Temperature Dependence Of Specific Heat Research Articles

A simplified method of calculating heat flow through a heat exchanger with a significantly temperature-dependent specific heat of heat transfer fluids

A simplified method of calculating the heat flow through a heat exchanger in which one or both heat-carrying media have a specific heat that varies significantly with temperature is proposed. The proposed method allows for the calculation of the maximum heat flow rate provided that the thermodynamic properties of both heat carriers are known. It is intended for the simplification of heat exchanger modeling at the pre-design power plant simulations, which are used for the assessment of efficiency and the selection of schematic solutions. This is particularly relevant when the parameters of the heat exchangers are not known. The proposed method may prove useful for the simulation of binary cycle geothermal power plants, as well as for the modeling of gas turbine power plants utilizing carbon dioxide as the working medium for their cycles.

Inverse problem method application in building physics numerical optimization: new insight into ideal envelope properties determination

ABSTRACT Building thermal design optimization is pivotal for energy efficiency and built environment improvement. The optimal thermophysical properties for building walls remain ambiguous. This ambiguity stems from the constraints of traditional building physics, which: (1) disjoins the enhancement of wall thermal performance from the building service system management; and (2) relies on the forward method that fails to identify the ideal variable thermophysical property, the solution to which is inherently a function. This study elucidates the optimal temperature-dependent volumetric specific heat ( ρ c p ( t ) ) and thermal conductivity ( k ( t ) ) through the inverse problem and variation method. Illustrative example indicates that the optimal ρ c p ( t ) closely resembles a combination of two ‘ δ ’ functions, while the optimal k ( t ) mirrors a square wave function. Utilizing these ideal thermophysical properties, the building energy consumption can be significantly reduced by 77.1% with the optimized ρ c p ( t ) and 79.9% with the optimized k ( t ) . The ideal thermophysical properties for active buildings differ significantly from those recommended for passive buildings, underscoring that minimal energy consumption does not necessarily imply minimal discomfort. Therefore, the thermophysical properties of active and passive buildings should be optimized distinctly. This research offers valuable insights for defining ideal thermophysical properties of active building walls and construction materials.

Thermophysical Characterization of Materials for Energy-Efficient Double Diaphragm Preforming

The Double Diaphragm Preforming (DDPF) process uses vacuum pressure and heat to pre-shape dry carbon fabric reinforcements between flexible diaphragms in liquid composite molding (LCM). Accurate modeling of heat transfer within DDPF requires knowledge of the thermophysical properties of the constituent materials under processing conditions. This study investigates the thermal conductivity of silicone diaphragms and carbon fabrics with embedded thermoplastic binder webs, utilizing transient plane source (TPS) and modified transient plane source (MTPS) methods, respectively. Additionally, the specific heat of silicone, carbon fibers (both chopped and powdered), and binder were measured using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Mixed samples comprising chopped fibers with 1.8 wt% binder and powdered fibers with 3.6 wt% binder was also analyzed with DSC. This study also examined the influence of reheating cycles on the specific heat of carbon fiber—3.6 wt% binder samples—and the effect of compaction and vacuum on the thermal conductivity of carbon fabrics with an embedded binder. While silicone exhibited linear-specific heat behavior, the thermoplastic binder showed non-linearity due to phase change. The combined carbon fiber-binder samples demonstrated slight non-linear specific heat variations depending on reheating cycles. The thermal conductivity of the fabric preforms decreased with the addition of thermoplastic binder and under vacuum-compaction conditions. The established temperature-dependent specific heat relationships and thermal conductivity provide valuable data for optimizing DDPF preforming parameters and enhancing energy efficiency in composite manufacturing.

Borides Mn3-x{Rh,Ir}5B2 with Ti3Co5B2-type: X-ray single crystal and TEM data, physical properties

A cursory investigation of the phase relations in the Mn-{Rh,Ir}-B systems prompted for each system a ternary compound, Mn3-x{Rh,Ir}5B2, the crystal structure of them was determined from X-ray single crystal data to be isotypic with the Ti3Co5B2-type (space group P4/mbm, No. 127). In both cases the Mn-site in 2a at the origin of the unit cell exhibits a significant defect (or Mn/B substitution). Transmission electron microscopy studies confirm the absence of a superstructure related to these defects/disorder. The two phases, Mn3-xRh5B2 (x∼0.34) and Mn3-xIr5B2 (x∼0.85) at 950 °C show rather limited homogeneity regions pointing towards higher Mn-contents. Whereas temperature dependent magnetization and specific heat measurements of Mn2.15Ir5B2 do not reveal any indication for a magnetic phase transition in the temperature range from 3 to 300 K, a broad specific heat anomaly at around 200 K and a tilde shape of the temperature dependent magnetization of Mn2.66Rh5B2 appears indicative of an antiferromagnetic phase transition. The latter is also reflected by an anomaly of the electrical resistivity (ρ; 4–300 K) of Mn2.66Rh5B2 which displays a non-monotonous temperature dependence, whereas ρ(T) of Mn2.15Ir5B2 displays a simple metallic-like behavior dominated by scattering from defects. Elastic moduli and Poisson's ratio were determined at room temperature from Resonant Ultrasonic Spectroscopy (RUS) data yielding Young's moduli of E ∼ 170 GPa for Mn2.66Rh5B2 and E ∼ 210 GPa for Mn2.15Ir5B2. Vickers hardness HV is lower for Mn2.66Rh5B2 (HV = 590 ≅ 5.79 GPa) than for Mn2.15Ir5B2 (HV = 655 ≅ 6.42 GPa). The indentation fracture toughness for Mn2.15Ir5B2 was IKC = 0.71 ± 0.5 MPa m1/2.

Large electrocaloric effect across the non-hysteretic electrostructural phase transition in lead-free (Ba0.88Ca0.12)(Ti0.94Sn0.06)O3 ceramics

Structural, dielectric, and electrocaloric properties were investigated in Pb-free ceramic (Ba0.88Ca0.12)(Ti0.94Sn0.06)O3 (BCST), synthesized using solid-state sintering method. Rietveld refinement of room temperature XRD data revealed the existence of pure perovskite tetragonal (P4mm) phase. Temperature-dependent XRD analyses confirmed a structural transition from tetragonal to cubic phase near 380 K. Temperature-dependent dielectric constant (εr) and specific heat capacity (Cp) confirmed the presence of thermal hysteresis in two phase transitions near 233 ± 10 K and 254 ± 10 K, and a non-hysteretic behavior at the Curie temperature (TC∼373 ± 10 K). A comprehensive Raman study corroborated the existence of phase transitions. Electrocaloric properties were determined using indirect method utilizing the non-hysteretic nature across TC. A large adiabatic temperature change of |∆T| = 0.52 K, isotropic entropy change |∆S| = 0.68 J/kg.K, electrocaloric coefficients, |∆T/∆E |= 0.311 K.mm/kV and |∆S/∆E| = 0.41 J.mm/K.kg.kV were obtained at 380 K for an electric field of 16.7 kV/cm. Obtained value of |∆T/∆E| is relatively good, reported among other BaTiO3-based ceramics.

Low-temperature behaviors of the dipolar magnet Dy3Sb3Zn2O14 with a strongly site-mixing disordered kagome lattice

Interesting behaviors may emerge in the magnetic frustrated materials with significant site-mixing disorder. We present the results of the structural, magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat measurements of Dy3Sb3Zn2O14 with ∼20 % Dy/Zn site-mixing disorder, which results in either a diluted 2D triangular lattice, or an intermediate structure between the kagome and pyrochlore lattice. In addition to the sharp anomaly of the temperature dependence of specific heat at T∼ 0.35 K, which was attributed to the emergent charge order state for the sample with less disorder, a broad peak at T∼ 1.5 K, and a small hump below T∼ 0.1 K are observed. The measured temperature dependence of specific heat and the Monte Carlo simulation suggest that the magnetic frustration persists despite of a strong site-mixing disorder.

CFD simulation of solid/liquid phase change in commercial PCMs using the slPCMlib library

Modelling the solidification and melting behavior of phase change materials (PCMs) can present several challenges, including non-isothermal phase change, multi-step transitions, complex enthalpy-temperature relations and convective heat transfer. To tackle these challenges, this study proposes a novel numerical method based on real experimental data for modelling complex phase change behavior of commercial PCMs in Ansys Fluent CFD software. The phase transition of PCMs is simulated with the apparent heat capacity (AHC) method, which is implemented as a User-Defined Function (UDF). Heat convection is simulated with the Boussinesq approximation. The method is validated by comparing to the Ansys Fluent built-in Solidification and Melting (S&M) model for the case of piecewise constant heat capacity. The results show that AHC method provides excellent agreement with S&M model for a piecewise constant heat capacity model. In addition, the AHC method solves convergence problems even for narrow phase change temperature ranges when a smooth heat capacity function is assumed. Finally, the AHC model is also tested on a set of commercial PCMs exhibiting complex phase change behavior. Temperature dependent specific heat capacities are determined from heat capacity data provided by PCM manufacturing companies and are imported as cubic Hermite spline functions from the solid-liquid phase change material library slPCMlib available at https://slpcmlib.ait.ac.at/. From the presented case study and tested PCMs it can be concluded that the AHC method is numerically robust when used with sufficiently smooth heat capacity functions, and it can be recommended for the analysis of heat transfer with PCMs showing a complex phase change behavior.

Strain-dependent ultrafast carrier dynamics and spin–lattice interaction in LaMnO3 films

We investigate the ultrafast carrier dynamics and spin–lattice interaction in strained and unstrained LaMnO3 films via temperature-dependent femtosecond transient optical spectroscopy. The transient reflectivity measurements show two characteristic relaxation processes in both types of films, which are attributed to electron–phonon coupling and phonon-assisted spin–lattice interaction, respectively. The carrier dynamics and coupling between lattice and spin system are well described with the three-temperature model; the spin–lattice relaxation time constant is dominated by the temperature-dependent spin specific heat. Both the electron–phonon coupling and the spin–lattice interaction are enhanced in the strained film, as a result of the modified band structure and orbital ordering under biaxial compressive strain. Our results reveal the critical role of strain in the photo-induced dynamical interactions in LaMnO3.

Probing electron–phonon coupling in magnetic van der Waals material NiPS3: A non-magnetic site-dilution study

NiPS3 is a van der Waals antiferromagnet which has been shown to exhibit spin-phonon and spin-charge coupling in the antiferromagnetically ordered state below TN = 155 K. It is also a rare Ni-based negative charge-transfer-type insulator with Ni valence in a linear superposition state ψ= αd8+ βd9L−+ γ d10L−2 , where L− is the ligand hole. Here, we study high-quality single-crystals of Ni1−x Zn x PS3 (0 < x < 0.2) using temperature-dependent specific heat and Raman spectroscopy probes. We show that in pristine NiPS3, the phonon mode at 176 cm−1 (P2), associated with the vibrations of Ni ions, exhibits a distinct Fano asymmetry. The Fano resonance is particularly pronounced in the paramagnetic phase above TN, which was further confirmed by temperature dependent Raman data on the Zn-doped crystals. In the Zn-doped crystals, while the magnetism weakens following the mean-field prediction for site-dilution in a honeycomb lattice, the Fano coupling |1/q| strengthens, increasing monotonically with increasing Zn-doping. The x-ray photoemission spectra suggest an increase in the weight of the d9 and d10 components in the Zn-doped crystals. These observations indicate the presence of strong electron–phonon coupling in Ni1−x Zn x PS3, in addition to the spin-phonon, and spin-charge coupling previously reported.

Defect-Induced Low-Energy Majorana Excitations in the Kitaev Magnet α−RuCl3

The excitations in the Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) can be described by Majorana fermions, which have characteristic field dependence of bulk gap and topological edge modes. In the high-field state of layered honeycomb magnet α−RuCl3, experimental results supporting these Majorana features have been reported recently. However, there are challenges due to sample dependence, and the impact of inevitable disorder on the KSL is poorly understood. Here, we study how low-energy excitations are modified by introducing point defects in α−RuCl3 using electron irradiation, which induces site vacancies and exchange randomness. High-resolution measurements of the temperature dependence of specific heat C(T) under in-plane fields H reveal that, while the field-dependent Majorana gap is almost intact, additional low-energy states with C/T=A(H)T are induced by introduced defects. At low temperatures, we obtain the data collapse of C/T∼H−γ(T/H) expected for a disordered quantum spin system but with an anomalously large exponent γ. This leads us to find a power-law relationship between the coefficient A(H) and the field-sensitive Majorana gap. These results are consistent with the picture that the disorder induces low-energy linear Majorana excitations, which may be considered as a weak localization effect of Majorana fermions in the KSL. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Dynamic thermal analysis of pulsed blue diode pumped Ti:Sapphire amplifiers

We simulated the time-dependent temperature profiles inside a blue diode pumped Ti:Sapphire (Ti:Sa) laser amplifier for several different pulsed pump configurations using a discrete element method, including temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of Ti:Sa crystals. Furthermore, we calculated the resulting focal length of the thermal lenses using the optical path differences through the crystal.

Origins of anomalies in the temperature dependences of specific heat and superfluid density in doped high-Tc cuprates: Signatures of Bose-liquid superconductivity

We show that the temperature-dependent superconducting order parameter and related superconducting properties (in particular, the temperature dependences of specific heat, superfluid density and related London penetration depth) of high-[Formula: see text] cuprates are fundamentally different from those of conventional superconductors and cannot be understood within the existing theories based on the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS)-type condensation of weakly bound Cooper pairs into a superfluid Fermi-liquid and on the usual Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) of bosonic Cooper pairs. We examine the validity of an alternative approach to the unconventional superconductivity in high-[Formula: see text] cuprates and establish that these materials exhibiting a [Formula: see text]-like superconducting transition at the critical temperature [Formula: see text] are similar to the superfluid 4He and are also superfluid Bose systems. We argue that the doped high-[Formula: see text] cuprates, from underdoped to overdoped regime, are unconventional (bosonic) superconductors and the tightly bound (polaronic) Cooper pairs in these polar materials behave like composite bosons just like 4He atoms and condense into a Bose superfluid at [Formula: see text]. We identify the superconducting order parameter [Formula: see text] in underdoped and optimally doped cuprates as the coherence parameter [Formula: see text] of bosonic Cooper pairs, which appears just below [Formula: see text] and has a kink-like temperature dependence near the characteristic temperature [Formula: see text]. We find that the [Formula: see text]-like specific heat anomaly in high-[Formula: see text] cuprates near [Formula: see text] predicted by the theory of Bose-liquid superconductivity is similar to that observed both in superfluid 4He near [Formula: see text] and in Hg-based cuprate superconductor HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8 near [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]K. We demonstrate that in high-[Formula: see text] superconductor YBa2Cu3[Formula: see text] the superfluid density [Formula: see text] exhibits distinctly different temperature dependences in the temperature ranges [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. In this superconductor, a pronounced anomaly in [Formula: see text] exists near [Formula: see text] and the temperature dependence of [Formula: see text] below [Formula: see text] deviates downwards from the high-temperature behavior. Our results for the normalized superfluid density [Formula: see text] are in good agreement with the experimental data on the temperature dependence of [Formula: see text] in YBa2Cu3[Formula: see text]. The anomalous temperature dependences of specific heat and superfluid density observed in Hg- and Y-based high-[Formula: see text] superconductors are clear signatures of Bose-liquid superconductivity.

Detailed Approach to Calculate the Heat Generation of Lithium-Ion Cells during Heat-Wait-Seek Tests in Accelerating Rate Calorimetry

By means of the Heat-Wait-Seek test in Accelerating Rate Calorimeters (ARC) the safety performance of Lithium-ion cells can be estimated. The most interesting measured parameters that can be extracted from these tests are the critical temperatures, such as the onset of self-heating, the venting or thermal runaway temperature. Another essential safety factor is the generated heat during cell failure. In general, the generated heat is calculated by an average heat capacity of the cell and the temperature difference in the experiment, which is not accurate enough especially when facing the challenges in specific volumetric energy density and safety of battery packs.In this study a more accurate way to calculate the generated heat is proposed, which consists of using temperature dependent heat capacity of the cell, based on its individual components. This leads to a significant difference in the calculated generated heat, for instance the specific heat capacity of NMC as a cathode material increases in the temperature range from 298 K to 398 K from 0.83 to 0.96 J/g·K, which is an increase of about 16 %. This leads to a difference in the calculated generated heat in this small range of 7 J/g (or 8 %), if a static specific heat capacity of 0.83 J/g·K and on the other hand a temperature dependent specific heat capacity is used. Moreover, the influence of additional heating steps, venting of the cell, melting of the separator and the overall accuracy of the measurement will be discussed. The investigation of these effects is in the focus of the project AnaLiBa (Analytics of Lithium-ion-Batteries), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the framework of the competence cluster Analytics/quality assurance (AQua). In this project the approach is applied to commercial type 21700 cells. The 21700 type cells are extensively used in battery packs, for instance in electric cars, due to their 20 % higher energy density with respect to the former used type 18650 cells. The cells were measured in an ES-ARC from Thermal Hazard Technologies, UK, using the Heat-Wait-Seek test. The generated heat was compared for either fresh cells and cells after cyclic aging. The cyclic aging was performed at 0 °C and 20 °C with a charging rate of 0.3C for 0 °C and 0.7C for 20 °C and a discharging rate of 2C for 20 °C and 0.5C for 0 °C until the state of health was at 80 % ±2 %. The two different temperatures studied in the cyclic aging were chosen as 0 °C to cause lithium plating and as 20 °C to cause a higher internal resistance due to a thicker solid-electrolyte-interface, which has a high influence on the measured properties in the Heat-Wait-Seek test and therefore on the generated heat.With this approach the generated heat in abuse tests can be calculated more accurately to simulate the propagation of heat during a single cell failure in a pack or to calculate the necessary thickness of a heat barrier for safer battery packs. This helps manufacturers to improve their battery pack design with respect to the specific volumetric energy density and safety.

Probing the superconducting pairing of the La4Be33Pt16 alloy via muon-spin spectroscopy

We report a study of the superconducting pairing of the noncentrosymmetric La4Be33Pt16 alloy using muon-spin rotation and relaxation (µSR) technique. Below K, La4Be33Pt16 exhibits bulk superconductivity (SC), here characterized by heat-capacity and magnetic-susceptibility measurements. The temperature dependence of the superfluid density , extracted from the transverse-field µSR measurements, reveals a nodeless SC in La4Be33Pt16. The best fit of using an s-wave model yields a magnetic penetration depth nm and a superconducting gap meV at zero Kelvin. The single-gapped superconducting state is further evidenced by the temperature-dependent electronic specific heat and the linear field-dependent electronic specific-heat coefficient . The zero-field µSR spectra collected in the normal- and superconducting states of La4Be33Pt16 are almost identical, confirming the absence of an additional field-related relaxation and, thus, of spontaneous magnetic fields below Tc . The nodeless SC combined with a preserved time-reversal symmetry in the superconducting state proves that the spin-singlet pairing is dominant in La4Be33Pt16. This material represents yet another example of a complex system showing only a conventional behavior, in spite of a noncentrosymmetric structure and a sizeable spin–orbit coupling.

Probing the strongly correlated magnetic state of Co2C nanoparticles at low temperatures using μSR

Co2C nanoparticles (NPs) are amongst transition metal carbides whose magnetic properties have not been well explored. An earlier study (Roy et al 2021 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 33 375804) showed that a pellet made from Co2C NPs exhibits exchange bias (EB) effect below a temperature, T EB = 50 K and a spin glass (SG) feature emerges below T SG = 5 K. In the current study we use magnetic, electrical transport, specific heat, and muon spin rotation (μSR) measurements to explore further the magnetic properties of a pellet made with 40 nm diameter pure Co2C NPs. We uncover the onset of Kondo localization at Kondo temperature T K (= 40.1 K), which is close to the onset temperature (T EB) of the EB effect. A crossover from the Kondo-screened scenario to the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interaction-dominated regime is also observed for T < T K. Temperature-dependent specific heat measurement further supports the Kondo localization scenario in the pellet and shows the heavy fermionic nature of the strongly correlated electronic state in Co2C. The zero field μSR asymmetry spectra in the low-temperature regime are characterized by two distinct fast and slow relaxation rates. The spectra show the absence of long-range magnetic order in the sample. However, our analysis suggests the NPs-pellet shows the presence of a dominant magnetically disordered fraction and a smaller fraction with short-range order. Muons in the disordered fraction exhibit a slower relaxation rate, while muons in the smaller fraction with short-range order exhibit a faster relaxation rate. We observe an increase in this fast relaxation rate between T EB and T SG. This increase below T EB ∼ 50 K suggests a slowing down of the fluctuating local magnetic environment around muons. Transverse field-μSR asymmetry spectra show the emergence of a stable, multi-peaked local magnetic field distribution in the pellet below T EB. Longitudinal field μSR spectra shows distinct changes in the dynamics of fluctuations suggesting the presence of a frozen glassy like state below 6 K. Based on our results, we suggest that below T EB, the pellet of Co2C NPs develops a magnetic interface that separates the two magnetic fractions; one is a disordered fraction, and the other is a fraction with short-range order. The exchange interaction that sets in below T EB at the interface couples the two fractions, leading to a suppression of the fluctuations. With the suppression of magnetic fluctuations below T EB, strong correlation effects in the electronic state of Co2C lead to Kondo localization.

THERMODYNAMIC MAGNETIC FIELD AND SPECIFIC HEAT JUMP OF IRON-BASED SUPERCONDUCTOR BY TWO-BAND GINZBURG-LANDAU APPROACH

In this research, temperature-dependent thermodynamic magnetic field and specific heat jump of Fe-based superconductor were studied by two-band Ginzburg-Landau theory. The analytical form of the thermodynamic magnetic field was investigated by four temperature-dependent models; Chen’s model, Zhu’s model, Shanenko’s model and Changjan &amp; Udomsamuthirun’s model. For the calculation of specific heat jump, we use the Ruthgers expression. Calculation findings indicate an inverse relationship between the critical temperature and the specific heat jump. When compared with various models, the results from Changjan and Udomsamuthirun's models suit experimental data of Ba1-xKxFe2As2 (x = 0.4) and KFe2As2 superconductors better

An inverse methodology to estimate the thermal properties and heat generation of a Li-ion battery

Accurate estimation of temperature-dependent orthotropic thermal properties and volumetric heat generation of a Li-ion battery is crucial for thermal modeling, thermal safety, and the design of thermal management systems for electric vehicles. Though various studies are available on estimating thermophysical properties and heat generation, simple and easily applicable methods are rare. Moreover, these studies failed to report temperature sensitivity and standard deviation of the estimates. In this study, the temperature-dependent orthotropic thermal conductivities (kr,kθ,kz), specific heat (cp), and volumetric heat generation (qv) of Panasonic NCR18650BD cylindrical battery are estimated using an inverse approach (Metropolis Hastings-Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm based Bayesian method) with the help of experimentally obtained surface temperatures measured at convenient locations on the battery. From the estimation, the average values of kr,kθ,kz and cv are observed to be 3.18 ± 0.19, 20.34 ± 1.26, 19.89 ± 1.29 (W/mK), and 3180 ± 202 (J/kgK), respectively. The average heat generation rates from the same battery obtained using the same methodology are 0.1 ± 0.005, 0.34 ± 0.012, and 1.51 ± 0.026 W for 0.5, 1, and 2C discharge rates, respectively. The estimated thermophysical properties and heat generation rates are in good agreement with the results obtained from both in-house experiments and literature. In addition to the estimation of thermophysical properties and heat generation, the proposed methodology opens vistas to predict the strength and location of hotspots in the battery domain, which helps in designing appropriate and effective thermal management systems for battery packs.

Structure and thermoelectric properties of half-Heusler-like TiFeCuxSb alloys

Previous research on the ternary Ti-Fe-Sb system has revealed that stoichiometric TiFeSb cannot exist as a stable compound, whereas a single-phase TiFe1.33Sb alloy with the half-Heusler-like structure has been synthesized by adding excessive Fe. In this work, we report that TiFeSb can also be stabilized by filling additional Cu to the vacant 4d site of the half-Heusler lattice. Our experiments indicate that the TiFeCuxSb (x = 0–0.25) samples exhibit a p-type conduction with extremely high carrier concentration ((0.5 –2.5) × 1022 cm−3)), while these samples attain very large Seebeck coefficients, over 100 μV/K in the whole measured temperature range for the samples with x = 0.15–0.25. In addition, a logarithmic divergence of the temperature-dependent specific heat capacity (CP/T) is observed at low temperatures, implying the strange-metal behavior of TiFeCuxSb samples. The partial filling of the vacant 4d site results in significantly reduced lattice thermal conductivity, leading to the low total thermal conductivity of 2.8 W·m−1·K−1 at 823 K for the TiFeCu0.20Sb sample. Consequently, a dimensionless figure of merit zT of 0.54 at 923 K is realized for TiFeCu0.20Sb, demonstrating that promising thermoelectric materials with intriguing physical properties can be discovered in the composition gap of half- and full-Heusler alloys.

Magnetic relaxation in a Co(II) based quasi-one dimensional Ising spin system

Single crystal study of Co(NCS)2(aniline)2 reveals that this compound orders at 6.49 K into a canted AF magnetic structure that explains the presence of a hysteresis loop along the b crystal direction. Effective s=1/2 spins of Co(II) ions within the ground state doublet create an Ising spin system that can be described by J1−J2 triangular model. Temperature dependence of specific heat yields exchange interactions J1=31.3(4) K and 2J2=−2.23(7) K. Applying magnetic field ≃6 kOe perpendicular to b compensates for the AF exchange J2 decoupling ferromagnetic spin chains. This restores the one-dimensionality of the system and allows for observation of magnetic relaxation of single chains, similar to previously studied pyridine-based Co(NCS)2L2 compounds. The analysis of the relaxation time is performed taking into account single-ion relaxation mechanisms together with the Glauber relaxation. We also show, using Monte Carlo calculations of specific heat, that for ferromagnetic J1≫|J2|, the triangular Ising model can be approximated by the rectangular Ising model for which the analytical Onsager’s solution is available.

Application of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) Algorithm in Determining Thermodynamics of Solid Combustibles

The thermodynamics of a solid are crucial in predicting thermal responses and fire behaviors, and they are commonly determined by inverse modeling and optimization algorithms at constant heat flux. However, in practical scenarios, the imposed heat flux frequently varies with time, and related thermodynamics determination methods are rarely reported. In this study, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and a 1D numerical model were utilized to determine temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and specific heat of beech wood and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Surface, 3 and 6 mm in-depth temperatures were measured in three sets of ignition tests where constant and time-dependent heat fluxes (HFs) were applied. In each set, PSO was implemented at individual HFs, and the average value was deemed as the final outcome. Reliability of the optimized thermodynamics was verified by comparing with the reported values in the literature and predicting the experimental measurements that were not employed during parameterization. The results showed that wood thermodynamics attained under constant and time-dependent HFs in agreement with previously reported ones. Similar optimization procedures were conducted for PMMA, and good agreement with literature values was found. Using the obtained thermodynamics of wood under constant HF, the numerical model successfully captured the surface temperature at time-dependent HFs. Meanwhile, comparisons using wood temperatures at constant HFs and PMMA temperatures at linear HFs also verified the feasibility of PSO.