Behaviour change in post-consumer recycling: Applying agent-based modelling in social experiment

Change in consumer behavior that leads to increased waste separation and recycling has been identified as a critical component of Chinese national strategy for constructing a “Circular Economy”. Various innovative solutions at community level targeting consumer behaviors are emerging in Chinese cities, using information technology that can track the volume and quality of the sorting process. In order to evaluate the potential impact of these novel solutions, we studied the behavioral change of households by initiating an experimental recycling program in a residential community in Beijing, and developed an Agent Based Model based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to identify key factors in changing behavior. The results show that the Social Norm (SN) has a decisive effect on whether an area starts recycling or not. As to the effectiveness of intervention, the Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) plays a large role in the determination of the recycling behavior in this study, while the role of attitude is relatively small. The model outcomes can be corroborated with observations in different communities using similar technical solutions. In conclusion, we suggest that efficient local interactions among various stakeholders are needed in forming the social norm and common space that favorite recycling activities at the community level.</p

Chromium nitride as a stable cathode current collector for all-solid-state thin film Li-ion batteries

The development of highly oxidation resistant current collectors which are inert against lithium at elevated temperatures (>600 °C) and high potentials (3–5 V vs. Li+/Li) is required for the realization of high voltage, thin film, all-solid-state Li-ion batteries. This is due to the method of building such batteries using layer by layer deposition, requiring the first layer to remain stable during all subsequent processing steps. A new cathode current collector based on Cr2N thin films and prepared by reactive pulsed DC sputtering at 300 °C is reported here. By varying the nitrogen partial pressure in the reactor several CrxN thin film alloys are prepared and their microstructural and electrical properties are characterized. We demonstrate that the alloy with an estimated composition of Cr2.1N exhibits a relatively low sheet resistance of 2.6 Ω sq−1 for a ∼500 nm film, high oxidation resistance and no reaction with lithium up to 600 °C. Furthermore, we observed electrochemical stability in the potential range 3–5 V vs. Li+/Li. Finally, as a proof of concept the electrochemical behavior of cells using Cr2.1N thin films as a current collector for the high voltage cathode LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 is presented.ISSN:2046-206

Behaviour change in post-consumer recycling: Applying agent-based modelling in social experiment

Change in consumer behavior that leads to increased waste separation and recycling has been identified as a critical component of Chinese national strategy for constructing a “Circular Economy”. Various innovative solutions at community level targeting consumer behaviors are emerging in Chinese cities, using information technology that can track the volume and quality of the sorting process. In order to evaluate the potential impact of these novel solutions, we studied the behavioral change of households by initiating an experimental recycling program in a residential community in Beijing, and developed an Agent Based Model based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to identify key factors in changing behavior. The results show that the Social Norm (SN) has a decisive effect on whether an area starts recycling or not. As to the effectiveness of intervention, the Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) plays a large role in the determination of the recycling behavior in this study, while the role of attitude is relatively small. The model outcomes can be corroborated with observations in different communities using similar technical solutions. In conclusion, we suggest that efficient local interactions among various stakeholders are needed in forming the social norm and common space that favorite recycling activities at the community level.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Energy & IndustrySystem EngineeringEducation and Student AffairsPolicy AnalysisCircuits and System

Ni-Al-Cr superalloy as high temperature cathode current collector for advanced thin film Li batteries

To obtain full advantage of state-of-the-art solid-state lithium-based batteries, produced by sequential deposition of high voltage cathodes and promising oxide-based electrolytes, the current collector must withstand high temperatures (>600 °C) in oxygen atmosphere. This imposes severe restrictions on the choice of materials for the first layer, usually the cathode current collector. It not only must be electrochemically stable at high voltage, but also remain conductive upon deposition and annealing of the subsequent layers without presenting a strong diffusion of its constituent elements into the cathode. A novel cathode current collector based on a Ni–Al–Cr superalloy with target composition Ni0.72Al0.18Cr0.10 is presented here. The suitability of this superalloy as a high voltage current collector was verified by determining its electrochemical stability at high voltage by crystallizing and cycling of LiCoO2 directly onto it.ISSN:2046-206

Two-Dimensional Supramolecular Electron Spin Arrays

A bottom-up approach is introduced to fabricate two-dimensional self-assembled layers of molecular spin-systems containing Mn and Fe ions arranged in a chessboard lattice. We demonstrate that the Mn and Fe spin states can be reversibly operated by their selective response to coordination/decoordination of volatile ligands like ammonia (NH3)

CCDC 1455039: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Sylwia Nowakowska, Federico Mazzola, Mariza N. Alberti, Fei Song, Tobias Voigt, Jan Nowakowski, Aneliia Wäckerlin, Christian Wäckerlin, Jérôme Wiss, W. Bernd Schweizer, Max Broszio, Craig Polley, Mats Leandersson, Shadi Fatayer, Toni Ivas, Milos Baljozovic, S. Fatemeh Mousavi, Aisha Ahsan, Thomas Nijs, Olha Popova, Jun Zhang, Matthias Muntwiler, Carlo Thilgen, Meike Stöhr, Igor A. Pasti, Natalia V. Skorodumova, François Diederich, Justin Wells, Thomas A. Jung|2018|ACS Nano|12|768|doi:10.1021/acsnano.7b07989,An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.