Flexible strain sensor with ridge-like microstructures for wearable applications

The flexible stretchable sensors have great potential for implementation in various applications, such as intelligent soft robots, health monitoring, and motion detection. However, most of the flexible stretchable sensors with microstructures and high sensitivities are fabricated by expensive templates and complex processes. In consideration of large-scale fabrication, a low cost and efficient way is in great demand. Herein, electroless plating on Nafion films with decent swelling ratios are proposed to fabricate stretchable sensors with wrinkle-structured electrodes. By adding isopropanol (IPA) to the electroless plating process, the H₂O-IPA sensor with larger swelling ratio shows deeper surface wrinkles, higher surface roughness, and better sensitivity to strain. At the same time, the H₂O-IPA sensor exhibit good durability (500 cycles). By mounting the sensor on the joint of human finger, the motion of the finger bending and even the bending degree can be accurately detected, indicating the potential use in the field of wearable devices and soft electronic skins.     

Switch From Pauli-Lowering to LUMO-Lowering Catalysis in Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Aza-Diels-Alder Reactions

Brønsted acid-catalyzed inverse-electron demand (IED) aza-Diels-Alder reactions between 2-aza-dienes and ethylene were studied using quantum chemical calculations. The computed activation energy systematically decreases as the basic sites of the diene progressively become protonated. Our activation strain and Kohn-Sham molecular orbital analyses traced the origin of this enhanced reactivity to i) “Pauli-lowering catalysis” for mono-protonated 2-aza-dienes due to the induction of an asynchronous, but still concerted, reaction pathway that reduces the Pauli repulsion between the reactants; and ii) “LUMO-lowering catalysis” for multi-protonated 2-aza-dienes due to their highly stabilized LUMO(s) and more concerted synchronous reaction path that facilitates more efficient orbital overlaps in IED interactions. In all, we illustrate how the novel concept of “Pauli-lowering catalysis” can be overruled by the traditional concept of “LUMO-lowering catalysis” when the degree of LUMO stabilization is extreme as in the case of multi-protonated 2-aza-dienes.     

SU-8光刻胶应变分布光学全场检测方法

由于SU-8光刻胶的内应力将会影响高深宽比结构的全金属光栅的制作质量,本文针对近年来SU-8光刻胶应力测量困难的情况,提出了一种基于激光剪切散斑干涉技术的SU-8光刻胶应变分布测量的新方法。该方法通过对被测胶体加载前后两幅干涉图像的处理,直接得到被测胶体结构的全场应变分布情况,由胶体的应变变形数据即可反映出内应力的变化和分布趋势。同时使用ANSYS有限元分析软件对同一被测胶体进行应变仿真模拟研究,获得胶体结构的变形场仿真数据。组建了实验系统,进行了实验验证,结果表明:实际测量变形量约为1.189μm,仿真的最大变形量为1.088μm,测量误差在允许范围内,且测量的形变趋势与仿真模拟结果相一致,表明激光剪切散斑干涉技术可应用于SU-8光刻胶的应变分布全场无损检测。     

Wave propagation in viscoelastic single-walled carbon nanotubes with surface effect under magnetic field based on nonlocal strain gradient theory

The governing equation of wave motion of viscoelastic SWCNTs (single-walled carbon nanotubes) with surface effect under magnetic field is formulated on the basis of the nonlocal strain gradient theory. Based on the formulated equation of wave motion, the closed-form dispersion relation between the wave frequency (or phase velocity) and the wave number is derived. It is found that the size-dependent effects on the phase velocity may be ignored at low wave numbers, however, is significant at high wave numbers. Phase velocity can increase by decreasing damping or increasing the intensity of magnetic field. The damping ratio considering surface effect is larger than that without considering surface effect. Damping ratio can increase by increasing damping, increasing wave number, or decreasing the intensity of magnetic field.     

Viscoelastic wave propagation in the viscoelastic single walled carbon nanotubes based on nonlocal strain gradient theory

In this paper, the viscoelastic wave propagation in an embedded viscoelastic single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is studied based on the nonlocal strain gradient theory. The characteristic equation for the viscoelastic wave in SWCNTs is derived. The emphasis is placed on the influence of the tube diameter on the viscoelastic wave dispersion. A blocking diameter is observed, above which the wave could not propagate in SWCNTs. The results show that the blocking diameter is greatly dependent on the damping coefficient, the nonlocal and the strain gradient length scale parameters, as well as the Winkler modulus of the surrounding elastic medium. These findings may provide a prospective application of SWCNTs in nanodevices and nanocomposites.     

Automatic 3D tracking of cardiac material markers using slice-following and harmonic-phase MRI

A method to track a grid of cardiac material points in three dimensions using slice-following (SF) tagged magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and harmonic-phase MRI is presented. A three-dimensional grid of material points on the lines of intersections of short-axis (SA) and long-axis (LA) planes is automatically tracked by combining two-dimensional pathlines that are computed on both SA and LA image planes. This process yields the true three-dimensional motion of points originating on the image plane intersections. Experimental data from normal volunteers, each obtained in four short breath-holds using the SF harmonic phase MRI pulse sequence, is presented. A validation of two-dimensional in-plane tracks using this pulse sequence on a moving phantom is also presented.     

Upgrade of beamline BL08B at Taiwan Light Source from a photon‐BPM to a double‐grating SGM beamline

During the last 20 years, beamline BL08B has been upgraded step by step from a photon beam‐position monitor (BPM) to a testing beamline and a single‐grating beamline that enables experiments to record X‐ray photo‐emission spectra (XPS) and X‐ray absorption spectra (XAS) for research in solar physics, organic semiconductor materials and spinel oxides, with soft X‐ray photon energies in the range 300–1000 eV. Demands for photon energy to extend to the extreme ultraviolet region for applications in nano‐fabrication and topological thin films are increasing. The basic spherical‐grating monochromator beamline was again upgraded by adding a second grating that delivers photons of energy from 80 to 420 eV. Four end‐stations were designed for experiments with XPS, XAS, interstellar photoprocess systems (IPS) and extreme‐ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) in the scheduled beam time. The data from these experiments show a large count rate in core levels probed and excellent statistics on background normalization in the L‐edge adsorption spectrum.     

Local strain and defects in silicon wafers due to nanoindentation revealed by full‐field X‐ray microdiffraction imaging

Quantitative characterization of local strain in silicon wafers is critical in view of issues such as wafer handling during manufacturing and strain engineering. In this work, full‐field X‐ray microdiffraction imaging using synchrotron radiation is employed to investigate the long‐range distribution of strain fields in silicon wafers induced by indents under different conditions in order to simulate wafer fabrication damage. The technique provides a detailed quantitative mapping of strain and defect characterization at the micrometer spatial resolution and holds some advantages over conventional methods.     

纯电动汽车磷酸铁锂电池组的建模及优化

鉴于传统神经网络和支持向量机机理复杂、计算量大的缺陷,很难实时跟踪磷酸铁锂电池组复杂快速的内部反应,影响电池荷电状态的估算精度,提出应用一种简单、有效的极限学习机对一额定容量为100Ah、额定电压为72V的纯电动汽车磷酸铁锂电池组建模,并分别与BP神经网络、RBF神经网络、支持向量机进行对比。随后,以学习时间和泛化性能为优化目标,应用粒子群方法寻找最佳隐层节点个数。结果表明,基于极限学习机的磷酸铁锂电池组模型的学习时间、泛化性能优于BP神经网络、RBF神经网络、支持向量机;隐层节点优化后,模型的学习时间和泛化性能达到最优。     

糖厂澄清工段生产指标建模及操作参数优化

针对亚法糖厂澄清工段清汁色值和清汁残硫量难以在线测量的问题,提出了一种基于人工蜂群优化的在线极限学习机软测量方法。先用核主元分析法确定影响清汁质量的关键参数,建立基于在线极限学习机的软测量模型。同时利用人工蜂群算法对在线极限学习机的隐层参数进行寻优,优化所建模型。最后,使用带约束的粒子群对软测量模型进行优化求解,得到典型工况下的最优操作设定值,为后续工况操作提供参考依据。仿真结果表明,基于人工蜂群优化的在线极限学习机模型能够准确地预测清汁色值和残硫量,同时基于此模型优化的操作参数设定值能够达到期望的指标。