Simultaneous enhancement of the efficiency and stability of organic solar cells using PEDOT:PSS grafted with a PEGME buffer layer

We report a simple processing method to simultaneously improve the efficiency and stability of organic solar cells (OSCs). Poly(4-styrene sulfonate)-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy-thiophene (PEDOT:PSS), widely used as hole transport layer (HTL) in OSCs, tends to accelerate the degradation of devices because of its hygroscopic and acidic properties. In this regard, we have modified PEDOT:PSS to reduce its hygroscopic and acidic properties through a condensation reaction between PEDOT:PSS and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether (PEGME) in order to improve the efficiency and stability of OSCs. As a result, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) increased by 21%, from 2.57% up to 3.11%. A better energy level alignment by the reduced work function of the modified PEDOT:PSS with a highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) is considered the origin of the improved the efficiency. The half-life of OSCs with PEDOT:PSS modified with PEGME buffer layer also increased up to 3.5 times compared to that of devices with pristine PEDOT:PSS buffer layer.     

Performance of surface ionic conduction single chamber fuel cell prepared by the sol gel method

The performance of surface ionic conduction single chamber fuel cell (SIC‐SCFC) prepared by the sol gel method was studied on electric characteristics due to the differences of the operating temperature and humidity, the electrode distance and electrolyte film depth, and multiple cells with the series and parallel connections. The SIC–SCFC was arranged the both anode of Pt and cathode of Au on the boehmite electrolyte. The open circuit voltage (OCV) of single cell achieved a maximum of 530mV in the dry gas mixtures of O₂/H₂=50% in room temperature operation, and but it became decrease as over 60%. The OCV was maintained the constant value between operating temperatures of 30°C to 80°C, and but it was decreased sharply at over 90°C because a humidity on the cell became lower as increasing operating temperature. Then, the cell property was improved to 120°C by adding to the humidity of 70% using a humidifier. The electrode distance and the electrolyte film depth of SIC‐SCFC found to be contributed to the reductions of the cell resistance and the surface roughness on the electrode, respectively. Moreover, the power property of SIC‐SCFC was significantly improved by cell stacks comprised of the series or parallel connection of a cell.     

Multiplex PCR system to track authorized and unauthorized genetically modified soybean events in food and feed

A diverse range of genetic elements has been used to develop genetically modified organisms (GMOs) over the last 18 years. Screening methods that target few elements, such as the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter (P-35S) and Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline terminator (T-nos), are not sufficient to screen GMOs. In the present study, a multiplex PCR system for all globally commercialized GM soybean events was developed to easily trace the events. For this purpose, screening elements of 24 GM soybean events were investigated and 9 screening targets were selected and divided into three individual triplex PCR systems: P-35S, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit promoter of Arabidopsis thaliana, T-nos, T-35S, pea E9 terminator, open reading frame 23 terminator of A. tumefaciens, proteinase inhibitor II terminator of potato, acetohydroxy acid synthase large subunit terminator of A. thaliana, and the revealed 3′ flanking sequences of DP-305423-1. The specificity of the assays was confirmed using thirteen GM soybean events as the respective positive/negative controls. The limit of detection of each multiplex set, as determined using certified reference materials of specific GM events, ranged from 0.03 to 0.5%, depending upon target. Furthermore, 26 food samples that contained soybean ingredients, which were purchased from the USA, China, Japan, and Korea, were analyzed, 17 of which contained one or more GM soybean events. These results suggest that the developed screening method can be used to efficiently track and identify 24 GM soybean events in food and feed.     

Enhanced transduction coefficient in piezoelectric PZT ceramics by mixing powders calcined at different temperatures

Large transduction coefficient ($d_{33}\times g_{33}$) is difficult to obtain in piezoelectric ceramics because these two parameters show opposite trends with compositional modifications. Herein, the Pb(Zr_0.53Ti_0.47)O₃ ceramic powders were calcinated under different temperatures (A:830 °C, B:860 °C, and C:890 °C), and then mixed together according to different weight ratios (1A:1B:1C, 1A:2B:1C, 1A:2B:3C and 3A:2B:1C) for ceramics preparation. Both d₃₃ and g₃₃ are improved successfully, and the transduction coefficient with the weight ratio of 1A:2B:3C reaches up to 17,500 × 10⁻¹⁵ m²/N, which is 60 % higher than that with the powders calcinated under 830 °C, and at least twice those of commercial PZT-4, PZT-5A and PZT-8 ceramics. The improved transduction coefficient is owing to the enhanced piezoelectric constant and spontaneous polarization resulted from the increased grain size, relative density and the fraction of tetragonal phase. These results indicate that this is a simple but effective way to tailor the transduction coefficient in piezoelectric ceramics.     

Word length and lexical activation: Longer is better.

Many models of spoken word recognition posit the existence of lexical and sublexical representations, with excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms used to affect the activation levels of such representations. Bottom-up evidence provides excitatory input, and inhibition from phonetically similar representations leads to lexical competition. In such a system, long words should produce stronger lexical activation than short words, for 2 reasons: Long words provide more bottom-up evidence than short words, and short words are subject to greater inhibition due to the existence of more similar words. Four experiments provide evidence for this view. In addition, reaction-time-based partitioning of the data shows that long words generate greater activation that is available both earlier and for a longer time than is the case for short words. As a result, lexical influences on phoneme identification are extremely robust for long words but are quite fragile and condition-dependent for short words. Models of word recognition must consider words of all lengths to capture the true dynamics of lexical activation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Note of clarification on Scholten and Sherman (2006): Erratum.

Reports an error in "Tradeoffs and Theory: The Double-Mediation Model" by Marc Scholten and Steven J. Sherman (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2006 May, Vol 135[2], 237-261). This article was inadvertently printed with the incorrect title. The original title was "Tradeoffs and Conflict: The Double-Mediation Model." This title highlights the relation between tradeoffs and conflict as investigated by the authors and accounted for by their model. However, readers are asked to refer to the article by the title with which it was printed to facilitate its retrieval.. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2006-06642-006.) Most theories of decision making suggest that, when options imply tradeoffs between their attributes, conflict increases as tradeoff size increases, because greater sacrifices are to be incurred in choosing one option instead of another. An alternative view is that conflict decreases as tradeoff size increases, because stronger arguments can be made for any decision. The authors propose a unified model, the double-mediation model, which combines the mediating effects of sacrifice and argumentation. Our model generally predicts an inverse U-shaped relation between tradeoff size and conflict. Results support this prediction. Also, when the decision situation increases the mediating effect of sacrifice relative to that of argumentation, the relation between tradeoff size and conflict changes in an upward direction; conversely, when the decision situation increases the mediating effect of argumentation relative to that of sacrifice, the relation changes in a downward direction. Results support these predictions as well. Commonalities and differences between our model and other formulations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

醇解技术在制备皮革加脂剂方面的研究进展

本文介绍了醇解反应的动力学、影响醇解反应收率的因素以及醇解反应在合成加脂剂方面的应用。     

井下液气分离器分离原理及结构改进

液气分离器就是充分利用电泵机组的高转速、气体和液体之间悬殊的密度差异进行液气离心分离。经过多年的发展,在传统的液气分离器结构基础上又出现了许多新的设计和改进,大大提高了液气分离器的分离效果。文章重点论述了液气分离器的分离原理和结构上的改进之处。     

原油基压裂液研究

研制了一种适用于低压、低渗、水敏性储集层的新型原油基压裂液体系。根据基液原油的组分合成相应的增稠剂，增稠剂在原油中与交联剂反应，形成网状结构，使原油成为黏度可以调控的冻胶，从根本上改变了油基压裂液以柴油、煤油为基液的现状，降低了油基压裂液的成本，同时还提高了压裂液的抗温、抗剪切和破胶性能，并将交联时间缩短到2h以内，可以满足现场压裂施工的要求，大大降低了施工强度和压裂改造的综合成本。在青海油田进行的现场先导试验取得成功。图9表1参5