Light generation, transport, mixing and extraction in luminescent solar collectors

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Science.The difficulty of directing daylight deep into the heart of buildings means that much artificial lighting is required during the day, which substantially increases energy costs for lighting and air conditioning. This thesis explores the feasibility of daylighting with luminescent solar collectors. An LSC is a stack of thin sheets of polymer doped with fluorescent dyes. Sunlight entering the sheets is absorbed and emitted isotropically at longer wavelengths. 75% of this emission is trapped by total internal reflection and propagates towards the sheets’ edges. A special coupler channels some of this light into a flexible optical fibre that guides it to a remote luminaire. High quality white light with zero excess heat is produced by appropriate dye use. LSC’s collect both diffuse and specular sunlight, so their luminous output is only weakly affected by light clouds. The best previous LSC’s for daylighting gave an outdoor-to-indoor lumens-to-lumens efficiency of only 0.2%. This project achieved an efficiency of 5%. The basic tool for optical design was étendue analysis. Key results are: i) the system’s cross sectional area must not decrease along the optical path, ii) the collector sheets need a high aspect ratio, and iii) an often neglected requirement for a solid optical system with no air gaps. Other optical design problems solved include high-efficiency flat-collector-sheet to cylindrical-optical-fibre couplers and high-efficiency light extractors (which boost output by approximately 50%). Major advances in mechanical design resulted in several new practical solutions including: strong, enduring optical joints; mass produced collector-sheet to optical-fibre couplers using injection moulding with demonstrated efficiencies of 96%; affordable flexible light guides; high-performance cover materials; roof and façade mounting; and reduced mass. Required system performance is impossible without high quality LSC sheets. Maximising fluorescence yield involves detailed understanding of the roles of: dye quantum efficiency, Stokes shift, long wavelength absorption “tails”, dye dispersion, light transport inside a sheet and long term sheet stability. A substantial improvement in the performance of collector sheets was achieved. Solutions to all the key problems for daylighting with practical LSC systems have been demonstrated using outdoor mounted collectors channeling light to indoor spaces, with one key exception: the increase in absorption tails over the long term. Techniques were developed for measuring this weak tails absorption, which significantly reduces light output from the required long collector sheets. Suggestions are made as to its cause, and possible methods of its reduction

Absorption tails and extinction in luminescent solar concentrators

Non-ultraviolet (UV) photoexposure of luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) can produce photoproducts that cause additional extinction at wavelengths somewhat longer than the main dye absorption peak. This photo-induced 'tails' extinction is deleterious to luminous output in collectors of useful lengths. An experimental method that enables the subdivision of tails extinction in an LSC into absorbed and scattered components is described. The relevant theory is outlined, and experimental results are presented for a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) LSC containing Lumogen F083 dye. For this sample, tails absorption increased significantly with outdoor exposure, while tails scattering remained constant. Further measurements indicate that LSC luminous output is around five times more sensitive to tails absorption than to fluorescence quenching. This work also indicates that merely checking for dye quenching, as is often done, can be a misleading indicator of long-term LSC output. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Uniform white light distribution with low loss from coloured LEDs using polymer doped polymer mixing rods

Colour mixing of red, green and blue (RGB) LEDs is demonstrated for a 6 cm long PMMA cylindrical rod with a transparent refractive index matched micro particle (TRIMM) diffuser sheet at the output end. Ray tracing simulations have been performed, and the output light distributions, transmittances and losses modelled and compared with experiment. Photographed and modelled colour mixing results are presented for rods with and without TRIMM sheet mixers. The TRIMM particles homogenize the light output of plain PMMA rods to form white light, with negligible backscattering. A simple method for measuring the concentration of the particles in the diffuser sheet is described, and computer modeling and analysis of TRIMM particle systems is discussed

Perylene dye photodegradation due to ketones and singlet oxygen

The photodegradation rate of a perylene dye (Lumogen F Yellow 083) in methyl isobutyrate was found to increase with ketone concentration for two different ketones. Of the ketones employed, methyl pyruvate, an impurity in methyl methacrylate, was found to be particularly deleterious to dye stability. In agreement with other published studies, the addition of the anti-oxidant DABCO (1,4-diazabicyclo-[2.2.2] octane) to the dye matrix was found to increase dye stability; however when ketones were present, DABCO lead to increased photodegradation. These results highlight the importance of removing ketone impurities from dye matrices during production of Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs). © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The Potential of DAS in Teleseismic Studies: Insights From the Goldstone Experiment

Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is a recently developed technique that has demonstrated its utility in the oil and gas industry. Here we demonstrate the potential of DAS in teleseismic studies using the Goldstone OpticaL Fiber Seismic experiment in Goldstone, California. By analyzing teleseismic waveforms from the 10 January 2018 M7.5 Honduras earthquake recorded on ~5,000 DAS channels and the nearby broadband station GSC, we first compute receiver functions for DAS channels using the vertical-component GSC velocity as an approximation for the incident source wavelet. The Moho P-to-s conversions are clearly visible on DAS receiver functions. We then derive meter-scale arrival time measurements along the entire 20-km-long array. We are also able to measure path-averaged Rayleigh wave group velocity and local Rayleigh wave phase velocity. The latter, however, has large uncertainties. Our study suggests that DAS will likely play an important role in many fields of passive seismology in the near future

Obtaining strong ferromagnetism in diluted Gd-doped ZnO thin films through controlled Gd-defect complexes

We demonstrate the fabrication of reproducible long-range ferromagnetism (FM) in highly crystalline Gdx Zn 1−xO thin films by controlling the defects. Films are grown on lattice-matched substrates by pulsed laser deposition at low oxygen pressures (≤25 mTorr) and low Gd concentrations (x ≤ 0.009). These films feature strong FM (10 μB per Gd atom) at room temperature. While films deposited at higher oxygen pressure do not exhibit FM, FM is recovered by post-annealing these films under vacuum. These findings reveal the contribution of oxygen deficiency defects to the long-range FM. We demonstrate the possible FM mechanisms, which are confirmed by density functional theory study, and show that Gd dopants are essential for establishing FM that is induced by intrinsic defects in these films

Behavior therapy for pediatric trichotillomania: Exploring the effects of age on treatment outcome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of behavior therapy for pediatric trichotillomania was recently completed with 24 participants ranging in age from 7 - 17. The broad age range raised a question about whether young children, older children, and adolescents would respond similarly to intervention. In particular, it is unclear whether the younger children have the cognitive capacity to understand concepts like "urges" and whether they are able to introspect enough to be able to benefit from awareness training, which is a key aspect of behavior therapy for trichotillomania.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants were randomly assigned to receive either behavior therapy (N = 12) or minimal attention control (N = 12), which was included to control for repeated assessments and the passage of time. Primary outcome measures were the independent evaluator-rated NIMH-Trichotillomania Severity Scale, a semi-structured interview often used in trichotillomania treatment trials, and a post-treatment clinical global impression improvement rating (CGI-I).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The correlation between age and change in symptom severity for all patients treated in the trial was small and not statistically significant. A 2 (group: behavioral therapy, minimal attention control) × 2 (time: week 0, 8) × 2 (children < 9 yrs., children > 10) ANOVA with independent evaluator-rated symptom severity scores as the continuous dependent variable also detected no main effects for age or for any interactions involving age. In light of the small sample size, the mean symptom severity scores at weeks 0 and 8 for younger and older patients randomized to behavioral therapy were also plotted. Visual inspection of these data indicated that although the groups appeared to have started at similar levels of severity for children ≤ 9 vs. children ≥ 10; the week 8 data show that the three younger children did at least as well as if not slightly better than the nine older children and adolescents.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Behavior therapy for pediatric trichotillomania appears to be efficacious even in young children. The developmental and clinical implications of these findings will be discussed.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00043563.</p

Absence of association between behavior problems in childhood and hypertension in midlife

Background It is known that behavior in childhood is associated with certain physical and mental health problems in midlife. However, there is limited evidence on the role of childhood behavior problems in the development of hypertension in adulthood. The present study aimed to examine whether behavior problems in childhood influenced the risk of hypertension in midlife in the United Kingdom 1958 birth cohort. Methods The 1958 British birth cohort comprised 17,638 individuals born in the first week of March 1958 in the United Kingdom. Behavior problems were assessed at 7, 11, and 16 years of age by parents and teachers. At age 45, blood pressure was measured and hypertension was recorded if blood pressure was ≥140/90 mm Hg or if the participants were informed by their health professionals that they had high blood pressure. Behavioral information was reported according to the Rutter Children's Behaviour Questionnaire (RCBQ) and the Bristol Social Adjustment Guide (BSAG). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to examine behavior problems in childhood in relation to hypertension at 45 years of age according to logistic regression analysis, with adjustment for sex, social class in childhood and adulthood, childhood cognition, birth weight, gestational age at birth, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity. Results Behavior problems reported by parents at 7, 11, and 16 years were not associated with hypertension in midlife (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.81, 1.07; OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.81, 1.11; OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.85, 1.12, respectively). Similarly, teacher-reported behavior problems at 7, 11, and 16 years were not associated with hypertension in midlife (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.72, 1.18; OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.84, 1.02; OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.92, 1.15, respectively). Further separate analyses showed similar results for males and females. Conclusion There is no association between behavior problems in childhood and hypertension in midlife