Thermodynamic behavior of correlated electron-hole fluids in van der Waals heterostructures

Coupled two-dimensional electron-hole bilayers provide a unique platform to study strongly correlated Bose-Fermi mixtures in condensed matter. Electrons and holes in spatially separated layers can bind to form interlayer excitons, composite Bosons expected to support high-temperature exciton superfluids. The interlayer excitons can also interact strongly with excess charge carriers when electron and hole densities are unequal. Here, we use optical spectroscopy to quantitatively probe the local thermodynamic properties of strongly correlated electron-hole fluids in MoSe2/hBN/WSe2 heterostructures. We observe a discontinuity in the electron and hole chemical potentials at matched electron and hole densities, a definitive signature of an excitonic insulator ground state. The excitonic insulator is stable up to a Mott density of ~$0.8\times {10}^{12} \mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ and has a thermal ionization temperature of ~70 K. The density dependence of the electron, hole, and exciton chemical potentials reveals strong correlation effects across the phase diagram. Compared with a non-interacting uniform charge distribution, the correlation effects lead to significant attractive exciton-exciton and exciton-charge interactions in the electron-hole fluid. Our work highlights the unique quantum behavior that can emerge in strongly correlated electron-hole systems

Thermodynamic analysis of aqueous phase reforming of three model compounds in bio-oil for hydrogen production

Thermodynamic analysis with Gibbs free energy minimization was performed for aqueous phase reforming of methanol, acetic acid, and ethylene glycol as model compounds for hydrogen production from bio-oil. The effects of the temperature (340-660 K) and pressure ratio P-sys/P-H2O (0.1-2.0) on the selectivity of H-2 and CH4, formation of solid carbon, and conversion of model compounds were analyzed. The influences of CaO and O-2 addition on the formation of H-2, CH4, and CO2 in the gas phase and solid phase carbon, CaCO3, and Ca(OH)(2) were also investigated. With methanation and carbon formation, the conversion of the model compounds was >99.99% with no carbon formation, and methanation was thermodynamically favored over hydrogen production. H-2 selectivity was greatly improved when methanation was suppressed, but most of the inlet model compounds formed solid carbon. After suppressing both methanation and carbon formation, aqueous phase reforming of methanol, acetic acid and ethylene glycol at 500 K and with P-sys/P-H2O = 1.1 gave H-2 selectivity of 74.98%, 66.64% and 71.38%, respectively. These were similar to the maximum stoichiometric hydrogen selectivity of 75.00% (methanol), 66.67% (acetic acid), and 71.43% (ethylene glycol). At 500 K and 2.90 MPa, as the molar ratio of CaO/BMCs increased, the normalized variation in H-2 increased and that for CH4 decreased. Formation of solid carbon was effectively suppressed by addition of O-2, but this was at the expense of H-2 formation. With the O-2/BMCs molar ratio regulated at 1.0, oxidation and CO2 capture increased the normalized variation in H-2 to 33.33% (methanol), 50.00% (acetic acid), and 60.00% (ethylene glycol), and the formation of solid carbon decreased to zero. Copyright (C) 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Special transformer sharing mode: Utilizing special transformers of buildings to supply power for charging stations

Abstract In view of the limited capacity for public transformers to accept electric vehicles (EVs) and the large cost of putting in new transformers to supply power in the parking lot of urban buildings, a special transformer sharing mode (STSM) is proposed, where charging station operators utilize the special transformers of buildings to supply power for charging stations. To enhance the applicability of STSM, single regulation and joint regulation methods for the charging price strategy of charging stations are put up, and the mathematical model of joint regulation is focused on. First of all, a joint regulation mechanism is established, in which EVs are guided to charge off‐peak and off‐station through the joint regulation. Secondly, integrating charging fees, queuing costs, and transfer costs, the equivalent charging prices for EV users are put forward. Based on the difference of the equivalent charging prices, transfer probability model for EVs’ charging periods and charging stations is proposed. Furthermore, the overall objective of joint regulation is built based on the net income of all parties. And an optimization method for the joint regulation of charging prices is proposed. Then, regulation lifting ratio is put forward to reflect the superiority of joint regulation over single regulation. Based on this, an evaluation model for joint station diameter threshold is established. The practical result proves that through single regulation and joint regulation, approximately 200–500 additional EVs can be powered, which will result in significant savings in infrastructure construction and investment costs

A new TROPOMI product for tropospheric NO2 columns over East Asia with explicit aerosol corrections

We present a new product with explicit aerosol corrections, POMINO-TROPOMI, for tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) vertical column densities (VCDs) over East Asia, based on the newly launched TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument with an unprecedented high horizontal resolution. Compared to the official TM5-MP-DOMINO (OFFLINE) product, POMINO-TROPOMI shows stronger concentration gradients near emission source locations and better agrees with MAX-DOAS measurements (R2 D 0:75; NMB D 0:8% versus R2 D 0:68, NMB D 41:9 %). Sensitivity tests suggest that implicit aerosol corrections, as in TM5-MP-DOMINO, lead to underestimations of NO2 columns by about 25%over the polluted northern East China region. Reducing the horizontal resolution of a priori NO2 profiles would underestimate the retrieved NO2 columns over isolated city clusters in western China by 35% but with overestimates of more than 50% over many offshore coastal areas. The effect of a priori NO2 profiles is more important under calm conditions. </p

Thermodynamic behavior of correlated electron-hole fluids in van der Waals heterostructures

Coupled two-dimensional electron-hole bilayers provide a unique platform to study strongly correlated Bose-Fermi mixtures in condensed matter. Electrons and holes in spatially separated layers can bind to form interlayer excitons, composite Bosons expected to support high-temperature exciton condensates. The interlayer excitons can also interact strongly with excess charge carriers when electron and hole densities are unequal. Here, we use optical spectroscopy to quantitatively probe the local thermodynamic properties of strongly correlated electron-hole fluids in MoSe2/hBN/WSe2 heterostructures. We observe a discontinuity in the electron and hole chemical potentials at matched electron and hole densities, a definitive signature of an excitonic insulator ground state. The excitonic insulator is stable up to a Mott density of ~0.8 × 1012 cm-2 and has a thermal ionization temperature of ~70 K. The density dependence of the electron, hole, and exciton chemical potentials reveals strong correlation effects across the phase diagram. Compared with a non-interacting uniform charge distribution, the correlation effects lead to significant attractive exciton-exciton and exciton-charge interactions in the electron-hole fluid. Our work highlights the unique quantum behavior that can emerge in strongly correlated electron-hole systems