Surface structure and quenching effects in BiFeO3-BaTiO3 ceramics

The structure and properties of Mn-doped 0.67BiFeO₃-0.33BaTiO₃ ceramics are systematically investigated with respect to the effects of annealing prior to rapid cooling by quenching in air. Air-quenching induces a change in crystal structure from pseudo-cubic to rhombohedral, with higher quenching temperatures leading to an increased rhombohedral distortion. These structural changes are correlated with the appearance of more well-defined ferroelectric domain configurations. It is shown that the surface preparation procedures for XRD measurements can induce significant changes in the peak profiles, indicating differences in crystal structure between the surface and bulk regions. Frequency dispersion in the temperature-dependent relative permittivity for the as-sintered sample is significantly reduced after quenching, accompanied by enhancement of the Curie point and improved temperature-stability of piezoelectric properties. It is proposed that the formation of defect clusters by A-site cation diffusion during cooling is circumvented by quenching, leading to the observed modification of structural distortion and ferroelectric properties.     

Corrosion of Li-ion battery cathode materials on mullite insulation materials during calcination

A specially designed experimental device was used in laboratory to investigate the corrosion of mullite during the calcination of Li(Ni_xCo_yMn_z)O₂ (LNCM) materials. The anti-corrosion tests were carried out at 1000, 1100, 1200 and 1300 °C, and characterized with X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The influence of temperature on the interactions between mullite insulation materials and LNCM materials was determined. In addition, the high-temperature creep properties of the mullite insulation materials before and after corrosion were tested. The laboratory scale tests, thermodynamic and kinetic calculations allowed a more comprehensive understanding of the evolution of the mullite insulation materials during serving for the roasting process of LNCM materials. Through this research, it is suggested that the upgrading of the kiln lining in the lithium battery industry should select materials with excellent resistance to alkali corrosion, especially excellent resistance to Li⁺ corrosion.     

Joining zirconia with nickel-based superalloys for extreme applications by using a pressure-free high-temperature resistant adhesive

In order to meet the high demand for joining ceramic/superalloy composite structure in extreme environments, a novel high-temperature resistant adhesion technique was developed for joining ZrO₂ and Inconel 625 by applying an aluminum phosphate emulsion/zirconium sol based adhesive. With increasing temperature, a series of reactions occurred in adhesive, and its high-temperature bonding was attributed to the formation of a composite structure containing various ceramics and intermetallics. The adhesive after RT curing could find direct applications in extreme environments, and provide bonding strength no less than 2.5 MPa in the temperature range of RT-1100 °C. The bonding strength was higher than 4 MPa in the temperature range of 800–1000 °C, which was further attributed to the formation of an effective CTE-gradient relationship among ZrO₂, adhesive and Inconel 625, as well as the interfacial reactions between the two substrates. The work broadened the application of adhesion technique and brought new ideas for joining dissimilar engineering materials.     

The effects of the modification of the BST-system solid solutions with rare earth elements

The conditions for the preparation of the solid solutions of a binary system of barium-strontium titanates with the substitutions in the A-sublattice with the rare-earth elements (REE), including the solid-phase synthesis, mechanical activation and sintering of dispersed-crystalline products by the conventional ceramic technology, were optimized. The presence (absence) of the impurity phases was established depending on the size effect of the REE. The precision X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the features of the phase formation in the studied solid solutions and showed that the “behavior” of the structural characteristics of the solid solutions with the participation of the REE is determined by the limiting conditions of the isomorphism and anion excess of the media under study. An assumption is made about the nature of the formation of a fine-grained landscape of the modified solid solutions, associated with the multicluster structure of the crystallite structure and the formation of the ballast phases during their synthesis. The dependences of the dielectric properties of the solid-state solution on the external influences – temperature, frequency of an alternating electric field and strength of a constant field – have been established. The possibility of choosing on the basis of the obtained data, promising for practical applications of the compositions is shown.     

Characterization of anisotropic gas permeability and thermomechanical properties of highly textured porous alumina

Porous alumina with a highly textured microstructure was fabricated by pulse electric current sintering (PECS) using alumina platelets. Highly oriented porous alumina with a porosity of 3%–50% was obtained by a pressure-controlled method of PECS. The properties of the highly textured porous alumina were measured in two directions. The nitrogen gas permeance and thermal conductivity at room temperature were higher in the direction along the platelet length due to the higher continuity of pores and the connectivity of alumina platelets, respectively. The anisotropy of the thermal conductivity at room temperature was investigated and explained by the effect of grain size of platelets as well as morphology and orientation of pores. The bending strength was higher with the loading direction along the platelet thickness. The thermal shock strength was clearly different in the two directions. The difference in the thermal shock strength was investigated by the measurement of properties and thermal stress analysis.     

Exploring the potential of lead-chalcogenide monolayers for room-temperature thermoelectric applications

The development of materials in two-dimensions has been established as an effective approach to improve their thermoelectric performance for renewable energy production. In this article, we generated monolayers of the orthorhombic structured lead-chalcogenides PbX (X = S, Se, and Te) for room-temperature thermoelectric applications. The Density functional theory and semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory-based computational approaches have been adopted to carry out this study. The band structures of PbX monolayers exhibited narrow indirect bandgaps with a large density of states corresponding to their bandgap edges. Accordingly, substantial electrical conductivities and Seebeck coefficients have been obtained at moderate level doping that has caused significant thermoelectric power factors (PFs) and figures-of-merit (zT) ~1. The single-layered PbX showed anisotropic dispersion of electronic states in the band structure. A relatively lighter effective mass of charge carriers has been extrapolated from the bands oriented in the y-direction than that of the x-direction. As a result, the electrical conductivities and PFs have been observed larger in the y-direction. The optimum PFs recorded for single-layered PbS, PbSe, and PbTe in y-direction amounts to 9.90 × 10¹⁰ W/mK²s at 1.0 eV, 10.40 × 10¹⁰ W/mK²s at 0.82 eV, and 10.80 × 10¹⁰ W/mK²s 0.66 eV respectively. Moreover, a slight increase in p-type doping is found to improve the x-component of the PF, whereas n-type doping has led to improvement in the y-component of PF. Our results show an improved thermoelectric response of PbX monolayer (PbTe in particular) than their bulk counterparts reported in the literature, which indicates the promise of PbX monolayers for nanoscale thermoelectric applications at room temperature.     

Smart-microstructures of composites for electrical contacts with frameless packing of Cr and W in copper

W₄₅Cu₅₅, Cr₆₅Cu₃₅, and Cr₃₂W₁₄Cu₅₄ alloys were obtained in order to study the mechanism of “smart response” of the structure of these alloys when using them as arc-resistant circuit-breakers. These alloys differ from industrial ones with frameless packing of Cr and W phases in the copper matrix. The alloy production method is based on the infiltration of copper melt into a mixture of non-compacted Cr and W powders under vibration exposure (80 Hz). The research results show an increase in the arc resistance of contacts when changing from “frame” packing of W to “frameless,” as well as the decisive role of Cr in the processes of self-dispersion of arc-resistant phases and passivation of W and Cu. Based on the obtained results, conclusions are drawn about the advantage of frameless packing of arc-resistant phases in copper and the reasons for the “smart behavior” of the structure of Cr-containing contacts in response to functional loads in the presence of oxygen and an inert atmosphere.     

羟基磷灰石作为催化材料的研究进展

羟基磷灰石(HAP)由于具有无毒性、生物相容性、热稳定性、吸附性、离子交换性、结构稳定性等,因而被广泛应用到催化剂的制备中。作为一种新型催化材料,HAP的特殊晶体结构对一些反应表现出催化活性,并且经过改性、负载等方法处理过后的HAP催化剂显示出独特的催化优势。基于近年来HAP在催化邻域的发展,综述了HAP作为催化材料在降解污染物、制氢、药物合成、还原氮氧化物等反应中的不同应用,并对未来的研究方向进行了展望。     

Electrorheological response behavior of H2Ti2O5@MoS2@SiO2 core-shell nanoparticles

In this paper, a novel H₂Ti₂O₅@MoS₂@SiO₂ ternary composite material was prepared by a combination of dual hydrothermal method and controlled hydrolysis method, in which H₂Ti₂O₅ nanotubes are tightly combined with hierarchical molybdenum disulfide, and the unique structure of titanate nano whiskers, including the loosely bound alkali metal ions between the titanate layers with high dielectric constant and the large aspect ratio, which induce active response to the electric field. Flower-like molybdenum disulfide provides electrical conductivity, and silicon dioxide as a insulative coating layer can suppress excessive the electrical conductivity of the two-dimensional material. The morphological evolution was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results of showed that the sheet-shaped molybdenum disulfide coated with curved H₂Ti₂O₅ nanotubes showed a honeycomb structure with uniform size. Silicon oxide acts as a cladding layer to increase the thickness of the flakes. The existence of H₂Ti₂O₅, molybdenum disulfide and silicon dioxide is confirmed by X-ray powder diffractometer (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The prepared product was confirmed by XPS, BET test and electrorheological rheometer. Core/shell nanoparticles not only exert the active response characteristics of titanate nanoparticles and molybdenum disulfide to electric field, but also inherit the excellent characteristics of a core-shell structure produced by the interface polarization and the synergistic effect of the polar groups on the surface of the two-dimensional material further enhance the electrorheological effect.     

Template-free synthesis of novel Co3O4 micro-bundles assembled with flakes for high-performance hybrid supercapacitors

In this paper, a novel Co₃O₄ micro-bundles structure (Co₃O₄ MBs) was obtained at 120 °C after a hydrothermal reaction for 24 h and followed by an annealing treatment at 300 °C in air. The unique Co₃O₄ MBs are constructed by many adjacent flakes with 0.4 μm in thickness, and exhibit a large surface area of 81.2 m² g^?1 and a mean pore diameter of 6.14 nm, which may facilitate a sufficient contact with electrolyte and then shorten the diffusion pathway of ions. A remarkable electrochemical behavior including specific capacity of 282.3 C g^?1 at 1 A g^?1 and 205.9 C g^?1 at 10 A g^?1, and an excellent cycling performance with 74.6% capacity retention after 4000 charge-discharge process at 5 A g^?1 are achieved when the test of Co₃O₄ MBs-modified electrode is performed using three-electrode configuration. Additionally, a hybrid supercapacitor (HSC) was fabricated with the obtained Co₃O₄ MBs as positive electrode and commercial activated carbon (AC) as negative electrode. The HSC exhibits a specific capacity of 144.1 C g^?1 at 1 A g^?1 and 126.4% capacity retention after 5000 cycles at 5 A g^?1. An energy density of 38.5 W h kg^?1 can be obtained at a power density of 962.0 W kg^?1, and 29.5 W h kg^?1 is still retained at 8532.5 W kg^?1. The simple synthetic strategy can be applicable to the synthesis of other transition metal oxides with superior electrochemical performance.