Synthesis and Defect Structure Analysis of Complex Oxides for Li-Ion Battery Electrodes.

Lithium-ion batteries have attracted increased attention for energy storage development due to the vast demand from portable electronics, (hybrid) electric vehicles and future power grids. The research in this dissertation is focused on the development of oxide electrodes for lithium-ion batteries with high power density and improved stability. One of the promising cathodes for lithium-ion batteries is lithium manganospinel (LiMn2O4). However, this compound suffers from manganese dissolution and a Jahn-Teller distortion due to Mn3+, especially in oxygen deficient LiMn2O4–δ. Hydrothermal based synthesis methods were developed to eliminate oxygen vacancies to enable high power in cathodes composed of nano-sized spinel particles. The relationship between oxygen defects and the capacity fading mechanism was demonstrated, and collapse of the mechanical structure was identified in defect-rich LiMn2O4-δ. Next, the nickel substituted manganospinel, LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 shows unexpected high voltage side reactions. To overcome this drawback, a thin and chemically inert titanate was used as an artificial SEI (solid electrolyte interface) coating to prohibit transition-metal dissolution and parasitic side reactions, which led to a 200% improvement of the capacity retention at 55°C and negligible polarization losses. Finally, the spinel-structured lithium titanate (Li4Ti5O12) is introduced as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries due to its higher operating potential and excellent structural stability compared to current graphite anodes. However, the poor electronic conductivity and low lithium diffusion coefficient hinder its wide application. Given these advantages, a facile, low-cost solution method is explored to synthesize nano-sized titanates. Rapid charge/ discharge was achieved up to rates of 100 C (36 second charge/ discharge) due to a shorter lithium mean-free path and better contact between the active material and conductive agents.PHDChemistryUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108815/1/xghao_1.pd

Regional versus general anesthesia for different categories of caesarean deliveries amongst Chinese women: A retrospective cohort analysis

Purpose: To study anesthetic techniques utilized in various caesarian deliveries, justification for preference of general anesthesia, and failure of regional anesthesia in pregnant Chinese women. Methods: Clinical data for 512 Chinese women who successfully delivered through caesarian section were used in this analysis. Data comprising information on anesthetic techniques used, explanations for choice of general anesthesia, failure of regional anesthesia, and levels of supervision were collected and analyzed. Results: Ninety-four of the enrolled women delivered through caesarian category 1, while 112 women delivered via caesarian category 2. Deliveries in caesarian categories 3 and 4 applied to 84 and 222 women, respectively. General anesthesia was used for 219 women, but this procedure was refused by 106 women, while the physician chose it for 34 women. Thirty-six women opted for general anesthesia, while regional anesthesia was used in 293 women. Ten women needed a change from regional anesthesia to general anesthesia due to inadequate regional block, accelerated delivery, and other reasons. General anesthesia was preferred in 17 % of emergency categories, 40 % of semi-emergency categories, and 43 % of elective categories. Conclusion: Patient awareness, training of health professionals, and multi-disciplinary correspondence will be helpful to caregivers in making consensus decisions with respect to the best anesthesia technique for cesarean delivery

Low cycle fatigue damage model and sensitivity analysis of fatigue crack initiation by finite element approach

To meet the design requirements, different types of defects are often machined on the surface of fatigue components. Local stress concentration formed at the notch accelerate the initiation of fatigue crack, therefore greatly shorten the service lives of such components. Based on the theory of continuous damage mechanics and the principle of irreversible thermodynamics, the damage evolution model of low cycle fatigue is investigated. By programming the damage evolution model as UMAT subroutine and coupling it to ABAQUS, the fatigue damage and crack initiation life of notched P92 steel samples under specific loads are simulated, and the crack initiation location is determined. Furthermore, the damage evolution and crack initiation sensitivity of notch morphology are considered. The results show that the crack initiation occurs easily in the notch root where the damage is greatest and the plastic strain accumulates fastest under cyclic loading. The fatigue damage accumulates slowly at the initial stage, but the damage accumulates rapidly after the cumulative damage reaches a critical value. The fatigue damage evolution and fatigue initiation life are very sensitive to the notch morphology parameters. The notch morphology need to be carefully analyzed, to improve the fatigue life of the notched samples

Increasing Capacity of Intersections with Transit Priority

Dedicated bus lane (DBL) and transit signal priority (TSP) are two effective and low cost ways in improving the reliability of transits. On the contrary, these strategies reduce the capacity of general traffic. This paper presents an integrated optimization (IO) model to improve the performance of intersections with dedicated bus lanes. The IO model integrated geometry layout, main-signal timing, pre-signal timing and transit priority. The optimization problem is formulated as a Mix-Integer-Non-Linear-Program (MINLP) that can be transformed into a Mix-Integer-Linear-Program (MILP) and then solved by the standard branch-and-bound technique. The applicability of the IO model is tested through numerical experiment under different intersection layouts and traffic demands. A VISSIM microsimulation model was developed and used to evaluate the performance of the proposed IO model. The test results indicate that the proposed model can increase capacity and reduce delay of general traffic when providing priority to buses

Fabrication and evolution of multilayer silver nanofilms for surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensing of arsenate

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has recently been investigated extensively for chemical and biomolecular sensing. Multilayer silver (Ag) nanofilms deposited on glass slides by a simple electroless deposition process have been fabricated as active substrates (Ag/GL substrates) for arsenate SERS sensing. The nanostructures and layer characteristics of the multilayer Ag films could be tuned by varying the concentrations of reactants (AgNO3/BuNH2) and reaction time. A Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) double-layer was formed by directly reducing Ag+ ions on the glass surfaces, while a top layer (3rd-layer) of Ag dendrites was deposited on the double-layer by self-assembling AgNPs or AgNPs aggregates which had already formed in the suspension. The SERS spectra of arsenate showed that characteristic SERS bands of arsenate appear at approximately 780 and 420 cm-1, and the former possesses higher SERS intensity. By comparing the peak heights of the approximately 780 cm-1 band of the SERS spectra, the optimal Ag/GL substrate has been obtained for the most sensitive SERS sensing of arsenate. Using this optimal substrate, the limit of detection (LOD) of arsenate was determined to be approximately 5 μg·l-1