Studies of modified lithiated NiO cathode for low temperature solid oxide fuel cell with ceria-carbonate composite electrolyte

In this work, the effect of copper, iron and cobalt oxides on electrochemical properties of lithiated NiO cathodes was reported in low temperature solid oxide fuel cell (LT-SOFC) with ceria-carbonate composite electrolyte. The modified lithiated NiO cathodes were characterized by XRD, DC conductivity, SEM and electrochemical measurements. In spite of lower conductivities of modified cathodes, Li–Ni–M (M = Cu, Fe, Co) oxides with the order of Li–Ni–Co oxide > Li–Ni–Fe oxide > Li–Ni–Cu oxide, compared with that without modification, the catalytic activities of all the Li–Ni–M oxides were improved. In particularly, cobalt oxide modification favors both charge transfer and gas diffusion for O₂ reduction reaction as confirmed by AC impedance measurements. SEM micrographs show that grains aggregate with the modification of copper oxide or iron oxide, which may be responsible for the increased gas diffusion resistance. The results indicate that the lithiated NiO modified by cobalt oxide as cathode is an alternative to improve LT-SOFC performance with ceria-carbonate composite electrolyte.     

A Superior Method for Constructing Electrical Percolation Network of Nanocomposite Fibers: In Situ Thermally Reduced Silver Nanoparticles

Nanocomposite fibers, composed of conductive nanoparticles and polymer matrix, are crucial for wearable electronics. However, the nanoparticle mixing approach results in aggregation and dispersion problems. A revolutionary synthesis method by premixing silver precursor ions (silver ammonium acetate) with polyvinyl alcohol is reported here. The solvation of ions‐prevented aggregation, and uniformly distributed silver nanoparticles (in situ AgNPs, 77 nm) are formed after thermal reduction (155 °C) without using additional reducing or dispersion agents. The conductive fiber is synthesized by the wet spinning technology. After careful optimization, flower‐shaped silver nanoparticles (AgNFs, 350–450 nm) are also employed as cofillers. The addition of in situ AgNPs (9.5 vol%) to AgNFs (30 vol%) increases electrical conductivity by 1434% (2090 to 32 064 S cm^?1) through the efficient construction of percolation networks. The in situ AgNPs provide significantly higher conductivity compared with other secondary nanoparticle fillers. The gaseous byproducts dramatically increase flexibility with a moderate compromise in tensile strength (55 MPa). The particle‐free ion‐level uniform mixing of silver precursors, followed by in situ reduction, would be a fundamental paradigm shift in nanocomposite synthesis.     

Trajectory association across multiple airborne cameras

A camera mounted on an aerial vehicle provides an excellent means for monitoring large areas of a scene. Utilizing several such cameras on different aerial vehicles allows further flexibility, in terms of increased visual scope and in the pursuit of multiple targets. In this paper, we address the problem of associating objects across multiple airborne cameras. Since the cameras are moving and often widely separated, direct appearance-based or proximity-based constraints cannot be used. Instead, we exploit geometric constraints on the relationship between the motion of each object across cameras, to test multiple association hypotheses, without assuming any prior calibration information. Given our scene model, we propose a likelihood function for evaluating a hypothesized association between observations in multiple cameras that is geometrically motivated. Since multiple cameras exist, ensuring coherency in association is an essential requirement, e.g. that transitive closure is maintained between more than two cameras. To ensure such coherency we pose the problem of maximizing the likelihood function as a k-dimensional matching and use an approximation to find the optimal assignment of association. Using the proposed error function, canonical trajectories of each object and optimal estimates of inter-camera transformations (in a maximum likelihood sense) are computed. Finally, we show that as a result of associating objects across the cameras, a concurrent visualization of multiple aerial video streams is possible and that, under special conditions, trajectories interrupted due to occlusion or missing detections can be repaired. Results are shown on a number of real and controlled scenarios with multiple objects observed by multiple cameras, validating our qualitative models, and through simulation quantitative performance is also reported.     

Coordinated opportunistic routing protocol for wireless mesh networks

Opportunistic routing is an emerging research area in Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs), that exploits the broadcast nature of wireless networks to find the optimal routing solution that maximizes throughput and minimizes packet loss. Opportunistic routing protocols mainly suffer from computational overheads, as most of the protocols try to find the best next forwarding node. In this paper we address the key issue of computational overhead by designing new routing technique without using pre-selected list of potential forwarders. We propose a novel opportunistic routing technique named, Coordinated Opportunistic Routing Protocol for WMNs (CORP-M). We compare CORP-M with well-known protocols, such as AODV, OLSR, and ROMER based on throughput, delivery ratio, and average end-to-end delay. Simulation results show that CORP-M, gives average throughput increase upto 32%, and increase in delivery ratio (from 10% to 20%). We also analyze the performance of CORP-M and ROMER based on various parameters, such as duplicate transmissions and network collisions, by analysis depicts that CORP-M reduces duplicate transmissions upto 70% and network collisions upto 30%.     

Chemical Heterogeneity in PMN–35PT Ceramics and Effects on Dielectric and Piezoelectric Properties

Pb[(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.65Ti_0.35]O₃ (PMN–35PT) powder was prepared using the columbite precursor method. Fully dense compacts were formed by hot-pressing the powder at 950°C, and then the compacts were annealed at 1150°C for 5 and 10 h, respectively. Dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the as-hot-pressed and annealed samples were measured and correlated with microstructure. The as-hot-pressed material exhibited relaxor–ferroelectric-like behavior, with a relatively low dielectric constant maximum measured at 1 kHz ( K _m@1kHz) of 8160. Annealing resulted in a transition to weak normal-ferroelectric behavior, a shift in the dielectric maximum temperature from 190°C to 169°C, and a dramatic increase of K _m@1kHz to a maximum value of 41 720 for the longer anneal. The as-hot-pressed microstructure was chemically heterogeneous, characterized by submicrometer-sized regions of varying magnesium, niobium, and titanium content that likely originated from chemical heterogeneities that were present in the as-prepared PMN-PT powder. The as-hot-pressed properties have been explained as being the integrated response of many discrete ferroelectric responses as dictated for each of these regions by the local chemistry. The transition on annealing has been explained in terms of chemical homogenization to a near-morphotropic phase-boundary composition that is intrinsically weak normal-ferroelectric. Differences in polarization-versus-electric-field and strain-versus-electric-field behavior between the hot-pressed and annealed materials have been discussed in terms of differences in domain mobility.     

Adsorption studies on Citrus reticulata (fruit peel of orange): removal and recovery of Ni(II) from electroplating wastewater

The ability of fruit peel of orange to remove Zn, Ni, Cu, Pb and Cr from aqueous solution by adsorption was studied. The adsorption was in the order of Ni(II)>Cu(II)>Pb(II)>Zn(II)>Cr(II). The extent of removal of Ni(II) was found to be dependent on sorbent dose, initial concentration, pH and temperature. The adsorption follows first-order kinetics. The process is endothermic showing monolayer adsorption of Ni(II), with a maximum adsorption of 96% at 50 degrees C for an initial concentration of 50 mg l(-1) at pH 6. Thermodynamic parameters were also evaluated. Desorption was possible with 0.05 M HCl and was found to be 95.83% in column and 76% in batch process, respectively. The spent adsorbent was regenerated and recycled thrice. The removal and recovery was also done in wastewater and was found to be 89% and 93.33%, respectively.     

Pigtailed single-mode fiber optic light modulator in silicon

The performance of a light modulator at a 1.3 μm wavelength based on the plasma effect in silicon is described. The modulator is directly coupled to a single-mode fiber pigtail in a simple and robust package. The measured modulation index is 24% with a 3-dB bandwidth of 60 MHz, and the insertion loss is 5 dB. This modulator has applications in data acquisition from silicon sensors and other silicon ICs     

A polarization-independent silicon light intensity modulator for1.32 μm fiber optics

The authors have developed an integrated silicon light intensity modulator based on polarization-independent free-carrier optical phase modulation and mode filtering in fibers. A novel push-pull complementary diode pair are used for a twofold increase in modulation depth over a single diode device. Operation is demonstrated at a wavelength of 1.32 μm     

LTC1645/LTC1735电路解决PCI电源问题

查询号：184应用长廊在某些应用中,必须选择和热交 换两个电源较高电压的电源,并从所选电源产生稳压输出。假若只有一个输入电源,则电路将选择该电源并产生相同的输出电压。“热交换（hot swapping）”意指从带电底板插入或拔出一个电路板。当热交换时,电路板上的电源旁路电容可从背板电源总线吸入很大的瞬态电流为电容器充电。瞬态电流可导致连接器引脚永久性损坏和引起对系统电源的干扰,导致系统中其他电路板复位。基于LTC Hot SwapTM控制器基础上一种电路可消除上述问题。图1所示电路选择和热交换3.3V和5V输入电源并产生恒定的3…     

Multivariate Drought Assessment Considering the Antecedent Drought Conditions

Several drought indices have been developed based on a single variable or multiple variables using very complex calculations. Antecedent conditions are quite significant for analyzing physical processes involved in the conceptual rainfall-runoff modeling and for proper assessment of drought. However, not much attention has been paid to these conditions in the development of drought indices. Hence, we developed an alternative index for drought assessment, i.e., the antecedent condition-based multivariate drought index (AMDI), by taking into consideration all of the forms of drought, including meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological drought, in combination with the antecedent drought conditions. By comparing the AMDI with the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and reconnaissance drought index (RDI), it was revealed that in most cases, the drought trend was more or less the same. However, some discrepancies were also observed. Moreover, by considering additional factors, i.e., the antecedent soil moisture conditions and balance, an approximately 6 % difference in the drought frequency was observed compared to that of the SPI and RDI results, leading to a significant and proper drought assessment. The AMDI was also identified as a multi-scalar, multivariate index, which aggregates the effects of multiple drought forms by maintaining the continuity during month-to-month transitions. Hence, we concluded that the AMDI could be considered as an alternative tool for significant drought assessment.