Fabrication and properties of La modified AZO powders via a gaseous penetration processing

A new kind of AZO powders were synthesized by co-precipitation method with the doping content of Al was 3.0 wt%. Further modification of La to the powders was done via a gaseous penetration processing. Changes in constitution, structure, and electrical conductivity caused by doping and penetration were characterized. The doping of Al lowered the resistivity of AZO powders from over 1×10¹⁴ (ZnO made domestically) to 4.24×10⁷ Ω·cm. But more effective modification via gaseous penetration processing decreased the resistivity of La penetrated AZO powders to the lowest point of 2.45×10⁵ Ω·cm. The optimal penetration conditions coordinated by orthogonal test were that La³⁺ content of the penetration solvent was 2.0 wt.%, and that the penetration processing lasted for 5 h at the temperature of 480 °C. XRD analysis demonstrated that the doping process of Al only leaded to the changes of the peak width and intensity without new phases appearing. Yet, new phases appeared after the processing of gaseous penetration of La, which indicated that La enter the AZO powders thus complex reactions occurred to form the extra compounds. EDAX analysis, coupling with XRD, provided the evidence that La did exist in the penetrated AZO powders and the potential sign of the generation of extra compounds. Through SEM images, it was illustrated that the gaseous penetration processing progressed the growth of grain size in the shape of rod and generated distinguishable phases of extra compounds.     

Modification of Ag-doped BaTiO₃ powders through La gaseous penetration route

The Ag-doped BaTiO3(BATO) polycrystalline powders were fabricated by Sol-Gel method. Further modification by rare earth La was done through gaseous penetration route. Changes in constitution,structure,and electrical conductivity before and after modification of Ag and La were characterized. The acceptor dopant Ag owned the ability to decrease the resistivity of the doping samples from 4.30×109 Ω·m to 6.14×105 Ω·m where the resistivity fell by 4 orders of magnitude when the Ag doping ratio was 0.10%. And more doping of Ag enhanced the resistivity dramatically even beyond 2.0×107 Ω·m. Yet,gaseous penetration of La successively reduced the resistivity of BATO to the lowest point of 2.45×105 Ω·m. XRD analysis indicated that the doping process of Ag did not change the perovskite structure and main phases of the powders. However,new compound BaLa2O4 generated from complex reactions during the penetration process,which manifested that La3+ penetrated into the crystal lattices in the form of substituting the Ti4+ site. And this substitution strengthened the Ti-O bond,which led to the inhibition of blue shift in FTIR spectrum caused by doping of Ag. The morphology of La penetrated BATO powders detected by SEM and EDAX suggested that La did penetrate into the powders and this penetration process progressed the partly sintering of the powders which is in favor of the conductivity.     

Effects of the penetration temperature on structure and electrical conductivity of samarium modified BaTiO3 powders

Gaseous penetration technique was adopted to improve the electrical conductivity of BaTiO3 powders and the effects of penetration temperature on the structure and electrical conductivity of Sm-modified BaTiO3 powders were studied.It was observed that the penetration of Sm made the resistivity of BaTiO3 powders decrease with the increase in the penetration temperature and decreased to the lowest point of 4.20×102 ?·m when the penetration temperature was 950 oC.The relationship curve of the temperature and resistivity of the samples was also established preliminarily to get the mathematical expression by the fitting method.Through X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis,the new phases of Sm2O3 and Ba4Ti2O27 were detected.It was indicated that intricate reactions related to Sm took place during the penetration process and led to the Ti-rich state of the system.The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum illustrated that the bonds of Ti–O octahedron was strengthened by substitution of Sm3+ at Ti4+ sites,which led to the growth of Ti:Ba ratio.The analysis results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that the particle size of Sm-modified BaTiO3 powders progressed with the penetration temperature increasing.     

Direct synthesis of hollow polyhedral ceria nano powders via a template-free mixed solvothermal route

Novel mono-dispersed hollow polyhedral ceria nano powders with the average particle size of 250 nm were directly syn-thesized via a simple template-free mixed solvothermal method by using water-ethanol...     

Mechanical properties of the A356 aluminum alloy modified with La/Ce

The research of rare earths for the synthesis of materials with improved mechanical performance is of great interest when they are considered for potential applications in the automotive industry. In this regard, the effect on the mechanical properties and microstructure of the automotive A356 aluminum alloy reinforced with 0.2 (wt.%) Al-6Ce-3La (ACL) was investigated. The ACL was added to the melted A356 alloy in the as-received condition and processed by mechanical milling. In the second route, the effect of the ACL processed by mechanical milling and powder metallurgy techniques was investigated, and compared with the results obtained from the A356 alloy strengthened with ACL in the as-received condition. Microstructural properties were evaluated by means of X-ray diffraction in order to observe the solubility of Ce/La in the Al matrix. In addition, electron microscopy was employed in order to investigate the effect of milling time on the size and morphology of La/Ce phase under milling process. Mechanical properties of the A356 alloy modified with ACL were measured by hardness and tensile test. For comparison unmodified specimens of the A356 were characterized according to the previous procedure. The microstructural and mechanical characterization was carried out in specimens after solution and artificial aging. Observations in scanning electron microscopy indicated a homogeneous dispersion of La/Ce phases by using both routes; however, mechanical results, in the modified A356 alloy with the ACL in the as-received condition, showed an improvement in the mechanical performance of the A356 alloy over that reinforced with the ACL mechanically milled.     

A novel inexpensive conductive material: Er-modified maifanite by gaseous penetration technology

Aiming to solve the problem of corrosion and high cost of the conductive fillers, the powders with the properties of anti-oxidation, corrosion resistance and thermal stability should be developed. A new modification technology, rare earth gaseous penetration, was applied to enhance the conductivity of maifanite in this paper, and the mechanism for improving the conductivity of maifanite effectively was speculated in detail for the variations of the composition, structure and morphology between the original and Er-penetration maifanite powders. The results of the resistivity show that Er-penetration can really improve the conductivity of maifanite powders. When the penetration temperature is 500 ℃, the resistivity of maifanite surprisingly declines to 93.2 Ω·m. Moreover, XRD and XPS patterns display that the cations in maifanite are substituted by Er~(3+) successfully, resulting in the production of electrons in the system, which is the key reason to heighten the conductivity of maifanite. Most importantly, Erpenetration maifanite, whose price is really low, can replace the expensive conductive powders and be used in the electronic industry to decrease the cost of the electronic devices.     

Thermoelectric properties of Sr0.9La0.1TiO3 and Sr2.7La0.3Ti2O7 with 15%Ag addition

15%Ag-added cubic perovskites Sr0.9La0.1TiO3 and Ruddlesden-Popper （RP） phases Sr2.7La0.3Ti2O7 were fabricated via hydrothermal synthesis, cold pressing and high-temperature sintering. The structure and thermoelectric properties were also investi-gated for all samples. The results indicated that Ag precipitated as a second phase. Ag addition made electrical conductivity and ab-solute Seebeck coefficient enhanced, as a result, the ZT values were enhanced both for two series. Compared with cubic perovskite, RP phase was subjected to smaller impact by Ag addition. The reasons for enhancing ZT value and the different impact for two series by Ag addition were also discussed.     

Preparation and properties of Nd:YAG ultra-fine powders

Ultra-fine Nd:YAG powders with different doping concentrations were synthesized by sol-gel combustion method.The pure Nd:YAG could be prepared at the low temperature of 900 oC.Ethanol could improve the dispersity of powders,and the average size of the ul-tra-fine powders was around 250 nm.The reflection spectrum showed that there were several apparent characteristic absorption peaks and the intensity of these peaks enhanced with the increasing concentration of Nd3+.The luminescence spectrum,which was excite...     

Gaseous Penetration of Pr into PbTiO3 Ceramics and Their Electric Properties

PbTiO3ceramicsisatypicalferroelectricmaterialwithperovskitestructure .TheuniquepropertiesofPbTiO3ceramicsmakeitusefulforavarietyofappli cations .Forexample ,itisaverygoodcandidateforpiezoelectricapplicationsathigh temperatureinhighsensibility[1,2 ] .Inrecentyears ,studiesondopedPbTiO3ceramicshavereceivedconsiderableattention .ThemodifiedPbTiO3ceramicsdopedwithCa2 ,Sm3 ,Y3 etcimprovedpropertiesincludingreducedCuriestemperature ,degradedtetragonaldistortionde greeandimprovedprocessabil…     

Dielectric and piezoelectric properties of （Li, Ce） modified NaBi5Ti5O18 composite ceramics

Nominal (Li0.5Ce0.5)x(Na0.5Bi0.5)(1-x)Na0.5Bi4.5Ti5O18 composite ceramics were fabricated using conventional solid-state reaction method. The coexistence of bismuth layer-structured phase and perovskite phase was determined in these ceramics using XRD technique. At room temperature, the x=0.11 sample showed the largest piezoelectric constant, d33, of about 26.5 pC/N and the largest electromechanical coupling factor, kt, of about 30%. Even after annealing at 500 ℃, the value of d33 was still about 19 pC/N, in x=0.08-0.11 samples. Moreover, these composite ceramics showed low temperature coefficients of dielectric constant and high electrical resistivity in the temperature region of 450-550 ℃. These results indicated that (Li, Ce) modified NaBi5Ti5O18 composite ceramics were promising piezoelectric materials for high-temperature applications.     

Conduction properties of condensed lanthanum phosphates:La(PO3)3 and LaP5O14

Single crystals of LaP3O9·3H2O were prepared using a classical method of aqueous chemistry whereas those of the ultraphosphate LaP5O14 were obtained by flux method.Thermal treatment of LaP3O9·3H2O up to 700 °C allowed us to obtain the lanthanum polyphosphate La(PO3)3.The conductivity as well as the vibrational study of the lanthanum ultraphosphate and polyphosphate were analysed in order to explain the mechanism of conduction.Activation energies of 0.45 and 0.84 eV,deduced from the Arrhenius relation,were respectively found for the polyphosphate and the ultraphosphate.Taking into account the structural features of these materials we linked the origin of their electrical properties to the incorporation of atmospheric humidity.Thus,it was a proton conduction phenomenon which took place as a result of the establishment of hydrogen bonds as well as the reorganisation of water molecules already incorporated into these structures.Referring to the Grotthuss mechanism,a proton transfer model inside the polyphosphate's structure was suggested.     

Synthesis of monodispersed nanometer-sized YAG powders by a modified coprecipitation method

Nanometer-sized yttrium aluminum garnet （YAG） powders were synthesized by using the coprecipitation method with ammo- nium hydrogen carbonate as a precipitant. The results indicated that an extremely loose YAG precursor was obtained when iodine was intro- duced in the coprecipitation process on the condition that the initial concentrations of Y^3＋ and Al^3＋ in the solution were set at 0.018 and 0.03 mol/L, respectively, and pH=8. Consequently, the resulting YAG powders after calcination at 1173 K for 2 h were composed of monodispersed particles with an average grain size of 30 nm and better sinterability. The present results indicated that the modified coprecipitation method, with iodine as an additive, was superior to the conventional coprecipitation method, to synthesize ultrafine YAG powders.     

Electrical properties of rare earth based tungsten bronze vanadates

Barium based tungsten bronze (TB) oxides having high dielectric constant and low loss, can be effectively used as transducers, actuators, capacitors and also in memory devices. All these characteristics stimulated the researchers to replace toxic and hazardous lead based materials by barium based TB materials from industry. In the present research work, polycrystalline samples of Ba4SrRTi3V7O30 (R=Dy, Sm, La) were synthesized by a high temperature solid state reaction technique. Preliminary structural (X-ray diffraction) analyses of these compounds showed the formation of single-phase orthorhombic structures at room temperature having average crystallite size of the order of some nanometer for all the compounds. The scanning electron micrographs (SEM) provided information on the quality of the samples and showed more or less homogeneous distribution of grains over the entire surface of the samples. Detailed dielectric study in a wide temperature range (30-500℃) showed ferro to para phase transition for Dy and Sm substituted samples whereas no such transition was observed for La substituted samples. Both the grain and grain boundary resistances exhibited negative temperature coefficient of resistance behavior much like semiconductors. The dc conductivity of all the compounds obeyed Arrhenius relation.     

Chemical synthesis and properties of La1.9Ba0.1MO1.9Mn0.1O9 as electrolyte for IT-SOFCs

The highly phase-pure electrolyte materials with compositionLa1.9Ba0.1MO1.9Mn0.1O9（LBMMO） was prepared by the sol-gel auto-combustion method for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells （IT-SOFCs）. The details ofgel＇s auto-combustion, phase evolution, sintering, thermal expansion and electrochemical performance of LBMMO were investigated by means of thermo-gravimetry （TG）, X-ray diffxaction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron spectroscopy （TEM）, thermal expansion curve （TEC） and complex impedance spectra. The results showed that the highly phase-pure electrolyte LBMMO could be obtained after calcining at 600 ℃. The sample sintered at 900 ℃ for 4 h in air exhibited a better sinterability, and the relative density of LBMMO was higher than 96%. The electrical conductivities of the sample were 6.7x 10-3 and 25.9× 10-3 S/cm at 700 and 800 ℃ in air, respectively. Results also showed that LBMMO had moderate thermal expansion （a=16.3×10-6 K-l, between room temperature and 800 ℃） and an electrical activation energy equal to 1.32 eV）.     

HPHT synthesis and electrical transport properties of SmxCo4Sb12

Samarium-filled skutterudites SmxCo4Sb12(x=0.5,1.0) skutterudite thermoelectric(TE) materials with enhanced power factor were prepared by high-pressure and high-temperature(HPHT) technique.The microstructure properties were characterized with X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.The electrical resistivities and Seebeck coefficients of those samples were measured in the temperature range of 300-723 K,and the samples of SmxCo4Sb12 showed n-type conduction.The Seebeck coefficient in absolute valu...     

Fabrication and photoluminescent characteristics of one-dimensional La202S：Eu3＋ nanocrystals

One-dimensional La2O2S:Eu3+ nanowires(NWs) were fabricated with a simple hydrothermal method.The structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).The photoluminescent properties including excitation and emission spectra were studied.The results indicated that in excitation spectra there existed charge transfer(CT) absorption of both O2-→Eu3+ and S2-→Eu3+,and f-f transitions absorption in NWs and corresponding sub-meter materials(SMs).The relative intensity of CT absorption of O2-→Eu3+ to S2-→Eu3+ in both samples clearly changed.The strong yellow and red emissions of Eu3+ ions in NWs were observed.     

Effect of Y-filling on thermoelectric properties of CoSb3

The CoSb3 and Y0.18Co4Sb12 compounds were synthesized by a metallurgical route. Their bulk materials were prepared by the hot-pressed process under vacuum. Thermoelectric properties of the samples were measured by the thermoelectric measurement system and the laser flash diffusivity apparatus. The carrier type conversion of hot-pressed CoSb3 was found at about 530 K, while the conversion was missed for the Y0.18Co4Sb12 sample. Electrical conductivity of the Y0.18Co4Sb12 sample increased due to the increase of carrier concentration, and its thermal conductivity decreased due to the enhancement of phonon scattering. The value of ZT, figure of merit, for the Y0.18Co4Sb12 sample was obviously enhanced due to positive contribution of the electrical conductivity and the thermal conductivity.     

AZO透明导电薄膜的性能和制备

AZO薄膜是一种应用广、发展快的高导电率、透光率的金属氧化物薄膜。文章基于国内外的发展情况,概述了AZO薄膜的光电性能、应用领域和不同的掺杂对AZO薄膜的性能影响。归纳了AZO薄膜的制备方法,着重介绍了磁控溅射沉积法制备AZO薄膜的几个工艺参数可能对AZO薄膜性能的影响。     

Fabrication, characterization, and electrical conductivity properties of Pr6O11 nanoparticles

Pr6O11 nanoparticles were obtained by subsequent thermal decomposition of the as-prepared precipitate formed under ambient temperature and pressure using NaOH as precipitant.The calcination process was affected,for 1 h in static air atmosphere,at 400-700 °C temperature range.The different samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction(XRD),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM),thermogravimetric analysis(TGA),in situ electrical conductivity,and N 2 adsorption/desorption.The obtained results demonstrated that nano-crystalline Pr6O11,with crystallites size of 6-12 nm,started to form at 500 °C.Such value increased to 20-33 nm for the sample calcined at 700 °C.The as-synthesized Pr6O11 nanoparticles presented high electrical conductivity due to electron hopping between Pr(III)-Pr(IV) pairs.     

Nanocrystalline La2Mo2O9 and Its Characterization

In this work, both the thermal expansion and electrical conductivity of nanocrystalline La2Mo2O9 were studied.The nanocrystalline powder of La2Mo2O9 was obtained by sol-gel method, and with the help of SHP (superhigh pressure)up to 4.5 × 104 atm at 700 ℃ for a short time, and the nanocrystalline powder was densified without obvious particle size growth. The electrical conductivity of nanocrystalline La2Mo2O9 was one orderof magnitude lower than that of the microcrystalline sample at the same temperature. Owing to the phase transition, the microcrystalline La2Mo2O9 has an abrupt increase of thermal expansion with a peak value of 48 × 10-6 K-1 at 556 ℃. For the nanocrystalline material, the peak value increases to 112 × 10-6 K-1 at 520 ℃. On the other hand, above 600 ℃ the significant growth of particle size of the nanocrystalline La2Mo2O9 was observed, accompanying by a tremendous increase of thermal expansion with a peak value of third higher than that of La2Mo2O9.