Application of novel SIMS technique for imaging the active sites of oxygen reduction at the SOFC cathode/electrolyte interfaces

The oxygen reduction active sites were visualized around the O₂/SOFC cathode/electrolyte triple phase boundaries (TPB) by the¹⁶O/¹⁸O exchange techniques and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis. The higher¹⁸O concentration is observed on the cathode top surfaces (La_0.9Sr_0.1MnO₃-mesh, Au-mesh, and Ag-porous), which suggested the promotion of oxygen adsorption and oxygen surface exchange at the cathode. The oxygen diffusion through the bulk of cathode occurred at the La_0.9Sr_0.1MnO₃-mesh and the Ag-porous cathodes, not at the Au-mesh cathode. On the YSZ surfaces after removing the cathode, the active sites for oxygen incorporation were analyzed by SIMS. The active sites for oxygen incorporation were at the La_0.9Sr_0.1MnO₃/YSZ interface as well as the TPB. On the other hand, the active sites for oxygen incorporation are limited to the TPB in the case of the Au-mesh removed YSZ surface. From the SIMS analysis, the expansion of the active sites for oxygen incorporation is less than a few μm from the TPB lines. Paper presented at the 8th EuroConference on Ionics, Carvoeiro, Algarve, Portugal, Sept. 16–22, 2001.     

Enhancement of feasibility of macroscopic quantum superposition state with the quantum Rabi-Stark model

We propose an efficient scheme to generate a macroscopical quantum superposition state with a cavity optomechanical system, which is composed of a quantum Rabi-Stark model coupling to a mechanical oscillator. In a low-energy subspace of the Rabi-Stark model, the dressed states and then the effective Hamiltonian of the system are given. Due to the coupling of the mechanical oscillator and the atom-cavity system, if the initial state of the atom-cavity system is one of the dressed states, the mechanical oscillator will evolve into a corresponding coherent state. Thus, if the initial state of the atom-cavity system is a superposition of two dressed states, a coherent state superposition of the mechanical oscillator can be generated. The quantum coherence and their distinguishable properties of the two coherent states are exhibited by Wigner distribution. We show that the Stark term can enhance significantly the feasibility and quantum coherence of the generated macroscopic quantum superposition state of the oscillator.     

A brief review of thermal transport in mesoscopic systems from nonequilibrium Green’s function approach

With the rapidly increasing integration density and power density in nanoscale electronic devices, the thermal management concerning heat generation and energy harvesting becomes quite crucial. Since phonon is the major heat carrier in semiconductors, thermal transport due to phonons in mesoscopic systems has attracted much attention. In quantum transport studies, the nonequilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) method is a versatile and powerful tool that has been developed for several decades. In this review, we will discuss theoretical investigations of thermal transport using the NEGF approach from two aspects. For the aspect of phonon transport, the phonon NEGF method is briefly introduced and its applications on thermal transport in mesoscopic systems including one-dimensional atomic chains, multi-terminal systems, and transient phonon transport are discussed. For the aspect of thermoelectric transport, the caloritronic effects in which the charge, spin, and valley degrees of freedom are manipulated by the temperature gradient are discussed. The time-dependent thermoelectric behavior is also presented in the transient regime within the partitioned scheme based on the NEGF method.     

LaAlO_3/SrTiO_3界面增强光伏效应

探索LaAlO_3/SrTiO_3(LAO/STO)界面产生的新奇物理特性对理解关联电子系统中多自由度耦合和设计功能材料器件具有重要的价值.本文通过脉冲激光沉积方法在SrTiO_3基底上制备了LAO/STO薄膜,研究了正面照射LAO/STO膜面和侧面照射LAO/STO界面时的光伏效应,探讨了LAO/STO界面对光伏效应的影响.研究结果表明,在同样光照能量下侧面照射LAO/STO界面产生的光电压远高于正面照射LAO/STO膜面产生的光电压,说明LAO/STO界面对光伏效应有明显的增强作用.通过偏压调控可以进一步增强照射LAO/STO界面产生的光电压,当偏压为60 V时, LAO/STO样品的位置探测灵敏度达到了36.8 mV/mm.这些研究结果为设计场调控位置敏感探测器等新型光电子器件提供了新的思路.     

Classical and Bayesian Inference of an Exponentiated Half-Logistic Distribution under Adaptive Type II Progressive Censoring

The point and interval estimations for the unknown parameters of an exponentiated half-logistic distribution based on adaptive type II progressive censoring are obtained in this article. At the beginning, the maximum likelihood estimators are derived. Afterward, the observed and expected Fisher’s information matrix are obtained to construct the asymptotic confidence intervals. Meanwhile, the percentile bootstrap method and the bootstrap-t method are put forward for the establishment of confidence intervals. With respect to Bayesian estimation, the Lindley method is used under three different loss functions. The importance sampling method is also applied to calculate Bayesian estimates and construct corresponding highest posterior density (HPD) credible intervals. Finally, numerous simulation studies are conducted on the basis of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) samples to contrast the performance of the estimations, and an authentic data set is analyzed for exemplifying intention.     

Simultaneously Enhancing Mechanical Properties and Melt Flow Ability of Polyamide 6 by Blending with a Hyperbranched Polymer

A series of polyamide 6/hyperbranched polymers (PA6/HBP) blends with different HBP contents was prepared by melt processing using a twin-screw extruder. The HBP was synthesized on the basis of pentaerythritol and dimethyl terephthalate according to a one-step method. The melt flow behavior, crystallization behavior, morphology, and mechanical properties of the PA6/HBP blends were investigated. The results showed that the melt flow index of the blends was greatly improved by a small amount of HBP. The yield strength, tensile modulus, Izod impact strength, and flexural strength of samples were simultaneously enhanced from 54.6 MPa, 0.5 GPa, 3.8 kJ/m², 56.9 MPa for pure PA6 to 61.1 MPa, 0.7 GPa, 5.3 kJ/m², 67.1 MPa for PA6 blends with 2.0 wt% HBP, respectively. The PA6/HBP blends showed the higher content of α-form crystal and a higher degree of crystallinity than those of pure PA6.     

The Mechanical Properties,Compatibility, and Thermal Stabilities of POE-Graft-Methyl Methacrylate and Acrylonitrile(POE-g-MAN)/ Styrene-Acrylonitrile Copolymer (SAN Resin) Blends

POE-graft-methyl methacrylate and acrylonitrile (POE-g-MAN) was prepared by graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and acrylonitrile (AN) onto polyethylene-octene copolymers (POE) with suspension polymerization. POE-g-MAN/SAN resin blends (AOMS) were prepared by blending POE-g-MAN with styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN resin). The mechanical properties, compatibility, and thermal stabilities of AOMS were studied. The notched impact strength of the blends reached 54.0 kJ/m² when the AN/(MMA + AN) ratio (f_AN) of POE-g-MAN, benzoyl peroxide dosage, and POE content in AOMS were 15 wt%, 1.0 wt%, and 25 wt%, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the highest toughness occurred when the size of POE-g-MAN particles and the surface-to-surface inter-particle distance were proper. Scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated that the AOMS fracture surface had plastic flow visible, which looked like a fibril morphology when the AN/(MMA + AN) ratio (f_AN) of POE-g-MAN was 15 wt%. The toughening mechanism of AOMS was shear yielding of the matrix, which endowed AOMS with remarkable toughness. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis showed that the compatibility of the POE phase and SAN phase improved after graft copolymerization of MMA and AN onto POE. When the grafting chain polarity was appropriate, the miscibility between POE-g-MAN and SAN resin was the best. Thermogravimetry analysis showed that thermal stability of AOMS increased with increasing AN units in POE-g-MAN.     

Graft Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate- Acrylonitrile onto Poly(ethene-co-1-butene) and Its Toughening Effect on SAN Resin

Poly(ethene-co-1-butene)-graft-methyl methacrylate-acrylonitrile (PEB-g-MAN) was prepared by suspension grafting copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and acrylonitrile(AN) onto PEB. PEB-g-MAN/SAN resin blends (ABMS) were prepared by blending PEB-g-MAN with styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN resin). The effects of AN/(MMA+AN) feed ratio (f_AN), PEB/(PEB+MMA+AN) feed ratio (f_PEB) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) dosage on the monomer conversion ratio (CR), rubber's grafting ratio (GR), grafting efficiency (GE) of the copolymerization and the toughening effect of PEB-g-MAN on the SAN resin were investigated. FTIR quantitative analysis showed that when the weight percent of AN unit in the unextracted product was 21.5 wt% with f_AN of 25 wt%, the toughening effect of unextracted PEB-g-MAN on SAN resin was the highest. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis showed that when f_AN was 25 wt%, the grafted copolymer had the lowest molecular weight and ABMS had highest toughness. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis showed that the highest toughness occurred when the phase structure of ABMS was cocontinuous with f_AN of 25 wt%. When f_AN was 25 wt% PEB-g-MAN domains have numerous small SAN domains in them, which was occlusion structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis indicated that the ABMS fracture surfaces had plastic flow visible, which looked like a craze fibers morphology, for the sample with highest impact strength (f_AN = 25 wt%). Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMA) showed that the miscibility of the PEB phase and SAN phase improved after graft copolymerization of MMA and AN onto PEB.     

Time operator in QFT with Virasoro constraints

Time operator is studied on the basis of field quantization, where the difficulty stemming from Pauli?s theorem is circumvented by borrowing ideas from the covariant quantization of the bosonic string, i.e., one can remove the negative energy states by imposing Virasoro constraints. Applying the index theorem, one can show that in a different subspace of a Fock space, there is a different self-adjoint time operator. However, the self-adjoint time operator in the maximal subspace of the Fock space can also represent the self-adjoint time operator in the other subspaces, such that it can be taken as the single, universal time operator. Furthermore, a new insight on Pauli?s theorem is presented.     

A Novel Approach to All-Optical Generation of Ultra-Wideband Signals

Abstract

The generation of ultra-wideband signals in the optical domain is highly desirable for ultra-wideband-over-fiber systems, which has recently become a topic of interest. In this article, a novel and simple approach to achieve all-optical generation of ultra-wideband signals is proposed, which is based on delaying and superimposing optical Gaussian pulses with opposite polarities. The proposed system is capable of generating both ultra-wideband monocycle and doublet pulses, and the polarity of the generated ultra-wideband monocycle pulses can be fast-switched to implement pulse polarity modulation with the required bit pattern. A model to describe the proposed system is developed, and the generation of ultra-wideband signals is demonstrated with simulations and a proof-of-concept experiment.