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1. A Hardware-in-the-Loop Platform for DC Protection

   https://doi.org/10.1109/JESTPE.2020.3017769  

   Vygoder, Mark; Milton, Matthew; Gudex, Jacob; Cuzner, Robert; Benigni, Andrea (August 2020, IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics)

   null (Ed.)

   Real-time (RT) simulation of power and energy conversion systems allows engineers to interface both simulation- and hardware-based controls using controller hardware-in-the-loop (CHiL) simulation of networks of power electronic converters (PECs) in order to de-risk highly developmental systems such as next generation electrified transportation systems and dc microgrids. CHiL exploration and performance verification moves a design from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 to TRL 4 without incurring significant cost investments in developmental hardware platforms, which otherwise discourages such endeavors. A real-time CHiL simulation platform suitable for explorations of protective equipment, protection schemes and networked PEC dc and mixed dc-ac power distribution architectures must be capable of simulating common-mode behavior, various grounding schemes, and fault transients at sufficiently high resolution. This paper demonstrates this capability using a Latency-Based Linear Multistep Compound (LB-LMC) simulation method implemented in a commercially sustainable, adaptable and expandable FPGA-based test and instrumentation platform. The proposed CHiL platform achieves real-time power system simulations, including detailed switching commutations of networked PECs, with 50 ns resolution, and faithfully produces resonant and transient behaviors associated with line-to-ground (LG) and line-to-line (LL) faults and fault recovery in ungrounded PEC-based dc systems. This resolution in RT cannot be achieved with today’s commercial off-the-shelf CHiL platforms. This paper demonstrates the need for high resolution RT simulation of LG and LL faults within dc systems, and demonstrates a CHiL approach that enables dc protection design explorations and protective control hardware testing while taking into account the realistic aspects that affect fault characteristics in PEC-based dc systems, such as cable current rating and length, cable and PEC parasitic LG capacitance and PEC i... 

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2. An optical slot-antenna-coupled cavity (SAC) framework towards tunable free-space graphene photonic surfaces

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3184-z  

   Fu, Sidan; Wang, Xiaoxin; Wang, Haozhe; Gao, Xiaoxue; Broderick, Kurt; Kong, Jing; Liu, Jifeng (November 2020, Nano Research)

   null (Ed.)

   The optical conductivity of single layer graphene (SLG) can be significantly and reversibly modified when the Fermi level is tuned by electrical gating. However, so far this interesting property has rarely been applied to free-space two-dimensional (2D) photonic devices because the surface-incident absolute absorption of SLG is limited to 1%–2%. No significant change in either reflectance or transmittance would be observed even if SLG is made transparent upon gating. To achieve significantly enhanced surface-incident optical absorption in SLG in a device structure that also allows gating, here we embed SLG in an optical slot-antenna-coupled cavity (SAC) framework, simultaneously enhancing SLG absorption by up to 20 times and potentially enabling electrical gating of SLG as a step towards tunable 2D photonic surfaces. This framework synergistically integrates near-field enhancement induced by ultrahigh refractive index semimetal slot-antenna with broadband resonances in visible and infrared regimes, ~ 3 times more effective than a vertical cavity structure alone. An example of this framework consists of self-assembled, close-packed Sn nanodots separated by ~ 10 nm nanogaps on a SLG/SiO2/Al stack, which dramatically increases SLG optical absorption to 10%-25% at λ = 600–1,900 nm. The enhanced SLG absorption spectrum can also be controlled by the insulator thickness. For example, SLG embedded in this framework with a 150 nm-thick SiO2 insulating layer displays a distinctive red color in contrast to its surrounding regions without SLG on the same sample under white light illumination. This opens a potential path towards gate-tunable spectral reflectors. Overall, this work initiates a new approach towards tunable 2D photonic surfaces. 

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3. Electronically Coupled Heterojunctions Based on Graphene and Cu2−xS Nanocrystals: The Effect of the Surface Ligand

   https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30010067  

   Shang, Ju Y; Giancaspro, Mariangela; Grandolfo, Adriana; Lakho, Rafique A; Fanizza, Elisabetta; Patel, Suraj K; Bianco, Giuseppe Valerio; Striccoli, Marinella; Ingrosso, Chiara; Vazquez-Mena, Oscar; et al (January 2025, Molecules)

   Optoelectronic devices combining single-layer graphene (SLG) and colloidal semiconducting nanocrystal (NC) heterojunctions have recently gained significant attention as efficient hybrid photodetectors. While most research has concentrated on systems using heavy metal-based semiconductor NCs, there is a need for further exploration of environmentally friendly nanomaterials, such as Cu2−xS. Chemical ligands play a crucial role in these hybrid photodetectors, as they enable charge transfer between the NCs and SLG. This study investigates the photoresponse of an SLG/Cu2−xS NCs heterojunction, comparing the effect of two short molecules—tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) and 3,4-dimethylbenzenethiol (DMBT)—as surface ligands on the resulting structures. We have analysed charge transfer at the heterojunctions between SLG and the Cu2−xS NCs before and after modification with TBAI and DMBT using Raman spectroscopy and transconductance measurements under thermal equilibrium. The photoresponse of two hybrid devices based on three layers of Cu2₋xS NCs, deposited in one case on SLG/Cu2−xS/TBAI (“TBAI-only” device) and in the other on SLG/Cu2−xS/DMBT (“DMBT + TBAI” device), with a TBAI treatment applied, for both, after each layer deposition, has been evaluated under 450 nm laser diode illumination. The results indicate that the TBAI-only device exhibited a significant increase in photocurrent (4 μA), with high responsivity (40 mA/W) and fast response times (<1 s), while the DMBT + TBAI device had lower photocurrent (0.2 μA) and responsivity (2.4 μA), despite similar response speeds. The difference is attributed to DMBT’s π–π interactions with SLG, which enhances electronic coupling but reduces SLG’s mobility and responsivity. 

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4. Symbiosis of Electrical and Metabolic Oscillations in Pancreatic β-Cells

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.781581  

   Marinelli, Isabella; Fletcher, Patrick A.; Sherman, Arthur S.; Satin, Leslie S.; Bertram, Richard (December 2021, Frontiers in Physiology)

   Insulin is secreted in a pulsatile pattern, with important physiological ramifications. In pancreatic β-cells, which are the cells that synthesize insulin, insulin exocytosis is elicited by pulses of elevated intracellular Ca 2+ initiated by bursts of electrical activity. In parallel with these electrical and Ca 2+ oscillations are oscillations in metabolism, and the periods of all of these oscillatory processes are similar. A key question that remains unresolved is whether the electrical oscillations are responsible for the metabolic oscillations via the effects of Ca 2+ , or whether the metabolic oscillations are responsible for the electrical oscillations due to the effects of ATP on ATP-sensitive ion channels? Mathematical modeling is a useful tool for addressing this and related questions as modeling can aid in the design of well-focused experiments that can test the predictions of particular models and subsequently be used to improve the models in an iterative fashion. In this article, we discuss a recent mathematical model, the Integrated Oscillator Model (IOM), that was the product of many years of development. We use the model to demonstrate that the relationship between calcium and metabolism in beta cells is symbiotic: in some contexts, the electrical oscillations drive the metabolic oscillations, while in other contexts it is the opposite. We provide new insights regarding these results and illustrate that what might at first appear to be contradictory data are actually compatible when viewed holistically with the IOM. 

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5. Coordination of Protection and Ride-through Settings for Islanded Facility Microgrids

   https://doi.org/10.1109/ECCE47101.2021.9595450  

   Vygoder, Mark; Banihashemi, Farzad; Gudex, Jacob; Cuzner, Robert M; Oriti, Giovanna (October 2021, 2021 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE))

   Proliferation of power electronics and distributed energy resources (DERs) into the electrical power system (EPS) enables improvements to the network’s resilience against sudden-inception short circuit electrical faults through redundant electrical pathways in meshed configurations and multiple possible distributed generation locations. However, successful operation of fault detection, isolation, and recovery in islanded mode is challenging as protection coordination must include not only the distribution equipment, but also the DERs. Assessment of resilience for candidate EPS architectures against short circuit faults must be performed to understand the trade-offs between network resilience and complexity. This paper proposes a design process, which can be used towards assessing microgrid resilience, by coordinating protection and ride-through settings to maximize the recoverability of a meshed islanded AC microgrid. The design process is demonstrated through a case-study. 

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