| 1. |
- Liu, Zhidan, et al.
(author)
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A novel configuration of microbial fuel cell stack bridged internally through an extra cation exchange membrane.
- 2008
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In: Biotechnology Letters. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-6776 .- 0141-5492. ; 30, s. 1017-1023
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reports a novel configuration of stacked microbial fuel cells (MFCs) bridged internally through an extra cation exchange membrane (CEM). The MFC stack (MFC(stack)), assembled from two single MFCs (MFC(single)), resulted in double voltage output and half optimal external resistance. COD removal rate was increased from 32.4% to 54.5%. The performance improvement could be attributed to the smaller internal resistance and enhanced cations transfer. A result from a half cell study further confirmed the important role of the extra CEM. This study also demonstrated MFCs where the anode and cathode were sandwiched between two CEMs possessed significantly high power outputs.
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| 2. |
- Liu, Zhidan, et al.
(author)
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Study of operational performance and electrical response on mediator-less microbial fuel cells fed with carbon- and protein-rich substrates
- 2009
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In: Biochemical Engineering Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 1369-703X. ; 45:3, s. 185-191
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The inducement of electroactive consortia was carried Out in dual-chamber MFCS using acetate-based substrate- and a protein-rich synthetic wastewater in fed-batch mode. The characteristics of these MFCs were then compared. MFCs based on acetate-induced consortia (MFCAce) achieved more than twice higher maximum power, and one half of optimal external resistance in comparison to MFCs based on consortia (MFCPro) induced by a protein-rich wastewater. Furthermore, these MFCs exhibited various electrical responses even identical Substrate being applied. MFCAce preferred carbon-neutral substrates. whereas MFCPro exhibited better performance on nitrogen rich feedstock. In particular, for glucose-glutamic acid solution with gradually decreased glucose/glutamic acid ratio, MFCPro exhibited increasing electrical responses than MFCAce. These results suggest that it is possible to optimize the behavior and characteristics of MFC through proper selection of feeding substrate. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 3. |
- Chen, Guanying, et al.
(author)
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Near vacuum ultraviolet luminescence of Gd3+ and Er3+ ions generated by super saturation upconversion processes
- 2009
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In: Optics Express. - 1094-4087. ; 17:19, s. 16366-16371
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Near vacuum ultraviolet (UV) upconversion (UC) emissions with a spectral resolution of 1 nm, from the (6)G(J), D-6(J), I-6(J), P-6(J) levels of Gd3+ and the L-2(17/2), D-4(7/2), H-2(2)(9/2), D-2(5/2), (4)G(7/2), K-2(13/2), P-2(3/2) levels of Er3+, were observed under 974 nm laser excitation. Mechanism analyses illustrate that successive energy transfers (ETs) from Yb3+ to Er3+ generate UV UC radiations in Er3+, while two resonant ETs from Er3+ to Gd3+ lead to UV UC radiations in Gd3+. Power dependence analyses indicate that the expected inefficient four- and five-photon processes have been switched into efficient two-photon processes due to a super saturation UC phenomenon that employs consecutive saturations at the intermediate states. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America
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| 4. |
- Shi, Lei, et al.
(author)
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An investigation into ultra-thin pseudobinary oxide (TiO2)(x)(Al2O3)(1-x) films as high-k gate dielectrics
- 2008
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In: Applied Physics A. - : Springer Verlag (Germany). - 0947-8396 .- 1432-0630. ; 90:2, s. 379-384
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As potential gate dielectric materials, pseudobinary oxide (TiO2)(x)(Al2O3)(1-x) (0.1 less than= x less than= 0.6) films (TAO) were deposited on Si (100) substrates by pulsed-laser deposition method and studied systematically via various measurements. By a special deposition process, including two separate steps, the TAO films were deposited in the form of two layers. The first layer was deposited at room temperature and the second layer was completed at the substrate temperature of 400 degrees C. Detailed data show that the properties of the TAO films are closely related to the ratio between TiO2 and Al2O3. The existence of the first layer deposited at room temperature can effectively restrain the formation of the interfacial layer. And according to the results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy performed on the films, no other information belonging to the silicon oxide could be observed. For the (TiO2)(0.4)(Al2O3)(0.6) film, the best result has been achieved among all samples and its dielectric constant is evaluated to be about 38. It is valuable for the amorphous TAO film as one of the promising dielectric materials for high-k gate dielectric applications.
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| 5. |
- Xu, Can, et al.
(author)
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Autofluorescence insensitive imaging using upconverting nanocrystals in scattering media
- 2008
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In: Applied Physics Letters. - : AIP Publishing. - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 93:17
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Autofluorescence is a nuisance in the field of fluorescence imaging and tomography of exogenous molecular markers in tissue, degrading the quality of the collected data. In this letter, we report autofluorescence insensitive imaging using highly efficient upconverting nanocrystals (NaYF4: Yb3+ /Tm3+) in a tissue phantom illuminated with near- infrared radiation of 85 mW/cm(2). It was found that imaging with such nanocrystals leads to an exceptionally high contrast compared to traditional downconverting fluorophores due to the absence of autofluorescence. Upconverting nanocrystals may be envisaged as important biological markers for tissue imaging purposes. c 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3005588]
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