Mesoporous amorphous MnO<Subscript>2</Subscript> as electrode material for supercapacitor

A kind of novel mesoporous, electrochemical active material, amorphous MnO₂ has been synthesized by an improved reduction reaction and using supramolecular as template. The synthesized sample was characterized physically by thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope (TEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area measurement, respectively. Electrochemical characterization was performed using cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry in 2 mol/l KOH aqueous solution electrolyte. The results of BET and TEM analysis indicated that supramolecular template plays an important role in the process of big specific surface area mesoporous material forming. After sintering at 200 °C, the sample still remained an amorphous structure, and its specific capacitance reached 298.7 F/g and presented a very stable capacitance after 500 cycles. In addition, the electrochemical process, such as ion transfer and electrical condition, was also investigated with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.     

Microwave-assisted sol-gel synthesis of CeO2–NiO nanocomposite based NO2 gas sensor for selective detection at lower operating temperature

The progress in the development of gas sensors has considerably grown using some novel nanomaterials of metal, metal oxide and composite. In the current study, we intended and evaluated the properties of nanomaterials like CeO₂, NiO, and CeO₂–NiO composite and its application as NO₂ gas sensor. Sensing of low concentration of NO₂ gas at optimum functional temperature was succeeded using CeO₂–NiO nanocomposites (NCs) film. The working temperature ranges in between 100 and 225 ?°C. Highly crystalline nanomaterials (CeO₂, NiO and CeO₂–NiO) have been prepared by applying microwave-assisted sol-gel route. The as-prepared nanomaterials are characterized for their structure, size, morphology and constitution by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. XRD studies of nanoparticles reveal the formation of nanoscale CeO₂ and NiO with crystallite size 26, 23 ?nm, respectively. Both are having a face centered cubic structure. The nanocomposite (NC) Ce:Ni ?= ?60:40 has crystallite size of 13 ?nm. XRD study of NCs shows assimilation of Ni metal into the ceria and proves physical similarities of two phases. It can be observed from SEM that prepared NC has a porous surface which enables more surface active sites for adsorbing oxygen. The optical properties are measured with the help of UV–Vis. Spectroscopy. Optical band gaps of 3.19, 3.41 and 2.9 ?eV were observed for CeO_2, NiO nanoparticles (NPs) and CeO₂–NiO NC, respectively. Gas sensing properties state that the NC material shows a higher gas response % of 67.34% for NO₂ gas (25 ?ppm) at comparatively low operating temperature (125 ?°C). It gives response time as (～28 ?s) and the recovery (～54 ?s). NiO incorporation in CeO₂ results in a decline of operating temperature of NC and improves the sensing features.     

Tailoring the dielectric properties and energy storage density of 1−x(0.94NaNbO3−0.06SZ)−xBi2O3 through substitution strategy

Energy storage using dielectric capacitors is a growing area of research and development. However, designing a highly performing dielectric capacitor is still a challenge. Despite the excellent results achieved in lead-based dielectrics, lead-free substitutes are essential because of the environmental concerns associated with lead-based products. The lead-free 1?x (0.94NaNbO₃? 0.06SrZrO₃)+ x Bi₂O₃ ceramics abbreviated NNSZ + xB for x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.20 was fabricated via solid-state reaction. A recoverable energy density of 2.93 J cm?³ was obtained for NNSZ+0.1B, associated with high thermal stability (25–130 °C), excellent cycling (N = 10⁵), and high efficiency (η) of 83.5%. Moreover, the introduction of Bi₂O₃ significantly improved the electrical insulation (?_r at 1 kHz = 1608 and tan δ = 0.0038) and breakdown strength (380 kVcm?¹) of NNSZ+0.1B by minimizing the formation of sodium, bismuth, and oxygen vacancies. The results obtained in this study provide a benchmark for further investigations on NaNbO₃-based ceramics. More importantly, this study suggests that NNSZ + xB ceramics can be used in pulsed power technology.     

Three-dimensional bundle-like multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite for supercapacitor electrode application

Bundle-type mutil-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) composite electrode is the first investigation and publication for the supercapacitor application. According to the thermogravimetric analysis results, as-synthesized BCNTs are considered as the electrode materials for supercapacitors and electrochemical double-layer capacitor in this study. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface area of as-prepared bundled carbon nanotubes (BCNTs) is 95.29 m²/g given to a type III isotherm and H3 hysteresis loops. Slow scanning rates promote and enhance to achieve high C_b because of the superior conductivity of CNT bundles and one side close-layered Ni/Mg/Mo alloy inside the BCNT-based electrode and facile electron diffusivity between electrolyte and electrode. The specific capacitance C_s (1,560 F/g) is nearly equal to the maximum specific capacitance, which the BCNT-based composite electrode can actually be able to charge or fill in. The maximum energy density value is 195 Wh/kg with corresponding power density values of 0.21 kW/kg. Furthermore, the active 3D BCNTs material fabricated electrode enhances to contact the electrolyte directly and decreases the ion diffusion limitation. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy spectrum summarized as the low-frequency area controls by mass transfer limitation, and the high-frequency area dominates by charge transfer of kinetic control. After 2,000 consecutive cyclic voltammetry sacnings and galvanostatic charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 1.67 A/g performs, the specific capacitance retentions of 3D BCNTs electrodes achieved 128.2 and 77.3%, respectively. Three-dimensional BCNT composite electrodes exhibit good conductivity and low charge transfer resistance, which is beneficial to fast charge transfer between the BCNTs electrode materials and electrolytes.     

Representation of Bounded Convex Sets By Rational Convex Hull Of Its Gamma-Extreme Points

H. Minkowski proved C= convext C whenever C is a compact convex subset of a finite-dimensional linear space. If C is bounded but not closed, this representation does not hold anymore. In this case, we introduce the set of so-called γ-extreme points extγC of C and show C = convext γ C = raco extγ C, where raco M denotes the rational convex hull of M.     

Global classical solutions to a non-isothermal dynamical ginzburg-landau model in superconductivity

In this paper we propose and study a generalized time dependent Ginzburg-Landau model for superconductivity in which the temperature appears as a variable rather than a parameter. The model is derived by using the general theory of thermodynamics for non-isothermal phase transitions developed by Penrose-Fife and Alt-Pawlow. The global existence of classical solutions of the model is established by using Leray-Schauder fixed point theorem     

Some results on symplectic matrices

The principal results are that if A is an integral matrix such that AA^T is symplectic then A = CQ, where Q is a permutation matrix and C is symplectic; and that if A is a hermitian positive definite matrix which is symplectic, and B is the unique hermitian positive definite pth.root of A, where p is a positive integer, then B is also symplectic.     

A finite element lumped mass scheme for solving eigenvalue problems of circular arches

Summary This study is a continuation of a previous paper [4] in which the numerical results are given by using single precision arithmetic. In this paper, we show the numerical results which experess the sharper convergence properties than those of [4], by using double precision arithmetic.Dedicated to Prof. Masaya Yamaguti on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Numerical solution of delay differential equations by uniform corrections to an implicit Runge-Kutta method

Summary In this paper we develop a class of numerical methods to approximate the solutions of delay differential equations. They are essentially based on a modified version, in a predictor-corrector mode, of the one-step collocation method atn Gaussian points. These methods, applied to ODE's, provide a continuous approximate solution which is accurate of order 2n at the nodes and of ordern+1 uniformly in the whole interval. In order to extend the methods to delay differential equations, the uniform accuracy is raised to the order 2n by some a posteriori corrections. Numerical tests and comparisons with other methods are made on real-life problems.This work was supported by CNR within the Progetto Finalizzato Informatica-Sottopr. P1-SOFMAT     

Is Gauss quadrature optimal for analytic functions?

Summary We consider the problem of optimal quadratures for integrandsf: [–1,1] which have an analytic extension to an open diskD _r of radiusr about the origin such that 1 on . Ifr=1, we show that the penalty for sampling the integrand at zeros of the Legendre polynomial of degreen rather than at optimal points, tends to infinity withn. In particular there is an infinite penalty for using Gauss quadrature. On the other hand, ifr>1, Gauss quadrature is almost optimal. These results hold for both the worst-case and asymptotic settings.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grants MCS-8203271 and MCS-8303111This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant MCS-8923676