Veille Stratégique Et Capacité D’innovation Des Petites Et Moyennes Industries Camerounaises

Globalization and the opening of markets have made competition increasingly fierce, calling into question the difficulty for companies to stay in the market. For this reason, companies today are seeking to be efficient and innovative by making the best use of new information and communication technology means to collect, store, process and disseminate information from their environments. Business intelligence is the ideal tool to enable companies to adapt easily, to implement the best strategies and above all to innovate. Although strategic intelligence has proved its effectiveness in Western countries in terms of innovation, in African countries in general and in Cameroon in particular, the practice of strategic intelligence remains very weak in companies. The purpose of this article is to analyze the influence of the different facets of strategic intelligence on the innovation capacity of Cameroonian SMIs. The empirical study conducted among 65 Cameroonian SMIs shows that managers make very little use of strategic information from the external environment and that only the practice of business intelligence has an impact on innovation capacity.La mondialisation et l’ouverture des marchés ont rendu la concurrence de plus en plus accrue remettant en question la difficulté des entreprises à maintenir sur le marché. Raison pour laquelle aujourd’hui les entreprises cherchent à être performantes et innovantes en utilisant au mieux les nouveaux moyens de la technologie de l’information et de la communication afin de collecter, stocker, traiter et diffuser les informations en provenance de leurs environnements. La veille stratégique constitue l’outil idéal pour permettre aux entreprises de s’adapter facilement, de mettre en place les meilleures stratégies et surtout d’innover. Bien que la veille stratégique ait prouvé son efficacité dans les pays occidentaux en matière d’innovation, dans les pays africains en général et au Cameroun en particulier, la pratique de la veille stratégique reste très faible dans les entreprises. L’objet de cet article est d’analyser l’influence des différentes facettes de la veille stratégique sur la capacité d’innovation des PMI camerounaises. L’étude empirique menée auprès de 65 PMI camerounaises permet de montrer que les dirigeants exploitent très peu les informations stratégiques issues de l’environnement externe et que seule la pratique de la veille commerciale a un impact sur la capacité d’innovation

Effectively control negative thermal expansion of single-phase ferroelectrics of PbTiO3-(Bi,La)FeO3 over a giant range

Control of negative thermal expansion is a fundamentally interesting topic in the negative thermal expansion materials in order for the future applications. However, it is a challenge to control the negative thermal expansion in individual pure materials over a large scale. Here, we report an effective way to control the coefficient of thermal expansion from a giant negative to a near zero thermal expansion by means of adjusting the spontaneous volume ferroelectrostriction (SVFS) in the system of PbTiO3-(Bi,La) FeO3 ferroelectrics. The adjustable range of thermal expansion contains most negative thermal expansion materials. The abnormal property of negative or zero thermal expansion previously observed in ferroelectrics is well understood according to the present new concept of spontaneous volume ferroelectrostriction. The present studies could be useful to control of thermal expansion of ferroelectrics, and could be extended to multiferroic materials whose properties of both ferroelectricity and magnetism are coupled with thermal expansion

Structure, piezoelectric, and ferroelectric properties of BaZrO 3 substituted Bi(Mg 1/2Ti 1/2)O 3-PbTiO 3 perovskite

The structure and electric properties of (0.9-x)Bi(Mg1/2 Ti 1/2)O3-xPbTiO3-0.1BaZrO3(0.45 ≤x ≤0.53) ceramics were investigated. The morphotropic phase boundary between tetragonal ferroelectric and pseudo-cubic relaxor phases is ascertained at x=0.50. The BaZrO3 substitution can much reduce the coercive field of Bi(Mg1/2 Ti1/2)O3-PbTiO3. The studies on temperature dependence of both ferroelectric and dielectric constant indicate a direct evidence for the antiferroelectric relaxor phase, which was ever suggested in the binary system of Bi(Mg1/2 Ti1/2)O3-PbTiO3. The phase transition of ferroelectric to antiferroelectric relaxor produces the thermal depoling below the Curie temperature. The ceramic of BMT-0.47PT-0.1BZ exhibits a high strain 0.37% and a large-signal d33 (530 pm/V) in the antiferroelectric-relaxor phase. BaZrO3 substituted Bi(Mg1/2 Ti1/2)O3-PbTiO3 shows an analogous phase diagram to that of lead-free (Bi, Na)TiO 3-BaTiO 3

Temperature-independent ferroelectric property and characterization of high-TC 0.2Bi(Mg1/2Ti1/2)O3-0.8PbTiO3 thin films

Ferroelectric property stability against elevated temperature is significant for ferroelectric film applications, such as non-volatile ferroelectric random access memories. The high-TC 0.2Bi(Mg1/2Ti1/2)O3-0.8PbTiO3 thin films show the temperature-independent ferroelectric properties, which were fabricated on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates via sol-gel method. The present thin films were well crystallized in a phase-pure perovskite structure with a high (100) orientation and uniform texture. A remanent polarization (2Pr) of 77 μC cm-2 and a local effective piezoelectric coefficient d33* of 60 pm/V were observed in the 0.2Bi(Mg1/2Ti1/2)O3-0.8PbTiO3 thin films. It is interesting to observe a behavior of temperature-independent ferroelectric property in the temperature range of room temperature to 125°C. The remanent polarization, coercive field, and polarization at the maximum field are almost constant in the investigated temperature range. Furthermore, the dielectric loss and fatigue properties of 0.2Bi(Mg 1/2Ti1/2)O3-0.8PbTiO3 thin films have been effectively improved by the Mn-doping

Controllable synthesis of mesostructures from TiO2 hollow to porous nanospheres with superior rate performance for lithium ion batteries

Uniform TiO2 nanospheres from hollow, core-shell and mesoporous structures have been synthesized using quasi-nano-sized carbonaceous spheres as templates. The TiO2 nanospheres formed after calcination at 400 °C are composed of ∼7 nm nanoparticles and the shells of the hollow TiO2 nanospheres are as thin as a single layer of nanoparticles. The ultrafine nanoparticles endow the hollow and mesoporous TiO2 nanospheres with short lithium ion diffusion paths leading to high discharge specific capacities of 211.9 and 196.0 mA h g-1 at a current rate of 1 C (167.5 mA g-1) after 100 cycles, and especially superior discharge specific capacities of 125.9 and 113.4 mA h g-1 at a high current rate of up to 20 C. The hollow and mesoporous TiO2 nanospheres also show superior cycling stability with long-term discharge capacities of 103.0 and 110.2 mA h g-1, respectively, even after 3000 cycles at a current rate of 20 C

Giant polarization in super-tetragonal ferroelectric thin films through interphase strain

Strain engineering has emerged as a powerful tool to enhance the performance of known functional materials. Here we demonstrate a general and practical method to obtain super-tetragonality and giant polarization using interphase strain. We use this method to create an out-of-plane–to–in-plane lattice parameter ratio of 1.238 in epitaxial composite thin films of tetragonal lead titanate (PbTiO3), compared to 1.065 in bulk. These thin films with super-tetragonal structure possess a giant remanent polarization, 236.3 microcoulombs per square centimeter, which is almost twice the value of known ferroelectrics. The super-tetragonal phase is stable up to 725°C, compared to the bulk transition temperature of 490°C. The interphase-strain approach could enhance the physical properties of other functional materials.PostprintPeer reviewe

Doping Regulation in Transition Metal Phosphides for Hydrogen Evolution Catalysts

Due to their excellent catalytic properties, transition metal phosphides have become the most promising and inexpensive electrocatalytic materials to replace noble metals in electrocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production. Element doping is an efficient way to greatly improve their activity and stability. This review revisits recent research on regulating the properties of transition metal phosphides through doping modifications. The types of elements(metal doping, non-metal doping, co-doping), the number of elements(single element doping, multi-element doping, high entropy doping), and the doping position are discussed in detail. And how these factors tune the electronic structure of transition metal phosphides are studied. Through the combination of experimental results and theoretical calculation, the effects of doped elements on hydrogen adsorption intensity, water adsorption and dissociation, charge transfer and transmission were analyzed. Moreover, the structure-activity relationship between doped structure, electronic structure, and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) catalytic performance was obtained. Finally, we put forward the remaining challenges and future research directions of related research

Doping Regulation in Transition Metal Phosphides for Hydrogen Evolution Catalysts

Due to their excellent catalytic properties, transition metal phosphides have become the most promising and inexpensive electrocatalytic materials to replace noble metals in electrocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production. Element doping is an efficient way to greatly improve their activity and stability. This review revisits recent research on regulating the properties of transition metal phosphides through doping modifications. The types of elements(metal doping, non-metal doping, co-doping), the number of elements(single element doping, multi-element doping, high entropy doping), and the doping position are discussed in detail. And how these factors tune the electronic structure of transition metal phosphides are studied. Through the combination of experimental results and theoretical calculation, the effects of doped elements on hydrogen adsorption intensity, water adsorption and dissociation, charge transfer and transmission were analyzed. Moreover, the structure-activity relationship between doped structure, electronic structure, and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) catalytic performance was obtained. Finally, we put forward the remaining challenges and future research directions of related research

Progress of the Structure-property Correlation of Heteroatomic Coordination Structured Carbon-based Single-atom Electrocatalysts

Single-atom catalysts are a class of supported catalysts with high atomic economy and high activity using mutually isolated single metal atoms as the catalytic active center,which have been widely used in energy electroca-talysis. In recent years,researchers have constructed single-atom electrocatalysts with heteroatomic coordination structures by using two or more heteroatoms coordinated to the active center metal atom. It was found that this asym-metric coordination structure effectively modulated the electronic structure of the central metal atom,optimizing the adsorption and desorption energies of the catalytic reaction,and improving the electrocatalytic performance. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the synthesis strategies and characterization techniques of carbon-based single-atom electrocatalysts with heteroatomic coordination structures,and their structure-property correlation for energy electrocatalysis. We give prospects of the future research for this field at the end of the review

Covalent Organic Frameworks Based Inorganic/Organic Composite Materials for Photocatalytic Applications

As a rising class of functional porous organic materials with tunable pore structures and flexible chemical environments, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have demonstrated their tremendous potential in numerous applications, such as adsorption, water purification, heterogeneous catalysis, and organic electronics. In the field of photocatalytic applications, the association of emerging COFs with traditional inorganic catalysts can effectively combine the functionality of COFs with the stability of their inorganic counterparts to construct efficient and stable composite photocatalysts. A rapidly growing new field has been established regarding COFs-based inorganic/organic hybrid photocatalysts, which call for a timely review to summarize recent developments. In this contribution, we revisit this promising composite photocatalysts by emphasizing some recent breakthroughs in synthetic strategies and the enhanced performance in various photocatalytic applications. Simultaneously, the mechanisms of performance improvement are elucidated by analyzing the interactions between the inorganic and organic counterparts. We hope general tactics could be inspired for directing open considerations for the future design of photocatalysts and their practical implementations