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.     

Calculating the energies for Ag(001) twist boundaries utilizing the modified analytical embedded atom method

The unrelaxed energies for Ag(001) twist grain boundaries (GBs) have been calculated using the modified analytical embedded atom method (MAEAM). The results show that, besides zero energy in a perfect crystal (corresponding to the twist angle 0°), the second smallest GB energy corresponds to the twist angle 36.87°. This is consistent with the experimental results. For other twist angles, the GB energies remain nearly constant even for a twist angle as small as 1.94°. Translation parallel to the boundary plane could result in a periodic change in GB energy. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Grain boundary segregation diagrams of α-iron

Based on thermodynamic analysis of interfacial segregation, the segregation enthalpy H ^o of a solute I in a given matrix was found to depend linearly on two mutually independent terms reflecting the type of interface and the solid solubility limit X _infI ^sup* at temperature T and can be written as In this equation, the structural dependence of interfacial segregation is contained in H ^*() which corresponds to the extrapolated segregation enthalpy of a solute with unlimited solubility in the matrix. The product [Tln(X _infI ^sup* )] is essentially constant with temperature, and can therefore be obtained from data for maximum solid solubility, [Tln(X _infI ^sup* )]_max. The parameter v>0 represents the relationship between the activity a _infI ^sup* of a solute at the bulk solid solubility limit in a given matrix and X _infI ^sup* , a _infI ^sup* =(X _infI ^sup* ) ^v , and is characteristic for the matrix. Using recent experimental data for silicon, phosphorus, and carbon segregation at well-characterized grain boundaries in oriented bicrystals of -iron, the averaged value was determined. Values of H ^*() range from -8 kJ/mol (general grain boundaries) up to +8 kJ/mol (special grain boundaries). These values are discussed and used for a more precise and generalized construction of grain boundary segregation diagrams of -iron.     

煤的孔结构特征对水煤浆性质的影响

本文选用１７种不同变质程度的中国煤，详细研究了煤孔结构特征对煤浆性质的影响。发现煤孔体积通过影响煤在分散体系中的吸水性，从而影响煤之成浆性。但由于不同变质程度煤表面亲水性的显著差异，煤孔体积在影响煤成浆性的能力方面差别很大，这使得煤吸水性和浆体最高煤浓度与煤孔体积并不存在直接的相关性，而是取决于煤孔体积Ｖ和以煤－水接触角（θ）的余弦值表示的煤表面亲水性因子的乘积，即煤之有效孔体积：Ｖ×ｃｏｓ（θ／     

Synthesis and applications of photochromic fulgides in optical information storages

A pyrryl substituted photocbromic fulgide, (1-p-methoxyphenyl-2-methyl-5-phenyl)-3-pyrryl-ethylidene (isopropylidene) succinic anhydride, was synthesized. Its chemical structure was identified by IR, 1H NMR MS and elemental analysis. The title compound was used to prepare the optical disks by the spin coating method and the vacuum evaporation method. The results of the static state examination show that the optical disks prepared with this kind of molecules possess excellent thermal stability and fatigue resistance, i.e. over 450 writing-erasing recycles, the relative contrast between writing state and erasing state remains at 40%.     

Al3Ti1B1RE细化剂对罐用铝材的细化效果及稀土的作用

采用XRD，OM，SEM，EDAX等探讨了一种新型Al3Ti1B1RE中间合金细化剂对罐用铝材的细化效果及RE的作用。结果表明，该细化剂对罐用铝材的细化效果优于进口和国产Al3Ti1B，且具有长效性，达6h后仍未见明显衰退，明显提高了该材料的强度和塑性；其细化效果及稳定性好的主要原因是：RE可降低铝液的表面能，增加铝液对细化核心(如TiAl3，TiB2)的润湿性，既充分发挥了异质形核作用，又防止了TiB2聚集沉淀倾向；RE也极易在结晶前沿富集造成成分过冷，阻碍了α-Al晶粒生长，并促进其在细化核心上形核；此外RE还兼有一定的净化、细化和变质作用，尤其是净化作用提高了该细化剂的冶金质量。