HPHT synthesis and electrical transport properties of SmxCo4Sb12

Samarium-filled skutterudites SmxCo4Sb12(x=0.5,1.0) skutterudite thermoelectric(TE) materials with enhanced power factor were prepared by high-pressure and high-temperature(HPHT) technique.The microstructure properties were characterized with X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.The electrical resistivities and Seebeck coefficients of those samples were measured in the temperature range of 300-723 K,and the samples of SmxCo4Sb12 showed n-type conduction.The Seebeck coefficient in absolute valu...     

Crystal structure and thermal expansion of perovskites containing uranium（VI） and rare-earth elements

By the method of high-temperature reactions in solid phase, compounds with the general formula MII(AIII2/3U1/3)O3 (MII=Sr, AIII=Sc, In; MII=Ba, AIII=Sc, In, Y, Nd-Lu) were synthesized. Their structures (space groups Fmm and Pnma) were refined by the Rietveld method and morphotropic transition in Ba(Ln2/3U1/3)O3 on the border of Gd-Tb was discovered. By means of high-temperature X-ray diffraction, phase transitions were studied and thermal expansion coefficients were determined.     

High-temperature thermal properties of yttria fully stabilized zirconia ceramics

In this study,the dependences of yttria content,porosity and grain size on the thermal properties of Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ) ceramics were investigated.YSZ ceramics were synthesized by the solid state reaction method.The phase,microstructure and thermal properties of YSZ ceramics were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD),scanning electron microscopy (SEM),differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and laser-flash apparatus (LFA),respectively.The results indicated that the specific heat capacity of YSZ increased with the increase of temperature and decreased with the increase of yttria content.As the temperature increased,the thermal diffusivity and conductivity of YSZ ceramics were decreased,whereas their variations for 16YSZ,18YSZ and 20YSZ were much less pronounced than those for 12YSZ and 14YSZ.At a given temperature,the thermal conductivity of YSZ was opposite to yttria content.The thermal conductivity of YSZ ceramics almost linearly decreased with the increase of porosity.In addition,the grain size also had a great influence on the thermal conductivity.     

Effect of rare earths on viscosity and thermal expansion of soda-lime-silicate glass

Viscosity of soda-lime-silicate glass doped with rare earth oxides(Pr6O11,Eu2O3,Yb2O3) was investigated by the rotating crucible viscometer,the melting temperature and activation energy for viscous flow of the studied melt were derived on the basis of the Arrhenius Equation,the coefficient of thermal expansion,glass transition temperature and dilatometric softening temperature were also determined with dilatometry,in order to reveal the effects of rare earth elements on the behavior of soda-lime-silicate glass.The results showed that introduction of rare earth oxides decreased the viscosity of soda-lime-silicate glass and melting temperature of corresponding melt,increased coefficient of thermal expansion of soda-lime-silicate glass.The glass transition temperature,dilatometric softening temperature,and melting temperature of soda-lime-silicate glass doped with rare earth oxides increased with increasing cationic field strength of corresponding rare earth ions.     

Effect of rare earth doping on thermo-physical properties of lanthanum zirconate ceramic for thermal barrier coatings

The effect of rare earth doping on thermo-physical properties of lanthanum zirconate was investigated. Oxide powders of various compositions La2Zr2O7 were synthesized by coprecipitation-calcination method. High-temperature dilatometer, DSC, and laser thermal diffusivity methods were used to analyze thermal expansion coefficient （TEC）, specific heat, and thermal diffusivity. The results showed that CeO2 doped pyrochlores La2（Zr1.8Ce0.2）2O7 and La1.7（DyNd）0.15（Zr0.8Ce0.2）2O7 had higher TEC than La2Zr2O7 and La1.7Dy0.3Zr2O7. La2（Zr1.8Ce0.2）2O7, La1.7Dy0.3Zr2O7, and La1.7（DyNd）0.15（Zr0.8Ce0.2）2O7 had lower thermal conductivity than undoped La2Zr2O7. The Dy2O3, Nd2O3, and CeO2 codoped composition showed the lowest thermal conductivity and the highest TEC. Thermo-physical results also indicated that TEC of rare earth oxide doped La2Zr2O7 ceramic was slightly higher than that of conventional ZrO2-8Wt.% Y2O3 （8YSZ）, and its thermal conductivity was lower than that of 8YSZ.     

Thermoelectric properties of LaFe_3CoSb_(12) skutterudite materials with different nanostructures

Nanostructures with different morphologies could profoundly influence the electron and phonon transport in thermoelectric materials and thus their properties could be improved by tuning the nanostructures.The LaFe3CoSb12 skutterudite nano powders with differentmorphologies were fabricated via a hydro/solvo thermal route.The microstructures of the hot-pressed LaFe3CoSb12 bulks were characterizedthrough X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and the effects of the nanostructures on the thermoelectric properties were investigated by measuring the electrical conductivity,the Seebeck coefficient and the thermal conductivity.The results suggestedthat the mixed morphology of nanorods and nanospheres could enhance the electrical conductivity largely although the Seebeck coefficientwas decreased and the thermal conductivity was increased slightly.Differently,a higher Seebeck coefficient,a lower thermal conductivity anda lower electrical conductivity could be obtained for the LaFe3CoSb12 bulk with a single morphology of nanospheres.Consequently,the figure of merit of LaFe3CoSb12 bulk with a mixed morphology of nanorods and nanospheres could be increased by about 59% as compared tothat with a single morphology of nanospheres.     

Effects of the penetration temperature on structure and electrical conductivity of samarium modified BaTiO3 powders

Gaseous penetration technique was adopted to improve the electrical conductivity of BaTiO3 powders and the effects of penetration temperature on the structure and electrical conductivity of Sm-modified BaTiO3 powders were studied.It was observed that the penetration of Sm made the resistivity of BaTiO3 powders decrease with the increase in the penetration temperature and decreased to the lowest point of 4.20×102 ?·m when the penetration temperature was 950 oC.The relationship curve of the temperature and resistivity of the samples was also established preliminarily to get the mathematical expression by the fitting method.Through X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis,the new phases of Sm2O3 and Ba4Ti2O27 were detected.It was indicated that intricate reactions related to Sm took place during the penetration process and led to the Ti-rich state of the system.The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum illustrated that the bonds of Ti–O octahedron was strengthened by substitution of Sm3+ at Ti4+ sites,which led to the growth of Ti:Ba ratio.The analysis results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that the particle size of Sm-modified BaTiO3 powders progressed with the penetration temperature increasing.     

Effect of Gadolinium Substitution on Dielectric Properties of Bismuth Ferrite

Multiferroic Bi1-xGdxFeO3(x=0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2) ceramics were prepared by conventional solid state reaction method. X-ray diffraction was carried out to characterize the crystal structure and to detect any possible impurities existing in these ceramics. Frequency dependence of dielectric properties of Bi1-xGdxFeO3 samples at room temperature was measured in a frequency range from 100 Hz to 1 MHz using an HP4294A precision impedance analyzer. For all the samples studied, the dielectric constant and dielectric loss decreases with increasing frequency in the range between 100 Hz and 1 MHz, as can be expected from a typical orientational dielectric relaxation process. There is no indication of any dips over the whole frequency range studied, which is in direct contrast with that reported previously. It is found that both dielectric constant and dielectric loss are strongly dependent on the Gd3+ content. The effect of introducing Gd3+ is to increase the dielectric constant and to decrease the dielectric loss for slightly doped sample Bi0.95Gd0.05FeO3: the dielectric constant of the sample at 1 kHz reaches 600, six times bigger than that for pure BiFeO3. Complicated dielectric behaviors are observed at higher doping levels. Furthermore, the substitution of rare earth Gd for Bi helps to eliminate the impurity phase in BiFeO3 ceramics. There is strong evidence that both lattice constants a and c of the unit cell become smaller as the Gd3+ content is increased. The dielectric constant and loss and their frequency responses can be varied dramatically by substitution of Gd.     

Influence of urea on microstructure and optical properties of YPO4：Eu^3＋ phosphors

YPO4:Eu 3+ phosphors were synthesized by solution coprecipitation method assisted by urea in the precursor reaction solution. X-ray diffraction spectral analysis showed that the samples synthesized with urea had smaller particle size and lower crystallinity than those samples synthesized without urea.Moreover,the calculated strain result indicated that the Eu 3+ site in the former exhibited a lower crystal field symmetry than that in the latter.Hence,the influence of crystal field symmetry dominated luminescence efficiency rather than crystallinity because the luminescence intensity observed in Eu0.05Y0.95PO4 synthesized with 1.0 g urea was six-fold higher than that of the as-synthesized sample.With increased concentration of Eu 3+ ion,the luminescence intensity initially increased,and then subsequently decreased as the concentration of Eu 3+ ion exceeded 12 mol.%due to concentration quenching.The optimal condition for YPO4:Eu 3+ phosphor was Eu0.12Y0.88PO4 with 1.0 g urea added in the precursor.The luminescence intensity of the optimal condition was again enhanced 1.6-fold relative to that of Eu0.05Y0.95PO4 synthesized with 1.0 g-urea.     

Crystal structure, thermal expansion and electrical conductivity of Pr(Ga1-xCox)0.9Mg0.1O3-δ(x=0,0.1,0.2,0.3)

Pr(Ga1-xCox)0.9Mg0.1O3-δ(x=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) was synthesized using solid-state reaction technique to study the effects of Co doping on their structure and properties. Room and high temperature XRD, DSC and electrical conductivity measurement with D.C. four-probe technique were adopted in the study. The results indicated its orthorhombic-distorted perovskite structure at room temperature. PrGa0.9Mg0.1O3-δ maintained its orthorhombic-distorted structure between 298 and 1173 K. For Pr(Ga0.7Co0.3)0.9Mg0.1O3-δ, such structure existed below 873 K. From 873 to 1173 K, it possessed tetragonal structure. The transformation from orthorhombic to tetragonal structure at 873 K was of second order. The intrinsic volume thermal expansion of tetragonal structured Pr(Ga0.7Co0.3) 0.9Mg0.1O3-δ was about 50% higher than those of PrGa0.9Mg0.1O3-δ. The electrical conductivity increased with Co content. The activation energies of conduction for Pr(Ga1-xCox)0.9Mg0.1O3-δ are in range from 0.197 to 0.246 eV, much lower than 1.543 eV for PrGaO3.     

Electrical properties of rare earth based tungsten bronze vanadates

Barium based tungsten bronze (TB) oxides having high dielectric constant and low loss, can be effectively used as transducers, actuators, capacitors and also in memory devices. All these characteristics stimulated the researchers to replace toxic and hazardous lead based materials by barium based TB materials from industry. In the present research work, polycrystalline samples of Ba4SrRTi3V7O30 (R=Dy, Sm, La) were synthesized by a high temperature solid state reaction technique. Preliminary structural (X-ray diffraction) analyses of these compounds showed the formation of single-phase orthorhombic structures at room temperature having average crystallite size of the order of some nanometer for all the compounds. The scanning electron micrographs (SEM) provided information on the quality of the samples and showed more or less homogeneous distribution of grains over the entire surface of the samples. Detailed dielectric study in a wide temperature range (30-500℃) showed ferro to para phase transition for Dy and Sm substituted samples whereas no such transition was observed for La substituted samples. Both the grain and grain boundary resistances exhibited negative temperature coefficient of resistance behavior much like semiconductors. The dc conductivity of all the compounds obeyed Arrhenius relation.     

Effect of erbium on microstructures and properties of Mg-Al intermetallic

The effect of the rare earth element Er on the microstructures and properties of Mg-Al intermetallic were studied in this experiment. Metallographic and X-ray diffraction（XRD） results showed that the microstructures of Mg-Al-Er alloys varied with Er content. The Mg-44Al-0.5Er and Mg-43.8Al-1.0Er alloys were both composed of Mg17Al12 matrix and Al3 Er phase, whereas Mg-43Al-3.0Er and Mg-42Al-5.0Er were composed of Mg17Al12 matrix, Al3 Er phase, and Mg-Mg17Al12 eutectic. The Mg-42Al-5.0Er alloy showed the highest microhardness, and the values remained nearly stable as Er content increased from 1.0 wt.% to 5.0 wt.%. The dispersed second phase Al3 Er caused the grain refinement of the Mg-Al-Er alloy, which was the main reason for the improvement in microhardness. The corrosion resistance of the Er-containing alloys initially increased and then decreased with increasing Er content. All the Er-containing alloys had the ability to suppress hydrogen evolution, which was the main reason for the higher corrosion resistance of the modified alloys than that of the Mg-44.3Al alloy. Considering the higher hardness and dispersity of the Al3 Er phase, Mg-43.8Al-1.0Er exhibited higher wear resistance than the as-cast Mg-44.3Al alloy.     

Synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and thermal studies of some lanthanide(Ⅲ) nitrate complexes with a hydrazo derivative of 4-aminoantipyrine

A heterocyclic ligand synthesized by the coupling of diazotized 4-aminoantipyrine with acetylacetone reacted with lanthanide(III) nitrate to form complexes of the type [Ln(HAAP)₂(NO₃)₃] where, Ln=La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III), Nd(III), Sm(III), or Gd(III) and HAAP= 3-{[2-(N-1-phenyl-2,3-dimethylpyrazol-3-in-5-on-4-yl)]hydrazone}pent-2,3,4-trione. The ligand and metal complexes were characterized on the basis of elemental analysis, molar conductance, magnetic susceptibility measurements, UV-Visible, infrared, far infrared and proton NMR spectral data. The spectral data revealed that the ligand existed in the hydrazo form and coordinated to the metal ion without deprotonation in a neutral tridentate manner, through carbonyl oxygen of pyrazolone ring, hydrazo nitrogen and carbonyl oxygen of the acetylacetone moiety. The molar conductance values adequately supported their non-electrolytic nature. The ligand and the praseodymium(III) complex were subjected to X-ray diffraction studies. Thermal decomposition behavior of the lanthanum(III) complex was also examined.     

Effects of calcium,samarium addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ61 magnesium alloy

The microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ61 magnesium alloy with Ca, Sm addition were investigated. The results showed that the addition of 0.5 wt.% Ca reduced the quantity of Mg17Al12 phase, and formed a new Al4 Ca phase which is reticular in AZ61 alloy. With the addition of Ca and Sm, the microstructure was further refined and new Al-Sm rich phases were formed in AZ61 alloy with 0.6 wt.%–1.5 wt.% Sm addition, the TEM analysis confirmed that they were Al2 Sm and Al4 Sm. Tensile tests showed that 1.0 wt.% Sm addition contributed to the formation of the Al2 Sm and Al4 Sm and the improvement in the ambient strength, i.e., an ultimate tensile strength of 327 MPa and an elongation of 10.1%. However, excessive Sm addition led to the coarsening of Al2 Sm and Al4 Sm phases, thus resulted in the decline of strength and plasticity.     

Effect of rare earth and transition metal La-Mn substitution on electrical properties of co-precipitated M-type Ba-ferrites nanoparticles

In the current research work Ba_(1-x)La)xMn)yFe_(12-y)O_(19) hexa-ferrite nanoparticles of different compositions were synthesized using chemical co-precipitation technique. The structural properties were explored using X-ray diffractions(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy(FTIR). XRD indexed pattern confirms the formation of M-type hexagonal phase. The crystallite size of synthesized samples ranges from 13 to 34 ± 2 nm. FTIR peaks observe also confirmed the presence of metaloxygen bond of the desired product. The position of peak at 467 cm~(-1) corresponds to A_2 u vibration for octahedral Fe(4+)-O and peak position E1 u corresponds to vibration of Fe(3+)O4 octahedral bonds. The band v_1 in range(677-559 cm~(-1)) and v_2 in frequency range(356-419 cm~(-1)) are associated to A and B sites.Dielectric properties of all compositions were measured with frequency. The dielectric constant, loss and tangent loss decrease from 26 to 9, 25 to 2 and 0.94 to 0.14, respectively with frequency. DC electrical resistivity is increased with dopant concentration increasing from 2.15 × 10~4 to 1.92 ×10~5 Ω·cm.     

Effect of Y-filling on thermoelectric properties of CoSb3

The CoSb3 and Y0.18Co4Sb12 compounds were synthesized by a metallurgical route. Their bulk materials were prepared by the hot-pressed process under vacuum. Thermoelectric properties of the samples were measured by the thermoelectric measurement system and the laser flash diffusivity apparatus. The carrier type conversion of hot-pressed CoSb3 was found at about 530 K, while the conversion was missed for the Y0.18Co4Sb12 sample. Electrical conductivity of the Y0.18Co4Sb12 sample increased due to the increase of carrier concentration, and its thermal conductivity decreased due to the enhancement of phonon scattering. The value of ZT, figure of merit, for the Y0.18Co4Sb12 sample was obviously enhanced due to positive contribution of the electrical conductivity and the thermal conductivity.     

Thermal Expansion of LaCoO3

High-temperature X-ray diffraction(HTXRD)measurements of LaCoO3 powder was carried out in a temperature range from 298 to 1273 K.The experimental data obtained were adopted to evaluate the lattice parameters and cell volume.In this temperature range,the linear and volume expansion coefficients calculated using these cell parameters are 24.160～23.610×10-6·K-1 and 59.601～63.218×10-6·K-1 respectively.There is no discontinuity found in the cell parameters through the proposed first-order transition at 1210 K.     

Influence of zirconium addition on microstructure, magnetic properties and thermal stability of nanocrystalline Nd12.3Fe81.7B6.0 alloy

Effect of Zr addition on microstructure, magnetic properties and thermal stability of Nd12.3Fe81.7B6.0 (x=0-3.0) ribbons melt-spun and annealed was investigated. Magnetic measurement using vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) revealed that Zr addition was significantly effective in improving the magnetic properties at room temperature. The intrinsic coercivity Hci of the optimally processed rib-boris increased monotonically with increasing Zr content, from 751.7 kA/m for x=0 to 1005.3 kA/m for x=3.0. Unlike the coercivity, the re-manence polarization Jr increased first with Zr addition, from 0.898 T up to 1.041 T at x=1.5, and then decreased with further Zr addition.The maximum energy product (BH)max behaved similarly, increasing from 103.1 KJ/m3 to a maximum of 175.2 kJ/m3 at x=1.5. Microstruc-ture studies using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) had shown a significant microstructttre re-finement with Zr addition. The absolute values of temperature coefficients of induction and coercivity were significantly increased with in-creasing Zr content, indicating that Zr was detrimental to thermal stability of the melt-spun Nd2Fe14B-type material.