Influence of α′‐/α‐crystal polymorphism on properties of poly(l‐lactic acid)

Poly(l ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) is a biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastic polyester produced from renewable sources, widely used for biomedical devices, in food packaging and in agriculture. It is a semicrystalline polymer, and as such its properties are strongly affected by the developed semicrystalline morphology. As a function of the crystallization temperature, PLLA can form different crystal modifications, namely α′‐crystals below about 120 °C and α‐crystals at higher temperatures. The α′ modification is therefore of special importance as it may be the preferred polymorph developing at processing‐relevant conditions. It is a metastable modification which typically transforms into the more stable α‐crystals on annealing at elevated temperature. The structure, kinetics of formation and thermodynamics of α′‐ and α‐crystals of PLLA are reviewed in this contribution, together with the effect of α′‐/α‐crystal polymorphism on the properties of PLLA. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry     

Preparation and electrochemical characterization of Ti-based amorphous metallic glass with high strength

Ti-based amorphous metallic glasses have excellent mechanical, physical, and chemical properties, which is an important development direction and research hotspot of metal composite reinforcement. As a stable, simple, efficient, and large-scale preparation technology of metallic powders, the gas atomization process provides an effective way of preparing amorphous metallic glasses. In this study, the controllable fabrication of a Ti-based amorphous powder, with high efficiency, has been realized by using gas atomization. The scanning electron microscope, energy-dispersive spectrometer, and X-ray diffraction are used to analyze surface morphology, element distribution, and phase structure, respectively. A microhardness tester is used to measure the mechanical property. An electrochemical workstation is used to characterize corrosion behavior. The results show that as-prepared microparticles are more uniform and exhibit good amorphous characteristics. The mechanical test shows that the hardness of amorphous powder is significantly increased as compared with that before preparation, which has the prospect of being an important part of engineering reinforced materials. Further electrochemical measurement shows that the corrosion resistance of the as-prepared sample is also significantly improved. This study has laid a solid foundation for expanding applications of Ti-based metallic glasses, especially in heavy-duty and corrosive domains.     

Designing amorphous formulations of polyphenols with naringin by spray-drying for enhanced solubility and permeability

Naringin (NAR), a major flavanone (FVA) glycoside, is a component of food mainly obtained from grapefruit. We used NAR as a food additive to improve the solubility and permeability of hydrophobic polyphenols used as supplements in the food industry. The spray-dried particles (SDPs) of NAR alone show an amorphous state with a glass transition temperature (T_g) at 93.2 °C. SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols, such as flavone (FVO), quercetin (QCT), naringenin (NRG), and resveratrol (RVT) were prepared by adding varying amounts of NAR. All SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols with added NAR were in an amorphous state with a single T_g, but SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols without added NAR showed diffraction peaks derived from each crystal. The SDPs with NAR could keep an amorphous state after storage at a high humidity condition for one month, except for SDPs of RVT/NAR. SDPs with NAR enhanced the solubility of hydrophobic polyphenols, especially NRG solubility, which was enhanced more than 9 times compared to NRG crystal. The enhanced solubility resulted in the increased membrane permeability of NRG. The antioxidant effect of the hydrophobic NRG was also enhanced by the synergetic effect of NAR. The findings demonstrated that NAR could be used as a food additive to enhance the solubility and membrane permeability of hydrophobic polyphenols.     

The influence of FeNi nanoparticles on the microstructures and soft magnetic properties of FeSi soft magnetic composites

In this work, a new type of FeSi/FeNi soft magnetic powder core (SMPC) was successfully fabricated by coating FeNi nanoparticles on the surface of FeSi micrometer powder. The effects of different contents of FeNi nanoparticles on the micromorphology, internal structures, and soft magnetic properties of SMPCs were studied. The results show that FeNi nanoparticles adhere to the surface of FeSi powder, which can effectively fill the air gap between FeSi powder and is beneficial to the compaction of the powder cores during the pressing process. Thus, the density of the SMPCs is increased. Compared to FeSi SMPCs, the comprehensive soft magnetic properties of FeSi/FeNi SMPCs have been greatly improved. When adding 15 wt% FeNi nanoparticles, the SMPCs exhibit excellent magnetic properties with high effective permeability (increased by 43.8 %) and low core loss (decreased by 22.1 %). The high performance FeSi/FeNi SMPCs prepared in this work are expected to be widely used in power choke coils, uninterruptible power supplies, and boosts and inverter inductors.     

Effect of hydrometallurgical process parameters on the Mn2O3 nano catalysts derived from spent batteries used in the plasma catalytic oxidation of BTX

Manganese oxide catalysts have been synthesized from the used batteries via hydrometallurgical method and effect of hydrometallurgical parameters such as the effect of acid type (H₂SO₄, HNO₃, HCl), acid concentration (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 %v/v) and powder to acid ratio (1/50, 1/60, 1/70, 1/80) were in detail investigated. The physico-chemical properties of as-prepared catalysts were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, FESEM, EDX, BET, TEM, and TPR-H₂ analysis. The activity of as-prepared catalysts were investigated towards the oxidation of benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) in a plasma-catalytic process. The results show that benzene and toluene conversion were almost constant in the range of 97–98% in case of various acid types, acid concentrations and solid to liquid ratios. However, the xylene conversion were varied in case of different hydrometallurgical factors. The highest xylene conversion was obtained in the presence of MnS0.5–60, which was prepared using H₂SO₄ with concentration of 0.5%v/v and solid to liquid ratio of 1/60. The effect of the input voltage and BTX flow rate on the BTX conversion was also investigated using MnS0.5–60 catalyst in detail.     

Additive manufacturing of bipolar plates for hydrogen production in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis cells

Water electrolysis is a process that can produce hydrogen in a clean way when renewable energy sources are used. This allows managing large renewable surpluses and transferring this energy to other sectors, such as industry or transport. Among the electrolytic technologies to produce hydrogen, proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis is a promising alternative. One of the main components of PEM electrolysis cells are the bipolar plates, which are machined with a series of flow distribution channels, largely responsible for their performance and durability. In this work, AISI 316L stainless steel bipolar plates have been built by additive manufacturing (AM), using laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L) technology. These bipolar plates were subjected to ex-situ corrosion tests and assembled in an electrolysis cell to evaluate the polarization curve. Furthermore, the obtained results were compared with bipolar plates manufactured by conventional machining processes (MEC). The obtained experimental results are very similar for both manufacturing methods. This demonstrates the viability of the PBF-L technology to produce metal bipolar plates for PEM electrolyzers and opens the possibilities to design new and more complex flow distribution channels and to test these designs in initial phases before scaling them to larger surfaces.     

The influence of volume fraction of amorphous phase on corrosion resistance of Mg67Zn 29Ca 4 alloy

The aim of this study was to investigate the structure and corrosion resistance of amorphous, amorphous‐crystalline, and crystalline Mg₆₇Zn₂₉Ca₄ alloy for biodegradable applications. This paper presents a preparation method and results of the structural characterization and corrosion resistance analysis of the material. Samples were prepared in the form of 3 mm diameter rods. The structure of the alloy was examined with the use of X‐ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. The thermal properties of the samples were examined with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Results of DSC analysis were used to determine heat treatment temperatures, allowing to obtain different fractures of crystalline phase in the material. Corrosion resistance of heat‐treated samples was investigated by immersion tests and electrochemical measurements performed in the simulated body fluid. The X‐ray diffraction results confirmed that the prepared Mg₆₇Zn₂₉Ca₄ alloy's structure is fully amorphous. After heat treatment, samples with different fractions of amorphous phase in the structure were obtained. Immersion tests of the samples showed that the structure significantly influenced corrosion resistance in examined materials. It should be pointed out, that certain amounts of crystalline phase in amorphous matrix can greatly improve the corrosion resistance of Mg₆₇Zn₂₉Ca₄ alloy.     

新型着色材料——速溶色浆粉的测试与应用

介绍了通过初级颜料的润湿、研磨与分散、稳定处理技术,使助剂和树脂均匀地包裹在颜料表面,并通过特殊工艺制得水性和油性色浆粉,并赋予了很好的速溶性和分散性。     

超细粉在内循环流化床中的流态化特性

在内径120 mm的半圆柱形内循环流化床中,以平均粒径387 nm的Ti O2为原料,考察了单独通入流化气、射流气和同时通入流化气和射流气三种流化方式下超细粉的流化特性以及射流气速对超细粉聚团尺寸的影响。结果表明:同时通入流化气和射流气时,流化气能促进粉体循环,消除环隙死区;高速射流能有效破碎聚团,显著减小聚团尺寸,从而使超细粉在环隙区与导流管之间形成稳定循环,小聚团在环隙区实现平稳流态化。随着射流气速的增大,聚团尺寸减小,粒度分布变窄,在射流气速分别为60,90,120,150 m/s的条件下,聚团平均直径分别为194,158,147,135μm。