The phosphorescence emission in undoped lead-halide Cs4PbBr6 single crystals at low temperature

Recently, all-inorganic cesium lead-halide perovskites have shown their promise for light emission applications, due to the excellent optical performance. Herein, we report that the initially nonphosphorescent undoped lead-halide Cs₄PbBr₆ single crystals (SCs) exhibit an ultralong phosphorescence emission under X-ray excitation at low temperatures. It is shown that the dramatic change has been taken place in radioluminescence spectra and the broad-band emission gradually appeared with the decrease of temperature. Below 210 K, the radioluminescence spectra can be deconvoluted into one narrow peak located at 530 nm and two broad peaks centered at 595 nm and 672 nm respectively. Subsequently, the time-dependent radioluminescence spectra in undoped lead-halide Cs₄PbBr₆ SCs were investigated. The ultralong phosphorescence emission can persist over 120 min at 70 K. We consider that ultralong phosphorescence originates from defect-related emission. To the best of our knowledge, our finding is the first time that undoped Cs₄PbBr₆ SCs exhibit the phosphorescence emission, which will offer a paradigm to motivate revolutionary applications on perovskite.     

Full AC analysis of value of DER to the grid and optimal DER scheduling

This paper presents part of the work ComEd and Quanta Technology have performed to quantify the locational and temporal value of DER to avoid distribution grid upgrade investments. It focuses on the formulation of a robust and efficient algorithm for DER optimal dispatch on a distribution feeder to mitigate the violation of current and voltage limits using the allocated cost of capacity and locational marginal value of real and reactive DER injection/withdrawal.     

The influence of FeNi nanoparticles on the microstructures and soft magnetic properties of FeSi soft magnetic composites

In this work, a new type of FeSi/FeNi soft magnetic powder core (SMPC) was successfully fabricated by coating FeNi nanoparticles on the surface of FeSi micrometer powder. The effects of different contents of FeNi nanoparticles on the micromorphology, internal structures, and soft magnetic properties of SMPCs were studied. The results show that FeNi nanoparticles adhere to the surface of FeSi powder, which can effectively fill the air gap between FeSi powder and is beneficial to the compaction of the powder cores during the pressing process. Thus, the density of the SMPCs is increased. Compared to FeSi SMPCs, the comprehensive soft magnetic properties of FeSi/FeNi SMPCs have been greatly improved. When adding 15 wt% FeNi nanoparticles, the SMPCs exhibit excellent magnetic properties with high effective permeability (increased by 43.8 %) and low core loss (decreased by 22.1 %). The high performance FeSi/FeNi SMPCs prepared in this work are expected to be widely used in power choke coils, uninterruptible power supplies, and boosts and inverter inductors.     

Identifying catalyst layer compositions of proton exchange membrane fuel cells through machine-learning-based approach

Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is considered a key component of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). However, developing a new MEA to meet desired properties, such as operation under low-humidity conditions without a humidifier, is a time- and cost-consuming process. This study employs a machine-learning-based approach using K-nearest neighbor (KNN) and neural networks (NN) in the MEA development process by identifying a suitable catalyst layer (CL) recipe in MEA. Minimum redundancy maximum relevance and principal component analysis were implemented to specify the most important predictor and reduce the data dimension. The number of predictors was found to play an essential role in the accuracy of the KNN and NN models although the predictors have self-correlations. The KNN model with a K of 7 was found to minimize the model loss with a loss of 11.9%. The NN model constructed by three corresponding hidden layers with nine, eight, and nine nodes can achieve the lowest error of 0.1293 for the Pt catalyst and 0.031 for PVA as a good additive blending in the CL of the MEA. However, even if the error is low, the prediction of PVA seems to be inaccurate, regardless of the model structure. Therefore, the KNN model is more appropriate for CL recipe prediction.     

An integrated approach to analysing the cost efficiency of postal networks

An integrated approach to measure the cost efficiency of the postal network of Universal Service Provider is proposed. An integrated approach enables the measurement of cost efficiency for delivery and non-delivery postal network units. The proposed approach is verified and tested on the postal network of the selected provider and the results were derived by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The results show that the main sources of inefficiency are inadequate allocation of resources relative to the network units. In addition, the study indicates that economies of scale have a positive impact on the efficiency of postal network units.     

一种北斗联合低轨星座的导航增强方法研究

单纯依靠北斗导航系统提供定位导航授时服务,存在卫星信号落地功率低、易受遮蔽和阻断的不足。针对此问题,研究了一种北斗联合低轨星座实现导航增强的系统架构;提出了一种新的适应严重遮蔽或干扰条件下,基于到达时间(TOA)和到达频率(FOA)联合观测的定位解算算法;对高中低轨混合星座条件下的覆盖特性和精度衰减因子进行了仿真分析。分析结果表明,用户可见星数平均增加了64.2%,位置精度衰减因子(PDOP)平均改善了28.7%。研究结果可为下一代北斗的论证设计与研制建设提供参考借鉴。     

Slow strain rate technique for studying hydrogen induced cracking in 34CrMo4 high strength steel

Alloy hardened steels offer excellent combination of mechanical properties, hardenability and corrosion resistance. 34CrMo4 is a medium carbon, low alloy steel widely used due to a good combination of high-strength, toughness and wear resistance. However, this steel experiences hydrogen embrittlement (HE), a complex phenomenon depending on the composition and microstructure. This work estimates de loss of the mechanical properties caused by hydrogen in electrochemically H-charged specimens in absence of mechanical stress but also, at low strain rate and constant load. H-charging for 2 and 6 h induce YS losses of about 40% and 71% and UTS losses of 39% and 59%, respectively. The synergistic effect of the stress and the H-charging process leads to a higher loss, 91%, and a faster brittle fracture even though hydrogen content is similar to those firstly H-charged and then tested in air.     

Low cycle fatigue behavior of a eutectic 80Au/20Sn solder alloy

The eutectic 80Au/20Sn solder alloy is widely used in high power electronics and optoelectronics packaging. In this study, low cycle fatigue behavior of a eutectic 80Au/20Sn solder alloy is reported. The 80Au/20Sn solder shows a quasi-static fracture characteristic at high strain rates, and then gradually transforms from a transgranular fracture (dominated by fatigue damage) to intergranular fracture (dominated by creep damage) at low strain rates with increasing temperature. Coffin-Manson and Morrow models are proposed to evaluate the low cycle fatigue behavior of the 80Au/20Sn solder. Besides, the 80Au/20Sn solder has enhanced fatigue resistance compared to the 63Sn/37Pb solder.     

iM-SIMPLE: iMproved stable increased-throughput multi-hop link efficient routing protocol for Wireless Body Area Networks

Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) are envisaged to play crucial role in psychological, medical and non-medical applications. This paper presents iM-SIMPLE; a reliable, and power efficient routing protocol with high throughput for WBAN. We deploy sensor nodes on human body to measure the physiological parameters such as blood pressure, temperature, glucose, lactic acid, EMG, acceleration, pressure, and position. Data from sensors is forwarded to intermediate node, from where it is transmitted to sink. An end user can access the required information available at sink via internet. To minimize energy consumption of the network, we utilize multi-hop mode of communication. A cost function is introduced to select the forwarder; node with high residual energy and least distance to sink has minimum cost function value and is selected. Residual energy parameter balances the energy consumption among the sensor nodes, and least distance improves packet delivery to sink because of reduced less path loss. We formulate the minimum energy consumption and high throughput problems as an Integer Linear Program. In order to support mobility, we also consider two body postures. Simulation results confirm the performance advantage of iM-SIMPLE compared to contemporary schemes in terms of maximizing stability period and throughput of the network.     

Voltage reference architectures for low-supply-voltage low-power applications

This paper presents a voltage reference generator architecture and two different realizations of it that have been fabricated within a standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The architecture takes the advantage of utilizing a sampled-data amplifier (SDA) to optimize the power consumption. The circuits achieve output voltages on the order of 190 mV with temperature coefficients of 43 ppm/°C and 52.5 ppm/°C over the temperature range of 0 to 120°C without any trimming with a 0.8 V single supply. The power consumptions of the circuits are less then 500 nW while occupying an area of 0.2 mm² and 0.08 mm², respectively.