“Blocking and rebalance”mechanism-guided design strategies of bimetallic doped 2D a-phosphorus carbide as efficient catalysts for N_(2) electroreduction

Compared to single atom catalysts(SACs),the introduction of dual atom catalysts(DACs)has a significantly positive effect on improving the efficiency in the electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR)which provides an environmental alternative to the Haber-Bosch process.However,the research on the mechanism and strategy of designing bimetallic combinations for better performance is still in its early stages.Herein,based on"blocking and rebalance"mechanism,45 combinations of bimetallic pair dopedα-phosphorus carbide(TM_(A)TM_(B)@PC)are investigated as efficient NRR catalysts through density functional theory and machine learning method.After a multi-step screening,the combinations of TiV,TiFe,MnMo,and FeW exhibit highly efficient catalytic performance with significantly lower limiting potentials(-0.17,-0.18,-0.14,and-0.30 V,respectively).Excitingly,the limiting potential for CrMo and CrW combinations is 0 V,which are considered to be extremely suitable for the NRR process.The mechanism of"blocking and rebalance"is revealed by the exploration of charge transfer for phosphorus atoms in electron blocking areas.Moreover,the descriptorφis proposed with machine learning,which provides design strategies and accurate prediction for finding efficient DACs.This work not only offers promising catalysts TM_(A)TM_(B)@PC for NRR process but also provides design strategies by presenting the descriptorφ.

Effect of Rigid Pitch Motion on Flexible Vibration Characteristics of a Wind Turbine Blade

Adynamic pitch strategy is usually adopted to improve the aerodynamic performance of the blade of awind turbine.The dynamic pitch motion will affect the linear vibration characteristics of the blade.However,these influences have not been studied in previous research.In this paper,the influences of the rigid pitch motion on the linear vibration characteristics of a wind turbine blade are studied.The blade is described as a rotating cantilever beam with an inherent coupled rigid-flexible vibration,where the rigid pitch motion introduces a parametrically excited vibration to the beam.Partial differential equations governing the nonlinear coupled pitch-bend vibration are proposed using the generalized Hamiltonian principle.Natural vibration characteristics of the inherent coupled rigid-flexible system are analyzed based on the combination of the assumed modes method and the multi-scales method.Effects of static pitch angle,rotating speed,and characteristics of harmonic pitch motion on flexible natural frequencies andmode shapes are discussed.It shows that the pitch amplitude has a dramatic influence on the natural frequencies of the blade,while the effects of pitch frequency and pith phase on natural frequencies are little.

Quantization of Action for Elementary Particles and the Principle of Least Action

The uncertainty principle is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics, but its exact mathematical expression cannot obtain correct results when used to solve theoretical problems such as the energy levels of hydrogen atoms, one-dimensional deep potential wells, one-dimensional harmonic oscillators, and double-slit experiments. Even after approximate treatment, the results obtained are not completely consistent with those obtained by solving Schrödinger’s equation. This indicates that further research on the uncertainty principle is necessary. Therefore, using the de Broglie matter wave hypothesis, we quantize the action of an elementary particle in natural coordinates and obtain the quantization condition and a new deterministic relation. Using this quantization condition, we obtain the energy level formulas of an elementary particle in different conditions in a classical way that is completely consistent with the results obtained by solving Schrödinger’s equation. A new physical interpretation is given for the particle eigenfunction independence of probability for an elementary particle: an elementary particle is in a particle state at the space-time point where the action is quantized, and in a wave state in the rest of the space-time region. The space-time points of particle nature and the wave regions of particle motion constitute the continuous trajectory of particle motion. When an elementary particle is in a particle state, it is localized, whereas in the wave state region, it is nonlocalized.

Inherent Criteria of Brand Name Translation

This thesis takes the Skopostheorie as the guiding principle,analyzes and explains some important yet tend-to-be neglected standards,that is,the inherent characteristics unique to each product or service category.By means of analyzing cases,either successful or undesirable,it suggests the brand name translation had better imply their underlying features.Such principles may result in amazing translations.

Recent developments in the use of single-atom catalysts for water splitting

Electrochemical water splitting is regarded as the most promising approach to produce hydrogen.However,the sluggish electrochemical reactions occurring at the anode and cathode,namely,the oxygen evolution reaction(OER)and the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER),respectively,consume a tremendous amount of energy,seriously hampering its wide application.Recently,single-atom catalysts(SACs)have been proposed to effectively enhance the kinetics of these two reactions.In this minireview,we focus on the recent progress in SACs for OER and HER applications.Three classes of SACs have been reviewed,i.e.,alloy-based SACs,carbon-based SACs and SACs supported on other compounds.Different factors affecting the activities of SACs are also highlighted,including the inherent element property,the coordination environment,the geometric structure and the loading amount of metal atoms.Finally,we summarize the current problems and directions for future development in SACs.

Size effect of fracture characteristics for anisotropic quasi-brittle geomaterials

Understanding the size effect exhibited by the fracture mechanism of anisotropic geomaterials is important for engineering practice. In this study, the anisotropic features of the nominal strength, apparent fracture toughness, effective fracture energy and fracture process zone(FPZ) size of geomaterials were first analyzed by systematic size effect fracture experiments. The results showed that the nominal strength and the apparent fracture toughness decreased with increasing bedding plane inclination angle.The larger the specimen size was, the smaller the nominal strength and the larger the apparent fracture toughness was. When the bedding inclination angle increased from 0° to 90°, the effective fracture energy and the effective FPZ size both first decreased and then increased within two complex variation stages that were bounded by the 45° bedding angle. Regardless of the inherent anisotropy of geomaterials,the nominal strength and apparent fracture toughness can be predicted by the energy-based size effect law, which demonstrates that geomaterials have obvious quasi-brittle characteristics. Theoretical analysis indicated that the true fracture toughness and energy dissipation can be calculated by linear elastic fracture mechanics only when the brittleness number is higher than 10;otherwise, size effect tests should be adopted to determine the fracture parameters.

The black water around the Changjiang (Yangtze) Estuary in the spring of 2003

The Changjiang （Yangtze） Estuary is located in the East China Sea shelf with shallow water. Affected by the tide mixing and the runoff of the Changjiang River and the Qiantang River the turbidity is very high. Generally, the water-leaving radiance is high in the turbid water because of the large particle scattering. Based on the in-situ data and ocean color remote sensing data of SeaWiFS, it was found that there was a black water region with the normalized water-leaving radiances less than 0.5 mW/（cm2-μm2-sr）. The optical principle of the occurrence of this black water was analyzed by the inherent optical properties and the ocean color components. The results show that black water is caused by the relative low values of the suspended particle matter concentration and the back scattering ratio. In the black water region, the percentage of the phytoplankton absorption was relatively high, and the large size of the phytoplankton caused the low value of the particle backscattering ratio.

Comparative study on evaluation of tendon force for welding distortion prediction in thin plate fabrication

Tendon force is an essential concept to predict welding distortion such as longitudinal shrinkage and welding induced buckling in thin plate fabrication. In this study,three approaches with experimental,theoretical and computational analysis,are examined to evaluate the magnitude of tendon force. In detail,inherent deformation theory is introduced first,the theoretical analysis to obtain the inherent strain solution is also reviewed; and then analytical solution for tendon force is achieved. Also,the theory of FE analysis for welding is introduced and implemented in a computation to obtain the transient temperature distribution,plastic strain,residual stress and welding distortion in a bead-on-plate welded joint with 2. 28 mm in thickness. The longitudinal displacement is employed to evaluate tendon force directly,and these computed inherent strain and inherent stress can also be employed to evaluate tendon force by integration approach later. All the evaluated magnitudes of tendon force have a good agreement with each other.

Retrieval of inherent optical properties of the Yellow Sea and East China Sea using a quasi-analytical algorithm

We tested and modified the quasi-analytical algorithm （QAA） using 57 groups of field data collected in the spring of 2003 in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. The QAA performs well in deriving total absorption coefficients of typical coastal waters. The average percentage difference （APD） is in a range of 13.9%-38.5% for the total absorption coefficient （13.9% at 440 nm）, and differences in particle backscattering coefficient bbp（2） are less than 50% （in the case of the updated QAA）. To obtain improved results, we modified the QAA by adjusting the empirical relationships. The modified algorithm is then applied to the field data to test its performance. The APDs were 44.7%-46.6% for bbp（λ） and 9.9%-32.8% （9.9% at 555 nm） for the total absorption coefficient. This indicates that the modified QAA derives better results. We also used the modified model to derive phytoplankton pigment absorption （aph） and detritus and CDOM absorption （aug） coefficients. The APDs for aph and a dg at 440 nm are 37.1% and 19.8%. In this paper, we discuss error sources using the measured dataset. More independent field data can improve this algorithm and derive better results.

Development of index system for inherently safer process design using an integrated approach

With a growing population, an increasing number of petrochemical facilities are built with larger capacity and more complexity, which pose a great risk to assets, community and environment. The value of inherently safer design is recognized with time by all stakeholders, and an effective tool is needed to evaluate and compare inherent safety of alternative technologies. This study developed a safety index to evaluate existing technologies for their safety levels and guide inherently safer design. The Integrated Risk-based Safety Index(IRSI) was developed based on a comprehensive review of petrochemical processes, incident cases from Sinopec and US Chemical Safety Board, and existing safety index systems. The IRSI included all major hazards, including fire, explosion,toxic release, dust explosion, physical explosion, and runaway. Also, the integrated life cycle approach considered chemical hazards, equipment failure rates and safety measures in this risk-based index. Advanced modeling techniques, PHAST simulation and Neural Network, were used in the development of three novel sub-indices in the projects, fire, explosion and toxic release. The index system could be easily incorporated into a user friendly tool for the ease of application. A case study of hydrogen dioxide was conducted using the IRSI, which showed its capability for evaluating the safety level of process facilities.

PREDICTION OF WELDING DEFORMATIONS BY FEM BASED ON INHERENT STRAINS

Welding deformations can be predicted by inherent strains that are assumed to be distributed in the welds and nearby area. This method is more convenient compared with the thermo elasto plastic finite element method because only elastic analysis is necessary. The problem is how to know the inherent strains in advance during deformation analysis. The relations between inherent strains and welding parameters based on some experimental curves and a 3 D FEM model were introduced. According to this study, the longitudinal and transverse inherent strains that are the most important factors on welding deformations can be determined. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is demonstrated through the deformation analysis of a large welded cylinder with multipass welds as an example.

A Signed Digraphs Based Method for Detecting Inherently Unsafe Factors of Chemical Process at Conceptual Design Stage

Digraph-based causal models have been widely used to model the cause and effect behavior of process systems. Signed digraphs （SDG） capture the direction of the effect. It should be mentioned that there are loops in SDG generated from chemical process. From the point of the inherent operability, the worst unsafe factor is the SDG having positive loops that means any disturbance occurring within the loop will propagate through the nodes one by one and are amplified gradually, so the system may lose control, which may lead to an accident. So finding the positive loops in a SDG and treating these unsafe factors in a proper manner can improve the inherent safety of a chemical process. This article proposed a method that can detect the above-mentioned unsafe factors in the proc- ess conceptual design stage automatically through the analysis of the SDG generated from the chemical process. A case study is illustrated to show the working of the algorithm, and then a complicated case from industry is studied to depict the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Assessment of grid inherent vulnerability considering open circuit fault under potential energy framework

A potential energy framework for assessment of grid vulnerability was presented.In the framework,the branch potential energy function model was constructed.Two indexes,current vulnerability and forecasting vulnerability,were calculated.The current vulnerability was used to identify the current vulnerable area through calculating the distance between the current transmitted power and initial transmitted power;and the forecast vulnerability under variation of power injection was used to predict the vulnerable area of next step and verify the current vulnerable area.Numerical simulation was performed under variant operating conditions with IEEE-30 bus system,which shows that almost area of 90% overlaps between current vulnerable area and forecasting vulnerable area,the overlapped area is termed as inherent vulnerable area of grid.When considering N-1 contingency,the assessment results of this method proposed agree with those of optimal power flow.When considering N-2 contingency,optimal power flow fails to obtain correct results,while the method based on energy framework gives reliable results.

Strength-Toughening Model of Eutectic Ceramic Composite with Inherent Defects

Strengthening and toughening mechanisms in composite ceramics is complex. A change in a single parameter induces multiple property variations. The multiple changes in properties are often incompletely represented in theoretical models. This incompleteness in the parameter chosen fails to explain the mechanism of failure in composite ceramics. The exponential toughness function is used to represent the pull-out toughening mechanism, which dominates the crack growth resistance curve（R-curve）. The strengthening-toughening model is established based on the Mori-Tanaka method（M-T method）. The influence of inherent defects on toughness function and strength is analyzed by using this model. The theoretical result is compared with the experiment data. This model exactly reflects the change in strength. The theoretical result indicates that defects change the toughness function. Moreover, micro-cracks increase toughness size ac, and the strength of crack instable extensions acutely decreases as defect content increases. This presented model establishes the relationship among the important mechanical parameters of defect, strength, elastic modulus, and the R-curve.

Recent advances in the electrochemistry of layered post-transition metal chalcogenide nanomaterials for hydrogen evolution reaction

Layered two-dimensional(2 D)materials have received tremendous attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties when downsized to single or few layers.Several types of layered materials,especially transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs)have been demonstrated to be good electrode materials due to their interesting physical and chemical properties.Apart from TMDs,post-transition metal chalcogenides(PTMCs)recently have emerged as a family of important semiconducting materials for electrochemical studies.PTMCs are layered materials which are composed of post-transition metals raging from main group IIIA to group VA(Ga,In,Ge,Sn,Sb and Bi)and group VI chalcogen atoms(S,selenium(Se)and tellurium(Te)).Although a large number of literatures have reviewed the electrochemical and electrocatalytic applications of TMDs,less attention has been focused on PTMCs.In this review,we focus our attention on PTMCs with the aim to provide a summary to describe their fundamental electrochemical properties and electrocatalytic activity towards hydrogen evolution reaction(HER).The characteristic chemical compositions and crystal structures of PTMCs are firstly discussed,which are different from TMDs.Then,inherent electrochemistry of PTMCs is discussed to unveil the well-defined redox behaviors of PTMCs,which could potentially affect their efficiency when applied as electrode materials.Following,we focus our attention on electrocatalytic activity of PTMCs towards HER including novel synthetic strategies developed for the optimization of their HER activity.This review ends with the perspectives for the future research direction in the field of PTMC based electrocatalysts.

Fracture strength of centre surface cracked tensile specimens made of 2219-T87 Al alloy welding

Fracture data of both parent metal and weldment metals from surface cracked tensile plates made of 2219-T87 Al alloy at cryogenic temperatures were correlated using a modified inherent flaw model. Fracture parameters to generate the failure assessment diagram were determined for the material. Fracture analysis was carried out considering the ultimate tensile strength value and the fracture data of aluminium base metal and weldment metal generated from center–surface cracked tensile specimens having different thicknesses. The failure assessment diagram of a material generated from tensile fracture plate configuration can be applied to failure pressure estimation of any cracked component, made of the same material.

Assessment of the contribution percentage of inherent soil productivity of cultivated land in China

The contribution percentage of inherent soil productivity(CPISP)refers to the ratio of crop yields under no-fertilization versus under conventional fertilization with the same field management.CPISP is a comprehensive measure of soil fertility.This study used 1086 on-farm trials(from 1984-2013)and 27 long-term field experiments(from 1979-2013)to quantify changes in CPISP.Here,we present CPISP3 values,which reflect the CPISP states during the first three years after site establishment,for a series of sites at different locations in China collected in 1984-1990(the 1980s),1996-2000(the 1990s),and 2004-2013(the 2000s).The results showed that the average CPISP3 value for three crops(wheat,rice,and maize)was 53.8%.Historically,the CPISP3 in the 1990s(57.5%)was much higher than those in the 1980s(50.3%),and the 2000s(52.0%)(P≤0.05).Long-term no-fertilization caused CPISP levels to gradually decline and then stabilize;for example,in a mono-cropping system with irrigation,the CPISP values in Northwest and Northeast China declined by 4.5 and 4.0%,respectively,each year for the first ten years,but subsequently,the CPISP values stabilized.In contrast,the CPISP for upland crops in double-cropping systems continued to decrease at a rate of 1.1%per year.The CPISP for upland-paddy cropping decreased very slowly(0.07%per year),whereas the CPISP for paddy cropping decreased sharply(3.1%per year,on average)for the first two years and then remained steady during the following years.Therefore,upland crops in double-cropping systems consume the most inherent soil productivity,whereas paddy fields are favourable for maintaining a high level of CPISP.Overall,our results demonstrate a need to further improve China’s CPISP3 values to meet growing productivity demands.

The inherent high vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons toward mitochondrial toxins may contribute to the etiology of Parkinson＇s disease

Although the exact mechanism（s）of the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease（PD）is not well understood,mitochondrial dysfunction is proposed to play a central role.This proposal is strongly strengthened by the findings that compromised mitochondrial functions and/or exposure to mitochondrial toxins such as rotenone,paraquat,or MPTP causes degeneration of the midbrain dopaminergic.

Study on inherent neutron sources in MSR

The molten salt reactor(MSR) has received much recent attention. The presence of beryllium and the mixing of actinides with light nuclei in the fuel salt result in a relatively strong neutron source that can affect the surveillance at subcritical and transient characteristics during operation. In this study, we predict the inherent neutron sources based on a MSR model. The calculation shows that in the fresh core, the inherent neutron sources are mainly from alpha-induced neutrons. After power operation, the inherent neutron sources become remarkably stronger due to photoneutrons. Although being an insignificant part in the total neutron population during operation, the inherent neutron sources can be used as the installed neutron source after shutdown. If the MSR has continuously operated at full power(2 MWt) for 10 days,then there would be no need for the installed source within80 days after shutdown. After operating constantly for500 days, the installed neutron source can be eliminated within 2 years after shutdown.

Electroless deposition of Ni on template of halloysite and its magnetic property

Halloysite template, a ceramic substrate, is of a hollow cylindric structure, on which the fine Pd nanoparticles are uniformly formed by the reduction of palldate chloride to initiate electroless deposition. The electroless deposition of Ni is catalyzed by the Pd particles, which results in a uniform layer of Ni-P alloy on halloysite. The alloy is of a nanocrystalline structure, of which the average diameter is about 6 nm. After being heat-treated at 400 ℃, it contains both Ni and Ni12P5 crystal, meanwhile, the Ni crystal gets larger with an average size of 51.9 nm.The content of phosphorous in the Ni layer has a great influence on crystal structure. The metallized halloysite has a higher inherent coercive force, and a much lower saturation magnetization in its as-plated state, while after heattreatment, the inherent coercive force decreases drastically. These magnetic properties have great relationship with the superparamagnetism of Ni nanocrystalline and the stress anisotropy in Ni layer.