The effect of rare-earth oxides on the energy storage performances in BaTiO3 based ceramics

In this work, 0.7BaTiO₃-0.3Sr_0.2Bi_0.7TiO₃ (0.7BT-0.3SBT) ceramics with 0.15 mol% various rare-earth oxides doped are designed and synthesized by the conventional solid-state route. All prepared samples exhibited a single perovskite phase and dense microstructure with fine grain size (0.2–0.5 μm) after sintering at 1180 °C. Especially, the Gd-doped 0.7BT-0.3SBT ceramics exhibited excellent energy storage performances; the corresponding recoverable energy density and efficiency were 3.2 J/cm³ and 91.5% under an electric field of 330 kV/cm, respectively. Meanwhile, doping with Gd caused the BT-based ceramics to possess excellent temperature (30–150 °C) and outstanding frequency stabilities (10–1000 Hz). Moreover, the pulsed charge-discharge experiments revealed that a high power density of 59 MW/cm³ and a fast discharge speed of 110 ns with outstanding temperature stability could be synchronously obtained in the Gd-doped composition. All these features are attractive for pulsed power applications.     

CNT-interconnected iron-doped NiP2/Ni2P heterostructural nanoflowers as high-efficiency electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays a decisive role in electrolytic water splitting. However, it is still challengeable to develop low-cost and efficient OER electrocatalysts. Herein, we present a combination strategy via heteroatom doping, hetero-interface engineering and introducing conductive skeleton to synthesize a hybrid OER catalyst of CNT-interconnected iron-doped NiP₂/Ni₂P (Fe-(NiP₂/Ni₂P)@CNT) heterostructural nanoflowers by a simple hydrothermal reaction and subsequent phosphorization process. The optimized Fe-(NiP₂/Ni₂P)@CNT catalyst delivers an ultralow Tafel slope of 46.1 mV dec^?1 and overpotential of 254 mV to obtain 10 mA cm^?2, which are even better than those of commercial OER catalyst RuO₂. The excellent OER performance is mainly attributed to its unique nanoarchitecture and the synergistic effects: the nanoflowers constructed by a 2D-like nanosheets guarantee large specific area and abundant active sites; the highly conductive CNT skeleton and the electronic modulation by the heterostructural NiP₂/Ni₂P interface and the hetero-atom doping can improve the catalytic activity; porous nanostructure benefits electrolyte penetration and gas release; most importantly, the rough surface and rich defects caused by phosphorization process can further enhance the OER performance. This work provides a deep insight to boost catalytic performance by heteroatom doping and interface engineering for water splitting.     

(Cu1/3Nb2/3)4+ ionic substituting effects,low-temperature sintering behaviors,and improved temperature stability of Ba3Nb4Ti4O21 microwave dielectric ceramics

In this study, (Cu_1/3Nb_2/3)⁴⁺ complex cation and BaO–ZnO–B₂O₃ glass frit were adopted to solve the high sintering temperature and poor temperature stability of Ba₃Nb₄Ti₄O₂₁ ceramics. It is shown that pure Ba₃Nb₄Ti₄O₂₁ phase was formed when Ti site was partially replaced by (Cu_1/3Nb_2/3)⁴⁺ cation. The increasing number of dopants decreases the dielectric polarizability, correspondingly, the dielectric constant and temperature coefficient of the resonance frequency values are reduced consistently. The variation of the Q × f value is determined by internal ionic packing fraction and external sintering densification. The (Cu_1/3Nb_2/3)⁴⁺ cation effectively decreases the suitable sintering temperature from 1200 to 1050 °C while greatly improving the temperature stability. BaO–ZnO–B₂O₃ glass was used to further improve the low-temperature sintering characteristics of Ba₃Nb₄Ti₄O₂₁ ceramics. It is proven that the addition of glass frits effectively decreases the temperature to 925 °C with combinational excellent microwave dielectric properties: ε_r ～55.6, Q × f ～5700 GHz, τ_f ～3 ppm/^°C, making the Ba₃Nb₄Ti₄O₂₁ ceramics promising in the applications of low-temperature cofired ceramic technology.     

High Q×f values of Zn-Ni co-modified LiMg0.9Zn0.1-xNixPO4 microwave dielectric ceramics for 5G/6G LTCC modules

In this work, Zn-Ni co-modified LiMg_0.9Zn_0.1-xNi_xPO₄ (x = 0–0.1) microwave dielectric ceramics were fabricated using a solid state synthesis route. Rietveld refinement of the XRD data revealed that all ceramic samples have formed a single phase with olivine structure. SEM images showed that the samples have a dense microstructure, that agrees with the measured relative density of 97.73 %. Based on the complex chemical bond theory, Raman and infrared reflectance spectra, we postulate that ε_r is mainly affected by the ionic polarizability, lattice and bond energy, while P-O bond plays a decisive role in Q×f and τ_f value. Optimum properties of Q×f ~ 153,500 GHz, ε_r ~ 7.13 and τ_f ~ ?59 ppm/°C were achieved for the composition LiMg_0.9Zn_0.06Ni_0.04PO₄ sintered at 875 ℃ for 2 h. This set of properties makes these ceramics an excellent candidate for LTCC, wave-guide filters and antennas for 5 G/6 G communication applications.     

Nb2O5-doped NiZnCo ferrite ceramics with ultra-high magnetic quality factor and low coercivity for high-frequency electronic devices

This work investigates the influence of niobium pentoxide (Nb₂O₅) as dopant, on the structural, magnetic, and dielectric properties of NiZnCo ferrites. The results showed that Nb₂O₅ was an effective dopant, and the Nb⁵⁺ ions entered the B site to replace Fe³⁺ ions, which altered the electromagnetic properties of the NiZnCo ferrite. In particular, the coercivity (H_c) was 20～24 Oe, and the magnetic quality factor (Q), was more than 200 at x = 0 and x = 0.1 wt%, which is 4～5 times higher than that of NiZn and NiCuZn ferrites. Excellent electromagnetic properties were obtained for 0.1 wt% Nb₂O₅-doped NiZnCo ferrite, i.e., M_s = 88.3 emu/g, H_c =20.4 Oe, ρ = 2.4 × 10⁵ Ω m and Q = 202 @20 MHz. These excellent electromagnetic properties of Nb₂O₅-doped NiZnCo ferrites could be potentially applied to resonators and capacitors at high frequency.     

Molding,patterning and driving liquids with light

When a laser beam induces surface tension gradient at the free surface of a liquid, a weak surface depression is expected and has been observed. Here we report giant depression and rupture in “optothermocapillary fluids” under the illumination of laser and sunlight. Computational fluid dynamics models were developed to understand the surface deformation and provided desirable physical parameters of the fluid for maximum deformation. New optothermocapillary fluids were created by mixing transparent lamp oil with different candle dyes. They can be cut open by sunlight and be patterned to different shapes and sizes using an ordinary laser show projector or a common laser pointer. Laser driving and elevation of optothermocapillary fluids, in addition to the manipulation of different droplets on their surface, were demonstrated as an efficient controlling method and platform for optofluidic operations. The fundamental understanding of light-induced giant depression and creation of new optothermocapillary fluids encourage the fundamental research and applications of optofluidics.     

Flexible electronic skin with high performance pressure sensing based on PVDF/rGO/BaTiO3 composite thin film

The wearable intelligent electronic product similar to electronic skin has a great application prospect. However, flexible electronic with high performance pressure sensing functions are still facing great challenges. In this paper, the highly sensitive flexible electronic skin (FES) based on the PVDF/rGO/BaTiO₃ composite thin film was fabricated using the near-field electrohydrodynamic direct-writing (NFEDW) method. The PVDF/rGO/BaTiO₃ composite solution was directly written on flexible substrate by the NFEDW method to fabricate FES with micro/nano fiber structure, which has the function of sensing pressure with high sensitivity and fast response. The surface morphology and microstructure were characterized by SEM, AFM, and optical microscope in detail. The fabricated FES has high sensitivity (59 kPa⁻¹) and faster response time (130 ms). FES has been successfully applied to the detection of human motion and subtle physiological signals. The experimental results show that FES has good stability and reliability. FES can recognize human motion, and it has a broad application prospect in the field of wearable devices.     

Effect of Mn2+ doping on the lattice and the microwave dielectric properties of MgTa2O6 ceramics

A series of Mn²⁺-doped Mg_1-xMn_xTa₂O₆ (x = 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10, 0.12) ceramics were synthesized by solid-state reaction method. The influence of introducing Mn–O bonds as a partial replacement for Mg–O bonds on the lattice and microwave dielectric properties was systematically investigated. XRD and Rietveld refinement confirm that Mn²⁺ occupies the 2a Wyckoff position and forms a pure trirutile phase. Moreover, based on the chemical bond theory, the dielectric constant is mainly affected by the ionicity of the Ta–O bond. The lattice and dielectric properties remain relatively stable with Mn²⁺ doping below 0.1, but excessive Mn²⁺ doping leads to pronounced distortion of the lattice, which is not beneficial for lattice stability and microwave dielectric properties. Introducing an appropriate amount of Mn–O bonds with high bond dissociation energy facilitates MgO6 octahedron stability, which improves the thermal stability of the lattice. Accordingly, the microwave dielectric properties for 0.06 Mn²⁺-doped MgTa₂O₆ ceramics were determined: ε_r = 28, Q × f = 105,000 GHz (at 7.5 GHz), τ_f = 19.5 ppm/^°C.     

Control of a solid oxide fuel cell stack based on unmodeled dynamic compensations

To guarantee solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) safe operation, plenty control strategies have been developed to control stack temperature and voltage within a reasonable range. However, these control approaches ignore unmodeled dynamics of the SOFC system, which may lead to unsatisfactory control results, sometimes even make the system unstable. To overcome this challenge, a unique control strategy which considers unmodeled dynamic compensations of the SOFC system is proposed in this paper. A model of the SOFC system is firstly built, which includes a known linear model and an unmodeled nonlinear dynamic estimation. A nonlinear controller based on the unmodeled dynamic compensation is then developed to force the SOFC to track desired stack temperature and voltage. To evaluate the control performance, the proposed control method is compared with a traditional sliding mode controller. The simulation results show if the unmodeled dynamics have a small effect on the SOFC, both the sliding mode controller and the proposed controller can achieve a precise tracking. If the unmodeled dynamics have a great impact on the SOFC, the temperature and voltage can be well controlled with the proposed control strategy. However, in the sliding mode controller, the temperature and voltage trajectories deviate largely from the reference values.