Synthesis of rod-like ultrafine K_Ce2Nb10O30 via a salt-assistant stearic acid method

A salt-assistant stearic acid method (SAM) capable of forming ultrafine K4Ce2Nb10O30 products was described. XRD pattern re-vealed that tetragonal K4Ce2Nb10O30 products could be obtained by heat treatment at 900 ℃ for 2 h. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations indicated the introduction of KCl could lead to the formation of rod-like K4Ce2Nb10O30 products. The species of salts played a crucial role in fine tuning the shapes and sizes of K4Ce2Nb10O30 products. Furthermore, the K4Ce2Nb10O30 prepared by salt-assistant SAM had considerable activity under visible light irradiation.     

Synthesis of rod-like ultrafine K_4Ce_2Nb_(10)O_(30) via a salt-assistant stearic acid method

A salt-assistant stearic acid method (SAM) capable of forming ultrafine K4Ce2Nb10O30 products was described. XRD pattern re-vealed that tetragonal K4Ce2Nb10O30 products could be obtained by heat treatment at 900 ℃ for 2 h. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations indicated the introduction of KCl could lead to the formation of rod-like K4Ce2Nb10O30 products. The species of salts played a crucial role in fine tuning the shapes and sizes of K4Ce2Nb10O30 products. Furthermore, the K4Ce2Nb10O30 prepa...     

Synthesis of Al2O3/TiCN-0.2%Y2O3 Composite by Hot Pressing

Al2O3/TiCN composites were synthesized by hot pressing.The influences of components and HP temperature on mechanical properties,such as bending strength,breaking tenacity and Vickers hardness were investigated.The results showed that the mechanical properties of Al2O3/TiCN composite increased with temperature when hot pressing temperature is below 1650 ℃.The mechanical properties reached their maximums when the composites were sintered at 1650 ℃ for 30 min under hot pressing pressure of 35 MPa,the value of bending strength,breaking tenacity and Vickers hardness was 1015 MPa,6.89 MPa·m1/2,and 20.82 MPa,respectively.When hot pressing temperature was above 1650 ℃,density decreased because of decomposition with increased temperature,and mechanical properties dropped because of rapid growth of grains in size at high temperature.Microstructure analysis showed that the addition of Y2O3 led to the formation of YAG phase so as to inhibit the growth of crystals.This helped to improve breaking tenacity of the composites.TiCN particles with diameters of 1 μm dispersed at Al2O3 grain boundaries,inhibited grain growth and enhanced mechanical properties of the composites.SEM study of the propagation of indentation cracks showed that the bridge linking behavior between matrix and strengthening phase might lead to the formation of the coexisted field of crack deflection,branching and bridge linking.The mechanism of this phenomenon was that the addition of Y2O3 improved the dispersion of TiCN particles so as to enhance the tenacity of the composites.The breaking tenacity was changed from 5.94 to 6.89 MPa·m1/2.     

Catalytic combustion of diesel soot over K2NiF4-type oxides La2-xKxCuO4

Nanostructure K2NiF4 type oxides La2-xKxCuO4 complex oxides were prepared using the Sol-Gel method, characterized by X-Ray Diffraction （XRD）, Fourier Transform Infrared （FT-IR）, and Scanning Electron Microscopy （SEM）. The catalytic activity for soot combustion was evaluated by the Temperature-Programmed Reaction （TPO） technique. The results demonstrated that the substitution quality of K^＋ for La^3＋ at the A-site would increase the catalytic activities of La2-xKxCuO4 for soot combustion greatly; the substitution quality affected the structure and catalytic activity obviously. The La1.8K0.2CuO4 complex oxides with tetrahedral structures had the best catalytic activity for soot combustion, and the ignition temperature of soot combustion was lowered from 490 to 320 ℃.     

Preparation of Mesoporous Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 Mixed Oxide by Hydrothermal Templating Method

Mesoporous Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 mixed oxide with high specific surface area was synthesized under basic condition in the presence of non-ionic surfactant PEG-4000. The effect of synthesis conditions, such as synthesis temperature and the molar ratio of PEG-4000/（[ Ce] ＋ [ Zr] ）, on specific surface area were investigated. The products were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements, respectively. The results showed that synthesis temperature and the molar ratio of PEG-4000/（[ Ce] ＋ [ Zr] ） had great influence on specific surface area. Under the optimum synthesis conditions, the prepared Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 mixed oxide presented cubic fluorite-type structure and possessed high surface area of 148.6 m2·g^-1 with wormlike pores.     

Catalytic combustion study of soot on Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 solid solution

The Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 solid solution and CeO2 were prepared using the sol-gel method. The phase structure, crystallite sizes and the reducibility of the catalysts were characterized by XRD and H2-TPR techniques. XRD results indicated that Zr^4＋ had replaced part of Ce^4＋ to form a fluorite-like solid solution, which was favorable to obtain ultrafine nanoparticles. The ratio of main HE consumption for Ce0.7Zr0.3O2：CeO2 was 4.4：1.0, implying that the solid solution could improve the reducibility compared to the single CeO2. The Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 solid solution catalyst showed a sharp combustion peak at 397 ℃, which was 200 ℃ lower than that of the single soot. The good catalytic activity of the Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 was attributed to the formation of nano-CeO2-based solid solution, which enhanced the reducibility and then improved the combustion activity. As Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 could be easily reduced to Ce0.7Zr0.3O2-x meanwhile, after oxygenation, the Ce0.7Zr0.3O2.x was recovered to Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 completely. A catalytic combustion reaction mechanism was proposed： the Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 was reduced to Ce0.7Zr0.3O2-x by the reaction with carbon and then it was recovered to Ce0.7Zr0.3O2-x by the interaction with O2.     

Synthesis of ZrO2-HfO2-Y2O3-Sc2O3 Nano-Particles by Sol-Gel Technique in Aqueous Solution of Alcohol

Zirconium dioxide is a significant material withgood physicochemical characteristics . It is used inmanyfields such as energysources ,material and envi-ronment . Cubic phase zirconium dioxide doped withyttria (YSZ) is alreadyin wide use in solid oxygenfu-…     

Properties of red-emitting phosphors Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu3+ prepared by gel-combustion method assisted by microwave

Novel red-emitting phosphors Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu3+ were prepared by gel-combustion method assisted by microwave. The phase struc-ture and luminescent properties of as-synthesized phosphors were investigated by XRD and fluorescence spectrophotometer, respectively. The results showed that the as-synthesized sample was Sr2MgSi2O7 with tetragonal crystal structure. The excitation spectrum of Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu3+ was composed of two major parts: one was the broad band between 200 and 350 nm, which belonged to the charge transfer of Eu3+-O2-; the other consisted of a series of sharp lines between 350 and 450 nm, ascribed to the f-f transition of Eu3+. The emission spec-trum consisted of two emission peaks at 593 and 616 nm, which was attributed to 5D0→7F1 and 5D0→7F2 of Eu3+, respectively. The concen-tration of Eu3+ (x) had great effect on the emission intensity of Sr2-xMgSi2O7:Eu3+x. When x varied in the range of 0.04-0.18, the intensity of emission peaks at 593 and 616 nm increased gradually with the concentration of Eu3+ increasing. It was interesting that no concentration quenching occurred. Moreover, the luminescent intensity could be greatly enhanced with incorporation of charge compensator Li+ ions.     

Photocatalytic activity of cerium-doped mesoporous TiO2 coated Fe3O4 magnetic composite under UV and visible light

A novel kind of magnetically separable photocatalyst of cerrium-doped mesoporous titanium dioxide coated magnetite (Ce/MTiO2/ Fe3O4) was prepared and its activities under UV and visible light were reported. The catalysts with Ce/MTiO2 shell and Fe3O4 core were pre-pared by coating photoactive Ce/MTiO2 onto a magnetic Fe3O4 core through the hydrolysis of tetrabutyltitanate (Ti(OBu)4, TBT) with pre-cursors of ammonium ceric nitrate and TBT in the presence of Fe3O4 particles. The MTiO2 shell was for photocatalysis, the Fe3O4 core was for separation by the magnetic field and the doped Ce was used to enhance the photocatalytic activity of MTiO2. The morphological, struc-tural and optical properties of the prepared samples were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. The effect of cerrium-doped content on the photocatalytic activity was studied and the result revealed that 0.5 mol.% Ce/MTiO2/Fe3O4 exhibited highest photoactivity. The photocatalytic activities of obtained photocatalysts under UV and visible light were estimated by measuring the degradation rate of methylene blue (MB, 50 mg/L) in an aqueous solution. The results showed that the prepared photocatalyst was activated by visible light and used as effective catalyst in photooxi-dation reactions. In addition, the possibility of cyclic usage of the prepared photocatalyst was also confirmed. Moreover, Ce/MTiO2 was tightly bound to Fe3O4 and could be easily recovered from the medium by an external magnetic filed. So, the photocatalyst can be reused without any mass loss. It can therefore be potentially applied for the treatment of water contaminated by organic pollutants.     

Preparation of Non-Grinding Long Afterglow SrAl2O4 ：Eu^2＋ , Dy^3＋ Material by Microwave Combustion Method

The non-grinding long afterglow material SrAl2O4：Eu^2＋ , Dy^3＋ was prepared by combustion method in home mierowave oven direetly, after dispersant, frother, eomburent, and mineralizer were added into the reacting system. XRD analysis showed that the powders were nearly pure SrAl2O4 phase with few other phases, and the size of the grain was 41.1 nm. Fluoreseenee speetrum results indieated that there were 2 exeitation peaks loeated at 345 and 400 nm, and the emission peak loeated at 516 nm, afterglow lasted up to 30 min or more. The mierowave eombustion method has advantages of less time, low temperature and no grinding process, and the material made by the method has good luminescent property.     

Growth and interface of amorphous La2Hf2O7/Si thin film

Amorphous La2Hf2O7 thin films were deposited on Si(100) substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method under different con-ditions. The interfacial states of the La2Hf2O7/Si films were studied by synchrotron X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and X-ray photoelectron spec-troscopy (XPS). When grown under vacuum condition, silicate, silicide and few SiOx were formed in the interface layer. However, the Hf-silicide formation could be effectively eliminated by the ambient oxygen pressure during film growth. The result revealed that the La2Hf2O7/Si interlayer was intimately related with growth condition. Insufficient supply of oxygen would cause Hf-silicide formation at the interface and it could be most effectively controlled by the ambient oxygen pressure during film growth.     

Photoluminescence studies of Eu2+-Yb3+ co-doped BaMgAl10O17 phosphor synthesized by the combustion method

BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+,Yb3+ was investigated as a possible quantum cutting system to enhance solar cells efficiency. Phosphors were synthesized by combustion method and composed of nanorods. Photoluminescence spectra showed that Eu in the sample was reduced to bi-valence while Yb remained trivalence. Through a cooperative energy transfer process, the obtained powders exhibited both blue emission of Eu2+ (around 450 nm) and near infrared emission of Yb3+ (around 1020 nm) under broad band excitation (250-410 nm) originating from 4f→5d transition of Eu2+. Energy transfer phenomenon between the sensitizer Eu2+ and the activator Yb3+ was investigated via the lumines-cent spectra and the decay curves of Eu2+ with different Yb3+ concentrations. Results indicated that energy transfer efficiency from Eu2+ to Yb3+ was not high. The poor efficiency can be explained by the long distance between rare earth ions.     

Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Methane over Ni/CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3

Nickel catalysts supported on CeO2-ZrO2-CeO2,ZrO2-Al2O3 and Al2O3 were prepared and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction（XRD）,BET areas,H2 temperature-programmed reduction（H2-TPR）,and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）.Through the test of catalytic partial oxidation of methane（CPOM）,Ni/CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 displayed the highest activity,which resulted from its largest BET area and best NiO dispersion.Furthermore,Ni/CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 maintained a long-time stability in CPOM,which was attributed to its best coking resistance among all the prepared catalysts.     

Band gap and structure characterization of Tm2O3 films

Single crystalline Tm2O3 films were grown on Si (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy using metallic Tm source and atomic oxygen source. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy were employed to investigate the compositions, surface morphology and microstructure of the sample. A very flat surface with a root mean square roughness of 0.3 nm could be reached, and a sharp interface between the film and the Si substrate was achieved. The result of optical spectrum at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths showed that the band gap of the Tm2O3 film was 5.76 eV.     

Effects of La2O3/Li2O/TiO2- Coating on Electrochemical Performance of LiCoO2 Cathode

Conventional cathode material （LiCoO2） was modified by coating with a thin layer of La2O3/Li2O/TiO2 for improving its performance for lithium ion battery. The morphology and structure of the modified cathode material was characterized by SEM, XRD, and Auger electron spectroscopy. The performance of the cells with the modified cathode material was examined, including the cycling stability, the diffusion coefficient under different voltages, and the C-rate discharge. The results showed that the cell composed of the coated cathode material discharged at a large current density, and possesses a stable cycle performance in the range from 3.0 to 4.4 V. It was explained that the rate of Li ion diffusion increased in the cell while using La2O3/Li2O/TiO2-coated LiCoO2 as the cathode and the coating layer may act as a faster ion conductor （La2O3/Li2O/TiO2）.     

Citric Gel Synthesis and Luminescent Properties of Ce^3＋-Activated SrGa2O4 Phosphor

Ce^3＋-activated SrGa2O4 phosphor was synthesized by a method of citric gel,wherein citric acid served as a chelate agent,and the as-synthesized powder was calcined in a slightly reduced ambient.The crystallization characteristics of the sample varied with the calcining temperature.Compared with the phosphor prepared by the solid-state reaction,the phosphor synthesized by citric gel was calcined at a relatively lower temperature.Consequently,the volatilization of Ga2O3 during high-temperature calcining process was avoided.The typical double-peak emission of Ce^3＋ originated from 2D（5d）→4F5/2（4f）,and 2D（5d）→4F7/2（4f）was observed,and the intrinsic emission of SrGa2O4 host was much restricted.The emission intensity varied with the calcining temperature because the different crystallinity and the optimal concentration of Ce-dopant was determined at 3%.     

Luminescence Properties of Sm^3＋ doped Bi2ZnB2O7

The phosphors of （Bi1- x Smx ） 2ZnB2O7 （ x = 0. 01, 0. 03, 0. 05, 0. 07, and 0. 09） were synthesized by conventional solid state reaction. The purity of all samples was checked by X-ray powder diffraction （XRD）. XRD analysis shows that all these compounds are of a single phase of Bi2ZnB2O7, indicating that the Bi^3＋ in Bi2ZnB2O7 can be partly replaced by the Sm^3＋ without the change of crystal structure. The excitation and emission spectra at room temperature show the typical 4f-4f transitions of Sm^3＋ . The dominant excitation line is around 404 nm due to ^6H5/2→^4K11/2 and the emission spectrum consists of a series of lines at 563, 599, 646, and 704 nm due to ^4G5/2→^6H5/2, ^6H7/2, ^6H9/2, and ^6H11/2, respectively. The optimal concentration of Sm^3＋ in Bi2ZnB2O7 is about 3mol% （relative to lmol Bi^3＋ ） and the critical distance Rc was calculated as 2.1 nm. The temperature dependence of the emission intensity of Bi1.94Sm0.06ZnB2O7 was examined in the temperature range between 100 and 450 K. The quenching temperature where the intensity has dropped to half of the initial intensity is 280 K. The lifetime for Sm^3＋ in Bi1.94Sm0.06ZnB2O7 is fitted as a value of 0.29 and 1.03 ms.     

Synthesis of neodymium modified CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 support materials and their application in Pd-only three-way catalysts

Ce-Zr-Al-Nd2O3 (CZAN) support materials were prepared by co-precipitation and impregnation methods, respectively. They were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), low temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption, oxygen pulsing technique, H2-temperature pro-grammed reduction (H2-TPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Pd-only three-way catalysts (Pd-TWC) supported on these materials were prepared by incipient wetness method and studied by activity tests. The results demonstrated that the CZAN supports obtained by the two methods showed better structural, textural and redox properties than the CZA without Nd2O3, and the addition of Nd2O3 improved the catalytic activity of TWC. Especially, the CZAN-i support prepared by impregnation method had better thermal stability and redox prop-erty. Meanwhile, the Pd/CZAN-i catalyst exhibited the best catalytic performance. XPS measurements indicated that the Nd-modified sam-ples possessed more Ce3+ and oxygen vacancies on the surface of samples, which led to a better redox property. The excellent redox property of support materials helped to improve the catalytic activity of TWC.     

Influence of NaCl-CaCl2 on Decomposing REPO4 with CaO

The influence of NaCl-CaCl2 on thermal decomposition of REPO4（RE： Ce, La, Nd, Th） with CaO was studied. The heat decomposing process of REPO4 was tested with TG-DTA experiments. The results showed that the decomposition temperature of REPO4 with CaO was reduced because of adding NaCl-CaCl2 mixture （NaCl：CaCl2 = 1：1 ）. The influence of the addition of NaCl-CaCl2, roasting temperature and roasting time on decomposition ratio of REPO4 with CaO was studied. The results showed that the decomposition ratio of REPO4with CaO was 79% when the addition percentage of NaCl-CaCl2 was 10%, the roasting temperature was 750℃, and the roasting time was 1 h.     

Synthesis kinetics and thermophysical properties of La_2（Zr_（0.7）Ce_（0.3））_2O_7 ceramic for thermal barrier coatings

La2(Zr0.7Ce0.3)2O7 (LZ7C3) ceramic was synthesized by solid state reaction with La2O3, ZrO2 and CeO2 as starting materials. The synthesis kinetics, phase structure, mass loss and microstructure were studied by thermo gravimetric-different thermal analyzer (TG-DTA), X-ray difference (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficient were measured by laser-flash method and pushing-rod method, respectively. XRD results showed that LZ7C3 was a mixture of La2Zr2O7 (LZ, pyro- chlore) and La2Ce2O7 (LC, fluorite). The lowest synthesis temperature and time of LZ7C3 were 1400 oC and 5 h. There were no peaks of La2O3 when the powder granularity was about 0.82 μm in the synthesis process. The atom ratio La:Zr:Ce of prepared LZ7C3 powder was very close to 10:7:3 which was the theory value of LZ7C3. The thermal conductivity of LZ7C3 decreased gradually with the temperature increased up to 1200 oC, and was located within 0.79 to 1.02 W/(m·K), which was almost 50% lower than that of LZ, whereas its thermal expansion coefficient was larger and the value was 11.6×10-6 K-1.