A New Type of Tri-Input TFET with T-Shaped Channel Structure Exhibiting Three-Input Majority Logic Behavior

In this paper, we propose a new type of tri-input tunneling field-effect transistor (Ti-TFET) that can compactly realize the “Majority-Not” logic function with a single transistor. It features an ingenious T-shaped channel and three independent-biasing gates deposited and patterned on its left, right, and upper sides, which greatly enhance the electrostatic control ability between any two gates of all the three gates on the device channel and thus increase its turn-on current. The total current density and energy band distribution in different biasing conditions are analyzed in detail by TCAD simulations. The turn-on current, leakage current, and ratio of turn-on/off current are optimized by choosing appropriate work function and body thickness. TCAD simulation results verify the expected characteristics of the proposed Ti-TFETs in different working states. Ti-TFETs can flexibly be used to implement a logic circuit with a compact style and thus reduce the number of transistors and stack height of the circuits. It provides a new technique to reduce the chip area and power consumption by saving the number of transistors.

Theoretical Investigation of the Effects of some Geometrical Parameters on the Performance of Wire-Plate Electrostatic Precipitator

Some geometric parameters affecting the performance of a wire-plate electrostatic precipitator (ESP) are investigated theoretically. A numerical model was built to investigate the influence of the discharge wire size, wire separation, collector plates spacing, and roughness factor on the ESP performance. The results show that thinner wires emit higher current than larger ones at the same applied voltage, which would be suitable for low voltage power supply to generate the desired current density at the collecting electrodes. The results also show that, as the discharge electrodes get closer, the corona gets suppressed, resulting in a diminished corona current flow. On the other hand, as the distance between electrodes increases, the total current density decreases, leading to a less efficient ESP performance. Narrow spacing between collector plates gives a better performance. With regard to the effect of the roughness factor, the results revealed that the emitted current is strongly affected by the wires physical conditions.

Electrochemical Behavior and Electronucleation of Copper Nanoparticles from CuCl2·H2O Using a Choline Chloride-Urea Eutectic Mixture

This work presents a thorough study on the early stage of copper electrodeposition from a choline chloride-urea deep eutectic solvent (DES). Determination of possible species in DES containing Cu2+ ions as the electrolytes has been performed using UV-Vis measurements. Kinetic and thermodynamic aspects of copper electrodeposition on glassy carbon electrode from DES were thoroughly investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). Both results from CA and CV have demonstrated that the copper electrodeposition could be performed directly from DES containing a small amount of water by the single potentiostatic step technique. Theoretical approach confirmed that the direct electronucleation of copper nanoparticles in the DES can be described by a model with two contributions, namely, (i) adsorption process and (ii) a three-dimensional (3D) nucleation and diffusion-controlled growth of copper nuclei, to the total current density transients. Kinetic parameters are important for controlling morphology and chemical composition of the obtained nanoparticles, which are verified by surface characterization techniques such as SEM and EDS.

Core-Shell ZnO@Cu2O as Catalyst to Enhance the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to C2 Products

The copper-based catalyst is considered to be the only catalyst for electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction to produce a variety of hydrocarbons, but its low selectivity and low current density to C2 products restrict its development. Herein, a core-shell xZnO@yCu2O catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction was fabricated via a two-step route. The high selectivity of C2 products of 49.8% on ZnO@4Cu2O (ethylene 33.5%, ethanol 16.3%) with an excellent total current density of 140.1 mA cm−2 was achieved over this core-shell structure catalyst in a flow cell, in which the C2 selectivity was twice that of Cu2O. The high electrochemical activity for ECR to C2 products was attributed to the synergetic effects of the ZnO core and Cu2O shell, which not only enhanced the selectivity of the coordinating electron, improved the HER overpotential, and fastened the electron transfer, but also promoted the multielectron involved kinetics for ethylene and ethanol production. This work provides some new insights into the design of highly efficient Cu-based electrocatalysts for enhancing the selectivity of electrochemical CO2 reduction to produce high-value C2 products.

Identification of Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices at the Earth’s magnetosphere

<p>Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is a widespread phenomenon in space plasmas, such as at the planetary magnetospheres. During its nonlinear phase, the generation of Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices takes place. The identification of such coherent structures is not straightforward in observational data contrary to numerical simulations where both temporal evolution and spatial behavior can be observed. Recently, a comparison between a hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell simulation and Magnetospheric Multi-Scale satellites observation of a Kelvin-Helmholtz event has shown the presence of kinetic features that can uniquely characterize the boundaries of Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices.  Indeed, a strong total current density has been observed in correspondence of the edges of each vortex associated with a weakly distorted distribution function from the equilibrium distribution; while the opposite occurs inside the vortex region. Moreover, a new tool has been proposed to distinguish the different phases of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and to identify the trajectory of the spacecraft across the vortex itself. Such a tool takes into consideration the mixing degree between the magnetospheric-like and magnetosheath-like particles population in the Earth environment. The clear identification of a vortex in <em>in situ</em> data is an important achievement since it can provide a better understanding of the role that Kelvin-Helmholtz instability plays in weakly collisional space plasmas in the contest of energy dissipation.</p><p>This work has received funding from the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 776262 (AIDA,).</p>

Hydrogen Peroxide Oxidation Reaction on a 4-Mercaptopyridine Self-Assembled Monolayer on Au(111) Metallized by Platinum Nanoislands

A systematic investigation of the hydrogen peroxide oxidation reaction (HPOR) in phosphate buffer (pH = 7.3) on an Au(111) single crystal modified with a 4-mercaptopyridine self-assembled monolayer (SAM) has been conducted before and after metallization with Pt. While bare Au(111) shows considerable electrocatalytic activity towards the HPOR, the inhibition of the oxidation reaction after modification with the SAM implies that adsorbed 4-mercaptopyridine molecules do not catalyze the HPOR. However, SAM-modified Au(111) recovers catalytic activity for the HPOR already after a single metallization step fabricating Pt islands on-top. Hydrogen peroxide (HP) may then either react at the (non-metallic) Pt nanoislands or on reactivated Au sites, made accessible by structural changes of the SAM induced by the metallization. The shape of the voltammetric profiles for the HPOR on repeatedly metallized SAMs suggests that the contribution of Au to the total current density gradually diminishes with increasing Pt coverage while the contribution of the Pt islands increases. The electrochemical behavior is dominated by the Pt islands at a coverage of 0.5 ML obtained by three subsequent metallization steps. Graphical abstract

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: Geometric Scaling and Similarity Conditions

In the present study, the similarity conditions in the proton exchange membrane fuel cells are investigated and the scaling effect on the polarization curve is analyzed. The steady-state two-dimensional, isothermal single-phase, and multi-species system of flow field's governing equations are utilized besides the ionic and electric potentials to predict numerically the fuel cell operation. Here, the finite-volume and cell-centered method is used as a numerical scheme. It is concluded that the similarity may exist in the performance of the fuel cells by considering some requirements. The results show that the scaling up the fuel cell with scaling size of SC makes the total current density SC times the based one, and the potential fields of the base and scaled fuel cells are similar. In addition, the effect of geometric scaling on different regions of the polarization curve is investigated for non-similar condition which shows that scaling-down the fuel cell amplifies the mass transport limiting region, and increases somewhat its maximum total current density.

𝓲-SATA: A MATLAB based toolbox to estimate Current Density generated by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in an Individual Brain

BackgroundTranscranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a technique where a weak current is passed through the electrodes placed on the scalp. The distribution of the electric current induced in the brain due to tDCS is provided by simulation toolbox like Realistic-volumetric-Approach-based-Simulator-for-Transcranial-electric-stimulation (ROAST). However, the procedure to estimate the total current density induced at the target and the intermediary region of the cortex is complex. The Systematic-Approach-for-tDCS-Analysis (SATA) was developed to overcome this problem. However, SATA is limited to standardized headspace only. Here we develop individual-SATA (𝓲-SATA) to extend it to individual head.MethodT1-weighted images of 15 subjects were taken from two Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners of different strengths. Across the subjects, the montages were simulated in ROAST. 𝓲-SATA converts the ROAST output to Talairach space. The x, y and z coordinates of the anterior commissure (AC), posterior commissure (PC), and Mid-Sagittal (MS) points are necessary for the conversion. AC and PC are detected using the acpcdetect toolbox. We developed a method to determine the MS in the image and cross-verified its location manually using BrainSight®.ResultDetermination of points with 𝓲-SATA is fast and accurate. The 𝓲-SATA provided estimates of the current-density induced across an individual’s cortical lobes and gyri as tested on images from two different scanners.ConclusionResearchers can use 𝓲-SATA for customizing tDCS-montages. With 𝓲-SATA it is also easier to compute the inter-individual variation in current-density across the target and intermediary regions of the brain. The software is publicly available.