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Intentional electromagnetic interference is a serious threat to the safety of electronic devices. Multiple electromagnetic pulses will be coupled and transmitted to electronic devices through the cables. Accumulative effects are generated, which make it easier for damage to occur in the electronic devices. In this article, the working principle of micro-silicon acceleration sensors is introduced. The accumulative effects of multiple pulses on acceleration sensors is studied by a large number of injection experiments. The accumulation trends of multiple pulses with different pulse numbers and intervals are analyzed. The damaged structures inside abnormal sensor amplifiers were observed via optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental results show that the accumulative effect is strengthened with increased pulse number or decreased pulse interval, and the threshold voltage for multiple pulses on the acceleration sensor decreases. The threshold voltage for a single pulse is 321.57 V. When the pulse interval is 1 μs and the pulse number is 5, the threshold voltage for multiple pulses is 163.42 V, which is reduced by 49.12% compared with a single pulse. These results provide a reference for the damage design of electromagnetic pulse weapons.

A numerical calculation model of multihead twisted spiral tube was established. In the range of Reynolds number from 5000 to 35000, the influence of different twisted structure on the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the multihead twisted spiral tube was studied by numerical calculation. Numerical calculation results indicate that the Nusselt number and friction coefficient increase with the increase in the ratio of outside and inside diameter of the cross-section, the increase in the number of twisted nodes, and the increase in the number of twisted spiral tube heads. Under the condition of the same spiral structure and the same hydraulic diameter, the heat transfer performance of the multihead twisted spiral tube is better than that of the spiral smooth tube. In addition, through artificial neural network analysis, the ratio of outside and inside diameter of the cross-section, number of twisted nodes, and the number of twisted spiral tube heads were optimized to promote the comprehensive heat transfer performance. The performance evaluation criterion is the highest when the ratio of outside and in-side diameter of the cross-section is 25/22.5, the number of twisted nodes is 3, and the number of twisted spiral tube heads is 3, which is 1.849 of the spiral smooth tube.

In this study, the self-powered photodetector based on photovoltaic effect was obtained from BixFeO3 (x = 1, 1.3, 1.5, 1.7) films. In order to study the origin of the photovoltaic effect, the self-polarized structure and defect distribution of the films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and piezoelectric force microscopy. In addition, the responsivity (1515 μA/W) and detectivity (1.35Χ1011 Jones) are achieved in the Bi1.5FeO3 film at zero bias after receiving 0.2 mW/cm2 of irradiation light in the wavelength of 500 nm. The rise and decay time of the photocurrent without bias reaches ∼6 ms and ∼15 ms respectively, and did not weaken after a 11 min cycling test. The self-polarized structure and defect dipoles play an important role in the photovoltaic effect of BixFeO3 self-powered photodetector. This work lays a foundation for applications in BixFeO3 self-powered photodetection.

This letter presents a high-performance scandium-doped aluminum nitride (Sc x Al 1-x N, x = 9.5%) piezoelectric MEMS hydrophone. The doping of Sc increases the piezoelectric constants of the piezoelectric sensing layer and hence results in better receive sensitivity for the ScAlN-based piezoelectric MEMS hydrophone. The sensing cells of the MEMS hydrophone sensor are designed in a bioinspired honeycomb structure for achieving high fill-factor and thus a large receive sensitivity. The top electrodes of the sensing cells are split into the inner and outer sections with optimized size ratios for differential readout, which further enhances the sensor’s sensitivity. The receive sensitivity is improved even further by reducing the top oxide thickness on the sensing diaphragm. The best measured receive sensitivity of the reported MEMS hydrophone with differential readout is −164.5 dB (re: 1 V/ $\mu $ Pa). An equivalent noise density as low as 44 dB (re: $1 ~\mu $ Pa/ $\surd $ Hz) at 1kHz is achieved. These metrics are much better than those of state-of-the-art bulk piezoceramic hydrophones as well as other reported piezoelectric MEMS hydrophones.

Single-crystalline Ni-rich cathodes are promising candidates for the next-generation high-energy Li-ion batteries. However, they still suffer from poor rate capability and low specific capacity due to the severe kinetic hindrance at the nondilute state during Li+ intercalation. Herein, combining experiments with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we demonstrate that this obstacle can be tackled by regulating the oxidation state of nickel via injecting high-valence foreign Ta5+ . The as-obtained single-crystalline LiNi0.8 Co0.1 Mn0.1 O2 delivers a high specific capacity (211.2 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C), high initial Coulombic efficiency (93.8 %), excellent rate capability (157 mAh g-1 at 4 C), and good durability (90.4 % after 100 cycles under 0.5 C). This work provides a strategy to mitigate the Li+ kinetic hindrance of the appealing single-crystalline Ni-rich cathodes and will inspire peers to conduct an intensive study.

This article investigates the dependence of transmitting sensitivity on the top electrode design of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs). Two typical top electrodes, namely inner electrode (IE) and outer electrode (OE), are designed and fabricated. The measured transmitting velocities of the fabricated PMUTs at resonance under a drive voltage of 5 $\text{V}_{\mathrm {p-p}}$ (peak-to-peak) are 15.36 mm/s for the IE design and 20.67 mm/s for the OE design with a circular diaphragm and 16.62 mm/s for the IE design and 22.18 mm/s for the OE design with a hexagonal diaphragm. The OE design demonstrates a transmitting velocity improvement of 34.57% for the circular diaphragm and 33.45% for the hexagonal diaphragm. The improvement is due to the fact that the OE design shows higher quality factor ( ${Q}$ ) than the IE counterpart. Moreover, the resonant frequency of the OE design is higher than that of the IE design, which results in a larger acoustic pressure output and hence higher transmitting sensitivity. This work highlights an effective and simple approach for PMUTs to achieve high transmitting sensitivity, which is an important parameter in the applications that require large sound pressures, such as fingerprint imaging, gesture recognition, and ranging.

Chain-die forming can be used to manufacture Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) channel components. Flange wrinkling is one of typical defects for chain-die formed products. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cause of flange wrinkling in chain-die forming of AHSS and to propose a potential method to suppress it. A hat channel product with a curved axis is formed as a benchmark to illustrate the mechanism of flange wrinkling in chain-die forming. When forming such a profile, longitudinal compressive strain of the sheet metal is geometrically necessary, and the compression has to be achieved by plastic wrinkling due to the insufficient restricted boundary condition. Finite element models are established to better understand the complex interaction between the tools and plate. An initial imperfection calculated from the differential equilibrium equations for elastic plates with small deflections is implemented into the finite element model to predict occurrence of the flange wrinkling. In order to eliminate the wrinkling defect, an M-shaped die design is proposed, which intends to provide additional restriction to the sheet metal and increase longitudinal and transversal tension. A three-factor, three-level Design of Experiment (DOE) scheme for the M-shaped die design is conducted. The DOE results show that a benign wrinkling always corresponds to a larger compressive strain and the width of the ears for M-shaped dies is a decisive factor to suppress wrinkling. The verification experiments show that the plastic flange wrinkling is completely eliminated by employing the proposed method.

Electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) in the acidic environment could largely prevent its decomposition to water, but efficient catalysts that constitute entirely earth-abundant elements are lacking. Here we report the experimental demonstration of narrowing the interlayer gap of metallic cobalt diselenide (CoSe2 ), which creates high-performance catalyst to selectively drive two-electron oxygen reduction toward H2 O2 in an acidic electrolyte. The enhancement of the interlayer coupling between CoSe2 atomic layers offers a favorable surface electronic structure that weakens the critical *OOH adsorption, promoting the energetics for H2 O2 production. Consequently, on the strongly coupled CoSe2 catalyst, we achieved Faradaic efficiency of 96.7 %, current density of 50.04 milliamperes per square centimeter, and product rate of 30.60 mg cm-2 h-1 . Moreover, this catalyst shows no sign of degradation when operating at -63 milliamperes per square centimeter over 100 hours.

To control road dust pollution, a starch/organo-bentonite composite liquid dust suppressant (CLDS) was successfully prepared. Potato starch was dissolved with NaOH solution at room temperature, and then sodium bentonite modified with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB-bentonite) was incorporated before polymerization reaction. The CLDS was characterized by XRD, FTIR, TG and SEM. Its properties, dust-suppression performances, dust removal effects and economic feasibility had also been evaluated. The results suggested CLDS presented a porous three-dimensional network structure with numerous layers and folds, and residual CLDS could form a protective solidified layer together with dust via high viscosity after solidification, which effectively enhanced the absorption of CLDS on dust, delayed its water evaporation, and inhibited dust diffusion under windy weather. CLDS also had good thermal stability and biodegradability due to the addition of CTAB-bentonite. 2.5 wt% CLDS can dramatically improve dust-suppression effect and overcome dust resuspension problem to save water consumption and bring economic benefits.

Fabricating a high-performance adsorbent as a desirable candidate for removing Pb2+ from aqueous water remains a challenge. Aramid nanofibers (ANFs) are promising building blocks that have realized multifunctional applications due to their intrinsic mechanical and chemical stability. Herein, an in situ loading strategy for preparing nanofiber composite aerogel was proposed by assembling ANFs into a 3D aerogel and applying it as host media for the in situ polymerization of pyrrole followed by facile redox reaction between the polypyrrole (PPy) and MnO4–1 to load manganese dioxide (MnO2). The idea was to fully exploit the structural advantages of ultra-low bulk density, large specific surface area, and high porosity of ANFs, and the possible chemical adsorption characteristics of MnO2 on the basis of ion exchange reaction. The adsorption capacity of 3D ANF/MnO2 composite aerogel was as large as 554.36 mg/g for Pb2+. The adsorption mechanism based on an exchange reaction between Pb2+ and protons on the surface of MnO2 was also investigated. The desorption results showed that the adsorption performance could remain up to 90% after five times of usage. In conclusion, this research provides promising insights into the preparation of high-performance lead adsorbent for water treatment.

Constructing consecutive proton-conducting nanochannels and optimizing nanophase-separation within proton exchange membrane (PEM) was of guiding significance for improving proton transfer. Metal organic framework (MOF), as a novel and functional material had drawn increasing attention in the research of proton PEM because of its flexible tunability and designability. Herein, a novel MOF-based nanofibrous mats (NFMs) were prepared by the self-assembly of zeolitic imidazole framework-67 (ZIF-67) onto polyacrylonitrile (PAN) NFMs. Subsequently, the ZIF-67 NFMs were incorporated into Nafion matrix to prepare ZIF-67@Nafion composite membrane which aimed at constructing consecutive proton-conducting channels. Especially, the acid–base pairs between N–H (ZIF-67 NFMs) and –SO3H (Nafion) could promote the protonation/deprotonation and subsequent proton leaping via Grotthuss mechanisms. As expected, the ZIF-67@Nafion-5 composite membrane showed a promising proton conductivity of 288 mS/cm at 80 °C and 100% RH, low methanol permeability of 7.98 × 10−7 cm2s−1, and superior power density of 298.68 mW/cm2 at 80 °C and 100% RH. In addition, the resulting composite membrane exhibited considerable enhancement in thermal stability and dimensional stability. This promising strategy provided a valuable reference for designing high-performance PEMs.

Sub-nanometer armchair graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with moderate band gap have great potential towards novel nanodevices. GNRs can be synthesized in the confined tubular space of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), in which precursor molecules have been specifically designed to form the GNRs with certain width and edge. However, it is still unexplored how the diameter and metallicity of SWCNTs influence the synthesis of the GNRs. Herein, we applied a series of SWCNTs with different average diameters to study the diameter-dependent synthesis of GNRs. By using Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, we found that the width of the GNRs can be tailored by the diameter of the SWCNTs. Especially, the SWCNTs with average diameter of 1.3 nm produced 6 and 7 armchair GNRs with the highest yield, which can be well explained by considering the width of the GNRs and van der Waals radius of hydrogen and carbon atoms. In addition, semiconducting and metallic SWCNTs produced GNRs with different yields, which could attribute to different diameter distributions and density of defects. These results enable the possibility of a high-yield production of certain armchair graphene nanoribbons in large scale, which would benefit future applications as semiconductor with sub-nanometer in width.

Atomically dispersed metals stabilized by nitrogen elements in carbon skeleton hold great promise as alternatives for Pt-based catalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. However, their widespread commercial applications are limited by complicated synthetic procedures for mass production. Herein, we are proposing a simple, green mechanochemical approach to synthesize zeolitic imidazolate frameworks precursors for the production of atomically dispersed “Fe-N4” sites in holey carbon nanosheets on a large scale. The thin porous carbon nanosheets (PCNs) with atomically dispersed “Fe-N4” moieties can be prepared in hectogram scale by directly pyrolysis of salt-sealed Fe-based zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (Fe-ZIF-8@NaCl) precursors. The PCNs possess large specific surface area, abundant lamellar edges and rich “Fe-N4” active sites, and show superior catalytic activity towards oxygen reduction reaction in an acid electrolyte. This work provides a promising approach to cost-effective production of atomically dispersed transition metal catalysts on large scale for practical applications.

In this article, we present a high-performance aluminum nitride (AlN)-based microelectromechanical system (MEMS) hydrophone sensor, in which the sensing cells are designed and arranged as an innovative honeycomb architecture for achieving large acoustic pressure sensitivity and high fill-factor. An $8\times9$ array of $360~{\mu }\text{m}$ in characteristic size, 0.92-MHz MEMS hydrophone sensor is developed based on an AlN-on-cavity silicon-on-insulator (CSOI) platform. The size of the MEMS hydrophone sensor is 3.2 mm $\times3.2$ mm. The MEMS hydrophone sensor and its preamplification circuit are integrated on a printed circuit board and packaged together with an acoustically transparent material, in order to meet the stringent requirements of underwater applications. The packaged MEMS hydrophone is fully characterized through using an industry-standard hydrophone calibration instrument. The MEMS hydrophone achieves an acoustic pressure sensitivity of −178 dB (re: 1 V/ $\mu$ Pa), with a maximum nonlinearity of 0.1%, and a noise resolution of 58.7 dB (re: 1 $\mu$ Pa/Hz). The measurement results show that the reported MEMS hydrophone sensor with bioinspired honeycomb structure is compared favorable with advanced commercially available bulky hydrophones.

The recent materialization carbyne confined to double-walled carbon nanotubes represents a major breakthrough in materials science but the control of its properties remains a major challenge. Here, localized photothermal heating through laser annealing and the possibility to perform Raman spectroscopy in-situ allow fabricating confined carbyne with tailored properties. Transmission electron microscopy shows the confined carbyne can reach about 10 nm in length. Evident interaction between the nanotubes and the confined carbyne alters the tube's diameter. Furthermore, the mechanism to tailor the properties of the confined carbyne could be associated to its corresponding Raman mode. The evolution of the synthesis constricted to the tube under increasing laser power can be monitored step by step from the moment the growth starts until a knock-off threshold is reached. Photothermal annealing represents a real possibility to synthesize carbyne confined to single-chirality carbon nanotubes, which is not entirely feasible otherwise.

Multifunctional phase change composites are in great demand for all kinds of industrial technologies and applications, which have both superior latent heat capacity and excellent solar-thermal conversion capability. In this research, biomimetic phase change composites are made by inspired by natural systems, successfully getting the high thermal conductivity of carbon foam and magnetism of composites together, to establish a novel solar-thermal energy storage method. The morphology and the thermal characteristics of biomimetic phase change composites have been characterized. The results showed that the maximum storage efficiency of the biomimetic phase change materials increased by 56.3% compared to that of the based materials, and it can further be improved by the application of magnetic field. Meanwhile the heat transfer process of solar-thermal conversion and energy storage in biomimetic porous structure under the external physical fields has been explained by simulation. Thus, the magnetic field-induced method applied in this research has better solar-thermal energy storage characteristics within a porous structure by dynamically controlling the magnetism, which has potential uses for various sustainable applications, including waste-heat recovery, energy conservation in building, and solar-thermal energy storage.

In principle, polymerization tends to produce amorphous or poorly crystalline materials. Efficiently producing high-quality single crystals by polymerization in solvent remains as an unsolved issue in chemistry, especially for covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with highly complex structures. To produce μm-sized single crystals, the growth time is prolonged to >15 days, far away from the requirements in practical applications. Here, we find supercritical CO2 (sc-CO2) accelerates single-crystal polymerization by 10,000,000 folds, and produces two-dimensional (2D) COF single crystals with size up to 0.2 mm within 2~5 min. Although it is the fastest single-crystal polymerization, the growth in sc-CO2 leads to not only the largest crystal size of 2D COFs, but also higher quality with improved photoconductivity performance. This work overcomes traditional concept on low efficiency of single-crystal polymerization, and holds great promise for future applications owing to its efficiency, industrial compatibility, environmental friendliness and universality for different crystalline structures and linkage bonds., Rapid growth of highly crystalline Covalent organic framework (COF) materials remains challenging. Here, the authors accelerate single-crystal polymerization using supercritical CO2 and realize the fabrication of two-dimensional COF single crystals within several minutes.

Chain-die forming is an emerging sheet metal technique for manufacturing advanced high strength steel (AHSS) products. Springback and longitudinal bow are two of the major shape defects in gradual forming. In this study, the springback and longitudinal bow of AHSS in chain-die forming of hat and U profiles are investigated through experiment and finite element simulation. The disparity of springback along the longitudinal direction and disparate longitudinal bow signifies complex deformation processes of chain-die forming. Finite element simulation of the chain-die forming process gives an insight into the formation of non-uniform springback and longitudinal bow. The gradual forming process by one die block after another causes bending and reverse-bending deformation in the web area and the redundant deformation of the sheet metal, which further leads to non-uniform bending moment and accumulated stresses along the longitudinal direction. At the same time, the redundant deformation will also result in the longitudinal strain on the edge, while the downhill deformation decreases the maximum longitudinal strain at the edge and introduces the longitudinal strain on the web. The different non-uniform longitudinal strain distribution along the transversal direction causes disparate longitudinal bow behaviors for chain-die formed AHSS hat and U profiles, downward bowing and upward bowing respectively. By the established model, the disparate springback and longitudinal bow behavior can be determined, which also contribute to the process design for chain-die formed AHSS products.

Friction stir welding (FSW) tool pin, as a critical component of FSW tool, plays an important role in determining the final joint properties by affecting the heat generation, plastic material flow, welding loads, and so on. However, the effects of tool pin on heat and mass transfer in FSW are not elucidated and quantitative studied. In the present study, a validated model was adopted to quantitatively analyze the effects of pin size and taper angle on the thermal process and plastic material flow in FSW. The effects of pin root diameter, pin tip diameter, and pin taper angle on heat and mass transfer in FSW were quantitatively investigated, respectively. It reveals that the torque and transverse force imposed on the pin are increased with the increase of the pin diameters (including its root diameter, its tip diameter, and its size in condition of constant taper angle), while the total tool torque varies a little for the tool pin diameter considered in this study. When the pin diameters increase, the viscosity of the materials near the pin is decreased, while the temperature as well as the flow velocity is increased. More plastic material near the tool could rotate around the tool with an increase of the pin diameter. The TMAZ boundary is enlarged with larger pin diameters in FSW. Particularly, the shear layer thickness of the same horizontal plane in the range of 1 mm < z < 5 mm is significantly enlarged with an increase of pin root diameters. However, the shear layer thickness of the same horizontal plane in the region of z < 5 mm is increased when using a larger pin tip diameter. In addition, maximum width of TMAZ boundary at the top surface of workpiece was not affected by pin diameters. The model is validated by experimental results. It could lay a solid foundation for optimizing the tool pin size and taper angle in FSW.

With the goal of constructing a carbon-free energy cycle, proton-exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis is a promising technology that can be integrated effectively with renewable energy resources to produce high-purity hydrogen. IrO2, as a commercial electrocatalyst for the anode side of a PEM water electrolyzer, can both overcome the high corrosion conditions and exhibit efficient catalytic performance. However, the high consumption of Ir species cannot meet the sustainable development and economic requirements of this technology. Accordingly, it is necessary to understand the OER catalytic mechanisms for Ir species, further designing new types of low-iridium catalysts with high activity and stability to replace IrO2. In this review, we first summarize the related catalytic mechanisms of the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and then provide general methods for measuring the catalytic performance of materials. Second, we present the structural evolution results of crystalline IrO2 and amorphous IrOx using in situ characterization techniques under catalytic conditions to understand the common catalytic characteristics of the materials and the possible factors affecting the structural evolution characteristics. Furthermore, we focus on three types of common low-iridium catalysts, including heteroatom-doped IrO2 (IrOx)-based catalysts, perovskite-type iridium-based catalysts, and pyrochlore-type iridium-based catalysts, and try to correlate the structural features with the intrinsic catalytic performance of materials. Finally, at the end of the review, we present the unresolved problems and challenges in this field in an attempt to develop effective strategies to further balance the catalytic activity and stability of materials under acidic OER catalytic conditions.

In this work, polycrystalline Pr1-xBaxMnO3 (0.25 ≤ x ≤ 0.36) ceramics were synthesized, and their magnetic and electrical transport properties were systematically studied. All samples show two metal-insulator transitions (MITs) corresponding to the high temperature TMI1 and low temperature TMI2, respectively, besides the non-Griffith phase above the ferromagnetic (FM) transition temperature TC. Combining the results of the transport and magnetic properties, it is found that the FM transition temperature TC coincides with the temperature TMI1, which is linearly related to the A-site ionic radius mismatch variance σ2, indicating the enhancement of FM interactions due to the increase of the degree of B-site ordering of Mn3+/Mn4+ ions. The positive correlation between ferromagnetic insulators (FMI) and magnetic interactions, including the FM and short-range antiferromagnetic (AFM) interactions, is confirmed. It is suggested that the first MIT at TMI1 is attributed to the Mn3+/Mn4+ double exchange interactions and the second MIT at TMI2 is closely related to the suppression of the AFM interactions under the internal FM field induced by the Mn3+/Mn4+ DE interactions. This work provides not only a theoretical understanding on the origin of MIT at low temperature, but also a new way for adjusting the FMI in perovskite manganese oxide Pr1-xBaxMnO3 for application.

Redox mediators (RMs) have been developed as efficient approaches to lower the charge polarization of Li-O2 batteries. However, the shuttle effect resulting from their soluble nature severely damages the battery performance, causing failure of the RM and anode corrosion. In this work, a chemical binding strategy based on a MXene-modified separator with a 3D porous hierarchical structure design was developed to suppress the I3- shutting in LiI-involved Li-O2 battery. As corroborated by experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations, the abundant -OH terminal groups on the MXene surface functioned as effective binding sites for suppressing the migration of I3-, while the 3D porous structure ensured the fast transfer of lithium ions. As a result, the Li-O2 battery with the MXene-modified separator showed no sign of redox shuttling compared with its counterparts in the full discharge/charge tests. In the meantime, the MXene-modified separator based-cell exhibited a stable cycle life up to 100 cycles, which is 3 times longer than the control samples. We believe that this work could provide insights into the development of separator modification for Li-O2 batteries with RMs.

To analyze the effects of freeze-thaw cycles and confining pressure on the mechanical properties of red sandstone, through freeze-thaw cycles and triaxial compression tests, full stress-strain curves of different freeze-thaw cycles and different confining pressures were obtained. The degradation degree of red sandstone was quantitatively considered from different mechanical parameters of ultimate stress, elastic modulus, and Poisson’s ratio. Based on summarizing the characteristics of rock under freeze-thaw and load, the total damage variable of rock was determined by the reasonable measurement of freeze-thaw damage variable and load damage variable, and a damage constitutive model under freeze-thaw and load was established. The research showed that the freeze-thaw cycles aggravate the degree of rock damage deterioration, the rock stiffness and strength were reduced, and the characteristics of plastic deformation and ductile failure were more obvious. The confining pressure inhibited red sandstone internal damage, and with the increase of confining pressure, the stiffness and strength and the plastic characteristics were increased. In the overall trend, the mechanical parameters had different sensitivity to the degradation effect of freeze-thaw cycles and confining pressure. Regardless of the increase in the number of freeze-thaw cycles or confining pressure, the strain softening modulus tended to decrease gradually, and red sandstone plastic damage became more obvious after the stress peak. The total damage evolution path of red sandstone reflected the nonlinear influence of freeze-thaw and load on the total damage propagation. The research results provide theoretical support for the improvement of the technology of the effluent coal rock in Balasu Coal Mine.

In a narrow temperature window in going from the isotropic to highly chiral orders, cholesteric liquid crystals exhibit so-called blue phases, consisting of different morphologies of long, space-filling double twisted cylinders. Those of cubic spatial symmetry have attracted considerable attention in recent years as templates for soft photonic materials. The latter often requires the creation of monodomains of predefined orientation and size, but their engineering is complicated by a lack of comprehensive understanding of how blue phases nucleate and transform into each other at a submicrometer length scale. In this work, we accomplish this by intercepting nucleation processes at intermediate stages with fast cross-linking of a stabilizing polymer matrix. We reveal using transmission electron microscopy, synchrotron small-angle X-ray diffraction, and angle-resolved microspectroscopy that the grid of double-twisted cylinders undergoes highly coordinated, diffusionless transformations. In light of our findings, the implementation of several applications is discussed, such as temperature-switchable QR codes, micro-area lasing, and fabrication of blue phase liquid crystals with large domain sizes., The arrangements of defect lines in liquid crystal blue phases provide promising templates for photonic crystals. Here Liu et al. investigate in detail how inter-phase transitions proceed, by intercepting nucleation with on-demand cross linking of a supporting polymer matrix.

Although experts at home and abroad have done a lot of research on the performance of ancient wooden structures and seismic reinforcement, and have achieved many results, due to the complexity of i...

Digenite (Cu1.8S) as a potential p-type thermoelectric (TE) material has attracted extensive attention due to its environmental benign, abundant resources and low cost of component elements. In this study, the TE properties of MnxCu1.8S bulk samples prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) combined with spark plasma sintering (SPS) were investigated. Doping Mn would initially substitute Cu and tune the band structure of Cu1.8S with an enlarged band gap Eg. However, if Mn content is beyond the solubility limit of x = 0.01 in Cu1.8S will cause the formation of MnS, which contributes to the formation of Cu-rich phases at 0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.08. Benefiting from the synergetic scattering effect of point defects ( Mn Cu • , V S • • ) and MnS, Cu1.96S, Cu1.97S, Cu2S phases, the lowest thermal conductivity κ value of 0.75 W m−1K−1 was obtained at 773 K for Mn0.08Cu1.8S. Along with the decreased κ, the highest figure of merit ZT value of 0.92 at 773 K achieved in Mn0.08Cu1.8S bulk sample. A maximum engineering ZTeng of 0.3 and its efficiency ηmax of about 6% were obtained at 323–773 K, which is almost 3 times than that of the pristine Cu1.8S (ηmax = 2.2%). Introducing Mn in Cu1.8S is an effective and convenient strategy to improve TE performance.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibit high proton conductivity, thermal stability, and offer immense flexibility in terms of tailoring their size. Owing to their unique characteristics, they are desirable candidates for proton conductors. Nevertheless, constructing ordered MOF proton channels in proton exchange membranes (PEMs) remains a formidable challenge. Herein, blend nanofibers of cellulose and UiO-66-NH2 (Cell–UiO-66-NH2) obtained via the electrospinning process were embedded in a sulfonated polysulfone matrix to obtain high-performance composite PEMs with an orderly arrangement of UiO-66-NH2. Comprehensive characterization and membrane performance tests reveal that composite membrane with 5 wt% (nominal) UiO-66-NH2 have revealed high proton conductivity of 0.196 S cm−1 at 80 °C and 100% relative humidity. Meantime, the composite membrane exhibits a low methanol permeability coefficient (~5.5 × 10−7 cm2 s−1). Moreover, the composite membrane exhibits a low swelling ratio (17.3%) even at 80 °C. The Cell–UiO-66-NH2 nanofibers exhibit strong potential for use as a proton-conducting nanofiller in fuel-cell PEMs.

Ultrasonic vibration (UV)-enhanced friction stir welding (UVeFSW) is used for welding of 2195 Al–Li alloy plates. A model is developed to study the heat and mass transfer in UVeFSW of 2195 Al–Li al...

The mechanical function of the uterus is critical for a successful pregnancy. During gestation, uterine tissue grows and stretches to many times its size to accommodate the growing fetus, and it is hypothesized the magnitude of uterine tissue stretch triggers the onset of contractions. To establish rigorous mechanical testing protocols for the human uterus in hopes of predicting tissue stretch during pregnancy, this study measures the anisotropic mechanical properties of the human uterus using optical coherence tomography (OCT), instrumented spherical indentation, and video extensometry. In this work, we perform spherical indentation and digital image correlation to obtain the tissue’s force and deformation response to a ramp-hold loading regimen. We translate previously reported fiber architecture, measured via optical coherence tomography, into a constitutive fiber composite material model to describe the equilibrium material behavior during indentation. We use an inverse finite element method integrated with a genetic algorithm (GA) to fit the material model to our experimental data. We report the mechanical properties of human uterine specimens taken across different anatomical locations and layers from one non-pregnant (NP) and one pregnant (PG) patient; both patients had pathological uterine tissue. Compared to NP uterine tissue, PG tissue has a more dispersed fiber distribution and equivalent stiffness material parameters. In both PG and NP uterine tissue, the mechanical properties differ significantly between anatomical locations.

Strong metal-support interactions (SMSI) is an important concept in heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, we demonstrate that the Au-TiO2 SMSI of Au/TiO2 catalysts sensitively depends on both Au nanoparticle (NP) sizes and TiO2 facets. Au NPs of ca. 5 nm are more facile undergo Au-TiO2 SMSI than those of ca. 2 nm, while TiO2 {001} and {100} facets are more facile than TiO2 {101} facets. The resulting capsulating TiO2-x overlayers on Au NPs exhibit an average oxidation state between +3 and +4 and a Au-to-TiO2-x charge transfer, which, combined with calculations, determines the Ti:O ratio as ca. 6:11. Both TiO2-x overlayers and TiO2-x -Au interface exhibit easier lattice oxygen activation and higher intrinsic activity in catalyzing low-temperature CO oxidation than the starting Au-TiO2 interface. These results advance fundamental understanding of SMSI and demonstrate engineering of metal NP size and oxide facet as an effective strategy to tune the SMSI for efficient catalysis.

Redox-active organics are investigation hotspots for metal ion storage due to their structural diversity and redox reversibility. However, they are plagued by limited storage capacity, sluggish ion diffusion kinetics, and weak structural stability, especially for K+ ion storage. Herein, we firstly reported the lamellar tetrapotassium pyromellitic (K4 PM) with four active sites and large interlayer distance for K+ ion storage based on a design strategy, where organics are constructed with the small molecular mass, multiple active sites, fast ion diffusion channels, and rigid conjugated π bonds. The K4 PM electrode delivers a high capacity up to 292 mAh g-1 at 50 mA g-1 , among the best reported organics for K+ ion storage. Especially, it achieves an excellent rate capacity and long-term cycling stability with a capacity retention of ≈83 % after 1000 cycles. Incorporating in situ and ex-situ techniques, the K+ ion storage mechanism is revealed, where conjugated carboxyls are reversibly rearranged into enolates to stably store K+ ions. This work sheds light on the rational design and optimization of organic electrodes for efficient metal ion storage.

The R-dependent structural and magnetic properties of the disordered RFe0.5Cr0.5O3 (R = Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm) ceramics are systemically investigated. Based on the model composed of the paramagnetic R sub...

Through the simulation of abrasive flow in the inner cavity of the superalloy pre-spinning nozzle made by additive manufacturing, the special abrasive polishing tool is optimized and the surface polishing technology of the inner cavity of typical structure test pieceis studied. Through comparison of the surface morphology before and after polishing, it can be concluded that the abrasive flow has a considerable removal effect on the powder sticking effect, spheroidizing effect, step effect, slag hanging phenomenon and residual support on the surface of parts, but it has a limited effect on the surface pit of the substrate. After polishing, the surface roughness of the inner cavity of parts decreasea from Ra 3.1397 μm to Ra 0.5805 μm, and the surface roughness of blade position decreases from Ra 4.8473 μm to Ra 0.3606 μm. Through the range analysis, it is found that the effect intensity of the processing parameters on the surface roughness of the parts is in order of the processing time, processing pressure and abrasive particle size.

Carbyne is a one-dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting of a linear chain of carbon atoms bonded to each other with exceptional strength. Its outstanding mechanical, optical, and electronic properties have been theoretically predicted, but its stability has only been achieved when grown encapsulated in the hollow core of carbon nanotubes. One of the advantages of this confinement is that its properties can be controlled by the chain's length and surrounding environment. We investigated an alternative way of gaining control of its properties is using isotope labelling as tuning mechanism. The optimized liquid precursor was first chosen among several options, which can greatly enhance the yield of the confined carbyne. Then isotopic labelled liquid precursor was encapsulated for further synthesis of isotopic labelled confined carbyne. This allowed us to obtain pioneering results on isotope engineered carbyne with around 11.9 % of C-13-labelling using C-13-methanol as precursor.

A novel onion-like carbon/Bi12O17Cl2 (OC/Bi12O17Cl2) photocatalysts were prepared via chemical deposition strategy. The surface composition, feature, and optical absorbed capacity of OC/Bi12O17Cl2 materials were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and UV–vis diffuse reflection spectra (UV–vis DRS). It can be found from the characterization and experiment results, OC nanoparticles loaded on the Bi12O17Cl2 surface, forming the heterojunction structure, which increased the separation of photogenerated carriers, exhibiting enhanced optical absorbed capacity. Meanwhile, the band gaps of OC/Bi12O17Cl2 materials decreased in comparison to Bi12O17Cl2 (2.24 vs 2.65 eV). Moreover, in the photocatalytic degradation test of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye, OC/Bi12O17Cl2 samples showed better degradation effect than bare Bi12O17Cl2. The composite material with onion-like carbon loading mass of 3 mg exhibited the best photocatalytic activity and stability in the range of seven cycles. The trapping agent experiments showed that •O2− and h+ were the major active species. Finally, the reasonable mechanism of reaction was speculated.

The Sm-doping effect on the crystal structure, dielectric and magnetic properties of CeFeO3 ceramics are systemically investigated. A giant dielectric response with high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss at room temperature (RT) is observed in Ce0.5Sm0.5FeO3 compounds. The increase of the dielectric constant is attributed to the increase of the ratio of Fe2+/Fe3+ ionic contents due to the charge transfer between Ce3+ and Fe3+ ions induced by Sm doping. Besides, the starting temperature T1 of spin-reorientation transition from Γ4 (Gx, Ay, Fz) to Γ1 (Ax, Gy, Cz) increases with Sm doping, and even reaches to a higher one than RT. Meanwhile, composite spin configurations of Fe3+ ions containing Γ1 and/or Γ2 (Fx, Cy, Gz) are found at RT in 0.2≤x ≤ 0.5 samples (x is Sm doping level), besides Γ4 state, whose formation originates from the strengthening of the anisotropic exchange interactions between Fe3+ and Ce3+/Sm3+ spins and the coexistence of Ce- and Sm-rich regions caused by Sm doping. It is suggested that the combining and competing functions of the Fe2+-Fe3+ ferromagnetic double-exchange interaction related to the Fe2+ ionic content and the composite spin configurations of Fe3+ ions containing Γ1 and/or Γ2 dominate the dielectric loss of Ce1-xSmxFeO3 ceramics. The results provide a different view for the physical theory and adjustment of the dielectric properties for applications.

Adsorbents based on CuI for π-complexative separation of C2H4/C2H6 have attracted widespread interests. However, they are still confronting some challenges, for example, (i) a low separation efficiency, resulted from the ineffective reduction of CuII to CuI along with aggregation, and (ii) poor stability due to the oxidation of CuI to inactive CuII. In this study, active Cu and auxiliary Co species are simultaneously encapsulated within the nanopores of MIL-101 using a double-solvent (DS) method to obtain CuCoM-DS. The Cu species at the interior of MIL-101 are homogeneously dispersed and can be completely reduced to CuI without any structural damage to MIL-101. The resulting CuCoM-DS exhibits a superior performance in C2H4/C2H6 separation not only to the pristine MIL-101, but to the counterpart samples of single Cu and/or Cu/Co at the exterior of MIL-101. The best sample of 1.5CuCoM-DS adsorbent is capable to adsorb 50.5 mL·g−1 of C2H4, and the C2H4/C2H6 selectivity is 2.6 at 100 kPa. Both C2H4 uptake and C2H4/C2H6 selectivity are higher than those reference samples. Moreover, 1.5CuCoM-DS preserves over 90% of fresh C2H4 uptake after the exposure to atmospheric air for 12 days. This study provides new design ideas for confining bimetallic sites in MOFs for broad applications.

An integrated process that includes catalytic co-pyrolysis of biomass/plastic wastes and in-line catalytic upgrading of pyrolysis gas were conducted to simultaneously produce aromatics-rich bio-oil and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The influences of feedstocks blending ratio on the characteristics of bio-oil and CNTs were established. The reaction mechanism of carbon deposition during the system was also probed. The results showed that co-feeding plastic to biomass siginificantly enhanced the selectivity of monoaromatics (benzene, toluene, and xylene) from 5.6% for pure biomass to the maximum yield of 44.4% for 75.0% plastic ratio, and decreased naphthalene and its derivates from 85.9 to 41.7% correspondingly. The most synergistic effect on BTX selectivity occurred at 25% of plastic ratio. The multi-walled CNTs were successfully synethsized on Ni catalyst by utilizing prolysis gas as feedstocks. For pure biomass, the least CNTs yield with ultrafine diameters of 3.9–8.5 nm was generated via disproportionation reaction of CO which was derived from decarboxylation and decarbonylation of oxygenates on the ZSM-5 acid sites. With the rise of plastic ratio, sufficient hydrocarbons were produced for CNTs growth, endowing CNTs with long and straight tube walls, along with uniform diameters (~16 nm). The CNTs yield increased as high as 139 mg/g-cata. In addition, the decreased CO2 inhibited dry reforming with C1-C4 hydrocarbons and deposited carbon, avoiding excessive etching of CNTs. Thereby, high-purity CNTs with less defects were fabricated when plastic ratio was beyond 50% in the feedstock. The strategy is expected to improve the sustainability and economic viability of biomass pyrolysis.

By conducting relative permeability experiments of multi-cycle gas-water displacement and imbibition on natural cores, we discuss relative permeability hysteresis effect in underground gas storage during multi-cycle injection and production. A correction method for relative permeability hysteresis in numerical simulation of water-invaded gas storage has been worked out using the Carlson and Killough models. A geologic model of water-invaded sandstone gas storage with medium-low permeability is built to investigate the impacts of relative permeability hysteresis on fluid distribution and production performance during multi-cycle injection and production of the gas storage. The study shows that relative permeability hysteresis effect occurs during high-speed injection and production in gas storage converted from water-invaded gas reservoir, and leads to increase of gas-water transition zone width and thickness, shrinkage of the area of high-efficiency gas storage, and decrease of the peak value variation of pore volume containing gas, and then reduces the storage capacity, working gas volume, and high-efficiency operation span of the gas storage. Numerical simulations exhibit large prediction errors of performance indexes if this hysteresis effect is not considered. Killough and Carlson methods can be used to correct the relative permeability hysteresis effect in water-invaded underground gas storage to improve the prediction accuracy. The Killough method has better adaptability to the example model.

As one of the most important imaging modalities, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) still faces relatively low sensitivity to monitor low-abundance molecules. A newly developed technology, hyperpolarized 129Xe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), can boost the signal sensitivity to over 10 000-fold compared with that under conventional MRI conditions, and this technique is referred to as ultrasensitive MRI. However, there are few methods to visualize complex mixtures in this field due to the difficulty in achieving favorable “cages” to capture the signal source, namely, 129Xe atoms. Here, we proposed metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as tunable nanoporous hosts to provide suitable cavities for xenon. Due to the widely dispersed spectroscopic signals, 129Xe in different MOFs was easily visualized by assigning each chemical shift to a specific color. The results illustrated that the pore size determined the exchange rate, and the geometric structure and elemental composition influenced the local charge experienced by xenon. We confirmed that a complex mixture was first differentiated by specific colors in ultrasensitive MRI. The introduction of MOFs helps to overcome long-standing obstacles in ultrasensitive, multiplexed MRI., Metal organic frameworks with tunable pore structures are able to provide varied chemical environments for hyperpolarized 129Xe atom hosting, which results in distinguishing magnetic resonance signals, and stains ultra-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diverse colors.

High-performance yarn-shaped supercapacitor electrode materials are lightweight, compact, flexible, and low cost, making them ideal for developing flexible energy storage devices. In this paper, a ...

The zinc metal anode in aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) is considerably impeded by uncontrollable dendrite growth and intricately water-induced corrosion, leading to low Coulombic efficiency (CE) and limited lifespan. Herein, a bifunctional cellulose nanowhisker-graphene (CNG) membrane was constructed to mitigate these problems. Experimental analysis and molecular dynamics simulation reveal that the CNG membrane, functioning as a desolvation layer to preclude H2O molecules encountering the Zn anode, retards the water-induced corrosion reaction. This CNG layer with negative surface charges can simultaneously generate a deanionization shock by spreading cations but screening anions to obtain redirected Zn deposition parallel to the (0002)Zn plane. Furthermore, the flexible and toughened CNG membrane could withstand a strong tensile force (8.54 N) and a great puncture force (0.10 N) to favorably accommodate the Zn anode surface fluctuation during plating/stripping. Accordingly, CNG/Zn anode delivers an enhanced CE (99.4%) and a longer cycle life (∼5500 h), over 27 times that of a bare Zn anode. A full MnO2/graphene-CNG/Zn battery exhibits a high discharge capacity (307 mA h g−1) and maintains a high capacity retention of 87.8% at 5C after 5000 cycles.

Herein, we described a simple and straightforward route to create bifunctional fiber catalysts for the one-pot cooperative catalysis. The materials were combined with amine base functions and Bronsted acid functions on the commercially available polyacrylonitrile fiber, and the resulted fiber samples during the preparation and utilization processes were characterized in detail by various detection techniques. Moreover, the strategy permits easy tailoring of the acid–base properties by tuning the cooperativity of the acid–base proportions. The optimized fiber material enabled the one-pot cooperative catalysis for the tandem deprotection-Knoevenagel reactions with good yields in water over 12 cycles, and was effectively enlarged to the gram-scale in a spinning basket reactor with potential application values.

In the present work, a novel photocatalyst of phosphorus-doped (P-doped) MnxCd1−xS was developed for efficient pure water splitting for hydrogen evolution without any sacrificial agents. The doped phosphorus atoms narrowed the band gap of the proposed photocatalyst and enhanced the electron migration rate. In addition, the P-doped MnxCd1−xS catalyst showed a longer photo-electron lifetime, enabling more collision chances for the photocatalytic redox of water than the unmodified sample. The photocatalytic performance of P-doped MnxCd1−xS with Pt as the co-catalyst was approximately 6.6 fold higher than that of bare MnxCd1−xS (863 vs. 130 μmol h−1 g−1) in the reaction process of pure water splitting. The apparent quantum yield of H2 evolution reached 0.95% under monochromatic irradiation at 450 nm.

Proton-conducting nanofiber hybrid membranes (PC-NFHMs) as promising candidates, are widely used for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), combining the properties and some synergism from interactions between nanofibers and the polymer matrix. The PC-NFHMs possess superior characteristics compared to individual ion-conducting polymeric membranes or free-standing electrolyte inorganic films. Herein, this critical review presents the progress of PC-NFHMs, with specific focus on the combinations of multifunctional nanofibers and emerging proton transfer carriers, such as metal organic frameworks (MOFs), porous organic cages (POCs), polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSSs), amino acids (AAs), etc. The unique properties and performance of the different types of multifunctional nanofibers and their derivatives are described with respect to their use as PC-NFHMs. Besides, relevant characterization studies including small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), and molecular dynamics calculation (MDC), have been briefly summarized to understand proton-conducting mechanisms (Vehicle and Grotthuss mechanisms) in electrolyte membranes. These systematic discussions and proposed directions can trigger thoughts and provide ways to reasonably design PC-NFHMs for PEMFCs in the near future.