Performance evaluation of PVdF gel polymer electrolytes

A series of gel polymer electrolytes containing PVdF as homo polymer, a mixture of 1:1 Ethylene Carbonate (EC) : Propylene Carbonate (PC) as plasticizer and lithium-bistrifluoromethane sulphone imide [imide — LiN (CF₃SO₂)₂] has been developed. Amounts of polymer (PVdF), plasticizer and the imide lithium salt have been varied as a function of their weight ratio composition in this regard. Dimensionally stable films possessing appreciable room temperature conductivity values have been obtained with respect to certain weight ratio compositions. However, conductivity data have been recorded at different possible temperatures, i.e., from 20 °C to 65 °C. XRD and DSC studies were carried out to characterize the polymer films for better amorphicity and reduced glass transition temperature, respectively. The electrochemical interface stability of the PVdF based gel polymer electrolytes over a range of storage period (24 h – 10 days) have been investigated using A.C. impedance studies. Test cells containing Li/gel polymer electrolyte (GPE)/Li have been subjected to undergo 50 charge-discharge cycles in order to understand the electrochemical performance behaviour of the dimensionally stable films of superior conductivity. The observed capacity fade of less than 20% even after 50 cycles is in favour of the electrochemical stability of the gel polymer electrolyte containing 27.5% PVdF −67.5 % EC+PC −5% imide salt. Cyclic voltammetry studies establish the possibility of a reversible intercalation — deintercalation process involving Li⁺ ions through the gel polymer electrolyte.     

Doppler-limited dye laser excitation spectroscopy of the HSO radical

The cw dye laser excitation spectrum of the vibronic transition of the HSO radical was observed between 16 420 and 16 520 cm⁻¹ with Doppler-limited resolution, 0.03 cm⁻¹. The HSO radical was produced by reaction of discharged oxygen with H₂S or CH₃SH. The observed spectra were assigned to 751 transitions of the K′_a ← K″_a = 2 ← 3, 1 ← 2, 0 ← 1, 1 ← 0, 2 ← 1, and 3 ← 2 subbands, and were analyzed to determine rotational constants, centrifugal distortion constants, and spin-rotation interaction constants with good precision. The signs of the spin-rotation interaction constants were determined for both the upper and the lower state from the observed spectra. The band origin obtained is 16 483.0252 (2.5σ = 0.0013) cm⁻¹. The molecular constants which were determined reproduce the observed transitions with an average deviation of 0.0045 cm⁻¹.     

Spontaneous luminescence due to high density electron-hole plasma in GaAs under nano- and pico-second pulse excitation

Spontaneous luminescence due to high density electron-hole plasma in GaAs is observed at 4.2 K under nano- and pico-second pulse excitation. From the pico-second time-resolved spectra, it is found that the hot carriers are cooled down rapidly within 150 psec, and the changes of spectra are not appreciable in the later stage. One may consider, together with results of the spectral shape analysis, that the electron-hole liquid formation is improbable at least within the time range observed.     

Experiments on plasma heating in the lower hybrid frequency range

Experimental results of lower hybrid heating in a small tokamak are described. When rf power is applied, a high energy tail of ions is produced, whether or not there is a lower hybrid resonance layer (LHR layer) in the plasma column, though bulk ion heating is not observed. The electron temperature in the plasma surface increases, while the electrons in the center lose their energy, which is related to an impurity ion flux diffusing from the outside of the plasma.     

Preface

Optical Review - To increase the recording density of optical discs, analog recording techniques such as the use of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) method has been investigated....     

On Default Priors for Robust Bayesian Estimation with Divergences

This paper presents objective priors for robust Bayesian estimation against outliers based on divergences. The minimum γ-divergence estimator is well-known to work well in estimation against heavy contamination. The robust Bayesian methods by using quasi-posterior distributions based on divergences have been also proposed in recent years. In the objective Bayesian framework, the selection of default prior distributions under such quasi-posterior distributions is an important problem. In this study, we provide some properties of reference and moment matching priors under the quasi-posterior distribution based on the γ-divergence. In particular, we show that the proposed priors are approximately robust under the condition on the contamination distribution without assuming any conditions on the contamination ratio. Some simulation studies are also presented.     

Annealing of point defects in p-type germanium after electron irradiation at liquid nitrogen temperature

Annealing of radiation induced defects in p-type germanium was studied by measuring Hall coefficient and conductivity. The dopant was gallium or indium. It was concluded that the annealing stage between 80° and 140°K is caused by migration of the vacancy to the sink of an impurity atom. In this stage the vacancy migrates to a substitutional impurity atom and makes an association. The activation energy of the stage was found tO be 0.1 ev ad it is regarded to be that of the vacancy migration. The model for the annealing stage which occurs in the range 220 to 270°K is proposed as follows: An interstitial impurity atom migrates to a substitutional impurity atom and makes an association. From the activation energy of the stage, the migration energy of the interstitial impurity atom was concluded to be about 0.4 eV for gallium and 0.7 eV for indium atoms.     

A numerical study on extinction behaviour of laminar micro-diffusion flames

We conducted a numerical study on the fluid dynamic, thermal and chemical structures of laminar methane–air micro flames established under quiescent atmospheric conditions. The micro flame is defined as a flame on the order of one millimetre or less established at the exit of a vertically-aligned straight tube. The numerical model consists of convective–diffusive heat and mass transport with a one-step, irreversible, exothermic reaction with selected kinetics constants validated for near-extinction analyses. Calculations conducted under the burner rim temperature 300 K and the adiabatic burner wall showed that there is the minimum burner diameter for the micro flame to exist. The Damköhler number (the ratio of the diffusive transport time to the chemical time) was used to explain why a flame with a height of less than a few hundred microns is not able to exist under the adiabatic burner wall condition. We also conducted scaling analysis to explain the difference in extinction characteristics caused by different burner wall conditions. This study also discussed the difference in governing mechanisms between micro flames and microgravity flames, both of which exhibit similar spherical flame shape.