Gel-state polybenzimidazole proton exchange membranes with flexible alkyl sulfonic acid side chains for a wider operating temperature range(25–240 ℃)

High-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells(HT-PEMFC) possess distinct technical advantages of high output power, simplified water/heat management, increased tolerance to fuel impurities and diverse fuel sources, within the temperature range of 120–200 ℃. However, for practical automobile applications, it was crucial to broaden their low-temperature operating window and enable cold start-up capability. Herein, gel-state phosphoric acid(PA) doped sulfonated polybenzimidazole(PBI) proton exchange membranes(PEMs) were designed and synthesized via PPA sol-gel process and in-situ sultone ring-opening reactions with various proton transport pathways based on absorbed PA, flexible alkyl chain connected sulfonic acid groups and imidazole sites. The effects of flexible alkyl sulfonic acid side chain length and content on PA doping level, proton conductivity, and membrane stability under different temperature and relative humidity(RH) were thoroughly investigated. The prepared gel-state membranes contained a self-assembled lamellar and porous structure that facilitated the absorption of a large amount of PA with rapid proton transporting mechanisms. At room temperature, the optimized membrane exhibited a proton conductivity of 0.069 S cm^(-1), which was further increased to 0.162 and 0.358 S cm^(-1)at 80 and 200 ℃, respectively, without additional humidification. The most significant contribution of this work was demonstrating the feasibility of gel-state sulfonated PBI membranes in expanding HT-PEMFC application opportunities over a wider operating range of 25 to 240 ℃.

A hierarchically structured tin-cobalt composite with an enhanced electronic effect for high-performance CO_(2) electroreduction in a wide potential range

Earth-abundant and nontoxic Sn-based materials have been regarded as promising catalysts for the electrochemical conversion of CO_(2)to C1 products,e.g.,CO and formate.However,it is still difficult for Snbased materials to obtain satisfactory performance at low-to-moderate overpotentials.Herein,a simple and facile electrospinning technique is utilized to prepare a composite of a bimetallic Sn-Co oxide/carbon matrix with a hollow nanotube structure(Sn Co-HNT).Sn Co-HNT can maintain>90%faradaic efficiencies for C1 products within a wide potential range from-0.6 VRHE to-1.2 VRHE,and a highest 94.1%selectivity towards CO in an H-type cell.Moreover,a 91.2%faradaic efficiency with a 241.3 m A cm^(-2)partial current density for C1 products could be achieved using a flow cell.According to theoretical calculations,the fusing of Sn/Co oxides on the carbon matrix accelerates electron transfer at the atomic level,causing electron deficiency of Sn centers and reversible variation between Co^(2+)and Co^(3+)centers.The synergistic effect of the Sn/Co composition improves the electron affinity of the catalyst surface,which is conducive to the adsorption and stabilization of key intermediates and eventually increases the catalytic activity in CO_(2)electroreduction.This study could provide a new strategy for the construction of oxide-derived catalysts for CO_(2)electroreduction.

Moderately concentrated electrolyte enabling high-performance lithium metal batteries with a wide working temperature range

The electrolyte integrated with lithium metal anodes is subjected to the issues of interfacial compatibility and stability,which strongly influence the performances of high-energy lithium metal batteries.Here,we report a new electrolyte recipe viz.a moderately concentrated electrolyte comprising of 2.4 M lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide(LiFSI)in a cosolvent mixture of fluorinated ethylene carbonate(FEC)and dimethyl carbonate(DMC)with relatively high ion conductivity.Owing to the preferential decomposition of LiFSI and FEC,an inorganic-rich interphase with abundant Li_(2)O and LiF nanocrystals is formed on lithium metal with improved robustness and ion transfer kinetics,enabling lithium plating/stripping with an extremely low overpotential of~8 mV and the average CE of 97%.When tested in Li||LiFePO_(4) cell,this electrolyte provides long-term cycling with a capacity retention of 98.3%after 1000 cycles at 1 C and an excellent rate performance of 20 C,as well as an areal capacity of 1.35 mA h cm^(-2)at the cathode areal loading of 9 mg cm^(-2).Moreover,the Li||LiFePO_(4) cell exhibits excellent wide-temperature performances(-40~60℃),including long-term cycling stability over 2600 cycles without visible capacity fading at 0℃,as well as extremely high average CEs of 99.6%and 99.8% over 400 cycles under-20℃ and 45℃.

Progress in Electrolyte Engineering of Aqueous Batteries in a Wide Temperature Range

Aqueous rechargeable batteries are safe and environmentally friendly and can be made at a low cost;as such,they are attracting attention in the field of energy storage.However,the temperature sensitivity of aqueous batteries hinders their practical application.The solvent water freezes at low temperatures,and there is a reduction in ionic conductivity,whereas it evaporates rapidly at high temperatures,which causes increased side reactions.This review discusses recent progress in improving the performance of aqueous batteries,mainly with respect to electrolyte engineering and the associated strategies employed to achieve such improvements over a wide temperature domain.The review focuses on fi ve electrolyte engineer-ing(aqueous high-concentration electrolytes,organic electrolytes,quasi-solid/solid electrolytes,hybrid electrolytes,and eutectic electrolytes)and investigates the mechanisms involved in reducing the solidifi cation point and boiling point of the electrolyte and enhancing the extreme-temperature electrochemical performance.Finally,the prospect of further improving the wide temperature range performance of aqueous rechargeable batteries is presented.

Biolistic Genetic Transformation of a Wide Range of Chinese Elite Wheat(Triticum aestivum L.)Varieties

Wheat （Triticum aestivum L.） is a major staple food crop worldwide. It is economically important because it can be grown in a wide range of climates and geographic regions, and it has made an enormous contribution to the increase in global food production over the past four decades （Dixon et al., 2009）. Wheat is produced on more than 18% of the arable land in the world, and is the most cultivated crop after maize and rice （FAOSTAT data, 2014）. Despite its global strategic significance, progress in genomic and genetic engineering research on wheat has lagged behind that on other major crops due to the difficulty of culturing tissues, and the complexity of its hexaploid genome. The first successful wheat trans- formation was achieved by particle bombardment （Vasil et al., 1992）. Since then additional transgenic wheat plants have been obtained by various transformation methods （Harwood, 2011）. Microprojectile bombardment is considered to be a promising method, since it is robust, versatile and relatively efficient in terms of gene delivery.

Development of a wide-range and fast-response digitizing pulse signal acquisition and processing system for neutron flux monitoring on EAST

The neutron count rate fluctuation reaches six orders of magnitude between the ohmic plasma scenario and high power of auxiliary heating on an experimental advanced superconducting tokamak(EAST).The measurement result of neutron flux monitoring(NFM)is a significant feedback parameter related to the acquisition of radiation protection-related information and rapid fluctuations in neutron emission induced by plasma magnetohydrodynamic activity.Therefore,a wide range and high time resolution are required for the NFM system on EAST.To satisfy these requirements,a digital pulse signal acquisition and processing system with a wide dynamic range and fast response time was developed.The present study was conducted using a field-programmable gate array(FPGA)and peripheral component interconnect extension for instrument express(PXIe)platform.The digital dual measurement modes,which are composed of the pulse-counting mode and AC coupled square integral's Campbelling mode,were designed to expand the measurement range of the signal acquisition and processing system.The time resolution of the signal acquisition and processing system was improved from 10 to 1 ms owing to utilizing highspeed analog-to-digital converters(ADCs),a high-speed PXIe communication with a direct memory access(DMA)mode,and online data preprocessing technology of FPGA.The signal acquisition and processing system was tested experimentally in the EAST radiation field.The test results showed that the time resolution of NFM was improved to 1 ms,and the dynamic range of the neutron counts rate was expanded to more than 10^(6) counts per second.The Campbelling mode was calibrated using a multipoint average linear fitting method;subsequently,the fitting coefficient reached 0.9911.Therefore,the newly developed pulse signal acquisition and processing system ensures that the NFM system meets the requirements of high-parameter experiments conducted on EAST more effectively.

A Uniform Reference Line Based Differential Phase Shifter with Wide Phase Range and Wide Bandwidth

To implement the multi-way phase shifting maintaining the compact size and simplicity in structure,the uniform reference line concept was proposed for the differential phase shifter.However,the performance in bandwidth and phase range deteriorates with the additional requirements considered.To solve this problem,a quarter wavelength coupled line section loaded with open/short stubs is proposed as the basic element to implement the main line and also reference line.According to the theoretical analysis on this basic element,the loading stubs can be used to control the phase shift and also the phase slope of the basic element without affecting the amplitude property.With the predetermined parameters of the uniform reference line,only two parameters are required for the implementation of different differential phase shifts.This demonstrates the high simplicity of the proposed structure.For demonstration,an eight-way differential phase shifter operating at 3.5 GHz was implemented using the vertically installed planar structure.The prototype was further fabricated and measured.Good agreement between simulation and measurement can be observed.The implemented phase shifter can provide a wide range of phase shifting values from 45°to 315°with reference to the uniform reference line over a relative bandwidth of 62.3%.

Investigation of an Intensifying-flux Variable Flux-leakage Interior Permanent Magnet Machine for Wide Speed Range

In this paper,a novel intensifying-flux variable flux-leakage interior permanent magnet(IFVF-IPM)machine is proposed,in which flux barriers were designed deliberately between the adjacent poles to obtain intensifying-flux effect and variable flux-leakage property.The rotor topology and design principles of the proposed machine are also introduced.Then,a multi-objective optimization method is adopted based on the sensitivity analysis,and some design variables of IFVF-IPM machine with strong sensitivity are selected to optimization progress by using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-Ⅱ(NSGA-Ⅱ).Moreover,the electromagnetic characteristics of conventional IPM machine,conventional IFVF-IPM machine(CIFVF-IPM)and the novel IFVF-IPM machine are compared based on the finite element analysis(FEA)method which includes flux linkage,inductances characteristic,torque-speed envelops and power characteristic,as well as evaluation of the risk of irreversible demagnetization.Finally,the experiment results show that the IFVF-IPM machine has a better performance in flux weakening capability for wide speed range and a lower risk of irreversible demagnetization,which indicates the validity and feasibility of the proposed machine.

Bioinspired flexible piezoresistive sensor for high-sensitivity detection of broad pressure range

The human skin has the ability to sense tactile touch and a great range of pressures.Therefore,in prosthetic or robotic systems,it is necessary to prepare pressure sensors with high sensitivity in a wide measurement range to provide human-like tactile sensation.Herein,we developed a flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor that is highly sensitive in a broad pressure range by using lotus leaf micropatterned polydimethylsiloxane and multilayer superposition.By superposing four layers of micropatterned constructive substrates,the multilayer piezoresistive pressure sensor achieves a broad pressure range of 312 kPa,a high sensitivity of 2.525 kPa^(−1),a low limit of detection(LOD)of<12 Pa,and a fast response time of 45 ms.Compared with the traditional flexible pressure sensor,the pressure range of this sensor can be increased by at least an order of magnitude.The flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor also shows high robustness:after testing for at least 1000 cycles,it shows no sign of fatigue.More importantly,these sensors can be potentially applied in various human motion detection scenarios,including tiny pulse monitoring,throat vibration detection,and large under-feet pressure sensing.The proposed fabrication strategy may guide the design of other kinds of multifunctional sensors to improve the detection performance.

A ratiometric fluorescent probe based on carbon dots assembly for intracellular lysosomal polarity imaging with wide range response

Lysosomal polarity is considered a key indicator of lysosomal function due to its significant impact on membrane fluidity and enzymatic reactions in lysosomes. Monitoring lysosomal polarity can gain insight into the related physiological and pathological processes and develop new diagnostic methods. However, current fluorescent probes with lysosomal polarity response suffer from narrow linear range, photobleaching and complicated preparation. Herein, a ratiometric fluorescent probe(r-b CDs) for intracellular lysosomal polarity imaging is designed and constructed by amide bond assembly of polarity-sensitive red fluorescent carbon dots(r CDs) and referenced blue fluorescent carbon dots(b CDs). r-b CDs show a much wider linear range of polarity response(orientation polarizability Δf from 0.020 to 0.315) than other probes, and the interference of uneven distribution and instrument factors can be effectively eliminated by ratiometric fluorescent sensing. Imaging of intracellular lysosomal polarity with r-b CDs is implemented to observe the polarity variation caused by the change of cell state and the difference between cancer cells and normal cells. This work provides a promising tool for studying the related physiological and pathological processes and developing new diagnostic methods.

A highly stable membrane with hierarchical structure for wide pH range flow batteries

A membrane with high stability and ion conductivity in wide pH range is essential for energy storage devices.Here,we report a novel membrane with hierarchical core-shell structure,which demonstrates high stability and ion conductivity,simultaneously under a wide pH range applications.Spectral characterizations and theoretical calculation indicate that the non-solvent induces the chain segment configuration and eventually leads to polymer-polymer phase separation,thus forming hierarchical porous core-shell structure.Benefiting from this structure,an acidic vanadium flow battery(VFB)with such a membrane shows excellent performance over 400 cycles with an energy efficiency(EE)of above 81%at current density of 120 mA cm^(-2) and an alkaline zinc-iron flow battery(AZIFB)delivers a cycling stability for more than 200 cycles at 160 mA cm^(-2),along with an EE of above 82%.This paper provides a cost-effective and simple way to fabricate membranes with high performance for variety of energyrelated devices.

Design of scale model of plate-shaped absorber in a wide frequency range

In order to design the scale model in a wide frequency range,a method based on the reflective loss is proposed according to the high-frequency approximation algorithm,and an example of designing the scale model of a plate-shaped absorber is given in this paper.In the example,the frequency of the full-size measurement ranges from 2.0 GHz to 2.4 GHz,the thickness of the full-size absorber is 1 mm and the scale ratio is 1/5.A two-layer scale absorber is obtained by the proposed method.The thickness values of the bottom and top layer are 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm,respectively.Furthermore,the scattering properties of a plate model and an SLICY model are studied by FEKO to verify the effectiveness of the designed scale absorber.Compared with the corresponding values from the theoretical scale model,the average values of the absolute deviations in 10 GHz～12 GHz are 0.53 d Bm^2,0.65 d Bm^2,0.76 d Bm^2 for the plate model and 0.20 d Bm^2,0.95 d Bm^2,0.77 d Bm^2 for the SLICY model while the incident angles are 0°,30°,and 60°,respectively.These deviations fall within the Radar cross section（RCS） measurement tolerance.Thus,the work in this paper has important theoretical and practical significance.

A wide range sigma-delta fractional-N frequency synthesizer with adaptive frequency calibration

A wide range fractional-N frequency synthesizer in 0.18μm RF CMOS technology is implemented. A switched-capacitors bank LC-tank VCO and an adaptive frequency calibration technique are used to expand the frequency range.A 16-bit third-order sigma-delta modulator with dither is used to randomize the fractional spur. The active area is 0.6 mm;.The experimental results show the proposed frequency synthesizer consumes 4.3 raA from a single 1.8 V supply voltage except for buffers.The frequency range is 1.44-2.11 GHz and the frequency resolution is less than 0.4 kHz.The phase noise is -94 dBc/Hz @ 100 kHz and -121 dBc/Hz @ 1 MHz at the output of the prescaler with a loop bandwidth of approximately 120 kHz.The performance meets the requirements for the multi-band and multi-mode transceiver applications.

Design and Analysis of Wide Speed Regulation of Variable Leakage Flux Reverse Salient-pole Motor

In this article, a new variable leakage flux reverse salient-pole motor(VLF-RSPM) is raised to widen the speed range. The innovation is to realize both reverse salient-pole characteristics and variable leakage flux characteristics by using a method of adding magnetic bridges and magnetic barriers. Firstly, the evolution of the topological structure and working principle of the motor are introduced. Secondly, based on 2D Finite Element Analysis(FEA), the electromagnetic properties and noise of the motor are analyzed in detail, and the electromagnetic properties are contrasted with that of the conventional V-type synchronous motor(CVTSM). The results show that VLF-RSPM has the advantages of small torque ripple, strong magnetic weakening ability, low noise, high efficiency, and low risk of permanent magnet demagnetization under different conditions. In addition, it is verified that the proposed motor extends the speed range.

Characteristic analysis of 5D symmetric Hamiltonian conservative hyperchaotic system with hidden multiple stability

Conservative chaotic systems have unique advantages over dissipative chaotic systems in the fields of secure communication and pseudo-random number generator because they do not have attractors but possess good traversal and pseudorandomness. In this work, a novel five-dimensional(5D) Hamiltonian conservative hyperchaotic system is proposed based on the 5D Euler equation. The proposed system can have different types of coordinate transformations and time reversal symmetries. In this work, Hamilton energy and Casimir energy are analyzed firstly, and it is proved that the new system satisfies Hamilton energy conservation and can generate chaos. Then, the complex dynamic characteristics of the system are demonstrated and the conservatism and chaos characteristics of the system are verified through the correlation analysis methods such as phase diagram, equilibrium point, Lyapunov exponent, bifurcation diagram, and SE complexity. In addition, a detailed analysis of the multistable characteristics of the system reveals that many energy-related coexisting orbits exist. Based on the infinite number of center-type and saddle-type equilibrium points, the dynamic characteristics of the hidden multistability of the system are revealed. Then, the National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST)test of the new system shows that the chaotic sequence generated by the system has strong pseudo-random. Finally, the circuit simulation and hardware circuit experiment of the system are carried out with Multisim simulation software and digital signal processor(DSP) respectively. The experimental results confirm that the new system has good ergodicity and realizability.

Bioinspired anti-freezing 3D-printable conductive hydrogel microfibers for highly-sensitive and wide-range detection of ultralow and high strains

Soft strain sensors that can transduce stretch stimuli into electrical readouts are promising as sustainable wearable electronics.However,most strain sensors cannot achieve highly-sensitive and wide-range detection of ultralow and high strains.Inspired by bamboo structures,anti-freezing microfibers made of conductive poly(vinyl alcohol)hydrogel with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiphene)-poly(styrenesulfonate)are developed via continuous microfluidic spinning.The microfibers provide unique bamboo-like structures with enhanced local stress to improve both their length change and resistance change upon stretching for efficient signal conversion.The microfibers allow highlysensitive(detection limit:0.05%strain)and wide-range(0%-400%strain)detection of ultralow and high strains,as well as features of good stretchability(485%strain)and anti-freezing property(freezing temperature:-41.1°C),fast response(200 ms),and good repeatability.The experimental results,together with theoretical foundation analysis and finite element analysis,prove their enhanced length and resistance changes upon stretching for efficient signal conversion.By integrating microfluidic spinning with 3D-printing technique,the textiles of the microfibers can be flexibly constructed.The microfibers and their 3D-printed textiles enable highperformance monitoring of human motions including finger bending and throat vibrating during phonation.This work provides an efficient and general strategy for developing advanced conductive hydrogel microfibers as highperformance wearable strain sensors.

Wide measurement range and high sensitivity spongy MWCNT/polydimethylsiloxane pressure sensor based on a single-electrode enhanced triboelectric nanogenerator

Flexible pressure sensors have broad application prospects,such as human motion monitoring and personalized recognition.However,their applicability is limited by complex structures,low output performance,low sensitivity,and narrow measurement range.In this study,we report a single-electrode spongy triboelectric sensor(SSTS)mainly composed of spongy composite multi-walled carbon nanotubes/polydimethylsiloxane(MWCNT/PDMS)film and conductive fabric,which can simultaneously generate contact electrification and electrostatic induction coupling in a single-electrode contact-separation mode.The SSTS combines the triboelectric effect,properties of doping material,and spongy porous structure(soft sugar as a sacrificial template).An SSTS with an MWCNT content of 10 wt%and a porosity of 64%exhibits high sensitivity,a wide measurement range,and excellent linearity.It also displays two sensitivity regions(slopes):1.324 V/kPa from 1.5 to 28 kPa in the low-pressure range and 0.096 V/kPa from 28 to 316.5 kPa in the high-pressure range,with linearities of 0.980 and 0.979,respectively.Furthermore,the SSTS delivers a high-performance output and high stability,thus enhancing the monitoring of hand pressure changes,human movement,personalized spatial recognition,and other detection tasks.This new strategy for human motion monitoring shows great potential in the healthcare fields,sports rehabilitation,and human-computer interactions.

Fe_(2)O_(3)/TiO_(2)/reduced graphene oxide-driven recycled visible-photocatalytic Fenton reactions to mineralize organic pollutants in a wide pH range

Photocatalytic Fenton reactions combined the advantages from both photocatalysis and Fenton reaction in mineralizing organic pollutants. The key problems are the efficiency and recycling stability. Herein, we reported a novel Fe_(2)O_(3)/TiO_(2)/reduced graphene oxide(FTG) nanocomposite synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. The TiO_(2)in FTG degraded organic pollutants and mineralized intermediates via photocatalysis under visible light irradiation, which could also promote Fenton reaction by accelerating Fe^(3+)-Fe^(2+)recycle. Meanwhile, the Fe_(2)O_(3)rapidly degraded organic pollutants via Fenton reactions, which also promoted photocatalysis by enhancing visible light absorbance and diminishing photoelectronhole recombination. The high distribution of TiO_(2)and Fe_(2)O_(3)on rGO, together with their strong interaction resulted in enhanced synergetic cooperation between photocatalysis and Fenton reactions, leading to the high mineralization efficiency of organic pollutants. More importantly, it could also inhibit the leaching of Fe species, leading to the long lifetime of FTG during photocatalytic Fenton reactions in a wide pH range from 3.4 to 9.2.

Recent Development of Dielectric Elastomer Transducers and Potential Applications

Power generation using dielectric elastomer transducers is cheap, light, stackable, easy to install, and highly efficient. Also, since the dielectric elastomer transducer is an actuator developed into an artificial muscle, if the DE motor is further developed, it might be possibly be able to drive a vehicle. Efficient robot driving, various industrial machines and the use of dielectric elastomer sensors to optimize the driving may also help solve the above problems from the perspective of eco-driving. This paper describes the latest level of development of dielectric elastomers, their main problems and solutions to these problems, and their potential applications. The possibilities and concrete plans for building local global smart cities (including local generation power for local consumption), efficient transportation, and environmental monitoring systems utilizing dielectric elastomers are also discussed.

Impact of Typical Steady-state Conditions and Transient Conditions on Flow Ripple and Its Test Accuracy for Axial Piston Pump

The current research about the flow ripple of axial piston pump mainly focuses on the effect of the structure of parts on the flow ripple. Therein, the structure of parts are usually designed and optimized at rated working conditions. However, the pump usually has to work in large-scale and time-variant working conditions. Therefore, the flow ripple characteristics of pump and analysis for its test accuracy with respect to variant steady-state conditions and transient conditions in a wide range of operating parameters are focused in this paper. First, a simulation model has been constructed, which takes the kinematics of oil film within friction pairs into account for higher accuracy. Afterwards, a test bed which adopts Secondary Source Method is built to verify the model. The simulation and tests results show that the angular position of the piston, corresponding to the position where the peak flow ripple is produced, varies with the different pressure. The pulsating amplitude and pulsation rate of flow ripple increase with the rise of pressure and the variation rate of pressure. For the pump working at a constant speed, the flow pulsation rate decreases dramatically with the increasing speed when the speed is less than 27.78% of the maximum speed, subsequently presents a small decrease tendency with the speed further increasing. With the rise of the variation rate of speed, the pulsating amplitude and pulsation rate of flow ripple increase. As the swash plate angle augments, the pulsating amplitude of flow ripple increases, nevertheless the flow pulsation rate decreases. In contrast with the effect of the variation of pressure, the test accuracy of flow ripple is more sensitive to the variation of speed. It makes the test accuracy above 96.20% available for the pulsating amplitude of pressure deviating within a range of ~6% from the mean pressure. However, with a variation of speed deviating within a range of ±2% from the mean speed, the attainable test accuracy of flow ripple is above 93.07%. The model constructed in this research proposes a method to determine the flow ripple characteristics of pump and its attainable test accuracy under the large-scale and time-variant working conditions. Meanwhile, a discussion about the variation of flow ripple and its obtainable test accuracy with the conditions of the pump working in wide operating ranges is given as well.