Search

Although XLPE cables are widely used in power transmission and distribution systems, their insulating properties are susceptible to degradation due to thermal aging. In order to clarify the influence law of the thermal aging process on the structural and dielectric properties of XLPE cables, this paper investigates the thermal aging characteristics of XLPE cables by using polarization and depolarization current measurement. Results show that when the XLPE cable is aged at 140 °C, the crystallinity of the insulation layer appears to increase and then decrease. With the increase in aging time, micron-sized microvoids appear on the surface of the XLPE. At the same time, the DC conductivity and 0.1 Hz dielectric loss factor of the insulating layer increase with the aging time. The average DC conductivity increased from 2.26 × 10−16 S/m for new cables to 4.47 × 10−16 S/m after aging for 432 h, while the dielectric loss increased from 0.11% to 0.42%. The polarization characteristics of thermal-aged cables were further analyzed using the extended Debye model. Results indicate that the time constant of the third branch of the model increased significantly with increasing aging time. A correspondence between this parameter and the thermal aging time of the cable was established. Thermal aging can damage the crystalline structure of XLPE, so that the number of interfaces between the crystalline and amorphous regions of the material increases, resulting in structural damages and a decline in the dielectric properties of the cable insulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2H MoTe2 (molybdenum ditelluride) has generated significant interest because of its superconducting, nonvolatile memory, and semiconducting of new materials, and it has a large range of electrical properties. The combination of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) and two dimensional (2D) materials like hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) in lateral heterostructures offers a unique platform for designing and engineering novel electronic devices. We report the fabrication of highly conductive interfaces in crystalline ionic liquid-gated (ILG) field-effect transistors (FETs) consisting of a few layers of MoTe2/h-BN heterojunctions. In our initial exploration of tellurium-based semiconducting TMDs, we directed our attention to MoTe2 crystals with thicknesses exceeding 12 nm. Our primary focus centered on investigating the transport characteristics and quantitatively assessing the surface interface heterostructure. Our transconductance (gm) measurements indicate that the very efficient carrier modulation with an ILG FET is two times larger than standard back gating, and it demonstrates unipolarity of the device. The ILG FET exhibited highly unipolar p-type behavior with a high on/off ratio, and it significantly increased the mobility in MoTe2/h-BN heterochannels, achieving improvement as one of the highest recorded mobility increments. Specifically, we observed hole and electron mobility values ranging from 345 cm2 V−1 s−1 to 285 cm2 V−1 s−1 at 80 K. We predict that our ability to observe the intrinsic, heterointerface conduction in the channels was due to a drastic reduction of the Schottky barriers, and electrostatic gating is suggested as a method for controlling the phase transitions in the few layers of TMDC FETs. Moreover, the simultaneous structural phase transitions throughout the sample, achieved through electrostatic doping control, presents new opportunities for developing phase change devices using atomically thin membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer materials with excellent physicochemical and electrical properties are desirable for energy storage applications in advanced electronics and power systems. Here, Al2O3@ZrO2 nanoparticles (A@Z) with a core-shell structure are synthesized and introduced to a P(VDF-HFP) matrix to fabricate P(VDF-HFP)/A@Z nanocomposite films. Experimental and simulation results confirm that A@Z nanoparticles increase the crystallinity and crystallization temperature owing to the effect of the refined crystal size. The incorporation of A@Z nanoparticles leads to conformational changes of molecular chains of P(VDF-HFP), which influences the dielectric relaxation and trap parameters of the nanocomposites. The calculated total trapped charges increase from 13.63 μC of the neat P(VDF-HFP) to 47.55 μC of P(VDF-HFP)/5 vol%-A@Z nanocomposite, indicating a substantial improvement in trap density. The modulated crystalline characteristic and interfaces between nanoparticles and polymer matrix are effective in inhibiting charge motion and impeding the electric conduction channels, which contributes to an improved electrical property and energy density of the nanocomposites. Specifically, a ~200% and ~31% enhancement in discharged energy density and breakdown strength are achieved in the P(VDF-HFP)/5 vol%-A@Z nanocomposite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of accident-tolerant materials is of great significance for preventing the zirconium–water reactions and improving the inherent safety of nuclear reactors. In this study, ZrC/Ni multilayers with average layer thicknesses of 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 nm were designed and successfully fabricated by magnetron sputtering. The characterization results of GIXRD, SEM, AFM, TEM, etc., show that the series of films are mainly composed of alternately deposited Ni crystalline layers and ZrC amorphous layers, and the interface is clear. The films were irradiated with 50 keV He+ with a fluence of 1.0 × 1017 ions/cm2 at room temperature, and the films with different layer thicknesses kept the original phase composition. It was found that an amorphous transition layer with a thickness of about 30 nm appeared between the amorphous and crystalline interface of the 100 nm film by TEM characterization. The analysis shows that this layer is formed by the mixing of Ni and Zr elements induced by irradiation, which is not conducive to He+ migration and produces large-sized helium bubbles. The appearance of the transition layer improves the irradiation stability of the amorphous/crystalline composite film, thus providing a theoretical basis for the application of this type of material in fuel cladding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the epitaxial semipolar (11–22) AlN was prepared on nonpolar m-sapphire substrate by combining sputtering and high-temperature annealing. According to our systematic measurements and analysis from XRD, Raman spectra, and AFM, the evolution of crystalline structure and morphology was investigated upon increasing AlN thickness and annealing duration. The annealing operation intensively resets the lattice and improves the crystalline quality. By varying the film thickness, the contribution from the AlN-sapphire interface on crystalline quality and lattice parameters during the annealing process was investigated, and its contribution was found to be not so obvious when the thickness increased from 300 nm to 1000 nm. When the annealing was performed under durations from 1 to 5 h, the crystalline quality was found unchanged; meanwhile, the evolution of morphology was pronounced, and it means the crystalline reorganization happens prior to morphology reset. Finally, the annealing treatment enabled a zig-zag morphology on the AlN template along the sapphire [0001] direction in the plane, which potentially affects the subsequent device epitaxy process. Therefore, our results act as important experience for the semipolar nitride semiconductor laser device preparation, particularly for the epitaxy of microcavity structure through providing the crystalline evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]