Pulse Duty Cycle Research Articles

Effects of different sonication parameters of theta burst transcranial ultrasound stimulation on human motor cortex

BackgroundTheta burst TUS (tbTUS) can induce increased cortical excitability in human, but how different sonication parameters influence the effects are still unknown. ObjectiveTo examine how a range of sonication parameters, including acoustic intensity, pulse repetition frequency, duty cycle and sonication duration, influence the effects of tbTUS on human motor cortical excitability. Methods14 right-handed healthy subjects underwent 8 sessions with different tbTUS parameters in a randomized, cross-over design on separate days. The original tbTUS protocol was studied in one session and one parameter was changed in each of the seven sessions. To examine changes in cortical excitability induced by tbTUS, we measured the motor-evoked potential (MEP) amplitude, resting motor threshold, short-interval intracortical inhibition and intracortical facilitation, as well as short-interval intracortical facilitation before and up to 90 min after tbTUS. ResultsAll conditions increased MEP amplitudes except the condition with low acoustic intensity of 10 W/cm2. Pulse repetition frequency of 5 Hz produced higher MEP amplitudes compared to pulse repetition frequencies of 2 and 10 Hz. In addition, higher duty cycles (5%, 10%, and 15%) and longer sonication durations (40, 80, and 120 s) were associated with longer duration of increased MEP amplitudes. Resting motor threshold remained stable in all conditions. For paired-pulse TMS measures, tbTUS reduced short-interval intracortical inhibition and enhanced short-interval intracortical facilitation, but had no effect on intracortical facilitation. ConclusionsUltrasound bursts repeated at theta (∼5 Hz) frequency is optimal to produce increased cortical excitability with the range of 2–10 Hz. Furthermore, there was a dose-response effect regarding duty cycle and sonication duration in tbTUS for plasticity induction. The aftereffects of tbTUS were associated with a shift of the inhibition/excitation balance toward less inhibition and more excitation in the motor cortex. These findings can be used to determine the optimal tbTUS parameters in neuroscience research and treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Neuropsychiatric Behavioral Assessments in Mice After Acute and Long-Term Treatments of Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound.

Introduction: To evaluate whether both acute and chronic low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) affect brain functions of healthy male and female mice. Methods: Ultrasound (frequency: 1.5MHz; pulse: 1.0kHz; spatial average temporal average (SATA) intensity: 25mW/cm2; and pulse duty cycle: 20%) was applied at mouse head in acute test for 20minutes, and in chronic experiment for consecutive 10days, respectively. Behaviors were then evaluated. Results: Both acute and chronic LIPUS at 25mW/cm2 exposure did not affect the abilities of movements, mating, social interaction, and anxiety-like behaviors in the male and female mice. However, physical restraint caused struggle-like behaviors and short-time memory deficits in chronic LIPUS groups in the male mice. Conclusion: LIPUS at 25mW/cm2 itself does not affect brain functions, while physical restraint for LIPUS therapy elicits struggle-like behaviors in the male mice. An unbound helmet targeted with ultrasound intensity at 25-50mW/cm2 is proposed for clinical brain disease therapy.

Thermal-hydraulic study of the EU-DEMO Helium Cooled Pebble Bed Breeding Blanket Primary Heat Transport System

The European DEMO reactor will work under normal operating conditions in accordance with a pulsed duty cycle. However unplanned and planned transients of plasma overpower may occur compromising the integrity of its plasma-facing components structures. Consequently, adopting appropriate tools is essential to accurately and consistently model the thermal-hydraulic response of the involved cooling systems under both normal operating conditions and accidental events. Given this background, the University of Palermo, in collaboration with EUROfusion, started a research work to study the thermal-hydraulic behaviour of the Primary Heat Transport System (PHTS) of the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed Breeding Blanket (HCPB BB) of the DEMO device under steady-state and transient conditions. The activity has been performed adopting a computational approach, employing the thermal-hydraulic system code TRACE version 5.0 patch 6. The key point of the work has been the code-to-code benchmark with the outcomes previously obtained with the RELAP5-3D code, to estimate the impact of the physical models, numerical resolution schemes and modelling techniques adopted on the predictive capabilities of the system codes considered. The models and the analysis results are presented and critically discussed herein.

(Invited) Negative Ions, Nanoparticles and Their Transport to Substrates: Towards Better Control of Plasma-Based Fabrication of Surfaces with Tunable Wetting Properties

The removal of pollutants from water, such as oil residues, requires the production of materials with controlled surface properties, especially in terms of their specific surface area and wetting properties [1]. Environmentally friendly processes based on plasma techniques enable the production of surfaces with a wide variety of different properties in terms of their surface topography and chemical composition. An important component that often forms in low-temperature plasmas operated with organic monomers are nanoparticles. Although often considered an undesirable side effect in many applications, nanoparticles can also be used to create nanocomposites or to decorate surfaces to control their wetting properties and their surface roughness [2]. In order to harness the nanoparticles from a plasma it is therefore an essential task to control their formation and ultimately their transport to the reactor walls or to potential substrates. This contribution will focus on the formation of nanoparticles in low temperature, low pressure plasmas operated with different organic monomers as a precursor gas. Although the exact mechanism responsible for the creation of nanoparticles clearly depends on the nature of the process, it is believed that negative ions play a crucial role in the initial stages of the nucleation [3]. In contrast to neutral radicals or positive ions, which are rapidly lost due to diffusion to the reactor walls the residence time of negative ions in the plasma bulk is usually much larger. Negative ions can therefore more easily form larger molecules, which can serve as the basis for the formation of primary clusters in the nanometer or subnanometer range and in this way trigger the agglomeration processes that lead to the formation of larger particles. Since negative ions can leave the plasma during the plasma-off phase of a pulsed discharge, pulsing the plasma is a suitable means to control the accumulation of negative ions and thus the formation of nanoclusters. The experimental results show a complex interplay between pulse frequency or duty cycle and nanoparticle formation. Even the smallest changes in plasma off-time can lead either to a discharge regime that favors nanoparticle formation or to a discharge regime that prevents nanoparticle formation. The minimum plasma off time required to prevent the build- up of particles in a pulsed discharge depends strongly on parameters like power, pressure, gas mixture ratio and the plasma on time. Although the formation of nanoparticles can be very precisely controlled by an appropriate choice of pulse frequency and duty cycle, their transport and controlled deposition on substrates remains a difficult task. In this context, the use of new structured "filtering" electrodes [4] is discussed. The results show that these electrodes allow the deposition of materials with very different surface topographies. Depending on the plasma conditions and the DC voltages applied to parts of the electrodes, the resulting deposits can range from highly localized polymer structures to dense layers of nanoparticles or polymer films with Turing-like patterns. Literature [1] M. Padaki, R. Surya Murali , M.S. Abdullah, N. Misdan , A. Moslehyani , M.A. Kassim , N. Hilal , A.F. Ismail , Desalination, 357,P. 197 (2015)[2] Berndt, J., Acid, H., Kovacevic, E., Boufendi, L., Journal of Applied Physics, 113(6), p.063302. (2013)[3] Berndt, J., Kovacevic, E., Boufendi,L. Journal of Applied Physics, 106, 063309 (2009)[4] Sciacqua, D., Pattyn, C., Jagodar, A., von Wahl, E., Lecas, T., Strunskus, T., Kovacevic, E. and Berndt, J., 2020.. Scientific Reports, 10(1), pp.1-8. Acknowledgement Authors acknowledge the project PEGASUS (Plasma Enabled and Graphene Allowed Synthesis of Unique nano- Structures), funded by the European Union's Horizon research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 766894 and the EU Graphene Flagship FLAG-ERA III JTC 2021 project VEGA (PR-11938). TS, CB ,and JB want to thank HZB for the allocation of synchrotron radiation beamtime at Bessy II. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 730872 (Nr. 18207084-ST and 18207393- ST). TV, CB and JB acknowledge also support obtained via ARD MATEX Region Centre and Erasmus + Program with WHS Recklinghausen and Prof dr Franziska Traeger.

Localized Electrochemical Deposition Using Copper Pyrophosphate-Based Electrolyte

Additive manufacturing (AM) has gained popularity across various industries due to its cost-effectiveness, low material consumption, and minimal environmental impact. Localized electrochemical deposition (LECD), as one of the AM methods, has the capability to produce microcomponents or structures at an microscale in a specific position as designed, without the need for any mask or support material[1]. By reducing copper ions in the local area according to the position of the micro-wire, 3D structures could be produced. This electrochemical deposition process has a significant advantage in that it is a low-temperature process and has lower costs compared to other processes[2].Using the LECD process, the micrometer of copper columns was conventionally deposited in copper sulfate-based electrolyte[3]. However, this electrolyte has the possibility to cause damage to the metal substrate used as the cathode due to its low pH, resulting in metal dissolution. The utilization of copper pyrophosphate-based electrolyte, which is a solution with a pH close to neutral, can solve this problem. Also, copper pyrophosphate-based electrolyte offers an advantage over conventional alkaline-based electrolytes in that it removes cyanide pollution of the environment and hazards to human health.[4]In this study, the microanode was employed using a platinum wire(100 μm in diameter), while a copper substrate was employed as the cathode in the electrochemical deposition process. The micrometer copper columns were deposited using copper pyrophosphate-based electrolyte by varying the main electrochemical deposition factors, such as applied potential and pulse duty cycle. In addition The surface morphology of the deposited micrometer-scale copper columns was observed through scanning electron microscopy.REFERENCES[1] Suryavanshi, Abhijit P., and Min-Feng Yu. "Probe-based electrochemical fabrication of freestanding Cu nanowire array." Applied Physics Letters 88.8 (2006): 083103.[2] Madden, John D., and Ian W. Hunter. "Three-dimensional microfabrication by localized electrochemical deposition." Journal of microelectromechanical systems 5.1 (1996): 24-32.[3] Lin, J. C., et al. "Localized electrochemical deposition of micrometer copper columns by pulse plating." Electrochimica Acta 55.6 (2010): 1888-1894.[4] Chen, C-C. "A New Process for Cyanide-Free Copper Plating."Electroplating and Pollution Control 23.4 (2003): 10-11.

Effect of Pulse Parameters on Early Stage Nucleation Phenomena

Pulse electrodeposition has garnered significant attention from decades to control important parameters of the growing electrodeposits such as grain size, crystal orientation, and microhardness. Recently, pulse charging has become a major research focus due to its ability to suppress dendritic growth during the charging process for metal-anode based rechargeable batteries. In this work, we have comprehensively studied the effect of pulse duty cycle, D (D = tON/(tON+tOFF)) and frequency on the nucleation phenomena using an in-situ visualization technique (Figure 1). The nuclei density of copper electrodeposits on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate is evaluated microscopically and quantified using image processing. The pulse parameters are made equivalent to the corresponding DC voltage (VDC) by two possible ways, i) increasing the peak voltage (VPeak) based on the duty cycle applied (VPeak = VDC/D) , and ii) expanding the total deposition time, or in other words equating the cumulative reaction time (tON) in pulses to the total DC time (tDC = ∑tON). Interestingly, exactly opposite trends are observed for the two aforementioned methods. A sharp increase (∼75%) and decrease (∼80%) in nuclei density as compared to DC are observed while reducing the duty cycle till D = 1/4 for the two methods respectively. However, a decline in nuclei density is noticed while increasing in frequency in both methods. The associated pulse time scales, and the coalescence of the evolving nuclei due to merging of the diffusion zones surrounding a growing nucleus are likely to play the leading role behind this observation. The results add insights to the governing process, and will be useful in designing efficient pulse parameters to control dendritic growth. Figure 1

Super-Regenerative Receiver Wake-Up Radio Solution for 5G New Radio Communications

Wake-up radio is a promising solution to reduce the energy wasted by mobile devices during an idle state. In this paper, we propose a new wake-up radio solution for 5G mobile devices based on a super-regenerative receiver characterized by its low cost and low power consumption and investigate how to build on the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation capability at the base station to generate optimal wake-up signals. After presenting the relevant features and limitations of super-regenerative receivers operating in different 5G New Radio (NR) frequency bands, we evaluate how the numerology, the number of resource blocks, and the quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) scheme used affect the sensitivity of the super-regenerative wake-up receiver. The results show that a 256-QAM modulation scheme, together with the highest numerology values, achieves optimal receiver sensitivity with a minimal number of resource blocks, yielding higher duty cycle pulses that also facilitate symbol synchronization tasks.

Формирование и исследование свойств покрытий из металлического стекла FeWCrMoBC на стали 35

Introduction. To obtain metallic glass coatings it is necessary to achieve high cooling rates of melt. FeWCrMoBC composition has high melt viscosity and sufficient glass-forming ability to fix of the amorphous state at cooling rates implemented by electric discharge alloying with the use of a crystalline electrode. The purpose of the work is one-stage deposition of amorphous coating by electric discharge alloying, using crystalline anode FeWCrMoBC, prepared by casting and studying the properties of modified surface of carbon steel: wettability, high-temperature resistance, tribological properties. Methods and Results. The structure of anode and coatings was investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis in CuKα radiation on a DRON-7 diffractometer. In contrast to the X-ray patterns of the anode material, sharp Bregg reflexes were not observed on the X-ray patterns of the coatings, but a wide halo was present in the range of angles 2Ѳ = 40–50°, which indicates its amorphous structure. The cyclic high-temperature resistance test was carried out at 700 °C for 100 hours. The wear rate and coefficient of friction of the specimens were studied under dry sliding friction at a speed of 0.47 m/s at a load of 25 N with the use of a counterbody made of high-speed steel M45. The influence of the discharge pulse duty cycle on the character of mass transfer (anode erosion, cathode weight gain, mass transfer coefficient) during coating formation was investigated. With a decrease in the duty cycle of the discharge pulses up to 9 times, the erosion of the anode increased up to 5 times, and the cathode mass gain increased up to 2.2 times. The maximum mass-transfer coefficient was achieved at the highest duty cycle. An increase in a number of surface properties of carbon steel after coating was observed: the hardness of the surface of the specimens increased by 2.3–2.6 times; the average thickness of the coatings was in the range of 56–80.6 µm; the wetting angle was in the range of 108.4–121.3°; the coefficient of friction decreased by 1.2–1.4 times; the wear resistance increased by 2–3.3 times; oxidizability in air decreased by 14–18 times. Scope and Conclusions. The achieved higher properties (hardness, wear resistance, high-temperature resistance, and hydrophobicity) of the executive surfaces of parts made of carbon steel after deposition of the proposed coatings can be used in various branches of engineering production. The results of the work confirmed the possibility of deposition of metallic glass coatings by electric discharge alloying with the use of cast anode material FeWCrMoBC on carbon steel.

Parametric Investigation of the Effects of Electrical Discharge Machining on Plain D2 Steel

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) has emerged as a pivotal non-conventional production technique due to its unique capability to machine without the cutting tool’s physical contact with the workpiece, making it apt for brittle, delicate, and complex materials. This research delved into the influence of operational parameters—pulse duration (Ton), peak current (Ip), duty cycle (T), and gap voltage (Vg)—on machining attributes, namely material removal rate (MRR), electrode wear rate (EWR), and radial overcut (ROC) for AISI D2 steel. Utilizing the Taguchi L9 orthogonal array for experimental design, nine experiments were conducted, followed by signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) computations. Key findings highlighted a 4.02 dB improvement in the S/N ratio for MRR, leading to a 29.13% improvement; a 10.35 dB enhancement in the S/N ratio for EWR, resulting in a 33.33% reduction; and a 2.20 dB increase in the S/N ratio for ROC, leading to a 28.57% increment. ANOVA analyses further underscored the predominant influence of all four parameters. The significance of these findings lies in optimizing the EDM process for increased efficiency, reduced tool wear, and enhanced precision, potentially leading to cost savings and improved production quality in industrial applications.

Removal of Pb from Contaminated Kaolin by Pulsed Electrochemical Treatment Coupled with a Permeable Reactive Barrier: Tuning Removal Efficiency and Energy Consumption.

Lead contamination in soil has emerged as a significant environmental concern. Recently, pulse electrochemical treatment (PECT) has garnered substantial attention as an effective method for mitigating lead ions in low-permeability soils. However, the impact of varying pulse time gradients, ranging from seconds to hours, under the same pulse duty cycle on lead removal efficiency (LRE) and energy consumption in PECT has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, a novel, modified PECT method is proposed, which couples PECT with a permeable reaction barrier (PRB) and adds acetic acid to the catholyte. A comprehensive analysis of LRE and energy consumption is conducted by transforming pulse time. The results show that the LREs achieved in these experiments were as follows: PCb-3 s (89.5%), PCb-1 m (91%), PCb-30 m (92.9%), and PCb-6 h (91.9%). Importantly, these experiments resulted in significant reductions in energy consumption, with decreases of 68.5%, 64.9%, 51.8%, and 47.4% compared to constant voltage treatments, respectively. It was observed that LRE improved with an increase in both pulse duration and voltage gradient, albeit with a corresponding rise in energy consumption. The results also revealed that corn straw biochar as a PRB could enhance LRE by 6.1% while adsorbing migrating lead ions. Taken together, the present data highlights the potential of modified PECT technology for remediation of lead-contaminated soil, which provides an optimal approach to achieve high LRE while minimizing energy consumption.

Adjustment of rotation and saturation effects (AROSE) for CEST imaging.

Endogenous CEST signal usually has low specificity due to contaminations from the magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) and other labile protons with overlapping or close Larmor frequencies. We propose to improve CEST signal specificity with adjustment of rotation and saturation effects (AROSE). The AROSE approach measures the difference between CEST signals acquired with the same average irradiation power but largely different duty cycles, for example, a continuous wave or a high duty cycle pulse train versus a low duty cycle pulse train with a flip angle φ. Simulation, phantom, and in vivo rodent studies were performed to evaluate the characteristics of the AROSEφ signal. Simulation and experimental results show that AROSE2π is a low-pass filter that can suppress fast exchanging processes (e.g., >3000 s-1 ), whereas AROSEπ is a band-pass filter suppressing both fast and slow exchange (e.g., <30 s-1 ) rates. For other φ angles, the sensitivity and the exchange-rate filtering effect of AROSEφ falls between AROSEπ and AROSE2π . AROSE can also minimize MTC and improve the Larmor frequency selectivity of the CEST signal. The linewidth of the AROSE1.5π spectrum is about 60% to 65% when compared to the CEST spectrum measured by continuous wave. Depending on the needs of an application, the sensitivity, exchange-rate filtering, and Larmor frequency selectivity can be adjusted by varying the flip angle, duty cycle, and average irradiation power. Compared to conventional CEST signals, AROSE can minimize MTC and improve exchange rate filtering and Larmor frequency specificity.

The Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation of Aluminum Using Microsecond-Range DC Pulsing

This manuscript presents the results of our recent work focused on the plasma electrolytic oxidation of aluminum in a sodium tungstate solution using a microsecond-range pulsed DC signal. DC pulses of 50, 300 and 900 μs were followed by 5- and 25-times longer pauses between the pulses, showing the effect of the pulse duration and duty cycle on the morphological, phase and chemical properties of formed oxide coatings. It is shown that all coatings are partially crystalline with gamma-alumina, WO3 and metallic W phases present in formed PEO coatings. A higher duty cycle value results in the higher crystallization of the obtained PEO coatings. Although the chemical composition of the obtained coatings is not very sensitive to processing parameters, their roughness and porosity change significantly, as well as their thickness. The photocatalytic activity and photoluminescence properties of the obtained coatings are dependent on their morphology and chemical composition, i.e., on the processing time. The highest photoactivity and photoluminescence intensity is observed for the coating formed with ton = 300 μs and toff = 25 ton. A comparable application potential is found for the sample processed with ton = 50 μs and toff = 25 ton, which requires considerably less energy for PEO processing.

Impact of Electric Field Pulse Duration on Ferroelectric Hafnium Zirconium Oxide Thin Film Capacitor Endurance

While ferroelectric HfO2 shows promise for use in memory technologies, limited endurance is one factor that challenges its widespread application. Herein, endurance is investigated through field cycling W/Hf0.5Zr0.5O2/W capacitors above the coercive field while manipulating the time under field using bipolar pulses of varying pulse duration or duty cycle. Both remanent polarization and leakage current increase with increasing pulse duration. Additionally, an order of magnitude decrease in the pulse duration from 20 to 2 μs results in an increase in endurance lifetime of nearly two orders of magnitude from 3 × 106 to 2 × 108 cycles. These behaviors are attributed to increasing time under field allowing for charged oxygen vacancy migration, initially unpinning domains, or driving phase transformations before segregating to grain boundaries and electrode interfaces. This oxygen vacancy migration causes increasing polarization before creating conducting percolation paths that result in degradation and premature device failure. This process is suppressed for 2 μs pulse duration field cycling where minimal wake‐up and lower leakage before device failure are observed, suggesting that very short pulses can be used to significantly increase device endurance. These results provide insight into the impact of pulse duration on device performance and highlight consideration of use of conditions when endurance testing.

Crystallization Behavior of Calcium Silicate-Based Mold Flux Under Electropulsing Treatment with Different Pulse Duty Cycles

Crystallization Behavior of Calcium Silicate-Based Mold Flux Under Electropulsing Treatment with Different Pulse Duty Cycles

Rapid responses of human pluripotent stem cells to cyclic mechanical strains applied to integrin by acoustic tweezing cytometry

Acoustic tweezing cytometry (ATC) is an ultrasound-based biophysical technique that has shown the capability to promote differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). This study systematically examined how hPSCs respond to cyclic mechanical strains applied by ATC via displacement of integrin-bound microbubbles (averaged diameter of 4.3 µm) using ultrasound pulses (acoustic pressure 0.034 MPa, center frequency 1.24 MHz and pulse repetition frequency 1 Hz). Our data show downregulation of pluripotency marker Octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) by at least 10% and increased nuclear localization of Yes-associated protein (YAP) by almost 100% in hPSCs immediately after ATC application for as short as 1 min and 5 min respectively. Analysis of the movements of integrin-anchored microbubbles under ATC stimulations reveals different stages of viscoelastic characteristic behavior and increasing deformation of the integrin-cytoskeleton (CSK) linkage. The peak displacement of integrin-bound microbubbles increased from 1.45 ± 0.16 to 4.74 ± 0.67 μm as the duty cycle of ultrasound pulses increased from 5% to 50% or the duration of each ultrasound pulse increased from 0.05 to 0.5 s. Real-time tracking of integrin-bound microbubbles during ATC application detects high correlation of microbubble displacements with OCT4 downregulation in hPSCs. Together, our data showing fast downregulation of OCT4 in hPSCs in respond to ATC stimulations highlight the unique mechanosensitivity of hPSCs to integrin-targeted cyclic force/strain dependent on the pulse duration or duty cycle of ultrasound pulses, providing insights into the mechanism of ATC-induced accelerated differentiation of hPSCs.

Therapeutic Ultrasound for Enhanced Corneal Permeability to Macromolecules.

Topically applied macromolecules have the potential to provide vision-saving treatments for many of the leading causes of blindness in the United States. The aim of this study was to determine if ultrasound can be applied to increase transcorneal drug delivery of macromolecules without dangerously overheating surrounding ocular tissues. Dissected corneas of adult rabbits were placed in a diffusion cell between a donor compartment filled with a solution of macromolecules (40, 70 kDa, or 150 kDa) and a receiver compartment. Each cornea was exposed to the drug solution for 60 minutes, with the experimental group receiving 5 minutes of continuous ultrasound or 10 minutes of pulsed ultrasound at a 50% duty cycle (pulse repetition frequency of 500 ms on, 500 ms off) at the beginning of treatment. Unfocused circular ultrasound transducers were operated at 0.5 to 1 W/cm2 intensity and at 600 kHz frequency. The greatest increase in transcorneal drug delivery seen was 1.2 times (P < .05) with the application of pulsed ultrasound at 0.5 W/cm2 and 600 kHz for 10 minutes with 40 kDa macromolecules. Histological analysis revealed structural damage mostly in the corneal epithelium, with most damage occurring at the epithelial surface. This study suggests that ultrasound may be used for enhancing transcorneal delivery of macromolecules of lower molecular weights. Further research is needed on the long-term effects of ultrasound parameters used in this study on human ocular tissues.

Fabrication of Pb-Co-ZrO2 nanocomposite coatings and correlation of corrosion mechanisms with electronic work functions

It is still an urgent task to design metal coatings for the development of corrosion resistance. Herein, Pb-Co-ZrO2 coating is fabricated on the surface of aluminum plates via one-step pulsed electrodeposition for corrosion resistance. The pulse frequency, current density and duty cycle are 800 Hz, 15 mA cm−2 and 20 %, respectively. In this work, the concentration of ZrO2 nanoparticles in the bath is the main operating variable. We further explored the deposition mechanism of the nanocomposite coating and demonstrated its application potential in corrosion resistance. As expected, the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of the coatings increased and then decreased with the increase of the concentration of ZrO2 nanoparticles in the plating solution. When the concentration of ZrO2 nanoparticles in the plating solution was 15 g L−1, the Pb-Co-ZrO2 nanocomposite coating exhibited excellent corrosion resistance in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution, with an impedance modulus value (5182 Ω cm2) that was eight times higher than that of the pure Pb coating (669 Ω cm2), possessed the highest corrosion potential (- 0.60 V) and the lowest corrosion current density (3.6 μA cm−2), while also exhibiting excellent mechanical properties. The mechanism of the improved corrosion performance of the Pb-Co-ZrO2 composite coatings was further explained using DFT calculations. The results show that the coupling between the interface of Pb-Co solid solution and ZrO2 nanoparticles effectively improves the overall electron figure of merit of the coatings and triggers an obvious electron localisation, which increases the energy required for the interfacial electrons to escape from the coating interface.

Mass transfer characteristics at cathode/electrolyte interface during electrodeposition of nickel microcolumns with various aspect ratios

The filling behavior of electrodeposited microcolumns is strongly influenced by the mass transfer characteristics at the cathode/electrolyte interface. This study aims to elucidate the influence of the mass transfer characteristics (ion supplementation via diffusion and ion consumption via deposition) on the electrodeposition of microcolumns, thus providing feasible solutions for improving void defects with different feature sizes. The results indicate that ion consumption plays an important role in the mass transfer within large-width microcavities (100 μm). For large-width microcolumns, longer electroforming times lead to higher ion consumption, resulting in nonuniform ion concentration distribution, and consequently uneven deposition rates along the microcavity wall. In microcavities with high aspect ratio (5:1), ion supplementation plays a major role. The low ion supplementation rate does not support a uniform deposition, resulting in a large void defect and a low filling ratio in the deposited microcolumns. Therefore, reducing the ion consumption rate by decreasing the current density from 1 A dm−2 to 0.25 A dm−2 can effectively increase the filling ratio in large-width microcolumns with no significant effect on high aspect ratio microcolumns. On the contrary, the pulse reverse current (forward pulse current density 1 A dm−2, reverse pulse current density 2 A dm−2, frequency 1 Hz, forward pulse duty cycle 0.9) can increase the filling ratio in the high aspect ratio microcolumns by accelerating ion supplementation through dissolution of the deposited layer. By further increasing the reverse pulse current density from 2 A dm−2 to 6 A dm−2, void defects can be completely eliminated and even void-free deposition of high aspect ratio microcolumns (5:1) can be achieved.

Output Voltage Drop and Input Current Ripple Suppression for the Pulse Load Power Supply Using Virtual Multiple Quasi-Notch-Filters Impedance

To balance the instantaneous power difference between the pulsed output power and the constant input power of the pulse load power supply (PLPS), an active capacitor converter (ACC), which can compensate the pulsed current, is connected in parallel with the output of the dc-dc converter in the PLPS. In this paper, based on the Fourier decomposition results of the load current, it is evident that square waves have significant harmonic content. Hence, to provide the lower impedance at the frequencies of the high content harmonics in the load current, a virtual impedance that consisted of the multiple quasi-notch-filters (MQNF) is proposed to be in parallel at the port of the ACC for the suppression of output voltage drop and input current ripple. The virtual parallel impedance is implemented by the output voltage feedforward control (FFC) of the ACC. The design considerations of the virtual parallel impedance are presented to ensure the stability of the PLPS. Finally, a synchronous rectifier buck (SR-buck) converter with a bidirectional buck/boost converter is tested at the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 100-300 Hz and the pulse duty cycle of 0.15 to verify the validity of the proposed control scheme.

The influence of pulse duration and duty cycle on the energy flux to the substrate in high power impulse magnetron sputtering

The paper focuses on measurements of the total energy flux and normalized energy flux onto the substrate during high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) in a wide range of the pulse duration and discharge current. Al, Cr and Ti targets with a diameter 76 mm are used for sputtering. HiPIMS parameters include 1 kW discharge power, 15 to 150 А discharge current, 0.4–10 kHz pulse frequency, and 5–100 μs pulse duration. It is shown that the use of short pulses leads to ∼40 and 70% growth in the total energy flux onto floating and biased (−100 V) substrates, respectively. The energy per unit volume of the deposited coating increases by several times, if the pulse duration and the duty cycle are reduced. The paper examines reasons for the increased total and normalized energy fluxes onto the substrate observed after the pulse parameter modulation in the sputtering process.