Recent advances in carbon nanotubes-based microwave absorbing composites

With the blossom of information industry, electromagnetic wave technology shows increasingly potential in many fields. Nevertheless, the trouble caused by electromagnetic waves has also drawn extensive attention. For instance, electromagnetic pollution can threaten information safety in vital fields and the normal function of delicate electronic devices. Consequently, electromagnetic pollution and interference become an urgent issue that needs to be addressed. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have become a potential candidate to deal with these problems due to many advantages, such as high dielectric loss, remarkable thermodynamic stability, and low density. With the appearance of climbing demands, however, the carbon nanotubes combining various composites have shown greater prospects than the single CNTs in microwave absorbing materials. In this short review, recent advances in CNTs-based microwave absorbing materials were comprehensively discussed. Typically, we introduced the electromagnetic wave absorption mechanism of CNTs-based microwave absorbing materials and generalized the development of CNTs-based microwave absorbers, including CNTs-based magnetic metal composites, CNTs-based ferrite composites, and CNTs-based polymer composites. Ultimately, the growing trend and bottleneck of CNTs-based composites for microwave absorption were analyzed to provide some available ideas to more scientific workers.     

Methanol Synthesis with Steel Mill Gases: Performance Investigations in an On-Site Technical Center

An on-site laboratory with direct access to cleaned and conditioned steel mill gases was recently put into operation. The long-term performance and stability of Clariant's MegaMax®800 methanol synthesis catalyst utilizing steel mill gases is currently being investigated. First test results revealed that in order to investigate deactivation mechanisms arising from particular properties of the cleaned steel mill gases, the overlaying effect of thermal deactivation of the catalyst has to be minimized.     

Fabrication of paper based carbon/graphene/ZnO aerogel composite decorated by polyaniline nanostructure: Investigation of electrochemical properties

The cellulose derived carbon/graphene/ZnO aerogel composite was prepared as an electrode in order to investigate the electrochemical properties. Carbon aerogel was synthesized using paper as an available cellulose source, and the composite was obtained through a new and simple preparation method including the immersion of monolithic carbon aerogel in graphene oxide/Zn²⁺ suspension and subsequent chemical reduction and freeze drying. The morphology, functional groups and crystalline structure of the samples were studied with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray Diffraction Spectroscopy (XRD), respectively. Electrochemical performance of the prepared binder free electrodes was examined using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Galvanostatic Charge-Discharge (GCD) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). The data revealed that flexible carbon/graphene/ZnO composite resulted in a low density (0.035 g cm⁻³) electrode with the capacitance of 900 mF cm⁻² at a high current density of 10 mA cm⁻², lower IR drop and high cyclic stability (capacitance retention of 96%) after 1000 cycles, at 10 mA cm⁻². These features were due to the presence of 3D porous conductive network, highly reduced graphene oxide, and the formation of ZnO nanoparticles on graphene sheets. Moreover, polyaniline (PANI) was introduced to carbon/graphene/ZnO composite electrode using electro-oxidation method at different reaction time and aniline concentration in order to achieve remarkably improved capacitance of 2500 mF cm⁻² (at 10 mA cm⁻²) and low charge transfer resistance. Also, after the supercapacitor device assembly, the capacitance was retained. Based on the results, the synthesized composite is a promising material for new generation of lightweight freestanding electrodes with the high electrochemical performance.     

Enhanced thermal shrinkage behavior of phenolic-derived carbon aerogel-reinforced by HNTs with superior compressive strength performance

A novel carbon/m-HNTs composite aerogel was synthesized by introducing the modified halloysite nanotubes (m-HNTs) into phenolic (PR) aerogels through chemical grafting, followed with carbonization treatment. In order to explore the best proportion of HNTs to phenolic, the micromorphology of PR/m-HNTs were investigated by SEM before carbonization, confirming 10 wt% of m-HNTs is most beneficial to the porous network of aerogels. The interaction between PR and HNTs was studied by FTIR spectra, and microstructure evolution of the target product-carbon/m-HNTs composite aerogel were illustrated by SEM and TEM techniques. SEM patterns indicated that the carbon/m-HNTs aerogels maintain a stable porous structure at 1000 °C (carbonization temperature), while a ~20 nm carbon layer was formed around m-HNTs generating an integral unit through TEM analysis. Specific surface area and pore size distribution of composite aerogels were analyzed based on mercury intrusion porosimetry and N₂ adsorption–desorption method, the obtained results stayed around 500 m²g^?1 and 1.00 cm³g^?1 (pore volume) without significant discrepancy, compared with pure aerogel, showing the uniformity of pore size. The weight loss rate (26.76%) decreased greatly compared with pure aerogel, at the same time, the best volumetric shrinkage rate was only 30.83%, contributed by the existence of HNTs supporting the neighbor structure to avoid over-shrinking. The highest compressive strength reached to 4.43 MPa, while the data of pure aerogel was only 1.52 MPa, demonstrating the excellent mechanical property of carbon/m-HNTs aerogels.     

Effect of LiTFSI and LiFSI on Cycling Performance of Lithium Metal Batteries Using Thermoplastic Polyurethane/Halloysite Nanotubes Solid Electrolyte

All-solid-state lithium batteries(ASSLB) are promising candidates for next-generation energy storage devices.Nevertheless,the large-scale commercial application of high energy density AS S LB with the polymer electrolyte still faces challenges.In this study,a thin solid polymer composite electrolyte(SPCE) is prepared through a facile and cost-effective strategy with an infiltration of thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU),lithium salt(LiTFSI or LiFSI),and halloysite nanotubes(HNTs) in a porous framework of polyethylene separator(PE)(TPU-HNTs-LiTFSI-PE or TPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PE).The composition,electrochemical performance,and especially the effect of anions(TFSI~-and FSI~-) on cycling performance are investigated.The results reveal that the flexible TPU-HNTs-LiTFSI-PE and TPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PE with a thickness of 34 μm exhibit wide electrochemical windows of 4.9 and 5.1 V(vs.Li+/Li) at 60℃,respectively.Reduction in FSI~-tends to form more LiF and sulfur compounds at the interface between TPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PE and Li metal anode,thus enhancing the interfacial stability.As a result,cell composed of TPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PE exhibits a smaller increase in interfacial resistance of solid electrolyte interphase(SEI) with a distinct decrease in charge-transfer resistance during cycling.Li|Li symmetric cell with TPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PE could keep its stable overpotential profile for nearly 1300 h with a low hysteresis of approximately39 mV at a current density of 0.1 mA cm~(-2),while a sudden voltage rise with internal cell impedance-surge signals was observed within 600 h for cell composed of TPU-HNTs-LiTFSI-PE.The initial capacities of NCMITPU-HNTs-LiTFSIPEILi and NCMITPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PEILi cells were 149 and 114 mAh g~(-1),with capacity retention rates of 83.52% and89.99% after 300 cycles at 0.5 C,respectively.This study provides a valuable guideline for designing flexible SPCE,which shows great application prospect in the practice of ASSLB.     

Fabrication of Nd-doped Ni–Zn ferrite/multi-walled carbon nanotubes composites with effective microwave absorption properties

The electromagnetic materials are featured by good magnetic permeability and dielectric constant characteristics, which are of significant importance in solving the pollution problem of electromagnetic. In this study, after the complete of the use of sol-gel method, argon gas was then introduced for calcination, and eventually a new type of MWCNTs/Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Nd_0.04Fe_1.96O₄ composites was synthesized after the above mentioned procedures. The synthesized MWCNTs were able to be adsorbed on the surface of Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Nd_0.04Fe_1.96O₄ and could form a good conductive work of 3D. Also, the effect of additional MWCNTs on microwave absorption properties of MWCNTs/Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Nd_0.04Fe_1.96O₄ composites were also observed in this study. The results indicate that the additional MWCNTs function to significantly improve the microwave absorption property of MWCNTs/Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Nd_0.04Fe_1.96O₄. Through altering the amount of MWCNTs, the microwave attenuation performance and impedance matching coefficient of this electromagnetic materials can be effectively improved. The S2 sample presented a minimum reflection loss of ?35.05 dB when its thickness reached 1.6 mm, meanwhile, the effective absorption bandwidth achieved 4.55 GHz. The prepared composites perform well in microwave absorption, which can attribute to the reasonable ratio of composites as well as its interaction with both of the magnetic and dielectric components. This research paved the way for novel ideas to be put in the electromagnetic absorption materials with high-efficient.     

Improving through-thickness conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer using carbon nanotube/polyethylenimine at the interlaminar region

The through-thickness conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite was increased by incorporating multiwalled carbon nanotubes in the interlaminar region. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were dispersed in a polyethylenimine (PEI) binder, which was then coated onto the carbon fiber fabric. Standard vacuum-assisted resin infusion process was applied to fabricate the composite laminates. This modification technique aims to enhance the electrical conductivity in through-thickness direction for the purpose of nondestructive testing, damage detection, and electromagnetic interference shielding. CNT concentrations ranging from 0 to 0.75 wt% were used and compared to pristine CFRP samples (reference). The through-thickness conductivity of the CFRP exhibited an improvement of up to 781% by adopting this technique. However, the dispersion of CNT in PEI led to a viscosity increase and poor wetting properties which resulted in the formation of voids/defects, poor adhesion (as shown in scanning electron micrographs) and the deterioration of the mechanical properties as manifested by interlaminar shear strength and dynamic mechanical analysis measurements.     

Effect of PAN-based and pitch-based carbon fibres on microstructure and properties of continuous Cf/ZrB2-SiC UHTCMCs

In this paper the microstructure and mechanical properties of two different C_f/ZrB₂-SiC composites reinforced with continuous PyC coated PAN-derived fibres or uncoated pitch-derived fibres were compared.Pitch-derived carbon fibres showed a lower degree of reaction with the matrix phase during sintering compared to PyC/PAN-derived fibres. The reason lies in the different microstructure of the carbon. The presence of a coating for PAN-derived fibres was found to be essential to limit the reaction at the fibre/matrix interface during SPS. However, coated bundles were more difficult to infiltrate, resulting in a less homogeneous microstructure.As far as the mechanical properties are concerned, specimens reinforced with coated PAN-derived fibres provided higher strengths and damage tolerance than uncoated pitch-derived fibres, due to the higher degree of fibre pull-out. On the other hand, the weaker fibre/matrix interface resulted in lower interlaminar shear, off-axis strength and ablation resistance.     

Techno-economic analysis of a hybrid energy system for CCHP and hydrogen production based on solar energy

A typical problem in Northeast China is that a large amount of surplus electricity has arisen owing to the serious photovoltaic power curtailment phenomenon. To effectively utilize the excess photovoltaic power, a hybrid energy system is proposed that uses surplus electricity to produce hydrogen in this paper. It combines solar energy, hydrogen production system, and Combined Cooling Heating and Power (CCHP) system to realize cooling, heating, power, and hydrogen generation. The system supplies energy for three public buildings in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, China, and the system configuration with the lowest unit energy cost (0.0615$/kWh) was obtained via optimization. Two comparison strategies were used to evaluate the hybrid energy system in terms of unit energy cost, annual total cost, fossil energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions. Subsequently, the annual total energy supply, typical daily loads, and cost of the optimized system were analyzed. In conclusion, the system is feasible for small area public buildings, and provides a solution to solve the phenomenon of photovoltaic power curtailment.     

Synthesis and characterization of the novel nanostructured NiC carbide obtained by mechanical alloying

In the present work, a comprehensive study of mechanical alloying of Ni-carbon nanotubes (CNT) and Ni-Graphite equiatomic powder mixtures under the same technological modes has provided to reveal the features of using different types of carbon (CNT or graphite) as a charge component. The as-milled powders were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and magnetometric study. A novel nanoscale fcc NiC monocarbide was synthesized regardless the type of the charge used. According to the XRD study the formation of this phase takes place in two stages. A two-step carbide formation mechanism has been proposed. The associated changes in the nickel lattice, such as changes in the lattice parameter, lattice strain and residual stresses, which led to the formation of NiC monocarbide were also evaluated and discussed. Parameters of the electronic structure of NiC were calculated using the MStudio MindLab 7.0 software package with the experimental data on the crystal structure of the NiC phase obtained as input. Temperature dependencies of magnetic susceptibility of NiC synthesized have been studied up to 950 K. Carbides synthesized were found to be weak ferromagnets at the room temperature and their Curie temperature T_C ranges within 670 – 725 K. The calculated value of the magnetic moment per nickel atom (2.83μ_B) is higher than that of a bulk Ni (1.3μ_B). Likely, the observed increase of μ is caused by the presence of a certain amount of residual single-domain ferromagnetic Ni nanoparticles in the samples synthesized.