Comparative structural and electrochemical properties of mixed P2/O′3-layered sodium nickel manganese oxide prepared by sol-gel and electrospinning methods:Effect of Na-excess content

The effect of Na-excess content in the precursor on the structural and electrochemical performances of sodium nickel manganese oxide(NNMO)prepared by sol-gel and electrospinning methods is investigated in this paper.X-ray diffraction results of the prepared NNMO without adding Na-excess content indicate sodium loss,while the mixed phase of P2/O′3-type layered NNMO presented after adding Na-excess content.Compared with the sol-gel method,the secondary phase of NiO is more suppressed by using the electrospinning method,which is further confirmed by field emission scanning electron microscope images.N_(2) adsorption-desorption isotherms show no remarkably difference in specific surface areas between different preparation methods and Na-excess contents.The analysis of X-ray absorption near edge structure indicates that the oxidation states of Ni and Mn are+2 and+4,respectively.For the electrochemical properties,superior electrochemical performance is observed in the NNMO electrode with a low Na-excess content of 5wt%.The highest specific capacitance is 36.07 F·g^(-1)at0.1 A·g^(-1)in the NNMO electrode prepared by using the sol-gel method.By contrast,the NNMO electrode prepared using the electrospinning method with decreased Na-excess content shows excellent cycling stability of 100%after charge-discharge measurements for 300 cycles.Therefore,controlling the Na excess in the precursor together with the preparation method is important for improving the electrochemical performance of Na-based electrode materials in supercapacitors.

微波辅助sol-gel法合成Bi_(0.5)Na_(0.5)TiO_(3)粉体及其压电性能研究

采用微波辅助溶胶-凝胶(sol-gel)法制备Bi_(0.5)Na_(0.5)TiO_(3)(BNT)粉体,通过DSC/TG,XRD,SEM,FT-IR等表征方法,分析BNT的反应历程,煅烧温度对BNT成分、晶粒尺寸和压电性能的影响.结果表明,当微波煅烧温度为650℃时,可合成出高纯度BNT粉体(30~120 nm),其居里温度为394℃,d_(33)=7.5 pC/N,ε_(r)=535.58,tanδ=0.29.对比传统马弗炉煅烧sol-gel法,微波辅助sol-gel法有利于提高BNT的介电性能和居里温度,降低介质损耗.

A Review on Sources,Extractions and Analysis Methods of a Sustainable Biomaterial:Tannins

Condensed and hydrolysable tannins are non-toxic natural polyphenols that are a commercial commodity industrialized for tanning hides to obtain leather and for a growing number of other industrial applications mainly to substitute petroleum-based products.They are a definite class of sustainable materials of the forestry industry.They have been in operation for hundreds of years to manufacture leather and now for a growing number of applications in a variety of other industries,such as wood adhesives,metal coating,pharmaceutical/medical applications and several others.This review presents the main sources,either already or potentially commercial of this forestry by-materials,their industrial and laboratory extraction systems,their systems of analysis with their advantages and drawbacks,be these methods so simple to even appear primitive but nonetheless of proven effectiveness,or very modern and instrumental.It constitutes a basic but essential summary of what is necessary to know of these sustainable materials.In doing so,the review highlights some of the main challenges that remain to be addressed to deliver the quality and economics of tannin supply necessary to fulfill the industrial production requirements for some materials-based uses.

Investigation of UV photosensor properties of Al-doped SnO_(2) thin films deposited by sol-gel dip-coating method

Transparent conducting aluminum doped tin oxide thin films were prepared by sol-gel dip coating method with differ-ent Al concentrations and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV-Vis spectrophotometry and photoconductivity study. The variation observed in the properties of the measured films agrees with a difference in the film's thickness, which decreases when Al concentration augments. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that all films are polycrystal-line with tetragonal structure, (110) plane being the strongest diffraction peak. The crystallite size calculated by the Debye Scher-rer’s formula decreases from 11.92 to 8.54 nm when Al concentration increases from 0 to 5 wt.%. AFM images showed grains uni-formly distributed in the deposited films. An average transmittance greater than 80% was measured for the films and an en-ergy gap value of about 3.9 eV was deduced from the optical analysis. Finally, the photosensitivity properties like current-voltage characteristics, ION/IOFF ratio, growth and decay time are studied and reported. Also, we have calculated the trap depth energy using the decay portion of the rise and decay curve photocurrent.

Sol-gel synthesis of nanometer silicon/silicon suboxide/carbon anode material

A stacked Si/SiO_(x)/C composite anode material with carbon-coated structure was prepared by sol-gel method combined with carbothermal reduction using organic silicon.The results of X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, and elemental analysis show that the Si/SiO_(x)/C material is a secondary particle with a porous micronanostructure, and the presence of nanometer silicon does not affect the carbothermal reduction and carbon coating.Electrochemical test results indicate that the specific capacity and first coulombic efficiency of SiO_(x)/C composite with nanometer silicon can be increased to 1 946.05 mAh/g and 76.49%,respectively.The reversible specific capacity of Si/SiO_(x)/C material blended with graphite is 749.69 mAh/g after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.1 C,and the capacity retention rate is up to 89.03%.Therefore, the composite has excellent electrochemical cycle stability.

Drilling-based measuring method for the c-φ parameter of rock and its field application

The technology of drilling tests makes it possible to obtain the strength parameter of rock accurately in situ. In this paper, a new rock cutting analysis model that considers the influence of the rock crushing zone(RCZ) is built. The formula for an ultimate cutting force is established based on the limit equilibrium principle. The relationship between digital drilling parameters(DDP) and the c-φ parameter(DDP-cφ formula, where c refers to the cohesion and φ refers to the internal friction angle) is derived, and the response of drilling parameters and cutting ratio to the strength parameters is analyzed. The drillingbased measuring method for the c-φ parameter of rock is constructed. The laboratory verification test is then completed, and the difference in results between the drilling test and the compression test is less than 6%. On this basis, in-situ rock drilling tests in a traffic tunnel and a coal mine roadway are carried out, and the strength parameters of the surrounding rock are effectively tested. The average difference ratio of the results is less than 11%, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method for obtaining the strength parameters based on digital drilling. This study provides methodological support for field testing of rock strength parameters.

Structural evolution-enabled BiFeO3 modulated by strontium doping with enhanced dielectric,optical and superparamagnetic properties by a modified sol-gel method

Multiferroic(BFO)nanoparticles doped with strontium with the general formula Bi1-xSrx FeO3(x=0,0.3,0.5,0.7)were synthesized using a modified sol-gel auto-combustion process.The structural,electrical,optical,and magnetic properties of the samples are discussed.The structural analysis,carried out using the x-ray powder diffraction technique,shows a structural transition from rhombohedral(R-3c)to cubic(Pm-3m)for the doping amount of strontium(Sr)equal to x=0.3.Morphological analysis of the prepared samples were carried out using scanning electron microscopy(SEM).Frequency-dependent dielectric constant and ac conductivity were studied.The doped samples,with improved dielectric properties,can be used to fabricate different optoelectronic devices.Strong dielectric dispersion and broad relaxation were exhibited by all the samples.Cole–Cole plots were employed as an effective tool to study the dispersion parameters,namely,the optical dielectric constant,static dielectric constant,relaxation time,and spreading factor.The activation energy was calculated from the relaxation peaks and Cole–Cole plots,which were found to be compatible with each other.The bandgap of the samples was calculated using diffuse reflectance spectral(DRS)analysis.Sharp and strong photoluminescence in the IR region was observed in the samples,similar to ZnO,which was reported for the first time.Room-temperature and low-temperature magnetization studies point towards the superparamagnetic nature of the samples,with an improvement in magnetic properties with doping.The antiferromagnetic behavior of bulk bismuth ferrite transforms to superparamagnetic in nature for both pure and Sr-substituted bismuth ferrite nanoparticles due to the close dimensions of crystallite size with magnetic domains leading to the break-down of the frustrated spin cycloidal moment.

A comparison study on structure-function relationship of polysaccharides obtained from sea buckthorn berries using different methods:antioxidant and bile acid-binding capacity

In this study,the structural characters,antioxidant activities and bile acid-binding ability of sea buckthorn polysaccharides(HRPs)obtained by the commonly used hot water(HRP-W),pressurized hot water(HRP-H),ultrasonic(HRP-U),acid(HRP-C)and alkali(HRP-A)assisted extraction methods were investigated.The results demonstrated that extraction methods had significant effects on extraction yield,monosaccharide composition,molecular weight,particle size,triple-helical structure,and surface morphology of HRPs except for the major linkage bands.Thermogravimetric analysis showed that HRP-U with filamentous reticular microstructure exhibited better thermal stability.The HRP-A with the lowest molecular weight and highest arabinose content possessed the best antioxidant activities.Moreover,the rheological analysis indicated that HRPs with higher galacturonic acid content and molecular weight showed higher viscosity and stronger crosslinking network(HRP-C,HRP-W and HRP-U),which exhibited stronger bile acid binding capacity.The present findings provide scientific evidence in the preparation technology of sea buckthorn polysaccharides with good antioxidant and bile acid binding capacity which are related to the structure affected by the extraction methods.

Material point method simulation of hydro-mechanical behaviour in twophase porous geomaterials: A state-of-the-art review

The material point method(MPM)has been gaining increasing popularity as an appropriate approach to the solution of coupled hydro-mechanical problems involving large deformation.In this paper,we survey the current state-of-the-art in the MPM simulation of hydro-mechanical behaviour in two-phase porous geomaterials.The review covers the recent advances and developments in the MPM and their extensions to capture the coupled hydro-mechanical problems involving large deformations.The focus of this review is aiming at providing a clear picture of what has or has not been developed or implemented for simulating two-phase coupled large deformation problems,which will provide some direct reference for both practitioners and researchers.

Volumetric lattice Boltzmann method for pore-scale mass diffusionadvection process in geopolymer porous structures

Porous materials present significant advantages for absorbing radioactive isotopes in nuclear waste streams.To improve absorption efficiency in nuclear waste treatment,a thorough understanding of the diffusion-advection process within porous structures is essential for material design.In this study,we present advancements in the volumetric lattice Boltzmann method(VLBM)for modeling and simulating pore-scale diffusion-advection of radioactive isotopes within geopolymer porous structures.These structures are created using the phase field method(PFM)to precisely control pore architectures.In our VLBM approach,we introduce a concentration field of an isotope seamlessly coupled with the velocity field and solve it by the time evolution of its particle population function.To address the computational intensity inherent in the coupled lattice Boltzmann equations for velocity and concentration fields,we implement graphics processing unit(GPU)parallelization.Validation of the developed model involves examining the flow and diffusion fields in porous structures.Remarkably,good agreement is observed for both the velocity field from VLBM and multiphysics object-oriented simulation environment(MOOSE),and the concentration field from VLBM and the finite difference method(FDM).Furthermore,we investigate the effects of background flow,species diffusivity,and porosity on the diffusion-advection behavior by varying the background flow velocity,diffusion coefficient,and pore volume fraction,respectively.Notably,all three parameters exert an influence on the diffusion-advection process.Increased background flow and diffusivity markedly accelerate the process due to increased advection intensity and enhanced diffusion capability,respectively.Conversely,increasing the porosity has a less significant effect,causing a slight slowdown of the diffusion-advection process due to the expanded pore volume.This comprehensive parametric study provides valuable insights into the kinetics of isotope uptake in porous structures,facilitating the development of porous materials for nuclear waste treatment applications.

Sparse Modal Decomposition Method Addressing Underdetermined Vortex-Induced Vibration Reconstruction Problem for Marine Risers

When investigating the vortex-induced vibration(VIV)of marine risers,extrapolating the dynamic response on the entire length based on limited sensor measurements is a crucial step in both laboratory experiments and fatigue monitoring of real risers.The problem is conventionally solved using the modal decomposition method,based on the principle that the response can be approximated by a weighted sum of limited vibration modes.However,the method is not valid when the problem is underdetermined,i.e.,the number of unknown mode weights is more than the number of known measurements.This study proposed a sparse modal decomposition method based on the compressed sensing theory and the Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit(Co Sa MP)algorithm,exploiting the sparsity of VIV in the modal space.In the validation study based on high-order VIV experiment data,the proposed method successfully reconstructed the response using only seven acceleration measurements when the conventional methods failed.A primary advantage of the proposed method is that it offers a completely data-driven approach for the underdetermined VIV reconstruction problem,which is more favorable than existing model-dependent solutions for many practical applications such as riser structural health monitoring.

Uncertainties of landslide susceptibility prediction: Influences of random errors in landslide conditioning factors and errors reduction by low pass filter method

In the existing landslide susceptibility prediction(LSP)models,the influences of random errors in landslide conditioning factors on LSP are not considered,instead the original conditioning factors are directly taken as the model inputs,which brings uncertainties to LSP results.This study aims to reveal the influence rules of the different proportional random errors in conditioning factors on the LSP un-certainties,and further explore a method which can effectively reduce the random errors in conditioning factors.The original conditioning factors are firstly used to construct original factors-based LSP models,and then different random errors of 5%,10%,15% and 20%are added to these original factors for con-structing relevant errors-based LSP models.Secondly,low-pass filter-based LSP models are constructed by eliminating the random errors using low-pass filter method.Thirdly,the Ruijin County of China with 370 landslides and 16 conditioning factors are used as study case.Three typical machine learning models,i.e.multilayer perceptron(MLP),support vector machine(SVM)and random forest(RF),are selected as LSP models.Finally,the LSP uncertainties are discussed and results show that:(1)The low-pass filter can effectively reduce the random errors in conditioning factors to decrease the LSP uncertainties.(2)With the proportions of random errors increasing from 5%to 20%,the LSP uncertainty increases continuously.(3)The original factors-based models are feasible for LSP in the absence of more accurate conditioning factors.(4)The influence degrees of two uncertainty issues,machine learning models and different proportions of random errors,on the LSP modeling are large and basically the same.(5)The Shapley values effectively explain the internal mechanism of machine learning model predicting landslide sus-ceptibility.In conclusion,greater proportion of random errors in conditioning factors results in higher LSP uncertainty,and low-pass filter can effectively reduce these random errors.

Numerical manifold method for thermo-mechanical coupling simulation of fractured rock mass

As a calculation method based on the Galerkin variation,the numerical manifold method(NMM)adopts a double covering system,which can easily deal with discontinuous deformation problems and has a high calculation accuracy.Aiming at the thermo-mechanical(TM)coupling problem of fractured rock masses,this study uses the NMM to simulate the processes of crack initiation and propagation in a rock mass under the influence of temperature field,deduces related system equations,and proposes a penalty function method to deal with boundary conditions.Numerical examples are employed to confirm the effectiveness and high accuracy of this method.By the thermal stress analysis of a thick-walled cylinder(TWC),the simulation of cracking in the TWC under heating and cooling conditions,and the simulation of thermal cracking of the SwedishÄspöPillar Stability Experiment(APSE)rock column,the thermal stress,and TM coupling are obtained.The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the test data and other numerical results,thus verifying the effectiveness of the NMM in dealing with thermal stress and crack propagation problems of fractured rock masses.

A stable implicit nodal integration-based particle finite element method(N-PFEM)for modelling saturated soil dynamics

In this study,we present a novel nodal integration-based particle finite element method(N-PFEM)designed for the dynamic analysis of saturated soils.Our approach incorporates the nodal integration technique into a generalised Hellinger-Reissner(HR)variational principle,creating an implicit PFEM formulation.To mitigate the volumetric locking issue in low-order elements,we employ a node-based strain smoothing technique.By discretising field variables at the centre of smoothing cells,we achieve nodal integration over cells,eliminating the need for sophisticated mapping operations after re-meshing in the PFEM.We express the discretised governing equations as a min-max optimisation problem,which is further reformulated as a standard second-order cone programming(SOCP)problem.Stresses,pore water pressure,and displacements are simultaneously determined using the advanced primal-dual interior point method.Consequently,our numerical model offers improved accuracy for stresses and pore water pressure compared to the displacement-based PFEM formulation.Numerical experiments demonstrate that the N-PFEM efficiently captures both transient and long-term hydro-mechanical behaviour of saturated soils with high accuracy,obviating the need for stabilisation or regularisation techniques commonly employed in other nodal integration-based PFEM approaches.This work holds significant implications for the development of robust and accurate numerical tools for studying saturated soil dynamics.

An inverse analysis of fluid flow through granular media using differentiable lattice Boltzmann method

This study presents a method for the inverse analysis of fluid flow problems.The focus is put on accurately determining boundary conditions and characterizing the physical properties of granular media,such as permeability,and fluid components,like viscosity.The primary aim is to deduce either constant pressure head or pressure profiles,given the known velocity field at a steady-state flow through a conduit containing obstacles,including walls,spheres,and grains.The lattice Boltzmann method(LBM)combined with automatic differentiation(AD)(AD-LBM)is employed,with the help of the GPU-capable Taichi programming language.A lightweight tape is used to generate gradients for the entire LBM simulation,enabling end-to-end backpropagation.Our AD-LBM approach accurately estimates the boundary conditions for complex flow paths in porous media,leading to observed steady-state velocity fields and deriving macro-scale permeability and fluid viscosity.The method demonstrates significant advantages in terms of prediction accuracy and computational efficiency,making it a powerful tool for solving inverse fluid flow problems in various applications.

Robustness Study and Superior Method Development and Validation for Analytical Assay Method of Atropine Sulfate in Pharmaceutical Ophthalmic Solution

Background: The robustness is a measurement of an analytical chemical method and its ability to contain unaffected by little with deliberate variation of analytical chemical method parameters. The analytical chemical method variation parameters are based on pH variability of buffer solution of mobile phase, organic ratio composition changes, stationary phase (column) manufacture, brand name and lot number variation;flow rate variation and temperature variation of chromatographic system. The analytical chemical method for assay of Atropine Sulfate conducted for robustness evaluation. The typical variation considered for mobile phase organic ratio change, change of pH, change of temperature, change of flow rate, change of column etc. Purpose: The aim of this study is to develop a cost effective, short run time and robust analytical chemical method for the assay quantification of Atropine in Pharmaceutical Ophthalmic Solution. This will help to make analytical decisions quickly for research and development scientists as well as will help with quality control product release for patient consumption. This analytical method will help to meet the market demand through quick quality control test of Atropine Ophthalmic Solution and it is very easy for maintaining (GDP) good documentation practices within the shortest period of time. Method: HPLC method has been selected for developing superior method to Compendial method. Both the compendial HPLC method and developed HPLC method was run into the same HPLC system to prove the superiority of developed method. Sensitivity, precision, reproducibility, accuracy parameters were considered for superiority of method. Mobile phase ratio change, pH of buffer solution, change of stationary phase temperature, change of flow rate and change of column were taken into consideration for robustness study of the developed method. Results: The limit of quantitation (LOQ) of developed method was much low than the compendial method. The % RSD for the six sample assay of developed method was 0.4% where the % RSD of the compendial method was 1.2%. The reproducibility between two analysts was 100.4% for developed method on the contrary the compendial method was 98.4%.

Cascading multi-segment rupture process of the 2023 Turkish earthquake doublet on a complex fault system revealed by teleseismic P wave back projection method

In this study,the vertical components of broadband teleseismic P wave data recorded by China Earthquake Network are used to image the rupture processes of the February 6th,2023 Turkish earthquake doublet via back projection analysis.Data in two frequency bands(0.5-2 Hz and 1-3 Hz)are used in the imaging processes.The results show that the rupture of the first event extends about 200 km to the northeast and about 150 km to the southwest,lasting~90 s in total.The southwestern rupture is triggered by the northeastern rupture,demonstrating a sequential bidirectional unilateral rupture pattern.The rupture of the second event extends approximately 80 km in both northeast and west directions,lasting~35 s in total and demonstrates a typical bilateral rupture feature.The cascading ruptures on both sides also reflect the occurrence of selective rupture behaviors on bifurcated faults.In addition,we observe super-shear ruptures on certain fault sections with relatively straight fault structures and sparse aftershocks.

Hybrid Strategy of Partitioned and Monolithic Methods for Solving Strongly Coupled Analysis of Inverse and Direct Piezoelectric and Circuit Coupling

The inverse and direct piezoelectric and circuit coupling are widely observed in advanced electro-mechanical systems such as piezoelectric energy harvesters.Existing strongly coupled analysis methods based on direct numerical modeling for this phenomenon can be classified into partitioned or monolithic formulations.Each formulation has its advantages and disadvantages,and the choice depends on the characteristics of each coupled problem.This study proposes a new option:a coupled analysis strategy that combines the best features of the existing formulations,namely,the hybrid partitioned-monolithic method.The analysis of inverse piezoelectricity and the monolithic analysis of direct piezoelectric and circuit interaction are strongly coupled using a partitioned iterative hierarchical algorithm.In a typical benchmark problem of a piezoelectric energy harvester,this research compares the results from the proposed method to those from the conventional strongly coupled partitioned iterative method,discussing the accuracy,stability,and computational cost.The proposed hybrid concept is effective for coupled multi-physics problems,including various coupling conditions.

Gas Chromatographic Method for Identification and Quantification of Commonly Used Residual Solvents in Pharmaceuticals Products

Background: Impurities are not expected in the final pharmaceutical products. All impurities should be regulated in both drug substances and drug products in accordance with pharmacopeias and ICH guidelines. Three different types of impurities are generally available in the pharmaceutical’s product specification: organic impurities, inorganic impurities, and residual solvents. Residual solvents are organic volatile chemicals used or generated during the manufacturing of drug substances or drug products. Purpose: The aim of this study is to develop a cost-effective gas chromatographic method for the identification and quantification of some commonly used solvents—methanol, acetone, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran (THF), benzene, toluene, and pyridine—in pharmaceutical product manufacturing. This method will be able to identify and quantify the multiple solvents within a single gas chromatographic procedure. Method: A gas chromatography (GC) equipped with a headspace sampler and a flame ionization detector, and a column DB 624, 30-meter-long × 0.32-millimeter internal diameter, 1,8 μm-thick, Brand-Agilent was used to develop this method. The initial GC oven temperature was 40°C and held for 5 minutes. It was then increase to 80˚C at a rate of 2˚C per minute, followed by a further increase to 225˚C at a rate of 30˚C per minute, with a final hold at 225˚C for 10 minutes. Nitrogen was used as a carrier gas at a flow rate of 1.20 mL per minute. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was selected as sample solvent. Results: The developed method is precise and specific. The percent RSD for the areas of six replicate injections of this gas chromatographic method was within 10.0 and the recovery result found within 80.0% to 120.0%.

A smoothed assumed enhanced strain method for frictional contact with constant strain elements

This paper presents a finite element framework for imposing frictional contact conditions on embedded fracture faces,implemented by the constant-strain assumed enhanced strain(AES)method,where penalty method is used to impose both non-penetration constraint and Coulomb’s law of friction.The proposed constant-strain AES method for modeling embedded frictional contact can be cast into an integration algorithm similar to those used in the classical plasticity theory,where displacement jump is calculated from the local traction equilibrium at Gauss point,so the method does not introduce any additional global degrees of freedom.Moreover,constant-strain elements are often desirable in practice because they can be easily created automatically for large-scale engineering applications with complicated geometries.As encountered in other enriched finite element methods for frictional contact,the problem of normal contact pressure oscillations is also observed in the constant-strain AES method.Therefore,we developed a strain-smoothing procedure to effectively mitigate the oscillations.We investigated and verified the proposed AES framework through several numerical examples,and illustrated the capability of this method in solving challenging nonlinear frictional contact problems.