Solar Thermal Conversion of Plasmonic Nanofluids: Fundamentals and Applications

Plasmonic nanofluids show great interests for light-matter applications due to the tunable optical properties. By tuning the nanoparticle (NP) parameters (material, shape, and size) or base fluid, plasmonic nanofluids can either absorb or transmit the specific solar spectrum and thus making nanofluids ideal candidates for various solar applications, such as: full spectrum absorption in direct solar absorption collectors, selective absorption or transmittance in solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems, and local heating in the solar evaporation or nanobubble generation. In this chapter, we first summarized the preparation methods of plasmonic nanofluids, including the NP preparation based on the top-down and bottom-up, and the nanofluid preparation based on one-step and two-step. And then solar absorption performance of plasmonic nanofluids based on the theoretical and experimental design were discussed to broaden the absorption spectrum of plasmonic nanofluids. At last, solar thermal applications and challenges, including the applications of direct solar absorption collectors, solar PT/V systems, solar distillation, were introduced to promote the development of plasmon nanofluids

Increasing Interest in Inclusive Education in the Context of Action Plan for the Development and Enhancement of Special Education during the Fourteenth Five-Year Period in China: An Analysis of Baidu Index Data

Objective: Current evidence shows that public interest in inclusive education has been rising since the implementation of Action Plan for the development and enhancement of special education during the Fourteenth Five-Year period in China. The aim of this study was to quantify recent trends in public interest and related online search behavior for inclusive education in the context of this Action Plan. Methods: Baidu Index, a database of search engines with massive information, was employed. By searching for the keyword inclusive education, and using content analysis to understand the data information related to inclusive education. This study also extracted the search trend data of Chinese netizens on the related terms "Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities " and "Regulation on the Education of Persons with Disabilities" from January 1, 2022 to October 27, 2022. Finally, it compares the search trend of public search interests of inclusive education with related terms. Results: The public's interest in "inclusive education" and the related terms "Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities " and "Regulation on the Education of Persons with Disabilities" has been on the rise since the implementation of the Action Plan. The search trend reached its peak in February and May 2022, the valley in January 2022, and the search volume in other time periods tended to be stable. Conclusion: Baidu Index can understand the public's interest in inclusive education. The study shows that the rising search trend of inclusive education is closely related to the implementation of the Action Plan. The search volume of the "Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities " and "Regulation on the Education of Persons with Disabilities" is basically the same as that of "inclusive education", but the average search volume daily of "inclusive education" is slightly higher than that of "Regulation on the Education of Persons with Disabilities"

Operando and three-dimensional visualization of anion depletion and lithium growth by stimulated Raman scattering microscopy

Visualization of ion transport in electrolytes provides fundamental understandings of electrolyte dynamics and electrolyte-electrode interactions. However, this is challenging because existing techniques are hard to capture low ionic concentrations and fast electrolyte dynamics. Here we show that stimulated Raman scattering microscopy offers required resolutions to address a long-lasting question: how does the lithium-ion concentration correlate to uneven lithium deposition? In this study, anions are used to represent lithium ions since their concentrations should not deviate for more than 0.1 mM, even near nanoelectrodes. A three-stage lithium deposition process is uncovered, corresponding to no depletion, partial depletion, and full depletion of lithium ions. Further analysis reveals a feedback mechanism between the lithium dendrite growth and heterogeneity of local ionic concentration, which can be suppressed by artificial solid electrolyte interphase. This study shows that stimulated Raman scattering microscopy is a powerful tool for the materials and energy field

Development of New Microsatellite DNA Markers from Apostichopus japonicus and Their Cross-Species Application in Parastichopus parvimensis and Pathallus mollis

Twenty microsatellite DNA markers were developed for sea cucumber and used to investigate polymorphisms of 60 wild Apostichopus japonicus individuals collected from China. It revealed that all the markers were polymorphic. A total of 164 alleles were detected at 20 loci. The number of alleles per locus varied from 3 to 17 with an average of 8.2, and the expected heterozygosities of each locus ranged from 0.03 to 0.89 with an average of 0.64. Cross-species amplification was also conducted in Parastichopus parvimensis collected from the United States and Pathallus mollis collected from Peru. The result showed that 17 loci amplified Parastichopus parvimensis DNAs while only 4 loci could amplify Pathallus mollis DNAs. All of the polymorphic markers would be useful for future genetic breeding and the assessment of genetic variation within sea cucumbers

Operando and three-dimensional visualization of anion depletion and lithium growth by stimulated Raman scattering microscopy

Visualization of ion transport in electrolytes provides fundamental understandings of electrolyte dynamics and electrolyte-electrode interactions. However, this is challenging because existing techniques are hard to capture low ionic concentrations and fast electrolyte dynamics. Here we show that stimulated Raman scattering microscopy offers required resolutions to address a long-lasting question: how does the lithium-ion concentration correlate to uneven lithium deposition? In this study, anions are used to represent lithium ions since their concentrations should not deviate for more than 0.1 mM, even near nanoelectrodes. A three-stage lithium deposition process is uncovered, corresponding to no depletion, partial depletion, and full depletion of lithium ions. Further analysis reveals a feedback mechanism between the lithium dendrite growth and heterogeneity of local ionic concentration, which can be suppressed by artificial solid electrolyte interphase. This study shows that stimulated Raman scattering microscopy is a powerful tool for the materials and energy field

A contrastive study on strategic value of public space plan in urban development from the perspective of space production

Book of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017Public space is one of the most important elements to realize the concept of resilient city. Not only could it provide emergency shelters when disasters, it also could provide a flexible and sustainable development for industries as a macroscopic spatial strategy. The value of public space has been rising gradually with calls for human-centered environment, after its concession for economic development in decades. Because it could beautify environment and promote social communication. What’s more, it has a tendency from its own ecological, social and aesthetic value to strategic one as a catalyst in urban development. Urban catalyst, means that a particular element has a positive influence on the external or internal conditions of the existing ones and causes a “chain reaction”, promoting continuous urban development as arrangement (Atton W.& Logan D., 1994). There is no doubts that public space has a great potential to be a catalyst in urban development.Published versio

Spatial Difference of Transit-Based Accessibility to Hospitals by Regions Using Spatially Adjusted ANOVA

This paper proposes a spatial difference analysis method for evaluating transit-based accessibility to hospitals using spatially adjusted ANOVA. This method specializes in examining spatial variations of accessibility to hospitals by regions (i.e. administrative districts or subdistricts). The spatial lag model is applied to adjust traditional ANOVA, which reduces spatial dependency and avoids false rejection to null hypothesis. Multiple comparison methods are used for further detection of differences in accessibility between regions. After multiple comparison, accessibility within regions is classified into three levels. The study is conducted on two scales—administrative districts and subdistricts—to discuss spatial variations in macro and micro dimensions respectively in the central part of Wuhan, China. Accessibility is calculated by using a simple model and a gravity model. The final classification results showed that the spatially adjusted method is more reliable than the traditional non spatially adjusted one and the gravity model can better detect more hidden information about the inequal distribution of medical resources. It is also found that the subdistricts, which have significantly lower accessibility to hospitals than others, are mainly distributed in Hongshan and Qingshan district. Our study hopes to shed new lights in spatial difference analysis for accessibility and provide policy recommendations that would promote equality in provisions of public health services

Using an Eigenvector Spatial Filtering-Based Spatially Varying Coefficient Model to Analyze the Spatial Heterogeneity of COVID-19 and Its Influencing Factors in Mainland China

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many deaths and economic disruptions across the world. Several studies have examined the effect of corresponding health risk factors in different places, but the problem of spatial heterogeneity has not been adequately addressed. The purpose of this paper was to explore how selected health risk factors are related to the pandemic infection rate within different study extents and to reveal the spatial varying characteristics of certain health risk factors. An eigenvector spatial filtering-based spatially varying coefficient model (ESF-SVC) was developed to find out how the influence of selected health risk factors varies across space and time. The ESF-SVC was able to take good control of over-fitting problems compared with ordinary least square (OLS), eigenvector spatial filtering (ESF) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models, with a higher adjusted R2 and lower cross validation RMSE. The impact of health risk factors varied as the study extent changed: In Hubei province, only population density and wind speed showed significant spatially constant impact; while in mainland China, other factors including migration score, building density, temperature and altitude showed significant spatially varying impact. The influence of migration score was less contributive and less significant in cities around Wuhan than cities further away, while altitude showed a stronger contribution to the decrease of infection rates in high altitude cities. The temperature showed mixed correlation as time passed, with positive and negative coefficients at 2.42 °C and 8.17 °C, respectively. This study could provide a feasible path to improve the model fit by considering the problem of spatial autocorrelation and heterogeneity that exists in COVID-19 modeling. The yielding ESF-SVC coefficients could also provide an intuitive method for discovering the different impacts of influencing factors across space in large study areas. It is hoped that these findings improve public and governmental awareness of potential health risks and therefore influence epidemic control strategies

Experimental investigation of Cu@C core-shell nanoparticle suspensions for highly efficient solar-thermal conversion

The choice of working medium plays a pivotal role in achieving efficient solar-thermal utilization. Nanoparticle suspensions, due to their superior optical and thermal properties, emerge as promising candidates. However, their widespread use is hindered by high costs and a limited absorption bandwidth. In this study, Cu@C core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared through an experimental process, employing a straightforward in situ polymerization method followed by high-temperature carbonization. Finite element calculations reveals that the solar absorption power of Cu@C NPs surpasses that of C NPs and Cu NPs by 57.2 % and 22.9 %, respectively. This enhancement is attributed to the synergistic coupling between the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of the Cu core and the robust intrinsic absorption of the C shell. Under 1-sun illumination intensity, experimental findings show that the solar-thermal conversion efficiency (η) of the Cu@C nanoparticle suspension, with a mass fraction of 100 ppm, attains approximately 93 %, tripling that of the water base-fluid (∼31 %). Moreover, both η and the temperature profile exhibit negligible variations under different solar intensities and after repeated heating and cooling cycles, indicating the exceptional stability of the suspensions. These results suggest that Cu@C nanoparticle suspensions present a dependable and efficient solution for solar-thermal applications