batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Design optimization for functionally graded battery electrodes is shown to improve the usable energy capacity of Li batteries predicted by computational simulations and numerically optimizing the electrode porosities and particle radii. A multi-scale battery model which accounts for nonlinear transient transport processes, electrochemical reactions, and mechanical deformations is used to predict the usable energy storage capacity of the battery over a range of discharge rates. A multi-objective formulation of the design problem is introduced to maximize the usable capacity over a range of discharge rates while limiting the mechanical stresses. The optimization problem is solved via a gradient based optimization. A LiMn2O4 cathode is simulated with a PEO–LiCF3SO3 electrolyte and both a Li Foil (half cell) and LiC6 anode. Studies were performed on both half and full cell configurations resulting in distinctly different optimal electrode designs. The numerical results show that the highest rate discharge drives the simulations and the optimal designs are dominated by Li+ transport rates. The results also suggest that spatially varying electrode porosities and active particle sizes provides an efficient approach to improve the power-to-energy density of Li+ batteries. For the half cell configuration, the optimal design improves the discharge capacity by 29% while for the full cell the discharge capacity was improved 61% relative to an initial design with a uniform electrode structure. Most of the improvement in capacity was due to the spatially varying porosity, with up to 5% of the gains attributed to the particle radii design variables.
Rechargeable zinc-air flow batteries are investigated as possible technology for fast responding large-scale electrical energy storage due to the use of inexpensive, non-toxic and abundant materials, and compact system design. The operating ranges for several parameters such as flow rate (2–8 cm s−1), concentration of electrolyte (6 or 8 M KOH), charge/discharge current densities (up to 100 mA cm−2 mean), and active or passive air supply as well as their influence on the performance and stability of the electrodes are investigated and compared. Bi-catalyzed bifunctional air electrodes are tested by means of half-cell measurements achieving minimum 200 charge/discharge cycles at 50 mA cm−2 with the longest operation time being 800 h. At this current density, charge/discharge efficiencies are in the range of 50% for all tested air electrodes. End-of-life characterization by means of scanning electron microscopy reveals mechanical degradation of the electrode material. On the negative zinc electrode, zinc deposition morphology on different current collector materials (nickel, brass, and steel) is investigated using Rota-Hull cylinders showing nickel to be the most suitable material. The pulse interrupt current method is thereby successfully applied for compact zinc deposition in a broad current density range without any electrolyte additive. Subsequent scale-up of the rechargeable zinc-air flow battery and unit cell operation is finally performed for proof-of-concept.
Three dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) Li4Ti5O12 membrane (80μm thick) was prepared by a colloidal crystal templating process. Colloidal crystal consisting of monodisperse polystyrene particles (1μm diameter) was used as the template for the preparation of macroporous Li4Ti5O12. A precursor sol consisting of titanium isopropoxide and lithium acetate was impregnated into the void space of template, and it was calcined at various temperatures. A macroporous membrane of Li4Ti5O12 with inverse-opal structure was successfully prepared at 800°C. The interconnected pores with uniform size (0.8μm) were clearly observed on the entire part of membrane. The electrochemical properties of the three dimensionally ordered Li4Ti5O12 were characterized with cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge and discharge in an organic electrolyte containing a lithium salt. The 3DOM Li4Ti5O12 exhibited a discharge capacity of 160mAhg−1 at the electrode potential of 1.55V versus Li/Li+ due to the solid state redox of Ti3+/4+ accompanying with Li+ ion insertion and extraction. The discharge capacity was close to the theoretical capacity (167mAhg−1), which suggested that the Li+ ion insertion and extraction took place at the entire part of 3DOM Li4Ti5O12 membrane. The 3DOM Li4Ti5O12 electrode showed good cycle stability.
The cycle life of Li4Ti5O12-based lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is closely related to the quality of the protective passivation film formed on Li4Ti5O12 anode, which is elaborately constructed during formation process. In this work, the passivation film formation on Li4Ti5O12 anodes during Li+ intercalation/deintercalation processes and at different lithiation states is investigated. Passivation film formed in the lithiation state of Li4Ti5O12 is more efficient than delithiation state. The film formation is related to the concentration of Ti3+ active sites on the surface of Li4Ti5O12 particles. There is an optimum range of lithiation degree of Li4Ti5O12 for the completion of uniform passivation film formation on the electrodes. Excessively high lithiation state is proved unnecessary or even detrimental for effective surface layer construction. Compared with traditional formation protocols with fully charge-discharge cycles, simply storing Li4Ti5O12-based LIBs in the optimized lithiation range at high temperature can construct efficient and stable passivation film. Such a formation protocol can greatly reduce the cost and simplify the manipulation process of Li4Ti5O12-based batteries for the LIBs enterprises.
In this study we examined the use of diatomites to improve the discharge capacity and utilization of the positive electrode of the lead-acid battery. A large fraction of the positive electrode performance of this battery system (half-reaction shown below) is based on the ionic conduction of sulfuric acid through the plate. PbO2(s)+HSO4 − +3H+ +2e− →PbSO4(s)+2H2O The porous diatomites improve the ionic conduction by providing channels in addition to the natural ones formed within the paste. The choice of diatomite is based on its stability in the oxidative and corrosive environment of the lead-acid battery, as well as its naturally high porosity. The diatomite particles were size sorted into 20–30μm, 30–53μm, 53–74μm, and 74–90μm fractions, and the discharge performances of each were measured at 1%, 3%, and 5% weight ratios. The best performance was observed with 53–74μm particles with an optimum weight ratio of 3%. At this size fraction and weight ratio, diatomites show a 12.7% increase in active material utilization and a 9.3% increase in specific capacity at high rate discharge (50mAcm−2) relative to control samples without diatomites.
In this paper an overloading prevention of a private customer power distribution transformer (PDT) in an island in Portugal through the means of a new smart electric vehicle (EV) charging scheduler is proposed. The aim of this paper is to assess the repercussion of the penetration of additional power to restore the full level of EV battery state of charge (SoC) on dielectric oil deterioration of the PDT of a private industry client. This will allow EVs to charge while their owners are at work at three different working shifts during the day. In addition, the system is part of an isolated electric grid in a Portuguese Island. A transformer thermal model is utilised in this paper to assess hot-spot temperature by having the information of the load ratio. The data used for the main inputs of the model are the private industry client daily load profile, PDT parameters, the characteristics of the factory and EV parameters. This paper demonstrates that the proposed solution allows avoiding the overloading of the PDT, thus mitigating the loss-of-life, while charging all the EVs plugged-in at the beginning of each working shift.
We have assessed the utility of a single-copy nuclear locus and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in a phylogeographic study of the New Zealand stick insect Niveaphasma annulata (Hutton). We amplified sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and the single-copy nuclear gene elongation factor-1α (EF1α) from 97 individuals. Allelic phase at the EF1α locus was determined using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis. Phylogenetic analyses showed broad congruence between the geographic distribution of three major COI clades and EF1α alleles, which suggested that the phylogenetic patterns reflect population history rather than lineage sorting. However, the geographic boundaries of these clades were not always in exact agreement between the two loci. Our data indicate that Niveaphasma annulata was most likely separated into a number of refugia during Pleistocene glacial advances. Subsequent to glacial retreat these refugial populations have expanded and now form a number of zones of secondary contact. We contrast these patterns with those observed from other New Zealand taxa. Our study offers compelling evidence for the use of nuclear genes alongside mtDNA for future phylogeographic studies.
The area of materials research has registered a phenomenal growth in the recent years, assiduously accepting and assimilating ideas, concepts and analytical as well as experimental methodologies and techniques form almost all scientific disciplines, thereby demonstrating its remarkably multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary character. The focus of the materials programme of this centre is to provide materials, processes and processing solutions to the emerging needs of evolving indigenous nuclear energy systems by proactive research and development on a continuing basis. The initial stage of our activities was formulated around three stage Indian nuclear power programme. In stage I, material issues related to in-core materials with emphasis on development of fabrication routes of zirconium alloys for structural application were addressed. Subsequently the thrust areas were development and characterization of mixed oxide fuel, advanced zirconium alloys, structural steels, superalloys, neutron absorber materials based on boron carbides and borides, and shape memory alloys. The research was useful for in-service performance evaluation, safety assessment, residual life estimation and life extension of nuclear reactors built during stage I i.e., PHWRs and BWRs. It also included developments which would permit rapid expansion of nuclear power initially through fast breeder reactor based on mixed oxide fuel and later based on metallic fuels. For the 3rd stage, multi-layer coatings, graphite coolant tube, BeO, refractory metals and alloys, heat-treated zirconium alloys are being developed for CHTR, ADSS and AHWR. The materials being developed for fusion programme are low Z and high Z material for plasma facing application, Cu-alloys for heat sink, austenitic steels, RAFMS and ODS for structurals and NbTi, Nb3Sn and Nb3Al superconductors, lithium titanate, lithium silicate breeders, and Pb–Bi coolant. A brief overview of the materials research activities currently being pursued at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is presented in this article.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability and death and survivors often suffer from long-lasting motor impairment, cognitive deficits, anxiety disorders and epilepsy. Few experimental studies have investigated long-term sequelae after TBI and relations between behavioral changes and neural activity patterns remain elusive. We examined these issues in a murine model of TBI combining histology, behavioral analyses and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging of regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) as a proxy for neural activity. Adult C57Bl/6N mice were subjected to unilateral cortical impact injury and investigated at early (15–57 days after lesion, dal) and late (184–225 dal) post-traumatic time points. TBI caused pronounced tissue loss of the parietal cortex and subcortical structures and enduring neurological deficits. Marked perilesional astro- and microgliosis was found at 57 dal and declined at 225 dal. Motor and gait pattern deficits occurred at early time points after TBI and improved over the time. In contrast, impaired performance in the Morris water maze test and decreased anxiety-like behavior persisted together with an increased susceptibility to pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures suggesting alterations in neural activity patterns. Accordingly, SPECT imaging of CBF indicated asymmetric hemispheric baseline neural activity patterns. In the ipsilateral hemisphere, increased baseline neural activity was found in the amygdala. In the contralateral hemisphere, homotopic to the structural brain damage, the hippocampus and distinct cortex regions displayed increased baseline neural activity. Thus, regionally elevated CBF along with behavioral alterations indicate that increased neural activity is critically involved in the long-lasting consequences of TBI.
This study aimed at collecting data from a group of 203 Iranian undergraduate learners of English concerning their beliefs about language learning through Horwitz's (1987) “Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory”, concerning their language learning strategy use through Oxford's (1990) “Strategy Inventory for Language Learning” and concerning their general language proficiency through “Michigan English Language Assessment Battery”. Some open-ended questions were added to the both questionnaires. Data analyses indicated that EFL learners with more positive and reasonable beliefs, generally, use the strategies more and also have higher level language proficiency. Besides, some findings were reported as the result of doing factor analyses on the both questionnaires.
Behaviours of the AA5052 aluminium alloy anode of the alkaline aluminium-air battery are studied by the hydrogen evolution test, the electrochemical measurements and the surface analysis method. The combination of amino-acid and rare earth as electrolyte additives effectively retards the self-corrosion of AA5052 aluminium alloy in 4 M NaOH solution. It shows that the combination of l-cysteine and cerium nitrate has a synergistic effect owing to the formation of a complex film on AA5052 alloy surface. The organic rare-earth complex can decrease the anodic polarisation, suppress the hydrogen evolution and increase the anodic utilization rate.
Although the underlying pathophysiology of anxiety disorders is unknown it is clear that a combination of genetic and environmental factors in early life predispose to disease risk. Preclinical research increasingly suggests an important role for the GABAB receptor in modulating anxiety behaviour, with GABAB receptor deficient mice having increased anxiety behaviour. Previous studies have highlighted critical windows during development where adult anxiety behaviour is primed. However, little is known regarding the role played by the GABAB receptors in the developmental processes that underlie adult anxiety behaviour. To this end, we treated male BALB/c mouse pups with the either the selective GABAB receptor agonist, R-baclofen (2 mg/kg, s.c), the GABAB receptor antagonist CGP 52432 (10 mg/kg and 30 mg/kg) or vehicle from postnatal days (P) 14–28. The anxiety behaviour of these mice was then assessed in adulthood (P62 onwards) in a battery of behavioural tests comprising; the stress induced hyperthermia (SIH) test, defensive marble burying (DMB), elevated-plus maze (EPM) and the forced swim test (FST). Postnatal R-baclofen treatment resulted in increased anxiety-like behaviour in the EPM as shown by approach-avoidance and ethological measures. Other behavioural measures were not significantly altered. Interestingly, blockade of GABAB receptors with CGP52432 in early life caused no alterations in emotional behaviour. These data suggest that during early life GABAB receptor signalling can play a functional role in programing anxiety behaviour in adulthood. The underlying neurodevelopmental processes underlying these effects remain to be discovered.
The designed metal oxide-carbon composites are always considered as a potential candidate for high-performance electrode materials. In this work, we fabricated the CoO rods-porous carbon composites with a unique hierarchical architecture by utilizing porous biocarbons derived from kapok fibers (KFs). As the composites of CoO nanocrystals with the mean size of 10nm and graphene-like carbon sheets, the CoO rods are homogeneously anchored on or inside the porous carbons, thus achieving a 3D hierarchical porous structure. When tested as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, the as-obtained composites exhibit the high lithium storage of 1057mAhg−1. More importantly, the CoO rods/porous biocarbons composites display a superior long-term stable reversible capacity of about 550mAhg−1 at the high current density of 5Ag−1 after 600 cycles. The superior electrochemical performance of the obtained composites has been attributed to the synergistic effect between CoO nanoparticles and porous biocarbons, which makes the composites favorable for fast electronic and ionic transfer, and superior stable structure. Therefore, we believe that the designed preparation of metal oxide architectures in low-cost and renewable porous biocarbons will be a valuable direction for exploring advanced electrode materials.
The Maldives is one of the most vulnerable countries to the projected impacts of climate change, due to a combination of the small sizes of the islands and their low height above sea level. Like other small island developing states, the Maldives depends overwhelmingly on petroleum imports for their electricity production, which creates serious economic and financial difficulties. The Government of Maldives is therefore committed to promote sustainable energy and has been actively pursuing several inter-related initiatives to overcome the existing barriers to the utilization of renewable energy technologies. To assist this, the quantification and evaluation of the potentials of available solar and wind resources in the country for electricity applications has been performed. The hybrid system design tool HOMER has been used to create optimal renewable energy (RE) system designs. In order to evaluate these different RE alternatives a multi-criteria analysis is performed using a number of criteria that are likely to be decisive in implementation decisions. The evaluation shows that fully RE system configurations are not financially viable in the Maldives while the RE-diesel hybrid systems could bring down the price of electricity with 5–10$cent/kWh in smaller outer islands. Assuming that these latter systems with a high probability of adoption are implemented, the results show that 10% of the electricity in the Maldives could be supplied by RE based systems in a cost effective way.
Lithium is one of scarce natural resources in the world that need to be preserve. One of the way in preserving the resource is by recovery the rich source of the lithium such as in the spent batteries. It is necessary to develop a recovery method which is efficient and low-cost to be able to recover the lithium in an economic scale. In this study, low-cost activated carbon (AC) from coconut shell charcoal was prepared by chemical and physical activation methods and tested for Li removal from Co, Mn, and Ni ions in semi-continuous columns adsorption experiments. The maximum surface area is 365 m2/g with the total pore volume is 0.148 cm3/g that can be produced by physical activation at 800 °C. In the same activation temperature, activation using KOH has larger ratio of micropore volume than physical activation. Then, the adsorption capacity and selectivity of metal ions were investigated. A very low adsorption capacity of AC for Li ions in batch adsorption mode provides an advantage in column applications for separating Li from other metal ions. The AC sample with chemical activation provided better separation than the samples with physical activation in the column adsorption method. During a certain period of early adsorption (lag time), solution collected from the column outlet was found to be rich in Li due to the fast travel time of this light element, while the other heavier metal ions were mostly retained in the AC bed. The maximum lag time is 97.3 min with AC by KOH activation at 750 °C.
This paper measures quality of life (QoL) in the 393 largest Spanish municipalities in 2011. We follow recent descriptions of QoL dimensions to propose an integrated framework composed of eight dimensions: material living conditions, health, education, environment, economic and physical safety, governance and political voice, social interaction, and personal activities. Using different sources of information we construct 16 indicators, two per each of the QoL dimensions considered. Weight constrained data envelopment analysis (DEA) is then used to estimate a composite indicator of the QoL of each municipality. Robustness is checked by altering the weight ranges introduced within the DEA specification. Results show that the Northern and Central regions in Spain attain the highest levels of QoL, while the Southern and Mediterranean regions report lower scores. These figures are consistent with those obtained by González et al. (Soc Ind Res 82:111–145 2011) for the Spanish municipalities in 2001, although both the sample and the indicators used are different. The analysis also shows that, while it is important to restrict weights in DEA, the specific restrictions used are less important, since all the composite indicators computed are highly correlated. The results also show important differences between per capita gross domestic product and QoL at the provincial level.
We investigated and analyzed faults in field installable connection due to incorrectly cleaved fiber ends and manufactured physical contact (PC)-type connectors with contaminated end surfaces in optical access fiber networks. The insertion and return losses of fiber connections using incorrectly cleaved fiber ends might be at worst more than 40dB and less than 30dB, respectively. With PC-type connectors whose end surfaces are contaminated, the insertion and return losses might be at worst 8.7 and 27dB, respectively. We developed an inspection tool for cleaved fiber ends and connector end surfaces as a countermeasure. The proposed tool has a simple structure and does not require focal adjustment. It can be used to inspect and clearly determine whether a fiber has been cleaved correctly and whether there is contamination or scratches on the connector end surfaces. The tool requires a slight increase of 11% in operation time compared to conventional fiber end preparation and assembly procedures. The proposed tool provides a simple and cost-effective way to inspect cleaved fiber ends and connector end surfaces and is suitable for field use.
The kinetics of electrochemical lithium insertion inside RF sputtered Ni/V mixed oxides thin films have been investigated employing different electrochemical techniques. The AC electrochemical impedance spectra, recorded after 10 cycles, showed three steps clearly involved in the intercalation mechanism of lithium in the oxide films: (i) a charge transfer process to the electrolyte/electrode interface; (ii) a solid-state diffusion of Li; and (iii) a space limited diffusion due to the finite volume of the film. This latter portion of the impedance spectra was used to calculate the Li chemical diffusion coefficients (D Li). D Li values show an initial increase up to an injected charge of 30 mC cm−2 and then, upon further intercalation, a decay probably due to the limited Li motion through a decreased number of available sites. These results are in good agreement with the ones obtained by potentiostatic intermittent titration technique applied to the same electrodes. Both techniques agree in giving the same trend for D Li upon Li intercalation. The same sets of measurements were carried out after 100 and 1000 Li insertion/deinsertion cycles in order to analyze the effect of prolonged cycling on the mechanism of lithium diffusion.