Experimental Electromagnetic Characterization of High Temperature Superconductors Coils Located in Proximity to Electromagnetically Active Materials

The electromagnetic properties of high temperature superconductors(HTS)are characterized with the explicit intent to improve their integration in electric power systems.A tape and a coil made of Bismuth Strontium Calcium Copper Oxide(BSCCO)are considered in the presence of electromagnetically active materials in order to mimic properly the electromagnetic environment typical of electrical machines.The characterization consists of the determining the critical current and the AC losses at different values of the frequency and the transport current.The effects induced by the proximity of the active materials are studied and some related experimental issues are analyzedc.

Revisiting the electrode manufacturing: A look into electrode rheology and active material microenvironment

The microstructures on electrode level are crucial for battery performance, but the ambiguous understanding of both electrode microstructures and their structuring process causes critical challenges in controlling and evaluating the electrode quality during fabrication. In this review, analogous to the cell microenvironment well-known in biology, we introduce the concept of ‘‘active material microenvironment”(ME@AM)that is built by the ion/electron transport structures surrounding the AMs, for better understanding the significance of the electrode microstructures. Further, the scientific significance of electrode processing for electrode quality control is highlighted by its strong links to the structuring and quality control of ME@AM. Meanwhile, the roles of electrode rheology in both electrode structuring and structural characterizations involved in the entire electrode manufacturing process(i.e., slurry preparation, coating/printing/extrusion, drying and calendering) are specifically detailed. The advantages of electrode rheology testing on in-situ characterizations of the electrode qualities/structures are emphasized. This review provides a glimpse of the electrode rheology engaged in electrode manufacturing process and new insights into the understanding and effective regulation of electrode microstructures for future high-performance batteries.

Effect of Preparation Process of Functional Polymer Active Materials on Properties of Gadolinium Ion Selective Electrode

Recently we have studied the rare earth ion-selective electrodes with active materials of the func-tional polymers and found that the process chosen for the functional polymers had an effect on the propertiesof gadolinium ion selective electrode besides the effects of their structures.1.Effect of preparation process of the grafted polymers on the properties ofgadolinium ion selective electrodesThe electrode membranes which consist of functional polymers as active materials were prepared by re-action of gadolinium chloride with the radiation grafted clmer of acrlic acid and polystyrene of which

EFFECT OF STRUCTURE OF FUNCTIONAL POLYMER ACTIVE MATERIALS ON PROPERTIES OF GADOLINIUM ION SELECTIVE ELECTRODE

In this paper,the functional polymeric active materials were prepared by the grafting copolymerization and their structure and properties were studied.The results show that the structure and properties of these ac- tive materials have the relative large effects on the properties of gadolinium ion selective electrodes.

Multifunctional Liquid Metal Active Material for Wound Repair and Motion Monitoring via Free Radical Polymerization Assembly

Bacterial infections and excessive oxidative stress seriously hinder the healing of skin wounds.Traditional wound dressings can only serve as physical barriers and lack active molecules essential for actively promoting wound healing.Herein,an antibacterial and antioxidant liquid metal inorganic active material is developed for wound repair through in situ polymerization of chitosan/acrylic acid precursor solution initiated by tannic acid-coated liquid metal nanoparticles,without extra initiators and ultraviolet (UV) light.The tannic acid component enables the inorganic active material to exhibit antioxidant property,which can remove 90% of free radicals and relieve cellular oxidative stress.The chitosan component endows the inorganic active material with antibacterial property,effectively inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (killing ratio: 90%).In vivo experiment demonstrates that this inorganic active material can promote the healing of Staphylococcus aureus-infected wound,achieving a closure rate of 98.16% on the 9th day.Meanwhile,this inorganic active material exhibits good electrical conductivity,enabling timely and stable monitoring of human joint movements.This work offers a simple strategy for developing multifunctional inorganic active material,which holds great potential for wound repair and motion monitoring.

Recent advances of high performance SiO_(x)(0

SiOx is attractive as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)due to its high capacity,low cost,and relatively higher cyclic stability than Si anode.However,the intrinsic low electronic conductivity,low initial coulombic efficiency(ICE),and volume expansion during cycles hinder its applications.In this review,we summarize advances in high performance SiOx anodes,mainly from two aspects:active material and binders.The future perspective is investigated at the end of this review.Our review provides strategical guidance for developing high performance SiOx anodes.

Vibration analysis and active control of nearly periodic two-span beams with piezoelectric actuator/sensor pairs

The piezoelectric materials are used to investigate the active vibration control of ordered/disordered periodic two-span beams. The equation of motion of each sub-beam with piezoelectric patches is established based on Hamilton＇s principle with an assumed mode method. The velocity feedback control algorithm is used to design the controller. The free and forced vibration behaviors of the two-span beams with the piezoelectric actuators and sensors are analyzed. The vibration properties of the disordered two-span beams caused by misplacing the middle support are also researched. In addition, the effects of the length disorder degree on the vibration performances of the disordered beams are investigated. From the numerical results, it can be concluded that the disorder in the length of the periodic two-span beams will cause vibration localizations of the free and forced vibrations of the structure, and the vibration localization phenomenon will be more and more obvious when the length difference between the two sub-beams increases. Moreover, when the velocity feedback control is used, both the forced and the free vibrations will be suppressed. Meanwhile, the vibration behaviors of the two-span beam are tuned.

Preparation of Ammonia Adsorbent by Carbonizing and Activating Mixture of Biomass Material and Hygroscopic Salt

We put forward a new and ingenious method for the preparation of a new adsorbent by soaking, carbonizing and activating the mixture of hygroscopic salt and biomass material. The new adsorbent has high porosity, uniform distribution and high content of Ca Cl2, and exhibits high adsorption performance. The ammonia uptake and specific cooling power（SCP） at 5 min adsorption time can reach as high as 0.19 g·g^-1 and 793.9 W·kg^-1, respectively. The concept of utilizing the biomass materials and hygroscopic salts as raw materials for the preparation of adsorbents is of practical interest with respect to the potential quantity of biomass materials around the world, indicating that there would be a new market for biomass materials.Key words： biomass material; adsorption system; ammonia; calcium chloride; activated carbon

Space Materials Science in China:Ⅱ.Ground-based Researches and Academic Activities

Activities of space materials science research in China have been continuously supported by two main national programs.One is the China Space Station(CSS)program since 1992,and the other is the Strategic Priority Program(SPP)on Space Science since 2011.In CSS plan in 2019,eleven space materials science experimental projects were officially approved for execution during the construction of the space station.In the SPP Phase Ⅱ launched in 2018,seven pre-research projects are deployed as the first batch in 2018,and one concept study project in 2019.These pre-research projects will be cultivated as candidates for future selection as space experiment projects on the recovery of scientific experimental satellites in the future.A new apparatus of electrostatic levitation system for ground-based research of space materials science and rapid solidification research has been developed under the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.In order to promote domestic academic activities and to enhance the advancement of space materials science in China,the Space Materials Science and Technology Division belong to the Chinese Materials Research Society was established in 2019.We also organized scientists to write five review papers on space materials science as a special topic published in the journal Scientia Sinica to provide valuable scientific and technical references for Chinese researchers.

Progress in Fusion Technologies and Materials Researches

Fusion technologies and materials researches made progress in the major three aspects in 2006, specially implemented the ITER agreement tasks of first wall （FW） plate fabrication qualification and shield bulk thermal-hydraulic analysis and design, studied on low activation fusion structure materials and High Z plasma facing materials, experimentally investigated on liquid metal blanket magneto-hydrodynamics effects and so on.

Effects of preparation temperature on electrochemical performance of nitrogen-enriched carbons

The activated nitrogen-enriched novel carbons (NENCs) were prepared by direct carbonization using polyaniline coating activated mesocarbon microbead composites as the precursor. Herein the influences of the carbonization temperature on the structure and morphology of the NENCs samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and N2 adsorption/desorption isotherm at 77 K. The electrochemical properties of the supercapacitors were characterized by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cycle life, leakage current and self-discharge measurements in 6 mol/L KOH solution. The results demonstrate that the NENC samples carbonized at 600 °C show the highest specific capacitance of 385 F/g at the current density of 1 A/g and the lowest ESR value (only 0.93?). Furthermore, the capacity retention ratio of the NENCs-600 supercapacitor is 92.8 % over 2500 cycles.

Chiral thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials for circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes

Chirality is an important natural characteristic of organic molecules,and chiral organic molecules have shown extensive application in areas such as pharmaceutical development and material science.Benefiting from the ability to achieve circularly polarized luminescence(CPL),chiral luminescent materials have shown potential applications in anti-glare display,optical communication and,3D display,etc.Due to the ability to harvest both singlet and triplet excitons by a fast reverse intersystem crossing process without involving noble metals,chiral thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF)materials with point chirality,axial chirality,planar chirality and helical chirality are regarded as the state-of-the-art materials for circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes(CP-OLEDs).In recent years,the chiral TADF materials and CP-OLEDs have rapidly developed,but unfortunately,the dissymmetry factors(g)are far from the requirement of practical applications.The ideal emitters and devices should have both high efficiency and a g factor,or at least a balance between these two elements.This review gives an overview of recent progress in chiral TADF materials,with a particular focus on the chiral skeleton,CPL property and device performance.Furthermore,the molecular design concept,device structure and methods to improve the g factors of chiral materials and CP-OLEDs are also discussed.

Electrochemical Performance of Nickel Hydroxide/Activated Carbon Supercapacitors Using a Modified Polyvinyl Alcohol Based Alkaline Polymer Electrolyte

Polyvinyl alcohol （PVA）-sodium polyacrylate （PAAS）-KOH-H2O alkaline polymer electrolyte film with high ionic conductivity was prepared by a solution-casting method. Polymer Ni（OH）2/activated carbon （AC） hybrid supercapacitors with different electrode active material mass ratios （positive to negative） were fabricated using this alkaline polymer electrolyte, nickel hydroxide positive electrodes, and AC negative electrodes. Galvanostatic charge/ discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy （EIS） methods were used to study the electrochemical performance of the capacitors, such as charge/discharge specific capacitance, rate charge/discharge ability, and charge/discharge cyclic stability. Experimental results showed that with the decreasing of active material mass ratio m（Ni（OH）2）/m（AC）, the charge/discharge specific capacitance increases, but the rate charge/discharge ability and the charge/discharge cyclic stability decrease.

Stress release in high-capacity flexible lithium-ion batteries through nested wrinkle texturing of graphene

Flexible lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)are critical for the development of next-generation smart electronics.Conversion reaction-based electrodes have been considered promising to construct high energy-density flexible LIBs,which satisfy the ever-increasing demand for practical use.However,these electrodes suffer from inferior lithium-storage performance and structural instability during deformation and long-term lithiation/delithiation.These are caused by the sluggish reaction kinetics of active-materials and the superposition of responsive strains originating from the large lithiation-induced stress and applied stress.Here,we propose a stress-release strategy through elastic responses of nested wrinkle texturing of graphene,to achieve high deformability while maintaining structural integrity upon prolonged cycles within high-capacity electrodes.The wrinkles endow the electrode with a robust and flexible network for effective stress release.The resulting electrode shows large reversible stretchability,along with excellent electrochemical performance including high specific capacity,high-rate capability and long-term cycling stability.This strategy offers a new way to obtain high-performance flexible electrodes and can be extended to other energy-storage devices.

Electro-viscoelastic behaviors of circular dielectric elastomer membrane actuator containing concentric rigid inclusion

The time-dependent electro-viscoelastic performance of a circular dielectric elastomer(DE) membrane actuator containing an inclusion is investigated in the context of the nonlinear theory for viscoelastic dielectrics. The membrane, a key part of the actuator, is centrally attached to a rigid inclusion of the radius a, and then connected to a fixed rigid ring of the radius b. When subject to a pressure and a voltage, the membrane inflates into an out-of-plane shape and undergoes an inhomogeneous large deformation. The governing equations for the large deformation are derived by means of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and viscoelasticity of the membrane is characterized by a rheological spring-dashpot model. In the simulation, effects of the pressure, the voltage, and design parameters on the electromechanical viscoelastic behaviors of the membrane are investigated. Evolutions of the considered variables and profiles of the deformed membrane are obtained numerically and illustrated graphically. The results show that electromechanical loadings and design parameters significantly influence the electro-viscoelastic behaviors of the membrane. The design parameters can be tailored to improve the performance of the membrane. The approach may provide guidelines in designing and optimizing such DE devices.

Effect of lead foam grid on performance of lead-acid battery

In order to increase the specific energy and specific power of a lead-acid battery, lead foam grid was prepared by electrodepositing Pb-Sn alloy on a copper foam substrate and used as negative current collector for a lead acid battery whose capacity was limited by the negative plate. Comparing the effect of the cast grid, under the same conditions, the mass of lead foam grid decreases by 35%, and the area of lead foam contacted with active material increases by about 20 times. Under 2 h rate discharge condition, with a high current （3 0 I2） e and low-temperature （-10 ℃, I2） discharge system, the lead foam grid markedly boosts the discharge performance of lead acid battery. It increases not only the negative electrode mass specific capacity by 27%,37% and 29%,but also the utilization efficiency of the negative active material by 5%. Compared with the negative electrode of cast grid, XRD and SEM results show that after 20 cycles at the state of charge, the sponge lead in the negative lead foam electrode has smaller crystals and less PbSO4 on its surface. Meanwhile, at the state of full discharge, the PbSO4 crystals are smaller and occur less on the surface of lead foam electrode. This indicates its active material reacts more uniformly.

Aligned carbon nanostructures based 3D electrodes for energy storage

Electrochemical energy storage systems with high specific energy and power as well as long cyclic stability attract increasing attention in new energy technologies. The principles for rational design of electrodes are discussed to reduce the activation, concentration, and resistance overpotentials and improve the active ma- terial efficiency in order to simultaneously achieve high specific energy and power. Three dimensional （3D） nanocomposites are currently considered as promising electrode materials due to their large surface area, reduced electronic and ionic diffusion distances, and synergistic effects. This paper reviews the most recent progress on the synthesis and application of 3D thin film nanoelectrode arrays based on aligned carbon nan- otubes （ACNTs） directly grown on metal foils for energy storages and special attentions are paid on our own representative works. These novel 3D nanoelectrode arrays on metal foil exhibit improved electrochemical performances in terms of specific energy, specific power and cyclic stability due to their unique structures. In this active materials coated ACNTs over conductive substrate structures, each component is tailored to address a different demand. The electrochemical active material is used to store energy, while the ACNTs are employed to provide a large surface area to support the active material and nanocable arrays to facilitate the electron transport. The thin film of active materials can not only reduce ion transport resistance by shorten- ing the diffusion length but also make the film elastic enough to tolerate significant volume changes during charge and discharge cycles. The conductive substrate is used as the current collector and the direct contact of the ACNT arrays with the substrate reduces significantly the contact resistance. The principles obtained from ACNT based electrodes are extended to aligned graphene based electrodes. Similar improvements have been achieved which confirms the reliability of the principles obtained. In addition, we also discuss and view the ongoing trends in development of aligned carbon nanostructures based electrodes for energy storage.

Preparation and Performance Study of a New Type Lead Paste

A new type lead paste mixed with binders used in thin-plate, spirally wound lead acid batteries is introduced. The utility of positive active material can obtain 54.17% and 37.71% at discharge currents of 0.5C and 5.0C. The investigation was performed by means of X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scaning electron microscopy （SEM）, infrared spectroscopy （IR）, cylic voltammetry （CV）, the results revealed more details on the reaction mechanism of paste-mixing. Further conclusion can be obtained that the reaction of paste-mixin is a physical process, and the chemical reactions is local reaction, which is different from traditional mixing process, the binders has some effect on the formation of battery process. The binders can dissolve in elec trolyte, which have no disadvantageous effect on the charge-discharge performance.

Rapid determination of lithium-ion battery degradation: High C-rate LAM and calculated limiting LLI

Herein,incremental capacity-differential voltage (IC-DV) at a high C-rate (HC) is used as a non-invasive diagnostic tool in lithium-ion batteries,which inevitably exhibit capacity fading caused by multiple mechanisms during charge/discharge cycling.Because battery degradation modes are complex,the simple output of capacity fading does not yield any useful data in that respect.Although IC and DV curves obtained under restricted conditions (<0.1C,25℃) were applied in non-invasive analysis for accurate observation of degradation symptoms,a facile,rapid diagnostic approach without intricate,complex calculations is critical in on-board applications.Herein,Li Ni_(0.5)Mn_(0.3)Co_(0.2)O_(2)(NMC532)/graphite pouch cells were cycled at 4 and 6C and the degradation characteristics,i.e.,loss of active materials (LAM) and loss of lithium inventory (LLI),were parameterized using the IC-DV curves.During the incremental current cycling,the initial steep LAM and LLI slopes underwent gradual transitions to gentle states and revealed the gap between low-and high-current measurements.A quantitative comparison of LAM at high and low C-rate showed that a IC;revealed the relative amount of available reaction region limited by cell polarization.However,this did not provide a direct relationship for estimating the LAM at a low C-rate.Conversely,the limiting LLI,which is calculated at a C-rate approaching 0,was obtained by extrapolating the LLI through more than two points measured at high C-rate,and therefore,the LLI at 0.1C was accurately determined using rapid cycling.

Helium Retention and Desorption Behaviour of Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martenstic Steel

The reduced activation ferritic/martenstic steel CLF-1 prepared by the Southwestern Institute of Physics in China was irradiated by helium ions with an energy of 5 keV at room temperature using an electron cyclotron resonance （ECR） ion irradiation apparatus. After the irradiation, the helium retention and desorption were investigated using a technique of thermal desorption spectroscopy （TDS）. The experiment was conducted with both the normal and welded samples. Blisters were observed after the helium ion irradiation, and the surface density of blisters in the welded samples was lower than that in the non-welded samples. Three desorption peaks were observed in both the non-welded and welded samples. These desorption peaks corresponded to those of blister ruptures and the helium release from the inner bubbles and the defects. The amount of helium retained in the welded samples was approximately the same as that in the non- welded samples, which was much less than other reduced activation materials, such as vanadium alloy and SiC/SiC composites.