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Lipid monolayers are used as experimental model systems to study the physical chemical properties of biomembranes. With this purpose, surface pressure/area per molecule isotherms provide a way to obtain information on packing and compressibility properties of the lipids. These isotherms have been interpreted considering the monolayer as a two dimensional ideal or van der Waals gas without contact with the water phase. These modelistic approaches do not fit the experimental results. Based on Thermodynamics of Irreversible Processes (TIP), the expansion/compression process is interpreted in terms of coupled phenomena between area changes and water fluxes between a bidimensional solution of hydrated head groups in the monolayer and the bulk solution. The formalism obtained can reproduce satisfactorily the surface pressure/area per lipid isotherms of monolayer in different states and also can explain the area expansion and compression produced in particles enclosed by bilayers during osmotic fluxes. This novel approach gives relevance to the lipid-water interaction in restricted media near the membrane and provides a formalism to understand the thermodynamic and kinetic response of biointerphases to biological effectors.

Current plant sciences (as the life sciences in general) tend to follow an empirical rationale focussing on the molecular scale (genes, proteins), which is supposed to causally dominate processes at higher levels of organization (cellular, organismic). This rather simplistic view on the complexity of living systems calls for a more adequate and elaborate theoretical approach, to which I want to contribute three main cornerstones here. Systems theory is the first one, mostly referring to Mario Bunge’s CESM (Composition, Environment, Structure, Mechanism) approach and its biological application. More than half of this article is dedicated to the philosophical concept of emergence , denoting the fact that systems have specific properties not shared or provided by their parts. Different viewpoints on emergence and definitions are contrasted and their potential suitability for the life sciences is discussed. An interesting historical case study is the genesis of the ‘ecosystem’ concept in plant ecology. Subsequently two widely accepted subtypes, ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ emergence are introduced and their quantitative formalization is briefly outlined referring to recent work on this issue. Finally, the metaflux concept is presented for the first time. Living systems are characterized by a network of coupled fluxes of matter, free energy, and entropy, adequately formalized by the thermodynamics of irreversible processes. Dynamical phenomena in organisms emerging from these flux networks which are, in contrast to process philosophy/metaphysics, defined on a scientific (physicochemical) basis will be called ‘metafluxes’. Metafluxes and weak and strong emergence are non-exclusive concepts to be employed in a dialectic scientific process.

In this article, we provide a detailed description of a modeling technique for the capillary hysteresis in a soil-like porous material based on a Generalized Preisach Model. The identification of the reversible and irreversible Preisach distributions was performed with the first-order reversal curve (FORC) diagram technique, which is very popular now in magnetism and in other areas of science to give a fingerprint of the studied system. A special attention was given to the evaluation of the reversible component. In this case, we used a set of data published in 1965 by Morrow and Harris which has been used as a reference by many other researchers since. The advantage of this approach is that the experimental FORC distributions can be described with analytical functions and easily implemented in the mentioned Preisach-type model. Our research is also focused on the development of a characterization tool for the soil using the soil-moisture hysteresis. The systematic use of scanning curves provides a (FORC) diagram linked to the physical properties of the studied soil. The agreement between the experimental data and the Preisach model using the set of parameters found through the FORC technique is really noticeable and gives a good practical option to the researchers to use a method with a strong predictive capability.

Thermoelectric (TE) generation is becoming a valuable and promising research direction. Many researchers have carried out system analysis and performance optimization of thermoelectric technologies based on the generalized thermoelectric energy balance equations. However, it is assumed that TE legs have no heat exchange with the ambient except at the junctions of the hot and cold ends where heat flows in and out. Based on basic thermoelectric effects and fundamental theories of heat transfer, a detailed derivation of the revised generalized thermoelectric energy equations considering convective heat transfer between TE legs and the ambient has been carried out. Irreversible heat transfer processes have been analyzed by employing energy analysis based on the first law of thermodynamics and exergy analysis based on the second law of thermodynamics. The results show that convective heat transfer leads to a decrease in both energy and exergy efficiencies: the rate and magnitude of the decrease in exergy efficiency are greater than those of the decrease in energy efficiency. The exergy efficiency is relatively high despite the low energy efficiency in operation, revealing the features and advantages of thermoelectric generators (TEGs) in low‐grade energy utilization. For TEG efficient operation, the load resistance value should match the system's internal resistance, or at least be greater than that, to avoid a sharp drop in power output and efficiencies. In an attempt at theoretical analysis, the concept of entransy was first introduced into thermoelectric analysis, yielding two concise relational equations which reflect the intrinsic link between Carnot cycle efficiency, energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, and entransy flow transfer efficiency. The entransy analysis based on the index of entransy flow transfer efficiency, together with energy analysis and exergy analysis, may be a novel and valuable guideline for the operation and optimization of TEGs, which needs to be further investigated.

Using GIS technologies, the article analyzes, systematizes, and processes, the data obtained in the process of geodetic monitoring of man-made territories and objects, which will make it possible to analyze the existing state of the object and provide an opportunity to determine critical spatial deviations that can lead to irreversible processes of destruction of buildings and structures. This provides an opportunity to prevent processes that can lead to large-scale disasters, as well as determines the adoption of timely measures to prevent the destruction of structures and predict emergencies.

The law of entropy increase postulates the existence of irreversible processes in physics: the total entropy of an isolated system can increase, but cannot decrease. The annihilation of an electric current in normal metal with the generation of Joule heat because of a non-zero resistance is a well-known example of an irreversible process. The persistent current, an undamped electric current observed in a superconductor, annihilates after the transition into the normal state. Therefore, this transition was considered as an irreversible thermodynamic process before 1933. However, if this transition is irreversible, then the Meissner effect discovered in 1933 is experimental evidence of a process reverse to the irreversible process. Belief in the law of entropy increase forced physicists to change their understanding of the superconducting transition, which is considered a phase transition after 1933. This change has resulted to the internal inconsistency of the conventional theory of superconductivity, which is created within the framework of reversible thermodynamics, but predicts Joule heating. The persistent current annihilates after the transition into the normal state with the generation of Joule heat and reappears during the return to the superconducting state according to this theory and contrary to the law of entropy increase. The success of the conventional theory of superconductivity forces us to consider the validity of belief in the law of entropy increase.

The Onsager relations are discussed and it is suggested that they should be interpreted as there is a frame of reference where all the transport processes are independent. The concepts are illustrated with isobarothermal diffusion in simple metallic phases as well as complex ionic systems. A transformation from lattice-fixed frame of reference to number-fixed frame gives the Kirkendall effect as a cross effect.

With the development of large-scale and high-performing blast furnaces, it is necessary to extensively study the reaction characteristics and related kinetic parameters of sinters in their heat reserve area. Under reducing atmosphere conditions, the reduction of iron oxide in sinter is closely related to the gasification reaction of coke. Based on a simulation experiment, the transition point from chemical reactions to diffusion and the related kinetic parameters were determined through a sectioning method. The results showed that increasing the proportion of low-grade coke increased the chemical-reaction rate, but it slightly decreased the mass-transfer and diffusion rates. An increase in the coke particle size increased the chemical-reaction, mass-transfer, and diffusion rates. However, an increase in the CO2 volume fraction in gas reduced the chemical-reaction, diffusion, and mass-transfer rates. The mixing ratio of coke and sinters increased the chemical-reaction rate, but it decreased the mass-transfer and diffusion rates. The rate constant of the chemical reactions in the early stage was three orders of magnitude higher than that of the diffusion and mass-transfer coefficients, and the fitting degree was obviously better than that of the molecular diffusion in the later stage. Based on the thermodynamics of irreversible processes, the interference of the chemical reactions with the diffusion and mass transfer in the near-equilibrium region was tentatively established, the method of controlling coke diffusion and mass transfer in the later reaction stage was given and related kinetic parameters were corrected, and further improvement of the modified sectioning method was completed.

Layered oxides widely used as lithium-ion battery electrodes are designed to be cycled under conditions that avoid phase transitions. Although the desired single-phase composition ranges are well established near equilibrium, operando diffraction studies on many-particle porous electrodes have suggested phase separation during delithiation. Notably, the separation is not always observed, and never during lithiation. These anomalies have been attributed to irreversible processes during the first delithiation or reversible concentration-dependent diffusion. However, these explanations are not consistent with all experimental observations such as rate and path dependencies and particle-by-particle lithium concentration changes. Here, we show that the apparent phase separation is a dynamical artefact occurring in a many-particle system driven by autocatalytic electrochemical reactions, that is, an interfacial exchange current that increases with the extent of delithiation. We experimentally validate this population-dynamics model using the single-phase material Li x (Ni 1/3 Mn 1/3 Co 1/3 )O 2 (0.5 <  x  < 1) and demonstrate generality with other transition-metal compositions. Operando diffraction and nanoscale oxidation-state mapping unambiguously prove that this fictitious phase separation is a repeatable non-equilibrium effect. We quantitatively confirm the theory with multiple-datastream-driven model extraction. More generally, our study experimentally demonstrates the control of ensemble stability by electro-autocatalysis, highlighting the importance of population dynamics in battery electrodes (even non-phase-separating ones). Although layered oxides electrodes in lithium-ion batteries are designed under conditions avoiding phase transitions, phase separation during delithiation has been observed. This apparent phase separation is shown to be a dynamical artefact occurring in a many-particle system driven by autocatalytic electrochemical reactions.

Landauerʼs principle relates entropy decrease and heat dissipation during logically irreversible processes. Most theoretical justifications of Landauerʼs principle either use thermodynamic reasoning or rely on specific models based on arguable assumptions. Here, we aim at a general and minimal setup to formulate Landauerʼs principle in precise terms. We provide a simple and rigorous proof of an improved version of the principle, which is formulated in terms of an equality rather than an inequality. The proof is based on quantum statistical mechanics concepts rather than on thermodynamic argumentation. From this equality version, we obtain explicit improvements of Landauerʼs bound that depend on the effective size of the thermal reservoir and reduce to Landauerʼs bound only for infinite-sized reservoirs.