Synthesis and characterization of LiNi0.95-xCoxAl0.05O2 for lithium-ion batteries

Samples of LiNi0.95-xCoxAl0.05O2 （x = 0.10 and 0.15） and LiNiO2, synthesized by the solid-state reaction at 725℃ for 24 h from LiOH-H2O, Ni2O3, Co2O3, and AI（OH）3 under an oxygen stream, were characterized by TG-DTA, XRD, SEM, and electrochemical tests. Simultaneous doping of cobalt and aluminum at the Ni-site in LiNiO2 was tried to improve the cathode performance for lithium-ion batteries. The results showed that co-doping （especially, 5 at.% A1 and 10 at.% Co） definitely had a large beneficial effect in increasing the capacity （186.2 mA.h/g of the first discharge capacity for LiNio.s.42OoaoAlo.0502） and cycling behavior （180.1 mA-h/g after 10 cycles for LiNio.85CooaoAlo.osO2） compared with 180.7 mA.h/g of the first discharge capacity and 157.7 mA.h/g of the tenth discharge capacity for LiNiO2, respectively. Differen- tial capacity versus voltage curves showed that the co-doped LiNio.95_xCoxmlo.osO2 had less intensity of the phase transitions than the pristine LiNiO2.     

An approach to the calculation of multilayer magnetic shielding using artificial neural network

The electromagnetic interference has many undesired effects to the office equipments and the performance of technological devices. Therefore, electrical devices should have field protection mechanism against magnetic fields. The shielding mechanism prevents external magnetic field emitted from the device to the vicinity area. This work attempts to apply artificial neural network in order to estimate shielded magnetic field for multilayer shielding application. The multilayer magnetic shielding performances of cylindrical shaped ferromagnetic shields under extremely low frequency are investigated. For this purpose, three different ferromagnetic materials in cylindrical shape are chosen for magnetic shielding. The shielding performances of these materials are measured and a selected set of data is used to train and test an artificial neural network. The proposed neural network model achieves an intelligent decision for the shielded magnetic field level based on distance, unshielded magnetic field value, number of shield layer and skin-depth of the shield.     

Unlocking the Capacity of Vanadium Oxide by Atomically Thin Graphene-Analogous V2O5·nH2O in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZIBs) are promising due to their high theoretical energy density and intrinsic safety, and the natural abundance of Zn. Since low voltage is an intrinsic shortage of AZIBs, achieving super-high capacity of cathode materials is a vital way to realize high practical energy density, which however remains a huge challenge. Herein, the capacity increase of classical vanadium oxide cathode is predicted via designing atomic thickness of 2D structure to introduce abundant Zn²⁺ storage sites based on density functional theory (DFT) calculation; then graphene-analogous V₂O₅·nH₂O (GAVOH) with only few atomic layers is fabricated, realizing a record capacity of 714 mAh g⁻¹. Pseudocapacitive effect is unveiled to mainly contribute to the super-high capacity due to the highly exposed GAVOH external surface. In situ Raman and synchrotron X-ray techniques unambiguously uncover the Zn²⁺ storage mechanism. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are further introduced to design GAVOH-CNTs gel ink for large-scale cathode fabrication. The hybrid cathode demonstrates ultra-stable cycling and excellent rate capability and delivers a high energy density of 476 Wh kg⁻¹ at 76 W kg⁻¹; 228 Wh kg⁻¹ is still retained at high mass loading of 10.2 mg cm⁻². This work provides inspiration for breaking the capacity limit of cathode in AZIBs.     

Multifunctional Organic Potassium Salt Additives as the Efficient Defect Passivator for High-Efficiency and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Despite the rapid developments are achieved for perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the existence of various defects in the devices still limits the further enhancement of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and the long-term stability of devices. Herein, the efficient organic potassium salt (OPS) of para-halogenated phenyl trifluoroborates is presented as the precursor additives to improve the performance of PSCs. Studies have shown that the 4-chlorophenyltrifluoroborate potassium salt (4-ClPTFBK) exhibits the most effective interaction with the perovskite lattice. Strong coordination between  BF₃⁻/halogen in anion and uncoordinated Pb²⁺/halide vacancies, along with the hydrogen bond between F in  BF₃⁻ and H in FA⁺ are observed. Thus, due to the synergistic contribution of the potassium and anionic groups, the high-quality perovskite film with large grain size and low defect density is achieved. As a result, the optimal devices show an enhanced efficiency of 24.50%, much higher than that of the control device (22.63%). Furthermore, the unencapsulated devices present remarkable thermal and long-term stability, maintaining 86% of the initial PCE after thermal test at 80 °C for 1000 h and 95% after storage in the air for 2460 h.     

Relaxation-Induced Significant Room-Temperature Dielectric Pulsing Effects

Thermo-responsive dielectric materials are in urgent demand owing to the rapid development of smart electronic/electrical systems. Although different types and structures of thermally responsive dielectric materials have been continuously reported, their dielectric response behaviors all originate from thermodynamic phase transitions. Herein, it is demonstrated that structural relaxation in poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), a non-thermodynamic phase transition, can induce a significant thermal dielectric pulse at room temperature. The dielectric pulse strength of up to 6.3 × 10⁵ at 20 Hz, with a dielectric pulsing temperature of 24 °C, is achieved from polyethylene glycol (PEG)-PVDF coaxial nanofibrous films (PVDF@PEG), fabricated via a continuous blow spinning method. Moreover, the films exhibit excellent flexibility, adjustable strength and toughness, switchable hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, and effective thermal management capability. The relaxation-induced dielectric pulsing effect, outstanding multifunctionality, and simple preparation combine to promote further scalability and prospects of PVDF@PEG. In particular, the work contributes to the discovery of the relaxation-induced dielectric response mechanism, which provides a new strategy for the generation of thermo-responsive dielectric materials.     

ZrSi_2/硼酚醛泡沫的制备及其裂解产物的增强机制

以ZrSi_2颗粒填充硼酚醛树脂制备了一种耐高温且裂解后结构较为完整的泡沫复合材料。研究了ZrSi_2颗粒质量分数对泡沫复合材料固化机制、高温裂解行为及裂解前后压缩性能的影响,并分析了ZrSi_2颗粒对泡沫复合材料裂解产物的增强机制。结果表明:添加的ZrSi_2颗粒虽未参与硼酚醛树脂的固化交联,但会和硼酚醛树脂裂解放出的气体挥发物发生化学反应,提高了裂解产物的残炭率和压缩比强度。当添加的ZrSi_2颗粒质量为硼酚醛树脂质量的10%时,裂解产物的残炭率和压缩比强度提高最为显著。ZrSi_2/硼酚醛泡沫经过裂解后,ZrSi_2颗粒作为第二相粒子钉扎在裂解产物的孔壁上,化学反应使得部分裂解气体挥发物被吸收并转化为固相产物,明显减少的缺陷提高了裂解产物的力学性能。     

耐热线型小分子对有机硅耐温吸波涂层的增韧改性研究

目的 采用能与有机硅单体反应的耐热小分子对苯基硅树脂基吸波涂层进行增韧改性,调控有机硅树脂的交联网络结构,并将改性树脂与耐温吸波剂复合,制备具有高柔韧、高附着力和耐温的吸波涂层。方法 将不同端基或链长的耐热增韧剂通过硅氢加成接枝到有机硅树脂基体,改变基体的交联网络结构,通过红外、扫描电镜、万能电子试验机、动态热机械分析仪和矢量网络分析仪测试其性能。结果 随着乙烯基封端聚二甲基硅氧烷含量的增加,涂层的柔韧性提高,但耐温性能和附着力降低;当乙烯基封端聚二甲基硅氧烷质量分数为45%时,1 mm涂层的柔韧性达20 mm,附着力达7.73 MPa,抗冲击性大于50 kg·cm。在300℃热处理15 h后,改性涂层挠度从未改性时的1.08 mm提升至1.35 mm,涂层在高温工作后仍保持较好的柔韧性。结论 采用耐热线型小分子对有机硅树脂交联网络结构进行改性,可有效地调控耐温吸波涂层的力学性能,为耐高温吸波涂层增韧及其工程应用提供参考。     

含马来酰亚胺结构的DOPO基反应型阻燃剂的合成及其对环氧树脂性能的影响

以9,10-二氢-9-氧杂-10-磷杂菲-10-氧化物(DOPO)和N-对羧基苯基马来酰亚胺(pCPMI)为主要原料合成了一种新型的反应型阻燃剂DOPO-pCPMI,利用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR),核磁共振谱(¹H-NMR、³¹P-NMR)对阻燃剂分子的结构及其组成进行了分析表征。随后将DOPO-pCPMI与环氧树脂预聚,再以4,4’-二氨基二苯基砜(DDS)为固化剂制备DOPO-pCPMI/EP复合材料。通过极限氧指数(LOI)、动态热机械分析(DTMA)、热失重分析研究了复合材料的阻燃性能和热性能。结果表明：当pCPMI的质量分数为6%时,DOPO-pCPMI/EP固化体系综合性能最佳,氧指数由24%提高至33.5%;玻璃化转变温度(T_g)为210℃;弯曲强度由90 MPa提升至127 MPa;在氮气气氛下不同组分树脂的浇铸体残炭率不断提高。对燃烧后炭层的红外分析和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)分析表明形成了含马来酰亚胺的刚性炭层,且炭层外部紧凑、完整,内部致密、多孔。     

Development and progress in acoustic phase-gradient metamaterials for wavefront modulation

Acoustic metamaterials (AMs) for sound wave manipulation have attracted significant attention due to their fascinating functionalities, such as anomalous reflection/refraction, acoustic cloaking, sound absorption, acoustic imaging, etc. The acoustic phase-gradient metamaterials possess the capability of wavefront manipulation, thus, are fundamental to designing these fascinating functionalities. The underlying mechanism is controlling the acoustic responses (the phase and/or amplitude) of the units by varying the parameters so that one can redirect the wavefront in the desired manner. In this article, we review the state-of-the-art on development of phase-gradient metamaterials for wavefront manipulation. The governing principles of the phase-gradient metamaterials for wave control in static and moving media are first introduced. Then, according to the unit type, the phase-gradient metamaterials are roughly classified into three categories: the locally resonant structures, the space-coiling structures and the material-filling structures. Afterwards, three representative functionalities of the gradient metamaterials are reviewed, including acoustic cloaking, sound absorption/isolation and acoustic lens. Finally, the limitations of present metamaterials and possible future directions for development are concluded.     

有机硅聚合物复合材料陶瓷化研究进展

在有机硅类聚合物基体中加入粘土类无机矿物粉末填料、结构控制剂以及其它助剂制备的可瓷化聚合物基复合材料是一类新型耐火、阻燃材料。这种材料在常温下具有普通聚合物的优良性能,而遇高温燃烧时可形成坚硬的陶瓷保护层。主要介绍了有机硅聚合物高温瓷化特性及防火机理,研究了填料对复合体系耐高温性能的影响,其中包括硅灰石、云母、云母混合物体系以及其他无机填料在陶瓷化过程中的作用机理,在此基础上阐述了瓷化体系的应用领域以及其今后的发展方向。