Minimum Potential Research Articles

Effect of co-encapsulation of Lactobacillus acidophilus LA5 and selenium in hydrogelated matrix of basil seed mucilage/sodium caseinate on properties of set yogurt

This study aims to prepare and optimize basil seed mucilage and sodium caseinate as a biocomposite wall to co-encapsulate Lactobacillus acidophilus LA5 and selenium. The efficacy of this biocomposite wall in improving the viability of L. acidophilus LA5 under in vitro acidic conditions was investigated. The mixture design method was applied to find optimal ratio of basil seed mucilage/sodium caseinate as components of the capsule wall. The maximum encapsulation efficiency of the selenium and L. acidophilus LA5 and the minimum zeta potential led to the selection of the optimal ratio of basil seed mucilage/sodium caseinate (basil seed mucilage 58.27% and sodium caseinate 41.73%). Possible cross-linking of basil seed mucilage and sodium caseinate, thermal properties, crystal structure, and morphology of the capsule were investigated using FTIR, DSC, XRD, and SEM tests, respectively. The composite wall of basil seed mucilage/sodium caseinate significantly enhanced the viability of encapsulated L. acidophilus LA5 in comparison to the control sample (free L. acidophilus LA5) (p < 0.05). Five yogurt samples were produced, including samples with free probiotic, free probiotic bacterium and selenium, free selenium, control (no probiotic bacterium and selenium), and probiotic yogurt with encapsulated selenium and probiotic bacterium. The physical, chemical, sensorial, and microbial characteristics of yogurt samples were investigated during storage for 21 days at 4 °C. Yoghurt enriched with free selenium and microcapsules (co-encapsulated probiotic and selenium) had minimum and maximum viscosities, respectively (p < 0.05). In addition, the probiotic yogurt sample with encapsulated L. acidophilus LA5 and selenium received a higher overall acceptance score than the other treatments (p < 0.05). As a result, basil seed mucilage and sodium caseinate based composite wall was demonstrated great potential to encapsulate probiotics and selenium for application in yogurt formulation.

Moiré Dirac fermions in transition metal dichalcogenides heterobilayers

Abstract Monolayer group-VIB transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) feature low-energy massive Dirac fermions, which have valley contrasting Berry curvature. This nontrivial local band topology gives rise to valley Hall transport and optical selection rules for interband transitions that open up new possibilities for valleytronics. However, the large bandgap in TMDs results in relatively small Berry curvature, leading to weak valley contrasting physics in practical experiments. Here, we show that Dirac fermions with tunable large Berry curvature can be engineered in moiré superlattice of TMD heterobilayers. These moiré Dirac fermions are created in a magnified honeycomb lattice with its sublattice degree of freedom formed by two local moiré potential minima. We show that applying an on-site potential can tune the moiré flat bands into helical ones. In short-period moiré superlattice, we find that the two moiré valleys become asymmetric, which results in a net spin Hall current. More interestingly, a circularly polarized light drives these moiré Dirac fermions into quantum anomalous Hall phase with chiral edge states. Our results open a new possibility to design the moiré-scale spin and valley physics using TMD moiré structures.

Bio-polymer based thermally stable composites as catalytic support materials for energy harvesting process

In the present work, bio-based conductive polymer composites were developed to utilize as supporting material for anode catalysts for oxidation of fuels to generate electrical energy. An in-situ method was adopted to synthesize the conducting polymer carbon composites through combined condensation process by reacting terephthalaldehyde and benzidine, and reinforced with almond shell carbon (BT-ASC). Using formaldehyde reduction method platinum-tin nanoparticles were deposited on BT-ASC composites and were characterized using modern analytical instruments., viz., X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Thermal stability of the conducting polymer composites was analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The electrochemical properties of the prepared catalysts were studied by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometric analyses. Data obtained from different studies inferred that the Pt–Sn/BT-ASC catalyst possesses the maximum current density (88.6 mA/mg) with minimum oxidation potential than those of Pt–Sn/ASC, Pt/BT-ASC and Pt/ASC catalysts. The present work ascertains the importance of conducting polymer composites developed using reinforced with bio-carbon towards electro-oxidation of methanol and these supporting materials possess an enhanced catalytic activity than that of reported catalysts.

Saving CNB assisted EDE model at the expense of quantum corrections?

Abstract As it is suggested in [1,2], one can dynamically introduce the coincidence time-scale for EDE in the framework of a particular mass-varying-neutrino-model as a time at which neutrinos constituting the cosmic neutrino background enter the non-relativistic regime. The model does not predict, however, the right amount of EDE density because of smallness of neutrino masses. One may hope to adjust the parameters in such a way as to ensure that the two-loop contributions are kept small while at the same time the effective mass for scalar field that enters the expression of zero-point-energy (for the field trapped in the minimum of effective potential) is sufficient for explaining the needed amount of EDE. Unfortunately, the answer is not in the affirmative.

Resources and Development Perspectives of Geothermal Energy in Central and South America

It is widely recognized that a large part of Central America and the whole Andean sector in South America, because of their geodynamic and volcanological conditions, have a very large geothermal potential. However, no systematic attempt has been made so far to quantify this potential, in order to provide an estimate of the reserves which are available in this region for the production of electric energy and for direct applications. The scope of the present paper is to make a first contribution in this direction. After a summary of the geological framework of the region, a categorization is made of Central and South America into type A, B and C "provinces" in accordance with a ranking of interest in descending order, depending on the expected quality of their geothermal resources. For the six type A provinces singled out in the whole region, and for the 15 preferential sectors located in them, a quantitative assessment to 3 km depth is made of the accessible resource bases. Furthermore, for each of the sectors above, the estimation is provided of the "potential reserves," subdivided into two main groups: high temperature reserves (T&gt; 160°C), and intermediate-to-low temperature reserves (T&lt; 160°C). For the first group, moreover, an estimation is made in terms of electric energy producible and capacity installable. The results of the estimation indicate that the minimum geothermoelectric potential of Central and South America altogether is of the order of 141-167 GWye (gigawatt- years electric), which corresponds to 5600-6700 MWe for a 25 year production period at a 100% plant capacity factor. Based on this very attractive, yet conservative, estimate, the present situation of the geothermal exploration in Central and South America is then reviewed, and the possible development targets are discussed in the light of medium- and long-term perspectives.

Harnessing Skyrmion Hall Effect by Thickness Gradients in Wedge-Shaped Samples of Cubic Helimagnets.

The skyrmion Hall effect, which is regarded as a significant hurdle for skyrmion implementation in thin-film racetrack devices, is theoretically shown to be suppressed in wedge-shaped nanostructures of cubic helimagnets. Under an applied electric current, ordinary isolated skyrmions with the topological charge 1 were found to move along the straight trajectories parallel to the wedge boundaries. Depending on the current density, such skyrmion tracks are located at different thicknesses uphill along the wedge. Numerical simulations show that such an equilibrium is achieved due to the balance between the Magnus force, which instigates skyrmion shift towards the wedge elevation, and the force, which restores the skyrmion position near the sharp wedge boundary due to the minimum of the edge-skyrmion interaction potential. Current-driven dynamics is found to be highly non-linear and to rest on the internal properties of isolated skyrmions in wedge geometries; both the skyrmion size and the helicity are modified in a non-trivial way with an increasing sample thickness. In addition, we supplement the well-known theoretical phase diagram of states in thin layers of chiral magnets with new characteristic lines; in particular, we demonstrate the second-order phase transition between the helical and conical phases with mutually perpendicular wave vectors. Our results are useful from both the fundamental point of view, since they systematize the internal properties of isolated skyrmions, and from the point of view of applications, since they point to the parameter region, where the skyrmion dynamics could be utilized.

Phase partition and online monitoring for batch processes based on Harris hawks optimization

Most industrial batch processes exhibit significantly different characteristics at different manufacturing steps, and it is advantageous to partition batch processes reasonably and establish phase models separately for online monitoring. In the present work, a novel phase partition method is developed based on Harris hawks optimization (HHO) with hard sequentiality constraint, which seeks for the optimal phase partition results under the specific target phase number in inner loop and automatically determines the optimal phase number in outer loop by making a trade-off between modeling complexity and partition performance. First, a new definition of the sum of quadratic error (SQE) is designed as the fitness function to evaluate the within-phase compactness, which makes the time-slice matrices with similar process variable correlations stay in the same phase. Then, an optimization refinement scheme (ORS) is developed to find the potential local minimum of the SQE by inspecting and reallocating the phase-adjacent samples. Afterwards, the percentage of performance improvement indicator (PPII) is proposed to determine the optimal phase numbers by quantifying the improvement of minimum SQE. For each subphase, canonical variate analysis (CVA) is performed to build statistical models for dynamic process monitoring. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by a numerical example with some outliers and an injection molding process.

Comparative investigation of electrolytic hydrogenation of pipe assortment steel under cathodic polarization

Comparative studies of electrolytic hydrogenation of pipe steels in NS4 electrolytes under cathodic polarization were carried out. It was established that the dependence of hydrogen concentration penetrating through steel under cathodic polarization in the NS4 electrolyte on the polarization potential is nonlinear, and differs for steels of different chemical compositions. Hydrogenation of pipe steels resulted in changes in their electrochemical properties. Null current potential tends to shift to more negative values as the cathodic polarization potential increases (by absolute value) from −0.75 V to −1.2 V. Polarization resistance of the partial anodic reaction for all steels increases non-monotonically with different intensities. A dependence diagram of hydrogenating from the steel strength under cathodic polarization is drawn and analyzed. It was established that at the minimum protective potential of −0.75 V, hydrogenation of all the steels is not happening. At a potential of −0.95 V, the maximal hydrogenation is observed for steel with the lowest ultimate strength, and at the maximum protective potential of −1.05 V – hydrogenation susceptibility changes non-monotonically. Under more cathodic polarization at a potential of −1.2 V, steel 09G2S with the lowest ultimate strength hydrogenated most strongly, and steels with similar ultimate strength indicators have a similar tendency to hydrogen penetration.

Curved Nanographenes: Multiple Emission, Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence, and Non-Radiative Decay.

The intriguing and rich photophysical properties of three curved nanographenes (CNG 6, 7, and 8) are investigated by time-resolved and temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. CNG 7 and 8 exhibit dual fluorescence, as well as dual phosphorescence at low temperature in the main PL bands. In addition, hot bands are detected in fluorescence as well as phosphorescence, and, in the narrow temperature range of 100-140 K, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) with lifetimes on the millisecond time-scale is observed. These findings are rationalized by quantum-chemical simulations, which predict a single minimum of the S1 potential of CNG 6, but two S1 minima for CNG 7 and CNG 8, with considerable geometric reorganization between them, in agreement with the experimental findings. Additionally, a higher-lying S2 minimum close to S1 is optimized for the three CNG, from where emission is also possible due to thermal activation and, hence, non-Kasha behavior. The presence of higher-lying dark triplet states close to the S1 minima provides mechanistic evidence for the TADF phenomena observed. Non-radiative decay of the T1 state appears to be thermally activated with activation energies of roughly 100meV and leads to disappearance of phosphorescence and TADF at T>140K.

Experimental drier climates affect hydraulics and induce high mortality of seedlings of three northern conifer species

The future climate of northern temperate forests is projected to be drier and warmer by the end of this century. As a result, more drought-induced forest dieback events are anticipated in northeastern North America, and assessing the vulnerability of dominant tree species to drought is critical for understanding the future composition of these forests. In a greenhouse experiment, we exposed two-year-old seedlings of Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P. and Pinus strobus L. to three future climate treatments for southern Quebec, Canada, and evaluated their mortality, growth, and foliage water status responses to soil water availability and atmospheric drought. Using a unique approach, climate treatments emulated droughts of different frequencies, durations, and intensities. Treatments closely simulated one growing season, with changes in air temperature and relative humidity every six hours and daily adjustment in the amount of water delivered to the seedlings. The three species experienced high mortality (75%) in all water-limited treatments compared to a control treatment that provided non-limiting soil moisture (0% mortality). The biomass of the seedlings that survived was 40% lower than that of control seedlings. Our results confirmed that the hydraulic safety margins, defined as the difference between seasonal minimum water potential and xylem water potential leading to 12, 50 and 88% of hydraulic conductivity loss, were good predictors of probability of tree mortality. Therefore, hydraulic safety margins are useful functional traits that can be used to compare the vulnerability of various species to drought and then provide crucial information to practitioners and policymakers to adjust forest management to climate change. We showed that three dominant conifer species of northern temperate forests were highly vulnerable to drought in future climates. Because drought is projected to be a significant threat to forests, understanding potentially adaptive physiological responses to drought, such as hydraulic safety margins of tree seedlings, is important for predicting the response of forest regeneration and composition in warmer and drier climates.

Effect of graphene reinforcement distribution on energy release rate and vibration of thermally pre/post-buckled delaminated composite plates

The nonlinear thermal stability responses of functionally graded graphene-reinforced composite (FG-GRC) laminated plates with single or multiple through-the-width delaminations, are investigated in the article. The possibility of delamination growth is evaluated using the three-dimensional crack tip element (3D-CTE) method, which determines the energy release rate (ERR) at the delamination edge. Furthermore, the influence of delamination configurations and the types of graphene reinforcement distribution patterns, on the free vibration of FG-GRC delaminated plates in thermally pre/post-buckled regimes is evaluated. The von Karman geometrical nonlinearity is adopted in a solution based on the layerwise third-order shear deformation theory (TSDT). The nonlinear equilibrium equations derived by the minimum total potential energy principle are solved using the Ritz method in conjunction with the Newton–Raphson iterative procedure. A three-dimensional finite element model is also developed using ABAQUS to corroborate the accuracy of the theoretical results. Parametric studies reveal that while the FGX graphene distribution pattern improves the bending stiffness of delaminated composite plates more than FGA, the ERR at the near surface delamination edge in FGX pattern is twice as high as that in FGA. This implies that the possibility of delamination propagation in FGX plates can be higher than FGA. Additionally, while the fundamental frequency of the FGX plate with and without delamination exceeds the frequency of other graphene distribution patterns at the reference temperature, its natural frequency is the lowest among all patterns in the post-buckled regime.

Xylem structure and function of two saltbush shrub species (Atriplex) from differing microhabitats

Abstract Two formerly broadly distributed woody Atriplex species now occur as fragmented populations across a range of microhabitats in the San Joaquin Valley Desert, southern California. We hypothesized that A. lentiformis and A. polycarpa exhibit inter- and intra-specific differences in their leaf and stem structural and functional traits corresponding with differences in soil salinity and aridity. Water potential, xylem structure and function and leaf traits were compared between three populations of A. lentiformis and four populations of A. polycarpa. The two species significantly differed in their xylem traits, with A. lentiformis displaying lower xylem density, wider mean and maximum vessel diameters and higher hydraulic conductivity (Ks). They also differed in their leaf traits, such that A. lentiformis had larger leaves with higher specific leaf area (SLA) than A. polycarpa. Significant intra-specific differences occurred among leaf traits (leaf area, SLA) in A. lentiformis populations. In contrast, populations varied in their stem xylem structural traits (mean vessel wall thickness, mean vessel diameter, maximum vessel length) among A. polycarpa populations. Many of these differences were associated with soil salinity in A. lentiformis, and with minimum seasonal water potential in A. polycarpa. Overall, both saltbush species showed high intra- and inter-specific trait variation. This could be a critical consideration in understanding the evolution of these native species and has important implications for their conservation and restoration.

Electronic and spin-rovibrational spectroscopy of the HPS+ cation

Using post Hartree-Fock multi-configuration interaction ab initio approaches, the six (four) doublet (quartet) lowest electronic states of thioxophosphane cation, HPS+, are treated. These electronic states are mapped along the internal coordinates, including the HP, PS distances and in-plane HPS bending angle. Several potential minima are located where long-lived HPS+ ions can be found. Also, computations show that the (X˜2A', 12A", 22A", 22A', 14A' and 14A") states are bound, for which we generate their 3D-potential energy surfaces (3D-PESs). After nuclear motion treatments, we determine the rotational and vibrational constants of these states and the pattern of their rovibrational levels up to 4000 cm−1 above the corresponding vibrational ground state level. For instance, the RCCSD(T)/aug-cc-pV(5 + d)Z anharmonic frequencies of HPS+(X˜2A') are computed ν1 = 2237.7, ν2 = 543.0, ν3 = 686.8 (in cm−1). For the lowest electronic excited state (HPS+(12A")), these frequencies change to ν1 = 2330.5, ν2 = 254.6 and ν3 = 749.6 (in cm−1). Several anharmonic resonances are identified. Besides, a very accurate adiabatic ionization energy of HPS (= 9.3173 eV) is deduced using the (U)CCSDT(Q)/aug-cc-pV(T + d)Z approach and where the core-valence (ΔCV), scalar relativistic (ΔSR) and zero point vibrational energy (ΔZPE) corrections are included. Our spectroscopic data should be useful for identifying this ion in laboratory and in media where reactive collisions between PS/PS+ + H+/H or HP/HP+ + S+/S are taking place.

Coal power decarbonization via biomass co-firing with carbon capture and storage: Tradeoff between exergy loss and GHG reduction

Co-firing of coal and biomass is a feasible pathway for low- or even negative-carbon transformation of power sector in countries that rely on coal. There are two main kinds of coal and biomass co-firing pathways: biomass gasification co-firing with pulverized coal (BGCPC) and biomass direct co-firing with pulverized coal (BDCPC). However, few attentions have been paid to the comparative study of techno-environmental assessments for the above two main technologies with or without carbon capture and storage (CCS). Here we present a comparative system evaluation framework based on chemical simulation and life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the energy performances and environmental impacts of different biomass co-firing and CCS technology combinations. A new metric, global warming potential of per unit exergy efficiency loss (GWPUEL) is proposed to reveal the trade-off between greenhouse gas (GHG) emission abatement and exergy efficiency loss. Results show that BGCPC-CCS units of all capacities can achieve negative life-cycle GHG emissions under 25% co-firing ratio scenario, but only 1000 MW BDCPC-CCS units can achieve near-zero life-cycle GHG emissions. Though 300 MW units show the minimum carbon reduction potential among all the selected capacities, they can achieve the most promising GWPUEL benefits for their mild exergy efficiency loss after CCS retrofit. This indicator provides a comprehensive viewpoint to weigh the compromise between energy performance and environmental burdens of different bio-based and CCS technology combinations, further facilitating various decarbonization schemes of global power sector under the carbon neutrality target.

CO2 capture with green ionic liquid and deep eutectic solvent: A comparative study

Increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mainly from human activities leads to the global warming phenomenon and poses a serious threat to life on the earth.Hence, there is a pressing need to mitigate greenhouse gases emission and overcome global warming. It is proven that Ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are fruitful materials to capture gases and reduce their emission. Here, we investigate the environmentally friendly and cost-effective cholinium geranate ([Cho][Ger]) IL and cholinium geranate:geranic acid ([Cho][Ger]:Ger acid) DES, for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture. To this end, the density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation approaches are employed to provide quantitative microscopic insight into the interactions between CO2 and IL/DES. The adsorption energies of IL…CO2 and DES…CO2 are explored through the DFT calculations and show stronger interaction between the IL…CO2 than DES…CO2. The MD simulation analyses including density profile, non-bonded energy, radial distribution function (RDF), and spatial distribution function (SDF) affirm the stronger interaction between the IL…CO2 than DES…CO2. Meanwhile, the DFT and MD simulation results reveal the strongest interaction between CO2 and [Ger] - anion of both IL and DES. Furthermore, the minimum potential of mean force (PMF) of CO2 at the IL-air interface represents the favorable adsorption of CO2 on IL. Overall, our molecular level findings which are not accessible through the experimental approaches could help experimentalists find high-efficient solvents for CO2 capture.

Invisible dilaton

We analyse the dynamics of a light scalar field responsible for the $\mu$ term of the Higgs potential and coupled to matter via the Higgs-portal mechanism. We find that this dilaton model is stable under radiative corrections induced by the standard model particle masses. When the background value of the scalar field is stabilised at the minimum of the scalar potential, the scalar field fluctuations only couple quadratically to the massive fields of the standard model preventing the scalar direct decay into standard model particles. Cosmologically and prior to the electroweak symmetry breaking, the scalar field rolls down along its effective potential before eventually oscillating and settling down at the electroweak minimum. These oscillations can be at the origin of dark matter due to the initial misalignment of the scalar field compared to the electroweak minimum, and we find that, when the mass of the scalar field is less than the eV scale and acts as a condensate behaving like dark matter on large scales, the scalar particles cannot thermalise with the standard model thermal bath. As matter couples in a composition-dependent manner to the oscillating scalar, this could lead to a violation of the equivalence principle aboard satellites such as the MICROSCOPE experiment and the next generation of tests of the equivalence principle. Local gravitational tests are evaded thanks to the weakness of the quadratic coupling in the dark matter halo, and we find that, around other sources, these dilaton models could be subject to a screening akin to the symmetron mechanism.

Complexation mechanism of crown ethers with rubidium and cesium ions using density functional theory

The complexation mechanism of crown ether derivatives (18C6, 21C7, B18C6, B21C7) with metal ions (Li+, K+, Rb+, Cs+) has been studied. Structural optimization was performed at the level of M06-2X/def2SVP. The results show that M+ mainly interacts with oxygen atoms, and CO bonds become longer after complexation. The interactions belong to the electrostatic attractive effect. The electrophilic substitution activity of crown ethers can be improved by benzene ring substituents, while the electrophilic complexing reaction activity decreases. 21C7 has the lowest electrostatic potential minimum, which is −96.0 kcal·mol−1. The complex 21C7-Cs+ and 21C7-Rb+ are more stable than other 21C7 complexes. The binding energy and Gibbs free energy of 21C7-Cs+ are −66.6 and −66.0 kcal·mol−1, respectively. The results can provide theoretical guidance for the design of crown ethers using for the extraction of Rb+ and Cs+ from brines.

Scaling law of correlated diffusion of colloidal particles confined to a rugged surface

Using optical microscopy and multiparticle tracking techniques, we investigate the correlated diffusion of colloidal particles over a rugged surface. Our findings demonstrate that the correlated diffusion caused by the hydrodynamic interactions of particles confined to energy landscapes displays a distinctive power-law behavior. The local energy landscape on the rugged surface reduces the long-range hydrodynamic interactions between colloidal particles. The energy landscape influences the strength of hydrodynamic interactions, but not their power-law form. The responding factor of the colloidal particles over the energy landscape to hydrodynamics decays exponentially with the potential energy minimum. We propose a scaling method, with which the correlated diffusion of colloidal particles over various energy landscapes can be scaled onto a master curve. The master curve characterizes the response of the particles over the energy landscape to the hydrodynamics. The scale factors used for the master curve allow for the calculation of the energy landscape. The findings provide physical insights into the confinement hydrodynamics and would be helpful for designing material surfaces and controlling the motion of particles on rough surfaces.

Van der Waals interaction energies for ferric ion sensors using prismatic and cylindrical pore approximations for a MOF pore.

Using the Lennard-Jones potential, we determine analytical expressions for van der Waals interaction energies between a point and a rectangular prism-shaped pore, writing them in terms of standard elementary functions. The parameter values for a new ferric ion sensor are used to compare these calculations with the cylindrical pore approximation for the interactions between an ion and a metal organic framework (MOF) pore. The results using the prismatic pore approximation predict the same qualitative outcomes as a cylindrical pore approximation. However, the prismatic approximation predicts lower magnitudes for both the interaction potential energy minimum and the force maximum, since the average distance from the centre-line to the surface of the prism is greater. We suggest that in some circumstances it is sufficient to use the simpler cylindrical approximation, provided that the cylinder radius is chosen so that the cross-sectional area is equal to the area of the prism pore opening. However, atoms at the nodes should remain approximated by semi-infinite lines. We also determine the interaction between a second ferric ion and a blocked MOF pore; as expected, the second ferric ion experiences a force away from the pore, implying that approaching ferric ions can only occupy vacant MOF pores.

Computational model for the semi‐analytical assessment of the free‐edge effect in composite laminated shells

AbstractThe development of efficient computational models for the accurate prediction of the state variables in general composite laminated shells undergoing uniform edge loadings is a major challenge, especially when stress concentration phenomena such as the free‐edge effect have to be considered. This paper addresses this issue by introducing a higher‐order semi‐analytical approach for the assessment of the three‐dimensional stress field in circular cylindrical composite shells with arbitrary layups subjected to a uniform bending moment. The presented semi‐analytical approach combines a closed‐form analytical plane‐strain solution with a higher‐order layerwise approach, and the governing equations are derived by virtue of the principle of minimum elastic potential. The resulting system of coupled ordinary differential equations is then solved by means of the state‐space approach and the free constants are determined by evaluating the boundary conditions at the traction‐free edges. A comparison of the numerical results of the presented semi‐analytical method with finite element simulations for various composite laminates indicates that the developed method works with high accuracy, although being extremely efficient in terms of computational resources.