Improved hole injection/extraction using PEDOT:PSS interlayer coated onto high temperature annealed ITO electrode for efficient device performances

We demonstrate the improved device performances by using the structure of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) film coated onto the indium tin oxide (ITO) anodic electrode annealed at 400 °C under the normal ambient. The ITO thin films show the improved film quality with decreased dislocation density and lattice strain as annealing temperature increases. The spin-coated PEDOT:PSS film smoothens the wrinkle kind of surface morphology of the ITO film annealed at 400 °C. The annealed ITO (400 °C) with PEDOT:PSS interlayer improves the hole-current density in the hole-only devices (HODs) having the device structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/N,N'-Bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N'-diphenylbenzidine as hole-transporting layer/Al. It enhances the efficiency of organic photovoltaic devices [ITO (annealed) /PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM (active layer)/LiF/Al] by three times higher (1.69 %) when compared to that (0.48 %) of pristine ITO based OPV device. These results show that the annealing of ITO film at the high temperature of 400 °C under the normal ambient improves the film quality and lowers the potential energy barrier at ITO/PEDOT:PSS interface for effective hole injection/extraction process, resulting in the enhanced device electrical performances.

Particle Ejection by Jetting and Related Effects in Impact Welding Processes

Collision welding processes are accompanied by the ejection of a metal jet, a cloud of particles (CoP), or both phenomena, respectively. The purpose of this study is to investigate the formation, the characteristics as well as the influence of the CoP on weld formation. Impact welding experiments on three different setups in normal ambient atmosphere and under vacuum-like conditions are performed and monitored using a high-speed camera, accompanied by long-term exposures, recordings of the emission spectrum, and an evaluation of the CoP interaction with witness pins made of different materials. It was found that the CoP formed during the collision of the joining partners is compressed by the closing joining gap and particularly at small collision angles it can reach temperatures sufficient to melt the surfaces to be joined. This effect was proved using a tracer material that is detectable on the witness pins after welding. The formation of the CoP is reduced with increasing yield strength of the material and the escape of the CoP is hindered with increasing surface roughness. Both effects make welding with low-impact velocities difficult, whereas weld formation is facilitated using smooth surfaces and a reduced ambient pressure under vacuum-like conditions. Furthermore, the absence of surrounding air eases the process observation since exothermic oxidation reactions and shock compression of the gas are avoided. This also enables an estimation of the temperature in the joining gap, which was found to be more than 5600 K under normal ambient pressure.

The design and usage of a portable incubator for inexpensive in-field water analysis

Humanitarian engineers need an inexpensive, fast, visually compelling way to assess bacterial water quality in remote locations. One way to do this is with 3M Petrifilm E. coli/Coliform (EC) Count Plates to detect E. coli in water samples. These require incubation at close to body temperature. To meet this need, we provide a free, open-source design of a battery-powered incubator capable of maintaining 35°C ± 1°C for up to 65 hours in ambient temperature of 25°C. Our incubator, called the Armadillo, can be replicated by an ordinarily skilled person in five hours for under USD $200.00 in materials cost. This paper summarises the reference documentation for construction, sample handling, inoculation, and incubation using Petrifilms and the Armadillo. Colony-forming unit (CFU) counts generated by the Armadillo are compared side-by-side with a laboratory-grade incubator. Incubation performance at ambient temperatures of 25°C and 4°C shows that a single battery charge reliably powers a full incubation period of 48 hours under normal ambient temperatures.

Fuel Station Monitoring and Automation based on WSN

The Iraqi fuel station still now uses old technologies to control its activities from filling tanks to the filling cars. Automate the activity of fuel station is the objective of this work. The aims of fuel station automation are to save the fuel quantities and qualities supplied in fuel station, and to keep the fuel station, the worker and its main parts safe. This work uses the national instrument wireless sensor network (NI WSN). The NI WSN used to automate the protection system and level controlling system which makes the fuel station work under normal ambient temperature, and normal protection conditions. Automation based on a wireless sensor network gives excellent capabilities to automate and monitor fuel station. Through the user interface window the user monitor the status of actuators, protection system controller messages, fuel levels, water level, environment temperature, power source and its quality. The soft controller developed was built within The LABVIEW environment. The results of controller give the desired action through "on" and “off” states of the actuators.

2015 North American ECA: Lessons Learned in CA

California experienced a 300% increase in loss of propulsion (LOP) incidents since its distillate fuel regulation came into effect in 2009. The compression ignition (Diesel) engines aboard modern cargo ships over 10,000 gross tons use 3.0% sulfur Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO). This fuel must be heated to flow through the fuel lines because at normal ambient temperature HFO has the consistency of tar. Distillate fuel in contrast does not require the high temperatures, and the thermodynamics of cooling metal, gaskets and seals resulted in leaks, along with filter clogging from engine buildup scrubbing. In addition, the cost savings of using HFO are significant over the use of distillate fuel which is typically around US$300 more per ton.

Electron yield soft X-ray photoabsorption spectroscopy under normal ambient-pressure conditions

Ambient-pressure soft X-ray photoabsorption spectroscopy (XAS) was demonstrated to be applicable to the chemical analysis of hydrated transition-metal compounds. For this purpose, even under ambient-pressure conditions, electron yield detection XAS (EY-XAS), based on a simple drain-current set-up, was used to overcome a weakness in fluorescence yield detection XAS (FY-XAS), which does not give a pure soft XAS. The feasibility of EY-XAS was investigated and it was clarified that the EY-XAS under ambient-pressure conditions corresponds to the mixed data of the total EY and conversion EY spectra. Normal ambient-pressure EY-XAS analysis was applied to anhydrous (CoCl2) and to hydrated (CoCl2·6H2O) cobalt chloride at the CoL23-edge. The present measurements demonstrated the ability to unambiguously distinguish the different chemical states of cobalt ions, relying upon spectral differences that indicate octahedral/quasi-octahedral structural changes as a result of hydration/dehydration reactions.

A simplified thermal model for a clothed human operator with thermoregulation

This paper presents a simplified yet comprehensive mathematical model to predict steady state temperature distribution for various regions of male clothed human operators who are healthy, passive/active and lean/obese under the influence of different environmental conditions using thermoregulatory control concept. The present model is able to predict the core temperature, close to 37oC for a healthy, passive/active and lean/obese operator at normal ambient temperatures. It is observed that due to increase in body fat, BF the skin temperature, of the operator decreases by a small amount. However, effect of age of the operator on is found to be insignificant. The present model has been validated against the experimental data available in the literature.