Influence of ion bombardment on the properties and microstructure of unbalanced magnetron deposited niobium coatings

The effect of the ion bombardment to unbalanced magnetron deposited, approximately 1.5 and 4.5 μm thick, Nb coatings have been investigated as the bias voltage was varied from U_B=−75 to −150 V. Increasing bias voltage increased the hardness of the coating from 4.5 to 8.0 GPa. This was associated with residual stress and Ar incorporation into the Nb lattice. Strong {110} texture developed in the samples deposited at low bias voltages, while beyond U_B=−100 V a {111} texture became dominant. However, strong {111} texture was observed only with the thicker 3Nb coatings. Secondary electron microscopy investigation of the coating topography showed fewer defects in the thicker coatings. All coatings exhibited good corrosion resistance, with the thicker coatings clearly outperforming the thinner ones. Excessive bias voltages (U_B=−150 V) was found to lead to poor adhesion and loss of corrosion resistance.     

Contact interaction of double titanium and chromium diboride with Fe-Cr alloys

The kinetics of wetting double titanium and chromium diboride by iron-based alloys with different chromium content is studied. It is shown that contact angles are formed in such systems over the range 0–10°. The energy parameters of wetting are calculated. It is established that chromium as a surface-active element promotes Fe-Cr alloy spreading on the diboride surface. The microstructure of the interaction area is studied. It is shown that terminal solid solutions and eutectics are formed in the TiCrB₂-(Fe-Cr) system. The optimum compositions of the metallic binder are determined for TiCrB₂-based composite materials. __________ Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, Vol. 46, No. 1–2(453), pp. 109–115, 2007     

高铬铸铁中铌碳化物的辨认

介绍了用背散射象法、彩色金相法和扫描电镜分析区别铬碳化物和铌碳化物。     

Nile blue adsorbed onto silica gel modified with niobium oxide for electrocatalytic oxidation of NADH

A study of modified carbon paste electrode employing Nile blue (NB) adsorbed on silica gel modified with niobium oxide (SN) for electrocatalytic oxidation of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is described. The adsorbed organic dye on SN was used to prepare a modified carbon paste electrode to investigate its electrochemical properties. The formal potential (E°′) of the adsorbed NB (−230 mV vs. saturated calomel electrode, SCE) showed a shift of 70 mV towards a more positive potential value, compared to NB dissolved in aqueous solution. In solutions with pH between 6.0 and 8.0 did stability and E°′ remained almost constant. However, for a solution pH lower than 6.0 the E°′ was affected by the acidity of the contacting solution, shifting the E°′ towards more positive values. For the solution pHs between 6.0 and 8.0 the electrocatalytic activity remained almost constant. A linear response range for NADH between 1.0×10⁻⁵ and 5.2×10⁻⁴ mol l⁻¹, at pH 7.0, was observed for the electrode, with an applied potential of −200 mV versus SCE. The formation of an intermediate charge transfer (CT) complex was proposed to the CT reaction between NADH and adsorbed NB. The heterogeneous electron transfer rate, k_obs, was 1400 M⁻¹ s⁻¹ and the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant, was 0.21 mM at pH 7.0 evaluated from rotating disk electrode (RDE) experiments with an electrode coverage of about 5.2×10⁻⁹ mol cm⁻². The increase in the reaction rate between NADH and the immobilized NB compared to those obtained with dissolved NB was assigned to the shift of the E°′ towards more positive values.     

Alumina-, niobia-, and niobia/alumina-supported NiMoS catalysts: Surface properties and activities in the hydrodesulfurization of thiophene and hydrodenitrogenation of 2,6-dimethylaniline

The activity of NiMoS catalysts supported on niobia, alumina, and niobia/alumina was compared for the thiophene hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and 2,6-dimethylaniline (2,6-DMA) hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) reactions. To evaluate the acidity of the supports and identify the nature of the sulfide sites, adsorption of 2,6-dimethylpyridine, pyridine, and CO was performed and followed by IR spectroscopy. This study has shown that with niobia as a support, the activity of NiMoS catalysts in thiophene HDS and in HDN of 2,6-DMA was no longer promoted by the synergy between Ni and Mo. The absence of synergy between molybdenum and nickel on niobia can be explained by the strong interaction of each metal with niobia at the expense of interaction with each other. Moreover, it has been shown that on a niobia/alumina support, the formation of the NiMoS phase can be directly linked to the presence of alumina not covered by niobia. However, niobia is an interesting support for the HDN of 2,6-DMA, because it favors the formation of xylene through direct ammonia elimination involving low H₂ consumption. The activity for xylene formation on niobia is linked to the electron-deficient nature of the Mo sulfide site, as demonstrated by CO adsorption followed by IR.     

放电等离子烧结法制备二硼化钛多孔陶瓷

以二硼化钛微粉为原料，采用放电等离子烧结技术，通过控制烧结温度、保温时间、施加压力等工艺参数，成功的制备出具有高强度和高气孔率的二硼化钛多孔陶瓷。采用浸泡介质法，三点弯曲法测试了材料的气孔率，开口气孔率及强度；用扫描电镜对材料断口进行了观察。实验结果表明：在1300-1500℃的烧结温度下，获得了气孔率33％～45％，最大抗弯强度〉60MPa的二硼化钛多孔陶瓷。扫描电镜结果显示，二硼化钛颗粒间有明显的颈部烧结。     

Production of niobium powder by magnesiothermic reduction of niobium oxides in a cyclone reactor

In the last years, a variety of processes respectively process steps have been investigated for the production of niobium powder. This is due to the fact that niobium capacitors could be a viable alternative to tantalum capacitors from a performance, availability, and price point of view. The reduction of niobium pentoxide by magnesium results in fine powders with high specific surface area but has the disadvantages of a very exothermic nature and the formation of magnesium niobate. It is shown in this work that the application of a continuously operating cyclone reactor and the use of niobium(IV) oxide as raw material solve these problems. A good control of the highly exothermic reaction within the cyclone reactor was achieved in the cyclone reactor by the ratio between gas flow rate and powder flow rate as well as by a proper preheating of the gas.     

Effect of High‐Energy Ball Milling on Mechanical Properties of the Mg–Nb Composites Fabricated through Powder Metallurgy Process

New biocompatible and biodegradable Mg–Nb composites used as bone implant materials are fabricated through powder metallurgy process. Mg–Nb mixture powders are prepared through mechanical milling and manual mixing. Then, the Mg–Nb composites are fabricated through cold press and sintering processes. The effect of mechanical milling and Nb particles as reinforcements on the microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg–Nb composites are investigated. The mechanical milling process is found to be effective in reducing the size of Mg and Nb particles, distributing the Nb particles uniformly in the Mg matrix and obtaining Mg–Nb composite particles. The Mg–Nb composite particles can be bound together firmly during the sintering process, result in Mg–Nb composite structures with no intermetallic formation, lower porosity, and higher mechanical properties compared to composites prepared through manual mixing. Interestingly, the mechanical properties of manually mixed Mg–Nb composites appear to be even lower than that of pure Mg.

     

Microstructure of direct current and pulse magnetron sputtered Cr-B coatings

Chromium diboride thin films possess desirable combinations of properties (such as high hardness, wear resistance, chemical inertness, high thermal and electrical conductivity), which are attractive for a wide range of potential industrial applications. However, these properties depend strongly on the deposition process and parameters. Investigation of the resultant coating structures could explain certain differences between them, giving important information about the characteristics of the deposition process (which in this particular case is a recently developed method involving magnetron sputtering of loosely packed blended powder targets) and pointing out directions for improvement.In this paper, Cr-B coatings deposited by direct current (DC) and DC-pulse magnetron sputtering of loosely packed blended powder targets are characterised by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques (electron diffraction and bright-field/dark-field imaging). The structures of the coatings deposited with different parameters are investigated and compared, and the effect of oxygen contamination on the structure is discussed.Coatings with an extremely fine, nanocolumnar structure were observed. DC sputter deposited (and generally non-stoichiometric) Cr-B coatings exhibit a short range ordered ‘zone T’ microstructure, while DC-pulse deposited stoichiometric CrB₂ coatings are dense and defect-free, crystalline and show strong preferred orientation.A small amount of contamination by oxygen of the interfacial sub-layers (due to the target material being a powder) of the DC-pulse magnetron sputter deposited stoichiometric CrB₂ (and near-stoichiometric CrB) coatings was found to affect the structure by suppressing nanocolumnar growth and promoting equiaxed, nanometer-sized grains, close to the coating/substrate interface. The majority of the coating however remained nanocolumnar.