Chemical stability of doped BaCeO_3-BaZrO_3 solid solutions in different atmospheres

BaCe0.45Zr0.45M0.1O3-δ （M=Y, In） and BaCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ were prepared through the conventional solid state reaction route. The chemical stability was investigated in hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and boiling water. Crystalline phase and microsa-ucture of the proton conductor before and after stability test were measured with X-ray diffraction （XRD） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, respectively. The results showed that all materials were quite stable in H2 atmosphere. In CO2 atmosphere, BaCe0.45Zr0.45M0.1O3-δ（M=Y, In） were relatively stable, while Bafe0.9Y0.1O3-δ decomposed. In boiling water, BaCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ was quickly decomposed into Ba（OH）2 and corresponding oxide. BaCe0.45Zr0.45M0.1O3-δ slightly reacted with boiling water and some amorphous phases were formed. However, BaCe0.45Zr0.45In0.1O3-δ was observed to exhibit better stability than BaCe0.45Zr0.45Y0.1O3-δ in water. The experimental results were interpreted in terms of thermodynamic data and tolerance factor.

An Experimental Study on Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharge in Different Gases

Usually, the electrical breakdown of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) at atmo-spheric pressure leads to a filamentary non-homogeneous discharge. However, it is also possible to obtain a diffuse DBD in homogeneous form, called atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APGD). We obtained a uniform APGD in helium and in the mixture of argon with alcohol, and studied the electrical characteristics of helium APGD. It is found that the relationship between discharge current and source frequency is different depending on the difference in gas gap when the applied voltage is kept constant. The discharge current shows an increasing trend with the increased frequency when gas gap is 0.8 cm, but the discharge current tends to decrease with the increased frequency when the gas gap increases. The discharge current always increases with the increased applied voltage when the source frequency is kept constant. We also observed a glow-like discharge in nitrogen at atmospheric pressure.

Development and evaluation of a regional ocean-atmosphere coupled model with focus on the western North Pacific summer monsoon simulation:Impacts of different atmospheric components

A regional ocean atmosphere coupled model (ROAM) is developed through coupler OASIS3,and is composed of regional climate model RegCM3 and CREM (Climate version of Regional Eta Model) as its atmospheric component and of a revised Princeton ocean model (POM2000) as its oceanic component.The performance of the ROAM over the western North Pacific summer monsoon region is assessed by the case simulation of warm season in 1998.Impacts of different atmospheric model components on the performance of ROAM are investigated.Compared with stand-alone simulation,CREM (RegCM3) produces more (or less) rainfall over ocean area with inclusion of the air-sea coupling.Different biases of rainfall are caused by the different biases of SST derived from the coupled simulation.Warm (or cold) SST bias simulated by CREM_CPL (RegCM3_CPL) increases (or decreases) the evaporation at sea surface,then increases (or decreases) the rainfall over ocean.The analyses suggest that the biases of vertical profile of temperature and specific humidity in stand-alone simulations may be responsible for the SST biases in regional coupled simulations.Compared with reanalysis data,the warmer (or colder) and moister (or dryer) lower troposphere simulated in CREM (RegCM3) produces less (or more) sea surface latent heat flux.Meanwhile,the more unstable (or stable) lower troposphere produces less (or more) cloudiness at low-level,which increases (or decreases) the solar radiation reaching on the sea surface.CREM (RegCM3) forced by observed SST overestimates (or underestimates) the sea surface net heat flux,implying a potential warm (or cold) heat source.After coupling with POM2000,the warm (or cold) heat source would further increase (or decrease) the SST.The biases of vertical profile of temperature and specific humidity may be ascribed to the different representation of cumulus convection in atmospheric models.

Improved geophysical excitations constrained by polar motion observations and GRACE/SLR time-dependent gravity

At seasonal and intraseasonal time scales, polar motions are mainly excited by angular momentum fluctuations due to mass redistributions and relative motions in the atmosphere, oceans, and continental water, snow, and ice, which are usually provided by various global atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrological models（some with meteorological observations assimilated; e.g., NCEP, ECCO, ECMWF, OMCT and LSDM etc.）. Unfortunately, these model outputs are far from perfect and have notable discrepancies with respect to polar motion observations, due to non-uniform distributions of meteorological observatories,as well as theoretical approximations and non-global mass conservation in these models. In this study,the LDC（Least Difference Combination） method is adopted to obtain some improved atmospheric,oceanic, and hydrological/crospheric angular momentum（AAM, OAM and HAM/CAM, respectively）functions and excitation functions（termed as the LDCgsm solutions）. Various GRACE（Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment） and SLR（Satellite Laser Ranging） geopotential data are adopted to correct the non-global mass conservation problem, while polar motion data are used as general constraints. The LDCgsm solutions can reveal not only periodic fluctuations but also secular trends in AAM, OAM and HAM/CAM, and are in better agreement with polar motion observations, reducing the unexplained excitation to the level of about 5.5 mas（standard derivation value; about 1/5-1/4 of those corresponding to the original model outputs）.

Defect engineering of BCZT-based piezoelectric ceramics with high piezoelectric properties

The intrinsic conduction mechanism and optimal sintering atmosphere of(Ba_(0.85)Ca_(0.15))(Zr_(0.1)Ti_(0.9))O_(3)(BCZT)ceramics were regulated by Mn-doping element in this work.By Hall and impedance analysis,the undoped BCZT ceramics exhibit a typical n-type conduction mechanism,and the electron concentration decreases with the increasing oxygen partial pressure.Therefore,the undoped ceramics exhibit best electrical properties(piezoelectrical constant<733=585 pC·N^(-1),electro-mechanical coupling factor k_(p)=56%)in O_(2).A handful of Mn-doping element would transfer the conduction mechanism from n-type into p-type.And the hole concentration reduces with the decreasing oxygen partial pressure for Mn-doped BCZT ceramics.Therefore,the Mn-doped ceramics sintered in N_(2)have the highest insulation resistance and best piezoelectric properties(d_(33)=505 pC·N^(-1),k_(p)=50%).The experimental results demonstrate that the Mn-doping element can effectively adjust the intrinsic conduction mechanism and then predict the optimal atmosphere.