Fusion Innovations (United Kingdom)

The pressing challenges of the energy crisis and environmental problems necessitate the pursuit of efficient and sustainable energy conversion technologies, wherein catalytic processes play a vital role in addressing these issues. Single-molecule fluorescence microscopy (SMFM) offers a transformative approach to understanding various catalytic reactions by enabling real-time visualization of molecular adsorption, diffusion, and transformation on catalytic surfaces. The unprecedented insights into the spatial distribution of active sites, catalytic heterogeneity, and the dynamics of key intermediates result in single- or subparticle level structure-property relations, thereby offering insightful perspectives for catalyst design and mechanistic understanding of energy-related catalytic processes. In this review, we provide an overview of the recent progress in using SMFM for investigating energy-related catalytic reactions. The advancement in SMFM imaging techniques for investigating nonfluorescent chemical processes is also highlighted. Finally, we conclude the review by commenting on the current challenges and prospects in advancing SMFM in energy research. We hope that the capable SMFM imaging techniques and insights will promote the development and realistic application of various energy-related catalytic reactions, together with inspiring researchers to explore the power of SMFM in other applications.

ABSTRACT This study presents an investigation of the inner tire surface strain measurement by using piezoelectric polymer transducers adhered on the inner liner of the tire, acting as strain sensors in both conventional and dual-chamber tires. The piezoelectric elements generate electrical charges when strain is applied. The inner liner tire strain can be found from the generated charge. A wireless data logger was employed to measure and transmit the measured signals from the piezoelectric elements to a PC to store and display the readout signals in real time. The strain data can be used as a monitoring system to recognize tire-loading conditions (e.g., traction, braking, and cornering) in smart tire technology. Finite element simulations, using ABAQUS, were employed to estimate tire deformation patterns in both conventional and dual-chamber tires for pure rolling and steady-state cornering conditions for different inflation pressures to simulate on-road and off-road riding tire performances and to compare with the experimental results obtained from both the piezoelectric transducers and tire test rig.