The overall crystallization behavior of polyethylene/wax blends as phase change materials for thermal energy storage: A mini review

This review paper deals with the overall crystallization behavior of polyethylene/wax blends as phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage with the determination of their thermal properties. The addition of molten wax to the polyethylenes decreases the crystallization and melting temperatures of the blends. However, incorporating fillers to the polyethylene/wax blends can either decrease or increase the crystallization and melting temperatures of the composites depending on the filler type. The normalized enthalpy values of linear low-density polyethylene showed no significant change when increasing the wax content. On the contrary, the normalized enthalpy values of the wax in the blends were lesser than that of pure wax and increased with increasing wax content. Since the wax in the blend had a lower crystallinity compared to pure wax, this influences its effectiveness as a PCM for thermal energy storage. The effect of different polyethylenes on the wax morphology gave rise to enhance phase separation when wax was blended to high-density polyethylene as compared to the other polyethylenes. On the contrary, the effect of various waxes on the morphology of polyethylene resulted in different morphologies due to the molecular weight of the wax used and the structure of the polyethylene chain. The addition of fillers to the polyethylene (PE)/wax samples resulted in enhanced phase separation. The overall isothermal crystallization rate and the equilibrium melting temperature of PEs in the PEs/wax blends were depressed by wax addition due to the wax dilution effect.     

基于时空的弱点状运动目标检测技术

如何在复杂背景下持续有效地检测目标位置,一直是研究者们需要面对的主要挑战。本文在研究红外点状移动目标特征的基础上,根据目标无纹理,无形状的特性,提出一种改进的形态学目标增强算法,并利用目标连续时空不变性检测目标。首先,建立多尺度的图像金字塔,在每层上采用改进的形态学算法快速、粗糙定位小目标。然后进一步的根据目标在时空上的位置相关性,提出基于目标运动特征分析的精确检测方法。得到精确稳定的检测结果。最后实验结果表明与经典的形态学检测算法及其他算法相比,该技术能更有效地检测弱小目标,具有更高的鲁棒性。     

Influences of chip serration on micro-topography of machined surface in high-speed cutting

Saw-tooth chip changes from macroscopically continuous ribbon to separated segments with the increase of cutting speed. The aim of this study is to find the correlations between chip morphology and machined surface micro-topography at different chip serration stages encountered in high speed cutting. High strength alloy steel AerMet100 was employed in orthogonal cutting experiments to obtain chips at different serration stages and corresponding machined surfaces. The chips and machined surfaces obtained were then examined with optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and white light interferometer (WLI). The result shows that chip serration causes micro-waves on machined surface, which increases machined surface roughness. However, wave amplitudes (surface roughness) at different serration stages are different. The principal factor influencing wave amplitude is the thickness of the sawed segment (tooth) of saw-tooth chip. With cutting parameters in this study, surface roughness contributed by chip serration ranges from 0.39 μm to 1.85 μm. This may bring on serious problems in the case of trying to replace grinding with high-speed cutting in rough machining. Some suggestions have been proposed to control the chip serration-caused surface roughness in high-speed cutting based on the results of the current study.     

Influences of Ga concentration on performances of CuInGaSe2 cells fabricated by sputtering-based method with ceramic quaternary target

Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (Cu(In,Ga)Se₂, CIGSe) absorbers with different Ga contents were prepared by sputtering CIGSe ceramic targets and post-annealing. CIGSe solar cell devices were fabricated with other functional layers. The device performances and absorber properties were investigated. Increasing Ga content led to an increase in V_OC and a decrease in J_SC. Ga was supposed to diffuse towards back contact during the annealing process. The best performance was obtained as the ratio of Ga/(In + Ga) reaches 0.32 with the efficiency of 13.8% and a V_OC of 537 mV.     

Large increase of Curie temperature in (110)-oriented La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films

From the perspectives of scientific researches and practical applications, it is desirable to explore high operating temperature ferromagnetic films. The effect of biaxial strain on magnetic properties of (110)-oriented La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ films was studied. High quality La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ films were grown on (110)-oriented perovskite single crystal substrates using pulsed laser deposition, varying substrate-induced misfit strains from ??2.27–0.75%. A remarkable enhancement of Curie temperature has been achieved for (110)-oriented La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ films clamped with small misfit strains (i.e., grown on LAST (110)). The enhanced Curie temperature of (110)-oriented La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ films could be attributed to the misfit strain between the films and the underlying substrates and may have technological implication for applications at high temperature environments.     

Thermo-physical properties of as deposited and aged thermal barrier coatings (TBC) for gas turbines: State-of-the art and advanced TBCs

In the perspective of fuelling the future generations of gas turbines by hydrogen rich syngas, the evaluation of the effect of a higher water vapour content into the flue gases on the TBC used, or potentially usable, is a need. For this purpose YPSZ APS TBC with two different microstructures have been exposed for 500?h at different temperatures in the range 1000?°C–1250?°C either in air and air +20% vol. H₂O. The comparison between the different testing conditions has been performed in terms of sintering kinetics and phase stability, as evaluated by thermal diffusivity measurements and Synchrotron X-Rays diffraction, respectively. Furthermore the characterisation of thermal properties of two innovative TBCs (GZO-YPSZ and YAG) potentially able to withstand the CMAS attack and erosive environments, respectively, has been carried out.No clear evidence of a different behaviour of TBC has been observed, at least in the considered aging time and temperature range.     

Formation of ST12 phase Ge nanoparticles in ZnO thin films

In this work, we focus on the Ge nanoparticles (Ge-np) embedded ZnO multilayered thin films. Effects of reactive and nonreactive growth of ZnO layers on the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) induced formation of Ge-np have been specifically investigated. The samples were deposited by sequential r.f. and d.c. sputtering of ZnO and Ge thin film layers, respectively on Si substrates. As-prepared thin film samples have been exposed to an ex-situ RTA at 600 °C for 60 s under forming gas atmosphere. Structural characterizations have been performed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering, Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques. It has been realized that reactive or nonreactive growth of ZnO layers significantly influences the morphology of the ZnO: Ge samples, most prominently the crystal structure of Ge-np. XRD and Raman analysis have revealed that while reactive growth results in a mixture of diamond cubic (DC) and simple tetragonal (ST12) Ge-np, nonreactive growth leads to the formation of only DC Ge-np upon RTA process. Formation of ST12 Ge-np has been discussed based on structural differences due to reactive and nonreactive growth of ZnO embedding layer.     

YSZ/MoS2 self-lubricating coating fabricated by thermal spraying and hydrothermal reaction

Thermal sprayed ceramic coatings have extensively been used in components to protect them against friction and wear. However, the poor lubricating ability severely limits their application. Herein, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)/MoS₂ composite coatings were successfully fabricated on steel substrate with the combination of thermal spraying technology and hydrothermal reaction. Results show that the synthetic MoS₂ powders are composed of numbers of ultra-thin sheets (about 7 ~ 8?nm), and the sheet has obvious lamellar structure. After vacuum impregnation and hydrothermal reaction, numbers of MoS₂ powders, look like flowers, generate inside the plasma sprayed YSZ coating. Moreover, the growing point of the MoS₂ flower is the intrinsic micro-pores of YSZ coating. The friction and wear tests under high vacuum environment indicate that the composite coating has an extremely long lifetime (>?100,000 cycles) and possesses a low friction coefficient less than 0.1, which is lower by about 0.15 times than that of YSZ coating. Meanwhile, the composite shows an extremely low wear rate (2.30?×?10^?7 mm³ N^?1 m^?1) and causes slight wear damage to the counterpart. The excellent lubricant and wear-resistant ability are attributed to the formation of MoS₂ transfer films and the ultra-smooth of the worn surfaces of hybrid coatings.     

Isolation of the effect of the hairy layer length on the mechanical properties of waterborne coatings

The effect of the acidic hairy layer length on the interdiffusion of polymer between particles and as a consequence on the mechanical properties of the films produced from waterborne coatings has been studied. In order to isolate this effect, latexes with the same particle diameter and molecular weight but stabilized with poly(acrylic acid)-block-poly(butyl acrylate) (PAA-b-PBA) block copolymers of controlled and different lengths were prepared. Tensile strength measurements showed at the macroscopic level that the presence of AA chains in the particle surface reduced the mechanical properties of the films dried at room temperature, being its effect worse the longer the AA chain length. Higher annealing temperatures erased the negative effect of the acidic hairy layer on mechanical properties. The neutralization with NaOH instead of with NH₄OH also led to worse mechanical properties. These macroscopic results were supported by Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) experiments that showed that at the microscopic level, the extent of interdiffusion occurred slower when the AA chains in the particles surface increased, the annealing temperature was lower and when NaOH was used as neutralizing agent instead of NH₄OH.