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Aqueous zinc-ion battery has broad application prospects in smart grid energy storage, power tools and other fields. Co₃O₄ is one of the ideal cathode materials for water zinc-ion batteries due to their high theoretical capacity, simple synthesis, low cost and environmental friendliness. Many studies were concentrated on the synthesis, design and doping of cathodes, but the effect of process parameters on morphology and performance was rarely reported.

Herein, Co₃O₄ cathode material based on carbon cloth (Co₃O₄/CC) was prepared by different temperatures hydrothermal synthesis method. The temperatures of hydrothermal reaction are 100°C, 120°C, 130°C and 140°C, respectively. The influence of temperatures on the microstructures of the cathodes and electrochemical performance of zinc ion batteries were investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry curve, electrochemical charging and discharging behavior and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy test.

The results show that the Co₃O₄/CC material synthesized at 120°C has good performance. Co₃O₄/CC nanowire has a uniform distribution, regular surface and small size on carbon cloth. The zinc-ion battery has excellent rate performance and low reaction resistance. In the voltage range of 0.01–2.2 V, when the current density is 1 A/g, the specific capacity of the battery is 108.2 mAh/g for the first discharge and the specific capacity of the battery is 142.6 mAh/g after 60 charge and discharge cycles.

The study aims to investigate the effect of process parameters on the performance of zinc-ion batteries systematically and optimized applicable reaction temperature.

This paper aims to investigate the preparation of AlN and Al₂O₃, as well as the effect of nano-AlN and nano-Al₂O₃, on friction and wear properties of copper-steel clad plate immersed in the lubricants.

Nano-AlN or nano-Al₂O₃ (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 Wt.%) functional fluids were prepared. Their tribological properties were tested by an MRS-10A four-ball friction tester and a ball-on-plate configuration, and scanning electron microscope observed the worn surface of the plate.

An increase in nano-AlN and Al₂O₃ content enhances the extreme pressure and anti-wear performance of the lubricant. The best performance is achieved at 0.5 Wt.% of nano-AlN and 0.3 Wt.% of nano-Al₂O₃ with PB of 834 N and 883 N, a coefficient of friction (COF) of approximately 0.07 and 0.06, respectively. Furthermore, the inclusion of nano-AlN and nano-Al₂O₃ particles in the lubricant enhances its extreme pressure performance and reduces wear, leading to decreased wear spot depth. The lubricating effect of the nano-Al₂O₃ lubricant on the surface of the copper-steel composite plate is slightly superior to that of the nano-AlN lubricant, with a COF reaching 0.07. Both lubricants effectively fill and lubricate the holes on the surface of the copper-steel composite plate.

AlN and Al₂O₃ as water-based lubricants have excellent lubrication performance and can reduce the COF. It can provide some reference for the practical application of nano-water-based lubricants.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-08-2023-0255/

This study aims to examine how consumers’ propensity to purchase imported wines is influenced by their attitudes and perceptions toward the countries of origin (COO) of those wines.

The questionnaires were distributed online and 298 valid completed questionnaires were received. This study measured the perception of the wines’ countries of origin by adopting two independent dimensions of competence and warmth in the stereotype content model.

The results show a relationship between the purchase intention and the perception of the country of origin of the wine. Furthermore, the perceived image of the country of origin impacts the brand image of the wine and the quality of wine from its country of origin.

This study’s questionnaire was distributed online. Future research would benefit from in-depth qualitative investigation and a wider range of sample sizes across countries.

The results of this study guide imported wine companies in product marketing design and advertising. By promoting the countries of origin of premium wines to target consumers, trust in the quality of imported wine can be improved, thereby increasing consumers’ purchase intention.

This study contributes to the understanding of consumer perception of the country of origin in the context of wine marketing. It provides valuable implications for wine companies’ marketing positioning and strategy, benefiting wine marketers, distributors and importers.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of private investor's fair preference on the governmental compensation mechanism based on the uncertainty of income for the public-private-partnership (PPP) project.

Based on the governmental dilemma for the compensation of PPP project, a generalized compensation contract is designed by the combination of compensation before the event and compensation after the event. Then the private investor's claimed concession profit is taken as its fair reference point according to the idea of the BO model, and its fair utility function is established by improving the FS model. Thus the master-slave counter measure game is applied to conduct the behavior modeling for the governmental compensation contract design.

By analyzing the model given in this paper, some conclusions are obtained. First, the governmental optimal compensation contract is fair incentive for the private investor. Second, the private fair preference is not intuitively positive or negative related to the social efficiency of compensation. Only under some given conditions, the correlation will show the consistent effect. Third, the private fair behavior’s impact on the efficiency of compensation will become lower and lower as the social cost of compensation reduces. Fourth, the governmental effective compensation scheme should be carried out based on the different comparison scene of the private claimed portfolio profit and the expected revenue for the project.

This study analyzes the effects of private investor's fair preference on the validity of governmental generalized compensation contract of the PPP project for the first time; and the governmental generalized compensation contract designed in this study is a pioneering and exploratory attempt.

This research is motivated by the increasing need for international interactions during the gradual recovery of the tourism industry. By recognizing the paucity of research on cultural closeness and accommodation categories, this research aims to illuminate the influencing mechanisms of psychological closeness and travelers’ willingness to book an accommodation-sharing property while booking an accommodation.

The authors employ a mixed-methods approach, including an experiment and semistructured interviews.

Results show that hosts’ higher cultural identity congruence leads to travelers’ higher willingness to book an accommodation-sharing property. Psychological closeness mediates the positive effect of cultural identity congruence on travelers’ willingness to book. The authors further explore the moderating role of room types (entire room vs. private room) and find that the mediation effect is stronger for booking an entire room.

The current research underlines the importance of cultural identity congruence and accommodation type on travelers’ willingness to book an accommodation-sharing property and psychological closeness.

Selecting and scheduling optimal project portfolio simultaneously is a complex decision-making problem faced by organizations to realize the strategy. However, dynamic synergy relationships among projects complicate this problem. This study aims at constructing a project portfolio selection and scheduling (PPSS) model while quantifying the dynamic synergetic effects to provide decision support for managing PPSS problems.

This study develops a mathematical model for PPSS with the objective of maximal project portfolio benefits (PPBs). To make the results align with the strategy, comprehensive PPBs are divided into financial and non-financial aspects based on the balanced scorecard. Then, synergy benefits evolve dynamically in the time horizon, and system dynamics is employed to quantify them. Lastly, a case example is conducted to verify the applicability of the proposed model.

The proposed model is an applicable model for PPSS while incorporating dynamic synergy. It can help project managers obtain the results that which project should be selected and when it should start while achieving optimal PPBs.

This study complements prior PPSS research in two aspects. First, financial and non-financial PPBs are designed as new criteria for PPSS, making the results follow the strategy. Second, this study illuminates the dynamic characteristic of synergy and quantifies the synergetic effect. The proposed model provides insights into managing a PPSS effectively.

Engineering composite laminates/structures are usually subjected to complex and variable loads, which result in interlayer delamination damage. However, damaged laminate may cause the whole structure to fail before reaching the design level. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop an equivalent model to effectively evaluate compressive residual strength.

In this paper, taking carbon fiber reinforced composite T300/69 specimens as the study object, first, the compressive residual strength under different impact energy is obtained. Then, zero-thickness cohesive elements, Hashin failure criteria and Camanho nonlinear degradation scheme are used to simulate the full-process simulation for compression after edge impact (CAEI). Lastly, based on an improved Whitney–Nuismer criterion, the equation of edge hole stress distribution, characteristic length and compressive residual strength is used to verify the correctness of the equivalent model.

An equivalent relationship between the compressive residual strength of damaged laminates and laminates with edge hole is established. For T300/69 laminates with a thickness of 2.4 mm, the compressive residual strength after damage under an impact energy of 3 J is equivalent to that when the hole aperture R = 2.25 mm and the hole aperture R = 9.18 mm when impact energy is 6 J. Besides, the relationship under the same size and different thickness is obtained.

The value of this study is to provide a reference for the equivalent behavior of damaged laminates. An equivalent model proposed in this paper will contribute to the research of compressive residual strength and provide a theoretical basis for practical engineering application.

Assessing project criticality in a project portfolio (PP) is of great practical significance to improve robustness from damage. While project criticality assessment has increased diversity in approaches, the understanding of vulnerable project impacts is still limited. To promote a better understanding of assessing project criticality, a vulnerability measurement model is constructed.

First, integrating the tasks, projects and corresponding relationships among them, a project portfolio network (PPN) is constructed. Second, the project's vulnerability is measured by combining the topological structure and functional attributes. Third, project criticality is assessed by the vulnerability measurement results. Lastly, the proposed model is applied in a numerical example to illustrate its suitability and effectiveness.

For academia, this study provides a novel perspective on project vulnerability measurement and expands project criticality assessment tools. For practitioners, the straightforward model provides an effective tool for assessing project criticality and contributes to enhancing project portfolio management (PPM).

The impact of the task on the project is considered in this study. Topological structure and functional attributes are also integrated for measuring project vulnerability due to the impact of random attacks in an uncertain environment, providing a new perspective on the requirements of project criticality assessment and the measurement of project vulnerability.

Stainless-steel electromagnetic shielding (EMS) fabrics are widely applied as protective materials against electromagnetic interference (EMI). However, these fabrics primarily shield electromagnetic waves through reflection, which can lead to the formation of resonance effects that severely compromise their protective capabilities and potentially cause secondary electromagnetic pollution in the external environment.

In this paper, carbon nanotube fibers are added via spacing method to replace some stainless-steel fibers to impart absorbing properties to stainless-steel EMS fabric. The shielding effectiveness (SE) of the EMS fabrics across various polarization directions is analyzed. Additionally, a spacing arrangement for the carbon nanotube fibers is designed. The EMS fabric with carbon nanotube fibers is manufactured using a semi-automatic sample loom, and its SE is tested using a small window method test box in both vertical and horizontal polarization directions.

According to the experimental data and electromagnetic theory analysis, it is determined that when the spacing between the carbon nanotube fibers is less than a specific distance, the SE of the stainless-steel EMS fabric significantly improves. The fabric exhibits stable absorbing properties within the tested frequency range, effectively addressing the issue of secondary damage that arises from relying solely on reflective shielding. Conversely, as the spacing between the carbon nanotube fibers exceeds this distance, the SE diminishes. Notably, the SE in the vertical polarization direction is substantially higher than that in the horizontal polarization direction at the same frequency.

This study provides a new path for the development of high-performance EMS fabrics with good wave-absorption characteristics and SE.

This study aims to explore the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on exports of goods and services, logistics performance, environmental management system (ISO 14001) certification and quality management system (ISO 9001) certification in top affected Asian countries of India, Iran, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

A novel grey relational analysis models’ approach is used to examine the inter-relationship between COVID-19 economic growth and environmental performance. Moreover, the authors applied a conservative (maximin) model to investigate which countries have the least intensifying affected among all of the top affected COVID-19 Asian countries based on the SS degree of grey relation values. The data used in this study was collected from multiple databases during 2020 for analysis.

Results indicate that the severity of COVID-19 shows a strong negative association and influence of COVID-19 on the exportation of goods and services, logistics performance, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications in all the six highly affected countries during a pandemic outbreak. Although the adverse effects of COVID-19 in exporting countries persisted until December 31, 2020, their magnitude decreased over time in Indonesia and Pakistan. During the COVID-19 outbreak, Pakistan showed comparatively better performance among the six top highly affected Asian countries due to its smart locked down strategy and prevents its economy from severe damages. While India and Iran export drastically go down due to a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.

The research findings produce much-required policy suggestions for leaders, world agencies and governments to take corrective measures on an emergent basis to prevent the economies from more damages and improve their logistics, environmental and quality performance during the pandemic of COVID-19.

This study develops a framework and investigates the intensifying effects of COVID-19 effects on economic growth, logistics performance, environmental performance and quality production processes.