Advanced Industrial Science And Technology Research Articles

Iridium Catalyst Immobilized on Crosslinked Polyethyleneimine for Continuous Hydrogen Production Using Formic Acid.

Invited for this month's cover is provided by researchers from National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan. The image shows the flow type continuous hydrogen production from formic acid and power generation by fuel cell achieved by the iridium catalyst immobilized on crosslinked polyethylene imine. The Research Article itself is available at 10.1002/cssc.202301282.

Degradation Analysis of SOFC Performance for Long-Term Operation with High Fuel Utilization (2)

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are a power generation technology with its high efficiency and low environmental impact, and the most important issue for SOFC for practical use is to improve reliability as well as high efficiency. A national project on SOFC development in Japan, “Development of advanced evaluation and analysis technologies for the durability of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells stacks (2020-),” has been initiated as a NEDO project in order to clarify their long-term durability and find dominant degradation factor for each SOFC stacks. Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) has operated three kinds of different SOFC cell/stacks (flat-tubular and two kinds of planer) for durability under NEDO’s project, which have been developed by KYOCERA, MORIMURA SOFC Technology, and DENSO.Long-term durability tests of 20,000 hours have been conducted under high fuel utilization of 80% and 85%, which is close to the operating limit of each SOFC cell/stack for high efficiency, to evaluate the effects on the performance and degradation behavior of the cell/stack. In previous projects, we have developed an electrode polarization model that can accurately represent SOFC performance, including cell voltage and each overvoltage, under a variety of conditions. The degradation factors for durability of each SOFC cell/stack have been analyzed by using this model. The analysis revealed that the dominant degradation factors were increased cathode overvoltage and IR loss, similar to the SOFC cell/stacks that were modified from the previous project to improve their long-term durability. On the other hand, the degradation rate of cell voltage was higher at 85% than at 80% fuel utilization in one cell/stack, and the performance degradation factor analysis revealed that this difference was due to an increase in anode overvoltage at 85% than at 80% fuel utilization, where anode overvoltage was not the primary degradation factor.This work has been carried out under the projects (JPNP13001 and JPNP20003) of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan as contract research. We would like to express our gratitude to NEDO, many SOFC developers, as well as to university partners and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).

Preface

35th International Symposium on Superconductivity (ISS2022)It is our pleasure to report that the Proceedings of the 35th International Symposium on Superconductivity (ISS2022) held on November 29–December 1, 2022, are now published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS). ISS2022 was co-organized by the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). ISS2022 was held online owing to the continued travel restrictions by COVID-19 pandemic, but it had also in-person option at Winc-Aichi (Aichi Industry & Labour Center), Nagoya, Japan. Invited speakers, session chairs, program committee members and speakers were welcome to join in at Winc-Aichi.Total of 315 scientists, engineers, students, corporate executives and so on (132 from abroad) made advanced registrations for ISS2022, and fruitful discussions were made to promote superconductor sciences and technologies. Total of 190 papers were presented, which included 6 plenary lectures (45 min), 71 invited talks (25–30 min) and 113 contributed oral presentations (15–20 min). Among the papers presented in ISS2022, 34 manuscripts were submitted for ISS2022 Proceedings, and 33 papers were accepted for publication. The papers published in JPCS were categorized into relevant topics in the following four fields; (a) Physics and Chemistry, (b) Wires and Bulk, (c) Electronic Devices, (d) Large Scale System Applications.To ensure the high publication standard mandated by JPCS, every paper was peer reviewed by a reviewer with expertise before it was accepted for publication. As editors of the Proceedings, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to all the reviewers involved in the evaluation of the papers for their invaluable contribution.List of The Editors, Organization of ISS2022, Committees of ISS2022 are available in this Pdf.

Estimating Whole-Body Walking Motion from Inertial Measurement Units at Wrist and Heels Using Deep Learning

A recurrent-neural-network-based deep-learning model was developed to estimate the three-axis joint angles of an entire body with 17 bones during walking from three inertial measurement units (IMUs) — one each on the left wrist and heels. In this model, the acceleration and angular velocity of the previous 49 frames and current frame were considered as inputs. The architecture comprises two hidden layers (two long short-term memory layers) and a dense layer. The performance of the model was evaluated using the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) Gait Database 2019 public dataset. Consequently, the root mean squared error of each joint angle was less than 12.28°. A comparison of the estimation results of the same model with IMUs at the pelvis and shanks revealed that the proposed model is advantageous in terms of balanced measurement accuracy and ease of use in realizing whole-body motion capture. Although the accuracy of the model was better than those of previous models in estimating the general whole-body motion from six IMUs, it was worse than that of a previous model in estimating only the lower-limb motion from three IMUs attached to the pelvis and shanks during walking. In the proposed model, IMUs are attached to the left wrist and heels, and whole-body motion can be easily captured using a smartwatch and smart shoes.

The Buncher and the Magnetic Lens for the LINAC Based Low Energy Positron Beams at AIST

A buncher and a magnetic lens were introduced to improve the beam flux density of a pulsed positron beam extracted from the low energy positron accumulator at National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). The buncher made the pulse width ~ 1/4 and the magnetic lens reduced the beam cross section ~ 1/9, which resulted in about 36 times increase in the beam flux density. Possible applications for electron-positron plasma experiments are also discussed.

A High-Throughput Multiply-Accumulate Unit With Long Feedback Loop Using Low-Voltage Rapid Single-Flux Quantum Circuits

In this article, we demonstrated a high-throughput gate-level-pipelined 8-bit multiply-accumulate (MAC) unit with a long feedback loop using low-voltage rapid single-flux quantum (LV-RSFQ) logic. The long feedback loop in the MAC unit is an obstacle for high-throughput operation because the logic gates must wait for the delayed inputs from the feedback loop. The LV-RSFQ logic makes high-frequency operation even more difficult by larger and more variable feedback delay. We design the feedback loop by using counter-flow clocking and adding many D flip-flops to divide the long feedback loop into shorter paths. The target clock frequency of the MAC unit with a feedback loop was set to 30 GHz by the experimental results of the MAC unit without a feedback loop. We model the clock frequency and its circuit overhead in a feedback loop to design the feedback loop in the MAC unit achieving 30 GHz with a minimum overhead. The test chips are fabricated using the national institute of advanced industrial science and technology (AIST) 10-kA/cm <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\boldsymbol{^{2}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> Advanced Process 2. We have successfully obtained high-throughput 30-GHz operations in the LV-RSFQ MAC unit with a long feedback loop by using the model-based design. The maximum operating frequency of the MAC unit reaches 40 GHz.

Evaluation of the long-term stability of arsenic species in certified reference materials: certification of arsenobetaine, As(V), and dimethylarsinic acid in NMIJ CRMs 7901-a, 7912-a, and 7913-a.

The long-term stabilities of arsenobetaine (AsB), arsenate (As(V)), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), which are arsenic (As) compounds in certified reference materials (CRMs), namely, NMIJ CRMs 7901-a, 7912-a, and 7913-a, were monitored. The CRMs were developed and certified by the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in 2009 to prepare a calibrant for the speciation analysis of As species. The CRMs were prepared from high-purity reagent powders as raw materials, and each reagent was dissolved in water or diluted acid. The certification of the CRMs for AsB, As(V), and DMA was conducted by NMIJ. The concentration of total As was determined by more than three independent analytical techniques. Then, the obtained As concentrations were converted into the concentration of each chemical species, and the mass fractions of each certified value were certificated. The long-term stability of As species in the CRMs under storage was performed by liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, and this report presents data on long-term stability that occurred approximately 13years. The obtained monitoring results were evaluated using both measurement results with uncertainty and a statistical parameter method, complying with ISO Guide 35. According to the results, the long-term stability of all mass fractions was confirmed.

Development of ROV Simulator based on Real Oceanographic Data

In recent years, demand for efficient oceanographic research for the development of marine resources has been increasing on a global scale. In general, research and operation training on underwater robotics in the ocean is very costly, and the climate and conditions of the ocean may make it impossible to conduct experiments. In this paper, we introduce an ocean simulator using real oceanographic data that can avoid these issues. First, we treat Choreonoid which is an integrated software for robots applied by National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), as the basis of the simulator software. Furthermore, to demonstrate its feasibility in a more realistic ocean environment, we introduce the seabed data obtained from oceanographic research and a function to reproduce ocean currents on the simulator. In this paper, self-localization experiment is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the simulator for oceanographic research.

Report on the CCM.T-K2.1 Key Comparison, Measurand Torque: 10 kN∙m and 20 kN∙m, Final Report

Main textThe comparison of torque in the range of 10 kN m and 20 kN m was organized and conducted between two laboratories, the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ) in the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan, and the National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA) in South Africa. This comparison aims to link the national torque standards in South Africa to CCM.T-K2 so that NMISA can achieve the degree of equivalence (DOE) of the CMCs of its torque standards. NMIJ, which had joined CCM.T-K2 key comparison in 2008, played a role of a link laboratory. The results of this comparison showed a good agreement in the NMISA's results with the KCRV.To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database https://www.bipm.org/kcdb/.The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

Fusion of information technology for inspection of structures at National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Fusion of information technology for inspection of structures at National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Preface

34th International Symposium on Superconductivity (ISS2021)It is our pleasure to report that the Proceedings of the 34th International Symposium on Superconductivity (ISS2021) held on November 30–December 2, 2021, are now published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS). ISS2021 was co-organized by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). At first, ISS2021 was planned to be held on site in Wellington, New Zeeland. However, owing to the continued travel restrictions by COVID-19 pandemic, the symposium was held online with using the “Cisco Webex Meetings” application. Although most of presentations were smoothly made, several presentations were cancelled probably due to limited speed of a communication line, some of which were re-scheduled and presented at later dates.Total of 342 scientists, engineers, students, corporate executives and so on (107 from abroad) made advanced registrations for ISS2021, and fruitful discussions were made to promote superconductor sciences and technologies. Total of 215 papers were presented, which included 5 plenary lectures (45 min), 76 invited talks (25–30 min) and 134 contributed oral presentations (15–20 min). Among the papers presented in ISS2021, 41 manuscripts were submitted for ISS2021 Proceedings, and 39 papers were accepted for publication. The papers published in JPCS were categorized into relevant topics in the following four fields; (a) Physics and Chemistry, (b) Wires and Bulk, (c) Electronic Devices, (d) Large Scale System Applications.To ensure the high publication standard mandated by JPCS, every paper was peer reviewed by a reviewer with expertise before it was accepted for publication. As editors of the Proceedings, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to all the reviewers involved in the evaluation of the papers for their invaluable contribution. The Editors Physics and Chemistry: Atsutaka Maeda (The University of Tokyo), Hiraku Ogino (AIST)Wires and Bulk: Yoshiyuki Yoshida (AIST), Yasuhiro Iijima (Fujikura Ltd.), Yasunori Mawatari (AIST)Electronic Devices: Mutsuo Hidaka (AIST), Tsunehiro Hato (SUSTEC)Large Scale System Applications: Naoyuki Amemiya (Kyoto University), Tsuyoshi Wakuda (Hitachi Ltd.), Hiroshi Miyazaki (Kyushu University)List of Organization of ISS2021, Committees of ISS2021, International Advisory Committee are available in this Pdf.

Elucidation of the joining and interface mechanism of lightweight difficult-to-weld materials joined by explosive impact force

Explosive welding can be used to join materials using controlled explosions, creating materials with desirable properties. Assistant Professor Mami Mihara-Narita, Department of Physical Science and Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology (NIT), Japan, is exploring the potential of joining technology by explosive welding for the multi-materialism of lightweight materials such as magnesium alloy and aluminium alloy and evaluating their characteristics for practical use. She hopes that her work will contribute to the weight reduction of transportation materials, as well as benefiting transportation equipment and clean energy materials. Mihara-Narita is collaborating closely with Professor Yoshimi Watanabe and Associate Professor Hisashi Sato from NIT, and Dr Yasumasa Chino and Dr Hisashi Mori from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST and UACJ corporation) in this work. The team is also performing characteristic analysis of explosive welded materials, using a transmission electron microscope to observe interfacial microstructure. The researchers are also evaluating joint strength by shear test, measuring hardness and micro deformation by nanoindentation method and measuring residual stress by X-ray diffraction and neutron diffraction method. In addition they are investigating fatigue strength in order to ensure materials are suitable for use in transportation equipment. Fatigue strength will continue to be a key focus for the researchers moving forward, and they will also be performing data analysis of their data on explosive welding conditions, metallographic structure and various properties of explosive welding clad material.

Advanced Quantum Measurement Group, Research Institute for Physical Measurement, National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Advanced Quantum Measurement Group, Research Institute for Physical Measurement, National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Surface Corrected Lunar MTF Measurements in MODIS and VIIRS Using the SP Model

Lunar observations have been used for sensor performance assessments for a number of Earth-observing instruments, including the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Terra and Aqua, and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard Suomi-NPP (SNPP) and NOAA-20 (N20). While the primary purpose of lunar observations in MODIS and VIIRS is radiometric calibration, these observations have been leveraged for other sensor performance assessments, such as spatial registration and deriving the modulation transfer function (MTF). In this work, we will derive the lunar MTF using a knife-edge approach similar to the previous work. However, to further isolate the edge of the lunar disk when deriving the edge spread function (ESF), we will apply a lunar surface variation correction using a model based on data obtained by the spectral profiler (SP) onboard the SELENE spacecraft. This model was provided to us by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan. To align the measured and modeled data, we developed techniques for projecting the measured lunar surface pixels onto the radiance maps produced by the SP model. We correct the lunar surface variation while preserving the signal of the lunar disk edge in the ESF and then calculate the MTF results using standard techniques. These results are in good agreement with previously published results from both Moon-based observations in MODIS and VIIRS and from the spectroradiometric calibration assembly (SRCA) on MODIS. With the exception of MODIS bands 1 and 2, the MTF is stable on orbit for the reflective bands in both instruments.

Degradation Analysis of SOFC Performance for Long-Term Operation with High Fuel Utilization

A national project in Japan for SOFC development has been initiated from FY2020 to FY2024 in NEDO’s project in order to establish the method for degradation diagnosis of SOFC stacks with durability and reliability for 130,000 hours or the method for evaluation of expanding application. Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) has operated three types of SOFC stacks, which are developed by KYOCERA, MORIMUA SOFC TECHNOLOGY, and DENSO and investigated their long-term durability in this project. We have developed the electrode polarization model for SOFC performance which is able to express the SOFC performance such as Nernst loss, cathode overvoltage, anode overvoltage, and internal resistance (IR) loss under various conditions with high prediction accuracy. Each SOFC stack has been operated with high fuel utilization (Uf = 80% and 85%) as a severe condition for high efficiency towards 20,000-hours operation, and degradation factors for SOFC durability has been analyzed by using our electrode polarization model. Analysis results until now showed that dominant degradation factors for both Uf = 80% and 85% were increase of cathode overvoltage or IR loss as same as that of the SOFC stacks in the previous term [1]. Although anode overvoltage was a minor degradation factor, increase rate of anode overvoltage under Uf = 85% was relatively larger than that under Uf = 80%. In addition, thermal property testing will be conducted for each SOFC stack in order to include temperature term into our electrode polarization model. This new model can predict SOFC performance more accurately under various operating conditions. This work has been carried out under the project of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan as a contract research. We would like to express our gratitude to NEDO, KYOCERA, MORIMUA SOFC TECHNOLOGY, Denso as well as to university partners and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).Reference[1] A. Ido et al., ECS Transactions, 91(1), 801-808 (2019).

Preface

33rd International Symposium on Superconductivity (ISS2020)It is our pleasure to report that the Proceedings of the 33rd International Symposium on Superconductivity (ISS2020) held at AIST Tsukuba, Japan with virtual meeting rooms, December 1–3, 2020, are now published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS). ISS2020 was co-organized by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). At first, ISS2020 was planned to be held in Wellington, New Zeeland. However, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the venue was changed to Tsukuba, Japan, and the symposium was organized to have both real and virtual meeting rooms. Participants from abroad joined online through the virtual meeting rooms.Total of 462 scientists, engineers, students, corporate executives and so on (182 from abroad) registered for ISS2020, and fruitful discussions were made to promote superconductor sciences and technologies. Total of 206 papers were presented, which included 5 plenary lectures, 59 invited talks, 142 contributed oral presentations. The papers published in JPCS were categorized into relevant topics in the following four fields; (a) Physics and Chemistry, (b) Wires and Bulk, (c) Electronic Devices, (d) Large Scale System Applications.To ensure the high publication standard mandated by JPCS, every paper was peer reviewed by a reviewer with expertise before it was accepted for publication. As editors of the Proceedings, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to all the reviewers involved in the evaluation of the papers for their invaluable contribution.List of Organization of ISS2020, Committees of ISS2020, International Advisory Committee are available in the pdf

Innovation Processes in Public Research Institutes: AIST, Fraunhofer and ITRI Case Studies

The design of national innovation systems has attracted attention from scholars and policymakers. Firms, universities and government organisations (including public research institutes) are defined as the three major players of the national innovation system and interactions between the players are considered the key of the national innovation system. However, public research institutes are relatively understudied compared to firms and universities even though their contribution in the national innovation system is not trivial. Aiming at understanding detailed process rather than testing hypotheses, the findings of this article shed practical information regarding innovation process in public research institutes. Focusing on the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Fraunhofer) and the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan (ITRI), this article analyses and compares innovation processes of public research institutes with their patent data. Based on findings, this study further discusses issues for better management of public research institutes.

Errata.

Errata.

First person – Yoshikazu Haramoto

ABSTRACTFirst Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Biology Open, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Yoshikazu Haramoto is first author on ‘Visualization of X chromosome reactivation in mouse primordial germ cells in vivo’, published in BiO. Yoshikazu is a Senior Researcher in the lab of Research Group Leader, TATENO Hiroaki at the Multicellular System Regulation Research Group, Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, investigating mechanisms of development and regeneration.

Characteristics improvement of pressure transfer standard using a silicon resonant sensor

&lt;p&gt;In the field of pressure measurement, numerous interlaboratory comparisons are carried out among National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) using a pressure transfer standard to verify the degrees of equivalence. Here, the Yokogawa electric corporation has been producing a series of digital manometers using a silicon resonant sensor developed independently. This sensor demonstrates excellent long-term stability and has thus been adopted as the pressure transfer standard by many NMIs and has been subsequently well received. The pressure transfer standard is known as the resonant silicon gauge (RSG) among NMIs. From December 2016, the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), the Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) institute, and Yokogawa initiated a collaborative research with the aim of improving the characteristics of the RSGs and developing a portable transfer standard using a new silicon resonant sensor. The new RSG was adjusted using a standard device calibrated by either NMIJ or Yokogawa. The measurement values of the standard device were corrected with the calibration results and used as the standard values for adjustment of the new RSG. The linearity of the new RSG adjusted via the proposed method was improved compared with that of a conventional RSG.&lt;/p&gt;