Preparation and mechanical properties of thermal energy storage microcapsules

A series of heat energy storage microcapsules was prepared using melamine-formaldehyde resin as the shell material and the mechanical properties of the shell were investigated. A phase change material whose melting point was 24 °C was used as core and the quantity of heat involved in phase transition was 225.5 J/g. Average diameter of the microcapsules varied from 5 to 10 μm, and the globular surface was smooth and compact. The mechanical properties of the shell were evaluated by observing the surface morphological structure change after application of pressure by means of scanning electron microscopy. When the mass ratio of the core and shell material is 3:1, a yield point of about 1.1×10⁵ Pa was found and when the compression was increased beyond this point the microcapsules showed plastic behavior. This has been attributed to the cross-link density and to the high degree of reaction of the shell material. Different yield points subsequently reflected differences in the mechanical behavior. It was also found that the mechanical intensity of double-shell microcapsules was better than that of single shelled ones.     

High modulus polyimide/polyimide molecular composite films that utilize acetylene unit as a crosslink site

Polyimide/polyimide molecular composite (MC) films comprised of a rigid polyimide derived from biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and p-phenylenediamine (PDA) and a flexible polyimide derived from BPDA and bis (3,3'-diaminodiphenyl) acetylene (intA) and/or oxydianiline (ODA) were prepared by blending the polyamic acid solutions in 7 : 3 weight ratio, and then imidizing the blend films. Acetylene content in the flexible polyimide backbone was controlled by the ratio of intA and ODA. Cold-drawing of the blend polyamic acid films, followed by imidization, gives high modulus polyimide/polyimide MC films. The modulus of the MC films increased almost linearly with the draw ratio, reaching 25.5 GPa for the 40% drawn film. Acetylene groups in the flexible polyimide can be thermally cured to crosslink. The onset of exotherm appeared at 340°C on DSC, reaching maximum at 398°C. After the thermal crosslinking, the MC films maintained the high modulus, though elongation became small. Taking advantage of the crosslinkable acetylene units, two MC films were laminated and processed at 400°C for 20 min under 100 kg/cm² to give a good-quality laminate film. The interface of the two films was strongly bonded through the crosslinking of acetylene groups. Laminate films maintained the high modulus afforded by the cold-drawing. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Polypyrrole-Fe2O3 nanohybrid materials for electrochemical storage

We report on the synthesis and electrochemical characterization of nanohybrid polypyrrole (PPy) (PPy/Fe₂O₃) materials for electrochemical storage applications. We have shown that the incorporation of nanoparticles inside the PPy notably increases the charge storage capability in comparison to the “pure” conducting polymer. Incorporation of large anions, i.e., paratoluenesulfonate, allows a further improvement in the capacity. These charge storage modifications have been attributed to the morphology of the composite in which the particle sizes and the specific surface area are modified with the incorporation of nanoparticles. High capacity and stability have been obtained in PC/NEt₄BF₄ (at 20 mV/s), i.e., 47 mAh/g, with only a 3% charge loss after one thousand cyles. The kinetics of charge–discharge is also improved by the hybrid nanocomposite morphology modifications, which increase the rate of insertion–expulsion of counter anions in the bulk of the film. A room temperature ionic liquid such as imidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonimide seems to be a promising electrolyte because it further increases the capacity up to 53 mAh/g with a high stability during charge–discharge processes.     

关于超高分子量聚丙烯超拉伸膜的结构性能的研究——Ⅱ.形态结构变化对力学性能的影响

用X-射线衍射、动态力学测定等手段研究了不同拉伸倍数的超高分子量聚丙烯薄膜的力学性能的变化.以X-射线衍射法并基于串联力学模型的假设得到的各样品的表观晶区模量E_c~(app)约为34-38GPa.样品模量E_b随拉伸倍数增加而逐渐增大,其变化趋势与非晶区取向因子的变化相类似,说明非晶区取向是左右样品模量的重要因素.室温下,69倍拉伸样品的模量为27GPa,约为表观结晶模量的3/4,且其值在-150-160℃的温度范围内没有急剧变化,说明超拉伸明显改善了材料的力学性能及热稳定性.在各拉伸样品中,考虑伸直链结晶生成的可能性,利用并串联力学模型对伸直链结晶的体积分数做了估算,并对X-射线衍射法所得表观结晶模量进行了修正,认为室温下聚丙烯的真正晶区模量约为47GPa.     

Effects of Total Thermal Balance on the Thermal Energy Absorbed or Released by a High-Temperature Phase Change Material

Front tracking and enthalpy methods used to study phase change processes are based on a local thermal energy balance at the liquid–solid interface where mass accommodation methods are also used to account for the density change during the phase transition. Recently, it has been shown that a local thermal balance at the interface does not reproduce the thermodynamic equilibrium in adiabatic systems. Total thermal balance through the entire liquid–solid system can predict the correct thermodynamic equilibrium values of melted (solidified) mass, system size, and interface position. In this work, total thermal balance is applied to systems with isothermal–adiabatic boundary conditions to estimate the sensible and latent heat stored (released) by KNO3 and KNO3/NaNO3 salts which are used as high-temperature phase change materials. Relative percent differences between the solutions obtained with a local thermal balance at the interface and a total thermal balance for the thermal energy absorbed or released by high-temperature phase change materials are obtained. According to the total thermal balance proposed, a correction to the liquid–solid interface dynamics is introduced, which accounts for an extra amount of energy absorbed or released during the phase transition. It is shown that melting or solidification rates are modified by using a total thermal balance through the entire system. Finally, the numerical and semi-analytical methods illustrate that volume changes and the fraction of melted (solidified) solid (liquid) estimated through a local thermal balance at the interface are not invariant in adiabatic systems. The invariance of numerical and semi-analytical solutions in adiabatic systems is significantly improved through the proposed model.     

Solar-Driven Artificial Carbon Cycle

Constituting the artificial carbon cycle,for example,through recycling CO₂ and converting CH₄ to value-added fuels and chemicals with solar energy,offers a sustainable future for humankind to tackle the global environmental issues and energy crisis.However,significant bottlenecks remain in such photocatalytic conversion,mainly related to the reaction activity and product selectivity.Herein,we share our efforts and systematic research progress on addressing the double bottlenecks for achieving solar-driven artificial carbon cycle,with specifically focusing on the photocatalytic CO₂ and CH₄ conversion.We further elucidate the common fundamentals behind various designed photocatalytic materials systems.Toward future development,we highlight the opportunities and challenges in the research field.     

Normalized Dynamic Characterization and Application of Multiple Heat Storage Materials Based on Standard Thermal Resistance北大核心CSCD

基于标准热阻和能量流法,推导出储热材料与换热流体的瞬态换热热阻,通过类比电路分析法,获得了储热-换热过程的瞬态热量流模型及动态响应时间常数。进一步引入节点温度,重新定义换热热阻,获得了储热与换热过程耦合的三阶电路瞬态热量流模型,求解得到了加热、储热和释热三类时间常数,可用于协同表征储热材料中储热与释热的快慢程度,从而实现了多类储热材料的归一化动态表征。通过数值模拟验证与应用对比分析,发现基于多时间常数的归一化动态模型用于表征储热材料的动态特性是可行的,可直接对不同换热、储热材料进行对比分析。案例分析发现与固体储热材料换热时,液态金属的动态换热能力优于熔融盐,而相比于水蒸气和CO₂,空气与陶瓷材料换热能更快达到稳态。     

Pattern-specific neural network design

We present evidence that the performance of the traditional fully connected Hopfield model can be dramatically improved by carefully selecting an information-specific connectivity structure, while the synaptic weights of the selected connections are the same as in the Hopfield model. Starting from a completely disconnected network we let genuine Hebbian synaptic connections grow, one by one, until a desired degree of stability is achieved. Neural pathways are thus fixed notbefore, butduring the learning phase.     

Some remarks on the modulus of continuity of a conformal mapping of the disk onto a Jordan domain

Letd(;z, t) be the smallest diameter of the arcs of a Jordan curve with endsz andt. Consider the rapidity of decreasing ofd(;)=sup{d(;z, t):z, t , ¦z–t¦} (as 0,0) as a measure of nicety of . Letg(x) (x0) be a continuous and nondecreasing function such thatg(x)x,g(0)=0. Put¯g(x)=g(x)+x, h(x)=(¯g(x))². LetH(x) be an arbitrary primitive of 1/h ^–1(x). Note that the functionH ^–1 x is positive and increasing on (–, +),H ^–1 0 asx– andH ^–1+ asx +. The following statement is proved in the paper.Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 176–184, August, 1996.This research was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research under grant No. 93-01-00236 and by the International Science Foundation under grant No. NCF000.     

The uniform modulus of continuity of iterated Brownian motion

LetX be a Brownian motion defined on the line (withX(0)=0) and letY be an independent Brownian motion defined on the nonnegative real numbers. For allt0, we define theiterated Brownian motion (IBM),Z, by setting . In this paper we determine the exact uniform modulus of continuity of the process Z.Research supported by NSF grant DMS-9122242.