Environmentally Friendly Graphene Inks for Touch Screen Sensors

Graphene-based materials have attracted significant attention in many technological fields, but scaling up graphene-based technologies still faces substantial challenges. High-throughput top-down methods generally require hazardous, toxic, and high-boiling-point solvents. Here, an efficient and inexpensive strategy is proposed to produce graphene dispersions by liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) through a combination of shear-mixing (SM) and tip sonication (TS) techniques, yielding highly concentrated graphene inks compatible with spray coating. The quality of graphene flakes (e.g., lateral size and thickness) and their concentration in the dispersions are compared using different spectroscopic and microscopy techniques. Several approaches (individual SM and TS, and their combination) are tested in three solvents (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, dimethylformamide, and cyrene). Interestingly, the combination of SM and TS in cyrene yields high-quality graphene dispersions, overcoming the environmental issues linked to the other two solvents. Starting from the cyrene dispersion, a graphene-based ink is prepared to spray-coat flexible electrodes and assemble a touch screen prototype. The electrodes feature a low sheet resistance (290 Ω □⁻¹) and high optical transmittance (78%), which provide the prototype with a high signal-to-noise ratio (14 dB) and multi-touch functionality (up to four simultaneous touches). These results illustrate a potential pathway toward the integration of LPE-graphene in commercial flexible electronics.     

基于MF-DCCA 的呼吸道疾病与大气污染物相关性分析

针对呼吸道系统疾病与大气 PM2:5、 SO2 浓度序列的相关性特征, 应用多重分形消除趋势波动分析法 (MF-DCCA), 对张家界市永定区呼吸道系统疾病患病人数与大气 PM2:5、 SO2 浓度序列进行了研究。结果发现该地区 呼吸道系统疾病患病人数与大气 PM2:5、 SO2 浓度的相关性具有长期持续特征和多重分形特征。随后对它们相关性 多重分形特征的动力来源进行了分析, 通过随机重排和相位随机处理, 结果表明在不同时间尺度上的长期持续性影响 是其主要动力来源。进一步研究发现该地区呼吸道系统疾病与大气 PM2:5、 SO2 浓度序列的相关性在四个季节均具 有长期持续性的多重分形特征, 且夏季多重分形特征相对强于其他季节。     

Achieving fabrication of highly transparent Y2O3 ceramics via air pre-sintering by deionization treatment of suspension

An easy albeit quite effective deionization suspension treatment was adopted to alleviate the detrimental effects related to the hydrolysis of Y₂O₃ in an aqueous medium. Fabrication of highly transparent Y₂O₃ ceramics with a fine grain size via air pre-sintering and post–hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatment without using any sintering additive was achieved using the treated suspensions. The hydrolysis issue of Y₂O₃ powder in an aqueous medium was effectively alleviated by using deionization treatment, and a well-dispersed suspension with a low concentration of dissolved Y³⁺ species was obtained. The dispersed suspensions were consolidated by the centrifugal casting method, and the green bodies derived from the suspension of 35.0 vol% solid loading showed an improved homogeneity with a relative density of 52.1%. Fully dense Y₂O₃ transparent ceramic with high transparency was obtained by pre-sintering consolidated green compacts at a low temperature of 1400°C for 16 h in air followed by a post-HIP treatment at 1550°C for 2 h under 200 MPa pressure. The sample had a fine average grain size of 690 nm. The in-line transmittance of the sample reached 83.3% and 81.8% at 1100 nm and 800 nm, respectively, very close to the theoretical values of Y₂O₃.     

Thermal depolarization and electromechanical hardening in Zn2+-doped Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3-BaTiO3

Na_1/2Bi_1/2TiO₃-based materials have been earmarked for one of the first large-volume applications of lead-free piezoceramics in high-power ultrasonics. Zn²⁺-doping is demonstrated as a viable route to enhance the thermal depolarization temperature and electromechanically harden (1-y)Na_1/2Bi_1/2TiO₃-yBaTiO₃ (NBT100yBT) with a maximum achievable operating temperature of 150 °C and mechanical quality factor of 627 for 1 mole % Zn²⁺-doped NBT6BT. Although quenching from sintering temperatures has been recently touted to enhance T_F-R, with quenching the doped compositions featuring an additional increase in T_F-R by 17 °C, it exhibits negligible effect on the electromechanical properties. The effect is rationalized considering the missing influence on conductivity and therefore, negligible changes in the defect chemistry upon quenching. High-resolution diffraction indicates that Zn²⁺-doped samples favor the tetragonal phase with enhanced lattice distortion, further corroborated by ²³Na Nuclear Magnetic Resonance investigations.     

Microstructure and electromagnetic properties of LiFe5O8 ferrite ceramics prepared from wet- and dry-milled powders

The effect of dry and wet ball milling of LiFe₅O₈ ferrite powder on the microstructure and electromagnetic properties of ferrite ceramics was studied using XRD analysis, scanning electron microscopy, dilatometry, thermogravimetry, calorimetry, and measurement of specific magnetization and electrical resistance. The sintering temperature was 1050 °C; the sintering time was 2 h. It was found that ferrite fabricated from dry-milled powder exhibits an ordered α-LiFe₅O₈ phase with bulk density of 91%. Its saturation magnetization and Curie temperature are 55 emu/g and 628°С, respectively. Specific electrical resistance is 4?10⁶ Ω cm. Wet milling in isopropyl alcohol causes formation of a disordered β-LiFe₅O₈ phase. Ceramics produced by this method shows higher bulk density (97%) and low porosity, and an order of magnitude lower resistivity. Its saturation magnetization and Curie temperature are 51 emu/g and 607°С, respectively.     

Nanolayer CrAlN/TiSiN coating designed for tribological applications

With the goal to produce a hard and tough coating intended for tribological applications, CrAlN/TiSiN nanolayer coating was prepared by alternative deposition of CrAlN and TiSiN layers. In the first part of the article, a detailed study of phase composition, microstructure, and layer structure of CrAlN/TiSiN coating is presented. In the second part, its mechanical properties, fracture and tribological behavior are compared to the nanocomposite TiSiN coating. An industrial magnetron sputtering unit was used for coating deposition. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used for compositional and microstructural analysis. Mechanical properties and fracture behavior were studied by instrumented indentation and focused ion beam techniques. Tribological properties were evaluated by ball-on-disk test in a linear reciprocal mode. A complex layer structure was found in the nanolayer coating. The TiSiN layers were epitaxially stabilized inside the coating which led to formation of dislocations at interfaces, to introduction of disturbances in the coating growth, and as a result, to development of fine-grained columnar microstructure. Indentation load required for the onset of fracture was twice lower for the nanolayer CrAlN/TiSiN, compared to the nanocomposite TiSiN coating. This agrees very well with their mechanical properties, with H³/E² being twice higher for the TiSiN coating. However, the nanolayer coating experienced less severe damage, which had a strong impact on tribological behavior. A magnitude of order lower wear rate and four times lower steady state friction coefficient were found for the nanolayer coating.     

High dielectric constant of NiFe2O4–LaFeO3 nanocomposite: Interfacial conduction and dielectric loss

Materials exhibiting colossal dielectric constant are the most sought-after materials due to their variety of applications in various electronics industries. NiFe₂O₄ and LaFeO₃ belonging to the spinel and perovskite structures, respectively, were coupled into a nanocomposite by adapting a one-pot sol-gel synthesis. The ratio of NiFe₂O₄:LaFeO₃ was varied and the synthesized materials were studied for their dielectric behaviors. Interestingly, among the samples studied, the nanocomposite with the ratio of 1:2 of NiFe₂O₄–LaFeO₃ exhibited a high dielectric constant value of 10390 at a frequency of 1 kHz with a several-fold increase in conductivity. The high conductivity resulted in a high dielectric loss. The origin of such a high dielectric constant and loss have been attributed to the Maxwell-Wagner type space charge polarization arising from the microstructure that consists of large and continuous grain boundaries, and the conducting phase at the interface, respectively.     

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.     

Stress field and damage evolution in C/SiC woven composites: Image-based finite element analysis and in situ X-ray computed tomography tests

The construction and examination of meso-structural finite element models of a Chemical-Vapor-Infiltrated (CVI) C/SiC composite is carried out based on X-ray microtomography digital images (IB-FEM). The accurate meso-structural features of the C/SiC composites, which are consisted of carbon fiber tows and CVI-SiC matrix, in particular the cavity defects, are reconstructed. With the IB-FEM, the damage evolution and fracture behaviors of the C/SiC composite are investigated. At the same time, an in situ tensile test is applied to the C/SiC composite under a CT real-time quantitative imaging system, aiming to investigate the damage and failure features of the material as well as to verify the IB-FEM. The IB-FEM results indicate that material damage initially occur at the defects, followed by propagating toward the fiber-tow/SiC-matrix interfaces, ultimately, combined into macro-cracks, which is in good agreement with the in situ CT experiment results.