Understanding silica-supported metal catalysts: Pd/silica as a case study

Supported metal catalysts, particularly noble metals supported on SiO₂, have attracted considerable attention due to the importance of the silica–metal interface in heterogeneous catalysis and in electronic device fabrication. Several important issues, e.g., the stability of the metal–oxide interface at working temperatures and pressures, are not well-understood. In this review, the present status of our understanding of the metal–silica interface is reviewed. Recent results of model studies in our laboratories on Pd/SiO₂/Mo(1 1 2) using LEED, AES and STM are reported. In this work, epitaxial, ultrathin, well-ordered SiO₂ films were grown on a Mo(1 1 2) substrate to circumvent complications that frequently arise from the silica–silicon interface present in silica thin films grown on silicon.     

Self-aligned offset gated poly-Si TFTs with a floating sub-gate

We have fabricated a self-aligned offset-gated poly-Si thin film transistor (TFT) by employing a novel photoresist reflow process. The gate structure of the new device is consisted of two unique patterns: A main-gate and a sub-gate. The new fabrication method extends the gate-oxide over the offset region. With the assistance of the sub-gate and reflowed photoresist a self-aligned offset region is successfully obtained due to the offset oxide acting as an implantation mask. The poly-Si TFT with symmetrical offsets is easily fabricated and the new method does not require any additional offset mask step. Compared with the misaligned offset gated poly-Si TFTs, excellent symmetric electrical characteristics are obtained     

Synthesis of minerals using alternative energy sources

A technology for the synthesis of synthetic minerals (using the example of spinels) using a low-temperature plasma flame is developed. The diagnostic properties of spinels are identified.     

Total transfer capability computation for multi-area power systems

This paper presents a method for multi-area power system total transfer capability (TTC) computation. This computation takes into account the limits on the line flows, bus voltage magnitude, generator reactive power, voltage stability, as well as the loss of line contingencies. The multi-area TTC problem is solved by using a network decomposition approach based on REI-type network equivalents. Each area uses REI equivalents of external areas to compute its TTC via the continuation power flow (CPF). The choice and updating procedure for the continuation parameter employed by the CPF is implemented in a distributed but coordinated manner. The proposed method leads to potential gains in the computational efficiency with limited data exchanges between areas. The developed procedure is successfully applied to the three-area IEEE 118-bus test system. Numerical comparisons between the integrated and the proposed multi-area solutions are presented for validation.     

A new alloy design concept for austenitic stainless steel with tungsten modification for bipolar plate application in PEMFC

The feasibility of a new alloy design concept utilizing the principle of ‘tungsten bronze effect’ is critically evaluated for the development of metallic bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). An austenitic stainless steel (ASS) is modified with W and La to improve the stability of the passive film in an acidic environment as well as to reduce the contact resistance by the tungsten bronze effect. The experimental ASS containing W and La was evaluated in a simulated PEMFC environment of H₃PO₄ and H₂SO₄ solutions at 80 °C, and the electrical property was evaluated by performing a contact resistance test. The test results show that the ASS modified with W and La has good passive film stability for corrosion resistance and low contact resistance. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis clearly suggests the possibility of the tungsten bronze effect from the change in valency state of W⁶⁺ to W⁵⁺ in the passive film formed on the modified ASS. The feasibility of a new alloy design concept utilizing the ‘tungsten bronze effect’ is well demonstrated; however, more study is highly required for the development of metallic bipolar plates of PEMFC.     

铁路军事运输柔性捆绑加固器设计

为进一步提高军事装备铁路运输捆绑加固效率和运输安全性,针对现有加固器材存在的问题,从加固器适应性、可靠性和便利性等3个方面,分析铁路军事运输柔性捆绑加固器的设计需求;提出柔性织带和棘轮收紧器结构设计方案及其功能;论证铁路军事运输柔性捆绑加固器的技战术指标.     

利用ADCP回波强度估算河流悬移质含沙量的应用研究

通过简要介绍利用声学多普勒水流剖面仪(ADCP)回波强度估算悬移质含沙量的基本原理,结合梧州水文站的应用实例,利用ADCP的回波强度数据和现场采集的水样含沙量建立相关关系,根据相关关系由回波强度反演估算的水体悬移质含沙量验证了利用ADCP的回波强度估算悬移质含沙量的可行性。应用于梧州水文站的实践表明,左河道推算的系统误差为-0.1%,右河道推算的系统误差为1.5%。这种方法具有不扰动流场、测量剖面同步性较好、数据空间分辨率较高的优点,与传统的取样过滤称量法相比,计算效率显著提高。