Following intensive research and development, Suntech Power has successfully commercialised its Pluto technology with 0.5 GW annual production capacity, delivering up to 10% performance advantage over conventional screen-printed cells. The next generation of Pluto involves the development of improved rear surface design based on the design features of passivated emitter and rear locally diffused cells. Cells with an average efficiency over 20% were fabricated on 155 cm 2 commercial-grade p-type wafers using mass-manufacturing processes and equipment, with the highest single-cell efficiency independently confirmed at 20.3%. This is believed to be a record efficiency for this wafer type. Further optimisation work on contact pattern and rear surface passivation suggests the potential for further efficiency increase approaching 23%.

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Microcrystalline cellulose chemically modified by 3-isocyanatopropyl triethoxysilane (K-MCC) was incorporated as reinforcement into a polylactic acid (PLA) matrix to prepare PLA/K-MCC composites by melt blending. X-ray diffraction showed that PLA's crystalline structure was not affected by the added K-MCC, but its degree of crystallinity increased somewhat. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated that, when 5 wt-%K-MCC was added to PLA, the crystallisation of PLA improved greatly, and the degree of crystallinity reached a maximum of 39.4%, which exceeded that of pure PLA. Mechanical testing revealed that the tensile strength, modulus and heat distortion temperature of PLA also increased significantly after modified MCC was added, and the optimum mechanical properties of the composite were obtained. Dynamic rheological tests revealed shear thinning behaviour in the PLA/K-MCC composites. With increasing shear rate, more obvious shear thinning was observed because of more homogeneous dispersion of K-MCC with fewer hydroxyl groups in the PLA matrix.

The present work investigates the properties of self-made magnetic filler from plastic waste bottle and explores a new technology approach of waste plastic resource utilization. The magnetic filler was prepared by air plasma modification and loading magnetic ferrite on the plastic strip from waste plastic bottle. The surface properties of magnetic filler were characterized by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), contact angle system and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). AFM images of original and modified plastic strip showed that low-temperature plasma treatment markedly increased the surface roughness of plastic strip. The mean roughness (Ra) of plastic strip rose from 1.116 to 5.024 nm. FTIR spectra indicated that a lot of polar oxygenic groups were introduced onto the surface of plastic by plasma modification. Modification by low-temperature plasma increased the hydrophilicity of plastic strip surface. When treatment time is 40 s, water contact angle of plastic strip surface reduced from 78.2° of original plastic strip to 25.3°. When used in bioreactor, magnetic filler had very favorable microenvironment for microorganism growth. Magnetic filler was more efficient for removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) and [Formula: see text] in sewage than nonmagnetic filler. The resource utilization of plastic wastes will become reality if the magnetic filler is applied widely.

This paper dealt with the principles and techniques of ultrasonic online monitoring of epoxy resin cure. An experimental system of ultrasonic monitoring was built up. In the experiment, the cure process of epoxy resin of bisphenol A and No.593 curing agent system was monitored, so was the epoxy resin within carbon nanotubes. Then, the correlation method for digital wave was used to analyze the time of flight in order to get the time‐dependent trend of Poisson's ratio, Young's modulus, and shear modulus in the curing process of epoxy resin. The experimental data showed that the mechanical properties of epoxy could be enhanced by adding carbon nanotubes. Moreover, the result of tensile test with strain gages proved the result of this ultrasonic method.