Explore the vast range of titles available.

APOLLO-LINK - The Mediterranean Solar Bridge is a privately financed electricity transmission project establishing a new interconnector between Italy and Spain. It will constitute the first direct bidding zone border between Itay North and Spain with a capacity of 2,000 MW. This interconnector will promote European electricity market integration, boost the exchange of renewable energy and re-enforce the East-West connections of the EU’s power sector by connecting Spain’s substantial renewable generation with Italy North’s high-load zone. The APOLLO-LINK interconnector will make use of a rigid bipole configuration that operates two converter poles per station at a voltage level of ± 525 kV without the need for a neutral return path. The envisioned interconnection offers numerous advantages for the national energy systems in Italy and Spain, including an estimated net annual social welfare gain of up to € 860 million and a long-term reduction in end-consumer electricity prices. This project enhances PV generation efficiency, improves energy security by linking high-demand areas in Italy with renewable sources in Spain and supports symbiotic development with Spain’s and Italy´s planned network improvements. The proposed APOLLO-MODEL is a harmonized regulatory model that enables interconnector investments to be financed based on expected congestion revenues, potentially combined with a cap-and-floor structure that protects both investors and consumers. This provides predictability for investors and socializes excess gains, balancing private initiative with public interest.

We developed an Ag nanowire-polyurethane (AgNW-PU) mixed electrode on a PU substrate with an optimized bilayer structure for highly stretchable and wearable strain sensors. In the AgNW-PU mixed composite, PU functioned as a stretchable matrix, preserving the high conductivity and transparency of the AgNW network even under applied mechanical stress. The AgNW-rich bottom layer (25:1) provided an effective conduction path, whereas the PU-rich top layer provided mechanical support and elasticity, improving the durability of the electrode under repeated stretching and bending cycles. With the optimized bilayer (AgNW-PU 100:1/25:1), the AgNW-PU bilayer electrode exhibited a low sheet resistance of 26.3 Ω/square and a high transparency of 86.4%. Compared with the AgNW-PU single-layer electrode, the bilayer electrode exhibited superior stretchability, as confirmed by various applications, such as heater devices, strain sensors, and interconnectors. An optimized AgNW-PU bilayer electrode exhibited heat generation of 90°C with 7 V applied even after 15% stretching. The gauge factor of the optimized electrode increased from 8 to 11.2 even as the bending degree increased from 30° to 90°. The AgNW-PU bilayer electrode also demonstrated potential as a stretchable interconnector for various next-generation electronic applications.

Herein, snake‐skin‐patterned electrodes, with high versatility and excellent biocompatibility, are developed by combining the Kirigami structure and biomimicry. The snake‐skin electrode has excellent stretchability owing to the integration of the Kirigami structure and patterning. The snake skin patterns are optimized through finite element analysis (FEA) simulations to determine the most stretchable pattern structure. Based on the FEA results, we fabricated the optimal pattern on a polyurethane (PU) substrate by sputtering the AgPdCu alloy target. Even at high strains of 30% and 50%, the electrode exhibits much better stretchability compared with the electrode without the snake skin pattern. The best stretchable electrode exhibits a resistance change (ΔR) of less than 1.5 when it is severely stretched at up to 50% strain. Additionally, the dynamic stretching fatigue test, reveals that it exhibits stable conductivity, thus proving the effectiveness of using snake‐skin pattern for stretchable electrodes. The bending, rolling, folding and twisting tests confirm that the electrode has outstanding flexibility, too. A wearable temperature sensor with a snake‐skin‐patterned electrode exhibits stable and highly sensitive temperature sensing properties. In addition, light emitting diodes connected to the stretchable electrode exhibits stable brightness despite severe deformation of the electrodes. Snake‐skin electrodes are developed by combining the Kirigami structure and biomimicry. The snake‐skin electrode has excellent stretchability owing to the Kirigami structure based snake‐skin patterning. The snake‐skin‐patterned wearable temperature sensor exhibits stable and highly sensitive temperature sensing properties. In addition, light emitting diodes (LED) connected to stretchable snake‐skin electrodes exhibit stable brightness despite severe deformation of the electrodes.

Plasmonic materials, when properly illuminated with visible or near-infrared wavelengths, exhibit unique and interesting features that can be exploited for tailoring and tuning the light radiation and propagation properties at nanoscale dimensions. A variety of plasmonic heterostructures have been demonstrated for optical-signal filtering, transmission, detection, transportation, and modulation. In this review, state-of-the-art plasmonic structures used for telecommunications applications are summarized. In doing so, we discuss their distinctive roles on multiple approaches including beam steering, guiding, filtering, modulation, switching, and detection, which are all of prime importance for the development of the sixth generation (6G) cellular networks.

To enhance the comprehensive performance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) ferritic stainless steel (FSS) interconnectors, a novel approach involving composite electrodeposition and thermal conversion is proposed to prepare Ni-doped Co-Mn composite spinel protective coatings on FSS surfaces. The process involves the composite electrodeposition of a Ni-doped Co-Mn precursor coating, followed by thermal conversion to obtain the Co-Mn-Ni composite spinel coating. Crofer 22H was used as the substrate and orthogonal experiments were designed to investigate the influences of deposition solution pH, stirring rate, cathode current density, and the element content of Mn and Ni on the surface morphology and properties of the composite coatings, respectively. The characterization of the prepared coatings was conducted through macroscopic and microscopic morphology observations of the component surface, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis, and area specific resistance (ASR) testing, etc. Finally, the optimized composite electrodeposition parameters and the Mn-Ni content ratio in the solution were obtained. Experimental results indicated that the composite spinel coating prepared with the optimized process parameters exhibited excellent adhesion to the substrate, and the diffusion and migration of Cr element has been effectively inhibited. Compared with the substrate, the ASR of the coated components has also been decreased simultaneously, which provided an effective method for the surface modification of SOFC FSS interconnectors.

Compared with planar-type solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), mono-block-layer build (MOLB)-type SOFCs have additional three-phase boundaries per unit volume, and their performance is severely limited by their longer current path. To resolve this issue, a vertical rib design, which was evaluated using a numerical method, was proposed. Compared with the conventional design, the power density for the vertical rib design increased by 12.32%. This is because the vertical rib design provides another short path for current, which not only reduces the ohmic loss in the cathode, but also decreases the ohmic polarization caused by the contact resistance. However, the vertical rib design hinders the transport of oxygen in the cathode and increases the concentration loss. Therefore, the vertical rib size design is crucial. Based on the influence of the vertical rib width, the vertical rib widths on the cathode and anode sides of 0.7 and 1 mm are recommended for different contact resistances, respectively.

Reaping the full benefits from cross-border interconnection typically requires reinforcement of national networks. When the relevant parts of the networks are complements, a lack of coordination between national transmission system operators results in investment below optimal levels in both interconnectors and national infrastructure. A subsidy to financially sustain interconnector building is not sufficient to restore optimality; indeed, even when possible, such subsidisation may have to be restrained so as not to encourage cross-border capacities that will not be fully utilised due to lack of investment in national systems.

For the anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), the relatively thin cathode limits the oxygen transfer in-plane. In order to enhance the oxygen transfer in-plane, the interconnector with sinusoidal wavy channel is proposed for SOFC, termed the sinusoidal wavy interconnector (SWI). The effect of SWI is evaluated by numerical method. The oxygen transfer in-plane is promoted, especially at trough position, where the rib width is minimum. For SWI, the maximum oxygen concentration achieves 0.21 mol/m 3 on the center line of the cathode/electrolyte interface, which is almost zero for the conventional interconnector. Finally, the effect of amplitude and cycle number on SOFC performance is investigated in detail. The result shows that the average oxygen concentration enhances with the increase of amplitude ( A ) and cycle number ( Pe ). When A is 0.4 mm, the average oxygen concentration is 1.51 mol/m 3 , an increase of 14.39 % from the conventional interconnector ( A = 0 mm) of 1.32 mol/m 3 . In addition, for A = 0.25 mm, the average oxygen on the cathode/electrolyte interface is improved by 18% when Pe increases from 0 to 16. On the other hand, if the amplitude or cycle number is too large, the hindrance caused by the undulating side surface of SWI results in remarkable power consumption. Hence, when cycle number is 16, the effective power achieves the maximum at A = 0.35 mm, which increases by 18.3% compared to the conventional interconnector ( A = 0).

Interconnects are used in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for connecting the fuel cell stacks. These interconnect are coated with spinel oxides to prevent the formation of a native scale oxide layer under high heat flux conditions. Generally, the SOFCs are subjected to thermal shock during their operation. At the interfaces of these coating, shear stresses and peeling stresses were induced due to a mismatch between the thermal expansion coefficient of coating and native scale thickness. These stresses peel off the coating layers which affect the interconnect performance. In this paper, the effect of varying native scale thickness at two different coating thicknesses on the shearing stress and peeling stress of the interconnects is analytically calculated along the two different interconnect thicknesses. The oxidation kinetics of spinel-coated SOFCs interconnects with the analytical equations relating native scale thickness with the time of SOFCs operation were reported. As per our analysis, we concluded that these stresses majorly depend on the thickness and the mechanical properties of the interconnects, native scale and a coating layer.

The present study provides fundamental information on the resource recyclability of the interconnect assembly, i.e., the steel interconnector and the nickel meshes, from an end-of-life JÜLICH Solid Oxide Cell Stack—F10 design. The interconnector is composed of iron, chromium, and less than 4 wt.% of other alloying elements, mainly cobalt and manganese. Calculated blended compositions with the nickel meshes revealed their potential as a raw material in the production of 4xx, 2xx, or 3xx stainless steels. The melting behavior of the interconnect assembly was investigated under different conditions, i.e., in inert and oxidizing atmospheres, with and without the addition of slag-forming fluxes. The results demonstrated preferential oxidation of chromium in a trivalent state within the stable cubic spinel phase. Finally, the experimental results were compared with the thermodynamic equilibrium calculations based on the available databases (FToxid, SGTE, and SGPS) in FactSage 8.1 software. The calculated tendency to oxidize is in the order of Cr > Mn > Fe > Co > Ni at P(O2) greater than 10−10 bar, validating the experimental results.