Clean water generation with switchable dispersion of multifunctional Fe3O4- reduced graphene oxide particles

With the increased need for clean water and decreased supply of fresh water, purification of contaminated water can provide clean water that supplements the fresh water from nature. Physical adsorption, photo-degradation and solar-driven evaporation processes are promising ways to generate clean water with minimum environmental impact. However, different purification process requires different dispersion state of the treating agent to maximize its performance. Herein, we demonstrate that Fe₃O₄-reduced graphene oxide (MrGO) particles with switchable dispersion can be used as the multifunctional water treating agents to efficiently purify contaminated water through different processes. Under homogenously dispersed nanofluid mode, the MrGO particles have large exposed surface areas and can efficiently remove organic dye pollutants through physical adsorption. The uniform dispersion state also favors high contact efficiency facilitating decontamination of high concentration of organic compounds through solar-driven photocatalytic degradation by the MrGO particles. The excellent magnetic response of MrGO particles not only allows for easy collection of the treating agent from water but also enables assembly of MrGO at the air-water interface with external magnets. Under such interfacial assembled mode, clean water can be distilled out of the contaminated solution with high evaporation efficiency of 74.7% under simulated natural solar radiation. This work demonstrates that dispersion state can be used as another important means to optimize water purification performances.     

Knowledge presentation by the MNSM-based controller for swimming motion of a snake-like robot

A MNSM( mirror neuron system mechanism)-based controller is developed to present the swimming rhythm of a snake-like robot in Cartesian space. From engineering viewpoint,the proposed controller is composed of a neuron for rhythm angle and two neurons for motion knowledge in XY plane. The given knowledge is a rhythm curve for swimming motion of a snake-like robot. Experimental results show that the proposed controller can present the knowledge of swimming rhythm,which represents the corresponding control law to drive the snake-like robot to swim with different speeds and turning motion. This work provides a novel method to present the knowledge for swimming motion of snake-like robots.     

Stability analysis via the concept of Lyapunov exponents―a case study

The dynamics characteristics of the robotic arm system are usually highly nonlinear and strongly coupling,which will make it difficult to analyze the stability by the methods of solving kinetic equations or constructing Lyapunov function,especially,these methods cannot calculate the quantitative relationship between mechanical structures or control input and dynamics parameters and stability.The theoretical analysis process from symbol dynamics modeling of the robotic arm system to the movement stability is studied by using the concept of Lyapunov exponents method. To verify the algorithm effectiveness,the inner relation between its joint input torque and stability or chaotic and stable motion of the 2-DOF robotic arm system is analyzed quantitatively. As compared with its counterpart of Lyapunov's direct method,the main advantage of the concept of Lyapunov exponents is that the methods for calculating the exponents are constructive to provide an effective analysis tool for analyzing robotic arm system movement stability of nonlinear systems.     

Influence of Ag content on the microstructure,mechanical, and tribological properties of TaVN-Ag films

A series of TaVN-Ag nanocomposite films were deposited using a radio-frequency magnetron sputtering system. The microstructure, mechanical properties, and tribological performance of the films were investigated. The results showed that TaVN-Ag films were composed of face-centered cubic (fcc) TaVN and fcc-Ag. With increasing Ag content, the hardness of TaVN-Ag composite films first increased and then decreased rapidly. The maximum hardness value was 31.4 GPa. At room temperature, the coefficient of friction (COF) of TaVN-Ag films decreased from 0.76 to 0.60 with increasing Ag content from 0 to 7.93at%. For the TaVN-Ag films with 7.93at% Ag, COF first increased and then decreased rapidly from 0.60 at 25℃ to 0.35 at 600℃, whereas the wear rate of the film increased continuously from 3.91×10-7 to 19.1×10-7 mm3/(N·mm). The COF of the TaVN-Ag film with 7.93at% Ag was lower than that of the TaVN film, and their wear rates showed opposite trends with increasing temperature.     

Graphene-immobilized flower-like Ni<Subscript>3</Subscript>S<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoflakes as a stable binder-free anode material for sodium-ion batteries

A binder-free Ni₃S₂ electrode was prepared directly on a graphene-coated Ni foam (G/Ni) substrate through surface sulfiding of substrate using thiourea as the sulfur source in this work. The Ni₃S₂ showed a flower-like morphology and was uniformly distributed on the G/Ni surface. The flower-like Ni₃S₂ was composed of cross-arrayed nanoflakes with a diameter and a thickness of 1-2 μm and~50 nm, respectively. The free space in the flowers and the thin feature of Ni₃S₂ buffered the volume changes and relieved mechanical strain during repeated cycling. The intimate contact with the Ni substrate and the fixing effect of graphene maintained the structural stability of the Ni₃S₂ electrode during cycling. The G/Ni-supported Ni₃S₂ maintained a reversible capacity of 250 mAh·g-1 after 100 cycles at 50 mA·g-1, demonstrating the good cycling stability as a result of the unique microstructure of this electrode material.     

Effect of graphite powder as a forming filler on the mechanical properties of SiCp/Al composites by pressure infiltration

(38vol% SiCp + 2vol% Al₂O_3f)/2024 Al composites were fabricated by pressure infiltration. Graphite powder was introduced as a forming filler in preform preparation, and the effects of the powder size on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the final composites were investigated. The results showed that the composite with 15 μm graphite powder as a forming filler had the maximum tensile strength of 506 MPa, maximum yield strength of 489 MPa, and maximum elongation of 1.2%, which decreased to 490 MPa, 430 MPa, and 0.4%, respectively, on increasing the graphite powder size from 15 to 60 μm. The composite with 60 μm graphite powder showed the highest elastic modulus, and the value decreased from 129 to 113 GPa on decreasing the graphite powder size from 60 to 15 μm. The differences between these properties are related to the different microstructures of the corresponding composites, which determine their failure modes.     

New insights into the effects of silicon content on the oxidation process in silicon-containing steels

Simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) was used to investigate the effects of silicon content on the oxidation kinetics of silicon- containing steels under an atmosphere and heating procedures similar to those used in industrial reheating furnaces for the production of hot-rolled strips. Our results show that when the heating temperature was greater than the melting point of Fe₂SiO₄, the oxidation rates of steels with different silicon contents were the same; the total mass gain decreased with increasing silicon content, whereas it increased with increasing oxygen content. The oxidation rates for steels with different silicon contents were constant with respect to time under isothermal conditions. In addition, the starting oxidation temperature, the intense oxidation temperature, and the finishing oxidation temperature increased with increasing silicon content; the intense oxidation temperature had no correlation with the melting of Fe₂SiO₄. Moreover, the silicon distributed in two forms: as Fe₂SiO₄ at the interface between the innermost layer of oxide scale and the iron matrix, and as particles containing silicon in grains and grain boundaries in the iron matrix.     

Microwave hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of rare-earth stannate nanoparticles

Rare-earth stannate (Ln₂Sn₂O₇ (Ln=Y, La-Lu)) nanocrystals with an average diameter of 50 nm were prepared through a facile microwave hydrothermal method at 200℃ within 60 min. The products were well characterized. The effect of reaction parameters such as temperature, reaction time, pH value, and alkali source on the preparation was investigated. The results revealed that the pH value plays an important role in the formation process of gadolinium stannate (Gd₂Sn₂O₇) nanoparticles. By contrast, the alkali source had no effect on the phase composition or morphology of the final product. Uniform and sphere-like nanoparticles with an average size of approximately 50 nm were obtained at the pH value of 11.5. A possible formation mechanism was briefly proposed. Gd₂Sn₂O₇:Eu3+ nanoparticles displayed strong orange-red emission. Magnetic measurements revealed that Gd₂Sn₂O₇ nanoparticles were paramagnetic. The other rare-earth stannate Ln₂Sn₂O₇ (Ln=Y, La-Lu) nanocrystals were prepared by similar approaches.     

Solid electrolyte–electrode interface based on buffer therapy in solid-state lithium batteries

In the past few years, the all-solid lithium battery has attracted worldwide attentions, the ionic conductivity of some all-solid lithium-ion batteries has reached 10?3–10?2 S/cm, indicating that the transport of lithium ions in solid electrolytes is no longer a major problem. However, some interface issues become research hotspots. Examples of these interfacial issues include the electrochemical decomposition re-action at the electrode–electrolyte interface; the low effective contact area between the solid electrolyte and the electrode etc. In order to solve the issues, researchers have pursued many different approaches. The addition of a buffer layer between the electrode and the solid electrolyte has been at the center of this endeavor. In this review paper, we provide a systematic summarization of the problems on the electrode–solid electrolyte interface and detailed reflection on the latest works of buffer-based therapies, and the review will end with a personal perspective on the improvement of buffer-based therapies.     

Abnormal driving behavior identification based on direction and position offsets

Abnormal driving behavior identification( ADBI) has become a research hotspot because of its significance in driver assistance systems. However,current methods still have some limitations in terms of accuracy and reliability under severe traffic scenes. This paper proposes a new ADBI method based on direction and position offsets,where a two-factor identification strategy is proposed to improve the accuracy and reliability of ADBI. Self-adaptive edge detection based on Sobel operator is used to extract edge information of lanes. In order to enhance the efficiency and reliability of lane detection,an improved lane detection algorithm is proposed,where a Hough transform based on local search scope is employed to quickly detect the lane,and a validation scheme based on priori information is proposed to further verify the detected lane. Experimental results under various complex road conditions demonstrate the validity of the proposed ADBI.