Dynamics of plasma channel in a parallel-plate plasma gun

Lumped parameter models for describing dynamics of the plasma channel in a parallel-plate plasma gun are compared with the experimental results obtained from two plasma guns with different rail geometries. Comparison between the experiments and the numerical calculations reveals that the lumped parameter models can be utilized to describe the dynamic motion of the plasma channel quite well. Parametric study shows that minimizing the line inductance and increasing the charging voltage on a capacitor as well as minimizing the gas injection time for reducing the mass of the plasma channel are the key factors to increase the flow velocity of the plasma jet ejected from the plasma gun.     

Where the rubber meets the hand: Unlocking the sensing potential of dielectric elastomers

Practice makes perfect to some extent. Research has shown that musicians who practice the piano for long periods of time can suffer a range of hand problems from loss of control to diminished speed. Now imagine a rubber keyboard that is springy, soft, and elastic. This is the new type of input device that dielectric elastomers (DE) can create. However their usage in large sensing systems is limited by a scalability challenge. Each DE sensor is married to a pair of connection cables and electronics, adding to the complexity of the background overheads. A new efficient multi‐frequency method is presented that is capable of detecting internal pressure changes from a difference in the DE's capacitance without the need for any additional wires or connections. This effectively segments the DE into smaller sections, achieving information from a single sensor equivalent to multiple sensors. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 465–472     

Stability and phase transition of localized modes in Bose–Einstein condensates with both two- and three-body interactions

We investigate the stability and phase transition of localized modes in Bose–Einstein Condensates (BECs) in an optical lattice with the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger model by considering both two- and three-body interactions. We find that there are three types of localized modes, bright discrete breather (DB), discrete kink (DK), and multi-breather (MUB). Moreover, both two- and three-body on-site repulsive interactions can stabilize DB, while on-site attractive three-body interactions destabilize it. There is a critical value for the three-body interaction with which both DK and MUB become the most stable ones. We give analytically the energy thresholds for the destabilization of localized states and find that they are unstable (stable) when the total energy of the system is higher (lower) than the thresholds. The stability and dynamics characters of DB and MUB are general for extended lattice systems. Our result is useful for the blocking, filtering, and transfer of the norm in nonlinear lattices for BECs with both two- and three-body interactions.     

Theoretical Study on the Hydrogen Bonding Interactions in Complexes of 5‐Hydroxytryptamine with Water

The energies, geometries and harmonic vibrational frequencies of 1:1 5‐hydroxytryptamine‐water (5‐HT‐H₂O) complexes are studied at the MP2/6‐311++G(d,p) level. Natural bond orbital (NBO), quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) analyses and the localized molecular orbital energy decomposition analysis (LMO‐EDA) were performed to explore the nature of the hydrogen‐bonding interactions in these complexes. Various types of hydrogen bonds (H‐bonds) are formed in these 5‐HT‐H₂O complexes. The intermolecular C4H5^5‐HT···O^w H‐bond in HTW3 is strengthened due to the cooperativity, whereas no such cooperativity is found in the other 5‐HT‐H₂O complexes. H‐bond in which nitrogen atom of amino in 5‐HT acted as proton donors was stronger than other H‐bonds. Our researches show that the hydrogen bonding interaction plays a vital role on the relative stabilities of 5‐HT‐H₂O complexes.     

How the Generalized Anomeric Effect Influences the Conformational Preference

The generalized anomeric effect refers to the conformational preference of a gauche structure over an anti structure for molecules with a R‐X‐C‐Y moiety. Whereas there are conflicting reports regarding the origin of this ubiquitous effect, a general consensus is that both the steric (more specifically electrostatic) and hyperconjugative interactions contribute. Here we employed the block‐localized wavefunction (BLW) method, which is the simplest variant of ab initio valence bond (VB) theory and can define reference electron‐localized states self‐consistently, to evaluate the magnitude of the hyperconjugation effect in a number of acyclic molecules exhibiting the generalized anomeric effect. The BLW‐based energy decomposition analysis revealed that both the steric and hyperconjugation effects contribute to the conformational preferences of methoxymethyl fluoride and methoxymethyl chlorides. But for the other systems under investigation, including methanediol, methanediamine, aminomethanol and dimethoxymethane, the hyperconjugative interactions play a negative role in the conformational preferences and the steric effect is solely responsible for the generalized anomeric effect.     

Two States Are Not Enough: Quantitative Evaluation of the Valence‐Bond Intramolecular Charge‐Transfer Model and Its Use in Predicting Bond Length Alternation Effects

The structural weights of the canonical resonance contributors used in the Two‐state valence‐bond charge‐transfer model, neutral (N, R1) and ionic (VB‐CT, R2), to the ground states and excited states of a series of linear dipolar intramolecular charge‐transfer chromophores containing a buta‐1,3‐dien‐1,4‐diyl bridge have been computed by using the block‐localized wavefunction (BLW) method at the B3LYP/6‐311+G(d) level to provide the first quantitative assessment of this simple model. Ground‐ and excited‐state analysis reveals surprisingly low ground‐state structural weights for the VB‐CT resonance form using either this Two‐state model or an expanded Ten‐state model. The VB‐CT state is found to be more prominent in the excited state. Individual resonance forms were structurally optimized to understand the origins of the bond length alternation (BLA) of the bridging unit. Using a Wheland energy‐based weighting scheme, the weighted average of the optimized bond lengths with the Two‐state model was unable to reproduce the BLA features with values 0.04 to 0.02 Å too large compared to the fully delocalized (FD) structure (BLW: ca. ?0.13 to ?0.07 Å, FD: ca. ?0.09 to ?0.05 Å). Instead, an expanded Ten‐state model fit the BLA values of the FD structure to within only 0.001 Å of FD.     

二次电池用局部高浓度电解质的研究进展与展望

电解质作为二次电池离子传导的重要介质,对于提升二次电池循环稳定性能、安全性能等方面起着至关重要的作用.局部高浓度电解质是指在高浓度电解质中加入“稀释剂”,形成盐的局部高浓度状态,既能兼具高浓度电解质的优异特性,又具有低成本和优良润湿性的特点,应用前景非常广阔.近几年,局部高浓度电解质在阻燃锂金属电池、高电压锂电池、低温锂电池、锂硫电池和钠电池等多方面应用广泛,且展现出非常好的使用效果.本综述重点从局部高浓度电解质的功能性应用角度出发,详细阐述了局部高浓度电解质的类型、制备、作用机理及其在不同二次电池中的功能性应用进展和主要研究现状,文末还对局部高浓度电解质的未来可能发展趋势进行了分析与展望.     

Wavelet multiresolution interpolation Galerkin method for nonlinear boundary value problems with localized steep gradients

The wavelet multiresolution interpolation for continuous functions defined on a finite interval is developed in this study by using a simple alternative of transformation matrix. The wavelet multiresolution interpolation Galerkin method that applies this interpolation to represent the unknown function and nonlinear terms independently is proposed to solve the boundary value problems with the mixed Dirichlet-Robin boundary conditions and various nonlinearities, including transcendental ones, in which the discretization process is as simple as that in solving linear problems, and only common two-term connection coefficients are needed. All matrices are independent of unknown node values and lead to high efficiency in the calculation of the residual and Jacobian matrices needed in Newton’s method, which does not require numerical integration in the resulting nonlinear discrete system. The validity of the proposed method is examined through several nonlinear problems with interior or boundary layers. The results demonstrate that the proposed wavelet method shows excellent accuracy and stability against nonuniform grids, and high resolution of localized steep gradients can be achieved by using local refined multiresolution grids. In addition, Newton’s method converges rapidly in solving the nonlinear discrete system created by the proposed wavelet method, including the initial guess far from real solutions.

     

New Exact Solution to (3+1)-Dimensional Burgers Equation

In this Letter, using Backlund transformation and the new variable separation approach, we find a new general solution to the (3 1)-dimensional Burgers equation. The form of the universal formula obtained from many (2 1)-dimensional systems is extended. Abundant localized coherent structures can be found by seclecting corresponding functions appropriately.