Low temperature synthesis of plate-like Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 via molten salt method

In this study, plate-like Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃ (BNT) templates with perovskite structure were obtained by two-step molten salt synthesis (MSS) method at a low temperature. Firstly, Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ precursors were synthesized at 1030 °C in NaCl–KCl molten salt. Secondly, plate-like Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃ particles with perovskite structure were obtained from plate-like layer-structured ferroelectric ceramic of Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ by topochemical microcrystal conversion method. Result showed that excessive Na₂CO₃ was beneficial to facilitate the low temperature synthesis. In the case of an excess of 30 mol% Na₂CO₃, plate-like BNT particles could be obtained by synthesis at temperatures ranging from 760 °C to 800 °C, which indicated a flexible processing route. Also, it has been observed that plate-like BNT particles show a high aspect ratio with 1 μm in thickness and 10–20 μm in length. These Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃ plate-like particles can be good candidates for the preparation of lead-free BNT-based piezoelectric ceramics with oriented grain microstructure.     

Remarkably improved hydrogen storage properties of carbon layers covered nanocrystalline Mg with certain air stability

Different nanocrystalline magnesium with carbon layers were successfully synthesized via a facile wet-chemical ball milling method for 20, 30 and 40 h, respectively. Based on Scherrer formula and X-ray diffraction results, the average crystallite size of all the three samples was below 30 nm. TEM observations showed that the hydrogenated Mg particles were covered with carbon layers. Moreover, the 40 h ball milled Mg sample showed outstanding hydrogen storage performance especially in the aspect of hydrogen absorption. The as-prepared sample started to take up hydrogen at nearly room temperature and eventually absorbed 6.8 wt% hydrogen at 200 °C. The apparent activation energy (E_a) of hydrogen absorption for the sample was decreased to 26.7 kJ/mol, much lower than that of other reported systems. For the dehydrogenation experiments, the hydrogenated sample could start to release hydrogen at about 275 °C and 6.5 wt% hydrogen was desorbed in 20 min at 325 °C. Interestingly, the prepared samples showed noteworthy air stability. Been placed in the air for 60 min, the dehydrogenation kinetics and hydrogen capacity of the three samples were basically unchanged, making it possible to be used in future commercial applications.     

Luminescence thermal quenching of M_2SiO_4:Eu~(2+)(M=Sr,Ba) phosphors

In this paper,luminescence thermal quenching of M_2SiO_4:Eu~(2+)(M=Sr,Ba) orthosilicate phosphors and mechanisms for thermal quenching proposed by different authors are briefly reviewed.Depending on preparation conditions and/or Eu~(2+)-doping concentrations,the quenching temperature(T_(1/2)) and activation energy for thermal quenching of the same orthosilicate phosphor reported by different authors are inconsistent.The common conclusion is that T_(1/2) of the intermediate compound(Ba_(1-x)Sr_x)_2 SiO_4:Eu~(2+)(x≈0.5) is higher than that of either Sr_2So_4;Eu~(2+)or Ba_2SiO_4;Eu~(2+)end-member.Moreover,T_(1/2) of the best-performing SrBaSiO_4:Eu~(2+)is evidently lower than that of YAG:Ce~(3+)and some Eu~(2+)-doped nitride phosphors.Rega rding the quenching mechanism,most of the investigators attributed thermal quenching to a thermally assisted 4f-5d cross-over in the configuration coordinate diagram.Only a few authors ascribed thermal quenching to a thermally assisted photoionization of 5 d electron to conduction band of the host.Nonetheless,a close inspection of T_(1/2) and Stokes shift derived from the vibrational spectra of the intermediate compound and end-member phosphors indicates that the 5d electron photo ionization model instead of the 4f-5d crossing decay model should be the genuine mechanism for the thermal quenching of M_2 SiO_4:Eu~(2+)(M=Sr,Ba) phosphors.Since the relationship between T_(1/2) and Stokes shift of the phosphors does not support the 4 f-5 d crossing decay model.The ionization probability of the 5 d electron depends on the energy gap(E_(dC)) between 5 d_1 level of the Eu~(2+)and conduction band minimum(CBM) of the host at higher temperatures.Lattice thermal expansion would result in an elevating 5 d_1 level of the Eu~(2+)along with a diminishing CBM of the host and as a consequence a reduction in E_(dC) and an enhanced photo ionization probability at elevated temperatures.A less rigid lattice and hence a larger coefficient of thermal expansion of M_2SiO_4 hosts should be the physical origin of poorer thermal quenching properties of the orthosilicate phosphors.     

Fabrication of Ce-doped(Gd_2Y)Al_5O_(12)/Y_3Al_5O_(12) composite-phase scintillation ceramic

In this paper, a novel Ce(Gd_2 Y)Al_5O_(12)/Ce:Y_3Al_5O_(12)(Ce:GYAG/Ce:YAG) composite scintillation ceramic was designed and fabricated by a solid-state reaction method. The phase, luminescence and scintillation properties were investigated. The Ce:GYAG/Ce:YAG composite ceramic consisting of two-phase has a broad emission band ranging from 500 to 750 nm. The total mass attenuation coefficient of Ce:GYAG/Ce:YAG is 0.3864 cm~(-1), in between those of Ce:YAG and Ce:GYAG ceramics. In addition, the composite ceramic had a high light yield of 20430 ph/MeV. By controlling the ratio of GYAG and YAG, the composite ceramic can realize a spectrum design and total mass attenuation coefficient control to meet the requirements for wide-X-ray-energy-range detectors.     

Effect of MgO–TiO2–SiO2 additions on in-situ anisotropic grains growth and mechanical properties of corundum abrasive using pseudo-boehmite as raw material

Microcrystalline corundum abrasives with a duplex microstructure consisting of elongated anisotropic grains and fine equiaxed grains were fabricated via sol-gel processes using pseudo-boehmite as raw material. Elongated anisotropic grain, as a second phase reinforcement, significantly improved the fracture toughness and strength of samples. When the sample was doped 2 wt% MgO–TiO₂–SiO₂ additions with the molar ratio of 3:5:11, elongated anisotropic grains had the highest aspect ratio and were uniformly distributed among the fine equiaxed grains matrix. In addition, the sample obtained a maximum density above 3.92 g cm⁻³, single particle compressive strength of 56.4 N and fracture toughness of 5.93 MPa m^1/2. The relationship between the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the abrasives was also discussed in detail. Moreover, toughening mechanism of elongated anisotropic grains was clearly explained by charactering crack propagation and fracture surfaces of samples.     

Ultrafast exciton dynamics in isolated single-walled nanotubes

Ultrafast relaxation dynamics of photoexcitations in semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (S-NT) isolated in D₂O solution have been investigated using polarized pump–probe photomodulation (with 150 fs time resolution), and cw polarized photoluminescence (PL). Various transient photoinduced bleaching (PB) and photoinduced absorption (PA) bands were observed, which also showed photoinduced dichroism. After taking into account the PB spectral shift, then the PA and PB bands decay together in time following a power law of the form (t)^−a with a in the range of 0.7–1. The PL emission shows polarization degree that agrees with that of the transient photoinduced dichroism. We therefore conclude that the primary photoexcitations in S-NT are excitons that are confined along the NTs. From the average PL polarization degree and the transient polarization memory decay, we estimate the PL lifetime in isolated NTs in solution to be of the order of 500 ps. This relatively long PL lifetime is dominated by non-radiative decay processes, which when coupled with the minute PL emission quantum efficiency indicates a very small radiative recombination rate, in good agreement with recent theories that include electron correlation.     

Structure,antioxidative potency and potential scavenging of OH and OOH of phenylethyl-3,4-dihydroxyhydrocinnamate in protic and aprotic media: DFT study

DFT methods including B3LYP, B3PW91 and M05–2 x associated to 6–31 + G(d,p) were used for the structural and antioxidant potency studies of phenylethyl-3,4-dihydroxy-hydrocinnamate (PDH). Solvents were employed according to their protric and aprotic character. So, calculated structures agree with the experimental data. O₄H₄ is propitious to scavenge radicals whatever the medium except in water where O₃H₃ and O₄H₄ are competitive. The explicit solvents of dichloromethane (DCM) and water present a disparity of OH bond dissociation enthalpy and free energy (BDE and BDFE). These parameters are low in continuum except in water. The ionization potentials (IP) and potential affinities (PA) are low in solvents. BDE, IP and PA are each, approximatively constant in mixed solvent treatment in water using n-H₂O (n = 3,5,8). Elsewhere, H-atom transfer (HAT) mechanism is favoured in vacuum and DCM, whereas sequential proton loss electron transfer (SPLET) is likely in protic solvents. A discord between HAT and SPLET in benzene is observed. The PDH compound is more antioxidant and resistant to oxidation than caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE). The potential of scavenging of OH and OOH whatever the reaction channel shows that they decay rapidly in any media through HAT. PDH is easily deprotonated in the protic solvents and the resulting product is the most antioxidant and the least resistant to oxidation.     

CH3NH3PbI3/C60 heterojunction photodetectors with low dark current and high detectivity

CH₃NH₃PbI₃/C₆₀ heterojunction photodetectors were here fabricated. The peak EQE achieves ∼80% in the visible-light range from 400 to 760 nm. Benefitting from eliminating the leakage current (PEDOT:PSS-free), extremely low dark current density (0.6 nA/cm²) and high specific detectivity (2.7 × 10¹³ Jones) are acquired.     

Study of structural,dielectric, electric,magnetic and magnetoelectric properties of K0.5Na0.5NbO3 − Ni0.2Co0.8Fe2O4 composites

Magnetoelectric composites with general formula (x) Ni_0.2Co_0.8Fe₂O₄- (1- x) (K_0.5Na_0.5)NbO₃ (x = 0, 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40, 0.50 and 1.0) have been synthesized by solid state reaction method. X-ray diffraction pattern asserts the existence of both the constituent phases in the synthesized composites. FESEM micrographs are used to investigate the microstructure and for calculation of average grain size of the composites. Temperature dependent dielectric properties are investigated as a function of temperature and found to enhance with addition of ferrite in the composites. P-E hysteresis loops obtained for individual (K_0.5Na_0.5)NbO₃ (KNN) phase and composites indicate the ferroelectric ordering in the composites. Saturation and remnant magnetization show increasing trend with increase in NCFO concentration. FC-ZFC magnetization curves indicate charge ordering, metal-insulator transition (Verwey transition) in NCFO and composites. Impedance spectroscopy shows that bulk resistance reduces with increase in temperature, thereby indicating negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTCR) behaviour of the composites. The magnetoelectric effect is confirmed by measuring magnetoelectric voltage coefficient, α_ME and the maximum value of α_ME is 5.389 mV/cm-Oe for 20% NCFO-80% KNN composite.     

Fault isolation schemes for a class of continuous-time stochastic dynamical systems

In this paper a new method for fault isolation in a class of continuous-time stochastic dynamical systems is proposed. The method is framed in the context of model-based analytical redundancy, consisting in the generation of a residual signal by means of a diagnostic observer, for its posterior analysis. Once a fault has been detected, and assuming some basic a priori knowledge about the set of possible failures in the plant, the isolation task is then formulated as a type of on-line statistical classification problem. The proposed isolation scheme employs in parallel different hypotheses tests on a statistic of the residual signal, one test for each possible fault. This isolation method is characterized by deriving for the unidimensional case, a sufficient isolability condition as well as an upperbound of the probability of missed isolation. Simulation examples illustrate the applicability of the proposed scheme.