Good dielectric performance and broadband dielectric polarization in Ag,Nb co-doped TiO2

Due to the demand of miniaturization and integration for ceramic capacitors in electronic components market, TiO₂-based ceramics with colossal permittivity has become a research hotspot in recent years. In this work, we report that Ag⁺/Nb⁵⁺ co-doped (Ag_1/4Nb_3/4)_xTi_1−xO₂ (ANTOx) ceramics with colossal permittivity over a wide frequency and temperature range were successfully prepared by a traditional solid–state method. Notably, compositions of ANTO0.005 and ANTO0.01 respectively exhibit both low dielectric loss (0.040 and 0.050 at 1 kHz), high dielectric permittivity (9.2 × 10³ and 1.6 × 10⁴ at 1 kHz), and good thermal stability, which satisfy the requirements for the temperature range of application of X9R and X8R ceramic capacitors, respectively. The origin of the dielectric behavior was attributed to five dielectric relaxation phenomena, i.e., localized carriers' hopping, electron–pinned defect–dipoles, interfacial polarization, and oxygen vacancies ionization and diffusion, as suggested by dielectric temperature spectra and valence state analysis via XPS; wherein, electron-pinned defect–dipoles and internal barrier layer capacitance are believed to be the main causes for the giant dielectric permittivity in ANTOx ceramics.     

Comprehensive numerical investigations on the thermal performance of heat recirculating micro combustor with pin fins for micro-thermal voltaic system applications

Aiming at improving the relatively low energy output and energy conversion efficiency of the micro-thermal voltaic (MTPV) system, an innovative heat recirculating micro combustor with pin fins is designed. The effects of pin fins arrangement, hydrogen/air equivalent ratio on the energy output and performance of CHMC, HMCP and HMCI are compared and investigated. The result shows that when the V_in is 6 m/s and Φ is 1.0, the emitter power of CHMC is 72.76W, and that of HCMP and HCMI micro combustor are 75.99W and 76.35W. and the emitter efficiency of CHMC, HCMP and HCMI is 41.93%, 43.26% and 44.01%. HMCI has better energy output capability compared with CHMC and HMCP. Even though, HMCI brings a higher pressure drop, it is within the acceptable range. When the V_in is 6 m/s, the pressure drop from the pin fins only accounts for 26.4% of the total pressure drop for HMCI. Through the study of equivalent ratio, it is found that HMCI has good adaptability in different equivalent ratio range. This work provides new ideas for the development of MTPV system in the future.     

Effect of micro-cracks on the in-plane electronic conductivity of proton exchange membrane fuel cell catalyst layers based on lattice Boltzmann method

Micro-cracks commonly occur on the catalyst layers (CLs) during the manufacturing of catalyst coated membranes (CCMs). However, the crack shape parameters effect on CLs in-plane (IP) electronic conductivity λ_s is not clear. In this work, the relationship between crack parameters and the λ_s is obtained based on the two-dimensional (2D) multiple-relaxation time (MRT) lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The LBM numerical model is validated by the normalized λ_s experiment applied on three different home-made cracked CLs, and the parameter study focus on crack width, length, quantity and phase angle are carried out. The results show that the decrease of λ_s has different sensitivity |k| to the parameters above. The crack width has little effect on λ_s decrease, and the |k_w| is 0.038. However, crack arm length and quantity show more significant impact, which |k_l| and |k_N| are 0.753 and 0.725, respectively. The CLs with different crack propagation directions show significant anisotropy on λ_s, and a 53.53% decrease in λ_s is observed between 0° and 90° crack phase angle change. To manufacture a high electronic conductivity CL, crack initiation and migration mitigation are highly encouraged.     

Evolution of the structure and mechanical performance of Cansas-II SiC fibres after thermal treatment

Herein, an in-depth analysis of the effect of heat treatment at temperatures between 900 and 1500 °C under an Ar atmosphere on the structure as well as strength of Cansas-II SiC fibres was presented. The untreated fibres are composed of β-SiC grains, free carbon layers, as well as a small amount of an amorphous SiC_xO_y phase. As the heat-treatment temperature was increased to 1400 °C, a significant growth of the β-SiC grains and free carbon layers occurred along with the decomposition of the SiC_xO_y phase. Moreover, owing to the decomposition of the SiC_xO_y phase, some nanopores formed on the fibre surface upon heating at 1500 °C. The mean strength of the Cansas-II fibres decreased progressively from 2.78 to 1.20 GPa with an increase in the heat-treatment temperature. The degradation of the fibre strength can be attributed to the growth of critical defects, β-SiC grains, as well as the residual tensile stress.     

SLM printing of cermet powders: Inhomogeneity from atomic scale to microstructure

It is very challenging for 3D printing based on the selective laser melting (SLM) technology to obtain cermet bulk materials with high density and homogeneous microstructures. In this work, the SLM process of the cermet powders was studied by both simulations and experiments using the WC-Co cemented carbides as an example. The results indicated that the evolution of the ceramic and metallic phases in the cermet particle during the heating, melting and solidification processes were all significantly inhomogeneous from atomic scale to mesoscale microstructures. As a consequence, the microstructural defects were caused intrinsically in the printed bulk material. The formation and growth of the bonding necks between the particles were mainly completed at the later stage of laser heating and the early stage of solidification. Both simulations and experiments demonstrated that thin amorphous layers formed at the ceramics/metal interfaces. This work disclosed the mechanisms for the evolution from the atomic scale to microstructure during the SLM printing of cermet powders, and discovered the origin of the defects in the printed cermet bulk materials.     

Study on ice-melting performance of gradient gas diffusion layer in proton exchange membrane fuel cell

In this study, a three-dimensional model was established using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to study the internal ice melting process of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The single-point second-order curved boundary condition was adopted. The effects of GDL carbon fiber number, growth slope of the number of carbon fibers and carbon fiber diameter on ice melting were studied. The results were revealed that the temperature in the middle and lower part of the gradient distribution GDL is significantly higher than that of the no-gradient GDL. With the increase of the growth slope of the number of carbon fiber, the temperature and melting rate gradually increase, and the position of the solid-liquid interface gradually decreases. The decrease in the number of carbon fibers has a similar effect as the increase in the growth slope of the number of carbon fibers. In addition, as the diameter of the carbon fiber increases, the position of the solid-liquid interface gradually decreases first and then increases.     

Analysis of surface and interior degradation of gas diffusion layer with accelerated stress tests for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

The effects of surface and interior degradation of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) on the performance and durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have been investigated using three freeze-thaw accelerated stress tests (ASTs). Three ASTs (ex-situ, in-situ, and new methods) are designed from freezing ?30 °C to thawing 80 °C by immersing, supplying, and bubbling, respectively. The ex-situ method is designed for surface degradation of the GDL. Change of surface morphology from hydrophobic to hydrophilic by surface degradation of GDL causes low capillary pressure which decreased PEMFC performance. The in-situ method is designed for the interior degradation of the GDL. A decrease in the ratio of the porosity to tortuosity by interior degradation of the GDL deteriorates PEMFC performance. Moreover, the new method showed combined effects for both surface and interior degradation of the GDL. It was identified that the main factor that deteriorated the fuel cell performance was the increase in mass transport resistance by interior degradation of GDL. In conclusion, this study aims to investigate the causes of degraded GDL on the PEMFC performance into the surface and interior degradation and provide the design guideline of high-durability GDL for the PEMFC.     

Symmetric and asymmetric membranes based on La0.5Sr0.5Fe0.7Ga0.3O3-δ perovskite with high oxygen semipermeation flux performances and identification of the rate-determining step of oxygen transport

This work focuses on identifying the rate-determining step of oxygen transport through La_0.5Sr_0.5Fe_0.7Ga_0.3O_3-δ membranes with symmetric and asymmetric architectures. The best oxygen semipermeation fluxes are 3.4 10⁻³ mol. m^-2.s^-1 and 6.3 10⁻³ mol. m^-2.s^-1 at 900 °C for the symmetric membrane and asymmetric membrane with a modified surface. The asymmetric membrane with a modified surface leads to an increase of approximately 7 times the oxygen flux compared to that obtained with the La_0.5Sr_0.5Fe_0.7Ga_0.3O_3-δ dense membrane without surface modification. This work also shows that the oxygen flux is mainly governed by gaseous oxygen diffusion through the porous support of asymmetric La_0.5Sr_0.5Fe_0.7Ga_0.3O_3-δ membranes.     

Effect of heat loss on the syngas production by fuel-rich combustion in a divergent two-layer burner

The effect of heat loss on the syngas production from partial combustion of fuel-rich in a divergent two-layer burner is numerically studied using two-dimensional model with detailed kinetics GRI-Mech 1.2. Both the radiation and wall heat losses to the surrounding are considered in the computations. It is shown that two types heat losses have different effects on the syngas production. The radiation heat loss has significant effect on the syngas temperature and the syngas temperature is dropped as radiation heat loss is increased, but it has neglected effect on the reforming efficiency and methane conversion efficiency. The wall heat loss has a comprehensive effect on the syngas production. The wall heat loss not only reduces the conversion efficiency, but also significantly decreases the syngas temperature. The effect of wall heat loss becomes weak as the equivalence is increased. The reforming efficiency drops from 0.440 to 0.424 for equivalence ratio of 2 and mixture velocity of 0.17 m/s for the predictions between adiabatic wall and non-adiabatic conditions.