Thin polymer electrolyte with MXene functional layer for uniform Li^(+) deposition in all-solid-state lithium battery

Solid polymer electrolyte(SPE) shows great potential for all-solid-state batteries because of the inherent safety and flexibility;however, the unfavourable Li+deposition and large thickness hamper its development and application. Herein, a laminar MXene functional layer-thin SPE layer-cathode integration(MXene-PEO-LFP) is designed and fabricated. The MXene functional layer formed by stacking rigid MXene nanosheets imparts higher compressive strength relative to PEO electrolyte layer. And the abundant negatively-charged groups on MXene functional layer effectively repel anions and attract cations to adjust the charge distribution behavior at electrolyte–anode interface. Furthermore,the functional layer with rich lithiophilic groups and outstanding electronic conductivity results in low Li nucleation overpotential and nucleation energy barrier. In consequence, the cell assembled with MXene-PEO-LFP, where the PEO electrolyte layer is only 12 μm, much thinner than most solid electrolytes, exhibits uniform, dendrite-free Li+deposition and excellent cycling stability. High capacity(142.8 mAh g-1), stable operation of 140 cycles(capacity decay per cycle, 0.065%), and low polarization potential(0.5 C) are obtained in this Li|MXene-PEO-LFP cell,which is superior to most PEO-based electrolytes under identical condition. This integrated design may provide a strategy for the large-scale application of thin polymer electrolytes in all-solid-state battery.

A novel dual-functional layer exhibiting exceptional protection and photocatalytic activity by organic functionalization of plasma electrolyzed layer

The formation of inorganic-organic hybrids(IOH)on the metallic substrates would play a decisive role in improving their structural and functional features.In this work,the growth of organic coating(OC)consisting of coumarin-3-carboxylic acid(3-CCA)and albumin(ALB)on the inorganic layer(IC),produced by plasma electrolysis of AZ31 Mg alloy,led to enabling organically synergistic reactions on the porous inorganic surface,forming a flake-like structure sealing the structural defects of IC.Synergistic actions between OC and IC endow the flake-like structures with chemical protection and photocatalytic performance.Upon contact with a corrosive solution,the IOH layer possesses stable morphologies that delay the corrosive degradation of the whole structure.The electrochemical stability of the sample produced by immersion IC in the organic solution for 10 h(IOH2 sample)was superior to the other samples as it had the lowest corrosion current density(1.69×10^(−10)A·cm^(−2))and the highest top layer resistance(1.2×10^(7)Ω·cm^(2)).Moreover,the IOH layer can photodegrade the organic pollutants in model wastewater,where the highest photocatalytic efficiency of 99.47%was found in the IOH2 sample.Furthermore,computational calculations were performed to assess the relative activity of different parts of the ALB and 3-CCA structures,which provide helpful information into the formation mechanism of the IOH materials.

Plasmonic sensor with self-reference capability based on functional layer film composed of Au/Si gratings

We propose a simple one-dimensional grating coupling system that can excite multiple surface plasmon resonances for refractive index(RI)sensing with self-reference characteristics in the near-infrared band.Using theoretical analysis and the finite-difference time-domain method,the plasmonic mechanism of the structure is discussed in detail.The results show that the excited resonances are independent of each other and have different fields of action.The mode involving extensive interaction with the analyte environment achieves a high sensitivity of 1236 nm/RIU,and the figure of merit(FOM)can reach 145 RIU-1.Importantly,the mode that is insensitive to the analyte environment exhibits good self-reference characteristics.Moreover,we discuss the case of exchanging the substrate material with the analyte environment.Promising simulation results show that this RI sensor can be widely deployed in unstable and complicated environments.

Functional layer engineering to improve performance of protonic ceramic fuel cells

Protonic ceramic fuel cells(PCFCs)have been attracting increasing attention because of their advances in high-efficiency power generation in an intermediate-temperature range,as compared to the high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells(SOFCs).The greatest difference between PCFCs and SOFCs is the specific requirement of protonic(H+)conductivity at the PCFC cathode,in addition to the electronic(e^(-))and oxide-ion(O^(2-))conductivity.The development of a triple H^(+)/e^(-)/O^(2-)conductor for PCFC cathode is still challenging.Thus,the most-widely used cathode material is based on the mature e^(-)/O^(2-)conductor.However,this leads to insufficient triple phase boundary(TPB),i.e.,reaction area.Herein,an efficient strategy that uses a~100 nm-thick proton conductive functional layer(La_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)CoO_(3-δ),LSC55)in-between the typical La_(0.8)Sr_(0.2)CoO_(3-δ)cathode(a mature e-/O^(2-)conductor,LS C 82)and B aZr_(0.4)Ce_(0.4)Y_(0.1)Yb_(0.)1O_(3-δ)elec trolyte(11 mm in diameter,20μm in thickness)is proposed to significantly enhance the reaction area.Reasonably,the ohmic resistance and polarization resistance are both decreased by 47%and 62%,respectively,compared with that of PCFCs without the functional layer.The power density of the PCFC with such a functional layer can be raised by up to 2.24 times,superior to those described in previous reports.The enhanced PCFC performances are attributed to the well-built TPB and enhanced reaction area via the functional layer engineering strategy.

Analytical solution of axisymmetric contact problem about indentation of a circular indenter into a soft functionally graded elastic layer

The paper addresses a contact problem of the theory of elasticity,i.e.,the penetration of a circular indenter with a flat base into a soft functionally graded elastic layer.The elastic properties of a functionally graded layer arbitrarily vary with depth,and the foundation is assumed to be elastic,yet much harder than a layer.Approximated analytical solution is constructed,and it is shown that the solutions are asymptotically exact both for large and small values of characteristic dimensionless geometrical parameter of the problem.Numerical examples are analyzed for the cases of monotonic and nonmonotonic variations of elastic properties.Numerical results for the case of homogeneous layer are compared with the results for nondeformable foundation.

Intercalation Assembly and Chemical Product Engineering of Layered Intercalated Functional Materials Based on Efficient Utilization of Magnesium Resources in Salt Lakes

1 Introduction Magnesium salts are very important by-product of salt lake industry in West China.Nearly 200 million cubic meters of waste brine are released to the environment

Structural impairment patterns in peripapillary retinal fiber layer and retinal ganglion cell layer in mitochondrial optic neuropathies

AIM：To evaluate the structural injure patterns in peripapillary retinal fiber layer （pRNFL）, retinal ganglion cell layer （RGCL） and their correlations to visual function in various mitochondrial optic neuropathies （MON） to offer help to their differential diagnosis.METHODS：Totally 32 MON patients （60 eyes） were recruited within 6mo after clinical onsets, including 20 Leber hereditary optic neuropathy （LHON） patients （37eyes）, 12 ethambutol-induced optic neuropathy （EON）patients （23 eyes）, and 41 age-gender matched healthy controls （HC, 82 eyes）. All subjects had pRNFL and RGCL examinations with optic coherence tomography （OCT） and visual function tests.RESULTS：In the early stages of MON, the temporal pRNFL thickness decreased （66.09±22.57μm）, but increased in other quadrants, compared to HC （76.95±14.81μm）. The other quadrants remaining stable for LHON and EON patients besides the second hour sector of pRNFL thickness reduced and the temporal pRNFL decreased （56.78±15.87μm） for EON. Total macular thickness in MON reduced remarkably（279.25±18.90μm; P=0.015）, which mainly occurring in the inner circle （3 mm diameter of circle） and the nasal temporal sectors in the outer circle （5.5 mm diameter of circle）, in contrast to those in HC. RGCL thickness reduced in each sector of the macula （61.90±8.73μm; P≤0.001）. It strongly showed the correlationship of best corrected visual acuity （R=0.50, P=0.0003） and visual field injury （R=0.54,P=0.0002） in MON patients.CONCLUSION：OCT is a potential tool for detecting structural alterations in the optic nerves of various MON. Different types of MON may have different damage patterns.

Swelling-induced finite bending of functionally graded pH-responsive hydrogels:a semi-analytical method

Recently, pH-sensitive hydrogels have been utilized in the diverse applications including sensors, switches, and actuators. In order to have continuous stress and deformation ?elds, a new semi-analytical approach is developed to predict the swelling induced?nite bending for a functionally graded(FG) layer composed of a pH-sensitive hydrogel,in which the cross-link density is continuously distributed along the thickness direction under the plane strain condition. Without considering the intermediary virtual reference,the initial state is mapped into the deformed con?guration in a circular shape by utilizing a total deformation gradient tensor stemming from the inhomogeneous swelling of an FG layer in response to the variation of the pH value of the solvent. To enlighten the capability of the presented analytical method, the ?nite element method(FEM) is used to verify the accuracy of the analytical results in some case studies. The perfect agreement con-?rms the accuracy of the presented method. Due to the applicability of FG pH-sensitive hydrogels, some design factors such as the semi-angle, the bending curvature, the aspect ratio, and the distributions of deformation and stress ?elds are studied. Furthermore, the tangential free-stress axes are illustrated in deformed con?guration.

Photonic spin Hall effect and terahertz gas sensor via InSb-supported long-range surface plasmon resonance

We propose a simple one-dimensional grating coupling system that can excite multiple surface plasmon resonances for refractive index(RI)sensing with self-reference characteristics in the near-infrared band.Using theoretical analysis and the finite-difference time-domain method,the plasmonic mechanism of the structure is discussed in detail.The results show that the excited resonances are independent of each other and have different fields of action.The mode involving extensive interaction with the analyte environment achieves a high sensitivity of 1236 nm/RIU,and the figure of merit(FOM)can reach 145 RIU-1.Importantly,the mode that is insensitive to the analyte environment exhibits good self-reference characteristics.Moreover,we discuss the case of exchanging the substrate material with the analyte environment.Promising simulation results show that this RI sensor can be widely deployed in unstable and complicated environments.

SINGULARLY PERTURBED SEMI-LINEAR BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEM WITH DISCONTINUOUS FUNCTION

A class of singularly perturbed semi-linear boundary value problems with discontinuous functions is examined in this article. Using the boundary layer function method, the asymptotic solution of such a problem is given and shown to be uniformly effective. The existence and uniqueness of the solution for the system is also proved. Numerical result is presented as an illustration to the theoretical result.

An Exploration on Adaptive Iterative Learning Control for a Class of Commensurate High-order Uncertain Nonlinear Fractional Order Systems

This paper explores the adaptive iterative learning control method in the control of fractional order systems for the first time. An adaptive iterative learning control(AILC) scheme is presented for a class of commensurate high-order uncertain nonlinear fractional order systems in the presence of disturbance.To facilitate the controller design, a sliding mode surface of tracking errors is designed by using sufficient conditions of linear fractional order systems. To relax the assumption of the identical initial condition in iterative learning control(ILC), a new boundary layer function is proposed by employing MittagLeffler function. The uncertainty in the system is compensated for by utilizing radial basis function neural network. Fractional order differential type updating laws and difference type learning law are designed to estimate unknown constant parameters and time-varying parameter, respectively. The hyperbolic tangent function and a convergent series sequence are used to design robust control term for neural network approximation error and bounded disturbance, simultaneously guaranteeing the learning convergence along iteration. The system output is proved to converge to a small neighborhood of the desired trajectory by constructing Lyapnov-like composite energy function(CEF)containing new integral type Lyapunov function, while keeping all the closed-loop signals bounded. Finally, a simulation example is presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Singularly perturbed first-order differential equations with integral boundary condition

In this paper, a kind of singularly perturbed first-order differential equations with integral boundary condition are considered. With the method of boundary layer function and the Banach fixed-point theorem, the uniformly valid asymptotic solution of the original problem is obtained.

Density functional theory study on the influence of cation ratio on the host layer structure of Zn/Al double hydroxides

A density functional theory （DFT） study has been carried out for [Zn-1AI（OH2）n＋6（OH）2n-2]^3＋ （n=3-6） and [Znn-1AI（OH2）2n-2（OH）2n-2]^3＋ （n = 7） clusters, which include the basic structural information of the brucite-like lattice structure of Zn/Al layered double hydroxides （LDHs） with Zn/AI molar ratio （R） in the range 2-6, in order to understand the effect of the Zn/Al ratio on the structure and stability of binary Zn/Al LDHs. Based on systematic calculations of the geometric parameters and formation energies of the cluster models, it was found that it is possible for Zn^2＋ and Al^3＋ cations to replace Mg^2＋ isomorphously in the brucite-like structure with different R values, resulting in differences in microstructure of the clusters and unit cell parameter a of the Zn/Al LDHs. Analysis of the geometry and bonding around the trivalent Al^3＋ or divalent Zn^2＋ cations reveals that Al^3＋ plays a more significant role than Zn^2＋ in determining the microstructure properties, formation and bonding stability of the corresponding ZnRAl clusters when R〈5, while the influence of Zn^2＋ becomes the dominant factor in the case of R〉 5. These findings are in good agreement with experiments. This work provides a detailed electronic-level understanding of how the composition of cations affects the microstructure and stability of Zn-containing binary LDH layers.

Organic functional materials based buffer layers for efficient perovskite solar cells

In this review, we highlight the recent development of organic π-functional materials as buffer layers in constructing efficient perovskite solar cells（PVSCs）. By following a brief introduction on the PVSC development, device architecture and material design features, we exemplified the exciting progresses made in field by exploiting organic π-functional materials based hole and electron transport layers（HTLs and ETLs） to enable high-performance PVSCs.

Axisymmetric loading on nanoscale multilayered media

Multilayered nanoscale structures are used in several applications.Because the effect of surface energy becomes nontrivial at such a small scale,a modified continuum theory is required to accurately predict their mechanical behaviors.A Gurtin–Murdoch continuum model of surface elasticity is implemented to establish a computational scheme for investigating an elastic multilayered system under axisymmetric loads with the incorporation of surface/interface energy.Each layer stiffness matrix is derived based on the general solutions of stresses and displacements obtained in the form of the Hankel integral transform.Numerical solutions to the global equation,which are formulated based on the continuity conditions of tractions and displacements across interfaces between layers,yield the displacements at each layer interface and on the top surface of the multilayered medium.The numerical solutions indicate that the elastic responses of multilayered structures are affected significantly by the surface material properties of both the top surface and interfaces,and that they become size dependent.In addition,the indentation problem of a multilayered nanoscale elastic medium under a rigid frictionless cylindrical punch is investigated to demonstrate the application of the proposed solution scheme.

Adhesion Improvement of Zirconium Coating on Polyurethane Modified by Plasmas

In order to improve the adhesion of the middle frequency magnetic sputtered zirconium coating on a polyurethane film,an anode layer source was used to pretreat the polyurethane film with nitrogen and oxygen ions.SEMs and AFM roughness profiles of treated samples and the contrast groups were obtained.Besides,XPS survey spectrums and high resolution spectrums were also investigated.The adhesion test revealed that ion bombardment could improve the adhesion to the polyurethane coating substrate.A better etching result of oxygen ions versus nitrogen predicts a higher bonding strength of zirconium coating on polyurethane and,indeed,the highest bonding strengths are for oxygen ion bombardment upto 13.3 MPa.As demonstrated in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,the oxygen ion also helps to introduce more active groups,and,therefore,it achieves a high value of adhesion strength.

Fabrication of Zn-Ti layered double hydroxide by varying cationic ratio of Ti^(4+) and its application as UV absorbent

ZnTi-layered double hydroxides（LDHs） with varying Zn/Ti ratio have been synthesized by coprecipitation of zinc and titanium salts from homogeneous solution.The obtained ZnTi-LDHs possess high crystallinity and hierarchical structure with improved UV-absorbance property.The UV-vis spectra show that the UV absorbing properties of ZnTi-LDHs is stronger and broader than both MgAl-LDH and ZnAl-LDH due to the existence of Ti.Moreover,the UV absorption property increased with the content of Ti,which can be ascribed to the decrease in the band gap energy,as clearly confirmed by density functional theory calculations.When irradiated by UV rays,the property of the samples with generated free radicals（OH^·and O2^·） was evaluated by means of electron spin resonance（EPR）.ZnTi-LDHs generated a relatively lower active radicals in contrast with TiO2 and ZnO,which implied an increased safety used as sunscreens.Therefore,this work provides a detailed understanding of UV shielding properties of ZnTiLDHs which was unrevealed previously,and demonstrates the expansive application prospects of ZnTiLDHs in the field of sunscreens.

Fuzzy adaptive tracking control within the full envelope for an unmanned aerial vehicle

Motivated by the autopilot of an unmanned aerial vehicle（UAV） with a wide flight envelope span experiencing large parametric variations in the presence of uncertainties, a fuzzy adaptive tracking controller（FATC） is proposed. The controller consists of a fuzzy baseline controller and an adaptive increment, and the main highlight is that the fuzzy baseline controller and adaptation laws are both based on the fuzzy multiple Lyapunov function approach, which helps to reduce the conservatism for the large envelope and guarantees satisfactory tracking performances with strong robustness simultaneously within the whole envelope. The constraint condition of the fuzzy baseline controller is provided in the form of linear matrix inequality（LMI）, and it specifies the satisfactory tracking performances in the absence of uncertainties. The adaptive increment ensures the uniformly ultimately bounded（UUB） predication errors to recover satisfactory responses in the presence of uncertainties. Simulation results show that the proposed controller helps to achieve high-accuracy tracking of airspeed and altitude desirable commands with strong robustness to uncertainties throughout the entire flight envelope.