Nitrogen Plasma Enhanced Low Temperature Atomic Layer Deposition of Magnesium Phosphorus Oxynitride (MgPON) Solid-State Electrolytes

Solid-state batteries (SSBs) that use solid electrolytes instead of flammable liquid electrolytes have the potential to generate higher specific capacity and offer better safety. Magnesium (Mg) based SSBs with Mg metal anodes are considered to be one of the most promising energy storage candidates, because it gives high theoretical volumetric capacities of 3830 mAh cm⁻³. Here, we demonstrate an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process with a double nitrogen plasma process that successfully produces nitrogen-incorporated magnesium phosphorus oxynitride (MgPON) solid-state electrolyte (SSE) thin films at a low deposition temperature of 125 °C. The ALD MgPON SSEs exhibit an ionic conductivity of 0.36 and 1.2 μS cm⁻¹ at 450 and 500 °C, respectively. The proposed ALD strategy shows the ability of conformal deposition nitrogen-doped SSEs on pattered substrates and is attractive for using nitride ion-conducing films as protective or wetting interlayers in solid-state Mg and Li batteries.     

Carboxysome-Inspired Electrocatalysis using Enzymes for the Reduction of CO2 at Low Concentrations**

The electrolysis of dilute CO₂ streams suffers from low concentrations of dissolved substrate and its rapid depletion at the electrolyte-electrocatalyst interface. These limitations require first energy-intensive CO₂ capture and concentration, before electrolyzers can achieve acceptable performances. For direct electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction from low-concentration sources, we introduce a strategy that mimics the carboxysome in cyanobacteria by utilizing microcompartments with nanoconfined enzymes in a porous electrode. A carbonic anhydrase accelerates CO₂ hydration kinetics and minimizes substrate depletion by making all dissolved carbon available for utilization, while a highly efficient formate dehydrogenase reduces CO₂ cleanly to formate; down to even atmospheric concentrations of CO₂. This bio-inspired concept demonstrates that the carboxysome provides a viable blueprint for the reduction of low-concentration CO₂ streams to chemicals by using all forms of dissolved carbon.     

Balancing the Crystallinity and Film Formation of Metal–Organic Framework Membranes through In Situ Modulation for Efficient Gas Separation

Polycrystalline metal–organic framework (MOF) layers hold great promise as molecular sieve membranes for efficient gas separation. Nevertheless, the high crystallinity tends to cause inter-crystalline defects/cracks in the nearby crystals, which makes crystalline porous materials face a great challenge in the fabrication of defect-free membranes. Herein, for the first time, we demonstrate the balance between crystallinity and film formation of MOF membrane through a facile in situ modulation strategy. Monocarboxylic acid was introduced as a modulator to regulate the crystallinity via competitive complexation and thus concomitantly control the film-forming state during membrane growth. Through adjusting the ratio of modulator acid/linker acid, an appropriate balance between this structural “trade-off” was achieved. The resulting MOF membrane with moderate crystallinity and coherent morphology exhibits molecular sieving for H₂/CO₂ separation with selectivity up to 82.5.     

Efficient Visible-Light-Activated Ultra-Long Room-Temperature Phosphorescence Triggered by Multi-Esterification

The development of ultra-long room-temperature phosphorescence (UL-RTP) in processable amorphous organic materials is highly desirable for applications in flexible displays, anti-counterfeiting, and bio-imaging. However, achieving efficient UL-RTP from amorphous materials remains a challenging task, especially with activation by visible light and a bright afterglow. Here we report a general and rational molecular-design strategy to enable efficient visible-light-excited UL-RTP by multi-esterification of a rigid large-plane phosphorescence core. Notably, multi-esterification minimizes the aggregation-induced quenching and accomplishes a ′four birds with one stone′ possibility in the generation and radiation process of UL-RTP: i) shifting the excitation from ultraviolet light to blue-light through enhancing the transition dipole moment of low-lying singlet-states, ii) facilitating the intersystem crossing process through the incorporation of lone-pair electrons, iii) boosting the decay process of long-lived triplet excitons resulting from a significantly increased transition dipole moment, and iv) reducing the intrinsic triplet nonradiative decay by substitution of high-frequency vibrating hydrogen atoms. All these factors synergistically contribute to the most efficient and stable visible-light-stimulated UL-RTP (lifetime up to 2.01 s and efficiency up to 35.4 % upon excitation at 450 nm) in flexible films using multi-esterified coronene, which allows high-tech applications in single-component time-delayed white light-emitting diodes and information technology based on flashlight-activated afterglow encryption.     

Measurement and modeling on hydrodynamic forces and deformation of an air bubble approaching a solid sphere in liquids

The interaction between bubbles and solid surfaces is central to a broad range of industrial and biological processes. Various experimental techniques have been developed to measure the interactions of bubbles approaching solids in a liquid. A main challenge is to accurately and reliably control the relative motion over a wide range of hydrodynamic conditions and at the same time to determine the interaction forces, bubble–solid separation and bubble deformation. Existing experimental methods are able to focus only on one of the aspects of this problem, mostly for bubbles and particles with characteristic dimensions either below 100 μm or above 1 cm. As a result, either the interfacial deformations are measured directly with the forces being inferred from a model, or the forces are measured directly with the deformations to be deduced from the theory. The recently developed integrated thin film drainage apparatus (ITFDA) filled the gap of intermediate bubble/particle size ranges that are commonly encountered in mineral and oil recovery applications. Equipped with side-view digital cameras along with a bimorph cantilever as force sensor and speaker diaphragm as the driver for bubble to approach a solid sphere, the ITFDA has the capacity to measure simultaneously and independently the forces and interfacial deformations as a bubble approaches a solid sphere in a liquid. Coupled with the thin liquid film drainage modeling, the ITFDA measurement allows the critical role of surface tension, fluid viscosity and bubble approach speed in determining bubble deformation (profile) and hydrodynamic forces to be elucidated. Here we compare the available methods of studying bubble–solid interactions and demonstrate unique features and advantages of the ITFDA for measuring both forces and bubble deformations in systems of Reynolds numbers as high as 10. The consistency and accuracy of such measurement are tested against the well established Stokes–Reynolds–Young–Laplace model. The potential to use the design principles of the ITFDA for fundamental and developmental research is demonstrated.     

Analytical model for thermal resistance due to multiple moving circular contacts on a coated bodyModèle analytique pour la résistance thermique due à des contacts circulaires mobiles multiples à la surface d'un solide revêtu

The heat transfer at the interface of two solids in sliding/rolling contact depends on the constriction phenomenon which occurs at the vicinity of asperities. In order to study this problem, the micro-contacts are represented by multiple moving circular heat sources on the surface of a body. The studied body is constituted of a substrate and a surface coating. The thermal constriction resistance due to those contacts is determined analytically in this paper. The solution is developed by using the integral Fourier transforms, and it is valid regardless of the velocity and the relative contact size values. To cite this article: A. Baïri, C. R. Mecanique 331 (2003).     

基于CdSe/ZnS量子点薄膜结构的高双折射光子晶体光纤的色散与损耗控制

基于有限元法,设计了一种六边形排列含CdSe/ZnS量子点薄膜结构的高双折射光子晶体光纤,分析了具有不同厚度CdSe/ZnS量子点薄膜光子晶体光纤的色散及损耗特性.结果表明,含CdSe/ZnS量子点薄膜结构的光子晶体光纤在x和y方向均存在基模.当泵浦光波长逐渐增加时,具有相同厚度CdSe/ZnS量子点薄膜光子晶体光纤的双折射值逐渐增大,x和y方向总色散先增大后减小且存在两个零色散点,损耗逐渐增大并在可见光波段趋近于零;具有不同厚度CdSe/ZnS量子点薄膜光子晶体光纤随CdSe/ZnS量子点薄膜厚度的增加,在相同泵浦光波长处,双折射值逐渐减小,x和y方向总色散逐渐减小且两个零色散点逐渐靠近,损耗逐渐增大.通过沉积不同厚度CdSe/ZnS量子点薄膜和选择合适泵浦光波长,可有效控制光子晶体光纤的色散和损耗.     

Behavior of the surface of a bubbly liquid after detonation wave impact

In safety engineering, one position of interest inside heterogeneous systems of the type liquid–gas is the contact surface between these two phases. Under certain conditions, e.g. shock wave impact, phenomena can take place at this position that can have a significant influence on the explosion behavior of the system. In this work an investigation is presented about the existence of such phenomena on the surface of liquid cyclohexane with or without the existence of oxygen containing bubbles. The observations have been performed during the time before, as well as after, a detonation wave reflection on that surface. High-speed pressure and optical measurements have been applied. Apart from the experimental observations, also a theoretical analysis and discussion is presented in this contribution, which contains the comparison between calculated and experimental values.     

冲击高度对自由冲击射流影响的实验研究

采用热线风速仪测量了雷诺数为 ２３ ０００时四种冲击高度下率流自由冲击射流流场，并给出详细的结果．表明壁面的“阻尼”影响主要集中在近壁面０．５Ｄ以内．小冲击高度时径向速度下降得比大冲击高度时明显要快，量值也较小；在ｒ／Ｄ≤１．５处，小冲击高度时紊动能的数值大小和分布趋势与大冲击高度时不同，特别是在喷管出口距冲击板高度Ｚ与喷管直径Ｄ之比Ｚ／Ｄ为８时分布特殊，在其它测点处，紊动能的分布趋势基本一致，只是大冲击高度下的值较大；流动结构在Ｚ／Ｄ为６～８时发生了较大的变化，这种变化与势流核心区有关，在势流核心区的顶端以及下游的一段距离内紊流度都很高．