Fabrication of high-efficiency Yb:Y2O3 laser ceramics without photodarkening

High-efficiency Yb:Y₂O₃ laser ceramics were fabricated using the vacuum-sintering plus hot isostatic pressing (HIP) without sintering additives. High-purity well-dispersed nanocrystalline Yb:Y₂O₃ powder was synthesized using a modified co-precipitation method in-house. The green bodies were first vacuum sintered at a temperature as low as 1430°C and then HIPed at 1450°C. Finally, the samples were air annealed at 800°C for 10 h. Although no sintering aids were used, full density of the samples with excellent optical homogeneity and an inline transmission of 80% at 400 nm could be obtained. Moreover, photodarkening phenomenon was not detected in the ceramics. Preliminary laser experiment with the fabricated ceramics in a two-mirror cavity has demonstrated 32 W continuous-wave (CW) output at ∼1077 nm with an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 58.2%. To the best of our knowledge, this is so far the highest CW output power and optical-to-optical conversion efficiency achieved with the Yb³⁺-doped sesquioxide ceramics in a simple two-mirror cavity.     

Behavior of phase transformation of Baotou mixed rare earth concentrate during oxidation roasting

Based on the new process named “Combination Method” for metallurgy and separation of Baotou mixed rare earth concentrate (BMREC), the aim of this paper is to clearly elucidate the phase change behavior of BMREC without additives during oxidative roasting at 450–800 °C. The results indicate that the bastnaesite in BMREC is decomposed at 450–550 °C, the weight loss is about 10.3 wt%, and the activation energy (E) is 144 kJ/mol. The bastnaesite in BMREC is decomposed into rare earth fluoride, rare earth oxides (La₂O₃, Ce₇O₁₂, Pr₆O₁₁ and Nd₂O₃), and CO₂, particularly, with the increase of roasting temperature, bastnaesite in BMREC is more completely decomposed into LaF₃, which causes a decrease in leaching rate of La during the HCl leaching process. Additionally, the maximum cerium oxidation efficiency reaches about 60 wt% when the roasting temperature is equal to or above 500 °C, and the oxidation reaction rate of cerium increases with the increasing roasting temperature.     

一种提升AutoForm分析效率的方法

介绍提高AutoForm软件分析效率的两种途径,分别是:针对每个零件制作各自的设置模板文件,通过引用模板文件,减少操作步骤,可节约分析时间15 min,同时将分析文件的存储空间减小到原来的45%左右;针对每个零件建立模面控制线数据库,通过引用控制线数据库,将拉延模面的建立的效率提高了20%,进而提高了整体分析效率。     

Dithizone,carminic acid and pyrocatechol violet dyes sensitized metal (Ho,Ba& Cd) doped TiO2/CdS nanocomposite as a photoanode in hybrid heterojunction solar cell

Considering the great importance of nanocomposite based photo-active nanomaterials for a variety of electronics, photonics and photovoltaics application, it is always worth considering to synthesize new hetreostructure. This paper describes the sol-gel and hydrothermal synthesis of metal (holmium, barium, and cadmium) doped TiO₂/CdS nanocomposites for photoanode applications. Various characterization techniques, including XRD, FTIR, UV–VIS, EDX, and SEM were used to examine the synthesized heterostructures. The band gap of pure TiO₂ NPs is 3.10 eV, which was effectively decreased to 2.16 eV by doping and coupling with CdS. The nanomaterial's crystallinity, crystallite size, morphology and elemental composition were determined by XRD, SEM and EDX, respectively. As sensitizers, the organic dyes dithizone, carminic acid, and pyrocatechol violet were used. FTIR was used to analyze the effective dye grafting on the surface of nanomaterials. In the presence of hole conducting P3HT polymer as solid state electrolyte, the sensitized materials were evaluated for solid state dye-sensitized solar cells. Compared to the reference device, Cd–TiO₂/CdS photosensitized using Pyrocatechol violet dye demonstrated the highest efficiency of 2.68% (0.82%). Other parameters of this device, including open circuit voltage (Voc) and short circuit current (Jsc), were determined to be 16.97 mA cm² and 0.41V, respectively.     

Reconstructed Water Oxidation Electrocatalysts: The Impact of Surface Dynamics on Intrinsic Activities

Electroreduction of small molecules such as H₂O, CO₂, and N₂ for producing clean fuels or valuable chemicals provides a sustainable approach to meet the increasing global energy demands and to alleviate the concern on climate change resulting from fossil fuel consumption. On the path to implement this purpose, however, several scientific hurdles remain, one of which is the low energy efficiency due to the sluggish kinetics of the paired oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In response, it is highly desirable to synthesize high-performance and cost-effective OER electrocatalysts. Recent advances have witnessed surface reconstruction engineering as a salient tool to significantly improve the catalytic performance of OER electrocatalysts. In this review, recent progress on the reconstructed OER electrocatalysts and future opportunities are discussed. A brief introduction of the fundamentals of OER and the experimental approaches for generating and characterizing the reconstructed active sites in OER nanocatalysts are given first, followed by an expanded discussion of recent advances on the reconstructed OER electrocatalysts with improved activities, with a particular emphasis on understanding the correlation between surface dynamics and activities. Finally, a prospect for clean future energy communities harnessing surface reconstruction-promoted electrochemical water oxidation will be provided.     

上升气泡内气溶胶沉降机理研究

气溶胶池洗过滤是反应堆严重事故中去除放射性源项的重要手段。本文以严重事故条件下上升气泡中气溶胶的滞留过程为背景，设计搭建了可视化单气泡鼓泡实验装置。通过该装置研究了气溶胶在上升气泡中的沉降效率，并与MELCOR中的气溶胶沉降模型计算结果进行了对比。结果表明，气溶胶沉降效率对气泡尺寸的变化较为敏感，当气体流量大于0.1 L/min时，气泡等效直径迅速增加，相应的气溶胶沉降效率快速降低；与MELCOR模型计算结果的对比表明，两者在总体趋势上呈现出较好的一致性，但计算结果低估了液相对气溶胶的实际去除能力，导致这种偏差的主要原因是气泡在上升过程中存在无规则的晃动以及气液界面的波动。     

磨料有序排布电镀砂轮的制备及其把持力研究

为解决电镀砂轮磨削加工中容屑空间不足的问题，采用点胶微粘接的方法制备了磨料有序排布的电镀砂轮，分析了磨料粘接效果和镀层力学性能。通过SEM分析了磨料/镀层/导电胶的结合界面，并进行了干磨削试验。研究结果表明，直径约为磨料粒径40%的胶点可粘接住磨料，单个胶点上粘接多颗磨料的占比小于6%；双脉冲电镀工艺制备的镀层显微硬度大于500HV，表层残余应力小于100MPa，磨料/镀层/导电胶之间的界面贴合紧密，无明显缺陷；砂轮在磨削时没有出现磨料脱落现象。     

Microwave hybrid fast sintering of red clay ceramics

This work aimed to examine the performance of the hybrid sintering of clay ceramic in a microwave furnace, compared to the sintering process in a conventional furnace. The raw materials were subjected to X-ray fluorescence, loss on ignition (LOI), X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution, real specific mass, and thermogravimetric analyses. The red clay ceramic mass was prepared, extruded, pre-sintered in a conventional furnace at 600°C/60 min, and sintered at temperatures between 700 °C and 1100 °C. The sintering conventional (resistive oven) was carried out for 60 min with a heating rate of 10°C/min. In the microwave furnace, the sintering times were 5, 10, and 15 min, with a heating rate of 50°C/min, with a sintering chamber coated with silicon carbide (susceptor). The sintered specimens were characterized according to linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent porosity, apparent specific mass, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy analysis, spectroscopy analysis in the ultraviolet and visible regions, microhardness, and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that microwave sintering promoted an increase in the microhardness and apparent specific mass, and reduction in water absorption and apparent porosity values, due to greater densification in the microstructure. The best results occurred for specimens sintered at 1100°C.     

Improved energy storage density and energy efficiency of Samarium modified PMNT electroceramic

We report the improved energy storage density and efficiency after 2.5% of Samarium substitution in ferroelectric Pb[(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.80Ti_0.20]O₃ (PMNT) electroceramic. The microstructure and surface morphology were analyzed and correlated with various functional properties. The energy storage density, leakage current density, ferroelectric and dielectric properties were investigated thoroughly, indicating that Samarium's substitution significantly modified the microstructure, the dielectric strength, breakdown electric field, and turned ferroelectric PMNT to relaxor ferroelectrics. Due to the relaxor nature, the gap between remanent polarization and maximum polarization increases with the substitution of Samarium in PMNT matrix, which further increases the recoverable energy storage density and energy efficiency. A nearly 100% increase in recoverable energy density and efficiency was obtained at an electric field strength of 35 kV/cm at room temperature (～296 K). The electroceramic shows maximum energy density near the ferroelectric phase transition temperature (325 K–345 K) region and provides a moderate energy storage density for possible applications in power microelectronics.     

Feasibility of zeolites in converting butyric acid into propylene for biorefineries

The biorefinery has been recognized as a new industry to produce both energy and chemical materials such as olefins and BTX from renewable resources. In this context the conversion of butyric acid over zeolites was investigated for establishing a new production route of propylene. Propylene was mainly generated by decarbonylation and dehydration of butyric acid. Our study proved that H-ZSM-5 (750) and silicalite were the best industrial catalyst among the tested ones. For H-ZSM-5 (750), the selectivity of propylene reached 64.2 C% and the ratio of the yield for propylene to theoretical yield (75 C%) became 85.6%.