Phase-field investigation of lithium electrodeposition under different applied overpotentials and operating temperatures

Despite the high promise, the commercialization of Li-metal-based batteries has been hampered due to the formation of dendrites that lead to mechanical instability, energy loss and eventual internal short circuits. The mechanism of dendrite formation and the strategies to suppress their growth have been studied intensively. However, the effect of applied overpotential and operating temperature on dendrite growth remains to be fully understood. Here, we elucidate the correlation of overpotential and temperature with the surface modulation during electrodeposition using phase-field simulations. We identify an optimal operating temperature of half-cell consisting of a Li metal anode and 1M LiPF6 in EC:DMC(1:1), which increases gradually as the overpotential increases. The investigation reveals that the temperature dependence identified in the simulations and experiments often disagree because they are primarily conducted in galvanostatic and potentiostatic conditions, respectively. The temperature increase under potentiostatic conditions increases the induced current while it decreases the induced overpotential under galvanostatic conditions. Therefore, the analysis and comparison of temperature-dependent characteristics must be carried out with care.

The Impact of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa Food Security and Human Development

Poverty, malnutrition, food insecurity, and hunger are social determinants of health, well-being, and when associated with other resource-related hardships (e.g., housing instability, energy insecurity) are serious and costly constraints to human development. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the world’s poorest countries and most family farmers do not have access to markets, important determinant for economic development. African traditional eating has been related to sustainability and positive health outcomes although the scenario is shifting to modern occidental foods. Food fortification with micronutrients may not be the right solution when there is no data on basic dietary intake. Further to the long existing housing, energy and water crisis, family farmers living at subsistence level, their livelihoods and communities, are now facing deeper worries and sufferings on food supplies. Sub-Saharan Africa was faced with a myriad of hurdles, where climate change was considered the greatest challenge, until COVID-19. Urgent priority call for high-impact initiatives and recommendations that are feasible in each of the national contexts. Success will only be achieved through strong public investment on health sectors, agricultural extension services, irrigation, and rural infrastructures.

Fragility: concept and related notions

Fragility is perhaps the concept that best represents the many uncertainties of our time related to different issues such as political and economic instability, energy and ecological transition, climate change, demographic and migratory dynamics. The article aims at conceptually clarifying the notion of fragility so as to try to differentiate it from other related notions such as that of vulnerability. It is pointed out that vulnerability is a notion that, unlike fragility, can be understood (in line of principle) entirely by means of risk analysis tools; and secondly, although both fragility and vulnerability can be regarded as ‘dispositions', they belong to two different types.

Design of a New Compressed Air Energy Storage System with Constant Gas Pressure and Temperature for Application in Coal Mine Roadways

Renewable energy (wind and solar power, etc.) are developing rapidly around the world. However, compared to traditional power (coal or hydro), renewable energy has the drawbacks of intermittence and instability. Energy storage is the key to solving the above problems. The present study focuses on the compressed air energy storage (CAES) system, which is one of the large-scale energy storage methods. As a lot of underground coal mines are going to be closed in China in the coming years, a novel CAES system is proposed for application in roadways of the closing coal mines. The new system combines pumped-hydro and compressed-air methods, and features constant air pressure and temperature. Another specific character of the system is the usage of flexible bags to store the compressed air, which can effectively reduce air leakage. The governing equations of the system are derived, and the response of the system is analyzed. According to the equations, for a roadway with depth of 500 m and volume of 10,000 cubic meters, the power generation capacity of the CAES system is approximately 18 MW and the generating time is 1.76 h. The results show that the new CAES system proposed is reasonable, and provides a suitable way to utilize the underground space of coal mines.

Nonlinear Oscillations Induced by Follower Forces in Prestressed Clamped Rods Subjected to Drag

Elastic-driven slender filaments subjected to compressive follower forces provide a synthetic way to mimic the oscillatory beating of biological flagella and cilia. Here, we use a continuum model to study the dynamical, nonlinear buckling instabilities that arise due to the action of nonconservative follower forces on a prestressed slender rod clamped at both ends and allowed to move in a fluid. Stable oscillatory responses are observed as a result of the interplay between the structural elastic instability of the inextensible slender rod, geometric constraints that control the onset of instability, energy pumped into the system by the active follower forces, and motion-driven fluid dissipation. Initial buckling instabilities are initiated by the effect of the follower forces and inertia; fluid drag subsequently allows for the active energy pumped into the system to be dissipated away and results in self-limiting amplitudes. By integrating the equations of equilibrium and compatibility conditions with linear constitutive laws, we compute the critical follower forces for the onset of oscillations, emergent frequencies of these solutions, and the postcritical nonlinear rod shapes for two forms of the drag force, namely linear Stokes drag and quadratic Morrison drag. For a rod with fixed inertia and drag parameters, the minimum (critical) force required to initiate stable oscillations depends on the initial slack and weakly on the nature of the drag force. Emergent frequencies and the amplitudes postonset are determined by the extent of prestress as well as the nature of the fluid drag. Far from onset, for large follower forces, the frequency of the oscillations can be predicted by evoking a power balance between the energy input by the active forces and the dissipation due to fluid drag.

A perspective on oil-whirl using two orthogonal coupled oscillators

It has been known for many years that rotating machinery with hydrodynamic oil-film bearings can exhibit oil-whirl instability, where the unidirectional oil-film force acts on the rotor causing it to vibrate at a natural frequency. In this article, this phenomenon is investigated using two orthogonal coupled oscillators in which the bearing is modeled using short-bearing theory and an oscillating π oil-film to account for cavitation. It is found that at the point of instability, energy is extracted from the oil-film by one of the oscillators, and this energy is dissipated by the other one, such that there is no net energy gain or loss from the system. When the steady-state eccentricity ratio is such that the whirl frequency goes to zero, the oscillators effectively become undamped so that there is no energy exchange between them, and the system is stable.

Self-limiting and regenerative dynamics of perturbation growth on a vortex column

We study the mechanisms of centrifugal instability and its eventual self-limitation, as well as regenerative instability on a vortex column with a circulation overshoot (potentially unstable) via direct numerical simulations of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The perturbation vorticity (${\boldsymbol{\omega} }^{\prime } $) dynamics are analysed in cylindrical ($r, \theta , z$) coordinates in the computationally accessible vortex Reynolds number, $\mathit{Re}({\equiv }\mathrm{circulation/viscosity} )$, range of 500–12 500, mostly for the axisymmetric mode (azimuthal wavenumber $m= 0$). Mean strain generates azimuthally oriented vorticity filaments (i.e. filaments with azimuthal vorticity, ${ \omega }_{\theta }^{\prime } $), producing positive Reynolds stress necessary for energy growth. This ${ \omega }_{\theta }^{\prime } $ in turn tilts negative mean axial vorticity, $- {\Omega }_{z} $ (associated with the overshoot), to amplify the filament, thus causing instability. (The initial energy growth rate (${\sigma }_{r} $), peak energy (${G}_{\mathit{max}} $) and time of peak energy (${T}_{p} $) are found to vary algebraically with $\mathit{Re}$.) Limitation of vorticity growth, also energy production, occurs as the filament moves the overshoot outward, hence lessening and shifting $\vert {- }{\Omega }_{z} \vert $, while also transporting the core $+ {\Omega }_{z} $, to the location of the filament. We discover that a basic change in overshoot decay behaviour from viscous to inviscid occurs at $Re\sim 5000$. We also find that the overshoot decay time has an asymptotic limit of 45 turnover times with increasing $\mathit{Re}$. After the limitation, the filament generates negative Reynolds stress, concomitant energy decay and hence self-limitation of growth; these inviscid effects are enhanced further by viscosity. In addition, the filament transports angular momentum radially inward, which can produce a new circulation overshoot and renewed instability. Energy decays at the $\mathit{Re}$ studied, but, at higher $\mathit{Re}$, regenerative growth of energy is likely due to the renewed mean shearing. New generation of overshoot and Reynolds stress is examined using a helical ($m= 1$) perturbation. Regenerative energy growth, possibly resulting in even vortex breakup, can be triggered by this new overshoot at practical $\mathit{Re}$ (${\sim }1{0}^{6} $ for trailing vortices), which are currently beyond the computational capability.

PERFORMANCE OF MICRO-INJECTOR WITH INNER BLOCK FOR DROP ON DEMAND APPLICATIONS

This paper investigates the characteristics of a piezoelectric micro-injector for drop-on-demand (DOD) applications. The micro-injector is designed with an inner block inside the chamber to enhance the instability energy for the production of mono-size droplet. The micro-nozzle was fabricated by MEMS processes. The upper chip is a silicon chip with two holes as the inlet and outlet of the liquid matter. A diaphragm is mounted on the center of the upper chip. The lower chip has an orifice of 50µm in diameter. The flow through the chamber is used to promote the refilling mechanism for droplet generation. A piezoelectric actuator operated in push mode (D33) was mounted on the upper chip to drive the liquid through the nozzle. An inner block is designed on the inner side of the upper chip. Results show that the micro-injector with inner block could generate mono-size droplet under the driving voltage ranging from 62.5 to 150 volt at frequency of 3.2 kHz. The droplets size was 60µm with velocity ranging from 3.3 to 4.7 m/s which is higher than the case without inner block. As a comparison, the injection of the micro-injector without inner block needs a much higher driving voltage of 112.5 volt at driving frequency of 9.7kHz. It is concluded that the micro-injector with the inner block performs better than the one without the inner block.