Design,preparation,application of advanced array structured materials and their action mechanism analyses for high performance lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur battery(LSB)has brought much attention and concern because of high theoretical specific capacity and energy density as one of main competitors for next-generation energy storage systems.The widely commercial application and development of LSB is mainly hindered by serious“shuttle effect”of lithium polysulfides(Li PSs),slow reaction kinetics,notorious lithium dendrites,etc.In various structures of LSB materials,array structured materials,possessing the composition of ordered micro units with the same or similar characteristics of each unit,present excellent application potential for various secondary cells due to some merits such as immobilization of active substances,high specific surface area,appropriate pore sizes,easy modification of functional material surface,accommodated huge volume change,enough facilitated transportation for electrons/lithium ions,and special functional groups strongly adsorbing Li PSs.Thus many novel array structured materials are applied to battery for tackling thorny problems mentioned above.In this review,recent progresses and developments on array structured materials applied in LSBs including preparation ways,collaborative structural designs based on array structures,and action mechanism analyses in improving electrochemical performance and safety are summarized.Meanwhile,we also have detailed discussion for array structured materials in LSBs and constructed the structure-function relationships between array structured materials and battery performances.Lastly,some directions and prospects about preparation ways,functional modifications,and practical applications of array structured materials in LSBs are generalized.We hope the review can attract more researchers'attention and bring more studying on array structured materials for other secondary batteries including LSB.

A New Technology to Measure the Thermoelectric Performance of Nanowire Array Structure

Recently, the study on one-dimensional thermoelectric materials is getting more and more attention. For those one-dimensional thermoelectric materials with nanowire array structure fabricated with alumina film as template, its thickness is often in the range of 10 to several tens micrometers, and the conventional measurement cannot be used. The key difficulties of the thermoelectric performance measurement for nanowire array materials include two aspects: 1) How to heat the two sides of the specimen uniformly and keep the temperature difference constantly at the same time; 2) How to measure the temperature of the two sides of the specimen with the thickness of 10 to several tens micrometers. A new type heating and temperature measuring technology has been used, and it can be simply described as liquid heating and separate temperature measurement. According to this principle, a thermoelectric performance measurement system has been established.

Structured mirror array for two-dimensional collimation of a chromium beam in atom lithography

Direct-write atom lithography,one of the potential nanofabrication techniques,is restricted by some difficulties in producing optical masks for the deposition of complex structures.In order to make further progress,a structured mirror array is developed to transversely collimate the chromium atomic beam in two dimensions.The best collimation is obtained when the laser red detunes by natural line-width of transition 7S3 → 7P40 of the chromium atom.The collimation ratio is 0.45 vertically（in x axis）,and it is 0.55 horizontally（in y axis）.The theoretical model is also simulated,and success of our structured mirror array is achieved.

Propagation of liquid surface waves over finite graphene structured arrays of cylinders

Based on the multiple scattering method,this paper investigates a benchmark problem of the propagation of liquid surface waves over finite graphene (or honeycomb) structured arrays of cylinders.Comparing the graphene structured array with the square structured and with triangle structured arrays,it finds that the finite graphene structure can produce more complete band gaps than the other finite structures,and the finite graphene structure has less localized ability than the other finite structures.

Enhancing electrolyte ion diffusion via direct ink writing pillar array structure of graphene electrodes for high-performance microsupercapacitors

The graphene-based microsupercapacitors(MSCs)suffer from graphene aggregation issue in electrodes.It reduces the electrolyte ions transportation in the electrodes to degrade the charge storage ability of MSCs,hampering their practical application.Increasing the electrolyte ions transportation in the electrodes can boost the charge storage ability of MSCs.Herein,we design and experimentally realize pillar array structure of graphene electrodes for MSCs by direct ink writing technology.The graphene electrodes with pillar array structure increase the contact area with electrolyte and short the electrolyte ions transport path,facilitating electrolyte ions transport in electrodes.The MSCs exhibit high areal capacitance of 25.67 mF·cm^(−2),high areal energy density of 20.54μWh·cm^(−2),and high power density of 1.45 mW·cm^(−2).One single MSCs can power timer for 10 min and pressure sensor more than 160 min,showing high practical application possibility.This work provides a new avenue for developing high performance MSCs.

3D Se-doped NiCoP nanoarrays on carbon cloth for efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution

The exploration of stable and highly efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)electrocatalysts is imperative for alkaline water splitting.Herein,Se-doped NiCoP with hierarchical nanoarray structures directly grown on carbon cloth(Se-NiCoP/CC)was prepared by hydrothermal reaction and phosphorization/selenization process.The experimental results reveal that Se doping could increase the electrochemical active sites and alter the electronic structure of NiCoP.The optimized Se-NiCoP/CC electrode exhibits outstanding HER activity in alkaline electrolyte,which only needs a low overpotential of 79 mV at the current density of 10 mA/cm^(2).When serving as anode and cathode electrode simultaneously,the Se-NiCoP/CC electrodes achieve current density of 50 mA/cm^(2) at a low voltage of only 1.62 V.This work provides a feasible way to rationally design high active HER electrocatalysts.

Analysis of the Comprehensive Physical Field for a New Flywheel Energy Storage Motor/Generator on Ships

A novel flywheel energy storage （FES） motor/generator （M/G） was proposed for marine systems. The purpose was to improve the power quality of a marine power system （MPS） and strengthen the energy recycle. Two structures including the magnetic or non-magnetic inner-rotor were contrasted in the magnetostatic field by using finite element analysis （FEA）. By optimally designing the size parameters, the average speed of FEA results of was 17 200 r/m, and the current was controlled between 62 and 68 A in the transient field. The electrical machine electromagnetism design was further optimized by the FEA in the temperature field, to find the local overheating point under the normal operation condition and provide guidance for the cooling system. Finally, it can be concluded from the comprehensive physical field analysis that the novel redundant structure M/G can improve the efficiency of the M/G and maintain the stability of the MPS.

Image reconstruction for brain CT slices

Different modalities in biomedical images, like CT, MRI and PET scanners, provide detailed cross-sectional views of human anatomy. This paper introduces three-dimensional brain reconstruction based on CT slices. It contains filtering, fuzzy segmentation, matching method of contours, cell array structure and image animation. Experimental results have shown its validity. The innovation is matching method of contours and fuzzy segmentation algorithm of CT slices.

High quality-performance by changing parameters of antenna array

Several antennas based on cylindrical array and uniform hexagonal array are designed and fabricated on flexible substrate-Teflon.To validate the designed prototypes,the antennas are fabricated and their performance is analyzed.The highlight scheme is to improve the signal performance and electromagnetic field distribution by appropriately changing the parameters of the antennas array,signal frequencies,and steering angles.The proposed antennas array is capable of applying shaping radiation band technique to generate tunable power and radiation domain.The distribution of the field,and the bit-error-rate transmigration coefficient characteristics are measured.The results show that the proposed scheme can achieve better performance by searching the optimal parameters of antenna array.

Effect of One/Two-dimensional Bonding Phases on Strength and Toughness of Carbon-containing Refractories

Gaseous phases of carbon-containing and metastable oxides will be resulted from the carbonization of phenolic resin binders and the reduced reactions between C and oxides at high temperatures in carbon-containing refractories. With the in-situ catalysis technique, these gaseous phases can be transformed to one-or two-dimensional bonding phases by deposition,which is favorable for the improvement on strength and toughness of carboncontaining refractories,especially low carbon refractories. The research results reveal that：（ 1） the amorphous carbon resulted from phenolic resin can be transformed to carbon nanotubes,thus,the oxidation peak temperature is raised from 506 to 664. 6 ℃;（ 2） onedimensional whiskers of MgO or Mg Al2 O4 can be in-situ formed in MgO-C refractories, and their CMOR,CCS,rupture displacement and residual CCS（ two water quenching cycles,1 100 ℃） are increased by 66%,47%,13% and 26%,respectively;（ 3） two-dimensional array structure of flake β-SiAlON can be in-situ formed in Al2 O3-C refractories,which improves the material strength by 60% and decreases the residual strength after thermal shock by only 4. 5 MPa. It is believed that the in-situ formation of one-or two-dimensional bonding phases at high temperatures can improvethe comprehensive thermal physical properties of carboncontaining refractories,and will be the developing trend of the strengthening and toughening of low carbon-containing refractories.

Ultrafast laser-chemical modification hybrid fabrication of hydrostatic bearings with a superhydrophobicity solid-liquid interface

Oil film vortex severely reduces the stability of hydrostatic bearings. A solid-liquid interface with drag and slip properties can weaken the oil film vortex of the bearing. Here, a combined picosecond laser ablation and chemical modification method is proposed to prepare surfaces with microbulge array structure on 6061 aluminum alloy substrates. Because of the low surface energy of the perfluorododecyltriethoxysilane modification and the bulge geometry of the microbulge array structure, the surface shows excellent superhydrophobicity. The optimum contact angle in air for water is 164°, and that for oil is 139°. Two surfaces with “lotus-leaf effect” and “rose-petal effect” were obtained by controlling the processing parameters. The drag reduction properties of superhydrophobic surfaces were systematically investigated with slip lengths of 22.26 and 36.25 μm for deionized water and VG5 lubricant, respectively. In addition, the superhydrophobic surface exhibits excellent mechanical durability and thermal stability. The proposed method provides a new idea for vortex suppression in hydrostatic bearings and improves the stability of bearings in high-speed operation.

High-performance sodium storage for cobalt phosphide composite array electrodes

Transition metal phosphides hold great potential as sodium-ion batteries anode materials owing to their high theoretical capacity and modest plateau.However,volume changes and low intrinsic conductivity seriously largely hinder the further development of metal phosphide anodes.The design of phosphide anode materials with reasonable structure is conducive to solving the problems of volume expansion and slow reaction kinetics during the reaction.In this work,a composite material integrating zeolite imidazolate backbone(ZIF) and carbon materials was synthesized by the original growth method.Furthermore,by the oxidation-phosphating process,CoP nanoarray composites riveted to carbon fiber(CoP@CF) were obtained.In the CoP@CF,CoP nanoparticles are uniformly distributed on ZIF-derived carbon,reducing agglomeration and volume change during cycling.CF also provides a highly conductive network for the active material,improving the electrode kinetics.Therefore,when evaluated as an anode for sodium-ion batteries,CoP@CF electrode displays enhanced reversible capacity(262 mAh·g^(-1) at 0.1 A·g^(-1)after 100 cycles),which is much better than that of pure CF electrode(57 mAh·g^(-1) at 0.1 A·g^(-1) after 100 cycles)prepared without the addition of CoP.The rate performance of CoP@CF electrode is also superior to that of pure CF electrode at various current densities from 0.05 to1 A·g^(-1).The sodium storage behavior of CoP@CF was revealed by ex-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,X-ray diffraction,and synchrotron radiation absorption spectroscopy.This method provides a reference for the design and synthesis of anode materials in sodium-ion batteries.

Triboelectric nanogenerator hybrid array driven by multiform natural energies and its applications in self-powered cathodic protection

In view of the increasing energy shortage and environmental pollution, the collection of friction charges to achieve the conversion of various natural energies and provide in-situ cathodic protection for metals is a significant challenge. Here, we designed a dual device-structure TENG composite array with the triboelectric layer of linear siloxane-modified polyurethane(PU) coating. This array could achieve a comprehensive collection for multiple forms of nature energy and cathodic protection of metals in multi-weather conditions. For one thing, the wave-mode TENG based on tanker structure could collect wave energy and showed the output performance with a short-circuit current of 15.5 μA. For another thing, the droplet-mode TENG based on arc-shaped surface structure could collect raindrop kinetic energy and showed the output performance with a short-circuit current of 16.3 μA. Notably, the parallel array of wave-mode TENG(W-TENG) and droplet-mode TENG(D-TENG) could simultaneously collect wave energy and raindrop kinetic energy, which showed a short-circuit current of 30.7 μA. Besides, a selfpowered a cathodic protection system powered by the dual structure TENG array is assembled and the open-circuit potential drop of the carbon steel connected with the TENG array is about 450 mV. Compared with cathodic protection system powered by single structure TENG, the composite array could provide more effective corrosion resistance for marine equipment in rainy weather. Due to the characteristic for comprehensive collection of nature energy, the anti-corrosion system supplied by TENG parallel array possesses great application potential in the all-weather corrosion protection of metal machinery under complex marine conditions.

Light field head-mounted display with correct focus cue using micro structure array

A new type of light fiehl display is proposed using a head-mounted display （HMD） and a micro structure array （MSA, lens array or pinhole array）. Each rendering point emits abundant rays from different directions into the viewer＇s pupil, and at one time the dense light field is generated inside the exit pupil of the HMD through the eyepiece. Therefore, the proposed method not only solves the problem of accommodation and convergence conflict in a traditional HMD, but also drastically reduces the huge data in real three-dimensional （3D） display. To demonstrate the proposed method, a prototype is developed, which is capable of giving the observer a real perception of depth.

Antenna Array Structures Effect on Water-Filling Capacity of Indoor NLOS MIMO Channel

A 2-D Shooting and Bouncing Ray-tracing method （ SBR ） is used to analyze the different antenna array structure effect on the water-filling Capacity Complementary Cure ulative Distribution Functions （ CCDFS） of indoor Non-Lineof-Sight （NLOS） Multiple-Input Multiple-Output （MIMO） channel. The results have shown that in NLOS indoor environment different antenna array structures affect on the CCDFS differently. The CCDFS of MIMO systems with antenna spacing 5λ change slightly with antenna array structures and all approach the in independent and identically distribution （ i. i.d. ） rayl,eigh channel water-filling capacity. When antenna spacing decreased to 0.53., the capacities of MIMO systerns drop also, and change with antenna array structures greatly. The results on outage water-filling capacity also show that there exist a fixed relationship that i. i.d. rayleigh channel capacity is larger than the capacity equipped with linear antenna array which is larger than the capacity equipped with rectangular antenna array and the capacity equipped with circular antenna array.

Wide angle space laser communication receiver based on asymmetric array structure

In this paper, an asymmetric array structure of space laser communication receiver is proposed. This structure can greatly reduce alignment requirement, and lighten the signal strength jitter caused by atmospheric turbulence. A prototype of the proposed structure is fabricated and a 2.5 Mbit/s on-off keying(OOK) modulated demonstration link over 40 m free space is built. This asymmetric array structure can effectively collect optical signal while rotating in a window angle of ±17°, and the bit error ratio(BER) keeps zero.

In situ growth of NiS_(2) nanosheet array on Ni foil as cathode to improve the performance of lithium/sodium-sulfur batteries

The NiS;nanosheet array on Ni foil(NiS2/NF)was prepared using an in situ growth strategy and sulfidation method and was used as the cathode of lithium sulfur battery.The unique nanostructure of the NiS;nanosheet array can provide abundant active sites for the adsorption and chemical action of polysulfides.Compared with the sulfur powder coated pure NF(pure NF-S)for lithium sulfur battery,the sulfur powder coated NiS_(2)/NF(NiS_(2)/NF-S)electrode exhibits superior electrochemical performance.Specifically,the NiS_(2)/NF-S delivered a high reversible capacity of 1007.5 m Ah g^(-1) at a current density of 0.1 C(1 C=1675 mA g^(-1))and kept 74.5% of the initial capacity at 1.0 C after 200 cycles,indicating the great promise of NiS_(2)/NF-S as the cathode of lithium sulfur battery.In addition,the NiS_(2)/NF-S electrode also showed satisfactory electrochemical performance when used as the cathode for sodium sulfur battery.

A 100 MS/s 9 bit 0.43 mW SAR ADC with custom capacitor array

A low power 9 bit 100 MS/s successive approximationregisteranalog-to-digitalconverter（SARADC） with custom capacitor array is presented. A brand-new 3-D MOM unit capacitor is used as the basic capacitor cell of this capacitor array. The unit capacitor has a capacitance of 1 fF. Besides, the advanced capacitor array structure and switch mode decrease the power consumption a lot. To verify the effectiveness of this low power design, the 9 bit 100 MS/s SAR ADC is implemented in TSMC IP9M 65 nm LP CMOS technology. The measurement results demonstrate that this design achieves an effective number of bits （ENOB） of 7.4 bit, a signal-to-noise plus distortion ratio （SNDR） of 46.40 dB and a spurious-flee dynamic range （SFDR） of 62.31 dB at 100 MS/s with 1 MHz input. The SAR ADC core occupies an area of 0.030 mm2 and consumes 0.43 mW under a supply voltage of 1.2 V. The figure of merit （FOM） of the SAR ADC achieves 23.75 fJ/conv.

High performance architecture for unified forward and inverse transform of HEVC

High efficiency video coding （HEVC） transform algorithm for residual coding uses 2-dimensional （2D） 4 × 4 transforms with higher precision than H.264＇s 4 ×4 transforms, resulting in increased hardware complexity. In this paper, we present a shared architecture that can compute the 4 ~4 forward discrete cosine transform （DCT） and inverse discrete cosine transform （IDCT） of HEVC using a new mapping scheme in the video processor array structure. The architecture is implemented with only adders and shills to an area-efficient design. The proposed architecture is synthesized using ISE 14.7 and implemented using the BEE4 platform with the Virtex-6 FF1759 LX550T field programmable gate array （FPGA）. The result shows that the video processor array structure achieves a maximum operation frequency of 165.2 MHz. The architecture and its implementation are presented in this paper to demonstrate its programmable and high performance.

Effects of concave and convex substrate curvature on cell mechanics and the cytoskeleton

In order to understand how cells respond to concave and convex subcellular surface structures,colloidal crystal array and honeycomb-structured surfaces composed of highly ordered hexagonal units with completely inverse curvature were fabricated via facile self-assembly and breath figure approaches,respectively.The influence of hexagonal surface curvature on cell fate was subsequently investigated.Cells underwent more extensive spreading on the convex colloidal crystal array surface,while adhesive forces were higher on the concave honeycomb surface.The behaviors of cells on the different surfaces were investigated by comparing cell morphology,cellular adhesive force and cytoskeleton structure.The results revealed comprehensive differences in cell behavior between those on concave honeycomb surfaces and convex colloidal crystal arrays.