Feasibility of compacted attapulgite/diatomite amended clayey soils as gas barrier materials

Compacted clay liners are extensively used as barriers to control the upward diffusion of vapors of volatile or semi-volatile organic contaminants released from unsaturated contaminated soils at industrycontaminated sites.This study aimed to investigate the gas diffusion barrier performance of compacted clayey soils amended with three agents including attapulgite and diatomite individually,and attapulgite/diatomite mixture.The properties including water retention,volumetric shrinkage,gas diffusion,and unconfined compressive strength were evaluated through a series of laboratory tests of amended compacted clayey soils.The results demonstrate that the decrease in volume proportions of interaggregate pores leads to an increase in unconfined compressive strength(qu).Both hydrophilic groups and microstructures of attapulgite and diatomite result in an increase in water retention percent(Wt)of compacted clayey soil specimens after amendment regardless of the type of agent or initial water content(w0).Furthermore,the ratio of the gas diffusion coefficient(De)to the gas diffusion coefficient in the air(Da)was significantly reduced owing to a decrease in volume proportions of inter-aggregate pores,hydrophilic group,and microstructures of attapulgite and diatomite.Scanning electron microscope analyses revealed that rod-shaped attapulgite filled the inter-aggregate pores formed by clay particles,whereas the disc-shaped diatomite particles,characterized by micropores,failed to obstruct the interaggregate pores due to their larger particle size.Mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)analyses showed a reduction in pore volume in the inter-aggregate pores,leading to a reduction in the total pore volume for both the attapulgite and attapulgite/diatomite mixture amended clays,which is in accordance with the scanning electron microscope(SEM)results.The findings are pertinent to the practical application of compacted clay liners as gas barriers against the upward migration of volatile or semi-volatile organic contaminants at contaminated sites.

Effective Diffusion Energy Barriers with the Boltzmann Distribution Assumption

We derived revised effective diffusion energy barriers following the Boltzmann distribution assumption for impurity atoms in a bulk material under the impact of various kinds of point defects to reveal the insights of migration mechanisms. The effective diffusion energy barriers of copper impurities in bulk zirconium were calculated through the first principle method under the presented hypothesis. Our results(?E_(||) =1.27 eV, ?E_⊥=1.31 eV) agreed well with the experimental results(?E_(||) =1.54 eV, ?E_⊥=1.60 eV), which validated bulk diffusion as the major mechanism for copper diffusion in zirconium. The effective diffusion energy barriers could be used for estimating whether the defects will accelerate the diffusion or slow them down by acting as traps of the impurity atoms. On the other hand, the first principle results of the impurity diffusion via defects could be further used as inputs of larger scale computational simulations, such as MC(Monte Carlo) or Phase Field calculations.

The Barrier Properties of Flake-Filled Composites with Precise Control of Flake Orientation

Additive manufacturing, especially in the form of 3D printing, offers the exciting possibility of generating heterogeneous articles with precisely controlled internal microstructure. One area in which this feature can be of significant advantage is in diffusion control, specifically in the design and fabrication of microstructures which optimize the rate of transport of a solute to and from a contained fluid. In this work we focus on the use of flakes as diffusion-control agents and study computationally and theoretically the effect of orientation on the barrier properties of flake-filled composites. We conducted over 1500 simulations in two-dimensional, doubly-periodic unit cells each containing up to 3000 individual flake cross-sections which are randomly placed and with their axes forming an angle () with the direction of macroscopic diffusion. We consider long-flake systems of aspect ratio () 100 and 1000, from the dilute () and into the concentrated () regime. Based on the rotation properties of the diffusivity tensor, we derive a model which is capable of accurately reproducing all computational results ( and ). The model requires as inputs the two principal diffusivities of the composite, normal and parallel to the flake axis. In this respect, we find the models of Lape et al. [1] and Nielsen [2] form an excellent combination. Both our model and our computational data predict that at the quadratic dependence of the Barrier Improvement Factor (BIF) on () is lost, with the BIF approaching a plateau at higher values of (). This plateau is lower as () increases. We derive analytical estimates of this maximum achievable BIF at each level of misalignment;these are also shown to be in excellent agreement with the computational results. Finally we show that our computational results and model are in agreement with experimental evidence at small values of ().

Effects of supersonic fine particles bombarding on thermal barrier coatings after isothermal oxidation

This work was attempted to modify the current technology for thermal barrier coatings（TBCs） by adding an additional step of surface modification,namely,supersonic fine particles bombarding（SFPB） process,on bond coat before applying the topcoat.After isothermal oxidation at 1000 °C for different time,the surface state of the bond coat and its phase transformation were investigated using X-ray diffraction（XRD）,scanning electron microscopy（SEM） equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry（EDS）,transmission electron microscopy（TEM） and Cr3＋ luminescence spectroscopy.The dislocation density significantly increases after SFPB process,which can generate a large number of diffusion channels in the area of the surface of the bond coat.At the initial stage of isothermal oxidation,the diffusion velocity of Al in the bond coat significantly increases,leading to the formation of a layer of stable α-Al2O3 phase.A great number of Cr3＋ positive ions can diffuse via diffusion channels during the transient state of isothermal oxidation,which can lead to the presence of（Al0.9Cr0.1）2O3 phase and accelerate the γ→θ→α phase transformation.Cr3＋ luminescence spectroscopy measurement shows that the residual stress increases at the initial stage of isothermal oxidation and then decreases.The residual stress after isothermal oxidation for 310 h reduces to 0.63 GPa compared with 0.93 GPa after isothermal oxidation for 26 h.In order to prolong the lifespan of TBCs,a layer of continuous,dense and pure α-Al2O3 with high oxidation resistance at the interface between topcoat and bond coat can be obtained due to additional SFPB process.

Ag掺杂TiO_(2)阻变特性的理论研究

阻变随机存储器(RRAM)是一种非易失性存储器。相比于传统的存储器,阻变随机存储器的读写速度和存储性能都实现了重大突破,是公认的新一代主流存储器。但是以TiO_(2)等金属氧化物为衬底的阻变随机存储器还存在阻变机制不清楚的问题。采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理,研究了Ag掺杂TiO_(2)的阻变特性,研究表明[001]、[110]、[011]、[111]四个方向的形成能和表面能均为负,最容易沉积形成表面。[011]、[111]方向最高势能面最大,电荷容易集聚,临界势能面同样最大,容易形成导电细丝。同时[011]、[111]方向的扩散势垒最小,容易形成导电通道。[011]和[111]方向的禁带宽度明显小于[001]和[110]方向,且存在明显的轨道杂化,容易在特定方向形成导电细丝。[011][111]两个方向上的电子和空穴有效质量约为[001][110]两个方向的2/3,而迁移率约为[001][110]方向的1.5~2倍,因此在外电场作用下更容易形成导电细丝。[011]和[111]方向电导率增长迅速,是实现阻变特性的理想方向。本文的研究结果可为改善以TiO_(2)为衬底的阻变随机存储器的性能提供理论指导。

Effect of Diffusively Shaped Holes on the Turbulent Flow Field of a Film Cooling Plate

The gas turbine blades with diffusion film cooling holes are newlydeveloped blade struc- tures in the hydrogen combustion gas turbine,which has an extremely high inlet gas temperature (1700 deg. C). TheFluid Machinery Laboratory of Nagoya Institute o Technology conductedfirstly a new research o the turbulent flow field over the gasturbine blade with diffusion film cooling holes in Japan. Normal-typeand X-ray hot wires were applied in the measurement of the flowfield.

Influence of Annealing on the Grain Growth and Thermal Diffusivity of Nanostructured YSZ Thermal Barrier Coating

The nanostructured zirconia coatings were deposited by atmospherically plasma spraying. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and X-ray diffraction were used to investigate the microstructure of the zirconia coatings. Thermal diffusivity values at normal temperatures have been evaluated by laser flash technique. Effect of annealing on the microstructure evolution of the zirconia coating has been performed. The grains and thermal diffusivity are increased with increasing annealing time and temperature. The grain growth is according to the GRIGC （the grain rotation induced grain coalescence） mechanism. The increase in thermal diffusivity is attributed to the grain growth and the decrease in porosity of nanostructured zirconia coatings.

Enhanced performance of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with InGaN/GaN superlattice barriers

GaN-based multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes （LEDs） with conventional and superlattice barriers have been investigated numerically. Simulation results demonstrate using InGaN/GaN superlattices as barriers can effectively enhance performances of the GaN-Based LEDs, mainly owing to the improvement of hole injection and transport among the MQW active region. Meanwhile, the improved electron capture decreases the electron leakage and alleviates the efficiency droop. The weak polarization field induced by the superlattice structure strengthens the intensity of the emission spectrum and leads to a blue-shift relative to the conventional one.

Residual stress evolution regularity in thermal barrier coatings under thermal shock loading

Residual stress evolution regularity in thermal barrier ceramic coatings （TBCs） under different cycles of thermal shock loading of 1 100℃ was investi- gated by the microscopic digital image correlation （DIC） and micro-Raman spec- troscopy, respectively. The obtained results showed that, as the cycle number of the thermal shock loading increases, the evolution of the residual stress under- goes three distinct stages： a sharp increase, a gradual change, and a reduction. The extension stress near the TBC surface is fast transformed to compressive one through just one thermal cycle. After different thermal shock cycles with peak temperature of 1 100℃, phase transformation in TBC does not happen, whereas the generation, development, evolution of the thermally grown oxide （TGO） layer and micro-cracks are the main reasons causing the evolution regularity of the residual stress.

The Effect of Diffusion Barrier and Bombardment on Adhesive Strength of CuCr Alloy Films

A novel co-sputtering method that combined magnetron sputtering (MS) with ion beam sputtering (IBS) was used to fabricate CuCr alloy films without breaking vacuum after depositing diffusion barrier with IBS. Different bombardment energies were used to improve the comprehensive properties of Cu alloy film. The results indicated that the effects of diffusion barriers and bombardment energy on adhesive strength could be evaluated by a rolling contact fatigue adhesion test. Diffusion barrier can enhance the adhesive strength, and the adhesion of CuCr/CrN was higher than that of CuCr/TiN. When bombarding energy was higher, the adhesive strength of CuCr/TiN films was higher due to the broader transition zone.

O含量对(FeCoCrNiAlRe)O_(x)高熵氧化物扩散障性能的影响

用磁控溅射在单晶硅基底上沉积了(FeCoCrNiAlRe)O_(x)高熵氧化物陶瓷类薄膜,并探究不同O含量对在700℃退火温度下对Cu-Si互扩散的阻挡能力。采用SEM扫描电镜、EDS能谱仪、XRD衍射仪对薄膜进行表征。结果表明:(FeCoCrNiAlRe)O_(x)高熵氧化物薄膜质地较为致密,元素分布均匀,不同氧含量下制备的高熵氧化物薄膜均为非晶结构,且对Cu-Si的扩散有较好的阻扩散能力。

Analytical evaluation of steady-state solute distribution in through- diffusion and membrane behavior test under non-perfectly flushing boundary conditions

The through-diffusion and membrane behavior testing procedure using a closed-system apparatus has been widely used for concurrent measurement of diffusion and membrane efficiency coefficients of low-permeability clay-based barrier materials.However,the common assumption of perfectly flushing conditions at the specimen boundaries could induce errors in analyses of the diffusion coefficients and membrane efficiencies.In this study,an innovative pseudo three-dimensional(3D)analytical method was proposed to evaluate solute distribution along the boundary surfaces of the soil-porous disks system,considering the non-perfectly flushing conditions.The results were consistent with numerical models under two scenarios considering different inflow/outflow positions.The proposed model has been demonstrated to be an accurate and reliable method to estimate solute distributions along the bound-aries.The calculated membrane efficiency coefficient and diffusion coefficient based on the proposed analytical method are more accurate,resulting in up to 50%less relative error than the traditional approach that adopts the arithmetic mean value of the influent and effluent concentrations.The retar-dation factor of the clay specimen also can be calculated with a revised cumulative mass approach.Finally,the simulated transient solute transport matched with experimental data from a multi-stage through-diffusion and membrane behavior test,validating the accuracy of the proposed method.

Study of three-dimensional spatial diffuse discharge in contact electrode structure applied to air purification

In this work,based on the role of pre-ionization of the non-uniform electric field and its effect of reducing the collisional ionization coefficient,a diffuse dielectric barrier discharge plasma is formed in the open space outside the electrode structure at a lower voltage by constructing a three-dimensional non-uniform spatial electric field using a contact electrode structure.The air purification study is also carried out.Firstly,a contact electrode structure is constructed using a three-dimensional wire electrode.The distribution characteristics of the spatial electric field formed by this electrode structure are analyzed,and the effects of the non-uniform electric field and the different angles of the vertical wire on the generation of three-dimensional spatial diffuse discharge are investigated.Secondly,the copper foam contact electrode structure is constructed using copper foam material,and the effects of different mesh sizes on the electric field distribution are analyzed.The results show that as the mesh size of the copper foam becomes larger,a strong electric field region exists not only on the surface of the insulating layer,but also on the surface of the vertical wires inside the copper foam,i.e.,the strong electric field region shows a three-dimensional distribution.Besides,as the mesh size increases,the area of the vertical strong electric field also increases.However,the electric field strength on the surface of the insulating layer gradually decreases.Therefore,the appropriate mesh size can effectively increase the discharge area,which is conducive to improving the air purification efficiency.Finally,a highly permeable stacked electrode structure of multilayer wire-copper foam is designed.In combination with an ozone treatment catalyst,an air purification device is fabricated,and the air purification experiment is carried out.

Study on the transition from filamentary discharge to diffuse discharge by using a dielectric barrier surface discharge device

Discharge characteristics have been investigated in different gases under different pressures using a dielectric barrier surface discharge device. Electrical measurements and optical emission spectroscopy are used to study the discharge, and the results obtained show that the discharges in atmospheric pressure helium and in low-pressure air are diffuse, while that in high-pressure air is filamentary. With decreasing pressure, the discharge in air can transit from filamentary to diffuse one. The results also indicate that corona discharge around the stripe electrode is important for the diffuse discharge. The spectral intensity of N＋ （391.4nm） relative to N2 （337.1 nm） is measured during the transition from diffuse to filamentary discharge. It is shown that relative spectral intensity increases during the discharge transition. This phenomenon implies that the averaged electron energy in diffuse discharge is higher than that in the filamentary discharge.

Hyper-exponential jump-diffusion model under the barrier dividend strategy

In this paper, we consider a hyper-exponential jump-diffusion model with a constant dividend barrier. Explicit solutions for the Laplace transform of the ruin time, and the Gerber- Shiu function are obtained via martingale stopping.

The investigation of ZnO:Al_2O_3/metal composite back reflectors in amorphous silicon germanium thin film solar cells

Different aluminum-doped ZnO （AZO）/metal composite thin films, including AZO/Ag/Al, AZO/Ag/nickelchromium alloy （NiCr）, and AZO/Ag/NiCr/Al, are utilized as the back reflectors of p-i-n amorphous silicon germanium thin film solar cells. NiCr is used as diffusion barrier layer between Ag and Al to prevent mutual diffusion, which increases the short circuit current density of solar cell. NiCr and NiCr/AI layers are used as protective layers of Ag layer against oxidation and sulfurization, the higher efficiency of solar cell is achieved. The experimental results show that the performance of a-SiGe solar cell with AZO/Ag/NiCr/Al back reflector is best. The initial conversion efficiency is achieved to be 8.05%.

通过诱导载流子的V坑传输提升GaN基绿光LED的空穴注入效率

为了提升GaN基多量子阱LED的空穴注入效率,设计了具有不同最后势垒层结构的GaN基多量子阱外延结构,并将其制备为绿光mini-LED发光芯片,利用低温电致发光光谱、电流电压特性测试对其载流子传输机制进行了研究。结果表明,在采用AlGaN或GaN/AlN最后势垒层的样品中,有更多载流子可以传输到深层量子阱,空穴注入效率获得提升。本文对这一现象中的载流子运输机制以及V坑缺陷在其中所起的作用进行了研究,发现这种提升主要来自空穴V坑注入比例的增大。实验还发现,过大的V坑注入比例也会造成非辐射复合率上升,从而抑制了AlGaN最后势垒层样品的电光转换效率。

Diffusion barrier performance of nanoscale TaN_x thin-film

TaNx nanoscale thin-films and Cu/TaNx multilayer structures were deposited on P-type Si(100) substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The characteristics of TaNx films and thermal stabilities of Cu/TaNx/Si systems annealed at various temperatures were studied by four-point probe(FPP) sheet resistance measurement, atomic force microscopy(AFM), scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrum (SEM-EDS), Alpha-Step IQ Profilers and X-ray diffraction(XRD), respectively. The results show that the surfaces of deposited TaNx thin-films are smooth. With the increasing of N2 partial pressure, the deposition rate and root-mean-square(RMS) decrease, while the content of N and sheet resistance of the TaNx thin-films increase, and the diffusion barrier properties of TaNx thin-films is improved. TaN1.09 can prevent interdiffusion between Cu and Si effectively after annealing up to 650 ℃ for 60 s. The failure of TaNx is mainly attributed to the formation of Cu3Si on TaN/Si interface, which results from Cu diffusion along the grain boundaries of polycrystalline TaN.

The modulation of Schottky barrier height of NiSi/n-Si Schottky diodes by silicide as diffusion source technique

This paper reports that the Schottky barrier height modulation of NiSi/n-Si is experimentally investigated by adopting a novel silicide-as-diffusion-source technique, which avoids the damage to the NiSi/Si interface induced from the conventional dopant segregation method. In addition, the impact of post-BF2 implantation after silicidation on the surface morphology of Ni silicides is also illustrated. The thermal stability of Ni silicides can be improved by silicide- as-diffusion-source technique. Besides, the electron Schottky barrier height is successfully modulated by 0.11 eV at a boron dose of 1015 cm-2 in comparison with the non-implanted samples. The change of barrier height is not attributed to the phase change of silicide films but due to the boron pile-up at the interface of NiSi and Si substrate which causes the upward bending of conducting band. The results demonstrate the feasibility of novel silicide-as-diffusion-source technique for the fabrication of Schottky source/drain Si MOS devices.

Effect of Annealing Ambience on the Chemical Stability of Zr-Si-N Diffusion Barrier

Zr-Si-N films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering (MS) technique. A Cu film on the top of Zr-Si-N films was prepared by DC pulsed magnetron sputtering. The Cu/Zr-Si-N systems were annealed in vacuum and N2/H2 gas mixture at 800°C, respectively. The structure of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and four-point probe method. The sheet resistances of the Cu/Zr-Si-N/Si contact systems annealed in N2/H2 gas mixture were lower than those of the specimens annealed in vacuum at 800°C. The residual oxygen contamination from vacuum annealing ambience influences the sheet resistances of the Cu/Zr-Si-N/Si contact systems due to residual oxygen contamination and/or voids in Cu films. Though thermal stabilities of the Cu/Zr-Si-N/Si systems were maintained up to 800°C when annealed in vacuum and N2/H2 gas mixture, the changes of thermal stability of specimens were noticeable. The vacuum can accelerate the oxidation and decomposition of Zr-Si-N barrier. On the contrary, N2/H2 gas mixture prevent from the Zr-Si-N barrier oxidation and decomposition.