Thermal Electron Research Articles

Synthesis and characterization of chitosan-based pH-sensitive biofilm: An experimental design approach for release of vitamin B12

Hydrogels because of their unique potentials, such as highwater content and hydrophilicity, are of interest for the controlled release of drug molecules. In the present study, a biofilm was produced using chitosan, a natural polymer. Characterization analyses of the synthesized biofilm were performed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis-differential thermal analysis, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry. The analysis results of the film before loading were compared to the analysis made after adding vitamin B12 to the film. The release percentage of vitamin B12 was investigated by using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometery. The FT-IR bands of vitamin B12 were in the range of 2,800-3,500 cm-1 and 1,000 cm-1-1,750 cm-1. When pH increased from 3 to 7, release of vitamin B12 from the biopolymer increased up to pH 5. While examining the release potential, parameters, such as pH, initial concentration of vitamin B12, release time, and solution volume, were optimized by using response surface methodology. It was determined that with the increase in release time and the initial concentration, pH contributed positively to the release of vitamin B12. The following conditions were determined for release of vitamin B12 from the biofilm: pH: 4.2, initial concentration of vitamin B12: 54.0 mg L-1, the release time: 117 min, and volume of solution: 2.1 mL. The analysis of variance results showed that the determination coefficients for the use of synthesized biofilm in vitamin B12 release were high and R2 =0.9704.

Three-dimensional Modeling of the Solar Wind and Local Interstellar Medium Interaction with Pickup Ions in the Presence of Heliospheric Current Sheet

Our three-dimensional, time-dependent, multi-fluid model has been used to investigate the solar wind (SW)–local interstellar medium (LISM) interaction with pickup ions (PUIs) treated as a separate fluid. A non-zero, but fixed, angle between the Sun’s magnetic and rotation axis is adopted. The flow of the plasma mixture (thermal SW protons, PUIs, and electrons), is described by the system of ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations with the source terms responsible for charge exchange between ions and neutral atoms. Different populations of neutral atoms are governed by the individual sets of the Euler equations. As the standard Rankine–Hugoniot relations are not appropriate to describe the anisotropic behavior of PUIs at the termination shock, we use a kinetically-derived set of boundary conditions at it. We extend our previous work [1] and perform these new simulations on a Cartesian grid. This approach allows us to maintain a uniform grid resolution in all directions, without compromising resolution, at large distances from the Sun. The possibility of transition of the SW flow to a stochastic regime in the region between the termination shock and heliopause is further investigated.

Electron Heating in 2D Particle-in-cell Simulations of Quasi-perpendicular Low-beta Shocks

We measure the thermal electron energization in 1D and 2D particle-in-cell simulations of quasi-perpendicular, low-beta (β p = 0.25) collisionless ion–electron shocks with mass ratio m i/m e = 200, fast Mach number Mms=1 –4, and upstream magnetic field angle θ Bn = 55°–85° from the shock normal nˆ . It is known that shock electron heating is described by an ambipolar, B -parallel electric potential jump, Δϕ ∥, that scales roughly linearly with the electron temperature jump. Our simulations have Δϕ∥/(0.5miush2)∼0.1 –0.2 in units of the pre-shock ions’ bulk kinetic energy, in agreement with prior measurements and simulations. Different ways to measure ϕ ∥, including the use of de Hoffmann–Teller frame fields, agree to tens-of-percent accuracy. Neglecting off-diagonal electron pressure tensor terms can lead to a systematic underestimate of ϕ ∥ in our low-β p shocks. We further focus on two θ Bn = 65° shocks: a Ms=4 ( MA=1.8 ) case with a long, 30d i precursor of whistler waves along nˆ , and a Ms=7 ( MA=3.2 ) case with a shorter, 5d i precursor of whistlers oblique to both nˆ and B ; d i is the ion skin depth. Within the precursors, ϕ ∥ has a secular rise toward the shock along multiple whistler wavelengths and also has localized spikes within magnetic troughs. In a 1D simulation of the Ms=4 , θ Bn = 65° case, ϕ ∥ shows a weak dependence on the electron plasma-to-cyclotron frequency ratio ω pe/Ωce, and ϕ ∥ decreases by a factor of 2 as m i/m e is raised to the true proton–electron value of 1836.

Investigation of the influence mechanism of hypersonic flow field environment on thermionic emission efficiency

Electron Transpiration Cooling (ETC) is a novel thermal management method that utilizes thermionic emission to cool the leading edge surface of a hypersonic vehicle. Establishing a thermionic emission model that accounts for the hypersonic flow field environment is imperative for accurately predicting the thermal protection efficiency of ETC. A thermionic emission dual-sheath model was established, considering the impact of hypersonic non-equilibrium flow field particle parameters on thermal electron emission. The virtual cathode threshold was obtained through numerical analysis, considering the influence of particles parameters and surface thermoelectric material parameters in a non-equilibrium flow field. Distribution of sheath potential and particle number density in plasma sheath region were performed at a range of conditions. Thermionic emission efficiency approached 80 % as the plasma ion density was 5 × 20 m−3 and the work function was 2 eV. The results showed that plasma ions have different degrees of neutralization effect on thermal emission electrons depending on the flow field and surface material characteristics, ultimately causing varying surface thermionic emission efficiency.

Resonant electron capture by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules: Effects of aza-substitution.

Resonant electron capture by aza and diaza derivatives of phenanthrene (7,8-benzoquinoline and 1,10-phenanthroline) and anthracene (acridine and phenazine) at incident free electron energies (Ee) in the range of 0-15eV was studied. All compounds except 7,8-benzoquinoline form long-lived molecular ions (M-) at thermal electron energies (Ee ∼ 0eV). Acridine and phenazine also form such ions at epithermal electron energies up to Ee = 1.5-2.5eV. The lifetimes (τa) of M- with respect to electron autodetachment are proportional to the extent of aza-substitution and increase on going from molecules with bent geometry of the fused rings (azaphenanthrenes) to linear isomers (azaanthracenes). These regularities are due to an increase in the adiabatic electron affinities (EAa) of the molecules. The EAa values of the molecules under study were comprehensively assessed based on a comparative analysis of the measured τa values using the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theory, the electronic structure analysis using the molecular orbital approach, as well as the density functional calculations of the total energy differences between the molecules and anions. The only fragmentation channel of M- ions from the compounds studied is abstraction of hydrogen atoms. When studying [M-H]- ions, electron autodetachment processes were observed, the τa values were measured, and the appearance energies were determined. A comparative analysis of the gas-phase acidity of the molecules and the EAa values of the [M-H]· radicals revealed their proportionality to the EAa values of the parent molecules.

Structural transformation behavior of oxide scale during coiling of 0.9 wt% Cr-containing high-strength steel

The phase transformation mechanism of oxide scale on the surfaces of chromium (Cr)-free carbon steel and 0.9 wt% Cr-containing steel at different coiling temperatures and cooling rates was studied using thermal simulation and electron backscattering diffraction experiments. The results showed that the eutectoid transformation of both the steel followed the “C” curve relationship. The Cr-containing steel had a larger eutectoid transformation area fraction than the Cr-free carbon steel. The nose tip temperature of the eutectoid transformation of the oxide scale on the surfaces of Cr-free carbon steel and 0.9 wt% Cr-containing steel were 420∼510 °C and 420–480 °C, respectively. For the 0.9 wt% Cr-containing steel, the proportion of Σ3 and Σ13b grain boundaries in cubic Fe3O4 increased, followed by a decrease, when the coiling temperature decreased from 610 to 410 °C. The Σ3 and Σ13b grain boundaries of the Fe3O4 low-dimensional coincident site lattice had the highest proportion for 510 °C coiling temperature. The low-dimensional coincident site lattice grain boundaries could be used to enhance crack resistance and improve the oxide scale on the steel plate surface.

Fabrication of biomimetic scaffold through hybrid forming technique

AbstractBone tissue engineering procedures require the use of a scaffold with a sufficiently porous structure, which serves as a three‐dimensional template for cell attachment, followed by tissue regeneration and vascularization both in vitro and in vivo. This study aimed to create scaffold material with a unique hybrid forming that met these parameters. Slip casting and freeze‐drying processes were used with a hybrid forming approach to create a bone scaffold based on hydroxyapatite (HA) mimicking the structure of cortical and cancellous bones, respectively. HA was synthesized by the wet chemical precipitation method. Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, X‐ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis‐differential thermal analysis, Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller, He Pycnometer, and scanning electron microscope analyses were performed to characterize the scaffold. According to analysis results, HA particle size was found at 137.8 nm. The optimum sintering temperature was determined to be 1300°C. The specific surface area of the HA powder was measured as 55.11 m2/g. The total open porosity of the hybrid scaffold was calculated as 70%. Scaffold successfully substituted both cancellous and cortical layers of bone regarding structural characteristics, porosity, and mechanical strength. Considering morphological characteristics, a hybrid scaffold might facilitate vascularization, osteoinduction, and osteoconduction. Research findings suggest that the hybrid design strongly resembled natural bone and is suitable for both load‐bearing and non‐bearing bones.

Nonlinear electron scattering by electrostatic waves in collisionless shocks

We present a theoretical analysis of electron pitch-angle scattering by ion-acoustic electrostatic fluctuations present in the Earth's bow shock and, presumably, collisionless shocks in general. We numerically simulate electron interaction with a single wave packet to demonstrate the scattering through phase bunching and phase trapping and quantify electron pitch-angle scattering in dependence on the wave amplitude and wave normal angle to the local magnetic field. The iterative mapping technique is used to model pitch-angle scattering of electrons by a large number of wave packets, which have been reported in the Earth's bow shock. Assuming that successive electron scatterings are not correlated, we revealed that the long-term dynamics of electrons is diffusive. The diffusion coefficient depends on the ratio $\varPhi _0/W$ between the wave packet amplitude and electron energy, $D\propto (\varPhi _0/W)^{\nu }$ . A quasi-linear scaling ( $\nu \approx 2$ ) is observed for sufficiently small wave amplitudes, $\varPhi _0\lesssim 10^{-3}W$ , while the diffusion is nonlinear ( $1<\nu <2$ ) above this threshold. We show that pitch-angle diffusion of ${\lesssim }1$ keV electrons in the Earth's bow shock can be nonlinear. The corresponding diffusion coefficient scales with the intensity $E_{w}^{2}$ of the electrostatic fluctuations in a nonlinear fashion, $D\propto E_{w}^{\nu }$ with $\nu <2$ , while its expected values in the Earth's bow shock are $D\sim 0.1\unicode{x2013}100$ $(T_{e}/W)^{\nu -1/2}\,{\rm rad}^{2}\,{\rm s}^{-1}$ . We speculate that in the Earth's quasi-perpendicular bow shock the stochastic shock drift acceleration mechanism with pitch-angle scattering provided by the electrostatic fluctuations can contribute to the acceleration of thermal electrons up to approximately 1 keV. The potential effects of a finite perpendicular coherence scale of the wave packets on the efficiency of electron scattering are discussed.

Development of a Monte Carlo tool for simulating electron transport in noble liquids

This study presents a Monte Carlo simulation tool for modeling the transportation processes of thermal electrons in noble liquids, specifically focusing on liquid argon and liquid xenon. The study aims to elucidate the microscopical mechanisms governing the drift and diffusion of electrons within the context of time projection chambers (TPCs), with detailed considerations of coherent electron-atom scattering and electric field force. The simulation tool is implemented in the Geant4 framework, allowing for the exploration of electron transport parameters, including drift velocity, longitudinal diffusion coefficient, and transverse diffusion coefficient. The simulation is validated by comparing its results for drift velocity and diffusion coefficients with experimental measurements, revealing reasonable agreement in the low to moderate electric field ranges. Discrepancies between the simulation and experimental measurements are discussed, emphasizing the necessity for enhanced cross-section calculations and high-precision sampling. Despite certain limitations, the simulation tool provides valuable insights into electron transport in noble liquids, establishing a foundation for future enhancements and applications in various research areas

Particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulation on gap breakdown characteristics of under the conditions of hot-electrode and high-temperature gas medium in low-voltage circuit breaker chamber

The gas composition inside the low-voltage circuit breaker (LVCB) chamber and the residual plasma in the post-arc stage affect the breakdown process, which in turn affects the breaking capacity of LVCBs. In this paper, the back-arc breakdown and post-arc re-breakdown phenomena occurring inside the LVCB chamber are categorized as the breakdown in the case of high-temperature gas gap of hot electrodes, for which a particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulation model has been established, which takes into account the effects of high-temperature gas components, cathode electron thermal emission, electron collision ionization, and other effects, and simulation studies have been conducted. The simulation results show that the gap breakdown is mainly caused by the high-temperature hot free background gas and the cathode thermal electron emission. A plasma sheath layer is formed at the cathode during the breakdown process, and the electric field strength in the sheath layer is higher than that in other regions. With the development of the streamer to the cathode, the thickness of the sheath layer becomes narrower and the electric field strength increases, and finally, a discharge plasma channel is formed in the gap.

Solar Energetic Particle Charge States and Abundances with Nonthermal Electrons

An important aspect of solar energetic particle (SEP) events is their source populations. Elemental abundance enhancements of impulsive SEP events, originating in presumed coronal reconnection episodes, can be fitted to steep power laws of A/Q, where A and Q are the atomic mass and ionic charge. Since thermal electron energies are enhanced and nonthermal electron distributions arise in the reconnection process, we might expect that ionic charge states Q would be increased through ionization interactions with those electron populations during the acceleration process. The temperature estimated from the SEPs corresponds to the charge state during the acceleration process, while the actual charge state measured in situ may be modified as the SEPs pass through the corona. We examine whether the temperature estimation from the A/Q would differ with various κ values in a κ function representing high-energy tail deviating from a Maxwellian velocity distribution. We find that the differences in the A/Q between a Maxwellian and an extreme κ distribution are about 10%–30%. We fit power-law enhancement of element abundances as a function of their A/Q with various κ values. Then, we find that the derived source region temperature is not significantly affected by whether or not the electron velocity distribution deviates from a Maxwellian, i.e., thermal, distribution. Assuming that electrons are heated in the acceleration region, the agreement of the SEP charge state during acceleration with typical active region temperatures suggests that SEPs are accelerated and leave the acceleration region in a shorter time than the ionization timescale.

Parallel Electron Beams at Io: Numerical Simulations of the Dense Plasma Wake

AbstractIn 1995, the Galileo spacecraft traversed the wake of Io at ∼900 km altitude. The instruments onboard detected intense bi‐directional field‐aligned electron beams (∼140 eV–150 keV), embedded in a dense, cold and slow plasma wake (Nel ∼ 35,000 cm−3, Ti < 10 eV, V < 3 km/s). Similar electron beams were also detected along subsequent Galileo flybys. Using numerical simulations, we show that these electron beams are responsible for the formation of Io's dense plasma wake. We prescribe the composition of Io's atmosphere in S, O, SO and SO2, compute the atmospheric ionization by the beams with a parameterization adapted from study of auroral electrons at Earth, the plasma flow into Io's atmosphere with a Magneto‐Hydro‐Dynamic code, and the ion composition and temperature with a multi‐species physical chemistry code. Results reveal contrasting chemistries between the upstream and wake regions, leading to different ion compositions. The upstream chemistry is driven by the torus thermal electrons at 5 eV with SO2+ becoming the dominant ion because of electron‐impact ionization of the SO2 atmosphere. The wake chemistry is driven by the high‐energy electrons in the beams with S+ and SO+ becoming the dominant ions produced by dissociative‐ionization of SO2. We show that the wake ion composition is highly sensitive to the atmospheric composition. Juno, in its extended mission, will traverse Io's wake and determine its ion composition, which, compared with our numerical simulations will enable us to infer the detailed composition of the atmosphere.

Differential Cross Section With Volkov-Thermal Wave Function in Coulomb Potential

Laser-assisted thermal electron-hydrogen atom elastic scattering was studied in the first-born approximation. The initial and final states of the projectile electron are described by the modified Volkov wavefunctions known as Volkov-Thermal wavefunctions. The laser-assisted thermal electron with energy ranges from 0.511 MeV to 4 MeV was considered to study the differential cross section (DCS) at azimuthal angles 30° and 14.7°, and laser-assisted field photon energy 1 eV to 3 eV are very weak at room temperature is around the room temperature 280 K to 300 K. The destructive interference was observed when a thermal electron absorbed a single photon from the laser field but no interference was found when a thermal electron emitted an electron to the laser field at a scattering angle . The DCS with eT scattering was found to be greater than a nonthermal electron in presence of laser field with scattering angle and incidence energy of the electron.

Mechanism of Beam-Plasma Discharge Development in the Gas Dynamic Trap

The work studies how a plasma discharge in the Gas Dynamic Trap (GDT) is ignited in a volume significantly exceeding the volume of the injected electron beam. This property of a beam-plasma discharge makes it attractive to use relatively low-power electron beams to create starting plasma in open traps with parameters sufficient for its further effective heating by the neutral injection. Despite the fact that effective ionization of plasma far beyond the electron beam in open traps has been observed experimentally for more than 60 years, the detailed mechanism of this phenomenon is still not clear. Particularly many questions arise in regimes that are implemented in such large fusion facilities as GDT, where the relaxation length of the beam turns out to be significantly less than the length of the trap, and the turbulence excited by the beam is localized near the entrance magnetic mirror. Based on recent experiments [E.I. Soldatkina et al. Nucl. Fusion 62, 066034 (2022)], we have proposed a scenario for the development of a discharge in GDT, according to which a compact region of intense plasma turbulence first rapidly expands radially, ionizing the gas outside the beam tube in the vicinity of a magnetic mirror, and then a slower ionization process begins in the rest trap volume both due to the tail of suprathermal particles that are formed in the turbulence zone, and due to thermal electrons that receive energy from the pumping region via the longitudinal electron thermal conductivity. To assess how well this scenario explains the experimentally observed dynamics of plasma density growth in different parts of the facility, we carry out particle-in-cell simulations of the radial expansion of the turbulence zone and propose a simplified model of impact ionization in the entire volume of the trap by both thermal and suprathermal electrons.

PHASE RELATIONS IN THE Bi2-Bi2Se3-Bi2Te3 SYSTEM AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SOLID SOLUTIONS

Phase relations in the Bi2–Bi2Se3–Bi2Te3 system were determined experimentally using differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Based on the experimental results, a solid-phase equilibria diagram at room temperature, a projection of the liquidus surface, and several polythermal sections of the phase diagram were constructed. The regions of primary crystallization and phase homogeneity, types, and coordinates of non- and monovariant equilibria were determined. Continuous solid solutions along the Bi8Se9–Bi8Te9, BiSe–BiTe, and Bi4Se3–Bi4Te3 sections, as well as wide areas of solid solutions based on other bismuth selenides and tellurides, were found. The established phase diagrams can be used for the synthesis of solid solutions of a given composition and the growth of their single crystals by directional crystallization from solution-melts

Multi-Objective Optimization of Low-Alloy Hot-Rolled Strip Cooling Process Based on Gray Correlation Analysis

The residual stress in low-alloy hot-rolled strips seriously affects the use and processing of products. Reducing residual stress is important for improving the product quality of hot-rolled strips. In this paper, the changes in grain size and residual stress of hot-rolled strips under different cooling processes were investigated via thermal simulation experiments and electron backscatter diffraction. It was found that the optimum cooling process solution for single-objective optimization of grain size was a final rolling temperature of 875 °C, a laminar cooling speed of 50 °C/s, and a coiling temperature of 550 °C. When single-objective optimization of residual stress was carried out, the optimal cooling process scheme was 900 °C for final rolling temperature, 20 °C/s for laminar cooling speed, and 625 °C for coiling temperature. The significance of the effect of cooling processes on grain size and residual stress was analyzed based on the extreme deviation of the effect of each cooling process on grain size and residual stress in orthogonal experiments. The results show that the coiling temperature was the most influential factor on grain size and residual stress among the cooling process parameters. The difference was that grain size increased with increasing coiling temperature, and residual stress decreased with increasing coiling temperature. Using both grain size and residual stress as evaluation indicators, a multi-objective optimization of the cooling process for hot-rolled strips was carried out via the gray correlation analysis method. The optimized solution was 875 °C final rolling temperature, 30 °C/s laminar cooling speed, and 625 °C coiling temperature. At this time, the grain size was 4.8 μm, and the KAM (Kernel Average Misorientation) was 0.40°. The grain size under the actual production process scheme was 4.4 μm with a KAM of 0.78°. Compared to the actual production process solution, the multi-objective optimization solution showed little change in grain size, with only a 9% increase and a 49% reduction in KAM. The optimization scheme in this paper could significantly reduce the level of residual stresses while ensuring the fine grain size of hot-rolled strips, thus improving the overall quality of hot-rolled strips.

DFT based study of copper calcium halide perovskite nanomaterials for optoelectronic and energy applications

The mechanical, electronic, optical, and thermoelectric analyses of CuCaX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) have been done using DFT based TB-mBJ approach. The stability of CuCaX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) has been confirmed from the enthalpy of formation; values for CuCaCl3, CuCaBr3, and CuCaI3 are −1.07 eV, −1.55 eV, and −2.15 eV, respectively. The phonon spectra plot is also discussed, and the phonon dispersion analysis confirms that the CuCaX3 systems are dynamically stable since no imaginary modes are observed. The modified Becke-Johnson exchange potential is used to evaluate the opto-electronic and thermo-electric properties. By replacing anions (Cl to I), the band gap of the studied material in the visible region has been tailored, from 2.9 eV to 2.65 eV, for renewable energy devices. In addition, various optical properties such as dielectric constant, refraction, absorption, optical conductivity, and optical loss factor have been analyzed for optoelectronic applications. With the replacement of anions (Cl to I), the peaks of maximum intensities shifted to lower energy to values of 7.2 eV, 6.2 eV and 5 eV for CuCaCl3, CuCaBr3 and CuCaI3 respectively. Furthermore, the BoltzTrap code has been used to discuss thermal conductivity, power factor, Hall coefficient, specific capacitance and electron densities in detail for thermoelectric applications. The CuCaX3 family of perovskites has been found to have bandgaps falling in the visible region for light-emitting diodes (LEDs). These also exhibit high thermal efficiency, making them potential multifunctional candidates for optoelectronic and energy harvesting applications.

Synthesis of π-conjugated polycyclic compounds by late-stage extrusion of chalcogen fragments.

The "precursor approach" has proved particularly valuable for the preparation of insoluble and unstable π-conjugated polycyclic compounds (π-CPCs), which cannot be synthesized via in-solution organic chemistry, for their improved processing, as well as for their electronic investigation both at the material and single-molecule scales. This method relies on the synthesis and processing of soluble and stable direct precursors of the target π-CPCs, followed by their final conversion in situ, triggered by thermal activation, photoirradiation or redox control. Beside well-established reactions involving the elimination of carbon-based small molecules, i.e., retro-Diels-Alder and decarbonylation processes, the late-stage extrusion of chalcogen fragments has emerged as a highly promising synthetic tool to access a wider variety of π-conjugated polycyclic structures and thus to expand the potentialities of the "precursor approach" for further improvements of molecular materials' performances. This review gives an overview of synthetic strategies towards π-CPCs involving the ultimate elimination of chalcogen fragments upon thermal activation, photoirradiation and electron exchange.

Cathodes in magnetrons: A review

AbstractMagnetron is currently one kind of the most widely used vacuum electronic devices. The cathode, as the electronic source of the device, is the core of magnetrons. With the development of magnetrons, the requirements for cathode performance are also increasing, including thermal electron emission and secondary electron emission performance. This article reviews the development history of cathodes used in magnetrons, discusses the performance and application fields of various cathodes, and the relationship between performance and structure. However, there are still certain problems with various cathode materials that make it difficult to truly cover all magnetrons. The ongoing challenges relating to the magnetron cathodes have been discussed in this paper.

Characterization of the TJ-II stellarator plasma by means of reciprocating Langmuir probes

Experiments were conducted in deuterium plasma in the TJ-II stellarator by means of swept Langmuir probes mounted on reciprocating probes manipulators. The results were processed using the four-parameter fit, as well as the triple-probe and the first-derivative probe techniques. The parameters determined were the floating potential, the ion saturation current density, the electron temperature and density, and the plasma potential. The results were obtained for two plasma heating techniques – electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and neutral beam injection (NBI) heating. In the case of ECRH, employing the first-derivative probe technique resulted in finding that the electron-energy distribution function (EEDF) was not Maxwellian, but rather a bi-Maxwellian one with thermal (14-25 eV) and cold (4-5 eV) electrons. In comparison, during NBI heating we found a Maxwellian EEDF with the electron temperature being around 5 eV and slightly increasing in the confined plasma, but always remaining below 15 eV. We present a detailed analysis and discussion of the data for the plasma parameters as acquired by different techniques of using the reciprocating probe manipulator.