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The swift evolution of contemporary electronics products, such as flexible screens and wearable electronic devices, highlights the significance of flexible protective coatings, which combine superior mechanical and optical properties. Even though the recently developed polymer protective coatings can satisfy requirements for flexibility and transparency, their intrinsic nature often results in a hardness below 1 GPa, rendering them susceptible to scratches. On the other hand, traditional inorganic coatings, known for their high hardness and transparency, fall short of meeting flexibility requirements. In the present study, a SiN x /BN periodical nanolayered coatings (PNCs) structure has been tailored to achieve high mechanical durability, transparency, and flexibility. In SiN x /BN PNCs, the optical and mechanical properties of the single-layer SiN x film are crucial to the overall performance of the PNCs. Therefore, pulse direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering was optimized first to enhance the ionization efficiency of Si and N, thereby promoting their reaction and diminishing the presence of elemental silicon in SiN x . The effects of the pulse frequency and duty cycle on SiN x were evaluated. Additionally, the influence of the thickness ratio and modulation periods on the overall performance of the SiN x /BN PNCs was investigated. As a result, a SiN x /BN coating with sapphire-grade hardness, almost no optical absorption in the visible-near-infrared (vis-NIR) range, high wear resistance, and exceptional flexibility was demonstrated.

High-temperature superconductor (HTS) bulks have demonstrated extremely intriguing potential for industrial and commercial applications due to their capability to trap significantly larger magnetic fields than conventional permanent magnets. The magnetic field in electrical rotating machines is a combination of alternating and rotational fields. In contrast, all previous research on the characterization of electromagnetic properties of HTS have solely engrossed on the alternating AC magnetic fields and the associated AC loss. This research paper gives a thorough examination of the AC loss measurement under various conditions. The obtained results are compared to the finite element-based H-formulation. The AC loss is measured at various amplitudes of circular flux density patterns and compared with the AC loss under one-dimensional alternating flux density. The loss variation has also been studied at other frequencies. The findings in this research paper provide more insights into material characterization, which will be useful in the design of future large-scale HTS applications.

SiC/EP composites are promising insulating materials due to their high thermal conductivity, stable chemical properties, and nonlinear electrical conductivity. However, the compatibility of micron-sized SiC particles with the organic polymer matrix is poor, and defects such as air gaps may be introduced at the interface, which reduces the partial discharge resistance of the composite materials. In order to improve the partial discharge initial voltage (PDIV) of SiC/EP composites, in this paper, SiC/EP composites with different proportions were prepared by surface modification of filler and compound of micro/nano particles. Firstly, a method of secondary modification of SiC particles was proposed, which was first modified by alkali washing and then silane coupling agent KH560, and the effectiveness of the modification was verified. Therefore, the interface bonding ability between the filler and the matrix was improved, the air gap defects at the interface were reduced, and the PDIV of the composite material was improved. When the filling ratio is 10 wt%, the PDIV was enhanced by 13.75%, and when the filling ratio was further increased, the improvement was reduced. In contrast, the introduction of nanoparticles into the composites can effectively improve the PDIV of composite materials. In this study, nanoparticles were used to form a shell-core structure in epoxy resins to exert their huge specific surface area and active surface properties, thereby changing the overall crosslinking properties of the composites. Through experimental research, the optimal micro-nano particle compounding ratio was explored. Under the optimal mixing ratio, the PDIV of the composite material can be increased by more than 90%.

The main purpose of this article is to link the environment, economy, electricity, and society and put forward a new point of view. The current research mainly explores the relationship between the environment, economy, and society and lacks a discussion on electricity. Using a new research framework, this article examines the relationship between energy intensity, energy consumption structure, population density, urbanization rate, and carbon intensity based on relevant data from 2000 to 2017 in China. In the empirical research, according to the cluster analysis, China's 30 provinces are divided into three regions according to the electrification rate standard. The cross-sectional dependence test method is used to verify the cross-sectional dependence of the data, and the second-generation panel unit root test method is used. Exploring the relationship between the variables, this article finally uses the convergence analysis method to explore the degree of influence of each variable on the carbon intensity. The empirical results show that there are both short-term effects and long-term relationships in various regions, and the influencing factors of each region are different. It further shows that the carbon intensity of the four panels shows convergence, β absolute convergence, and β conditional convergence, but the main influencing factors in different regions are different. Finally, based on the results of empirical research, policy recommendations for reducing carbon intensity in different regions are put forward., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The dynamic voltage is a unique phenomenon of superconducting materials. It arises when the superconductor is carrying a DC transport current and spontaneously in subject to an AC magnetic field. This study excavates the aspects that previous studies have not comprehensively investigated: the dynamic voltage in a DC-carrying superconducting tape exposed to different oscillating AC magnetic fields. First, the fundamental physics of dynamic voltage/flux of superconductors is reviewed and further analysed in detail. We used the superconducting modelling method using the H -formulation merged into the finite-element method (FEM) software, to re-produce the typical dynamic voltage behaviour of a superconducting tape. The modelling was verified by both the analytical and experimental results, in order to precisely prove the reliability of the modelling. Afterwards, the modelling was performed for a DC-carrying superconducting tape under four different oscillating magnetic fields (sine, triangle, sawtooth and square), and their corresponding dynamic voltages and energy losses were analysed and compared. Results show the sinusoidal magnetic field can lead to the optimal combination of reasonable dynamic voltage but relatively lower loss, which is suitable for those superconducting applications requiring dynamic voltage as the energy source, e.g., flux pumps. This article presents novel investigation and analysis of the dynamic voltage in superconducting materials, and both the methodology and results can provide useful information for the future design/analysis of superconducting applications with DC transport currents and AC magnetic fields.

Along with the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of hospitals are operating in the over-loaded state, which results in the ever-increasing requirements of cooling, heating, power, and medical gas supplies. This paper investigates a novel concept of hospital-oriented quad-generation (HOQG) to produce a combined cooling, heating, power and gas (CCHPG) system. Local renewable energy source (RES), high temperature superconducting (HTS) power cable and superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) device are used as the low-carbon electricity producer, carrier and regulator, respectively. Compared to the conventional copper cable and electrochemical battery, HTS terminal power units have superior advantages of high-efficiency power delivery and high-quality power compensation. To accommodate the surplus electricity from local RESs and guarantee emergency supply for the targeted hospital buildings, three cryogenic fluids of liquefied methane gas, liquefied oxygen and liquefied nitrogen are used as back-ups for both energy fuel and medical gas. By adopting a series of cascade energy utilization and thermally-activated energy conversion facilities, multiple clean energies of cooling, heating and power are produced to supply medical devices, and multiple medical gases of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide are delivered to hospitals for patient treatments. Compared to conventional diesel oil and compressed gas back-ups, these three cryogenic liquids have advantages of high-capacity, high-security storage and low-pollution utilization. Another possible benefit can be the low-temperature environment of these medical gases offers vaccines an appropriate delivering pathway against the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the proposed HOQG can be expected to fulfill the demand of energy conservation and emission reduction simultaneously during the normal operation, as well as the demand of sustainable energy and medical gas supply under severe conditions such as natural and man-made disasters., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this paper, in order to improve the electrical and thermal properties of SiC/EP composites, the methods of compounding different crystalline SiC and micro-nano SiC particles are used to optimize them. Under different compound ratios, the thermal conductivity and breakdown voltage parameters of the composite material were investigated. It was found that for the SiC/EP composite materials of different crystal types of SiC, when the ratio of α and β silicon carbide is 1:1, the electrical performance of the composite material is the best, and the breakdown strength can be increased by more than 10% compared with the composite material filled with single crystal particles. For micro-nano compound SiC/EP composites, different total filling amounts of SiC correspond to different optimal ratios of micro/nano particles. At the optimal ratio, the introduction of nanoparticles can increase the breakdown strength of the composite material by more than 10%. Compared with the compound of different crystalline SiC, the advantage is that the introduction of a small amount of nanoparticles can play a strong role in enhancing the break-down field strength. For the filled composite materials, the thermal conductivity mainly depends on whether an effective heat conduction channel can be constructed. Through experiments and finite element simulation calculations, it is found that the filler shape and particle size have a greater impact on the thermal conductivity of the composite material, when the filler shape is rounder, the composite material can more effectively construct the heat conduction channel.

Orderly arranged Silicon carbide (SiC)/epoxy (EP) composites were fabricated. SiC was made magnetically responsive by decorating the surface with iron oxide (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles. Three treatment methods, including without magnetization, pre-magnetization and curing magnetization, were used to prepare SiC/EP composites with different filler distributions. Compared with unmodified SiC, magnetic SiC with core-shell structure was conducive to improve the breakdown strength of SiC/EP composites and the maximum enhancement rate was 20.86%. Among the three treatment methods, SiC/EP composites prepared in the curing-magnetization case had better comprehensive properties. Under the action of magnetic field, magnetic SiC were orderly oriented along the direction of an external field, thereby forming SiC chains. The magnetic alignment of SiC restricted the movement of EP macromolecules or polar groups to some extent, resulting in the decrease in the dielectric constant and dielectric loss. The SiC chains are equivalent to heat flow channels, which can improve the heat transfer efficiency, and the maximum improvement rate was 23.6%. The results prove that the orderly arrangement of SiC had a favorable effect on dielectric properties and thermal conductivity of SiC/EP composites. For future applications, the orderly arranged SiC/EP composites have potential for fabricating insulation materials in the power electronic device packaging field.

Based on conventional approaches for the integration of resistive-type superconducting fault current limiters (SFCLs) on electric distribution networks, SFCL models largely rely on the insertion of a step or exponential resistance that is determined by a predefined quenching time. In this paper, we expand the scope of the aforementioned models by considering the actual behaviour of an SFCL in terms of the temperature dynamic power-law dependence between the electrical field and the current density, characteristic of high temperature superconductors. Our results are compared to the step-resistance models for the sake of discussion and clarity of the conclusions. Both SFCL models were integrated into a power system model built based on the UK power standard, to study the impact of these protection strategies on the performance of the overall electricity network. As a representative renewable energy source, a 90 MVA wind farm was considered for the simulations. Three fault conditions were simulated, and the figures for the fault current reduction predicted by both fault current limiting models have been compared in terms of multiple current measuring points and allocation strategies. Consequently, we have shown that the incorporation of the E - J characteristics and thermal properties of the superconductor at the simulation level of electric power systems, is crucial for estimations of reliability and determining the optimal locations of resistive type SFCLs in distributed power networks. Our results may help decision making by distribution network operators regarding investment and promotion of SFCL technologies, as it is possible to determine the maximum number of SFCLs necessary to protect against different fault conditions at multiple locations.