Experimental analysis of current and deformation of ion-exchange polymer metal composite actuators

In this paper we describe the experimental analysis of a novel ion-exchange polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator under large external voltage. The experimental analysis is supplemented with a coupled thermodynamic model, which includes mass transport across the thickness of the polymer actuator, chemical reactions at boundaries, and deformation as a function of the solvent (water) distribution. In this paper, the case of large electrode potentials (over 1.2 V) has been analyzed experimentally and theoretically. At these voltage levels, electrochemical reactions take place at both electrodes. These are used in the framework of overpotential theory to develop boundary conditions for the water transport in the bulk of polymer. The model is then simplified to a three-component system comprised of a fixed negatively charged polymeric matrix, protons, and free water molecules within the polymer matrix. Among these species, water molecules are considered to be the dominant species responsible for the deformation of the IPMC actuators. Experiments conducted at different initial water contents are described and discussed in the context of the proposed deformation mechanism. Comparison of numerical simulations with experimental data shows good agreement.     

转动系统的相对论性分析力学理论

本文讨论了转动相对论力学理论，主要是建立转动系统的相对论性分析力学理论·构造转动系统的相对论性广义动能函数Ｔｒ＝∑ｎｉ＝１Ｉ０ｉΓｉ２（１－１－θ·２ｉ／Γｉ２）和广义加速度能量函数Ｓｒ＝１２∑ｎｉ＝１Ｉｉ（θ·ｉ·θ¨ｉ）２Γｉ２－θ·２ｉ＋θ¨２ｉ，给出其Ｈａｍｉｌｔｏｎ原理和三种不同形式的Ｄ′Ａｌｅｍｂｅｒｔ原理；对于完整约束系统，建立了转动系统的相对论性Ｌａｇｒａｎｇｅ方程、Ｎｉｅｌｓｅｎ方程、Ａｐｐｅｌ方程和Ｈａｍｉｌｔｏｎ正则方程；对于非完整约束系统，建立了转动系统的相对论性Ｒｏｕｔｈ方程、Чаплыгин方程、Ｎｉｅｌｓｅｎ方程和Ａｐｐｅｌ方程；并给出转动系统的相对论性Ｎｏｅｔｈｅｒ守恒律     

Rotational Motion of a Solute Molecule in a Highly Viscous Liquid Studied byC NMR: 1,3-Dibromoadamantane in Polymeric Chlorotrifluoroethene

The viscosity-dependent retarding effect of a polymeric solvent on the rotation of small solute molecules is investigated by¹³C NMR relaxation measurements. It is found that the relaxation data of 1,3-dibromoadamantane in highly viscous polymeric chlorotrifluoroethene can be explained neither by isotropic nor by realistic anisotropic tumbling in a single environment. The experimental data are rationalized in terms of fast exchange between at least two environments with correlation times differing by up to two orders of magnitude. The study shows that a uniform retardation of molecular tumbling by a polymeric solvent, desirable for shifting the NMR observation window in studies of intramolecular mobility, is not always feasible.     

Full-Wave Analyses for a Multi-Layered Microstrip Patch Antenna

This paper describes numerical modelling of a dual band multi-layered microstrip patch antenna operating at 35GHz on an in-house semi-insulating GaAs substrate. The simulated and measured resonant frequencies at both lower and upper resonant frequencies will be compared to check the accuracy of the different numerical modelling techniques.     

Fluorinated,crosslinkable terpolymers based on vinylidene fluoride and bearing sulfonic acid side groups for fuel‐cell membranes

The radical terpolymerization of 8‐bromo‐1H,1H,2H‐perfluorooct‐1‐ene with vinylidene fluoride (VDF) and perfluoro(4‐methyl‐3,6‐dioxaoct‐7‐ene) sulfonyl fluoride is presented. Changing the feed compositions of these three fluorinated comonomers enabled us to obtain different random‐type poly[vinylidene fluoride‐ter‐perfluoro(4‐methyl‐3,6‐dioxaoct‐7‐ene) sulfonyl fluoride‐ter‐8‐bromo‐1H,1H,2H‐perfluorooct‐1‐ene] terpolymers containing various sulfonyl fluoride and brominated side groups. Yields higher than 70% were reached in all cases. The hydrolysis of the sulfonyl fluoride group into the ? SO₃Li function in the presence of lithium carbonate was quantitatively achieved without the content of VDF being affected, and so dehydrofluorination of the VDF base unit was avoided. These original terpolymers were then crosslinked via dangling bromine atoms in the presence of a peroxide/triallyl isocyanurate system, which produced films insoluble in organic solvents such as acetone and dimethylformamide (which totally dissolved uncured terpolymers). The acidification of ? SO₃Li into the ? SO₃H function enabled protonic membranes to be obtained. The thermal stabilities of the crosslinked materials were higher than those of the uncured terpolymers, and their electrochemical performances were investigated. According to the contents of the sulfonic acid side functions, the ion‐exchange capacities ranged from 0.6 to 1.5 mequiv of H⁺/g, whereas the water uptake and conductivities ranged from 5–26% (±11%) and from 0.5 to 6.0 mS/cm, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4566–4578, 2006     

Smaller Output Beam Divergence in the Slowly Opened Q-Switch Operation

The mechanism of the slowly opened Q-switch operation was investigated thoroughly. Maximum energy extraction from the resonator could be optimized, and the smallest output beam divergence could be achieved. In this article, we present a detailed analysis that has numerically verified the mode-selection mechanism in the slowly opened Q-switch operation, and the degree of the smaller output laser beam divergence that has been achieved. The mechanism of the slowly opened Q-switch operation is the inherent advantage of the passive saturable absorber in this operation. We can use the maximum energy extraction and the smallest output beam divergence results of the slowly opened Q-switch operation to design and optimize various passive saturable absorbers: plastic dye sheets, LiF:F₂⁻ color center crystals, Cr4⁺: YAG crystals, RG1000 color glass filters, and the single crystal semiconductor saturable absorber wafers that are in developed in our microchip laser systems.     

Chemically modified proton‐conducting membranes based on sulfonated polyimides: Improved water stability and fuel‐cell performance

A series of branched/crosslinked sulfonated polyimide (B/C‐SPI) membranes were prepared and evaluated as proton‐conducting ionomers based on the new concept of in situ crosslinking from sulfonated polyimide (SPI) oligomers and triamine monomers. Chemical branching and crosslinking in SPI oligomers with 1,3,5‐tris(4‐aminophenoxy)benzene as a crosslinker gave the polymer membranes very good water stability and mechanical properties under an accelerated aging treatment in water at 130 °C, despite their high ion‐exchange capacity (2.2–2.6 mequiv g^?1). The resulting polymer electrolytes displayed high proton conductivities of 0.2–0.3 S cm^?1 at 120 °C in water and reasonably high conductivities of 0.02–0.03 S cm^?1 at 50% relative humidity. In a single H₂/O₂ fuel‐cell system at 90 °C, they exhibited high fuel‐cell performances comparable to those of Nafion 112. The B/C‐SPI membranes also displayed good performances in a direct methanol fuel cell with methanol concentrations as high as 50 wt % that were superior to those of Nafion 112. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 3751–3762, 2006     

Polymer electrolyte membranes for the direct methanol fuel cell: A review

The direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) has the potential to replace lithium‐ion rechargeable batteries in portable electronic devices, but currently experiences significant power density and efficiency losses due to high methanol crossover through polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs). Numerous publications document the synthesis and characterization of new PEMs for the DMFC. This article reviews this research, transport phenomena in PEMs, and experimental techniques used to evaluate new PEMs for the DMFC. Although many PEMs do not show significant improvements over Nafion®, the benchmark PEM in DMFCs, experimental results show that several new PEMs exhibit lower methanol crossover at similar proton conductivities and/or higher DMFC power densities. These results and recommendations for future research are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Parts B: Polym Phys 44: 2201–2225, 2006     

Mechanical endurance of polymer electrolyte membrane and PEM fuel cell durability

The life of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is currently limited by the mechanical endurance of polymer electrolyte membranes and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs). In this paper, the authors report recent experimental and modeling work toward understanding the mechanisms of delayed mechanical failures of polymer electrolyte membranes and MEAs under relevant PEMFC operating conditions. Mechanical breach of membranes/MEAs in the form of pinholes and tears has been frequently observed after long‐term or accelerated testing of PEMFC cells/stacks. Catastrophic failure of cell/stack due to rapid gas crossover shortly follows the mechanical breach. Ex situ mechanical characterizations were performed on MEAs after being subjected to the accelerated chemical aging and relative humidity (RH) cycling tests. The results showed significant reduction of MEA ductility manifested as drastically reduced strain‐to‐failure of the chemically aged and RH‐cycled MEAs. Postmortem analysis revealed the formation and growth of mechanical defects such as cracks and crazing in the membranes and MEAs. A finite element model was used to estimate stress/strain states of an edge‐constrained MEA under rapid RH variations. Damage metrics for accelerated testing and life prediction of PEMFCs are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2346–2357, 2006