Novel TiC-based composites with enhanced mechanical properties

Novel TiC-based composites were synthesized by reactive hot-pressing at 1800 °C for 1 h with ZrB₂ addition as a sintering aid for the first time. The effects of ZrB₂ contents on the phase composition, microstructure evolution, and mechanical properties were reported. Based on the reaction and solid solution coupling effects between ZrB₂ and TiC, the product ZrC may be partially or completely dissolved into the TiC matrix, and then phase separation within the miscibility gap is observed to form lamellar nanostructured ZrC-rich (Zr, Ti)C. The TiC-10 mol.% ZrB₂ (starting batch composition) exhibits good comprehensive mechanical properties of hardness 27.7 ± 1.3 GPa, flexural strength 659 ± 48 MPa, and fracture toughness of 6.5 ± 0.6 MPa m^1/2, respectively, which reach or exceed most TiC-based composites using ceramics as sintering aids in the previous reports.     

Iron-based sulfur and nitrogen dual doped porous carbon as durable electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

The widespread use of fuel cell technology is hampered by the use of expensive and scarce platinum metal in electrodes which is required to facilitate the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this work, a viable synthetic approach was developed to prepare iron-based sulfur and nitrogen dual doped porous carbon (Fe@SNDC) for use in ORR. Benzimidazole, a commercially available monomer, was used as a precursor for N doped carbon and calcined with potassium thiocyanate at different temperatures to tune the pore size, nitrogen content and different types of nitrogen functionality such as pyridinic, pyrrolic and graphitic. The Fe@SNDC–950 with high surface area, optimum N content of about 5 at% and high amount of pyridinic and graphitic N displayed an onset potential and half-wave potential of 0.98 and 0.83 V vs RHE, respectively, in 0.1 M KOH solution. The catalyst also exhibits similar oxygen reduction reaction performance compared to Pt/C (20 wt%) in acidic media. Furthermore, when compared to commercially available Pt/C (20 wt%), Fe@SNDC–950 showed enhanced durability over 6 h and poison tolerance in case of methanol crossover with the concentration up to 3.0 M in oxygen saturated alkaline electrolyte. Our study demonstrates that the presence of N and S along with Fe-N moieties synergistically served as ORR active sites while the high surface area with accessible pores allowed for efficient mass transfer and interaction of oxygen molecules to the active sites contributing to the ORR activity of the catalyst.     

毫米波三维异质异构集成技术的进展与应用

三维异质异构集成技术是实现电子信息系统向着微型化、高效能、高整合、低功耗及低成本方向发展的最重要方法,也是决定信息化平台中微电子和微纳系统领域未来发展的一项核心高技术。文章详细介绍了毫米波频段三维异质异构集成技术的优势、近年来的发展趋势以及面临的挑战。利用硅基MEMS 光敏复合薄膜多层布线工艺可实现异质芯片的低损耗互连,同时三维集成高性能封装滤波器、高辐射效率封装天线等无源元件,还能很好地处理布线间的电磁兼容和芯片间的屏蔽问题。最后介绍了一款新型毫米波三维异质异构集成雷达及其在远距离生命体征探测方面的应用。     

Atomic-level insights into the modification mechanism of Fe (III) ion on smithsonite (1 0 1) surface from DFT calculation

Fe(III) ion can strongly inhibit the sulphidation amine flotation of smithsonite. However, its modification mechanism on smithsonite surface is still obscure. In this work, a systematic study of the modification of Fe(III) ion on smithsonite (1 0 1) surface was performed using DFT calculation. The optimal number of H₂O ligands for Fe(III) ion hydrates in aqueous conditions was probed, and [Fe(OH)₂(H₂O)₄]⁺ and [Fe(OH)₄]^? were identified as the major modification species, then their adsorption and bonding mechanisms were further revealed by analyzing the frontier orbitals, density of state, Mulliken population, and electron density. The calculated adsorption structures were consistent with the former experiment, and we found the O site that bonded to the C atom on smithsonite surface was the most favorable position for [Fe(OH)₂(H₂O)₄]⁺ and [Fe(OH)₄]^? adsorptions. Besides, their adsorption mechanisms on smithsonite surface were principally due to the combined effect of FeO bond and hydrogen bonding. Simultaneously, hydrogen bonding greatly enhanced the stability of the adsorption structures. Moreover, the dominant orbital contribution for the bonding of FeO was primarily due to the orbital hybridization between Fe 3d and O 2p orbitals. This work can help in deeper understanding of the depression of Fe(III) ion on the sulphidation amine flotation of smithsonite.     

象山隧道液压凿岩台车开挖斜孔掏槽施工技术

新建的龙岩至厦门单线铁路象山隧道断面比较小,使用液压凿岩台车开挖,斜孔掏槽方案受到很大限制。本文介绍了使用液压凿岩台车钻爆开挖象山隧道,选择斜孔掏槽方案实现快速开挖,为类似的隧道工程施工提供经验。     

Manufacturing catalyst-coated membranes by ultrasonic spray deposition for PEMFC: Identification of key parameters and their impact on PEMFC performance

This study deals with the manufacturing of catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) for newcomers in the field of coating. Although there are many studies on electrode ink composition for improving the performance of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), there are few papers dealing with electrode coating itself. Usually, it is a know-how that often remains secret and constitutes the added value of scientific teams or the business of industrialists. In this paper, we identify and clarify the role of key parameters to improve coating quality and also to correlate coating quality with fuel cell performance via polarization curves and electrochemical active surface area measurements. We found that the coating configurations can affect the performance of lab-made CCMs in PEMFCs. After the repeatability of the performance obtained by our coating method has been proved, we show that: (i) edge effects, due to mask shadowing - cannot be neglected when the active surface area is low, (ii) a heterogeneous thickness electrode produces performance lower than a homogeneous thickness electrode, and (iii) the origin and storage of platinum on carbon powders are a very important source of variability in the obtained results.     

Integrating coral-like morphology into cyano-containing carbon nitride towards efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution and Cr(Ⅵ) reduction

The incomplete polymerization of graphite carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) due to the kinetic problems resulted in its high recombination rate of photo-generated electron-hole pairs. Hence, cyano-containing carbon nitride with coral-like morphology (CCCN) was prepared by the molten salt method with heptazine-based melem as precursor, which presented excellent separation rate of photo-generated electron-hole pairs. SEM exhibited that CCCN owned coral-like morphology which exposed ample active sites and enhanced the capture ability of visible light while FT-IR and XPS demonstrated that cyano groups appearing in coral-like carbon nitride enhanced the separation rate of photo-induced charge carriers. The synergistic effect of coral-like morphology and cyano groups endowed CCCN-15% with superior performance of both the photocatalytic H₂ evolution (4207 μmol h^?1 g^?1) and Cr (Ⅵ) reduction (k = 0.059 min^?1), approximately 16.8 and 6.0 times that of g-C₃N₄, which was comparable among the similar materials. Density functional theory calculation (DFT) revealed that cyano groups decreased the bandgap and strengthened the activation degree of reaction substrate, which enhanced the thermodynamic driving force and the interaction between catalyst and substrate. This work provided a potential strategy for both the renewable energy generation and environmental restoration.     

Enhanced oxygen evolution reaction kinetics through biochar-based nickel-iron phosphides nanocages in water electrolysis for hydrogen production

Highly-efficient and stable non-noble metal electrocatalysts for overcoming the sluggish kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is urgent for water electrolysis. Biomass-derived biochar has been considered as promising carbon material because of its advantages such as low-cost, renewable, simple preparation, rich structure, and easy to obtain heteroatom by in-situ doping. Herein, Ni₂P–Fe₂P bimetallic phosphide spherical nanocages encapsulated in N/P-doped pine needles biochar is prepared via a simple two-step pyrolysis method. Benefiting from the maximum synergistic effects of bimetallic phosphide and biochar, high conductivity of biochar encapsulation, highly exposed active sites of Ni₂P–Fe₂P spherical nanocages, rapid mass transfer in porous channels with large specific surface area, and the promotion in adsorption of reaction intermediates by high-level heteroatom doping, the (Ni_0.75Fe_0.25)₂P@NP/C demonstrates excellent OER activity with an overpotential of 250 mV and a Tafel slope of 48 mV/dec at 10 mA/cm² in 1 M KOH. Also it exhibits a long-term durability in 10 h electrolysis and its activity even improves during the electrocatalytic process. The present work provides a favorable strategy for the inexpensive synthesis of biochar-based transition metal electrocatalysts toward OER, and improves the water electrolysis for hydrogen production.     

Analysis of surface and interior degradation of gas diffusion layer with accelerated stress tests for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

The effects of surface and interior degradation of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) on the performance and durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have been investigated using three freeze-thaw accelerated stress tests (ASTs). Three ASTs (ex-situ, in-situ, and new methods) are designed from freezing ?30 °C to thawing 80 °C by immersing, supplying, and bubbling, respectively. The ex-situ method is designed for surface degradation of the GDL. Change of surface morphology from hydrophobic to hydrophilic by surface degradation of GDL causes low capillary pressure which decreased PEMFC performance. The in-situ method is designed for the interior degradation of the GDL. A decrease in the ratio of the porosity to tortuosity by interior degradation of the GDL deteriorates PEMFC performance. Moreover, the new method showed combined effects for both surface and interior degradation of the GDL. It was identified that the main factor that deteriorated the fuel cell performance was the increase in mass transport resistance by interior degradation of GDL. In conclusion, this study aims to investigate the causes of degraded GDL on the PEMFC performance into the surface and interior degradation and provide the design guideline of high-durability GDL for the PEMFC.     

Reasonable construction of proton conducting channel via biomimetic caterpillar-like alumina fiber to improve the properties of its composite proton exchange membrane

In this paper, we prepare a novel biomimetic caterpillar-like alumina fiber with the characteristic of continuous alumina backbone and fine needle whiskers spine. Then the high-performance caterpillar-like alumina fiber composite proton exchange membrane (CAPEM) is obtained by introducing the amino modified biomimetic caterpillar-like alumina fiber into sulfonated polysulfone (SPSF) matrix, which successfully reasonable construction of the proton conducting channels in both vertical and horizontal orientation. The properties of CAPEM, including proton conductivity, methanol permeability, etc. Are systematically studied. The results show that the proton conductivity of CAPEM increases with rising the temperature, which reaches the maximum of 0.263 S/cm at 80 °C and 100% RH, respectively. The excellent proton conductivity of CAPEM is attributed to the long-range continuous proton conducting channel formed by the horizontal continuous alumina skeleton in the in-plane direction and the vertical overlapped fine needle whiskers spine in the through-plane direction. In addition, the interfacial compatibility between amino modified caterpillar-like alumina fiber and SPSF matrix is enhanced through the reasonable construction of proton conducting channels, which effectively inhibits the methanol permeation of the composite membrane with 4.18 × 10^?7 cm² s^?1 and improves the comprehensive performance of the CAPEM.