Fast and Balanced Charge Transport Enabled by Solution-Processed Metal Oxide Layers for Efficient and Stable Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Metal oxide charge transport materials are preferable for realizing long-term stable and potentially low-cost perovskite solar cells(PSCs).However,due to some technical difficulties(e.g.,intricate fabrication protocols,high-temperature heating process,incompatible solvents,etc.),it is still challenging to achieve efficient and reliable all-metal-oxide-based devices.Here,we developed efficient inverted PSCs(IPSCs)based on solution-processed nickel oxide(NiO_(x))and tin oxide(SnO_(2))nanoparticles,working as hole and electron transport materials respectively,enabling a fast and balanced charge transfer for photogenerated charge carriers.Through further understanding and optimizing the perovskite/metal oxide interfaces,we have realized an outstanding power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 23.5%(the bandgap of the perovskite is 1.62 eV),which is the highest efficiency among IPSCs based on all-metal-oxide charge transport materials.Thanks to these stable metal oxides and improved interface properties,ambient stability(retaining 95%of initial PCE after 1 month),thermal stability(retaining 80%of initial PCE after 2 weeks)and light stability(retaining 90%of initial PCE after 1000 hours aging)of resultant devices are enhanced significantly.In addition,owing to the low-temperature fabrication procedures of the entire device,we have obtained a PCE of over 21%for flexible IPSCs with enhanced operational stability.

A method for improving graph queries processing using positional inverted index (P.I.I) idea in search engines and parallelization techniques

The idea of positional inverted index is exploited for indexing of graph database. The main idea is the use of hashing tables in order to prune a considerable portion of graph database that cannot contain the answer set. These tables are implemented using column-based techniques and are used to store graphs of database, frequent sub-graphs and the neighborhood of nodes. In order to exact checking of remaining graphs, the vertex invariant is used for isomorphism test which can be parallel implemented. The results of evaluation indicate that proposed method outperforms existing methods.

Design of Low-Voltage, Low-Power FGMOS Based Voltage Buffer, Analog Inverter and Winner-Take-All Analog Signal Processing Circuits

This paper proposes novel floating-gate MOSFET (FGMOS) based Voltage Buffer, Analog Inverter and Winner-Take-All (WTA) circuits. The proposed circuits have low power dissipation. All proposed circuits are simulated using SPICE in 180 nm CMOS technology with supply voltages of ±1.25 V. The simulation results demonstrate increase in input range for FGMOS based voltage buffer and analog inverter and maximum power dissipation of 0.5 mW, 1.9 mW and 0.429 mW for FGMOS based voltage buffer, analog inverter and WTA circuits, respectively. The proposed circuits are intended to find applications in low voltage, low power consumer electronics.

Comparative study of two biological nitrogen removal processes:A/O process and step-feeding process

Two biological nitrogen removal processes are compared in the aspect of nitrogen removal, process operation and energy saving. Results show that when the returned sludge ratio is 50% of the inflow rate, the step-feeding process achieves over 80% total nitrogen （TN） removal efficiency, but the TN removal efficiency of the A/O process is only 40%. Moreover, filamentous sludge bulking can be well restrained in the step-feeding process. Given the conditions of a returned sludge ratio of 100% and a nitrifying liquor recycle ratio of 200%, the TN removal efficiency is 78.32% in the A/O process, but the sludge volume index （SVI） value increases to 143 mL/g. In the step-feeding process, the SVI is only 94.4 mL/g when the TN removal efficiency reaches 81. 1%. The step-feeding process has distinct advantages over the A/O process in the aspects of practicability, nitrogen removal and operating stability.

Hot deformation and processing maps of Al_2O_3/Al composites fabricated by flake powder metallurgy

The deformation behaviors of Al2O3/Al composites were investigated by compressive tests conducted at temperature of 300-450 °C and strain rates of 0.001-1.0 s-1 with Gleeble-1500 D thermal simulator system. The results show that the flow stress increases with increasing strain rate and decreasing temperature. The hyperbolic sine constitutive equation can describe the flow stress behavior of Al2O3/Al composites, and the deformation activation energy and constitutive equations were calculated. The processing maps of Al2O3/Al-2 μm and Al2O3/Al-1 μm composites at strain of 0.6 were obtained and the optimum processing domains are in ranges of 300-330 °C, 0.007-0.03 s-1 and 335-360 °C, 0.015-0.06 s-1 for hot working, respectively. The instability zones of flow behavior can also be recognized by the maps.

Influence of pretreatment process on structure, morphology and electrochemical properties of Li[Ni_(1/3)Co_(1/3)Mn_(1/3)]O_2 cathode material

The layered Li[Ni1/3Mn1/3Co1/3]O2 was separately synthesized by pretreatment process of ball mill method and solution phase route, using [Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]3O4 and lithium hydroxide as raw materials. The physical and electrochemical behaviors of Li[Ni1/3Mn1/3Co1/3]O2 were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM） and electrochemical charge/discharge cycling tests. The results show that the difference in pretreatment process results in the difference in compound Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O2 structure, morphology and the electrochemical characteristics. The Li[Ni1/3Mn1/3Co1/3]O2 prepared by solution phase route maintains the uniform spherical morphology of the [Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]3O4, and it exhibits a higher capacity retention and better rate capability than that prepared by ball mill method. The initial discharge capacity of this sample reaches 178 mA-h/g and the capacity retention after 50 cycles is 98.7% at a current density of 20 mA/g. Moreover, it delivers high discharge capacity of 135 mA-h/g at a current density of 1 000 mA/g.

Study on Limited Filamentous Sludge Bulking Test in A/O Activated Sludge Process

[Objective] This study aimed to make use of the limited filamentous sludge bulking characteristics to purify water quality and save energy. [Method] The effects of dissolved oxygen （DO） on sludge bulking were explored by changing the DO con- centration in the aerobiotic pool of NO system from the low load （0.25 kg COD/（kg MLSS.d）） and the medium to high load （0.55 kgCOD/（kg MLSSod））. [Result] In the NO activated sludge system, when the sludge load was 0.25 kg COD/（kg MLSS.d）, DO=1.5 mg/L, the sludge index was at around 250, while when the sludge load- ing was 0.55 kg COD/（kg MLSS.d）, DO=1.5 mg/L, the sludge index was close to 300, occurring the limited filamentous bulking. The bulked sludge still showed high removal rates to COD, SS, nitrogen and phosphorus. [Conclusion] It could improve the oxygen transfer rate and reduce the aeration rate at low DO conditions to achieve energy-saving.

Nitrogen removal influence factors in A/O process and decision trees for nitrification/denitrification system

In order to improve nitrogen removal in anoxic/oxic(A/O) process effectively for treating domestic wastewaters, the influence factors, DO(dissolved oxygen), nitrate recirculation, sludge recycle, SRT(solids residence time), influent COD/TN and HRT(hydraulic retention time) were studied. Results indicated that it was possible to increase nitrogen removal by using corresponding control strategies, such as, adjusting the DO set point according to effluent ammonia concentration; manipulating nitrate recirculation flow according to nitrate concentration at the end of anoxic zone. Based on the experiments results, a knowledge-based approach for supervision of the nitrogen removal problems was considered, and decision trees for diagnosing nitrification and denitrification problems were built and successfully applied to A/O process.

Toxicity Reduction of Municipal Wastewater by Anaerobic-anoxic-oxic Process

Objective This study was conducted to optimize the operational parameters of anaerobic-anoxic-oxic （A^2/O） processes to reduce the toxicity of municipal wastewater and evaluate its ability to reduce toxicity. Methods A luminescent bacterium toxicity bioassay was employed to assess the toxicity of influent and effluent of each reactor in the A2/O system. Results The optimum operational parameters for toxicity reduction were as follows： anaerobic hydraulic retention time （HRT） = 2.8 h, anoxic HRT = 2.8 h, aerobic HRT = 6.9 h, sludge retention time （SRT） = 15 days and internal recycle ratio （IRR） = 100%. An important toxicity reduction （%） was observed in the optimized A2/O process, even when the toluene concentration of the influent was 120.7 mg·L^-1. Conclusions The toxicity of municipal wastewater was reduced significantly during the A^2/O process. A^2/O process can be used for toxicity reduction of municipal wastewater under toxic-shock loading.

Multilevel Feature Moving Average Ratio Method for Fault Diagnosis of the Microgrid Inverter Switch

Multilevel feature moving average ratio method is proposed to realize an open-switch fault diagnosis for any switch of the microgrid inverter. The main steps of the proposed method include multilevel signal decomposition, coefficient reconstruction, absolute average ratio process and artificial neural network U+0028 ANN U+0029 classification. Specifically, multilevel signal decomposition is realized by using the means of multi resolution analysis to obtain the different frequency band coefficients of the three-phase current signal. The related coefficient reconstruction is executed to achieve signals decomposition in different levels. Furthermore, according to the obtained data, the absolute average ratio process is used to extract absolute moving average ratio of signal decomposition in different levels for the three-phase current. Finally, to intelligently classify the inverter switch fault and realize the adaptive ability, the ANN technology is applied. Compared to conventional fault diagnosis methods, the proposed method can accurately detect and locate the open-switch fault for any location of the microgrid inverter. Additionally, it need not set related threshold of algorithm and does not require normalization process, which is relatively easy to implement. The effectiveness of the proposed fault diagnosis method is demonstrated through detailed simulation results. © 2017 Chinese Association of Automation.

Formaldehyde degradation by UV/TiO_2/O_3 process using continuous flow mode

The degradation of formaldehyde gas was studied using UV/TiO2/O3 process under the condition of continuous flow mode. The effects of humidity, initial formaldehyde concentration, residence time and ozone adding amount on degradation of formaldehyde gas were investigated. The experimental results indicated that the combination of ozonation with photocatalytic oxidation on the degradation of formaldehyde showed a synergetic action, e.g,, it could considerably increase decomposing of formaldehyde. The degradation efficiency of formaldehyde was between 73.6% and 79.4% while the initial concentration in the range of 1.84--24 mg/m^3 by O3/TiO2flJV process. The optimal humidity was about 50% in UV/TiO2/O3 processs and degradation of formaldehyde increases from 39.0% to 94.1% when the ozone content increased from 0 to 141 mg/m^3. Furthermore, the kinetics of formaldehyde degradation reaction could be described by Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. The rate constant k of 46.72 mg/（m^3.min） and Langmuir adsorption coefficient K of 0.0268 m^3/mg were obtained.

Degradation and mineralization of aniline by O_3/Fenton process enhanced using high-gravity technology

The degradation and mineralization of aniline （AN） using ozone combined with Fenton reagent （O3/Fenton） in a rotating packed bed （RPB） was proposed in this study, and the process （RPB-O3/Fenton） was compared with conventional O3/Fenton in a stirred tank reactor （STR-O3/Fenton） or single ozonation in an RPB （RPB-O3）, Effects of high gravity factor, H2O2 dosage, H2O2 dosing method and initial pH on the AN mineralization efficiency were investigated in the RPB-O3/Fenton process, In addition, the behavior of Fe（Ⅱ） was monitored at different H2O2 dosing methods and pH values. Finally, the optimal operation conditions were determined with high gravity factor of 100, initial pH of 5, Fe（Ⅱ） concentration of 0.8 mmol·L-1 and H2O2 dosage of 2.5 ml. Under these conditions, for aniline wastewater at the volume of I L and concentration of 200 mg· L- 1 ,a fast and thorough decay of AN was conducted in 10 min, and the TOC removal efficiency reached 89% in 60 min. The main intermediates of p-benzoquinone, nitrobenzene, maleic acid and oxalic acid were identified by liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy （LC/MS）, and the degradation pathways of AN in RPB-O3/Fenton system were proposed based on experimental evidence. It could be envisioned that high-gravity technology combined with O3/Fenton processes would be promising in the rapid and efficient mineralization ofwastewater.

Anoxic Biological Phosphorus Uptake in A^2O Process

A lab-scale anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (A2O) process used to treat a synthetic brewage wastewater was investigated. The objectives of the study were to identify the existence of denitrifying phosphorus removing bacteria (DPB), evaluate the contribution of DPB to biological nutrient removal and enhance the denitrifying phosphorus removal in A2O bioreactors. Sludge analysis confirmed that the average anoxic P uptake accounted for approximately 70% the total amount of P uptake, and the ratio of anoxic P uptake rate to aerobic P uptake rate was 69%. In addition, nitrate concentration in the anoxic phase and different organic substrate introduced into the anaerobic phase had significant effect on the anoxic P uptake. Compared with conventional A2O processes, good removal efficiencies of COD, phosphorus, ammonia and total nitrogen (92.3%, 95.5%, 96% and 79.5%, respectively) could be achieved in the anoxic P uptake system, and aeration energy consumption was saved 25%. By controlling the nitrate recirculation flow in the anoxic zone, anoxic P uptake could be enhanced, which solved the competition for organic substrates among poly-P organisms and denitrifiers successfully under the COD limiting conditions. Therefore, in wastewater treatment plants the control system should be applied according to the practical situation to optimize the operation.

Fuzzy Control of Nitrate Recirculation and External Carbon Addition in A/O Nitrogen Removal Process

Nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations of effluent water must be taken into account for the design and operation of wastewater treatment plants. In addition, the requirement for effluent quality is becoming strict. Therefore, intelligent control approaches are recently required in removing biological nutrient. In this study, fuzzy control has been successfully applied to improve the nitrogen removal. Experimental results showed that a close relationship between nitrate concentration and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) at the end of anoxic zone was found for anoxic/oxic (A/O) nitrogen removal process treating synthetic wastewater. ORP can be used as online fuzzy control parameter of nitrate recirculation and external carbon addition. The established fuzzy logic controller that includes two inputs and one output can maintain ORP value at - 86 mV and - 90 mV by adjusting the nitrate recirculation flow and external carbon dosage respectively to realize the optimal control of nitrogen removal, improving the effluent quality and reducing the operating cost.

IN SITU PROCESSING OF Al_(2)O_(3) WHISKERS REINFORCED Ti-Al INTERMETALLIC COMPOSITES

In situ Al2O3 whiskers reinforced Ti-Al intermetallic composites were fabricated at ~1200℃ by reaction sintering of cold-consolidated fillets consisting mainly of Ti, Al, and different additives. The phases and microstructures of the sintered composites were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The process of synthesis was investigated using differential thermal analysis (DTA). The effects of processing parameters and additives on the microstructures of the composites and the development of whisker were examined. It is found that the morphology of the whisker is strongly influenced by the additives, the exothermal reaction process, and the processing parameters.

Nitrogen removal for low-carbon wastewater in reversed A^2/O process by regulation technology

Full scale experimental study on nitrogen removal for low-carbon wastewater was conducted in reversed A2/O process in Jiguanshi waste water treatment plant in Chongqing,in order to aid the operation and maintenance of similar WWTP. When the proposed measures,such as using 0.1% (volume fraction of wastewater) landfill leachate,shortening HRT by 2/3 in the primary sedimentation tank and controlling DO at 0.5 mg/L in the 3rd section of aerobic zone,are applied,15% of the carbon source can be complemented,the favorable property of activated sludge is achieved,and the nitrogen removal effect is significantly improved. The effluent NH3-N is 2 mg/L and the removal rate is 90%. The effluent TN is 17 mg/L and the removal rate is 54%. The up-to-standard discharge of the effluent is achieved. And after the optimization,the unit electricity consumption also reaches 0.21 kW/h and saves 20%.

Hexagonal hematite platelets synthesized from pyrite cinders by hydrothermal process

Well-crystallized hexagonal hematite （α-Fe2O3） platelets were synthesized by hydrothermal process, using a highly concentrated ferric hydroxide as precursor. The precursor was prepared by adding ammonia to the ferric sulfate solution which was obtained by leaching pyrite cinders with sulfuric acid. Structure and morphology of the synthesized products were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and selected area electron diffraction. The results reveal that the reaction temperature has significant effects on the structure, size and shape of the synthesized hematite particles. Typical hexagonal hematite platelets, about 0.4-0.6 μm in diameter and 0.1 μm in thickness, were prepared at 230 ℃ for 0.5 h. Al^3＋, contained in the sulfuric acid leaching solution as an impurity, plays an extremely important role in the formation of hexagonal hematite. In addition, a possible mechanism about the formation of hexagonal hematite platelets was proposed.

Photolysis pathway of nitroaromatic compounds in aqueous solutions in the UV/H_2O_2 process

Nitroaromatic compounds such as nitrobenzene and nitrophenols are largely synthesised and particularly often occur in water bodies as toxic pollutants. The degradation of these compounds in the environment via direct photolysis and by biological treatment is difficult and usually slow. In our two previous published papers, we have discussed the advanced oxidation of nitrobenzene and nitrophenols in aqueous solutions irradiated by direct photolysis using polychromatic light and by means of UV/H2O2 process. The experimental results suggested the UV/H2O2 process is an effective and efficient technology for complete mineralization of these organic compounds. Based on the results therein, comprehensive reaction mechanism for nitrobenzene photolysis was proposed with detailed discussions.

Necessary Conditions for the Application of Moving Average Process of Order Three

Invertibility is one of the desirable properties of moving average processes. This study derives consequences of the invertibility condition on the parameters of a moving average process of order three. The study also establishes the intervals for the first three autocorrelation coefficients of the moving average process of order three for the purpose of distinguishing between the process and any other process (linear or nonlinear) with similar autocorrelation structure. For an invertible moving average process of order three, the intervals obtained are , -0.5ρ2ρ1<0.5.

Effects of Nitrogen Application on N_2O Flux from Fluvo-Aquic Soil Subject to Freezing-Thawing Process

A lab-incubation experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different forms of nitrogen application （ammonium, NH4＋-N; nitrate, NO3--N; and amide-N, NH2-N） and different concentrations （40, 200 and 800 mg L-1） on N2O emission from the fluvo-aquic soil subjected to a freezing-thawing cycling. N2O emission sharply decreased at the start of soil freezing, and then showed a smooth line with soil freezing. In subject to soil thawing, N2O emission increased and reached a peak at the initial thawing stage. The average N2O emissions with addition of NH4＋-N, NO3 -N and NH2-N are 119.01, 611.61 and 148. 22 ug m-2 h-1, respectively, at the concentration of 40 mg L-1; 205.28, 1 084.40 and 106.13 ug m2 h-1 at the concentration of 200 mg L-1; and 693.95, 1 820.02 and 49.74 ug m-2 h4 at the concentration of 800 mg L-1. The control is only 100.35 ug m-2 h-1. N2O emissions with addition of NH4＋-N and NO3--N increased with increasing concentration, by ranging from 17.49 to 425.67% for NH4＋-N, and from 563.38 to 1458.6% for NO3--N compared with control. There was a timelag for N2O emission to reach a steady state with an increase of concentration. In contrast, by adding NH2-N to soil, N2O emission decreased with increasing concentration. In sum, NH4＋-N or NO3--N fertilizer incorporated in soil enhanced the cumulative N2O emission from the fluvo-aquic soil relative to amide-N. This study suggested that ammonium and nitrate concentration in overwintering water should be less than 200 and 40 mg L-1 in order to reduce N2O emissions from soil, regardless of amide-N.