拉曼光谱研究电化学沉积聚吡咯掺杂程度对膜厚度的依赖性

本文报道电化学沉积在光滑铂电极表面上聚吡咯 (PPy)膜的拉曼光谱。研究结果表明 :聚吡咯膜的掺杂程度在其生长过程中不断增加。因此 ,PPy膜的拉曼光谱特性对膜厚具有很强的依赖性。电化学分析结果也证明了这一发现。具有已知厚度的PPy膜的掺杂程度依赖于支持电解质的性质。     

Honking noise corrections for traffic noise prediction models in heterogeneous traffic conditions like India

In developing countries like India, the nature of the composition of traffic is heterogeneous. A heterogeneous traffic flow consists of vehicles that have different sizes, speeds, vehicle spacing and operating characteristics. As a result of the widely varying speeds, vehicular dimensions, lack of lane disciplines, honking becomes inevitable. In addition, it changes the urban soundscape of developing countries. In heterogeneous traffic conditions, horn events increase noise level (L_den) by 0.5–13 dB(A) as compared to homogenous traffic conditions. Therefore, the traffic prediction models that are used for homogenous traffic conditions are not applicable in heterogeneous traffic conditions. To increase the accuracy of noise prediction models, in depth understanding of heterogeneous traffic noise is required. Understanding the real traffic noise characteristics requires quantification of some of the basic traffic flow characteristics such as speed, flow, Level Of Service (LOS) and density. In a given roadway, the noise level changes with density and LOS on the road. In this paper, a new factor for horn correction is introduced with respect of Level Of Service (LOS). The horn correction values can be incorporated in traffic noise models such as CRTN, FHWA, and RLS 90, while evaluating heterogeneous traffic conditions.     

Modelling of the sound field radiated by multibeam echosounders for acoustical impact assessment

Multi-Beam Echo-Sounders (MBES) designed for seafloor-mapping applications are today a major tool for ocean exploration and monitoring. Concerns have been raised about their impact towards marine life and especially marine mammals, although their inherent characteristics (high frequencies, short signals and narrow transmitting lobes) actually minimize this possibility. The present paper proposes an analysis of MBES radiation characteristics (pulse design, source level and radiation directivity pattern) accounting for the various geometries met today and expressed according to the metrics used for acoustical impact assessment (maximum Sound Pressure Level, and cumulative Sound Exposure Level). A detailed radiation model is proposed, including the transmission through directivity sidelobes, and applied to three typical MBES examples. A simplified radiation model is then defined, in order to extend it to the case of the cumulative insonification by a MBES moving along a survey line. An approximated analytical model is proposed for the accumulated intensity, showing good agreement with the complete simulation of insonification; it is applied to the worst-case configuration of a low-frequency (12 kHz) multi-sector system. The computation of ranges corresponding to impact thresholds accepted today shows that impacts in terms of injury are negligible for both SPL and SEL; however behavioural response impacts cannot be excluded, and should require specific experimentation.     

Hausdorff dimension of the contours of symmetric additive Lévy processes

Let X ₁, ..., X _N denote N independent, symmetric Lévy processes on R ^d . The corresponding additive Lévy process is defined as the following N-parameter random field on R ^d : Khoshnevisan and Xiao (Ann Probab 30(1):62–100, 2002) have found a necessary and sufficient condition for the zero-set of to be non-trivial with positive probability. They also provide bounds for the Hausdorff dimension of which hold with positive probability in the case that can be non-void. Here we prove that the Hausdorff dimension of is a constant almost surely on the event . Moreover, we derive a formula for the said constant. This portion of our work extends the well known formulas of Horowitz (Israel J Math 6:176–182, 1968) and Hawkes (J Lond Math Soc 8:517–525, 1974) both of which hold for one-parameter Lévy processes. More generally, we prove that for every nonrandom Borel set F in (0,∞) ^N , the Hausdorff dimension of is a constant almost surely on the event . This constant is computed explicitly in many cases. The research of N.-R. S. was supported by a grant from the Taiwan NSC.     

Tuning the Electronic Properties of Platinum in Hybrid-Nanoparticle Assemblies for use in Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Platinum is the best electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, we demonstrate that by contact electrification of Pt nanoparticle satellites on a gold or silver core, the Fermi level of Pt can be tuned. The electronic properties of Pt in such hybrid nanocatalysts were experimentally characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with the probe molecule 2,6-dimethyl phenyl isocyanide (2,6-DMPI). Our experimental findings are corroborated by a hybridization model and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Finally, we demonstrate that tuning of the Fermi level of Pt results in reduced or increased overpotentials in water splitting.     

Two methods for discretizing a delta function supported on a level set

This paper presents two new methods for discretizing a Dirac delta function which is concentrated on the zero level set of a smooth function u: Rⁿ  R. The function u is only known at the discrete set of points belonging to a regular mesh covering Rⁿ. These two methods are used to approximate integrals over the manifold defined by the level set. Both methods are conceptually simple and easy to implement. We present the results of numerical experiments indicating that as the mesh size h goes to zero, the rate of convergence is at least O(h) for the first method, and O(h²) for the second method. We perform a limited analysis of the proposed algorithms, including a proof of convergence for both methods.     

Numerical simulation of flames as gas-dynamic discontinuities

The dynamics of thin premixed flames is computationally studied within the context of a hydrodynamic theory. A level-set method is used to track down the flame, which is treated as a free-boundary interface. The flow field is described by the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, with different densities for the burnt and unburnt gases, supplemented by singular source terms that properly account for thermal expansion effects. The numerical scheme has been tested on several benchmark problems and was shown to be stable and accurate. In particular, the propagation of a planar flame front and the dynamics of hydrodynamically unstable flames were successfully simulated. This includes recovering the planar front in narrow domains, the Darrieus–Landau linear growth rate for long waves of small amplitude, and the nonlinear development of cusp-like structures predicted by the Michelson–Sivashinsky equation for a small density change. The stationary flame of a Bunsen burner with uniform and parabolic outlet flows were also simulated, showing in particular a careful mapping of the flow field. Finally, the evolution of a hydrodynamically unstable flame was studied for finite amplitude disturbances and realistic values of thermal expansion. These results, which constitute one of the main objectives of this study, elucidate the effect of thermal expansion on flame dynamics.     

Level set simulations of turbulent thermonuclear deflagration in degenerate carbon and oxygen

We study the dynamics of thermonuclear flames propagating in fuel stirred by stochastic forcing. The fuel consists of carbon and oxygen in a state which is encountered in white dwarfs close to the Chandrasekhar limit. The level set method is applied to represent the flame fronts numerically. The computational domain for the numerical simulations is cubic, and periodic boundary conditions are imposed. The goal is the development of a suitable flame speed model for the small-scale dynamics of turbulent deflagration in thermonuclear supernovae. Because the burning process in a supernova explosion is transient and spatially inhomogeneous, the localized determination of subgrid scale closure parameters is essential. We formulate a semi-localized model based on the dynamical equation for the subgrid scale turbulence energy k _sgs. The turbulent flame speed s _t is of the order √2k _sgs. In particular, the subgrid scale model features a dynamic procedure for the calculation of the turbulent energy transfer from resolved toward subgrid scales, which has been successfully applied to combustion problems in engineering. The options of either including or suppressing inverse energy transfer in the turbulence production term are compared. In combination with the piece-wise parabolic method for the hydrodynamics, our results favour the latter option. Moreover, different choices for the constant of proportionality in the asymptotic flame speed relation, s _t∝√2k _sgs, are investigated.     

The Level Set Method for Systems of PDEs

We propose a level set method for systems of PDEs which is consistent with the previous research pursued by Evans (1996 Evans , L. C. ( 1996 ). A geometric interpretation of the heat equation with multivalued initial data . SIAM J. Math. Anal. 27 ( 4 ): 932 – 958 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) for the heat equation and by Giga and Sato (2001 Giga , Y. , Sato , M.-H. ( 2001 ). A level set approach to semicontinuous viscosity solution for Cauchy problems . Comm. Partial Differential Equations 26 ( 5–6 ): 813 – 839 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) for Hamilton–Jacobi equations. Our approach follows a geometric construction related to the notion of barriers introduced by De Giorgi. The main idea is to force a comparison principle between manifolds of different codimension and require each nonzero sub-level of a solution of the level set equation to be a barrier for the graph of a solution of the corresponding system. We apply the method to a class of systems of first order quasi-linear equations. We compute the level set equation associated with suitable first order systems of conservation laws, with the mean curvature flow of a manifold of arbitrary codimension and with systems of reaction–diffusion equations.