A modified oil lubrication system with flow control to reduce crankshaft bearing friction in a 1.5 litre 4 cylinder diesel engine

The oil distribution system of an automotive light duty engine typically has an oil pump mechanically driven through the front-endancillaries-drive or directly off the crankshaft. Delivery pressure is regulated by a relief valve to provide an oil gallery pressure of typically 3 to 4 bar absolute at fully-warm engine running conditions. Electrification of the oil pump drive is one way to decouple pump delivery from engine speed, but this does not alter the flow distribution between parts of the engine requiring lubrication. Here, the behaviour and benefits of a system with an electrically driven, fixed displacement pump and a distributor providing control over flow to crankshaft main bearings and big end bearings is examined. The aim has been to demonstrate that by controlling flow to these bearings, without changing flow to other parts of the engine, significant reductions in engine friction can be achieved. The study has been conducted on a 1.5litre, 4 cylinder turbocharged diesel engine. By reducing the feed pressure to the bearings from a baseline pressure of 3bar absolute to 1.5 bar absolute, reductions in engine rubbing friction mean effective pressure of up to 14% has been achieved at light load. Similar reductions in friction were recorded across a speed range of 1000-2000 rev/min and net indicated mean effective pressures up to 3.5 bar. The ranges were conservatively limited to protect against bearing damage. The paper reports details of the oil system modifications and the test results. The fuel economy benefit due solely to the friction reduction, not including any benefit from a reduction in oil pump work, is around 1½ % over the New European Drive Cycle (NEDC). The reduction in friction is demonstrably significant and represents an area with great potential to improve engine efficiency

A new insight into the mechanism of persistent luminescence phosphors SrS: Eu²⁺, Pr³⁺

The red persistent luminescence phosphors SrS: Eux2+, Pry3+ (x = 0∼0.001, y = 0∼0.003) were synthesized by the solid-state reaction method in a weak reducing atmosphere of active carbon. The synthetic parameters, photoluminescence characteristics, and dynamic properties of thermoluminescence of the phosphors were studied systematically. According to the results of photoluminescence spectra of SrS: Eux2+, Pry3+, the energy level scheme of the phosphors was confirmed quantitatively. Based on the studies of the scanning electron microscope (SEM), UV-Visible absorbance spectra, afterglow decay curves, thermoluminescence(TL) spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra, we found that the SrS: Eu0.00012+, Pr0.0033+ (SSEP) phosphor presented the best persistent luminescence property, which mainly resulted from its outstanding absorbance characteristic, deeper depth of VS⋅ (VS⋅⋅) defects, and fewer defect concentration belonging to the higher-order kinetics. Those comprehensive results deduced that a complex defect VS⋅ (VS⋅⋅)-V′′Sr should present in the Eu2+ doping phosphors, and the Pr3+ doping will produce PrSr⋅ defects, which can suppress the formation of VS⋅ (VS⋅⋅) defects and increase their energy depth.</p

Novel C₃N₄‑Assisted Bilateral Interface Engineering for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

g-C3N4-assisted interface engineering has been developed as an effective method to improve the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, most of the reported works used g-C3N4-induced single-interface modification, which is difficult to passivate the bilateral interfaces of the perovskite layer at the same time. In this paper, we fabricated two kinds of C3N4 materials simultaneously (w-CN and y-CN) after the twice calcination of melamine and used them in the bilateral interface modification toward all-inorganic PSCs. The two kinds of C3N4 play different roles in different interface engineering. On the front interface, w-CN could optimize band level arrangement and improve the perovskite film quality, which contributes to the efficiency of the device. On the back interface, y-CN could also improve the film quality of the perovskite layer, accelerating the extraction of charge carriers. The champion efficiency of the CsPbIBr2-based device treated by the bilateral interface is significantly enhanced from 7.8 to 10.1%. Moreover, the modified perovskite film exhibits negligible degradation after 40 min of exposure in the ambient environment with a relative humidity of 70%, while the pristine perovskite film has a rapid degradation within 20 min

Large Magnetic Gap in a Designer Ferromagnet–Topological Insulator–Ferromagnet Heterostructure

Combining magnetism and nontrivial band topology gives rise to quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) insulators and exotic quantum phases such as the QAH effect where current flows without dissipation along quantized edge states. Inducing magnetic order in topological insulators via proximity to a magnetic material offers a promising pathway toward achieving the QAH effect at a high temperature for lossless transport applications. One promising architecture involves a sandwich structure comprising two single-septuple layers (1SL) of MnBi2Te4 (a 2D ferromagnetic insulator) with ultrathin few quintuple layer (QL) Bi2Te3 in the middle, and it is predicted to yield a robust QAH insulator phase with a large bandgap greater than 50 meV. Here, the growth of a 1SL MnBi2Te4/4QL Bi2Te3/1SL MnBi2Te4 heterostructure via molecular beam epitaxy is demonstrated and the electronic structure probed using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. Strong hexagonally warped massive Dirac fermions and a bandgap of 75 ± 15 meV are observed. The magnetic origin of the gap is confirmed by the observation of the exchange-Rashba effect, as well as the vanishing bandgap above the Curie temperature, in agreement with density functional theory calculations. These findings provide insights into magnetic proximity effects in topological insulators and reveal a promising platform for realizing the QAH effect at elevated temperatures

MAAc Ionic Liquid-Assisted Defect Passivation for Efficient and Stable CsPbIBr₂ Perovskite Solar Cells

Cesium-based all-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs), such as CsPbIBr2 PSCs, have attracted wide attention for good thermal and wet stability, but the low open-circuit voltage (Voc) mainly caused by the inadequate coverage of CsPbIBr2 films is the main reason for limiting their development. The CsPbIBr2 films grown on TiO2 substrate directly have a large number of pinholes, which bring a lot of defects and lead to an increase of nonradiative recombination. In this work, a strategy extended for CsPbIBr2 films by precoating methylammonium acetate (MAAc) ionic liquid onto a TiO2 layer before depositing the CsPbIBr2 film is demonstrated. The uniformly distributed MA+ will be the nucleation center at the bottom of the CsPbIBr2 film, which exhibited a notable impact on the crystallization kinetics of CsPbIBr2 films. This effect simultaneously enhanced the crystal quality of the CsPbIBr2 film and interfacial contact between the electron transporting layer (ETL) and CsPbIBr2 layer. It is instrumental in decreasing the trap state density, suppressing nonradiative recombination, and extracting the charge carriers. Therefore, the stability of the optimized device has been improved considerably, and the champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) is up to 8.85% with a high Voc of 1.26 V. Benefiting from passivation, the PSC with 2 M MAAc IL interfacial modification remains 82% of its initial PCE after 30 days of exposing the device to ambient air at room temperature

Massive Dirac fermions and strong Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in single crystals of the topological insulator Bi2Se3 doped with Sm and Fe

Topological insulators (TIs) are emergent materials with unique band structure, which allow the study of quantum effect in solids, as well as contribute to high-performance quantum devices. To achieve the better performance of TIs, here, we present a codoping strategy using synergistic rare-earth (RE) Sm and transition-metal Fe dopants in Bi2Se3 single crystals, which combine the advantages of both a transition-metal-doped TI [high ferromagnetic ordering temperature and observed quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE)], and a RE doped TI (large magnetic moments and significant spin-orbit coupling). In the as-grown single crystals, clear evidences of ferromagnetic ordering were observed. The angle-resolve photoemission spectroscopy indicates the ferromagnetism opens a ∼44 meV band gap at the surface Dirac point. Moreover, the mobility of the carriers at 3 K is ∼7400cm2/Vs, and we thus observed an ultra-strong Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation in the longitudinal resistivity, as well as the Hall steps in transverse resistivity <14 T. Our transport and angular-resolved photoemission spectroscopy results suggest that the RE and transition metal codoping in the Bi2Se3 system is a promising avenue to implement the QAHE, as well as harnessing the massive Dirac fermion in electrical devices

Gate-Tunable Renormalization of Spin-Correlated Flat-Band States and Bandgap in a 2D Magnetic Insulator

Emergent quantum phenomena in two-dimensional van der Waal (vdW) magnets are largely governed by the interplay between exchange and Coulomb interactions. The ability to precisely tune the Coulomb interaction enables the control of spin-correlated flat-band states, band gap, and unconventional magnetism in such strongly correlated materials. Here, we demonstrate a gate-tunable renormalization of spin-correlated flat-band states and bandgap in magnetic chromium tribromide (CrBr3) monolayers grown on graphene. Our gate-dependent scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) studies reveal that the interflat-band spacing and bandgap of CrBr3 can be continuously tuned by 120 and 240 meV, respectively, via electrostatic injection of carriers into the hybrid CrBr3/graphene system. This can be attributed to the self-screening of CrBr3 arising from the gate-induced carriers injected into CrBr3, which dominates over the weakened remote screening of the graphene substrate due to the decreased carrier density in graphene. Precise tuning of the spin-correlated flat-band states and bandgap in 2D magnets via electrostatic modulation of Coulomb interactions not only provides effective strategies for optimizing the spin transport channels but also may exert a crucial influence on the exchange energy and spin-wave gap, which could raise the critical temperature for magnetic order

Crossover from 2D Ferromagnetic Insulator to Wide Band Gap Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator in Ultrathin MnBi₂Te₄

Intrinsic magnetic topological insulators offer low disorder and large magnetic band gaps for robust magnetic topological phases operating at higher temperatures. By controlling the layer thickness, emergent phenomena such as the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect and axion insulator phases have been realized. These observations occur at temperatures significantly lower than the Néel temperature of bulk MnBi2Te4, and measurement of the magnetic energy gap at the Dirac point in ultrathin MnBi2Te4 has yet to be achieved. Critical to achieving the promise of this system is a direct measurement of the layer-dependent energy gap and verification of a temperature-dependent topological phase transition from a large band gap QAH insulator to a gapless TI paramagnetic phase. Here we utilize temperature-dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study epitaxial ultrathin MnBi2Te4. We directly observe a layer-dependent crossover from a 2D ferromagnetic insulator with a band gap greater than 780 meV in one septuple layer (1 SL) to a QAH insulator with a large energy gap (>70 meV) at 8 K in 3 and 5 SL MnBi2Te4. The QAH gap is confirmed to be magnetic in origin, as it becomes gapless with increasing temperature above 8 K

Antiferromagnetic topological insulating state in Tb0.02Bi1.08Sb0.9Te2 S single crystals

Topological insulators are emerging materials with insulating bulk and symmetry protected nontrivial surface states. One of the most fascinating transport behaviors in a topological insulator is the quantized anomalous Hall insulator, which has been observed in magnetic-topological-insulator-based devices. In this work, we report a successful doping of rare earth element Tb into Bi1.08Sb0.9Te2S topological insulator single crystals, in which the Tb moments are antiferromagnetically ordered below ∼10 K. Benefiting from the in-bulk-gap Fermi level, transport behavior dominant by the topological surface states is observed below ∼150 K. At low temperatures, strong Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations are observed, which exhibit 2D-like behavior. The topological insulator with long range magnetic ordering in rare earth doped Bi1.08Sb0.9Te2S single crystal provides an ideal platform for quantum transport studies and potential applications