Investigation of fabrication of gas diffusion substrate for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

The gas diffusion substrate (GDS) is essential in the proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Its fabrication techniques affect the performance significantly and are worthy of investigation. In this study, a manufacturing process of the GDS is proposed to understand the formation process of GDS and promote its structure and performance more pertinently. Different states during the preparation process, raw carbon paper, pre-curing, curing, carbonation, and graphitization, are characterized and measured. Experimental and numerical methods are employed to determine the relationships between microstructure, transport, and mechanical performance variation with the fabricating processes. The results show that its porosity, average pore size, and effective diffusivity decrease first and increase after curing. These parameters after graphitization are lower than that of the carbon paper (CP). The electrical resistivity increases dramatically while pre-curing and decreases gradually after curing, carbonation, and graphitization, and it is much reduced after graphitization. Moreover, mechanical measurement results show that both the picks of tensile strength and flexural modulus occur after curing. Its tensile strength shows little change after graphitization compared to the initial paper's. In contrast, the flexural modulus is improved significantly.     

Cation and polyhedron substitution strategies: Effects on local crystal structure and on Bi3+ and Eu3+ co-doped inverse garnet phosphors’ luminescence property

Following the rapid growth of lightning technology, the development of red-emitting phosphors is effective for improving color temperature and color rendering index for w-LEDs devices. Herein, a single phased garnet phosphor with cation and polyhedron substitution modification was firstly prepared. For Mg₃Gd₂Ge₃O₁₂: Bi³⁺, Eu³⁺, the intensity has been remarkably improved by about 16% compared to the one without Bi³⁺ sensitization. The energy transfer mechanism is identified in this work. Based on cation and polyhedron substitution strategies, novel phosphors with different compositions were obtained and further modified the PL properties. With Lu³⁺ substitution, the bond lengths between Bi³⁺ ion and anion ligands are decreased and the site symmetry has been strengthened, which leads to a 21 nm blue shift when Lu³⁺ totally replaced Gd³⁺ ions. In addition, Lu³⁺ and [SiO₄] substitution strategies both effectively increased symmetric rigid structure, which leads to a significant improvement in thermal stability, indicating the samples own great potential in optical applications This work provides a new insight to synthesis red-emitting phosphors for warm white-LEDs.     

Structure engineering of amorphous P–CoS hollow electrocatalysts for promoted oxygen evolution reaction

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key process involved in many energy-related conversion systems. An ideal OER electrocatalyst should possess rich active sites and optimal binding strength with oxygen-containing intermediates. Although numerous endeavors have been devoted to the modification and optimization of transition-metal-based OER electrocatalysts, they are still operated with sluggish kinetics. Herein, an ion-exchange approach is proposed to realize the structure engineering of amorphous P–CoS hollow nanomaterials by utilizing the ZIF-67 nanocubes as the precursors. The precise structure control of the amorphous hollow nanostructure contributes to the large exposure of surface active sites. Moreover, the introduction of phosphorus greatly modifies the electronic structure of CoS₂, which is thus favorable for optimizing the binding energies of oxygenated species. Furthermore, the incorporation of phosphorus may also induce the formation of surface defects to regulate the local electronic structure and surface environment. As a result of this, such P–CoS hollow nanocatalysts display remarkable electrocatalytic activity and durability towards OER, which require an overpotential of 283 mV to afford a current density of 10 mA cm^?2, outperforming commercial RuO₂ catalyst.     

Silica-based ceramics toward electromagnetic microwave absorption

Silica-based ceramics have been explored extensively as a class of versatile materials for various applications in architecture, catalysis, energy, machinery, and biomedical engineering. Nevertheless, comprehensive information on silica-based ceramic and electromagnetic microwave (EMW) absorption is scarce, although excellent progress has been made in this field. Here, recent progress in the investigation of silica-based ceramics toward EMW absorption is reviewed. We first introduced the basis of ceramics (characteristics, classification, synthetic methods, potential applications). Subsequently, the silica-based ceramics, including Si-based oxides and alloys, SiOC/SiC/Si₃N₄/SiCN-based composite, Ti₃SiC₂ and composite for EMW absorption were systematically summarized. Notably, the fabrication strategies, absorption properties, and mechanisms of silica-based ceramics are described in detail, with a focus on structure and component design. Lastly, the prospects and ongoing challenges of this field in the future are presented. This review is expected to learn from the past and achieve progress toward the future of silica-based ceramic for EMW absorption.     

Effect of crystal structures on nucleation mechanism in hydrothermal synthesis of MZrO3 (M=Ba,Sr, Ca)

Hydrothermal method is widely used in the synthesis of perovskite-type oxides, whereas few studies are reported for the nucleation mechanism, so that the relationship between the crystal structures and reactive activities of reactants and products is still unknown. Herein, the reaction processes are analyzed on the basis of XRD, SEM and Raman characterizations, and the nucleation mechanism is investigated for the hydrothermal synthesis of MZrO₃ (M = Ba, Sr, Ca). We propose that the negative charged cyclic tetramer complexes [Zr₄(OH)₈(OH)₁₆]^8- form in the hydrothermal reaction, which play major roles in the nucleation process. The tetramer complexes continually dehydrate and condensate to form substructural units composed of alkali-earth ions and 6-fold Zr tetramers; substructural units further dehydrate and distort to form perovskite structures. The reactive activation energy increases with the decreasing of M²⁺ (M = Ba, Sr, Ca) ionic radius because the incorporation of smaller A site ions in the perovskite structure is accompanied by greater rotation and distortion of the ZrO₆ octahedra, leading to the decrease of reactive activity accordingly. In a word, the proposed nucleation mechanism in this paper is of great significance for the study of perovskite.     

Design and optimization of ceramic membrane structure: From the perspective of flux matching between support and membrane

The support flux was first investigated as a separate influencing factor for its effect on performances of ceramic filtration membranes. Three pre-membranes were prepared by tape-casting and then transfer-coated to supports to form dual-layer ceramic membranes after sintering. Experiments demonstrated that membrane layers with almost the same properties were obtained despite the huge difference in support flux. When the support flux increases from 3.120 to 97.53 m³m^?2h^?1, the flux of these three membrane series have increased by 75%, 186% and 228%, respectively. Experimental rules can provide structural design and evaluation from the perspective of permeability. The limit membrane flux of a certain system was derived according to the resistance distribution law of internal membrane structure and the Darcy's theorem. On this basis, a method for designing support flux was proposed. Furthermore, we present a criterion to quickly and easily evaluate the match between the support and the top layer, which is the ratio of membrane resistance to total resistance. Finally, the filtration resistance of penetration caused by suction of membrane particles into the support was measured for the first time, taking the advantage of the transfer-coating method that inherently free of penetration. Our works are expected to deepen the understanding of the ceramic membrane structure and provided guidance for its rational design and optimization.     

Influence of silicon carbide on structural,optical and magnetic properties of Wollastonite/Fe2O3 nanocomposites

The influence of adding 10, 20 and 30% molar ratio of silicon carbide (SiC) separately to a composite of wollastonite (W) with a fixed content of 10%Fe₂O₃ prepared by wet precipitation method was studied. The crystal structure of the annealed composite powders was inspected by X-ray diffraction (XRD); revealing multi-phase structure. The highest estimated crystallite size investigated by Scherrer equation of W, SiC, WFe:SiC₁₀, WFe:SiC₂₀ and WFe:SiC₃₀ were 53.89, 54.6, 56.3, 48.5 and 54.6 nm respectively; demonstrating the formation of nanocomposites. Particles shape, size and crystallinity of the samples were studied using high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM). The band gap E_g values of the nanocomposites increased with SiC content having an intermediate value that lies between that of γ-Fe₂O₃ (maghemite) and SiC. Ferromagnetic and paramagnetic contributions were observed in the magnetic hysteresis loops for the composites. This study highlighted that the coercive field (H_ci) of the composites improved with increasing the SiC content. The innovative wollastonite/Fe₂O₃/SiC with amended magnetic properties elicited attention due to their promising application in bone filler and industrial purposes.     

Electrical and magnetic properties of double perovskite: Y2CoMnO6

In this communication, the structural, micro-structural, dielectric, electrical, magnetic, and leakage-current characteristics of a double perovskite (Y₂CoMnO₆) ceramic material have been reported. The material was synthesized via a high-temperature mixed-oxide route. The compound crystallizes in a monoclinic structure which is confirmed from preliminary X-ray structural study. The morphological study by using scanning electron micrograph reveals the almost homogeneous distribution of grains throughout the surface of the sample. The nature of frequency-dependence of dielectric constant has been described by the Maxwell-Wagner model. The occurrence of a dielectric anomaly in the temperature dependence of dielectric permittivity study demonstrates the ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition in the material. From the Nyquist plots, we found the existence of both grain and grain boundary effects. The frequency dependence of conductivity was studied by the Jonscher’s Power law, and the conduction phenomenon obeys the large overlapping polaron tunneling model. By using the Arrhenius equation, the activation energy has been calculated which is nearly equal to the energy required for the hoping of the electron. Both impedance and conductivity analysis demonstrate that the sample exhibits negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTCR) properties indicating the semiconducting type of material at high temperatures. The anti-ferromagnetic character of the material is observed from the nature of magnetic hysteresis loop. The leakage current analysis suggests that the conduction process in the material follows the space charge limited conduction phenomenon. Such material will be helpful for modern electronic devices and spintronic applications.     

A matryoshka-like CuS@void@Co3O4 double microcube-locked sulfur as cathode for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur battery cathodes still remain a challenge on capacity decay due to the shuttle effect even though a series of strategies have been tried. Here we report a novel matryoshka-like CuS@void@Co₃O₄ architecture of double micro-cubes (μ-cubes) that locks sulfur between the CuS core and the Co₃O₄ shell. Plenty of existing spaces between the μ-cubes suffice a high loading of sulfur and volumetric accommodation. The robust, double closed cubes configuration greatly enhances the confinement of polysulfides. In parallel, the CuS core increases the electronic conductivity and contributes to additional capacity, while the Co₃O₄ shell ensures a better interface activity. A high Li⁺ ion diffusion coefficient is obtained during the sulfur and lithium sulfide transformation. The constructed battery displays an initial capacity up to 1480 mAh g⁻¹, and a Coulombic efficiency (CE) exceeding 99%. A capacity retention higher than 500 mAh g⁻¹ with a CE larger than 99.8% after cycling 400 times at 0.2 C are achieved. In addition, under a temperature of −5 °C, a high capacity of 700 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.2 C after 200 cycles is achieved, indicating a good low-temperature tolerance.     

Optimization of room-temperature TCR of polycrystalline La0.9-xSrxK0.1MnO3 ceramics by Sr adjustment

High-density La_0.9-xSr_xK_0.1MnO₃ ceramics (LSKMO, A-site = La, Sr and K, 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25) are successfully fabricated by using facile sol-gel method. Electrical properties are performed by using combination of phenomenological percolation (PP) model, double exchange (DE) mechanism, and Jahn-Teller (JT) effect. Moreover, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy are employed to analyze the structure and morphology of LSKMO ceramics. Valence states and ionic stoichiometry are assessed by using X-ray photoemission spectrometry. Results reveal that Sr²⁺ ions, substituting La³⁺ ions, significantly influenced DE mechanism and JT effect. In addition, Sr-doping plays essential role in improving electrical properties of LSKMO ceramics. At optimal doping content of x = 0.09, peak temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the resistivity is found to be 11.56% K^?1 at 297.15 K, which is optimal TCR for A-site K-occupied perovskite manganese oxides. These results confirm that polycrystalline LSKMO ceramics render high room-temperature TCR values due to Sr-doping.