Ferroelectric,upconversion emission and optical thermometric properties of color-controllable Er3+-doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3-Pb(Yb1/2Nb1/2)O3 ferroelectrics

The (0.98-x)(0.6Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_1/3)O₃-0.4PbTiO₃)-xPb(Yb_1/3Nb_1/3)O₃-0.02Pb(Er_1/2Nb_1/2)O₃ ((0.98-x)(PMN-PT)-xPYN:Er³⁺) ceramics were prepared through a solid-state reaction method. The phase structure, piezoelectric response, ferroelectric performance and upconversion emission of the ceramics were systematically investigated. The phase structure, the electrical and optical properties are strongly related to the content of PYN. The optimized piezoelectric response and upconversion emissions of the ceramics were achieved near x = 0.12, which locates in the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) composition. Furthermore, the temperature sensing behaviors of the resultant compounds based on the thermally coupled levels of ²H_11/2 and ⁴S_3/2 of Er³⁺ ions in the temperature range of 133–573 K were studied by utilizing the fluorescence intensity ratio technique. Additionally, the thermal effect, which is induced by the laser pump power, of the studied ceramics is also investigated and the produced temperature is enhanced from 268 to 348 K with the pump power rising from 109 to 607 mW.     

Giant permittivity and low dielectric loss of Fe doped BaTiO3 ceramics: Experimental and first-principles calculations

Fe doped BaTiO₃ ceramics with giant permittivity and low dielectric loss were synthesized in N₂/H₂ atmosphere started with BaTiO₃ powders and iron powders. XRD analysis exhibited the tetragonal-pseudocubic phase transition when the Fe content is 3 mol%. XPS spectra confirmed the iron oxides with mixed-valence structure of Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺, while Ti-ions maintain Ti⁴⁺3d⁰ states without any oxidization-reduction. For the case of ceramics with 5 mol% Fe, the dielectric constant was 66,650 at 1000 Hz at room temperature, 19 times higher than that of pure BaTiO₃ ceramics, while the dielectric loss tangent was 0.13. Comparison with other giant-permittivity materials demonstrated the superior potential of present ceramics. First-principles calculations investigated the interfacial interaction of Fe-[TiO₂] interface and Fe-[BaO] interface. Giant dielectric constant was induced by the interfacial polarization between insulating ferroelectrics and semiconducting iron oxides with mixed-valence states, as well as the contribution from the generated electron hopping conduction.     

Mullite-bonded SiC-whisker-reinforced SiC matrix composites: Preparation,characterization, and toughening mechanisms

A novel mullite-bonded SiC-whisker-reinforced SiC matrix composite (SiCw/SiC, SiC whisker-to-SiC powder mass ratio of 1:9) was designed and successfully prepared. Before preparing the composite, the inexpensive lab-made SiCw was first modified by an oxidation/leaching process and then coated with Al₂O₃. The kinetics results indicate that the oxidation process can be described by improved shrinking-cylinder models. The aspect ratio of SiCw improved after modification. Subsequently, raw materials with a SiC–SiO₂–Al₂O₃ triple-layered structure were obtained after the Al₂O₃-coating process and used as feedstocks during the subsequent hot-pressing sintering. Finally, the characterization of the composites indicates that the mullite-bonded sample performs better (relative density of 93.8?±?1.4%, flexural strength of 533.3?±?18.2?MPa, fracture toughness of 13.6?±?2.1?MPa?m^1/2, and Vickers hardness of 20.6?±?2.5?GPa) than the reference sample without the mullite interface. The improved toughness could essentially be attributed to the moderately strong interface bonding and effective load transfer effects of the mullite interface.     

Core–shell type multi‐arm azide polymers based on hyperbranched copolyether as potential energetic materials in solid propellants

A series of novel multi‐arm azide copolymers (POGs) with the same hyperbranched poly[3‐ethyl‐3‐(hydroxymethyl)oxetane] core (PEHO‐c) and different content of linear glycidyl azide polymer shell (GAP‐s) have been synthesized by sequential cationic ring‐opening polymerization and azidation. Detailed structural information of these copolyethers was deduced from Fourier transform infrared, ¹H NMR and inverse gated decoupled ¹³C NMR spectroscopies, matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry, gel permeation chromatography and elemental analysis. The molecular weight of POG having GAP‐s and PEHO‐c with a molar ratio 14.95:1 (R_s/c) was around 31 000 g mol^?1, far above that of linear GAP (around 4000 g mol^?1). The apparent viscosity and glass transition temperature (?51 to ?23 °C) decreased first and then slightly increased with increasing molecular weight. Thermal analysis revealed that all the obtained POGs exhibited excellent resistance to thermal decomposition up to 220 °C. Moreover, the energetic properties, investigated using oxygen bomb calorimetric measurements, indicated that the enthalpy of formation of the POGs was higher than that of general linear GAP, but similar to that of branched GAP under reasonable R_s/c. The compatibilities of the POGs with common materials used in solid propellants were studied using differential scanning calorimetry and the results indicated that the POGs had good compatibility with these materials. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Multi-Purpose Forensics of Image Manipulations Using Residual- Based Feature

The multi-purpose forensics is an important tool for forge image detection. In this paper, we propose a universal feature set for the multi-purpose forensics which is capable of simultaneously identifying several typical image manipulations, including spatial low-pass Gaussian blurring, median filtering, re-sampling, and JPEG compression. To eliminate the influences caused by diverse image contents on the effectiveness and robustness of the feature, a residual group which contains several highpass filtered residuals is introduced. The partial correlation coefficient is exploited from the residual group to purely measure neighborhood correlations in a linear way. Besides that, we also combine autoregressive coefficient and transition probability to form the proposed composite feature which is used to measure how manipulations change the neighborhood relationships in both linear and non-linear way. After a series of dimension reductions, the proposed feature set can accelerate the training and testing for the multipurpose forensics. The proposed feature set is then fed into a multi-classifier to train a multi-purpose detector. Experimental results show that the proposed detector can identify several typical image manipulations, and is superior to the complicated deep CNN-based methods in terms of detection accuracy and time efficiency for JPEG compressed image with low resolution.     

A Combined Ordered Macro‐Mesoporous Architecture Design and Surface Engineering Strategy for High‐Performance Sulfur Immobilizer in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

The practical application of lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries is hindered by the “shuttle” of lithium polysulfides (LiPS) and sluggish Li–S kinetics issues. Herein, a synergistic strategy combining mesoporous architecture design and defect engineering is proposed to synthesize multifunctional defective 3D ordered mesoporous cobalt sulfide (3DOM N‐Co₉S_8?x) to address the shuttling and sluggish reaction kinetics of polysulfide in Li–S batteries. The unique 3DOM design provides abundant voids for sulfur storage and enlarged active interfaces that reduce electron/ion diffusion pathways. Meanwhile, X‐ray absorption spectroscopy shows that the surface defect engineering tunes the CoS₄ tetrahedra to CoS₆ octahedra on Co₉S₈, endowing abundance of S vacancies on the Co₉S₈ octahedral sites. The ever‐increasing S vacancies over the course of electrochemical process further promotes the chemical trapping of LiPS and its conversion kinetics, rendering fast and durable Li–S chemistry. Benefiting from these features, the as‐developed 3DOM N‐Co₉S_8?x/S cathode delivers high areal capacity, superb rate capability, and excellent cyclic stability with ultralow capacity fading rate under raised sulfur loading and low electrolyte content. This design strategy promotes the development of practically viable Li–S batteries and sheds lights on the material engineering in related energy storage application.     

Rethinking Nano‐TiO2 Safety: Overview of Toxic Effects in Humans and Aquatic Animals

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano‐TiO₂) are widely used in consumer products, raising environmental and health concerns. An overview of the toxic effects of nano‐TiO₂ on human and environmental health is provided. A meta‐analysis is conducted to analyze the toxicity of nano‐TiO₂ to the liver, circulatory system, and DNA in humans. To assess the environmental impacts of nano‐TiO₂, aquatic environments that receive high nano‐TiO₂ inputs are focused on, and the toxicity of nano‐TiO₂ to aquatic organisms is discussed with regard to the present and predicted environmental concentrations. Genotoxicity, damage to membranes, inflammation and oxidative stress emerge as the main mechanisms of nano‐TiO₂ toxicity. Furthermore, nano‐TiO₂ can bind with free radicals and signal molecules, and interfere with the biochemical reactions on plasmalemma. At the higher organizational level, nano‐TiO₂ toxicity is manifested as the negative effects on fitness‐related organismal traits including feeding, reproduction and immunity in aquatic organisms. Bibliometric analysis reveals two major research hot spots including the molecular mechanisms of toxicity of nano‐TiO₂ and the combined effects of nano‐TiO₂ and other environmental factors such as light and pH. The possible measures to reduce the harmful effects of nano‐TiO₂ on humans and non‐target organisms has emerged as an underexplored topic requiring further investigation.     

High‐performance printable paper‐like composites derived from plastic flexible film wastes

Owing to lack of proper recycling methods, plastic flexible film wastes are usually directly discarded or incinerated, which brings about severe environmental pollution. Therefore, converting plastic wastes into value‐added products has received more and more attention in recent years. In this work, paper‐like composites derived from plastic flexible film wastes were prepared via the thermally induced phase separation method by adding polyethylene‐graft‐maleic anhydride (PE‐g‐MAH) as a compatibilizer and fumed silica as an additive. The resulting paper‐like composites were characterized by SEM and infrared spectroscopy. Other properties such as mechanical properties, thermal properties, whiteness, printability and adsorption performance were also tested in detail. It was found that remarkable enhancements in mechanical, thermal and printable properties of the paper‐like composites were obtained when nano‐SiO₂ loading was 2.5–3 wt%. Uniformly distributed holes that can endow good printability by providing space for ink or other functional molecules were observed by using SEM. Furthermore, the CIE whiteness value of the resulting composites can reach 91.6%–96.7% on adding nano‐SiO₂. Additionally, the paper‐like composites integrating nano‐SiO₂ and PE‐g‐MAH exhibited good solid ink affinity and high water or oil adsorption capacity. Thus, according to this research, high‐performance printable paper‐like composites used as major components of multifunctional papers can be prepared based on plastic flexible film wastes. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

极薄、超宽规格装甲板压力淬火工艺数值模拟优化

利用数值模拟的方法对极薄、超宽规格装甲板淬火过程的畸变进行了模拟研究,并对脉冲式压力淬火的控制参数进行了优化。通过对比不同冷却条件装甲板的变形量,确定了脉冲式压力淬火的脉冲压力和周期。结果表明,脉冲约束的模拟条件下,装甲板在厚度Z方向上的最终变形量为1.7 mm,不仅小于2 mm的标准要求,而且可以实现装甲板的小淬火畸变前提下满足其表面无压痕、划痕等其他损伤的实际生产需求。