperatures, where all components are fabricated by plasma spray technology, and the evaluation of the performance of the SOFC single unit in a temperature range of 500 to 800 °C. Single cells composed of LaSrMgO₃ cathodes, LaSrGaMgO₃ (LSGM) electrolytes, and Ni/yttria-stabilized zirconia anodes were fabricated in successive atmospheric plasma-spraying processes. Plasma-spraying processes have been optimized and tailored to each layer to achieve highly porous cathode and anode layers as well as high-density electrolyte layers. A major effort has been devoted to the production of the LSGM electrolyte that has a high density and is free of cracks. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to investigate the conductivity of the electrode layers, and particularly the resistance of the electrolyte layer. It revealed that the heat treatment had a great influence on the specific conductivity of the sprayed electrolyte layers and that the specific conductivity of the heat-treated layers was dramatically increased to the same magnitude as is typical for sintered LSGM pellets. The experimental results have demonstrated that the plasma-spraying process has a great potential for the integrated fabrication of medium-temperature SOFC units. The original version of this article was published as part of the ASM Proceedings, Thermal Spray 2003: Advancing the Science and Applying the Technology, International Thermal Spray Conference (Orlando, FL), May 5–8, 2003, Basil R. Marple and Christian Moreau, Ed., ASM International, 2003.     

车载多层减振平台的主动控制及仿真

为了研究被动悬架车载主动减振平台的低成本控制策略及其减振效果,针对一种新型长宽比较大的多层减振平台,建立了车辆被动悬架与主动减振平台的一体化全系统动力学分析模型。进而,设计了"线性被动、旋转主动"的平台控制策略,并应用MATLAB及ADAMS软件,在三种典型路面激励下,进行了仿真测试。结果表明:采用垂向线性振动的多层被动减振、旋转振动的低成本主动控制策略,被动悬架车载减振平台的减振效果明显,实现了车载减振平台的高性价比设计。     

凝胶燃烧法合成LiCoO2超细粉体的研究

以LiNO3和Co(NO3)2@6H2O为原料,柠檬酸为燃料.采用凝胶低温燃烧技术合成了LiCoO2超细粉体.并利用各种分析技术对柠檬酸和硝酸盐形成的凝胶及凝胶燃烧合成的粉体进行了研究柠檬酸硝酸盐凝胶在350-400℃之间发生燃烧反应,得到黑色疏松粉体X射线衍射分析表明.适当提高柠檬酸在凝胶中的含量.燃烧后得到的粉体晶粒尺寸显著减小未经燃烧的粉体中除含有LiCoO2外.还有CoO,Li2CO3等杂质相.但在450℃下经短时间煅烧后.杂质相消失,其晶相为层状岩盐结构的高温LiCoO2相扫描电镜和透射电镜观察发现.随着煅烧温度的提高.LiCoO2粉体的粒径有所增大.但远小于在相同煅烧条件下用固相反应法制备的LiCoO2粉体.这表明采用燃烧法更适于合成具有单一相结构的,可在低温条件下烧结的超细LiCoO2粉体.     

钼变形抗力的研究

在Gleeble-1500热模拟试验机上，分析钼的高温变形特征，其变形温度为1100～1400℃，变形速率为1-50s^-1，变形程度为0-0．6，并对钼板进行塑性变形抗力的研究，采用非线性回归方法建立钼板的变形抗力模型。获得了钼板的变形抗力曲线图，对不同的数学模型结构进行回归比较，提出拟合精度高的变形抗力的数学模型，该模型具有较高的精度及良好的数值稳定性。     

连铸中间包内三维湍流流动的数值模拟

连铸中间包的操作条件决定了其内流动现象的复杂性，为此，本文选择两种不同的湍流模型ｋ－ε和ＬＥＳ（Ｌａｒｇｅｅｄｄｙｓｉｍｕｌａｔｉｏｎ），建立了描述连铸中间包内三维湍流流动的数学模型，并实施了数值计算和模型验证，对单流中间包内的流动现象进行了描述，考察了有，无流动控制情况下中间包内的流动特征和湍流模型的合理性，结果表明，合理的流动控制有利于中间包内非金属夹杂的上浮和吸附，用ｋ－ε模型基本上能够描述     

方柱体镦粗的两个新力学模型

在对平板间镦粗圆柱体的研究［１，２，３］基础上，进一步对普通平板间的方柱体镦粗，进行了工程力学的分析，提出了二个新力学模型，并进行了实验验证。这为形成新的拔长理论［４，６］奠定了力学基础。     

Photographing impact of molten molybdenum particles in a plasma spray

Plasma-sprayed molten molybdenum particles (∼40 μm in diameter) were photographed impinging at high velocity (∼140 m/s) on a glass substrate at room temperature. An optical sensor detected thermal radiation emitted by a droplet as it approached the substrate and activated a time delay unit. After a selected time interval, an Nd:YAG laser was triggered, emitting a 5 ns pulse that provided illumination for a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera to photograph the impacting droplet through a long-range microscope. By varying the delay before pulsing the laser, different stages of droplet deformation were recorded. Impacting droplets spread into a thin circular film that ruptured and broke into small fragments. An optical detector recording thermal radiation from the impacting droplet gave a signal that increased as the droplet spread out, reached a maximum when the liquid film began to rupture, and decreased as portions of the droplet recoiled because of surface tension and then flew out of view of the photodetector.     

应用人工神经网络理论建立热粘塑性材料的本构关系

本文将人工神经网络（ＡＮＮ）用于建立热粘塑性材料的本构关系，意在探索出一种描述材料变形力学行为的新方法。文中给出了应用人工神经网络建立热粘塑性材料本构关系的ＢＰ模型和学习算法过程，并应用于４５号钢在高温和高速变形条件下的流动应力计算。计算结果与实测结果比较表明，二者吻合良好。因此，应用人工神经网络建立热粘塑性材料的本构关系具有重要的工程应用价值。     

The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A New In Vivo Tool to Evaluate Breast Cancer Stem Cell Activity

The high plasticity of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) allows them to differentiate and proliferate, specifically when xenotransplanted subcutaneously into immunocompromised mice. CSCs are highly tumorigenic, even when inoculated in small numbers. Thus, in vivo limiting dilution assays (LDA) in mice are the current gold standard method to evaluate CSC enrichment and activity. The chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) is a low cost, naturally immune-incompetent and reproducible model widely used to evaluate the spontaneous growth of human tumor cells. Here, we established a CAM-LDA assay able to rapidly reproduce tumor specificities—in particular, the ability of the small population of CSCs to form tumors. We used a panel of organotropic metastatic breast cancer cells, which show an enrichment in a stem cell gene signature, enhanced CD44⁺/CD24^−/low cell surface expression and increased mammosphere-forming efficiency (MFE). The size of CAM-xenografted tumors correlate with the number of inoculated cancer cells, following mice xenograft growth pattern. CAM and mice tumors are histologically comparable, displaying both breast CSC markers CD44 and CD49f. Therefore, we propose a new tool for studying CSC prevalence and function—the chick CAM-LDA—a model with easy handling, accessibility, rapid growth and the absence of ethical and regulatory constraints.