Sol–gel synthesis and characterization of barium (magnesium) aluminosilicate glass sealants for solid oxide fuel cells

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) correspond to efficient energy conversion systems coupled with low emissions of pollutants. In the aim to fabricate high temperature planar SOFC, glass and glass-ceramic sealants are developed to associate several criteria and properties : high thermal expansion (11.0 to 12.0 ⋅ 10− 6 K− 1), high electrical resistance > 2 kΩ/cm2, good thermochemical compatibility with the other active materials of the fuel cell, and stability under H2 and H2O atmospheres at an operation temperature of 800 °C for a long time. According to these requirements, new BAS (BaO–Al2O3–SiO2) and BMAS (BaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2) glass-ceramic sealants have been developed by sol–gel route which is a non-conventional process for such applications. By this soft chemistry process, we anticipate a decrease in the glasses processing temperature due to a better homogeneity between cationic precursors in the mixture and a more important reactivity of materials. Experimental results in terms of thermomechanical properties, thermal expansion coefficient, crystalline phase content, and microstructure were discussed. In particular, the influence of the %BaO on the thermomechanical properties of glass-ceramics was described. Changes in properties of glass-ceramics were closely related to the microstructure. The influence of MgO on glass processing temperatures, on the structure and on the microstructure is evaluated in order to confirm that these glass-ceramics are promising candidates to SOFC applications. So, after performing a systematic investigation to the various systems, the properties of suitable glass were proposed

Immigrant community integration in world cities

As a consequence of the accelerated globalization process, today major cities all over the world are characterized by an increasing multiculturalism. The integration of immigrant communities may be affected by social polarization and spatial segregation. How are these dynamics evolving over time? To what extent the different policies launched to tackle these problems are working? These are critical questions traditionally addressed by studies based on surveys and census data. Such sources are safe to avoid spurious biases, but the data collection becomes an intensive and rather expensive work. Here, we conduct a comprehensive study on immigrant integration in 53 world cities by introducing an innovative approach: an analysis of the spatio-temporal communication patterns of immigrant and local communities based on language detection in Twitter and on novel metrics of spatial integration. We quantify the "Power of Integration" of cities --their capacity to spatially integrate diverse cultures-- and characterize the relations between different cultures when acting as hosts or immigrants.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures + Appendi

Viscous stabilization of 2D drainage displacements with trapping

We investigate the stabilization mechanisms due to viscous forces in the invasion front during drainage displacement in two-dimensional porous media using a network simulator. We find that in horizontal displacement the capillary pressure difference between two different points along the front varies almost linearly as function of height separation in the direction of the displacement. The numerical result supports arguments taking into account the loopless displacement pattern where nonwetting fluid flow in separate strands (paths). As a consequence, we show that existing theories developed for viscous stabilization, are not compatible with drainage when loopless strands dominate the displacement process.Comment: The manuscript has been substantially revised. Accepted in Phys. Rev. Let

Creep via dynamical functional renormalization group

We study a D-dimensional interface driven in a disordered medium. We derive finite temperature and velocity functional renormalization group (FRG) equations, valid in a 4-D expansion. These equations allow in principle for a complete study of the the velocity versus applied force characteristics. We focus here on the creep regime at finite temperature and small velocity. We show how our FRG approach gives the form of the v-f characteristics in this regime, and in particular the creep exponent, obtained previously only through phenomenological scaling arguments.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTe

Simulating temporal evolution of pressure in two-phase flow in porous media

We have simulated the temporal evolution of pressure due to capillary and viscous forces in two-phase drainage in porous media. We analyze our result in light of macroscopic flow equations for two-phase flow. We also investigate the effect of the trapped clusters on the pressure evolution and on the effective permeability of the system. We find that the capillary forces play an important role during the displacements for both fast and slow injection rates and both when the invading fluid is more or less viscous than the defending fluid. The simulations are based on a network simulator modeling two-phase drainage displacements on a two-dimensional lattice of tubes.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, 14 figures, Postscrip

Forty Years of Erratic Insecticide Resistance Evolution in the Mosquito Culex pipiens

One view of adaptation is that it proceeds by the slow and steady accumulation of beneficial mutations with small effects. It is difficult to test this model, since in most cases the genetic basis of adaptation can only be studied a posteriori with traits that have evolved for a long period of time through an unknown sequence of steps. In this paper, we show how ace-1, a gene involved in resistance to organophosphorous insecticide in the mosquito Culex pipiens, has evolved during 40 years of an insecticide control program. Initially, a major resistance allele with strong deleterious side effects spread through the population. Later, a duplication combining a susceptible and a resistance ace-1 allele began to spread but did not replace the original resistance allele, as it is sublethal when homozygous. Last, a second duplication, (also sublethal when homozygous) began to spread because heterozygotes for the two duplications do not exhibit deleterious pleiotropic effects. Double overdominance now maintains these four alleles across treated and nontreated areas. Thus, ace-1 evolution does not proceed via the steady accumulation of beneficial mutations. Instead, resistance evolution has been an erratic combination of mutation, positive selection, and the rearrangement of existing variation leading to complex genetic architecture

Dynamics of Wetting Fronts in Porous Media

We propose a new phenomenological approach for describing the dynamics of wetting front propagation in porous media. Unlike traditional models, the proposed approach is based on dynamic nature of the relation between capillary pressure and medium saturation. We choose a modified phase-field model of solidification as a particular case of such dynamic relation. We show that in the traveling wave regime the results obtained from our approach reproduce those derived from the standard model of flow in porous media. In more general case, the proposed approach reveals the dependence of front dynamics upon the flow regime.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, revte

Pattern Formation in Interface Depinning and Other Models: Erratically Moving Spatial Structures

We study erratically moving spatial structures that are found in a driven interface in a random medium at the depinning threshold. We introduce a bond-disordered variant of the Sneppen model and study the effect of extremal dynamics on the morphology of the interface. We find evidence for the formation of a structure which moves along with the growth site. The time average of the structure, which is defined with respect to the active spot of growth, defines an activity-centered pattern. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations show that the pattern has a tail which decays slowly, as a power law. To understand this sort of pattern formation, we write down an approximate integral equation involving the local interface dynamics and long-ranged jumps of the growth spot. We clarify the nature of the approximation by considering a model for which the integral equation is exactly derivable from an extended master equation. Improvements to the equation are considered by adding a second coupled equation which provides a self-consistent description. The pattern, which defines a one-point correlation function, is shown to have a strong effect on ordinary space-fixed two-point correlation functions. Finally we present evidence that this sort of pattern formation is not confined to the interface problem, but is generic to situations in which the activity at succesive time steps is correlated, as for instance in several other extremal models. We present numerical results for activity-centered patterns in the Bak-Sneppen model of evolution and the Zaitsev model of low-temperature creep.Comment: RevTeX, 18 pages, 19 eps-figures, To appear in Phys. Rev.

Collective Particle Flow through Random Media

A simple model for the nonlinear collective transport of interacting particles in a random medium with strong disorder is introduced and analyzed. A finite threshold for the driving force divides the behavior into two regimes characterized by the presence or absence of a steady-state particle current. Below this threshold, transient motion is found in response to an increase in the force, while above threshold the flow approaches a steady state with motion only on a network of channels which is sparse near threshold. Some of the critical behavior near threshold is analyzed via mean field theory, and analytic results on the statistics of the moving phase are derived. Many of the results should apply, at least qualitatively, to the motion of magnetic bubble arrays and to the driven motion of vortices in thin film superconductors when the randomness is strong enough to destroy the tendencies to lattice order even on short length scales. Various history dependent phenomena are also discussed.Comment: 63 preprint pages plus 6 figures. Submitted to Phys Rev

Fluctuation spectrum of fluid membranes coupled to an elastic meshwork: jump of the effective surface tension at the mesh size

We identify a class of composite membranes: fluid bilayers coupled to an elastic meshwork, that are such that the meshwork's energy is a function $F_\mathrm{el}[A_\xi]$ \textit{not} of the real microscopic membrane area $A$, but of a \textit{smoothed} membrane's area $A_\xi$, which corresponds to the area of the membrane coarse-grained at the mesh size $\xi$. We show that the meshwork modifies the membrane tension $\sigma$ both below and above the scale $\xi$, inducing a tension-jump $\Delta\sigma=dF_\mathrm{el}/dA_\xi$. The predictions of our model account for the fluctuation spectrum of red blood cells membranes coupled to their cytoskeleton. Our results indicate that the cytoskeleton might be under extensional stress, which would provide a means to regulate available membrane area. We also predict an observable tension jump for membranes decorated with polymer "brushes"