Evaluation of Model Concepts to Describe Water Transport in Shallow Subsurface Soil and Across the Soil–Air Interface

Soil water evaporation plays a critical role in mass and energy exchanges across the land–atmosphere interface. Although much is known about this process, there is no agreement on the best modeling approaches to determine soil water evaporation due to the complexity of the numerical modeling scenarios and lack of experimental data available to validate such models. Existing studies show numerical and experimental discrepancies in the evaporation behavior and soil water distribution in soils at various scales, driving us to revisit the key process representation in subsurface soil. Therefore, the goal of this work is to test different mathematical formulations used to estimate evaporation from bare soils to critically evaluate the model formulations, assumptions and surface boundary conditions. This comparison required the development of three numerical models at the REV scale that vary in their complexity in characterizing water flow and evaporation, using the same modeling platform. The performance of the models was evaluated by comparing with experimental data generated from a soil tank/boundary layer wind tunnel experimental apparatus equipped with a sensor network to continuously monitor water–temperature–humidity variables. A series of experiments were performed in which the soil tank was packed with different soil types. Results demonstrate that the approaches vary in their ability to capture different stages of evaporation and no one approach can be deemed most appropriate for every scenario. When a proper top boundary condition and space discretization are defined, the Richards equation-based models (Richards model and Richards vapor model) can generally capture the evaporation behaviors across the entire range of soil saturations, comparing well with the experimental data. The simulation results of the non-equilibrium two-component two-phase model which considers vapor transport as an independent process generally agree well with the observations in terms of evaporation behavior and soil water dynamics. Certain differences in simulation results can be observed between equilibrium and non-equilibrium approaches. Comparisons of the models and the boundary layer formulations highlight the need to revisit key assumptions that influence evaporation behavior, highlighting the need to further understand water and vapor transport processes in soil to improve model accuracy.

     

High-order curvilinear mesh generation technique based on an improved radius basic function approach

A high-order curvilinear hybrid mesh generation technique is developed for high-order numerical method (eg, discontinuous Galerkin method) applications to improve the accuracy for problems with curve boundary. The grid generation technique is based on an improved radius basic function (RBF) approach by which the straight-edge mesh is converted into high-order curve mesh. Firstly, an initial straight-edge mesh is prepared by traditional grid generation software. Then, high-order interpolation points are inserted into the mesh entities such as edges, faces, and cells according to the final demand of mesh order. To preserve the original geometry, the inserted points on solid wall are then projected onto the CAD model using an open source tool “Open Cascade.” Finally, other inserted points in the field near the solid wall are moved to appropriate positions by the improved RBF approach to avoid tangled cells. If we use the original RBF approach, then the inserted points on the edge and face entities normal to the solid boundary in the region of boundary layer will move to improper positions. To overcome this problem, a weighting based on the local grid aspect ratio between normal direction and tangential direction is introduced into the baseline RBF approach. Three typical configurations are tested to validate the mesh generator. Meanwhile, a third-order solution of subsonic flow over an analytical 3D body of revolution in the second International Workshop on High-Order CFD Methods is supplied by a discontinuous Galerkin solver. These numerical tests demonstrate the potential capability of present technique for high-order simulations of complex geometries.     

Bilinear formalism,lump solution,lumpoff and instanton/rogue wave solution of a (3+1)-dimensional B-type Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation

Nonlinear Dynamics - We consider the simplified (3+1)-dimensional B-type Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation. We use the binary Bell polynomial theory to construct a bilinear form of the...     

A quantitatively controllable mesoscopic reliability model of an interdependent public transit network considering congestion,time-delay interaction and self-organization effects

Nonlinear Dynamics - This paper establishes a multi-parameter controlling cascading failures (CFs) model for measuring interdependent public transit network (PTN) reliability under mesoscopic...     

Separation of antipyretic analgesics by open tubular capillary electrochromatography with homopolymer coatings

This study developed an open‐tubular capillary electrochromatography protocol for the analysis of antipyretic analgesic drugs, which used a multifunctional homopolymer as coating. A controlled/living radical polymerization strategy was adopted to obtain poly(N‐acryloxysuccinimide) with a tunable chain‐length. The homopolymer coating enhanced the separation performance by contributing to the hydrophobic and hydrogen‐bonding interactions between the analytes and the homopolymer. The effect of polymer chain‐length and buffer pH and concentration on the separation efficiency was evaluated. In this approach, baseline separation of the three test drugs was achieved within 15 min. The repeatability of the prepared homopolymer coating was investigated, with the relative standard deviations < 2.88% observed in intra‐ and interday runs. Good linearity in the 5–800 µM range (R² ≥ 0.998) demonstrates that accurate quantitative analysis of real samples was achieved. Moreover, the proposed assay was used to quantify the three drugs (aminopyrine, 4‐aminoantipyrine, and phenacetin) in urine samples, achieving recovery rates between 92.1 and 108.7%. This promising methodology may be used for the analysis of drugs in real bio‐samples and for the development of unique homopolymer coatings for open‐tubular capillary electrochromatography systems.     

Vacuum-free fabrication of high-performance semitransparent perovskite solar cells via e-glue assisted lamination process

From a base material of conductive polymer(poly-(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate),PEDOT:PSS),a flexible and high-conductivity(as low as 45Ω/sq)transparent electrode was fabricated on polydimethylsiloxane elastomer by an acid treatment and transfer process.Combined with the D-sorbitol-doped PEDOT:PSS electric glue,we successfully demonstrated a vacuum-free and ambient lamination fabrication process for semi-transparent perovskite solar cells using triple cation Cs_(0.05)(MA_(0.17)FA_(0.83))_(0.95)Pb(I_(0.83)Br_(0.17))_3perovskite.By this manufacturing-friendly lamination process,we fabricated semitransparent perovskite solar cell devices with power conversion efficiencies up to 16.4%and variable transparencies.     

Highly efficient and thermal stable guanidinium-based two-dimensional perovskite solar cells via partial substitution with hydrophobic ammonium

Layered two-dimensional(2D)perovskite solar cells(PVSCs)with a chemical formula of C(NH_2)_3(CH_3NH_3)_3Pb_3I_(10)(n=3)have been fabricated through additive engineering,wherein stoichiometrically equivalent guanidinium(GA~+)and methylammonium(MA~+)serve as spacer cations.The crystallinity of the perovskite films is dramatically enhanced with proper amount of methylammonium thiocyanate(MASCN)added into the precursor solution.In addition,we substitute a small amount of MA~+with hydrophobic phenylethylammonium(PEA~+),which can passivate trap states of the perovskite films.As a result,the open circuit voltage increases to 1.1 V and the best power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 10.12%is yielded.Furthermore,superior thermal stability and balanced moisture stability of the PEA-substituted GA-based PVSCs are demonstrated,compared to the popular 3D MAPbI_3and 2D PEA-based PVSCs.They retain approximately 80%of the original PCE after 30 d at 20%relative humidity(RH),and 50%of the original PCE after 3200 min at 85°C without any encapsulation.This work suggests a new route to achieve both heat and humidity stable PVSCs by simply mixing different spacer cations.     

Phenanthrene derivatives combined charge transport properties and strong solid-state emission

Science China Chemistry - As bifunctional materials, phenanthrene derivatives 2,7-diphenylphenanthrene and 2,7-di(styryl)phenanthrene (DPPa and DSPa) were designed and studied. Both materials show...     

Tertiary Amines Differentiated from Primary and Secondary Amines by Active Ester‐Functionalized Hexabenzoperylene in Field Effect Transistors

Herein, we report two novel derivatives of hexabenzoperylene (HBP) that are functionalized with ester groups. Methyl acetate functionalized HBP ( 1 ) in single crystals self‐assembles into a supramolecular nanosheet, which has a two‐dimensional π‐stack of HBP sandwiched between two layers of ester groups. With the same self‐assembly motif, active ester‐functionalized HBP ( 2 ) in field effect transistors has enabled differentiation of tertiary amines from primary and secondary amines, in agreement with the fact that active ester reacts with primary and secondary amines but not with tertiary amines to form amides.