Coulombic Efficiency for Practical Zinc Metal Batteries: Critical Analysis and Perspectives

Climate change and energy depletion are common worries of this century. During the global clean energy transition, aqueous zinc metal batteries (AZMBs) are expected to meet societal needs due to their large-scale energy storage capability with earth-abundant, non-flammable, and economical chemistries. However, the poor reversibility of Zn poses a severe challenge to AZMB implementation. Coulombic efficiency (CE) is a quantitative index of electrode reversibility in rechargeable batteries but is not well understood in AZMBs. Thus, in this work, the state-of-art CE to present the status quo of AZMB development is summarized. A fictional 120 Wh kg-1 AZMB pouch cell is also proposed and evaluated revealing the improvement room and technical goal of AZMB chemistry. Despite some shared mechanisms between AZMBs and lithium metal batteries, misconceptions prevalent in AZMBs are clarified. Essentially, AZMB has its own niche in the market with unique merits and demerits. By incorporating academic and industrial insights, the development pathways of AZMB are suggested. This work comprehensively explores recent advancements in the Coulombic efficiency of aqueous zinc ion batteries, illuminating overlooked test details. Setting a target of 99.9% efficiency, the researchers propose a hypothetical 120 Wh kg-1 MnO2/Zn pouch cell and delineate a three-stage plan to enhance energy density in future developments. Additionally, this work provides valuable insights for improving Coulombic efficiency and refining battery testing methodologies.imag

Microrheology of magnetorheological silicone elastomers during curing process under the presence of magnetic field

A microrheological method is employed for the first time to continuously and undisturbedly monitor variations of viscoelasticity of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) based on silica-coated carbonyl iron particles (SiCIPs)-filled silicone during the curing process. Results indicate that the elasticity of MREs dramatically increases with increasing magnetic field intensity, which is much more significant in comparison with the slow process of silicone curing at 25 % and 40 % SiCIPs. The formations of chain-like structure of SiCIPs and cured network of silicone are recognized, both contributing to the rheology of MREs, suggesting the possibility of developing a facile method for adjusting the rheology and fixing the structure of a wide range of MREs by applying magnetic field during the curing of matrix

Double-layer ramp-metering model for incident congestion on expressway

In order to ensure stable traffic capacity and avoid incident congestion, a double-layer ramp metering model is proposed in this paper, based on coordination control theory, to predict and control the traffic flow at each on-ramp, when there is incident congestion on the expressway. The function of the lower model is to recognize where the incident congestion exists, based on an adaptive neural network with inputs of traffic flow, velocity and density. The outputs of the lower model are the number of section where the congestion occurs, the number of ramp which should be controlled, and real-time traffic flow information. These outputs should be transmitted to the upper model. The function of the upper model is to design the ramp-metering strategy based on nonlinear theory. The outputs of the upper model are a ramp-metering rate and traffic-flow state after ramp controlling on the expressway. The results of the simulation show that the double-layer ramp metering model could shorten the delay by about 25%, and the variance of the model results is 0. 002, which could certify the control strategy is equitable

A Compact W-Band Reflection-Type Phase Shifter with Extremely Low Insertion Loss Variation Using 0.13 µm CMOS Technology

This paper presents a reflection-type phase shifter (RTPS) at W-band in a 0.13 µm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The RTPS is composed of a 90° hybrid coupler and two identical reflection loads. Lumped-distributed element transmission line is introduced in the 90° hybrid coupler to reduce the chip size. Series inductor-capacitor (LC) resonators are used as the reflective loads and parallel inductors are deployed to reduce insertion loss variation. By cascading two-stage RTPS, 90° phase shifting range and 10.5 dB insertion loss with 1 dB variations from 80 GHz to 90 GHz are achieved. An impressive 0.1 dB variation is obtained at 86 GHz

Design and implementation of partial dynamically reconfigurable FPGA process scheduling

In view of the diverse edge computing requirements of the 6G era, reconfigurable technology based on FPGAs can achieve lower latency and provide diversified services. Based on the idea of local dynamic reconfiguration, the ICAP interface is used to reconfigure FPGA resources, so as to realize the local dynamic reconfigurable scheme on the FPGA logic. Drawing on the idea of software process management in the operating system, based on the concept of introducing hardware processes in the Linux operating system, it is possible to divide a whole block of FPGA resources into multiple small FPGA resource blocks, each small reconfigurable FPGA resource block can be abstracted into a hardware process, the hardware process is actually not running on the CPU but running in the FPGA logical resource area, and is only a software language description of the hardware process on the operating system. As a result, the hardware scheme of CPU plus FPGA is designed to achieve partial reconfigurable system, and verified on Xilinx Zynq series chips, and the FPGA hardware resources are scheduled and allocated in a process manner, which greatly improves the utilization and flexibility of FPGA hardware resources

Design and implementation of communication middleware of heterogeneous processors in STRS system

Aiming at the problems of low real-time performance, large redundancy, and inability to recover from faults in the communication between heterogeneous processors in the Space Telecommunication Radio System (STRS),the distributed data distribution service (DDS) middleware technology is introduced into the STRS architecture to realize the publish/subscribe mode-based communication middleware between the STRS heterogeneous processor waveform application components.Under the premise of being fully compatible with the STRS standard specification, it effectively improves the real-time performance of the communication system based on STRS, reduces the complexity and redundancy of the system, improves the development efficiency, saves the development and maintenance costs of the system, and realizes the dynamic refactoring of global and local modules

Research of Message Scheduling for In-Vehicle FlexRay Network Static Segment Based on Next Fit Decreasing (NFD) Algorithm

FlexRay is becoming the in-vehicle communication network of the next generation. In this study, the main contents are the FlexRay network static segment scheduling algorithm and optimization strategy, improve the scheduling efficiency of vehicle network and optimize the performance of communication network. The FlexRay static segment characteristic was first analyzed, then selected bandwidth utilization as the performance metrics to scheduling problem. A signal packing method is proposed based on Next Fit Decreasing (NFD) algorithm. Then Frame ID (FID) multiplexing method was used to minimize the number of FIDs. Finally, experimental simulation by CANoe. FlexRay software, that shows the model can quickly obtain the message schedule of each node, effectively control the message payload size and reduced bus payload by 16.3%, the number of FID drops 53.8% while improving bandwidth utilization by 32.8%

Correction: Physiological Disturbance May Contribute to Neurodegeneration Induced by Isoflurane or Sevoflurane in 14 Day Old Rats

BACKGROUND: Volatile anesthetics are widely used in pediatric anesthesia but their potential neurotoxicity raise significant concerns regarding sequelae after anesthesia. However, whether physiological disturbance during anesthetic exposure contributes to such side effects remains unknown. The aim of the current study is to compare the neurotoxic effects of isoflurane and sevoflurane in 14 day old rat pups under spontaneous breathing or ventilated conditions. METHODS: Postnatal 14 day rats were assigned to one of five groups: 1) spontaneous breathing (SB) + room air (control, n = 17); 2) SB + isoflurane (n = 35); 3) SB + sevoflurane (n = 37); 4) mechanical ventilation (MV) + isoflurane (n = 29); 5) MV + sevoflurane (n = 32). Anesthetized animal received either 1.7% isoflurane or 2.4% seveoflurane for 4 hours. Arterial blood gases and blood pressure were monitored in the anesthetized groups. Neurodegeneration in the CA3 region of hippocampus was assessed with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated DNA nick-end labeling immediately after exposure. Spatial learning and memory were evaluated with the Morris water maze in other cohorts 14 days after experiments. RESULTS: Most rats in the SB groups developed physiological disturbance whereas ventilated rats did not but become hyperglycemic. Mortality from anesthesia in the SB groups was significantly higher than that in the MV groups. Cell death in the SB but not MV groups was significantly higher than controls. SB + anesthesia groups performed worse on the Morris water maze behavioral test, but no deficits were found in the MV group compared with the controls. CONCLUSIONS: These findings could suggest that physiological disturbance induced by isoflurane or sevoflurane anesthesia may also contribute to their neurotoxicity