The role of carbon in microstructure evolution of SiBCO ceramics

The composition of polymer derived ceramics could be readily tuned through controlling the structure and element content of the polymer precursors, and investigation on the effect of the element on microstructure evolution is important to the design of advanced ceramics. In this article, the effect of carbon content in SiBCO polymer precursors was systematically investigated. The polymer network and thermal stability of polymer precursors and the carbon content of pyrolyzed SiBCO ceramic could be readily tuned by controlling the DVB amount used. Carbon contributed to the formation of graphitic carbon in SiBC_xO ceramics and inhibited the growth of β–SiC and SiO₂ crystals at 1600 °C, but lead to an increase in the graphitic carbon phase at 1800 °C.     

Porous agarose/Gd-hydroxyapatite composite bone fillers with promoted osteogenesis and antibacterial activity

Artificial bone fillers are essentially required for repairing bone defects, and developing the fillers with synergistic biocompatibility and anti-bacterial activity persists as one of the critical challenges. In this work, a new agarose/gadolinium-doped hydroxyapatite filler with three-dimensional porous structures was fabricated. For the composite filler, agarose provides three-dimensional skeleton and endows porosity, workability, and high specific surface area, hydroxyapatite (HA) offers the biocompatibility, and the rare earth element gadolinium (Gd) acts as the antibacterial agent. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy detection showed the doping of Gd in HA lattice with the formation of Gd-HA interstitial solid solution. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy imaging suggested chemical interactions between agarose and Gd-HA, and the physical structure of agarose was tuned by the Gd-doped HA. Cytotoxicity testing and alizarin red staining experiments using mouse pro-osteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) revealed remarkable bioactivity and osteogenic properties of the composite fillers, and proliferation and growth rates of the cells increased in proportion to Gd content in the composites. Antibacterial testing using the gram-positive bacteria S. aureus and the gram-negative bacteria E. coli indicated promising antibacterial properties of the fillers. Meanwhile, the antibacterial properties of composite filles were enhanced with the increase of Gd content. The antibacterial fillers with porous structure and excellent physicomechanical properties show inspiring potential for bone defect repair.     

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.     

Controlling Au electrode patterns for simultaneously monitoring electrical actuation and shape recovery in shape memory polymer

This paper presents an effective approach to achieve efficient electrical actuation and monitoring of shape recovery based on patterned Au electrodes on shape memory polymer (SMP). The electrically responsive shape recovery behavior was characterized and monitored by the evolution change in electrical resistance of patterned Au electrode. Both electrical actuation and temperature distribution in the SMP have been improved by optimizing the Au electrode patterns. The electrically actuated shape recovery behavior and temperature evolution during the actuation were monitored and characterized. The resistance changes could be used to detect beginning/finishing points of the shape recovery. Therefore, the Au electrode not only significantly enhances the electrical actuation performance to achieve a fast electrical actuation, but also enables the resistance signal to detect the free recovery process.     

Remarkably enhanced energy storage properties of lead-free Ba0.53Sr0.47TiO3 thin films capacitors by optimizing bottom electrode thickness

The lead-free Ba_0.53Sr_0.47TiO₃ (BST) thin films buffered with La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ (LSMO) bottom electrode of different thicknesses were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition method on a (001) SrTiO₃ substrate. It was found that the roughness of electrode decreases and substrate stress relaxes gradually with the increase of LSMO thickness, which is beneficial for weakening local high electric field and achieving higher E_b. Therefore, the recoverable energy density (W_rec) of BST films can be greatly improved up to 67.3 %, that is, from 30.6 J/cm³ for the LSMO thickness of 30 nm up to 51.2 J/cm³ for the LSMO thickness of 140 nm after optimizing the LSMO thickness. Furthermore, the thin film capacitor with a 140 nm LSMO bottom electrode shows an outstanding thermal stability from 20 °C to 160 °C and superior fatigue resistance after 10⁸ electrical cycles with only a slightly decrease of W_rec below 1.6 % and 3.7 %, respectively. Our work demonstrates that optimizing bottom electrodes thickness is a promising way for enhancing energy storage properties of thin-film capacitors.     

Characteristics and formation mechanism of porosities in CFRP during laser joining of CFRP and steel

An experimental investigation on the mechanism of porosity formation during the laser joining of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) and steel is presented. The porosity morphology and distribution were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy, and the thermal pyrolysis behaviors were investigated by thermal analysis and designed back-side cooling experiments. The results show that there are two types of porosities in CFRP. Porosity I only appears when the heat input is more than 77.8 J/mm. It has a smooth inner wall and distributes near the bonding interface between CFRP and steel at the central area of melted zone, which is caused by gaseous products such as CO₂, NH₃, H₂O, and hydrocarbons produced by the pyrolysis of CFRP. Porosity II can be seen under all joining conditions. It has a rough inner wall and distributes far away from the bonding interface, concentrating at the final solidification locations. Porosity II is caused by the shrinkage of melted CFRP during solidification stage.     

Design of functionalized α-Fe2O3 (III) films with long-term anti-wetting properties

The design of functional anti-wetting ceramic coatings is always a bottleneck restricting the development of ceramic techniques. This study proposes a liquid phase synthesis method to fabricate α-Fe₂O₃ (III) ceramic powders with promising applications and introduces a facile electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique to construct the corresponding functionalized hydrophobic films – superhydrophobic functionalized α-Fe₂O₃ ceramic films (SFOFS) with roughly even distribution and a high water contact angle (CA) of 169°±1° – followed by heat posttreatments. The microtopography and crystalline structures of the product were investigated by FESEM, EDX, and XRD techniques. The EPD controllability of SFOFS was studied by adjusting the EPD time and the applied field strengths. In addition, the SFOFS show excellent long-term anti-wetting properties for twenty-four months after undergoing a series of tests, including soaking, water droplet impacting, immersion by droplets with different surface tensions and exposure to different gases and relative humidity conditions, etc. This study substantially helps the design of other kinds of functional anti-wetting films through the proposed convenient method beyond the oxide limit.     

Preparation,characterization and properties of polycaprolactone diol-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube/thermoplastic polyurethane composite

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were chemically functionalized to prepare thermoplastic polyurethane (PU) composites with enhanced properties. In order to achieve a high compatibility of functionalized MWCNTs with the PU matrix, polycaprolactone diol (PCL), as one of PU’s monomers, was selectively grafted on the surface of MWCNTs (MWCNT–PCL), while carboxylic acid groups functionalized MWCNTs (MWCNT–COOH) and raw MWCNTs served as control. Both MWCNT–COOH and MWCNT–PCL improved the dispersion of MWCNTs in the PU matrix and interfacial bonding between them at 1 wt% loading fraction. The MWCNT–PCL/PU composite showed the greatest extent of improvement, where the tensile strength and modulus were 51.2% and 33.5% higher than those of pure PU respectively, without sacrificing the elongation at break. The considerable improvement in both mechanical properties and thermal stability of MWCNT–PCL/PU composite should result from the homogeneous dispersion of MWCNT–PCL in the PU matrix and strong interfacial bonding between them.     

Investigation of performance variations due to the amplitude of group-delay ripple in chirped fiber Bragg gratings

We measure the system impacts due to the amplitude of group-delay (GD) ripple in single and cascaded chirped fiber Bragg gratings (CFBGs). Signals with smaller pulse width result in smaller performance variation at the same data rate. A 65-ps peak-to-peak GD ripple induces 0.9, 1.7, and 2.7 dB maximum penalties for 10, 20, and 40-Gb/s, respectively. We also find that cascading gratings with random ripple causes much less degradation than cascading gratings with the same ripple profile.     

Effect of chemical phosphorylation on solubility of buffalo milk proteins

Buffalo milk proteins (casein, co-precipitate or whey protein concentrate) were phosphorylated with phosphorus oxychloride (POCl₃) at three different pH values (5.0, 7.0 and 9.0). The solubilities of phosphorylated milk proteins were examined over the pH range 3.0–9.0 in water and ionic (0.1 m NaCl or 10–70 mm Ca²⁺) systems. The solubilities of buffalo milk proteins decreased at pH 3.0, while there was an increase in the solubilities of casein and co-precipitate near their isoelectric points upon phosphorylation. Solubilities of these phosphorylated milk proteins were pH dependent in 0.1 m NaCl but there was a decrease in their solubilities with increase in calcium ion concentration. This alteration could be due to the shifting of isoionic points of phosphorylated buffalo milk proteins towards acidic pH.