Electrospinning-hot pressing technique for the fabrication of thermal and electrical storage membranes and its applications

The combination of electrospinning and hot pressing,namely the electrospinning-hot pressing technique(EHPT),is an efficient and convenient method for preparing nanofibrous composite materials with good energy storage performance.The emerging composite membrane prepared by EHPT,which exhibits the advantages of large surface area,controllable morphology,and compact structure,has attracted immense attention.In this paper,the conduction mechanism of composite membranes in thermal and electrical energy storage and the performance enhancement method based on the fabrication process of EHPT are systematically discussed.Moreover,the state-of-the-art applications of composite membranes in these two fields are introduced.In particular,in the field of thermal energy storage,EHPT-prepared membranes have longitudinal and transverse nanofibers,which generate unique thermal conductivity pathways;also,these nanofibers offer enough space for the filling of functional materials.Moreover,EHPT-prepared membranes are beneficial in thermal management systems,building energy conservation,and electrical energy storage,e.g.,improving the electrochemical properties of the separators as well as their mechanical and thermal stability.The application of electrospinning-hot pressing membranes on capacitors,lithium-ion batteries(LIBs),fuel cells,sodium-ion batteries(SIBs),and hydrogen bromine flow batteries(HBFBs)still requires examination.In the future,EHPT is expected to make the field more exciting through its own technological breakthroughs or be combined with other technologies to produce intelligent materials.

Flexible and Robust Functionalized Boron Nitride/Poly(p‑Phenylene Benzobisoxazole)Nanocomposite Paper with High Thermal Conductivity and Outstanding Electrical Insulation

With the rapid development of 5G information technology,thermal conductivity/dissipation problems of highly integrated electronic devices and electrical equipment are becoming prominent.In this work,“high-temperature solid-phase&diazonium salt decomposition”method is carried out to prepare benzidine-functionalized boron nitride(m-BN).Subsequently,m-BN/poly(pphenylene benzobisoxazole)nanofiber(PNF)nanocomposite paper with nacremimetic layered structures is prepared via sol–gel film transformation approach.The obtained m-BN/PNF nanocomposite paper with 50 wt%m-BN presents excellent thermal conductivity,incredible electrical insulation,outstanding mechanical properties and thermal stability,due to the construction of extensive hydrogen bonds andπ–πinteractions between m-BN and PNF,and stable nacre-mimetic layered structures.Itsλ∥andλ_(⊥)are 9.68 and 0.84 W m^(-1)K^(-1),and the volume resistivity and breakdown strength are as high as 2.3×10^(15)Ωcm and 324.2 kV mm^(-1),respectively.Besides,it also presents extremely high tensile strength of 193.6 MPa and thermal decomposition temperature of 640°C,showing a broad application prospect in high-end thermal management fields such as electronic devices and electrical equipment.

17.13% Efficiency and Superior Thermal Stability of Organic Solar Cells Based on a Comb-Shape Active Blend

With rapid progress,organic solar cells(OSCs)are getting closer to the target of real application.However,the stability issue is still one of the biggest challenges that have to be resolved.Especially,the thermal stability of OSCs is far from meeting the requirements of the application.Here,based on the layer-by-layer(LBL)process and by utilizing the dissolubility nature of solvent and materials,binary inverted OSCs(ITO/AZO/PM6/BTP-eC9/MoO3/Ag)with comb shape active morphology are fabricated.High efficiency of 17.13%and simultaneous superior thermal stability(with 93%of initial efficiency retained in~9:00 h under 85℃in N_(2))are demonstrated,showing superior stability to reference cells.The enhancements are attributed to the formed optimal comb shape of the active layer,which could provide a larger D/A interface,thus more charge carriers,render the active blend a more stable morphology,and protect the electrode by impeding ion's migration and corrosion.To the best of our knowledge,this is the best thermal stability of binary OSCs reported in the literature,especially when considering the high efficiency of over 17%.

Thermal and Electrical Properties of Liquid Metal Gallium During Phase Transition

Liquid metal gallium has been widely used in numerous fields, from nuclear engineering, catalysts, and energy storage to electronics owing to its remarkable thermal and electrical properties along with low viscosity and nontoxicity. Compared with high-temperature liquid metals, room-temperature liquid metals, such as gallium(Ga), are emerging as promising alternatives for fabricating advanced energy storage devices, such as phase change materials, by harvesting the advantageous properties of their liquid state maintained without external energy input. However, the thermal and electrical properties of liquid metals at the phase transition are rather poorly studied, limiting their practical applications. In this study, we reported on the physical properties of the solid–liquid phase transition of Ga using a custom-designed, solid–liquid electrical and thermal measurement system. We observed that the electrical conductivity of Ga progressively decreases with an increase in temperature. However, the Seebeck coefficient of Ga increases from 0.2 to 2.1 μV/K, and thermal conductivity from 7.6 to 33 W/(K·m). These electrical and thermal properties of Ga at solid–liquid phase transition would be useful for practical applications.

Thermally Evaporated ZnSe for Efficient and Stable Regular/Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells by Enhanced Electron Extraction

Electron transport layers(ETLs)are crucial for achieving efficient and stable planar perovskite solar cells(PSCs).Reports on versatile inorganic ETLs using a simple film fabrication method and applicability for both low-cost planar regular and inverted PSCs with excellent efficiencies(>22%)and high stability are very limited.Herein,we employ a novel inorganic ZnSe as ETL for both regular and inverted PSCs to improve the efficiency and stability using a simple thermal evaporation method.The TiO_(2)-ZnSe-FAPbl_(3)heterojunction could be formed,resulting in an improved charge collection and a decreased carrier recombination further proved through theoretical calculations.The optimized regular PSCs based on TiO_(2)/ZnSe have achieved 23.25%efficiency with negligible hysteresis.In addition,the ZnSe ETL can also effectively replace the unstable bathocuproine(BCP)in inverted PSCs.Consequently,the ZnSe-based inverted device realizes a champion efficiency of 22.54%.Moreover,the regular device comprising the TiO_(2)/ZnSe layers retains 92%of its initial PCE after 10:00 h under 1 Sun continuous illumination and the inverted device comprising the C_(60)/ZnSe layers maintains over 85%of its initial PCE at 85℃for 10:00 h.This highlights one of the best results among universal ETLs in both regular and inverted perovskite photovoltaics.

Improving energy utilization efficiency of electrical discharge milling in titanium alloys machining

Electrical discharge milling(ED-milling) can be a good choice for titanium alloys machining and it was proven that its machining efficiency can be improved to compete with mechanical cutting. In order to improve energy utilization efficiency of ED-milling process, unstable arc discharge and stable arc discharge combined with normal discharge were implemented for material removal by adjusting servo control strategy. The influence of electrode rotating speed and dielectric flushing pressure on machining performance was investigated by experiments. It was found that the rotating of electrode could move the position of discharge plasma channel, and high pressure flushing could wash melted debris out the discharge gap effectively. Both electrode rotating motion and high pressure flushing are contributed to the improvement of machining efficiency.

The impact of dielectrics on the electrical capacity, concentration, efficiency ozone generation for the plasma reactor with mesh electrodes

This paper presents experimental results concerning the effect of dielectric type on ozone concentration and the efficiency of its generation in plasma reactor with two mesh electrodes.Three types of dielectric solid were used in the study; glass, micanite and Kapton insulating foil. The experiments were conducted for voltage ranges from 2.3 to 13 k V. A plasma reactor equipped with two 0.3×0.3 mm^2 mesh electrodes made of acid resistant AISI 304 mesh was used in the experiments. The influence of the dielectric type on the concentration and efficiency of ozone generation was described. The resulting maximum concentration of the ozone was about 2.70–9.30 g O3 m^-3, depending on the dielectrics used. The difference between the maximum and the minimum ozone concentration depends on the dielectric used,this accounts for 70% at the variance. The reactor capacity has also been described in the paper; total Ct and dielectric capacitance Cd depending on the dielectric used and its thickness.

Efficiency of Model Induction Motor Using Various Non-Oriented Electrical Steels

The performance of a 3-phase 6-pole 400 W inverter-drive induction motor was investigated using a variety of non-oriented electrical steels for stator core at PWM inverter fundamental wave frequencies of 30 to 300 Hz. There existed an optimum Si content of the material depending on the tooth flux density. Both reduction of material thickness and stress-relief annealing of the stator core improved the motor efficiency. The influence of Si content on the efficiency was small at lower PWM frequencies, while at higher frequencies the motor efficiency increased with increasing Si content. The Cu loss WC increased and the Fe loss Wi counteractiveiy decreasedwith increasing Si content at lower frequencies; while at higher frequencies Wi had dominant effect on the efficiency. Newly developed materials RMA, having lower Fe losses after stress-relief annealing and higher flux densities with lower Si contents, showed motor efficiencies superior to conventional J1S grade materials with comparable Fe losses.

Three-Dimensional Study of the Effect of the Angle of Incidence of a Magnetic Field on the Electrical Power and Conversion Efficiency of a Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cell under Multispectral Illumination

A three-dimensional approach to the effect of magnetic field incidence angle on electrical power and conversion efficiency is performed on a front-illuminated polycrystalline silicon bifacial solar cell. A solution of the continuity equation allowed us to present the equations of photocurrent density, photovoltage and electric power. The influence of the angle of incidence of the magnetic field on the photocurrent density, the photovoltage and the electric power has been studied. The curves of electrical power versus dynamic junction velocity were used to extract the values of maximum electrical power and dynamic junction velocity and to calculate those of conversion efficiency. From this study, it is found that the conversion efficiency values increase with the angle of incidence of the magnetic field.

Preparation of Poly(p-phenylene sulfide)/Carbon Composites with Enhanced Thermal Conductivity and Electrical Insulativity via Hybrids of Boron Nitride and Carbon Fillers

The present work enhanced the thermal conductivity of poly（p-phenylene sulfide）/expanded graphites and poly（p-phenylene sulfide）/carbon nanotubes, by incorporating composites with hexagonal boron nitride, which simultaneously succeeded in raising the electrical conductivity of the systems. A two-step mechanical processing method which includes rotating solid-state premixing and inner mixing was adopted to improve dispersion of the hybrids, contributing to the formation of an interspered thermal conductive network. Similar synergic effect in thermal conductivity enhancement was discovered in the hybrid systems regardless of the dimension difference between the two carbon fillers. Such is postulated to be the one satisfying advantage generated by the afore-mentioned network; the other is the insulativity of the hybrid systems given by the effective blockage of hexagonal boron nitride as an insulating material in our network.

Thermal stability and electrical properties of copper nitride with In or Ti

Thin films of ternary compounds CuxlnyN and CuxTiyN were grown by magnetron sputtering to improve the thermal stability of Cu3N, a material that decomposes below 300 ℃, and thus promises many interesting applications in directwriting. The effect of In or Ti incorporation in altering the structure and physical properties of copper nitride was evaluated by characterizing the film structure, surface morphology, and temperature dependence of electrical resistivity. More Ti than In can be accommodated by copper nitride without completely deteriorating the Cu3N lattice. A small amount of In or Ti can improve the crystallinity, and consequently the surface morphology. While the decomposition temperature is rarely influenced by In, the Ti-doped sample, Cu59.31Ti2.64N38.05, shows an X-ray diffraction pattern dominated by characteristic Cu3N peaks, even after annealing at 500 ℃. Both In and Ti reduce the bandgap of the original Cu3N phase, resulting in a smaller electrical resistivity at room temperature. The samples with more Ti content manifest metal-semiconductor transition when cooled from room temperature down to 50 K. These results can be useful in improving the applicability of copper-nitride-based thin films.

Effects of filler loading and surface modification on electrical and thermal properties of epoxy/montmorillonite composite

Epoxy-based composites containing montmorillonite（MMT） modified by silylation reaction with γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane（γ-APTES） and 3-（glycidyloxypropyl） trimethoxysilane（GPTMS） are successfully prepared.The effects of filler loading and surface modification on the electrical and thermal properties of the epoxy/MMT composites are investigated. Compared with the pure epoxy resin, the epoxy/MMT composite, whether MMT is surface-treated or not, shows low dielectric permittivity, low dielectric loss, and enhanced dielectric strength. The MMT in the epoxy/MMT composite also influences the thermal properties of the composite by improving the thermal conductivity and stability.Surface functionalization of MMT not only conduces to the better dispersion of the nanoparticles, but also significantly affects the electric and thermal properties of the hybrid by influencing the interfaces between MMT and epoxy resin.Improved interfaces are good for enhancing the electric and thermal properties of nanocomposites. What is more, the MMT modified with GPTMS rather than γ-APTES is found to have greater influence on improving the interface between the MMT filler and polymer matrices, thus resulting in lower dielectric loss, lower electric conductivity, higher breakdown strength, lower thermal conductivity, and higher thermal stability.

Electrical conductivity changes of bulk tin and Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu in bulk and in joints during isothermal aging

The changes of electrical conductivity （resistance） between Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder joints and printed circuit board （PCB） assembly during aging at 125℃ were investigated by the four-point probe technique. The microstructural characterizations of interfacial layers between the solder matrix and the substrate were examined by optical microscopy and scanning electronic microscopy. Different types of specimens were designed to consider several factors. The experimental results indicate that electrical conductivities （resistances） and residual shear strengths of the solder joint specimens significantly decrease after 1000 h during isothermal aging. Microcracks generate in the solder matrix at the first 250 h. Besides, the evolutions of microstructural characterizations at the interface and the matrix of solder joints were noted in this research.

Thermal spin molecular logic gates modulated by an electric field

Logic gates are fundamental structural components in all modern digital electronic devices. Here, nonequilibrium Green's functions are incorporated with the density functional theory to verify the thermal spin transport features of the single-molecule spintronic devices constructed by a single molecule in series or parallel connected with graphene nanoribbons electrodes. Our calculations demonstrate that the electric field can manipulate the spin-polarized current. Then, a complete set of thermal spin molecular logic gates are proposed, including AND, OR, and NOT gates. The mentioned logic gates enable different designs of complex thermal spin molecular logic functions and facilitate the electric field control of thermal spin molecular devices.

Analyzing and Exploring a Model for High-Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells

Perovskite materials have drawn a lot of interest recently due to their potential to increase solar cell efficiency. This study uses the solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS-1D) to develop and simulate a perovskite solar cell made of semiconductor materials. The design that has been suggested is Al:ZnO/ZnO/CdS/CsSnCl3 and MoS2. The analysis focuses on how different characteristics of the material affect the device’s performance. The analysis of the data reveals that the architecture had 26.15% power conversion efficiency (PCE). The solar cell creates an interest in developing a non-toxic solar cell with low manufacturing costs, outstanding conversion efficiency, and stability.

Electrical, Thermal, and Mechanical Properties of Cu/Ti3AlC2 Functional Gradient Materials Prepared by Low-temperature Spark Plasma Sintering

Cu/Ti3AlC2 composite and functional-gradient materials with excellent electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity as well as good flexural properties were prepared by low-temperature spark plasma sintering of Cu and Ti3AlC2 powder mixtures. The phase compositions of the materials were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, and their microstructure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Further, the electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and flexural properties of the materials were tested. Results show that, for the composite materials, the resistivity rises from 0.75 × 10^-7 Ω·m only to 1.32 × 10^-7 Ω·m and the thermal diffusivity reduces from 82.5 mm^2/s simply to 39.8 mm^2/s, while the flexural strength improves from 412.9 MPa to 471.3 MPa, as the content of Ti3AlC2 is increased from 5 wt%to 25 wt%. Additionally, the functional-gradient materials sintered without interface between the layers exhibit good designability, and their overall electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and flexural strength are all higher than those of the corresponding uniform composite material.

Effect of retained austenite and nonmetallic inclusions on the thermal/electrical properties and resistance spot welding nuggets of Si-containing TRIP steels

Five advanced high-strength transformation-induced plasticity(TRIP) steels with different chemical compositions were studied to correlate the retained austenite and nonmetallic inclusion content with their physical properties and the characteristics of the resistance spot welding nuggets. Electrical and thermal properties and equilibrium phases of TRIP steels were predicted using the JMatPro? software. Retained austenite and nonmetallic inclusions were quantified by X-ray diffraction and saturation magnetization techniques. The nonmetallic inclusions were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the contents of Si, C, Al, and Mn in TRIP steels increase both the retained austenite and the nonmetallic inclusion contents. We found that nonmetallic inclusions affect the thermal and electrical properties of the TRIP steels and that the differences between these properties tend to result in different cooling rates during the welding process. The results are discussed in terms of the electrical and thermal properties determined from the chemical composition and their impact on the resistance spot welding nuggets.

Vacuum Correlations, Detector Efficiency Fluctuations and Classical Dynamic Violations of CH-Inequality

We study in this paper the possible influence of vacuum fluctuations on photo detection and its background noise in Bell tests. We analyze its consequences on the standard statistical analysis of data showing that it is not fulfilled anymore the conventional hypothesis of a Poisson like probability density distribution of single photodetection events. We assume that vacuum fluctuations are due to real and measurable fluctuating fields, as recently confirmed experimentally, and that their non null correlations outside the light cone contribute to photon coincidence rates making them time dependent. We introduce a generalized Bell like correlation function which contains a new term due to supposed vacuum induced photon counting events. We deduce then a generalization of CH-inequality which takes in account the effect of these vacuum electric fields on detector efficiency. We predict an apparatus temperature fluctuations during photon detection which we suggest could be observed by looking for colored noise thermal emission of the photodetectors, generalizing the standard white noise prediction of C.S.L. models on wave function collapse postulate. We discuss an experimental test of this prediction, based on the idea of inducing a thermal wave on the whole quantum detectors, aimed to observe time dependent deviations from standard stationary statistical predictions of Quantum Mechanics.

Efficiency and Effectiveness Thermal Analysis of the Shell and Helical Coil Tube Heat Exchanger Used in an Aqueous Solution of Ammonium Nitrate Solubility (<i>ANSOL</i>) with 20% H₂O and 80% <i>AN</i>

The case study is about obtaining the flow rate and saturation temperature of steam that makes it possible to heat a solution of water and ammonia nitrate (ANSOL) in a shell and helical coil tube heat exchanger, within a time interval, without that the crystallization of the ANSOL solution occurs. The desired production per batch of the solution is 5750 kg in 80 minutes. The analysis uses the concepts of efficiency and effectiveness to determine the heat transfer rate and temperature profiles that satisfy the imposed condition within a certain degree of safety and with the lowest possible cost in steam generation. Intermediate quantities necessary to reach the objective are the Reynolds number, Nusselt number, and global heat transfer coefficient for the shell and helical coil tube heat exchanger. Initially, the water is heated for a specified period and, subsequently, the ammonium nitrate is added to a given flow in a fixed mass flow rate.

Reinforcement Learning-Based Electric Vehicles Energy Management Strategy with Battery Thermal Model

The promotion of electric vehicles(EVs)is restricted due to their short cruising range.It is desirable to design an effective energy management strategy to improve their energy efficiency.Most existing work concerning energy management strategies focused on hybrids rather than the EVs.The work focusing on the energy management strategy for EVs mainly uses the traditional optimization strategies,thereby limiting the advantages of energy economy.To this end,a novel energy management strategy that considered the impact of battery thermal effects was proposed with the help of reinforcement learning.The main idea was to first analyze the energy flow path of EVs,further formulize the energy management as an optimization problem,and finally propose an online strategy based on reinforcement learning to obtain the optimal strategy.Additionally,extensive simulation results have demonstrated that our strategy reduces energy consumption by at least 27.4%compared to the existing methods.