Evaluation of oxy-acetylene flame angle effect on the erosion resistance of SiC/ZrB2–SiC/ZrB2 multilayer coatings fabricated by the shielding shrouded plasma spray technique

In the present study, the effect of oxy-acetylene flame angle on the erosion resistance of SiC/ZrB₂–SiC/ZrB₂ multilayer coatings with the gradient structure was investigated. To this aim, first, the SiC inner layer was applied by the reactive melt infiltration (RMI) technique; then ZrB₂ and ZrB₂–SiC layers with 10, 20 and 30%wt. SiC were applied on graphite by the plasma spraying technique. To prevent the oxidation of ZrB₂ and SiC particles, the plasma spraying process was performed by a solid protective shield. To evaluate the performance of the coatings in erosive environments, the samples were exposed to oxy-acetylene flame at the angles of 30°, 60° and 90° for 360 s; the destruction mechanism of SiC/ZrB₂–SiC/ZrB₂ multilayer coatings appeared to be controlled mechanically and chemically. The results of the erosion test showed that at the low flame angles of about 30°, due to the shear forces of oxy-acetylene flame, mechanical erosion overcame the chemical one. With increasing the flame angle, due to raising the surface temperature, chemical erosion overcame the mechanical one; so, most chemical destruction occurred at the flame angle of 90°. Also, the results of the erosion test showed that the total chemical and mechanical destruction at the angle of 60° was greater than that in other angles. Also, among the coatings tested, SiC/ZrB₂- 20% wt. SiC/ZrB₂ coatings had the best erosion resistance; so, the weight changes under the oxy-acetylene flame at the angles of 30° and 60°, respectively, were about ?0.038%. and ?0.355%; meanwhile, at the angle of 90°, it was about +4.3%.     

Plasma assists titanium nitride and surface modified titanium nitride nanoparticles from titanium scraps for magnetic properties and supercapacitor applications

Plasma methods are efficient processing for metal recovery from metal scrap, bearing minerals, electronic waste, etc. In this work, pure titanium nitride nanoparticles (TiN NPs) were synthesized from titanium scraps by the thermal plasma arc discharge (TPAD) method. TPAD synthesized TiN NPs have a highly crystalline nature with cubic and spherical morphologies with average particle sizes of 30–100 nm. Further, prepared TiN NPs involving surface modification (SM) or etching processes were investigated by using the non-thermal DC glow discharge plasma technique with air atmosphere at different processing times. SM@TiN NPs have a comparatively low crystalline, which was confirmed from the powder X-ray diffraction technique. SM@TiN NPs have very interesting core shell morphologies, which are due to the surface interactions of ionized air molecules. TiN and SM@TiN NPs have room-temperature ferromagnetic properties with high saturation magnetization (Ms) up to 2.6 and 3.0 emu/g and very high coercivity (Hc) of 235.5 Oe, respectively. TiN and SM@TiN NPs have superior energy storage performance with an outstanding specific capacitance of 192.8 and 435.1 F/g at a current density of 2 A/g with pseudocapacitive behavior. These results reveal that TiN and SM@TiN NPs have highly promising electrodes for supercapacitor applications.     

Understanding on the hydrogen detection of plasma sprayed tin oxide/tungsten oxide (SnO2/WO3) sensor

The plasma spray technique was well proven in producing metal oxide based gas sensors in the last two decades using different powder feedstocks. However, limited research was made to fabricate hydrogen gas sensor from tin oxide layer coated over tungsten oxide layer. This paper attempts to interpret the hydrogen gas sensing performances of plasma sprayed coating derived by depositing tin oxide layer over tungsten oxide (SnO₂/WO₃) layer. Plasma sprayed SnO₂/WO₃ sensor showed maximum response of 90% at 150 °C in contrast to stand-alone WO₃ (89% at 350 °C) and stand-alone SnO₂ (89% at 250 °C). The lower operating temperature of SnO₂/WO₃ sensor without compromising gas response was attributed to the WO₃–SnO₂ hetero-junction. SnO₂/WO₃ sensor showed selective sensing towards hydrogen with respect to carbon monoxide and methane gases. This sensor also possessed repeatable characteristics after 39 days from the initial measurement. In a nut-shell, plasma spayed SnO₂/WO₃ sensor showed stability of base resistance, repeatability after successive response and recovery cycles, selective sensing towards 500 ppm H₂ with significant magnitude of gas response of 90%, response time of 35 s and recovery time of 269 s at a temperature of 150 °C.     

Manufacturing catalyst-coated membranes by ultrasonic spray deposition for PEMFC: Identification of key parameters and their impact on PEMFC performance

This study deals with the manufacturing of catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs) for newcomers in the field of coating. Although there are many studies on electrode ink composition for improving the performance of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), there are few papers dealing with electrode coating itself. Usually, it is a know-how that often remains secret and constitutes the added value of scientific teams or the business of industrialists. In this paper, we identify and clarify the role of key parameters to improve coating quality and also to correlate coating quality with fuel cell performance via polarization curves and electrochemical active surface area measurements. We found that the coating configurations can affect the performance of lab-made CCMs in PEMFCs. After the repeatability of the performance obtained by our coating method has been proved, we show that: (i) edge effects, due to mask shadowing - cannot be neglected when the active surface area is low, (ii) a heterogeneous thickness electrode produces performance lower than a homogeneous thickness electrode, and (iii) the origin and storage of platinum on carbon powders are a very important source of variability in the obtained results.     

Preparation of high-purity SiC ceramics with good plasma corrosion resistance by hot-pressing sintering

High-purity SiC ceramic devices are applied in semiconductor industry owing to their outstanding properties. Nevertheless, it is difficult to densify SiC ceramics without any sintering additive even by HP sintering. In this work, high-purity and dense SiC ceramics were fabricated by HP sintering with very low amounts of sintering aids. Residual B content was only 556 ppm and relative density was more than 99.5%. Furthermore, thermal conductivity of as-prepared SiC ceramics was improved from 155 W m^?1 K^?1 to 167 W m^?1 K^?1 by increasing holding time and their plasma corrosion resistance was promoted in the meantime. The as-prepared high-purity SiC ceramics have broad application prospects in the field of semiconductor industry.     

Systematic optimization of corrosion,bioactivity, and biocompatibility behaviors of calcium-phosphate plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coatings on titanium substrates

To optimize the corrosion, bioactivity, and biocompatibility behaviors of plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coatings on titanium substrates, the effects of five process variables including frequency, current density, duty cycle, treatment time, and electrolyte Ca/P ratio were evaluated. In our systematic study, a Taguchi design of experimental based on an L16 orthogonal array was used. For this, the coatings characteristics such as the surface roughness, wettability, rutile to anatase and Ca/P ratios, and corrosion polarization resistance were investigated. After determining the optimum process variables for each response, the apatite forming ability in SBF (bioactivity behavior) and MG63 cell attachment and flattening (biocompatibility behavior) for two groups of coatings were examined. The first group was optimized based on the maximum corrosion polarization resistance and the variables were set as the frequency of 2000 Hz, the current density of 5 A/dm², the duty cycle of 30%, the treatment time of 5 min, and the Ca/P ratio of 0.65 at. % in the electrolyte. For the second group, the maximum surface roughness, greatest Ca/P ratio, and highest wettability as well as the minimum rutile to anatase ratio in coatings, could be obtained when the variables were set as the frequency of 10 Hz, the current density of 12.5 A/dm², the duty cycle of 50%, the treatment time of 12.5 min, and the Ca/P ratio of 1.70 at. % in the electrolyte. The results showed that while both groups of coatings indicated a significant apatite forming ability and can serve as bioactive coatings, a proper attachment and flattening of cells and consequently, the favorable biocompatibility properties were seen only in the first group.     

Synthesis and characterization of ZnO NRs with spray coated GO for enhanced photocatalytic activity

Zinc oxide nanorods, ZnO NRs, were synthesized on a clean glass and coated with graphene oxide (GO) using spray coating method to enhance the photocatalytic activity in wastewater treatment. The ZnO NRs were synthesized using the solution process synthesis that was optimized using Taguchi method. Several synthesis parameters have been optimized and studied to determine the best synthesis parameter to grow ZnO NRs for the photodegradation of organic contaminants. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) with EDX, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, ultraviolet visible near-infrared (UV-VIS-NIR), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies were used to investigate the structural and optical properties of the produced nanorods. FESEM images revealed the vertical growth of ZnO NRs as well as layers of GO covering the ZnO NRs' top surface. The Raman study demonstrates the combination peak of GO and ZnO, hence proving the GO layer's successful coating. After the GO coating, decrease in the bandgap of the synthesized photocatalyst was detected by PL and UV–Vis absorption measurements. Under UVC exposure with treatment time of 6 h, the degradation of MB with ZnO NRs/GO photocatalyst reached a degradation percentage of 97.86%, which is greater than the degradation percentage achieved using pristine ZnO NRs, which is 93.28%. The results validated that the coating of GO enhances the photocatalytic activity of the host material, ZnO NRs.     

Dielectric properties of alumino-silicate ceramics synthesized by plasma sintering

The polycrystalline ceramic specimens of three different alumino-silicate solid solutions (Al_0.70Si_0.30O, Al_0.73Si_0.27O and Al_0.75Si_0.25O) consisting of different alumina and silica concentrations have been synthesized by thermal plasma sintering technique. From structural analysis carried out by X-ray diffraction, the ceramics are mostly found to consist of two different phases of mullite and sillimanite. SEM images of these ceramics reveal a high dense and less porous microstructure with homogeneous distribution of grains throughout their surface. These materials exhibit high dielectric constant value (>10³) with low dissipation factor. The AC conductivity analysis reveals that Al_0.70Si_0.30O and Al_0.75Si_0.25O ceramics possess room temperature conductivity values of the order of 10^?5, whereas Al_0.73Si_0.27O has conductivity of 10^?7 order that increases with rise in temperature. From the Nyquist plots, the grain and grain boundary conductivities are distinguished and negative temperature coefficient of resistance behavior is identified in these ceramics with small positive temperature coefficient of resistance effect.     

Spray dryer processed graphene oxide/reduced graphene oxide for high-performance supercapacitor

This study deals with the utility of mini spray dryer process to improve the dispersibility, of graphene oxide(GO) and its application for high-performance supercapacitor. Initially, the neutral solution of GO was obtained using the modified Hummer's method. After this, the prepared GO solution was processed by mini spray dryer to obtain a more purified, lighter, and dispersed form of GO which is named as spray dryer processed GO (SPGO). The SPGO thus obtained showed excellent dispersibility behavior with various solvents, which is not found in case of conventional oven drying. Furthermore, utility of SPGO and its reduced form (r-SPGO) for supercapacitor applications have been investigated. Results obtained from the cyclic voltammetry(CV) analysis, impedance, and charge-discharge behavior of supercapacitor fabricated using r-SPGO shows enhanced features. Therefore, the simple spray dried GO and its reduced form, that is, r-SPGO can be utilized as a potential candidate for the supercapacitor application. Herein, as synthesized SPGO exhibited the specific capacitance of 12.07 and 37.6 F/g with PVA-H₃PO₄ and 1 mol/L H₃PO₄, respectively, at a scan rate of 5 mV/s. On the other hand, reduced form of SPGO, that is, r-SPGO showed the specific capacitance of 27.16 and 230 F/g with PVA-H₃PO₄ and 1 mol/L H₃PO₄, respectively.     

喷射成形Al-Zn-Mg-Cu合金挤压态的组织和力学性能

研究了利用喷射成形辅以挤压制备Al-5.72Zn-2.36Mg-1.66Cu合金后优化的组织结构特征和力学性能。结果表明,合金基体组织均匀细化,晶粒形貌趋于圆整,平均晶粒大小达到10 μm左右。当合金的冷却条件通过快速凝固技术改变时,会产生不同程度的固溶强化效果和第二相弥散强化效果,从而改善了合金的整体性能。合金的屈服强度和抗拉强度分别平均提高了20%左右,且伸长率也略有提高。