Improved thermal conductivity of β-Si3N4 ceramics by lowering SiO2/Y2O3 ratio using YH2 as sintering additive

A two-step sintering process was conducted to produce β-Si₃N₄ ceramics with high thermal conductivity. During the first step, native SiO₂ was eliminated, and Y₂O₃ was in situ generated by a metal hydride reduction process, resulting in a high Y₂O₃/SiO₂ ratio. The substitution YH₂ for Y₂O₃ endow Si₃N₄ ceramics with an increase of 29% in thermal conductivity from 95.3 to 123 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ after sintered at 1900°C for 12 hours despite an inferior sinterability. This was primarily attributed to the purified enlarged grains, devitrified grain boundary phase, and reduced lattice oxygen content in the YH₂-MgO-doped material.     

New insight into the formation and oxygen barrier mechanism of carbonaceous oxide interlayer in a multicomponent carbide

Early transition metal carbides are considered to be superior candidate materials for oxidizing environments at temperatures exceeding 2000°C. Generally, the remarkable oxidation resistance is largely attributed to a carbonaceous oxide interlayer (eg, Hf–O–C, Zr–O–C, and Ta–O–C), located at the interface between the external oxide layer and internal carbide (eg, HfC, ZrC, and TaC), acting as the primary oxygen barrier. However, the oxygen barrier mechanism of the carbonaceous oxide interlayer remains unclear. Herein, through studying the oxidation behavior of a novel multicomponent carbide Hf_0.5Zr_0.3Ti_0.2C in oxidizing environments up to 2500°C, the oxygen barrier mechanism of the carbonaceous oxide was recently revealed. We found that the oxygen barrier resulted from the slow oxygen diffusion through the inner grains of Hf-Zr–Ti–O due to the presence of carbon formed at the grain boundaries because of the existence of compact external oxide layer, beneath which the Hf–Zr–Ti–O–C interlayer possesses much lower oxygen activity and temperature that allow carbon to exist stably. This as-formed carbon strongly retarded the fast diffusion of oxygen along the grain boundaries of oxides. Additionally, desirable synergisms of the designed multicomponent system, particularly, the outward short-circuit diffusion of Ti, lead to the self-healing of the external oxide layer, evidently enhancing integral protection performance against oxidizing environments.     

Polydimethylsiloxane/monomer casting nylon copolymers: Preparation,flame-retardant properties,and wear-resistant properties

In order to improve the toughness, wear resistance, and combustion properties of the monomer casting nylon (MC nylon) materials, the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) segment is bonded to the nylon molecular chain by copolymerization. PDMS/MC nylon copolymers are prepared via in situ anionic polymerization with macro-activator based on PDMS terminated with hexamethylene diisocyanate. The effects of different macro-activator content on the mechanical properties, water absorption, thermal stability, friction and wear properties, and combustion properties of the copolymers are characterized. The results show that the impact strength of the copolymer improves significantly (optimally increases by 2.6 times) and the water absorption rate decreases with the increase of PDMS content. The introduction of the silicon–oxygen structure reduces the peak heat release rate of copolymer materials (optimally decreases about 28.7%), while it promotes the decomposition of the system, resulting in a slight decrease in the thermal stability of the materials. Adding 5 wt % PDMS can decrease the wear loss of MC nylon from 6.2 mg of pure nylon to 1.6 mg. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48753.     

Facile synthesis of a castor oil-based hyperbranched acrylate oligomer and its application in UV-curable coatings

Fabrication and performance of the castor oil (CO)-based hyperbranched acrylate (C20AA) UV-curable coatings are highlighted in this work. Herein, C20AA was obtained through a facile reaction of a castor oil-based hyperbranched polyol (C20) with acrylic acid. FT-IR and ¹H NMR spectra confirmed the synthesis of the target C20AA. Subsequently, the as-prepared C20AA was employed for crosslinking a commercialized linear polyurethane acrylate (PUA) UV-curable oligomer. Specifically, by varying the content of C20AA over the range of 0, 20, 40, and 60 wt%, a series of UV-curable coatings were prepared and coded as C20AA-0, C20AA-20, C20AA-40, and C20AA-60, respectively, which were further cured under UV irradiation. The effect of C20AA loadings on the UV-curing efficiency and final polymer performance were investigated. Consequently, the tensile strength, Shore D hardness, pencil hardness, gel content, water resistance, and glass-transition temperature of the UV-cured coatings were greatly improved upon the addition of C20AA. Impressively, with the incorporation of 40 wt% C20AA, the resultant UV-cured coating exhibited highest double bond conversion, superior chemical resistance, and good flexibility. Additionally, all of the coatings showed outstanding transparency and good surface microstructures.     

Improvement of polyamide/thermoplastic polyurethane blends with polyamide 6-polyurethane copolymer prepared via suspension polymerization as compatibilizer

The polyamide 6-polyurethane copolymer (PA6-b-PU-b-PA6) was synthesized through anionic suspension polymerization and then mixed with polyamide 6/thermoplastic polyurethane (PA6/TPU) and polyamide 6, 6/thermoplastic polyurethane (PA66/TPU) blends using as the compatibilizer. The results show that the PA6-b-PU-b-PA6 copolymers powders several can be obtained through suspension polymerization using dimethicone as disperse medium. The average diameter of PA6-b-PU-b-PA6 copolymer powders decreased with the increasing of PU content. With the addition of PA6-b-PU-b-PA6, the TPU phase dispersed more uniformly in PA6 or PA66 matrix, and the size of TPU dispersed phase decreased obviously. The PA6-b-PU-b-PA6 copolymer with higher PU content shows better compatibilizing effect. Addition of PA6-b-PU-b-PA6 can improve both strength and toughness of the PA/TPU blends. When the amount of PA6-PU25% copolymer was 5 phr, the tensile strength and notched impact strength of PA6/TPU/PA6-PU25% blends increased 29 and 159.4%, respectively, compared to the PA6/TPU blend without compatibilizer.     

The effects of thermoresponsive microgel density on cell adhesion,proliferation, and detachment

In recent years, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based microgels have been emerged as a new thermoresponsive coating for cell/cell sheet harvesting, yet few work reports their effect on cell attachment, morphology, activity, and proliferation in details. In this work, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-styrene) (pNIPAAmSt) microgel was selected as the model to study its density on NIH3T3 cell adhesion, morphology, activity, and detachment. Results showed that 0.5 wt % pNIPAAmSt microgel density leads to more cells adhesion, higher cell activity yet lower cell proliferation. Moreover, cell adhesion location can be well controlled either by manipulating the sub-cellular scale distances between microgels or by fabricating large scale surface patterns of the microgels on higher microgel density. By temperature stimuli, similar ratio cells detached from the microgel density surface from 0.5 to 1.5 wt %. The results in this article are worthy for the application of thermoresponsive microgels in cell regulation. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48773.     

Flame Retardancy and Mechanical Properties of Bio‐Based Furan Epoxy Resins with High Crosslink Density

This work outlines an interesting approach to bioepoxy resins from sustainable 2,5‐bis((oxiran‐2‐ylmethoxy)methyl)furan (BOF). The 3,3′‐diamino diphenyl‐sulfone (33DDS) and 4,4′‐diamino diphenyl‐sulfone (44DDS) are employed as hardeners. For comparison, petro‐based networks from diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) are developed as well. The systematic analyses suggest that the BOF/DDS networks show higher crosslink densities and mechanical properties than DGEBA/DDS thermosets. Remarkably, an attractive multilayer tubular microstructure is fabricated in the BOF/44DDS thermosets, and it greatly enhances the mechanical performance. Apart from that, BOF/DDS composites exhibit excellent flame retardancy. Especially, for BOF/44DDS, the self‐extinguishment happens in 7 s. The fire retardant mechanism confirms that a low heat release rate and heat release capacity as well as a compact char layer occur in the pyrolysis of BOF/DDS. Thus, the BOF/DDS exhibits superior performance over its DGEBA counterparts and meets a wide variety of requirements in engineering.     

Catalytic oxidative desulfurization of gasoline using phosphotungstic acid supported on MWW zeolite

Catalysts for the desulfurization of gasoline samples were synthesized via the immobilization of well-dispersed phosphotungstic acid (HPW) on Mobil composition of matter-twenty-two (MWW) zeolite. Characterization results indicated that these catalysts possess a mesoporous structure with the retention of the Keggin structure of immobilized HPW. Relevant reaction parameters influencing sulfur removal were systematically investigated, including HPW loading, catalyst dosage, temperature, initial S-concentration, molar ratio of oxidant to sulfide (O/S), volume ratio of MeCN to model oil (Ext./oil), and sulfide species. The 40 wt-% HPW/MWW catalyst exhibited the highest catalytic activity with 99.6% dibenzothiophene sulfur removal from prepared samples. The 40 wt-% HPW/MWW catalyst was recycled four times and could be easily regenerated. Finally, as an exploratory study, straight-run-gasoline and fluid catalytic cracking gasoline were employed to accurately evaluate the desulfurization performance of 40 wt-% HPW/MWW. Our research provides new insights into the development and application of catalysts for desulfurization of gasoline.     

铜山口铜矿水力旋流器数值优化试验研究

为提高大冶有色铜山口铜矿选矿厂FX500水力旋流器的分级精度、降低底流夹细量,通过数值模拟方法系统考察了旋流器结构参数和操作参数对旋流器分离性能的影响,结果表明：①适当增加入口流速、降低给矿浓度,可从整体上降低底流夹细量和溢流跑粗量;②适当增大柱段高度和小锥锥角,可进一步降低底流夹细量;③适当增大沉砂口上锥角角度,对底流中的微细粒级有洗涤作用,能进一步降低底流夹细量;④现场对比试验证实,旋流器结构优化后底流-75 μm粒级夹细率下降了1.78个百分点。研究结果为铜山口铜矿水力旋流器的优化与改造提供了技术支撑。     

矿井地面风硐的改造方案比选与施工

为解决通风系统改造后原地面风硐断面偏小、风速超限的问题,通过在原有地面风硐东侧并联一道钢制矩形通风管道的方法,从而增加风硐断面积,降低风硐内的风速和通风阻力,效果明显。