Inhibition of Whisker Growth on the Surface of Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu-0.5Ce Solder Alloyed with Zn

Solder alloys doped with rare-earth elements have been reported to show many beneficial effects. However, tin whiskers have been observed to appear on the surface of Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu-0.5Ce solder joints after air exposure for short periods. Such a phenomenon of abnormal whisker growth may significantly degrade the reliability of electronic packaging. The present study shows that the tin whiskers can be prevented by the addition of 0.5 wt.% Zn into a Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu-0.5Ce solder. The inhibition effect on the whisker growth is correlated to the refining of (Ce_0.9Zn_0.1)Sn₃ intermetallics in this Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu-0.5Ce-0.5Zn alloy.     

Enhancing photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cell by rare-earth doped oxide of Lu2O3:(Tm, Yb)

In order to increase of the photocurrent, photovoltage and energy conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), rare-earth doped oxide of Lu₂O₃:(Tm³⁺, Yb³⁺) is prepared and introduced into the TiO₂ film in the DSSC. As a luminescence medium, Lu₂O₃:(Tm³⁺, Yb³⁺) improves incident light harvest via a conversion luminescence process and increases photocurrent; as a p-type dopant, the rare-earth ions elevate the energy level of the oxide film and increase the photovoltage. Under a simulated solar light irradiation of 100 mW cm⁻², the light-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of the DSSC with Lu₂O₃:(Tm³⁺, Yb³⁺) doping reaches 6.63%, which is increased by 11.1% compared to the DSSC without Lu₂O₃:(Tm³⁺, Yb³⁺) doping.     

Enhanced upconversion study of Er3+-Yb3+ codoped NaYF4 phosphors synthesized by the reverse microemulsion method

Herein, nanocrystals of Er³⁺ and Er³⁺, Yb³⁺ co-doped NaYF₄ upconversion (UC) phosphor were prepared via the reverse-microemulsion method. The impact of different concentrations of Er³⁺ ions on the UC emission intensity after 980?nm diode laser excitation is discussed. The structure, morphology and composition of the nanophosphors were confirmed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and the results showed the presence of NaYF₄ nanocrystals with hexagonal phases of NaYF₄. The UC spectra revealed two emission bands including a green and a red emission band and the CIE coordinate for the samples were estimated. The present research revealed that the reverse-microemulsion approach will be suitable for the synthesis of efficient upconversion nanophosphors.     

Crystallization processes,compressibility, sinterability and mechanical properties of La-monazite-type ceramics

Lanthanide orthophosphate ceramics with monazite structure gained broad interest for several industrial applications. The crystallization processes, compressibility and sinterability of monazite-type lanthanum orthophosphate powder hydrothermally synthesized at 200 °C as well as mechanical properties of the sintered compacts were investigated. Based on a combination of thermo- and surface area analyses, X-ray diffraction as well as scanning electron microscopy studies it was found that the crystallization process occurs at ∼500 °C and the final crystallization of LaPO₄ monoclinic phase takes place at 1400 °C. The sintered pellets are characterized by a density of 98% of theoretical density, a Vickers hardness of 5.7 ± 0.1 GPa and fracture toughness of 1.4 ± 0.1 MPa m^0.5.     

Influence of doping on magnetic and electromagnetic properties of spinel ferrites

In this study, spinel Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ doped with transition metal ions as well as rare-earth ions Ni_0.4Zn_0.4M′_0.2Fe₂O₄ (M′ = Cu, Dy, Gd and Lu) and M″_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ (M″ = Ni, Mn and Co) are developed using the sol-gel auto-combustion route, and the role of substitution on electromagnetic properties is investigated. The powder X-ray diffraction accompanied by Rietveld refinement signifies a single-phase spinel ferrite that belongs to Fd-3m space group for all the compositions. Rietveld refinement confirms that doped Cu²⁺, Dy³⁺, Gd³⁺ and Lu³⁺ ions are at random distribution between spinel tetrahedral and spinel octahedral sites against their preferential occupancy. The saturation magnetisation (M_S) of Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ (M_S = 50.5 emu/g) increased with partial doping showing M_S = 60.08 emu/g for transition-metal doped Ni_0.4Zn_0.4Cu_0.2Fe₂O₄ and M_S = 109.7 emu/g for rare-earth doped Ni_0.4Zn_0.4Dy_0.2Fe₂O₄, which was the highest among all the doped compositions. Doping enhances the dielectric permittivity of Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ from 4.2 to 6.5 for Ni_0.4Zn_0.4Cu_0.2Fe₂O₄ and 7.7 for Ni_0.4Zn_0.4Dy_0.2Fe₂O₄. Further, the reflection coefficient (R_L) of all the doped compositions of Ni_0.4Zn_0.4M′_0.2Fe₂O₄ (M′ = Cu, Dy, Gd and Lu) was less than −8 dB (85% absorption) throughout the frequency band of 8–12 GHz with an optimum material thickness of 3.5 mm. Transition metal ion doped Ni_0.4Zn_0.4Cu_0.2Fe₂O₄ resulted in further improvement of its absorption characteristics of the incident EM waves with reflection coefficient (R_L) less than −10 dB (between 84.15% and 90%) between 10 and 12 GHz at a material thickness of 3.5 mm in the X-band frequency range.     

Effect of multi-component rare-earth doping on maintaining structure stability of RE2Zr2O7 (RE = La,Sm, Gd,Y, Yb) coatings under thermal cycling

Inspired by the high entropy effects of high-entropy components, a novel high-entropy rare-earth zirconate (La_1/5Gd_1/5Y_1/5Sm_1/5Yb_1/5)₂Zr₂O₇ (HEC-LZ) was designed and successfully synthesized in this work. In addition, two binary rare-earth doped zirconates (RE-LZ), (La_1/3Sm_1/3Yb_1/3)₂Zr₂O₇ (LSYZ) and (La_1/3Gd_1/3Y_1/3)₂Zr₂O₇ (LGYZ), were proposed using the same rare-earth elements for comparison. The thermal barrier coatings with LZ-based ceramic top layer were prepared by spray granulation, solid-phase synthesis and atmospheric plasma spraying techniques. The as-synthesized LZ-based ceramics are all dominated by the pyrochlore phase. Under 1000 °C, the thermal cycling performances of the three coatings were studied. The microstructure evolution and crack expansion during the failure process were investigated in detail. The strengthening mechanism and the cause of coating spallation are proposed in combination with mechanical properties and thermal matching analysis. The results showed that compared with the undoped LZ coating, the thermal shock life of LGYZ coating, LSYZ coating and HEC-LZ coating is improved by nearly 46%, 27% and 57%, respectively. Due to the characteristics of high randomness, HEC-LZ ceramic has a large lattice distortion than RE-LZ ceramics, resulting in a higher coefficient of thermal expansion and fracture toughness, which contributes to maintaining the structure stability of coatings under thermal stress.     

Wetting,infiltration, and interaction behavior of calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate towards Gd/Yb-modified SrZrO3 coatings deposited by solution precursor plasma spray

Wetting of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) with calcium-magnesium- alumino-silicate (CMAS) leads to sintering and phase transition, which are major issues in the aerospace industry. We prepared Sr(Zr_1−2xYb_xGd_x)O_3−x (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15) coatings using solution precursor plasma spraying with inter-pass boundaries (IPBs) and vertical cracks, and analyzed the CMAS wettability at 1350 °C using the sessile-drop method. The wetting and diffusion dynamics of the CMAS melt on the surface of the coating were studied using a CCD camera, revealing that the Sr(Zr_0.7Yb_0.15Gd_0.15)O_2.85 coating had the lowest spreading speed (2.60 × 10⁻⁴ mm/s, spreading balance process). Furthermore, a greater extent of crack bending and smaller crack diameter can prevent the coatings from penetration of the CMAS melt.     

稀土离子掺杂铝酸盐长余辉发光材料的研究进展

综述了长余辉发光材料的国内外研究进展，并以稀土离子激活的铝酸盐体系为例，从发光机理、合成方法和研究现状等方面进行了全面的分析。特别对飞秒激光诱导下的长余辉发光玻璃的研究情况进行了详细介绍，对发展前景和研究方向进行了展望。     

聚乙烯转光棚膜的加工及应用研究

本文对聚乙烯转光棚膜的加工和光转换剂的作用、配比关系及物理性能进行了讨论。     

Drying of Inorganic Particulate Compounds

ABSTRACT

Inorganic particulates are usually dried in a fixed bed, fluidized bed, or spray dryers. These compounds are easy to dry, once their physical structure, with high porosity, allows moisture content removal with low resistances. For fluidized bed of alumina particle evaluations, a laboratory-scale drying unit was built. The drying experiments were carried out with alumina particles with different diameters to evaluate temperature and air flow rate effects on drying kinetics and bed height. In another case, the dehydration of a mixture of rare-earth chlorides in a fluidized bed was studied, aiming at the production of anhydrous rare-earth chlorides, used to obtain mischmetal by electrolytic and metallothermic processes. The spray drying experiments were carried out in a pilot plant. Spray drying is a technique largely applied in industrial processes to dry solutions or suspensions, converting their solid parts into a dried powder. A set of rare-earth drying experiments was carried out, aiming at the development of techniques to obtain a powder that could satisfy international morphological requirements. The results allowed evaluating the effects of air flow rate, feed concentration, atomizer model, rotation velocity, and atomization pressure on powder density and particle size distribution.