Terahertz generation in quantum cascade structures by two-color deriving fields: An approach to reach inversion population via optical pumping

In this paper, a quantum cascade laser (QCL) design is proposed based on GaAs/AlGaAs material system, which simultaneously operates at three widely separated wavelengths (${\lambda }_1=11.1\mu m,{\lambda }_2=14.1\mu m$ and ${\lambda }_{THz}=60\mu m$). In the design, all the wavelength radiations are achieved by the engineering of the electronic spectrum via the quantum-well widths and the applied electric field in a single active region within a same waveguide. The mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelengths are obtained by adoption a dual-upper-state active region, and the proposed design aims to use both the mid-IR radiations as the coherent deriving fields to populate the upper THz lasing state to aid the THz-laser population inversion via optical pumping instead of direct electrical injection. A detailed analysis of electronic transport in the structure is carried out using a multi-level rate-equation model. The results show that the proposed structure offers an alternative approach to room temperature THz generation in QCLs.     

Highly Dispersed and Small‐Sized Nickel(II) Hydroxide Co‐Catalyst Prepared by Photodeposition for Hydrogen Production

Photodeposition has been widely used as a mild and efficient synthetic method to deposit co‐catalysts. It is also worth studying how to synthesize non‐noble metal photocatalysts with uniform dispersion. Different synthetic conditions in photodeposition have a certain influence on particle size distribution and photocatalytic activity. Therefore, we designed experiments to prepare the inexpensive composite photocatalyst Ni(OH)₂/g‐C₃N₄ by photodeposition. The Ni(OH)₂ co‐catalysts disperse uniformly with particle sizes of about 10 nm. The photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of Ni(OH)₂/g‐C₃N₄ reached about 19 mmol g^?1 h^?1, with the Ni(OH)₂ deposition amount about 1.57 %. During 16 h stability testing, the rate of hydrogen production did not decrease significantly. The composite catalyst also revealed a good hydrogen production performance under sunlight. The Ni(OH)₂ co‐catalyst enhanced the separation ability of photogenerated carriers, which was proved by surface photovoltage and fluorescence analysis.     

Multistrain edge‐based compartmental model on networks

Multistrain diseases, which are infected through individual contacts, pose severe public health threat nowadays. In this paper, we build competitive and mutative two‐strain edge‐based compartmental models using probability generation function (PGF) and pair approximation (PA). Both of them are ordinary differential equations. Their basic reproduction numbers and final size formulas are explicitly derived. We show that the formula gives a unique positive final epidemic size when the reproduction number is larger than unity. We further consider competitive and mutative multistrain diseases spreading models and compute their basic reproduction numbers. We perform numerical simulations that show some dynamical properties of the competitive and mutative two‐strain models.     

Antibacterial cotton fabrics with in situ generated silver and copper bimetallic nanoparticles using red sanders powder extract as reducing agent

Using aqueous extraction of red sanders powder as a reducing agent, silver and copper bimetallic nanoparticles were in situ generated in cotton fabrics. Silver and copper nanoparticles were also generated separately for comparison. The resulted nanocomposite cotton fabrics (NCFs) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and antibacterial tests. SEM analysis indicated the generation of more number of nanoparticles when bimetallic source solutions were used. Further, the size range of the generated bimetallic nanoparticles was found to be lower than when individual metal nanoparticles were generated in NCFs. XRD analysis confirmed the in situ generation of silver and copper nanoparticles when equimolar bimetallic salt source solutions were utilized. The NCFs with bimetallic nanoparticles exhibited higher antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and hence can be considered for applications as antibacterial bed and dressing materials.     

碳纤维复合材料的激光清洗等离子体光谱在线检测研究

近年来碳纤维复合材料（CFRP）由于性能优异，受到工业领域广泛关注。采用激光清洗技术预处理碳纤维复合材料表面的污染物和环氧树脂等杂质，有利于改善碳纤维复合材料表面性能，提高碳纤维复合材料胶接界面的结合强度。在线检测激光清洗过程，实时判断碳纤维复合材料的表面清洗质量，是保证激光清洗效果的关键环节，也是激光清洗装置自动化、集成化的核心技术。激光诱导等离子体光谱技术可以快速分析材料表面元素变化，实现在线检测激光清洗表面状态，在激光清洗领域有很广的应用前景。采用Nd∶YAG高能量脉冲激光器产生的1 064 nm激光在空气环境中诱导产生等离子体，利用改进型光栅光谱仪(ME5000)获取等离子体光谱，在线检测激光清洗碳纤维复合材料。研究外界空气环境对等离子体光谱检测结果的影响，发现350~700 nm波段的元素谱线可用于碳纤维复合材料表面物质成分分析；采用电子扫描显微镜观测的激光清洗表面形貌和X射线电子能谱仪测得的元素变化共同表征等离子体光谱检测的有效性，通过采集不同激光能量以及不同作用次数的等离子体光谱图，获得碳纤维复合材料表层树脂物质通过激光单次清洗干净的阈值，研究激光清洗质量与激光诱导等离子体谱线成分及其强度变化的关系。结果表明：在获取的激光诱导等离子体光谱中，光谱图中谱线波长在393.3 nm的S(Ⅱ)和589.5 nm的S(Ⅱ)谱线可有效在线表征碳纤维复合材料表面清洗质量；激光单次去除干净表面环氧树脂的阈值为10.68 mJ；低激光能量时需要清洗多次可以去除干净表面树脂；高激光能量时清洗单次可使表面树脂去除干净，多次清洗易造成基体损伤。实验结果为激光清洗碳纤维复合材料的智能集成化应用提供工艺依据和技术支持。     

Automated chemical resonance generation and structure filtration for kinetic modeling

This work discusses efficient and automated methods for constructing a set of representative resonance structures for arbitrary chemical species, including radicals and biradicals, consisting of the elements H, C, O, N, and S. Determining the representative reactive structures of chemical species is crucial for identification of reactive sites and consequently applying the correct reaction templates to generate the set of important reactions during automated chemical kinetic model generation. We describe a fundamental set of resonance pathway types, accounting for simple resonating structures, as well as global approaches for polycyclic aromatic species. Automatically discovering potential localized structures along with filtration to identify the representative structures was shown to be robust and relatively fast. The algorithms discussed here were recently implemented in the Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG) software. The final structures proposed by this method were found to be in reasonable agreement with quantum chemical computation results of localized structure contributions to the resonance hybrid.     

Dynamics of laser-induced cavitation bubble during expansion over sharp-edge geometry submerged in liquid – an inside view by diffuse illumination

Laser ablation in liquids is growing in popularity for various applications including nanoparticle production, breakdown spectroscopy, and surface functionalization. When laser pulse ablates the solid target submerged in liquid, a cavitation bubble develops. In case of “finite” geometries of ablated solids, liquid dynamical phenomena can occur inside the bubble when the bubble overflows the surface edge. To observe this dynamics, we use diffuse illumination of a flashlamp in combination with a high-speed videography by exposure times down to 250 ns. The developed theoretical modelling and its comparison with the experimental observations clearly prove that this approach widens the observable area inside the bubble. We thereby use it to study the dynamics of laser-induced cavitation bubble during its expansion over a sharp-edge (“cliff-like” 90°) geometry submerged in water, ethanol, and polyethylene glycol 300. The samples are 17 mm wide stainless steel plates with thickness in the range of 0.025–2 mm. Bubbles are induced on the samples by 1064-nm laser pulses with pulse durations of 7–60 ns and pulse energies of 10–55 mJ. We observe formation of a fixed-type secondary cavity behind the edge where low-pressure area develops due to bubble-driven flow of the liquid. This occurs when the velocity of liquid overflow exceeds ~20 m s⁻¹. A re-entrant liquid injection with up to ~40 m s⁻¹ velocity may occur inside the bubble when the bubble overflows the edge of the sample. Formation and characteristics of the jet evidently depend on the relation between the breakdown-edge offset and the bubble energy, as well as the properties of the surrounding liquid. Higher viscosity of the liquid prevents the generation of the jet.     

从废水到新能源:光催化燃料电池的优化与应用

随着经济的飞速发展,社会对能源的需求日益扩大,对工业废水的无害化处理也提出了更高的要求。光催化燃料电池 (photocatalytic fuel cell, PFC) 在燃料电池中引入半导体光催化材料作为电极,实现了有机污染物高效降解和同步对外产电的双重功能,在废水无害化与资源化利用方面具有潜在的应用价值。半导体光催化电极是PFC系统高效运行的核心组件,增强其可见光响应和光生载流子分离是提高PFC性能的关键策略。反应器结构设计和运行参数优化也有利于改善PFC性能。本文从PFC基本原理和应用入手,综述了PFC在环境污染物资源化处理中的研究进展,并详细阐述了提高PFC的污染控制性能和产电效率的优化手段,为进一步设计高效稳定的PFC系统并实现其在水污染控制和清洁能源生产中的应用提供理论指导。     

Effects of Thermal Radiation and Slip Mechanism on Mixed Convection Flow of Williamson Nanofluid Over an Inclined Stretching Cylinder

The current investigation highlights the mixed convection slip flow and radiative heat transport of uniformly electrically conducting Williamson nanofluid yield by an inclined circular cylinder in the presence of Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameter.A Lorentzian magnetic body force model is employed and magnetic induction effects are neglected.The governing equations are reduced to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations with associated boundary conditions by applying scaling group transformations.The reduced nonlinear ordinary differential equations are then solved numerically by Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg fifth-order method with shooting technique.The effects of magnetic field,Prandtl number,mixed convection parameter,buoyancy ratio parameter,Brownian motion parameter,thermophoresis parameter,heat generation/absorption parameter,mass transfer parameter,radiation parameter and Schmidt number on the skin friction coefficient and local Nusselt are analyzed and discussed.It is found that the velocity of the fluid decreases with decrease in curvature parameter,whereas it increases with mixed convection parameter.Further,the local Nusselt number decreases with an increase in the radiation parameter.The numerical comparison is also presented with the existing published results and found that the present results are in excellent agreement which also confirms the validity of the present methodology.