The development of metal hydrides using as concentrating solar thermal storage materials

Metal hydrides high temperature thermal heat storage technique has great promising future prospects in solar power generation, industrial waste heat utilization and peak load regulating of power system. This article introduces basic principle of metal hydrides for thermal storage, and summarizes developments in advanced metal hydrides high-temperature thermal storage materials, numerical simulation and thermodynamic calculation in thermal storage systems, and metal hydrides thermal storage prototypes. Finally, the future metal hydrides high temperature thermal heat storage technique is been looked ahead.     

Polarized light microscopy: utilization in the investigation of the recrystallization of aluminum alloys

To obtain specific properties and performance from a metallic material, it is necessary to control the microstructure. This imposes a need to monitor closely and/or predict microstructural transformations during downstream processing. One of the main features that determine the properties of wrought metals and alloys is the status of their matrix, which may be changed by thermomechanical treatment procedures. Different softening processes, such as recovery, recrystallization (RX) or grain growth, may occur in cold- and hot-worked materials. The present paper focuses on different aspects of RX and the microscopic methods used for its study. Examples of the usefulness of light microscopy examinations in the study of RX of several aluminum alloys are given.     

CO_2饱和的0.5mol/L NaCl溶液中温度对3Cr低合金钢腐蚀行为的影响

低合金钢在含CO2的NaCl溶液中的腐蚀行为受温度影响很大。利用动电位极化和电化学阻抗(EIS)技术研究了CO2饱和的NaCl溶液中温度对3Cr低合金钢腐蚀过程的影响。结果表明:温度的升高促进了腐蚀过程的阴阳极反应,合金钢的腐蚀速率增大;随着温度的升高,阳极塔菲尔斜率逐渐减小,阴极塔菲尔斜率逐渐增大,电极表面的阳极区面积逐渐增大,而阴极区面积逐渐减小;温度升高对阴极过程的促进作用大于阳极过程,使Ecorr发生正向移动;温度升高提高了合金钢的腐蚀速率,但极化曲线形状基本相同,即腐蚀机理未发生变化;合金钢在CO2饱和的0.5 mol/L NaCl溶液中的电化学阻抗谱均出现2个时间常数,高频和中频段出现由双电层界面电容和电荷转移电阻引起的容抗弧,低频段出现与钝化膜相关的容抗弧,但都随着温度的升高而减小。     

Effects of braiding angle on modal experimental analysis of three-dimensional and five-directional braided composites

In this paper, the experimental modal analysis of three dimensional (3D) and five (5)-directional braided composite cantilever beams with different braiding angle was conducted systematically with a simple testing system. Preforms were made by four-step 1 × 1 square integral braiding method. The first three order modes of composite specimens were derived, which are different with braiding angles. The experimental result and mechanism were discussed. Experimental observations and analytical predictions show that the natural frequency of specimens decreased and the damping ratio of specimens increased when the braiding angle increased. Furthermore, specimens with smaller braiding angle will be valuable for the better anti-exiting property, and have an opposite effect on dissipation of vibration energy. The comparison between the specimens with different braiding angles reveals that braiding angle is a crucial factor for the vibration performance design of 3D and 5-directional braided composites.     

Study on the effect of PbO on the passive behavior of alloy 690 in sodium hydroxide aqueous solution

The corrosion behaviors of alloy 690 in 1 wt pct sodium hydroxide aqueous solutions with and without PbO were characterized by electrochemical measurements, including potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Mott-Schottky measurement. The results reveal that there is a great difference between the corrosion behaviors of alloy 690 in the two tested solutions. The corrosion current density in PbO-containing solution is higher than that in the solution without PbO, which may be attributed to the anodic dissolution of metallic lead deposited at the early stage of polarization. The electrochemical impedance of the specimen in PbO-free solution is higher than that in the solution containing PbO. The slope of the Mott-Schottky curve in Pb-containing solution decreases notably compared with that in the Pb-free solution, which can be interpreted by the chromium depletion in the duplex structure of passive films.     

Effects of R2CO3 (R = Li,Na and K) on the reduction of MoO2 to Mo by hydrogen

In the present work, the influence of different factors (additives and temperatures) on the morphologies and sizes of as-prepared metal Mo powders by the hydrogen reduction of MoO₂ in the temperature range of 1053 K to 1353 K are investigated. When pure MoO₂ powders are reduced, the morphologies and sizes of as-prepared metal Mo powders are nearly kept the same as the raw materials. However, it is found that adding a small amount of additives (Li₂CO₃, Na₂CO₃ and K₂CO₃) into MoO₂ has a great influence on that of prepared metal Mo powders. The particles become uniformed, ultrafine and spherical powders. In addition, the particles size of the as-prepared metal Mo powders will become larger as the increase of reaction temperature due to the grains growth. This work provides a new method for the preparation of uniformed, ultrafine and spherical metal Mo powders.     

Highly ameliorated gaseous and electrochemical hydrogen storage dynamics of nanocrystalline and amorphous LaMg12-type alloys prepared by mechanical milling

Nanocrystalline and amorphous LaMg12-type alloy-Ni composites with a nominal composition of LaMg11 Ni+x wt.% Ni (x=100, 200) were synthesized via ball milling.The influences of ball mill-ing duration and Ni adding amount x on the gaseous and electrochemical hydrogen storage dynamics of the alloys were systematically studied.Gaseous hydrogen storage performances were studied by a differential scanning calorimeter and a Sievert apparatus.The dehydrogenation activation energy of the alloy hydrides was evaluated by Kissinger method.The electrochemical hydrogen storage dynam-ics of the alloys was investigated by an automatic galvanostatic system.The H atom diffusion and ap-parent activation enthalpy of the alloys were calculated.The results demonstrate that a variation in Ni content remarkably enhances the gaseous and electrochemical hydrogen storage dynamics perform-ance of the alloys.The gaseous hydriding rate and high-rate discharge (HRD) ability of the alloys ex-hibit maximum values with varying milling duration.However, the dehydriding kinetics of the alloys is always accelerated by prolonging milling duration.Specifically, rising milling time from 5 to 60 h makes the hydrogen desorption ratio (a ratio of the dehydrogenation amount in 20 min to the saturat-ed hydrogenation amount) increase from 57% to 66% for x=100 alloy and from 57% to 70% for x=200.Moreover, the improvement of gaseous hydrogen storage kinetics is attributed to the descending of dehydrogenation activation energy caused by the prolonging of milling duration and growing of Ni content.     

Atmospheric corrosion of Ni-advanced weathering steels in marine atmospheres of moderate salinity

One conventional and three Ni-advanced weathering steels have been exposed for one year in two marine atmospheres of moderate aggressivity (30 and 75 mg Cl⁻/m² d). The rusts generated have been analysed by polarised light optical microscopy, SEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy and Mössbauer spectroscopy.The presence of high nickel (1–3% weight) contents in the steel composition leads to higher corrosion resistance in moderate marine atmospheres. The presence of nickel in the weathering steel also raises the proportion of nanophasic (superparamagnetic) goethite in the inner rust layer.     

Preparation and properties of sliver and nitrogen co-doped TiO2 photocatalyst

TiO₂ photocatalysts co-doped with different content of Ag and N were prepared by sol–gel method combined with microwave chemical method. The samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscope (TEM), ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectrum (UV–vis) and photo-luminescence emission spectrum (PL). The photocatalytic activity was investigated by photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under irradiation of fluorescent lamp. The results indicate that Ag and N co-doping can restrain the increase of grain size, broaden the absorption spectrum to visible light region, and inhibit the recombination of the photo-generated electron–hole pairs. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of Ag–N–TiO₂ in MB degradation is remarkable improved. The degradation rate of the sample with Ag:TiO₂ = 0.05 at%, N:TiO₂ = 18.50 wt% in 5 h is 93.44%, which is much higher than that of Degussa P25 (39.40%).     

The AMWCNTs supported porous nanocarbon composites for high-performance supercapacitor

The porous nanocarbons supported by acid-treated multiwall carbon nanotubes (PC@ACNTs) were prepared by the combination of the hydrothermal polymerization of glucose on ACNTs, carbonization under N₂ protection and final activation with ZnCl₂. The materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and Raman spectra. The results indicated that the ACNTs distributed uniformly into the framework of the porous carbon. The composites showed the high BET specific surface area up to 1712 m² g⁻¹ and good conductivity. The electrochemical measurements indicated that the composites processed good performances for electrochemical energy storage (210 F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹), and high stability (>99.9%), much higher than the corresponding ACNTs, porous carbons and the samples prepared by using raw MWCNTs as source. The good performance of PC@ACNTs composites was relative with the synergy of good conductivity of ACNTs and large specific surface areas of PC.