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In this study, we successfully synthesized two types of nitrogen–phosphorus co-doped carbon dots (CDs), namely 6NP-CDs and eNP-CDs, and incorporated them as additives into ethylene glycol-based lubricants. We systematically evaluated the effects of these CD additives on the tribological properties of the lubricants through four-ball friction experiments. The experimental results demonstrate that lubricants enhanced with the CDs exhibit significantly improved tribological properties compared to the base lubricant, particularly in terms of anti-wear performance. Notably, 6NP-CDs exhibited superior wear resistance and friction reduction at concentrations of 0.1 wt.% and 0.2 wt.%. Furthermore, increasing the concentration of eNP-CDs further reduced the friction coefficient of the base lubricant, and at its optimal concentration, it outperformed 6NP-CDs in terms of wear resistance and friction reduction. Molecular structure analysis indicates that the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus atoms, as well as the chain length of functional groups, significantly influence friction characteristics. Specifically, a greater content of heteroatoms and longer chain lengths correlate with improved friction performance. The results suggest that incorporating 6NP-CDs and eNP-CDs into ethylene glycol-based lubricants can lead to significant enhancements in tribological performance under heavy loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most existing low-light image enhancement (LIE) methods are primarily designed for human-vision-friendly image formats, such as sRGB, due to their convenient storage and smaller file sizes. In addition, raw images provide greater detail and a wider dynamic range, which makes them more suitable for LIE tasks. Despite these advantages, raw images, the original format captured by cameras, are larger and less accessible and are hard to use in methods of LIE with mobile devices. In order to leverage both the advantages of sRGB and raw domains while avoiding the direct use of raw images as training data, this paper introduces sRrsR-Net, a novel framework with the image translation process of sRGB–raw–sRGB for LIE task. In our approach, firstly, the RGB-to-iRGB module is designed to convert sRGB images into intermediate RGB feature maps. Then, with these intermediate feature maps, to bridge the domain gap between sRGB and raw pixels, the RAWFormer module is proposed to employ global attention to effectively align features between the two domains to generate reconstructed raw images. For enhancing the raw images and restoring them back to normal-light sRGB, unlike traditional Image Signal Processing (ISP) pipelines, which are often bulky and integrate numerous processing steps, we propose the RRAW-to-sRGB module. This module simplifies the process by focusing only on color correction and white balance, while still delivering competitive results. Extensive experiments on four benchmark datasets referring to both domains demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research thoroughly examined the tribological characteristics of polyalphaolefin (PAO4) oil, both with and without the incorporation of methyl silicone resin. The evaluation of anti-wear properties and friction reduction was conducted using a four-ball tester for friction and wear. The incorporation of methyl silicone resin into PAO4 at 25 °C significantly reduced the wear scar diameter (WSD), achieving minimum values at a concentration of 0.02 wt.%. PAO4 with 0.02 wt.% methyl silicone resin shows excellent wear resistance at different temperatures. A detailed analysis of the wear scar surfaces and wear debris was conducted using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, 3D surface profiler and TEM. The results compellingly demonstrate that the remarkable improvement in wear resistance is predominantly due to the strategic formation of SiO2 nanoparticles during the friction process. These SiO2 particles not only adeptly fill the surface gaps at the friction interface but also crucially contribute to the formation of a robust tribochemical film, which is instrumental in enhancing wear performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of external devices and network connectivity into autonomous vehicles has raised significant concerns about in-vehicle security vulnerabilities. Existing security mechanisms for in-vehicle bus systems, which mainly rely on appending authentication codes and data encryption, have been extensively studied in the context of CAN and CAN-FD buses. However, these approaches are not directly applicable to Ethernet buses due to the much higher data transmission rates of Ethernet buses compared to other buses. The real-time encryption and decryption required by Ethernet buses cannot be achieved with conventional methods, necessitating an acceleration in the speed of cryptographic operations to match the demands of Ethernet communication. In response to these challenges, our paper introduces a range of cryptographic solutions specifically designed for in-vehicle Ethernet networks. We employ an AES-ECC hybrid algorithm for critical vehicle control signals, combining the efficiency of AES with the security of ECC. For multimedia signals, we propose an improved AES-128 (IAES-128) and an improved MD5 (IMD), which improve encryption time by 15.77%. Our proposed security mechanisms have been rigorously tested through attack simulations on the CANoe (version 10) platform. These tests cover both in-vehicle control signals, such as braking and throttle control, and non-critical systems like multimedia entertainment. The experimental results convincingly demonstrate that our optimized algorithms and security mechanisms ensure the secure and reliable operation of real-time communication in autonomous vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of graphene oxide with different reduction degrees on the photocatalytic efficiency of titanium dioxide‐graphene (TiO2‐G) composites has not been systematically studied. In this paper, titanium dioxide‐partially reduced graphene oxide (TiO2‐PRGO) nanocomposites were prepared by a modified one‐step solvent‐thermal method and further reduced with ascorbic acid to obtain TiO2‐PRGO(xh) with a higher degree of reduction (ascorbic acid 80° reduced TiO2‐PRGO x h, x = 1, 2, 3, 4). The composites were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The transient photocurrent response and electrochemical impedance results show that TiO2‐PRGO has the most outstanding photoelectrochemical properties. Compared with pure TiO2 and other samples, the TiO2‐PRGO nanocomposites exhibited excellent photocatalytic properties, and their photocatalytic efficiencies for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) were up to seven times higher than those of the pure TiO2 nanomaterials, and twice that of TiO2‐PRGO(4h). The photodegradation of methylene blue by the composites decreased as the degree of PRGO reduction increased. The efficient photocatalytic performance of TiO2‐PRGO can be attributed to the high TiO2 loading and good electrical conductivity. Notably, TiO2‐PRGO photocatalysis for 90 min resulted in 100% degradation of MB. Meanwhile, TiO2‐PRGO has good reusability, and the degradation rate of TiO2‐PRGO remained at 95% after four times of degradation in MB solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MoS2 lithium-based grease is suitable for lubrication protection between bearings at high temperatures and loads due to its excellent tribological properties. However, there is little research on the influence of different addition methods of MoS2 additive on its tribology and corrosion properties. In this work, eco-friendly vegetable oil was selected as the base oil, with MoS2 powder as the additive to synthesize lithium-based grease. The effects of different adding modes of MoS2 on the tribology and corrosion properties of the grease were studied. The experimental results showed that adding 0.01 wt% MoS2 before thickening (Method D) was more conducive to improving the tribological properties of lithium grease. The average friction coefficient was reduced by 26.1%, and the average wear scar diameter was reduced by 0.16 mm. After grinding and adding (Method B) 0.01 wt% MoS2, the corrosion inhibition efficiency of the steel sheet was as high as 96.97%. The reason was that the tribochemical reaction of MoS2 evenly distributed throughout the grease during friction, forming a thin friction film, reducing friction and wear. The protective film formed by MoS2 and GCr15-bearing steel improved the corrosion inhibition performance of the grease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]