Mutual Self‑Regulation of d‑Electrons of Single Atoms and Adjacent Nanoparticles for Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysis and Rechargeable Zinc‑Air Batteries

Rechargeable zinc-air batteries(ZABs)are a promising energy conversion device,which rely critically on electrocatalysts to accelerate their rate-determining reactions such as oxygen reduction(ORR)and oxygen evolution reactions(OER).Herein,we fabricate a range of bifunctional M-N-C(metal-nitrogen-carbon)catalysts containing M-Nx coordination sites and M/MxC nanoparticles(M=Co,Fe,and Cu)using a new class ofγ-cyclodextrin(CD)based metal-organic framework as the precursor.With the two types of active sites interacting with each other in the catalysts,the obtained Fe@C-FeNC and Co@C-CoNC display superior alkaline ORR activity in terms of low half-wave(E1/2)potential(~0.917 and 0.906 V,respectively),which are higher than Cu@C-CuNC(~0.829 V)and the commercial Pt/C(~0.861 V).As a bifunctional electrocatalyst,the Co@C-CoNC exhibits the best performance,showing a bifunctional ORR/OER overpotential(ΔE)of~0.732 V,which is much lower than that of Fe@C-FeNC(~0.831 V)and Cu@C-CuNC(~1.411 V),as well as most of the robust bifunctional electrocatalysts reported to date.Synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory simulations reveal that the strong electronic correlation between metallic Co nanoparticles and the atomic Co-N4 sites in the Co@C-CoNC catalyst can increase the d-electron density near the Fermi level and thus effectively optimize the adsorption/desorption of intermediates in ORR/OER,resulting in an enhanced bifunctional electrocatalytic performance.The Co@C-CoNC-based rechargeable ZAB exhibited a maximum power density of 162.80 mW cm^(−2) at 270.30 mA cm^(−2),higher than the combination of commercial Pt/C+RuO2(~158.90 mW cm^(−2) at 265.80 mA cm^(−2))catalysts.During the galvanostatic discharge at 10 mA cm^(−2),the ZAB delivered an almost stable discharge voltage of 1.2 V for~140 h,signifying the virtue of excellent bifunctional ORR/OER electrocatalytic activity.

A Review of Structural Health Monitoring Techniques as Applied to Composite Structures

Structural Health Monitoring(SHM)is the process of collecting,interpreting and analysing data from structures in order to determine its health status and the remaining life span.Composite materials have been extensively use in recent years in several industries with the aim at reducing the total weight of structures while improving their mechanical properties.However,composite materials are prone to develop damage when subjected to low to medium impacts(i.e.1-10 m/s and 11-30 m/s respectively).Hence,the need to use SHM techniques to detect damage at the incipient initiation in composite materials is of high importance.Despite the availability of several SHM methods for the damage identification in composite structures,no single technique has proven suitable for all circumstances.It must be noted that the amount of techniques available nowadays is too extensive to be comprehensively reviewed in a single paper.Therefore,the focus will be on techniques that can serve as a starting point for studies focusing on damage detection,localisation,assessment and prognosis on certain kinds of structures.Thus,the line of thought behind the search and the structure of this review is a result of objectives beyond the scope of the paper itself.Nevertheless,it was considered that,once the above was understood,an updated synopsis such as this could also be useful for other researchers in the same field.

Development of a Time-Efficient Approach to Measure the Acoustic Impedance of Industrial Insulating Materials

This study presents a development on a time efficient approach to measure the Acoustic Impedance of Industrial Insulating materials using an impedance tube with single moveable microphone and a white noise generator. The standing wave method is used to measure the acoustic properties (absorption coefficient and acoustic impedance) of sound absorbing materials. In order to use a burst of white noise instead of individual stationary sine waves, a signal processing technique was developed. The algorithm is based on the equation of simple harmonic motion, but uses distance as a variable, instead of time. This innovative method allows measuring at frequency resolutions as low as 5 Hz in a reasonably short amount of time. This is an advantage, as the classical standing wave method uses frequency resolutions of one-third of octaves for measurements, as otherwise time would be prohibitive. Experimental results are validated with those measured with the sine wave generator using one-third of octave frequencies by comparing their behaviours.

A comparison between reported and ideal patient-to-therapist ratios for stroke rehabilitation

Objective: Major improvement has been made in the medical management of stroke in the UK between 2008 and 2010 based on the indicators measured in the National Sentinel Audit. However based on the same audit, no corresponding improvement has been effected to patient functional impairment levels on hospital discharge in the corresponding time frame. This study derived patient-to-therapist ratios as a means of exploring the amount of rehabilitation time for stroke patients while in hospital care. Method: A purpose specific survey was developed for completion by stroke teams. From a contact list compiled primarily in collaboration with the 28 National Stroke Improvement Networks, the Nth name technique was used to target stroke teams in each geographical area covered by the 28 networks. Results: A total of 53 surveys were returned representing 20 of the 28 network areas providing 71% national coverage. Analysis conducted on 19 of the 37 inpatient hospital care units that were discrete units, had no missing data for staff numbers, unit bed numbers, number of stroke patients treated per annum, average unit length-of-stay, and unit occupancy rates. Staffing levels for some therapies were below the Department of Health staffing assumptions suggesting that stroke units are challenged to provide the recommended therapy time. Conclusions: Most stroke units surveyed are operating below the DH staffing assumption levels and are therefore challenged in providing the amount of therapy and patient time recommended in the National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidelines to facilitate optimal functional recovery for stroke patients.

In-service performance of emergency shutdown valves and dependent operational relationships in the offshore oil and gas industry

Industrial process plants use emergency shutdown valves(ESDVs)as safety barriers to protect against hazardous events,bringing the plant to a safe state when potential danger is detected.These ESDVs are used extensively in offshore oil and gas processing plants and have been mandated in the design of such systems from national and international standards and legislation.This paper has used actual ESDV operating data from four mid/late life oil and gas production platforms in the North Sea to research operational relationships that are of interest to those responsible for the technical management and operation of ESDVs.The first of the two relationships is between the closure time(CT)of the ESDV and the time it remains in the open position,prior to the close command.It has been hypothesised that the CT of the ESDV is affected by the length of time that it has been open prior to being closed(Time since the last stroke).In addition to the general analysis of the data series,two sub-categories were created to further investigate this possible relationship for CT and these are“above mean”and“below mean”.The correlations(Pearson's based)resulting from this analysis are in the“weak”and“very weak”categories.The second relationship investigated was the effect of very frequent closures to assess if this improves the CT.ESDV operational records for six subjects were analysed to find closures that occurred within a 24 h period of each other.However,no discriminating trend was apparent where CT was impacted positively or negatively by the frequent closure group.It was concluded that the variance of ESDV closure time cannot be influenced by the technical management of the ESDV in terms of scheduling the operation of the ESDV.

Pseudobrookite based heterostructures for efficient electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Synthesis of ultrathin heterostructures has received much attention in the recent past due to their unique physical and chemical properties.In this work,we report the synthesis of Fe_(2)TiO_(5)–TiO_(2)heterostructures using a simple hydrothermal technique employing natural ilmenite as the source.Hierarchically arranged nanostructures with interconnected nano-petals of thickness around 50 nm are obtained.The electrocatalytic properties of the synthesized Fe_(2)TiO_(5)–TiO_(2)heterostructures are enhanced following the cathodization technique.The observed enhancement in the synthesized materials’electrocatalytic property can be attributed to the defect-rich Fe_(2-x)TiO_(5-x)-TiO_(2-x)heterostructures.The current approach and technique discussed in this work offer a simple method to synthesize a nanostructured heterostructure material and create defects for enhancing electrocatalytic activity.

Tribological performance of tributylmethylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide as neat lubricant and as an additive in a polar oil

The ionic liquid(IL) tributylmethylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide([N4441][NTf2]) was used as neat lubricant and as an additive(1.5 wt%) in a polar oil to study its friction and wear reducing properties.Tribological tests were completed for 90 minutes at room temperature and 100 °C in a reciprocating configuration at loads of 30 and 70 N,10 Hz-frequency,and 4 mm stroke length.Wear volume was measured by confocal microscopy and the surface-IL interaction determined by XPS.The main findings were that neat IL showed the best tribological behavior;the IL-containing mixture behaved similar to the base oil regarding friction,however outperformed the antiwear behavior of the base oil under higher temperature;surface-IL chemical interaction was found mainly at 100 °C.

Characteristics of motorized spindle supported by active magnetic bearings

A motorized spindle supported by active magnetic bearings（AMBs） is generally used for ultra-high-speed machining. Iron loss of radial AMB is very great owing to high rotation speed, and it will cause severe thermal deformation. The problem is particularly serious on the occasion of large power application, such as all electric aero-engine. In this study, a prototype motorized spindle supported by five degree-of-freedom AMBs is developed. Homopolar and heteropolar AMBs are independently adopted as radial bearings. The influences of the two types of radial AMBs on the dynamic characteristics of the motorized spindle are comparatively investigated by theoretical analysis, test modal analysis and actual operation of the system. The iron loss of the two types of radial AMBs is analyzed by finite element software and verified through run-down experiments of the system. The results show that the structures of AMB have less influence on the dynamic characteristics of the motorized spindle. However, the homopolar structure can effectively reduce the iron loss of the radial AMB and it is useful for improving the overall performance of the motorized spindle.

Development of a 3D Printed Bipedal Robot:Towards Humanoid Research Platform to Study Human Musculoskeletal Biomechanics

The objective of this study is to develop a bio robot with a high degree of biomechanical fidelity to the human musculoskeletal system in order to investigate the biomechanical principles underlying human walking.The robot was designed to possess identical biomechanical characteristics to the human body in terms of body segment properties,joint configurations and 3D musculoskeletal geometries.These design parameters were acquired based on the medical images,3D musculoskeletal model and gait measurements of a healthy human subject.To satistyall the design criteria sinultaneously,metal 3D printing was used to construct the whole-body humanoid robot.Flexible artificial muscles were fabricated in accordance with the predefined 3D musculoskeletal geometries.A series of physical tests were con-ducted to demonstrate the capacity of the robot platform.The fabricated robot shows equivalent mechanical characteristics to the human body as originally designed.The results of the physical tests by systematically changing environmental conditions and body structures have successfully demonstrated the capability of the robot platform to investigate the structure-function interplay in the human musculoskeletal system and also its interaction with the environment during walking.This robot might provide a valuable and powerful physical platfornm towards studying hunan musculoskeletal biomechanics by generating new hypotheses and revealing new insights into human locomotion science.

Prussian blue analogues-derived nitrogen-doped carboncoated FeO/CoO hollow nanocages as a high-performance anode material for Li storage

The design of electrode materials with specific structures is considered a promising approach for improving the performance of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).In this paper,FeO/CoO hollow nanocages coated with a N-doped carbon layer(FCO@NC)was prepared using Fe-Co-based Prussian blue analogs(PBA)as a precursor.During the synthesis,dopamine was the carbon and nitrogen source.The reducing atmosphere was assured via NH_3/Ar,which regulated the vacancies in the structure of FCO@NC as well as increased its conductivity.When used as anode materials for LIBs,the FCO@NC nanocages deliver a high reversible capacity of 774.89 mAh·g^(-1)at 0.3 A·g^(-1)after200 cycles with a capacity retention rate of 80.4%and426.76 mAh·g^(-1)after 500 cycles at a high current density of 1 A·g^(-1).It is demonstrated that the hollow nanocage structure can effectively enhance the cycle stability,and the heat treatment in NH_(3)/Ar atmosphere contributes to the oxygen vacancy content of the electrode materials,further facilitating its conductivity and electrochemical performance.