Thermo-physical properties of rubber seed useful in the design of storage structure

This study was carried out to determine the thermo-physical properties of rubber seed in the moisture range of 9.1%to 14.8%(w.b.).The length,width,thickness,measured surface area,bulk density and true density increased with increasing moisture content with high coefficients of determination(significant at p<0.05).Their optimum values at 14.8%moisture content were 17.00 mm,11.94 mm,8.26 mm,285.20 mm^(2),295.00 kg/m^(3) and 470.67 kg/m^(3),respectively.The angle of repose increased as moisture content increased with low coefficient of determination and has optimum value of 28.81°at 14.8%moisture content.The specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity decreased linearly while thermal diffusivity increased exponentially with an increase in moisture content(significant at p<0.05).The optimum values of specific heat capacity,thermal conductivity and diffusivity at 14.8%moisture content were 55.84 kJ/(kg.K),0.032 W/(m.K)and 1.93×10^(-9) m^(2)/s,respectively.The results are essential in the design of storage structure for rubber seed.

Research of Seed Testa Structure and Storage Material of Peanut Germplasm with Different Resistance to A. flavus

There was an obvious relationship between seed testa structure, storage material and resistance to A. flavus of peanut. Results showed that seed testa of peanut germplasm with high resistance （HR） to A. flavus infection had thicker wax layer, integrated and tight epidermis layer, regular vascular tissue range. However, the seed testa of peanut germplasm with high sensitivity （HS） to A. flavus had the reverse results, and results of those with medium resistance （MR） to A. flavus lay in between, but changes of testa thickness were not significant among different resistance kinds. Results also showed that some seed storage materials were closely related with resistance potential to A. flavus. It seemed that varieties with higher resistance to A. flavus had higher oleic acid and protein content, lower linoleic acid and fat content. Content of palm acid, total sugar and VE did not show positive relationship with the resistance to A. flavus.

Li Storage Performance for the Composite Structure Of Graphene and Boron Fullerene

We study the stability and performance of Li absorption on the composite structure （B80 C72） of boron fullerene and graphene by first-principles calculations. Our results show that the Li storage capacity of the composite structure is estimated to be at least Li54B80C72, which is steady with improved dispersibility and electronic conductivity. The composite structure could have the potential application as the anode material of Li-ion batteries with high Li storage capacity and great mechanical property.

Improved Hydrogen Storage Kinetics of Nanocrystalline and Amorphous Mg-Nd-Ni-Cubased Mg_2Ni-type Alloys by Adding Nd

In order to improve the gaseous and electrochemical hydrogen storage kinetics of the M2Nitype alloy, the elements Cu and Nd were added in the alloy. The nanocrystalline and amorphous Mg2Ni-type alloys with the composition of（Mg24Ni10Cu2）100-xNdx（x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20） were prepared by melt spinning technology. The effects of Nd content on the structures and hydrogen storage kinetics of the alloys were investigated. The characterization by X-ray diffraction（XRD）, transmission electron microscopy（TEM） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM） reveals that all the as-cast alloys hold multiphase structures, containing Mg2Ni-type major phase as well as some secondary phases Mg6Ni, Nd5Mg41, and Nd Ni, whose amounts clearly grow with increasing Nd content. Furthermore, the as-spun Nd-free alloy displays an entire nanocrystalline structure, whereas the as-spun Nd-added alloys hold a mixed structure of nanocrystalline and amorphous structure and the amorphization degree of the alloys visibly increases with the rising of the Nd content, suggesting that the addition of Nd facilitates the glass forming in the Mg2Ni-type alloy. The measurement of the hydrogen storage kinetics indicates that the addition of Nd significantly improves the gaseous and electrochemical hydrogen storage kinetics of the alloys. The addition of Nd enhances the diffusion ability of hydrogen atoms in the alloy, but it impairs the charge-transfer reaction on the surface of the alloy electrode, which makes the high rate discharge ability（HRD） of the alloy electrode fi rst mount up and then go down with the growing of Nd content.

Structural energy storage composites based on modified carbon fiber electrode with metal-organic frame enhancing layered double hydroxide

Structural energy storage composites present advantages in simultaneously achieving structural strength and electrochemical properties.Adoption of carbon fiber electrodes and resin structural electrolytes in energy storage composite poses challenges in maintaining good mechanical and electrochemical properties at reasonable cost and effort.Here,we report a simple method to fabricate structural supercapacitor using carbon fiber electrodes(modified by Ni-layered double hydroxide(Ni-LDH)and in-situ growth of Co-metal-organic framework(Co-MOF)in a two-step process denoted as Co-MOF/Ni-LDH@CF)and bicontinuous-phase epoxy resin-based structural electrolyte.Co-MOF/Ni-LDH@CF as electrode material exhibits improved specific capacity(42.45 F·g^(-1))and cycle performance(93.3%capacity retention after 1000 cycles)in a three-electrode system.The bicontinuous-phase epoxy resin-based structural electrolyte exhibits an ionic conductivity of 3.27×10^(-4) S·cm^(-1).The fabricated Co-MOF/Ni-LDH@CF/SPE-50 structural supercapacitor has an energy density of 3.21 Wh·kg^(-1) at a power density of 42.25 W·kg^(-1),whilst maintaining tensile strength and modulus of 334.6 MPa and 25.2 GPa.These results show practical potential of employing modified commercial carbon fiber electrodes and epoxy resin-based structural electrolytes in structural energy storage applications.

Exploration prospects of oil and gas in the Northwestern part of the Offshore Indus Basin, Pakistan

Oil and gas resources are short in Pakistan and no commercially viable oil and gas sources have been yet discovered in its offshore areas up to now.In this study,the onshore-offshore stratigraphic correlation and seismic data interpretation were conducted to determine the oil and gas resource potential in the Offshore Indus Basin,Pakistan.Based on the comprehensive analysis of the results and previous data,it is considered that the Cretaceous may widely exist and three sets of source rocks may be developed in the Offshore Indus Basin.The presence of Miocene mudstones has been proven by drilling to be high-quality source rocks,while the Cretaceous and Paleocene–Eocene mudstones are potential source rocks.Tectonic-lithologic traps are developed in the northwestern part of the basin affected by the strike-slip faults along Murray Ridge.Furthermore,the Cretaceous and Paleocene–Eocene source rocks are thick and are slightly affected by volcanic activities.Therefore,it can be inferred that the northwestern part of Offshore Indus Basin enjoys good prospects of oil and gas resources.

Structure and electrochemical properties of LaMgNi4-xCox(x=0-0.8)hydrogen storage electrode alloys

LaMgNi（4-x）Cox（x = 0-0.8） electrode alloys used for MH/Ni batteries were prepared by induction melting. The structures and electrochemical hydrogen storage properties of the alloys were investigated in detail.X-ray diffraction（XRD） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM） analysis show that LaMgNi4 phase and LaNi5 phase are obtained. The lattice parameters of the two phases increase first and then decrease with Co content increasing.The electrochemical properties of the alloy electrodes were measured by means of simulated battery tests. Results show that the addition of Co does not change the discharge voltage plateau of the alloy electrodes. However, the maximum discharge capacity increases from 319.9 mAh·g^-1（x = 0）to 347.5 mAh·g^-1（x = 0.4） and then decreases to331.7 mAh·g^-1（x = 0.8）. The effects of Co content on electrochemical kinetics of the alloy electrodes were also performed. The high rate dischargeability（HRD） first increases and then decreases with Co content increasing and reaches the maximum value（95.0 %） when x = 0.4. Test results of the electrochemical impedance spectra（EIS）,potentiodynamic polarization curves and constant potential step measurements of the alloy electrodes all demonstrate that when Co content is 0.4 at%, the alloy exhibits the best comprehensive electrochemical properties.

Preparation and Li^+ storage properties of hierarchical hollow porous carbon spheres

Hollow ordered porous carbon spheres （HOPCS） with a hierarchical structure were prepared by templating with hollow ordered mesoporous silica spheres （HOMSS）. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM） showed that HOPCS exhibited a spherical hollow morphology. High-resolution TEM, small angle X-ray diffraction （SAXRD） and N2 sorption measurements confirmed that HOPCS inversely replicated the unconnected hexagonal-stacked pore structure of HOMSS, and possessed ordered porosity. HOPCS exhibited a higher storage capacity for Li^＋ ion battery （LIB） of 527.6 mA h/g, and good cycling performance. A large capacity loss during the first discharge-charge cycle was found attributed to the high content of micropores. The cycling performance was derived from the hierarchical structure.

Design and Implementation of a Data-Driven Dynamical Reconfigurable Cell Array

The nature of dataflow computation demands the heavy flow of tokens amongst computation nodes. Traditional reduced instruction-set computer (RISC) processors are not suitable for such style computation. Devices that use long wire buses are not suitable for dataflow either. Reconfigurable computing devices (RCDs) consist of data transfer wires and computing resources. With minor modifications, reconfigurable cells can be adopted to perform dataflow computation. A reconfigurable cell array (RCA) is presented in this paper and it is suitable for dataflow computation. This cell array has a dynamic reconfigurable storage model. The distinctive features of the architecture include dataflow reconfigurable cells and reconfigurable storage. Dataflow applications can be mapped easily and effectively onto the cells. Reconfigurable storage is mainly used to manage data access and transmission. Furthermore, computation and data management are separated. Meanwhile, dynamical reconfiguration is accomplished, when some clusters of cells work in configuration mode and other clusters work in computation mode. The dataflow graphs of some algorithms are mapped onto our architecture, and the performance results are compared with those of CPU and GPU. © 2017, Shanghai Jiaotong University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.

Facile synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels functionalized with chitosan for supercapacitors with excellent electrochemical performance

Three-dimensional porous nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels（NGAs） were synthesized by using graphene oxide（GO） and chitosan via a self-assembly process by a rapid method.The morphology and structure of the as-prepared aerogels were characterized.The results showed that NGAs possesed the hierarchical pores with the wide size distribution ranging from mesopores to macropores.The NGAs carbonized at different temperature all showed excellent electrochemical performance in 6 mol/L KOH electrolyte and the electrochemical performance of the NGA-900 was the best.When working as a supercapacitor electrode,NGA-900 exhibited a high specific capacitance（244.4 F/g at a current density of 0.2 A/g）,superior rate capability（51.0% capacity retention） and excellent cycling life（96.2% capacitance retained after 5000 cycles）.