High-throughput screening of fuel cell electrocatalysts

The drawbacks of our earlier report of preparing fuel cell catalyst arrays by borohydride reduction of inkjet prepared arrays of metal salts are discussed along with the need for inclusion of state-of-the-art metrics in all array screening. An alternative method for screening of hydrogen/air cathode catalysts, direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) anode catalysts, and catalyst loading studies is provided. State-of-the-art Johnson Matthey catalysts were used in control experiments to demonstrate the utility of the array fuel cell for high throughput screening of fuel cell catalysts in the 3-4 mg/cm² range. This report lays out hard learned rules for high throughput screening and demonstrates that the array fuel cell can be used for very precise screening of libraries of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) components without the pitfalls discussed in the introduction.     

Courants caractéristiques et analyse de SEREigen currents and RCS analysis

In this Note, we return to the theory of characteristic modes which was introduced 30 years ago for electromagnetic scattering problems. A simple mathematical framework is proposed and complete definitions are given. The potential interest of this theory in terms of Radar Cross Section (RCS) analysis is then discussed, especially in the low frequency case. Finally, a 3-D example is presented to illustrate the efficiency of this decomposition. To cite this article: Y. Morel et al., C. R. Mecanique 332 (2004).     

Large-scale synthesis of tube-like ZnS and cable-like ZnS-ZnO arrays: Preparation through the sulfuration conversion from ZnO arrays via a simple chemical solution route

Arrayed structures are desirable for many applications, but the fabrication of many material arrays remains a significant challenge. As a prominent II-VI semiconductor, large-scale arrayed ZnS structure has not been easily fabricated. Here, we introduce a simple structure conversion route for the synthesis of novel arrayed structures, and large-scale tube-like ZnS structure arrays and cable-like ZnS-ZnO composite arrays were successfully prepared through sulfuration conversion from arrayed rod-like ZnO structure based on a hydrothermal method at low temperature. XRD, EDS, SEM, TEM and PL are used to confirm the formation of the novel arrayed structure and trace the conversion process. The results show that the conversion ratio can be conveniently tailored by the reaction time, and the PL properties of the obtained materials can be adjusted through the conversion ratio. Especially, the cable-like structure holds the PL properties of both ZnO and ZnS structures. This simple solution method can be further extended to the preparation of other semiconductor sulfide and selenide, and can amplify the application field of large-scale arrays of semiconductors.     

Simultaneous multichannel mass-specific detection for high-performance liquid chromatography using an array detector sector-field mass spectrometer

The use of a separation step, such as liquid chromatography, prior to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) has become a common tool for highly selective and sensitive analyses. This type of coupling has several benefits including the ability to perform speciation analysis or to remove isobaric interferences. Several limitations of conventional instruments result from the necessity to scan or pulse the mass spectrometer to obtain a complete mass spectrum. When the instrument is operated in such a non-continuous manner, duty cycle is reduced, resulting in poorer absolute limits of detection. Additionally, with scanning instruments, spectral skew can be introduced into the measurement, limiting quantitation accuracy. To address these shortcomings, a high-performance liquid chromatograph has been coupled to an ICP–MS capable of continuous sample introduction and simultaneous multimass detection. These features have been realized with a novel detector array, the focal plane camera. Instrument performance has been tested for both speciation analysis and for the elimination of isobaric interferences. Absolute limits of detection in the sub picogram to tens of picograms regime are obtainable, while the added mass dimension introduced by simultaneous detection dramatically increases chromatographic peak capacity.     

The MPE/UCB far-infrared imaging Fabry-Perot interferometer (FIFI)

FIFI is an imaging spectrometer with two or three Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPI) in series for airborne astronomical observations in the far-infrared range (=40...200m). It employs 5×5 arrays of photoconducting detectors and offers spectral resolutions as small as 2km/s. Resolution and bandwidth can be set over a wide range to match a variety of astronomical sources. Cryogenic optics minimizes thermal background radiation and provides for in-flight step tunable spatial resolution. At 158 m wavelength the background-limited NEP is 3 × 10^-15W/Hz at 40 km/s resolution and with two FPI's; with three FPI's the expected NEP is 10^-15WHz at 5 km/s resolution.The frequency-chopping mode of the high-resolution Fabry-Perot allows for line detection in extended objects. Absolute internal flux calibration ensures adequate flat fielding of the array elements.     

On the Relative Gain Array (RGA) with singular and rectangular matrices

This paper identifies a significant deficiency in the literature on the application of the Relative Gain Array (RGA) formalism in the case of singular matrices. Specifically, it is shown that the conventional use of the Moore–Penrose pseudoinverse is inappropriate because it fails to preserve critical properties that can be assumed in the nonsingular case. It is then shown that such properties can be rigorously preserved using an alternative generalized matrix inverse.     

基于现场可编程门阵列单探测器复合轴控制技术

为了解决空间激光通信系统中单探测器复合轴结构的粗精解耦难题,通过分析二维关联控制矩阵,得出粗精跟踪解耦的必要条件,提出了一种单探测器复合轴结构的工作方式.在跟踪过程中,相机直接配合子轴执行器完成精跟踪工作,而主轴的跟踪信息由子轴的角度偏转器来提供,同时所有的图像处理算法、位置检测算法、以及粗精伺服控制算法都在现场可编程门阵列中实现,完成了系统的轻小型化设计.实验搭建了测试系统,并对现场可编程门阵列硬件和系统跟踪性能进行测试,结果表明单探测器复合控制系统可以实现跟踪准确度优于3μrad,为工程化奠定了良好的基础.     

腐蚀介质中混凝土/钢筋界面电极电位分布的立体分析

由于混凝土的隔离和高绝缘性 ,常规的电化学技术、微探针扫描技术均难于获得在腐蚀介质的浸泡下混凝土 /钢筋界面 ,特别是不同深处的混凝土 /钢筋界面的电位分布 .本文提出用阵列电极法并结合电子技术和微机控制技术 ,获得同一水平面上混凝土 /钢筋界面以及不同深处的混凝土 /钢筋界面的电位分布立体信息图 .结果表明 :在NaCl介质中经过一段时间的浸泡 ,混凝土中的钢筋腐蚀可发生并发展 ;而在Na2 SO4 介质中经过一段时间的浸泡 ,虽钢筋腐蚀一般不发生 ,但混凝土可能破坏 .不同深处混凝土 /钢筋界面腐蚀优先发生在混凝土覆盖较浅的部位 .     

交叉响应传感器鉴别β受体激动剂及其混合体系

开发了一种鉴别β受体激动剂的新型阵列传感器。该传感器由8种传感物质构成,使用96孔板酶标仪采集响应数据,结合主成分分析(PCA)、分层聚类分析(HCA)、判别分析(LDA)等模式识别方法进行数据处理,对5类β受体激动剂及其混合物进行检测。PCA结果表明,该传感器主要是基于空间结构以及氢键作用实现对β受体激动剂的识别;HCA结果显示,93个分析样本归类正确;LDA结果显示,该传感器对于β受体激动剂识别的准确率达98.9%。本方法在β受体激动剂的检测中有潜在应用价值。     

Synthesis of oligo(p-phenylene)-linked dyads containing free base, zinc(II) or thallium(III) porphyrins for studies in artificial photosynthesis

A series of (p-phenylene)_n-linked meso-mesityl-substituted porphyrin dyads (n=2-4) was prepared via Suzuki coupling of zinc(II) and free base porphyrin building blocks. The resulting zinc(II)/free base porphyrin dyads were demetalated. The series of free base porphyrin dimers (n=1-4), four other porphyrin dimers (with p-phenylene, diphenylethyne or diphenylbutadiyne linkers; and aryl or tridec-7-yl meso substituents), and several benchmark monomers were converted to the thallium(III)chloride complexes under mild conditions. The collection of eight Tl(III)Cl/Tl(III)Cl dimers is designed for studies of ground-state hole-transfer processes and comparison with the excited-state energy- and hole-transfer processes of the corresponding Zn(II)/free base dyads. Altogether, 18 new porphyrin arrays and benchmark monomers have been prepared.