Designing amorphous formulations of polyphenols with naringin by spray-drying for enhanced solubility and permeability

Naringin (NAR), a major flavanone (FVA) glycoside, is a component of food mainly obtained from grapefruit. We used NAR as a food additive to improve the solubility and permeability of hydrophobic polyphenols used as supplements in the food industry. The spray-dried particles (SDPs) of NAR alone show an amorphous state with a glass transition temperature (T_g) at 93.2 °C. SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols, such as flavone (FVO), quercetin (QCT), naringenin (NRG), and resveratrol (RVT) were prepared by adding varying amounts of NAR. All SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols with added NAR were in an amorphous state with a single T_g, but SDPs of hydrophobic polyphenols without added NAR showed diffraction peaks derived from each crystal. The SDPs with NAR could keep an amorphous state after storage at a high humidity condition for one month, except for SDPs of RVT/NAR. SDPs with NAR enhanced the solubility of hydrophobic polyphenols, especially NRG solubility, which was enhanced more than 9 times compared to NRG crystal. The enhanced solubility resulted in the increased membrane permeability of NRG. The antioxidant effect of the hydrophobic NRG was also enhanced by the synergetic effect of NAR. The findings demonstrated that NAR could be used as a food additive to enhance the solubility and membrane permeability of hydrophobic polyphenols.     

The influence of FeNi nanoparticles on the microstructures and soft magnetic properties of FeSi soft magnetic composites

In this work, a new type of FeSi/FeNi soft magnetic powder core (SMPC) was successfully fabricated by coating FeNi nanoparticles on the surface of FeSi micrometer powder. The effects of different contents of FeNi nanoparticles on the micromorphology, internal structures, and soft magnetic properties of SMPCs were studied. The results show that FeNi nanoparticles adhere to the surface of FeSi powder, which can effectively fill the air gap between FeSi powder and is beneficial to the compaction of the powder cores during the pressing process. Thus, the density of the SMPCs is increased. Compared to FeSi SMPCs, the comprehensive soft magnetic properties of FeSi/FeNi SMPCs have been greatly improved. When adding 15 wt% FeNi nanoparticles, the SMPCs exhibit excellent magnetic properties with high effective permeability (increased by 43.8 %) and low core loss (decreased by 22.1 %). The high performance FeSi/FeNi SMPCs prepared in this work are expected to be widely used in power choke coils, uninterruptible power supplies, and boosts and inverter inductors.     

Understanding δ-Bi2O3 fluorite degradation mechanism and related solutions for promising applications in distributed multigeneration

Oxygen selective membrane on the base of cermet δ-Bi₂O₃/Ag with an interpenetrating structure has the maximum potential efficiency of air separation. However, the degradation processes, including the phase degradation of fluorite δ-Bi₂O₃, do not make it possible to create a membrane with the required perfection and durability. In this work, the ordering of oxygen vacancies with the transformation of fluorite into the rhombohedral phase (S.G. R-3) was studied by powder HT XRD in situ at 600 °C on dense Bi_0.78Er_0.2Hf_0.02O_1.51 ceramics. Fast regeneration of disordered fluorite occurs at T = 640–700 °C. The phase degradation of fluorite due to the segregation of dopants at the second stage leads into stable phases - sillenite, tetragonal or rhombohedral phase (S.G. R-3m), depending on the composition of δ-Bi₂O₃. Fast regeneration of fluorite occurs when heated to 820 °C, which is unacceptable for membranes. Analysis of all available data allows us to propose approaches to optimize the composition of δ-Bi₂O₃ and technical solutions for creating durable oxygen selective membranes with promising use in distributed multigeneration. As a result of the analysis, a new solid electrolyte with better parameters was obtained.     

Enhanced strains of Nb-doped BNKT-4ST piezoelectric ceramics via phase boundary and domain design

A strategy that constructs the morphotropic phase boundary and manipulates the domain structure has been used to design the component of 0.96[Bi_0.5(Na_0.84K_0.16)_0.5Ti_(1-x)Nb_xO₃]-0.04SrTiO₃ (BNKT-4ST-100xNb) to enhance the strain properties for actuator application. Non-equivalent Nb⁵⁺ donor doping modulates the phase transition from the mixture of rhombohedral and tetragonal phases to the pseudocubic phase and results in the coexistence of multiple phases. Moreover, the high-resolution TEM confirms the existence of polar nano regions that contribute to the macroscopic relaxor behaviour. The size of the domains is reduced with increasing Nb⁵⁺, resulting in an enhanced relaxor behaviour. The ferroelectric-relaxor transition temperature decreases from 85 to below 30 °C, implying a non-ergodic to ergodic relaxor transition. An improved strain of 0.56% and a giant normalized strain of 1120 pm/V were achieved for BNKT-4ST-1.5Nb, which were attributed to the unique domain structure in which nanodomains are embedded in an undistorted cubic matrix. Ferroelectric, antiferroelectric, and relaxor phases coexist. As the electric field is large enough, a reversible phase transition occurs. Furthermore, good temperature stability was obtained due to the stability of the nanodomains, and no degradation in strains was observed even after 10⁴ cycles, which may originate from the reversible phase transition and dynamic domain wall. The results show that this design strategy offers a reference way to improve the strain behaviour and that BNKT-4ST-100xNb ceramics could be a potential material for high-displacement actuator applications.     

柠檬酸铋合成新工艺研究

针对现有柠檬酸铋制备工艺合成时间长、能耗高、产品纯度不高等不足,介绍了一种常温下制备柠檬酸铋的新工艺。新工艺制备时间短,制备的柠檬酸铋产品质量好,合成过程产生的废水可循环利用,废气经碱液循环吸收可生产硝酸钠副产品。     

Effect of hydrometallurgical process parameters on the Mn2O3 nano catalysts derived from spent batteries used in the plasma catalytic oxidation of BTX

Manganese oxide catalysts have been synthesized from the used batteries via hydrometallurgical method and effect of hydrometallurgical parameters such as the effect of acid type (H₂SO₄, HNO₃, HCl), acid concentration (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 %v/v) and powder to acid ratio (1/50, 1/60, 1/70, 1/80) were in detail investigated. The physico-chemical properties of as-prepared catalysts were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, FESEM, EDX, BET, TEM, and TPR-H₂ analysis. The activity of as-prepared catalysts were investigated towards the oxidation of benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) in a plasma-catalytic process. The results show that benzene and toluene conversion were almost constant in the range of 97–98% in case of various acid types, acid concentrations and solid to liquid ratios. However, the xylene conversion were varied in case of different hydrometallurgical factors. The highest xylene conversion was obtained in the presence of MnS0.5–60, which was prepared using H₂SO₄ with concentration of 0.5%v/v and solid to liquid ratio of 1/60. The effect of the input voltage and BTX flow rate on the BTX conversion was also investigated using MnS0.5–60 catalyst in detail.     

Additive manufacturing of bipolar plates for hydrogen production in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis cells

Water electrolysis is a process that can produce hydrogen in a clean way when renewable energy sources are used. This allows managing large renewable surpluses and transferring this energy to other sectors, such as industry or transport. Among the electrolytic technologies to produce hydrogen, proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis is a promising alternative. One of the main components of PEM electrolysis cells are the bipolar plates, which are machined with a series of flow distribution channels, largely responsible for their performance and durability. In this work, AISI 316L stainless steel bipolar plates have been built by additive manufacturing (AM), using laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L) technology. These bipolar plates were subjected to ex-situ corrosion tests and assembled in an electrolysis cell to evaluate the polarization curve. Furthermore, the obtained results were compared with bipolar plates manufactured by conventional machining processes (MEC). The obtained experimental results are very similar for both manufacturing methods. This demonstrates the viability of the PBF-L technology to produce metal bipolar plates for PEM electrolyzers and opens the possibilities to design new and more complex flow distribution channels and to test these designs in initial phases before scaling them to larger surfaces.     

新型着色材料——速溶色浆粉的测试与应用

介绍了通过初级颜料的润湿、研磨与分散、稳定处理技术,使助剂和树脂均匀地包裹在颜料表面,并通过特殊工艺制得水性和油性色浆粉,并赋予了很好的速溶性和分散性。