Mixing characteristics for the single and air-water two-phase flows in miniaturized parallel multichannel-based devices

Investigation on the miniaturized parallel multichannel-based devices packed with glass beads to improve the mass exchange execution is the critical focal point of the current study. One of the essential parameters to specify the miniaturized devices' flow distribution is the residence time distribution (RTD). In the present context, the RTDs of a liquid tracer were investigated for the air-water multiphase flows (concurrent) across the multichannel-based miniaturized devices (comprising of 11 similar dimensional parallel channels). The devices were variable in height and packed with glass beads. The conductivity estimations generated the RTD curves and were addressed by the axial dispersion model (ADM). The fluid-flow rates differed within the range of 5–23 ml min⁻¹. The axial dispersion coefficients and the rate of the specific energy dispersion were investigated. The effects of pressure difference and geometry on the hydrodynamic attributes and mixing properties were well-illustrated, and the new correlations were suggested.     

Effects of an inhomogeneous electron density distribution on the hydrogen distribution in TiZrTaNbAl multi-principal element alloys

A body-centered cubic equiatomic TiZrTaNbAl multi-principal element alloy (MPEA) with elemental fluctuations was investigated to further understand the relationship between the microstructure and hydrogen distribution. In this study, a composition dependence of the hydrogen distribution was observed in the TiZrTaNbAl MPEA. An inhomogeneous electron density distribution of the MPEA was revealed by advanced differential phase-contrast scanning electron microscopy (DPC-STEM) for the first time. The results showed that the electron density has a significant effect on the hydrogen distribution in TiZrTaNbAl MPEAs. This work provides new insight into the design of materials with high hydrogen storage capacity and high hydrogen embrittlement resistance.     

西藏燕麦主要种植区灌溉定额空间分布及影响因素

燕麦为西藏自治区典型牧草之一,由于种植区地域辽阔,灌溉试验结果受限,西藏燕麦主要种植区的灌溉定额尚不明确。本文在西藏燕麦主要种植区内选取28个典型站点进行资料收集,遵循农业气候相似原则进行区域划分,基于水量平衡法揭示了西藏燕麦主要种植区灌溉定额的空间分布特征,并根据统计学原理分析了其影响因素。研究表明:燕麦主要种植区的灌溉定额呈由西藏中部至东部呈现先递增后递减的趋势,50%水文年下的燕麦灌溉定额在56~265 mm之间变化。降雨量是影响研究区内燕麦灌溉定额的主要因素(R²为0.515),ET₀次之(R²为0.152);其它气象因素中,日照时数对研究区燕麦灌溉定额影响较大(R²为0.462),且呈正相关关系;相对湿度对燕麦灌溉定额影响较小。西藏燕麦主要种植区的灌溉定额及其空间分布可为西藏自治区灌溉用水管理提供支撑。     

Inhibitory effects of curcumin and piperine on fluorescent advanced glycation end products formation in a bovine serum albumin–fructose model

This study investigated the inhibitory effects of curcumin and piperine on fluorescent advanced glycation end products (fAGEs) formation in a bovine serum albumin (BSA)–fructose model. Model systems of BSA and fructose were prepared, and curcumin or piperine was added. fAGEs and BSA oxidation product (dityrosine, kynurenine and N'-formylkynurenine) contents were determined. The results showed that fAGEs content decreased with increasing concentration of curcumin and piperine (P < 0.05). Addition of curcumin and piperine at 160 µg mL⁻¹ could inhibit fluorescent AGEs by 100% and 93% respectively. Dityrosine and N'-formylkynurenine contents decreased as curcumin and piperine concentration increased (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the result of principal component analysis indicated that curcumin and piperine markedly impeded BSA oxidation, resulting in a lower level of fAGEs in model systems. Therefore, adding curcumin and piperine may facilitate reduced fAGEs levels in BSA–fructose model.     

A dotted nanowire arrayed by 5 nm sized palladium and nickel composite nanopaticles showing significant electrocatalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR)

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to report the preparation of a dotted nanowire arrayed by 5 nm sized palladium and nickel composite nanoparticles (denoted as Pd_xNi_y NPs) via a hydrothermal method using NU and PdO·H₂O as the starting materials. The samples prepared at the mass ratio of NU to PdO·H₂O 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1 were, respectively, nominated as catalyst c₁, c₂ and c₃. The chemical compositions of all synthesized catalysts were mainly studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), revealing that metallic Ni was one main component of all prepared catalysts. Surprisingly, the main diffraction peaks appearing in the XRD patterns of all prepared catalysts were assigned to the metallic Ni rather than the metallic Pd. Very interestingly, as indicated by the TEM images, a large number of dotted nanowires arrayed by numerous equidistant 5 nm sized nanoparticles were distinctly exhibited in catalyst c₁. More importantly, when being used as electrocatalysts for EOR, all prepared catalysts exhibited an evident electrocatalytic activity towards EOR. In the cyclic voltammetry (CV) test, the peak current density of the forward peak of EOR on catalyst c₁ measured at 50 mV s^?1 was as high as 56.1 mA cm^?2, being almost 9 times higher than that of EOR on catalyst c₃ (6.3 mA cm^?2). Particularly, the polarized current density of EOR on catalyst c₁ at 3600 s, as indicated by the chronoamperometry (CA) experiment, was still maintained to be around 1.47 mA cm^?2, a value higher than the latest reported data of 1.3 mA cm^?2 (measured on the pure Pd/C electrode). Presenting a novel method to prepare dotted nanowires arranged by 5 nm sized nanoparticles and showing the significant eletrocatalytic activities of the newly prepared dotted nanowires towards EOR were the major contributions of this preliminary work.     

Estimating long-term time-resolved indoor PM2.5 of outdoor and indoor origin using easily obtainable inputs

To evaluate the separate impacts on human health and establish effective control strategies, it is crucial to estimate the contribution of outdoor infiltration and indoor emission to indoor PM_2.5 in buildings. This study used an algorithm to automatically estimate the long-term time-resolved indoor PM_2.5 of outdoor and indoor origin in real apartments with natural ventilation. The inputs for the algorithm were only the time-resolved indoor/outdoor PM_2.5 concentrations and occupants’ window actions, which were easily obtained from the low-cost sensors. This study first applied the algorithm in an apartment in Tianjin, China. The indoor/outdoor contribution to the gross indoor exposure and time-resolved infiltration factor were automatically estimated using the algorithm. The influence of outdoor PM_2.5 data source and algorithm parameters on the estimated results was analyzed. The algorithm was then applied in four other apartments located in Chongqing, Shenyang, Xi'an, and Urumqi to further demonstrate its feasibility. The results provided indirect evidence, such as the plausible explanations for seasonal and spatial variation, to partially support the success of the algorithm used in real apartments. Through the analysis, this study also identified several further development directions to facilitate the practical applications of the algorithm, such as robust long-term outdoor PM_2.5 monitoring using low-cost light-scattering sensors.     

Statistical Piezotronic Effect in Nanocrystal Bulk by Anisotropic Geometry Control

Utilizing inner-crystal piezoelectric polarization charges to control carrier transport across a metal-semiconductor or semiconductor–semiconductor interface, piezotronic effect has great potential applications in smart micro/nano-electromechanical system (MEMS/NEMS), human-machine interfacing, and nanorobotics. However, current research on piezotronics has mainly focused on systems with only one or rather limited interfaces. Here, the statistical piezotronic effect is reported in ZnO bulk composited of nanoplatelets, of which the strain/stress-induced piezo-potential at the crystals’ interfaces can effectively gate the electrical transport of ZnO bulk. It is a statistical phenomenon of piezotronic modification of large numbers of interfaces, and the crystal orientation of inner ZnO nanoplatelets strongly influence the transport property of ZnO bulk. With optimum preferred orientation of ZnO nanoplatelets, the bulk exhibits an increased conductivity with decreasing stress at a high pressure range of 200–400 MPa, which has not been observed previously in bulk. A maximum sensitivity of 1.149 µS m⁻¹ MPa⁻¹ and a corresponding gauge factor of 467–589 have been achieved. As a statistical phenomenon of many piezotronic interfaces modulation, the proposed statistical piezotronic effect extends the connotation of piezotronics and promotes its practical applications in intelligent sensing.     

Influence of SiC microstructure on its corrosion behavior in molten FLiNaK salt

The influence of the microstructure on the corrosion rate of three monolithic SiC samples in FLiNaK salt at 900 °C for 250 h was studied. The SiC samples, labeled as SiC-1, SiC-2, and SiC-3, had corrosion rates of 0.137, 0.020, and 0.043 mg/cm²h, respectively. Compared with grain size and the presence of special grain boundaries (i.e., Σ3), the content of high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) appeared to have the strongest influence on the corrosion rate of SiC in FLiNaK salt, since the corrosion rate increased six times as the concentration of high-angle grain boundaries increased from 19 to 32% for SiC-2 and SiC-1, respectively. These results stress the importance of controlling the content of HAGBs during the production process of SiC.