Polyaniline encapsulated Ti-MOF/CoS for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

We report the study of conductive polyaniline (PANI) chain embedded Ti-MOF functionalized with CoS as a cocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) application. The post synthetically modified hybrid photocatalyst PANI/Ti-MOF/CoS greatly influences the redox and e^? ? h⁺ separation process and exhibits an impressive rate of HER (～1322 μmol h^?1g^?1), suppressing the pristine Ti-MOF (～62 μmol h^?1g^?1) with apparent quantum yield (AQY) of ～3.2 and transient current response of ～46.4 μA cm^?2. In this system, Ti-MOF provides the circulation of Ti³⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ to the reaction of photocatalytic H₂ generation, where the additional PANI and CoS amended the performance of H₂ production through electron enrichment and thereby improving the stability and integrity of Ti-MOF. The Electrochemical studies demonstrated increased photocurrent by interweaving Ti-MOF crystal with PANI through cation-π interaction thereby enhancing interface connection and then promoting electron transfers. The charge dynamics revealed the initial charge transfer from photoexcited PANI to encapsulated MOF framework to boost the photocatalytic performance of the system. Further, the electron movement at the Ti-MOF/CoS interface is investigated through work function and electrochemical potential of electrons (Fermi level). DFT results demonstrate the importance of CoS in improving the photocatalytic performance of hybrid Ti-MOF catalyst, which leads to superior catalytic behaviour. These results establish that the encapsulation of catalytic active sites inside MOFs with desirable energy band gaps would be an ideal choice for the production of solar fuels.     

基于VMD和BSA-KELM的高陡边坡位移预测模型研究

边坡位移的时间序列曲线存在复杂的非线性特性,传统的预测模型精度不足以满足预测要求。为此提出了基于变分模态分解的鸟群优化-核极限学习机的预测模型,并用于河北省某水泥厂的边坡位移预测。该方法首先采用VMD把边坡位移序列分解为一系列的有限带宽的子序列,再对各子序列分别采用相空间重构并用核极限学习机预测,采用鸟群算法优化相空间重构的嵌入维度和KELM中惩罚系数和核参数三个数值,以取得最优预测模型。最后将各个子序列预测值叠加,得到边坡位移的最终预测值。结果表明：和KELM、BSA-KELM、EEMD-BSA-KELM模型相比,基于VMD的BSA-KELM预测精度更高,为边坡位移的预测提供一种有效的方法。     

IRS辅助的SWIPT系统中基于能效优先的波束成形设计与优化

以智能反射面(intelligent reflecting surface,IRS)辅助的无线携能通信(simultaneous wireless information and power transfer,SWIPT)系统为背景,研究了该系统中基于能效优先的多天线发送端有源波束成形与IRS无源波束成形联合设计与优化方法。以最大化接收端的最小能效为优化目标,构造在发送端功率、接收端能量阈值、IRS相移等多约束下的非线性优化问题,用交替方向乘子法(alternating direction method of multipliers,ADMM)求解。采用Dinkelbach算法转化目标函数,通过奇异值分解(singular value decomposition,SVD)和半定松弛(semi-definite relaxation,SDR)得到发送端有源波束成形向量。采用SDR得到IRS相移矩阵与反射波束成形向量。结果表明,该系统显著降低了系统能量收集(energy harvesting,EH)接收端的能量阈值。当系统总电路功耗为?15 dBm时,所提方案的用户能效为300 KB/J。当IRS反射阵源数与发送天线数均为最大值时,系统可达最大能效。     

Synthesis,characterization and magnetic properties of polythiophene/SrFe12-x(ZrZn)0.5xO19 nanocomposite as a microwave absorber

Ferrites are an important group of magnetic materials which are used as absorbers. The incorporation of ferrite and conducting polymer achieves great enhancement in microwave absorption properties. The nanocomposites of hexagonal ferrites embedded by conducting polymers such as polypyrrole, polyaniline and polythiophene (PTH) have been paid much attention. In the present study, strontium hexagonal ferrite doped by Zr and Zn with the final formula of SrFe_12-x(ZrZn)_0.5xO19 considering x = 0.9 and embedded by PTH was produced to achieve a nanocomposite with the highest microwave absorbing ability. In this study, after synthesis of SrFe₁₂O₁₉(ZrZn)_0.5xO19 and PTH, the nanocomposite was prepared by in situ polymerization. Wrapping the ferrite particles and PTH chains could form nanocomposite properly, and therefore acceptable interactions were observable between SrFe_12-x(ZrZn)_0.5xO19ferrite particles and PTH polymer chains in the composites. Assessing the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of SrFe_12-x(ZrZn)_0.5xO19, PTH, and PTH/SrFe_12-x(ZrZn)_0.5xO19 nanocomposite indicated that the PTH characteristic peak shifts slightly and its peak intensity reduces, which may be attribute to the coating of PTH polymer chains onto SrFe_12-x(ZrZn)_0.5xO19 particles. We revealed also lower magnetic properties in the obtained nanocomposite. The morphological assessment also suggested that PTH could effectively coat the SrFe_12-x(ZrZn)_0.5xO19 particles. The synergistic effect of SrFe_12-x(ZrZn)_0.5xO19 particle plus PTH leads to microwave absorption percentage higher than 95% by PTH/SrFe_12-x(ZrZn)_0.5xO19 nanocomposite. Overall, nanocomposite creating by coupling interaction between SrFe_12-x(ZrZn)_0.5xO19 particles (x = 0.9) and PTH can effectively lead to achieve the highest rate of absorption of electromagnetic waves.     

Nanoraspberry-like palladium/spongy nickel oxide for electrooxidation of five light fuels

The spongy nickel oxide (SNO) was synthesized the solution combustion method. The SNO was selected as a promoter to boost the catalytic activity of nanoraspberry-like palladium (NRPd) toward electrooxidation of five light fuels (LFs): methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, formic acid, and ethylene glycol. The X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscope techniques were used for the materials characterization. In comparison with nonpromoted Pd, the NRPd-SNO electrocatalyst shown an excellent efficiency in parameters like the electrochemical active surface area and anti-CO poisoning behavior. The turnover data and the parameters, including reaction order, activation energy, and the coefficients of electron transfer and diffusion, were evaluated for the each process of LFs electrooxidation. The outcome for NRPd-SNO activity toward LFs electrooxidation was compared to some reported electrodes. The SNO increases the removal of intermediates created in the oxidation of LFs that can poison the surface of palladium catalyst. This is due to the presence of the lattice oxygens in SNO structure and Ni switching between its high and low valances. The compatibility of the adsorption process of LFs on the surface of the NRPd-SNO catalyst with different isotherms was determined by studying the Tafel polarization and calculating the surface coverage.     

An adaptive sliding mode observer based near-optimal OER tracking control approach for PEMFC under dynamic operation condition

Tracking control of oxygen excess ratio (OER) is crucial for dynamic performance and operating efficiency of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). OER tracking errors and overshoots under dynamic load limit the PEMFC output power performance, and also could lead oxygen starvation which seriously affect the life of PEMFC. To solve this problem, an adaptive sliding mode observer based near-optimal OER tracking control approach is proposed in this paper. According to real time load demand, a dynamic OER optimization strategy is designed to obtain an optimal OER. A nonlinear system model based near-optimal controller is designed to minimize the OER tracking error under variable operation condition of PEMFC. An adaptive sliding mode observer is utilized to estimate the uncertain parameters of the PEMFC air supply system and update parameters in near-optimal controller. The proposed control approach is implemented in OER tracking experiments based on air supply system of a 5 kW PEMFC test platform. The experiment results are analyzed and demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed control approach under load changes, external disturbances and parameter uncertainties of PEFMC system.     

Surface Reconstruction Engineering with Synergistic Effect of Mixed-Salt Passivation Treatment toward Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Surface passivation treatment is a widely used strategy to resolve trap-mediated nonradiative recombination toward high-efficiency metal-halide perovskite photovoltaics. However, a lack of passivation with mixture treatment has been investigated, as well as an in-depth understanding of its passivation mechanism. Here, a systematic study on a mixed-salt passivation strategy of formamidinium bromide (FABr) coupled with different F-substituted alkyl lengths of ammonium iodide is demonstrated. It is obtained better device performance with decreasing chain length of the F-substituted alkyl ammonium iodide in the presence of FABr. Moreover, they unraveled a synergistic passivation mechanism of the mixed-salt treatment through surface reconstruction engineering, where FABr dominates the reformation of the perovskite surface via reacting with the excess PbI₂. Meanwhile, ammonium iodide passivates the perovskite grain boundaries both on the surface and top perovskite bulk through penetration. This synergistic passivation engineer results in a high-quality perovskite surface with fewer defects and suppressed ion migration, leading to a champion efficiency of 23.5% with mixed-salt treatment. In addition, the introduction of the moisture resisted F-substituted groups presents a more hydrophobic perovskite surface, thus enabling the decorated devices with excellent long-term stability under a high humid atmosphere as well as operational conditions.     

Stress wave propagation in adhesively bonded functionally graded cylinders: an improved model

This study presents an improved mathematical model to analyse the stress wave propagation in adhesively bonded functionally graded (FG) circular cylinders (butt joint) under an axial impulsive load. The volume fractions of the material constituents in the upper and lower cylinders were functionally tailored through the thickness of each cylinder using a power-law. The effective material properties of both cylinders, which are made of aluminum (Al) and silicon carbide (SiC), at any point were predicted by using the Mori–Tanaka homogenization scheme. In this improved model, the governing equations of the wave propagation include the spatial derivatives of local mechanical properties and were discretized by means of the finite difference method. The influence of these spatial derivatives and the compositional gradient exponent on the displacement and stress distributions of the joint was investigated. The material composition variations of both cylinders affected the displacement and stress fields whereas the compositional gradient exponent had a minor effect. The stress concentrations were alleviated in time, the displacement and stress distributions/variations around/along the upper and lower cylinder-adhesive interfaces were significantly affected by the adhesive layer. The spatial derivatives also affected the temporal histories of the displacement and stress components evaluated at the selected critical points of the upper cylinder, adhesive layer and lower cylinder. The consideration of the spatial local material derivatives provided a more accurate mathematical model of wave propagations through the graded layered structures.     

Effect of cooking temperature on texture and flavour binding of braised sauce porcine skin

To investigate the effect of cooking temperature (55, 65, 75, 85 and 95 °C) on texture and flavour binding of braised sauce porcine skin (BSPS), sensory acceptance, microstructure and flavour-binding capacity were investigated during the processing of BSPS. Samples cooked at 85 and 95 °C showed better texture and aroma scores. Hardness and chewiness of BSPS were obviously improved at 85 and 95 °C than control group. Collagen structure was significantly destroyed over 85 °C. The porcine skin collagen heated at 85 and 95 °C showed relatively higher flavour-binding capacity than other samples. The improvement of texture of BSPS was mainly attributed to the degradation of collagen. Higher aroma scores of BSPS were related to intense binding abilities with aroma compounds at 85 and 95 °C. Cooking at 85 or 95 °C could be an optimal cooking temperature for BSPS.     

Prediction of Chameleonic Efficiency

Chameleonic properties, i. e., the capacity of a molecule to hide polarity in non-polar environments and expose it in water, help achieving sufficient permeability and solubility for drug molecules with high MW. We present models of experimental measures of polarity for a set of 24 FDA approved drugs (MW 405-1113) and one PROTAC (MW 1034). Conformational ensembles in aqueous and non-polar environments were generated using molecular dynamics. A linear regression model that predicts chromatographic apparent polarity (EPSA) with a mean unsigned error of 10 Ų was derived based on separate terms for donor, acceptor, and total molecular SASA. A good correlation (R²=0.92) with an experimental measure of hydrogen bond donor potential, Δlog P_oct-tol, was found for the mean hydrogen bond donor SASA of the conformational ensemble scaled with Abraham's A hydrogen bond acidity. Two quantitative measures of chameleonic behaviour, the chameleonic efficiency indices, are introduced. We envision that the methods presented herein will be useful to triage designed molecules and prioritize those with the best chance of achieving acceptable permeability and solubility.