Effect of Li content on the microstructure and properties of lead-free piezoelectric(K0.5Na0.5)1-xLixNbO3 ceramics prepared by SPS

Lead-free piezoelectric (K_0.5Na_0.5)_1-xLi_xNbO₃ (x = 0at%-20at%) ceramics were synthesized by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at low temperature and the effects of LiNbO₃ addition on its crystal structure and properties were also studied. When the Li content was less than 6at%, a single proveskite phase with the similar structure of (K_0.5Na_0.5)NbO₃ was formed; and a secondary phase with K₃Li₂Nb₅O₁₅ structure was observed in the 6at% < x < 20at% compositional range. Furthermore, LiNbO₃ existed as the third phase when the Li content was higher than 8at%. The grain sizes increased from 200-500 nm to 5-8 μm when the K₃Li₂Nb₅O₁₅ and LiNbO₃ like phases were formed. With increasing Li content, the relative density of the ceramics first decreased from 97% to 93% and then kept constant. The piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃, dielectric constant, and planner electromechanical coupling factor exhibited a decreasing tendency with increasing Li content because of the decrease in density and the formation of the secondary phase such as K₃Li₂Nb₅O₁₅ and LiNbO₃. The formation of dense microstructure with a single phase is necessary in improving the properties of the (K_0.5Na_0.5)_1-xLi_xNbO₃ ceramics.     

Microstructure and optical absorption properties of Au/NiO thin films

Au nanoparticles dispersed NiO composite films were prepared by a chemical solution method. The phase structure, microstructure, surface chemical state, and optical absorption properties of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Uv-vis spectrometer. The results indicate that Au particles with the average diameters of 35–42 nm are approximately spherical and disperse in the NiO matrix. The optical absorption peaks due to the surface plasmon resonance of Au particles shift to the shorter wavelength and intensify with the increase of Au content. The bandwidth narrows when the Au content increases from 8.4wt% to 45.2wt%, but widens by further increasing the Au content from 45.2wt% to 60.5wt%. The band gap E_g increases with the increase of Au contents from 8.4wt% to 45.2wt%, but decreases by further increasing the Au content.     

Effect of SiO2 addition on the dielectric properties and microstructure of BaTiO3-based ceramics in reducing sintering

The effect of SiO₂ doping on the sintering behavior, microstructure, and dielectric properties of BaTiO₃-based ceramics has been investigated. Silica was added to the BaTiO₃-based powder prepared by the solid state method with 0.075mol%, 0.15mol%, and 0.3mol%, respectively. The SiO₂-doped BaTiO₃-based ceramic with high density and uniform grain size were obtained, which were sintered in reducing atmosphere. A scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and LCR meter were used to determine the microstructure as well as the dielectric properties. SiO₂ can form a liquid phase belonging to the ternary system of BaO-TiO₂-SiO₂, leading to the formation of BaTiO₃ ceramics with high density at a lower sintering temperature. The SiO₂-doped BaTiO₃-based ceramics can be sintered to a theoretical density higher than 95% at 1220℃ with a soaking time of 2 h. The dielectric constants of the sample with 0.15mol% SiO₂ addition sintered at 1220℃ is about 9000. Doping with a small amount of silica can improve the sintering and dielectric properties of BaTiO₃-based ceramics.     

Effects of Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> on the properties of ceramics from steel slag

Ferric oxide is one of the key factors affecting both the microstructure and the properties of CaO-MgO-SiO₂-based ceramics. Research on this effect is significant in the utilization of iron-rich solid wastes in ceramics. Ceramic samples with various Fe₂O₃ contents (0wt%, 5wt%, and 10wt%) were prepared and the corresponding physical properties and microstructure were studied. The results indicated that Fe₂O₃ not only played a fluxing role, but also promoted the formation of crystals. Ceramics with 5wt% of Fe₂O₃ addition attained the best mechanical properties with a flexural strength of 132.9 MPa. Iron ions were dissolved into diopside, consequently causing phase transformation from diopside and protoenstatite to augite, thereby contributing to the enhancement of its properties. An excess amount of Fe₂O₃ addition (10wt% or more) resulted in deteriorated properties due to the generation of an excess volume of liquid and the formation of high-porosity structures within ceramics.     

Dielectric properties of spark plasma sintered AlN/SiC composite ceramics

In this study, we have investigated how the dielectric loss tangent and permittivity of AlN ceramics are affected by factors such as powder mixing methods, milling time, sintering temperature, and the addition of a second conductive phase. All ceramic samples were prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) under a pressure of 30 MPa. AlN composite ceramics sintered with 30wt%–40wt% SiC at 1600℃ for 5 min exhibited the best dielectric loss tangent, which is greater than 0.3. In addition to AlN and β-SiC, the samples also contained 2H-SiC and Fe₅Si₃, as detected by X-ray difraction (XRD). The relative densities of the sintered ceramics were higher than 93%. Experimental results indicate that nano-SiC has a strong capability of absorbing electromagnetic waves. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of AlN-SiC ceramics with the same content of SiC decreased as the frequency of electromagnetic waves increased from 1 kHz to 1 MHz.     

TiO2对含铬高钛熔分渣熔化性能和黏度的影响

A study on the melting and viscosity properties of the chromium-containing high-titanium melting slag (CaO–SiO₂–MgO–Al₂O₃–TiO₂–Cr₂O₃) with TiO₂ contents ranging from 38.63wt% to 42.63wt% was conducted. The melting properties were investigated with a melting-point apparatus, and viscosity was measured using the rotating cylinder method. The FactSage 7.1 software and X-ray diffraction, in combination with scanning electron microscopy–energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS), were used to characterize the phase equilibrium and microstructure of chromium-containing high-titanium melting slags. The results indicated that an increase in the TiO₂ content led to a decrease in the viscosity of the chromium-containing high-titanium melting slag. In addition, the softening temperature, hemispheric temperature, and flowing temperature decreased with increasing TiO₂ content. The amount of crystallized anosovite and sphene phases gradually increased with increasing TiO₂ content, whereas the amount of perovskite phase decreased. SEM observations revealed that the distribution of the anosovite phase was dominantly influenced by TiO₂.     

Effectiveness of sodium silicate as gangue depressants in iron ore slimes flotation

The recovery of iron from the screw classifier overflow slimes by direct flotation was studied. The relative effectiveness of sodium silicates with different silica-to-soda mole ratios as depressants for silica and silicate bearing minerals was investigated. Silica-to-soda mole ratio and silicate dosage were found to have significant effect on the separation efficiency. The results show that an increase of Fe content in the concentrate is observed with concomitant reduction in SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ levels when a particular type of sodium silicate at a proper dosage is used. The concentrate of 58.89wt% Fe, 4.68wt% SiO₂, and 5.28wt% Al₂O₃ with the weight recovery of 38.74% and the metal recovery of 41.13% can be obtained from the iron ore slimes with 54.44wt% Fe, 6.72wt% SiO₂, and 6.80wt% Al₂O₃, when Na₂SiO₃ with a silica-to-soda mole ratio of 2.19 is used as a depressant at a feed rate of 0.2 kg/t.     

Effects of MgO and TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> on the viscous behaviors and phase compositions of titanium-bearing slag

The effects of MgO and TiO₂ on the viscosity, activation energy for viscous flow, and break-point temperature of titanium-bearing slag were studied. The correlation between viscosity and slag structure was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Subsequently, main phases in the slag and their content changes were investigated by X-ray diffraction and Factsage 6.4 software package. The results show that the viscosity decreases when the MgO content increases from 10.00wt% to 14.00wt%. Moreover, the break-point temperature increases, and the activation energy for viscous flow initially increases and subsequently decreases. In addition, with increasing TiO₂ content from 5.00wt% to 9.00wt%, the viscosity decreases, and the break-point temperature and activation energy for viscous flow initially decrease and subsequently increase. FTIR analyses reveal that the polymerization degree of complex viscous units in titanium-bearing slag decreases with increasing MgO and TiO₂ contents. The mechanism of viscosity variation was elucidated. The basic phase in experimental slags is melilite. Besides, as the MgO content increases, the amount of magnesia–alumina spinel in the slag increases. Similarly, the sum of pyroxene and perovskite phases in the slag increases with increasing TiO₂ content.     

Dielectric,piezoelectric, and ferroelectric properties of lanthanum-modified PZTFN ceramics

Specimens of Pb_1?1.5xLa_x(Zr_0.53Ti_0.47)_1?y?zFe_yNb_zO₃(x = 0, 0.004, 0.008, 0.012, and 0.016, y = z = 0.01) (PZTFN) ceramics were synthesized by a semi-wet route. In the present study, the effect of La doping was investigated on the structural, microstructural, dielectric, piezoelectric, and ferroelectric properties of the ceramics. The results show that, the tetragonal (space group P4mm) and rhombohedral (space group R3c) phases are observed to coexist in the sample at x = 0.012. Microstructural investigations of all the samples reveal that La doping inhibits grain growth. Doping of La into PZTFN improves the dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of the ceramics. The hysteresis loops of all specimens exhibit nonlinear behavior. The dielectric, piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties show a maximum response at x ≥ 0.012, which corresponds to the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB).     

Effect of Ce addition on microstructures and mechanical properties of A380 aluminum alloy prepared by squeeze-casting

The effect of cerium (Ce) addition on the eutectic Si, β-Al₅FeSi phase, and the tensile properties of A380 alloy specimens prepared by squeeze-casting were studied by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The experimental results showed that Ce more effectively modified the eutectic Si and refined the β-Al₅FeSi. The refinement effect significantly increased under a specific pressure of 100 MPa with the addition of Ce from 0.1wt% to 0.9wt%. In contrast, the average length and the aspect ratio of the eutectic Si and β-Al₅FeSi exhibited their optimal values when the content of the added Ce was greater than 0.5wt%. Needle-like Al8Cu4Ce was precipitated with the addition of excessive Ce; hence, the mechanical properties of A380 gradually decreased with increasing Ce content in the range from 0.3wt% to 0.9wt%.     

Multi-index analysis of the melting process of laterite metallized pellet

Herein, a multi-index analysis of the nickel content of an alloy, output rate of the alloy, nickel recovery rate, and iron recovery rate during the melting of laterite metallized pellets was performed. The thermodynamic reduction behavior of oxides such as NiO, FeO, Fe₃O₄, and Cr₂O₃ was studied using the FactSage software, which revealed that SiO₂ is not conducive to the reduction of iron oxides, whereas the addition of basic oxides such as CaO and MgO is beneficial for the reduction of iron oxides. On the basis of a comprehensive analysis to achieve greater nickel recovery and lower iron recovery rates, the optimum experimental parameters in the orthogonal experiment were A3B1C3 (t=30 min, C/O=0.4, R=1.2); the indicators w_Ni, φ_alloy, η_Ni, and η_Fe had values of 15.0wt%, 12.1%, 44.9%, and 96.4%, respectively. In single-factor experiments, increasing basicity (R) substantially improved the separation effect in the low-basicity range 0.5 ≤ R ≤ 0.8 but not in the high-basicity range 0.8 ≤ R ≤ 1.2. Similar results were obtained for the effect of the C/O ratio. Moreover, the recovery rate of nickel increased with increasing recovery rate of iron.     

A generalized funk’s section theorem for measures

If L is a star body in R~n whose central(n-i)-slices have the same(n-i)-dimensional measure μ_(n-i)(with appropriate density)as the central(n-i)-slices of an origin-symmetric star body K,then the corresponding n-dimensional measures μ_n of K and L satisfy μ_n(K)≤μ_n(L).This extends a generalized Funk’s section theorem for volumes to that for measures.     

Parameter-Dependent Third-Order Susceptibility of InxGa1-xN/GaN Parabolic Quantum Dots

The electron states confined in wurtzite InxGa1-xN/GaN strained quantum dots （QDs） have been investigated in the effective -mass approximation by solving the Schrtdinger equation, in which parabolic confined potential and strong built-in electric field effect （due to the piezoelectricity and spontaneous polarization） have been taken into account. The real part Rex^（3）（0,0,ω） and the imaginary part Imx^（3）（0,0,ω） of the third-order susceptibil- ity describe quadratic electro-optic effects and electro-absorption process of the QDs respectively. And both of them have been calculated in directions parallel and vertical to z axis. Furthermore, the study shows Rex^（3）（0,0,ω） and Imx^（3）（0,0,ω） increase under resonant conditions with the QDs＇ radius and height increase, and the same results occur when the content increase. In addition, the resonant position shift to the lower energy region when the parabolic frequencies increase.     

Lüroth Expansion Digits and Maclaurin's Inequality

It is well known that for almost all real number x, the geometric mean of the first n digits d_i(x) in the Lüroth expansion of x converges to a number K_0 as n→∞. On the other hand, for almost all x, the arithmetric mean of the first n Lüroth expansion digits d_i(x) approaches infinity as n→∞. There is a sequence of refinements of the AM-GM inequality, Maclaurin's inequalities, relating the 1/k-th powers of the k-th elementary symmetric means of n numbers for 1≤k≤n. In this paper, we investigate what happens to the means of Lüroth expansion digits in the limit as one moves f(n) steps away from either extreme. We prove sufficient conditions on f(n) to ensure divergence when one moves away from the arithmetic mean and convergence when one moves f(n) steps away from geometric mean.     

Corrosion behavior of as-cast Mg–8Li–3Al+xCe alloy in 3.5wt% NaCl solution

Mg–8Li–3Al+xCe alloys (x = 0.5wt%, 1.0wt%, and 1.5wt%) were prepared through a casting route in an electric resistance furnace under a controlled atmosphere. The cast alloys were characterized by X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The corrosion behavior of the as-cast Mg–8Li–3Al+xCe alloys were studied under salt spray tests in 3.5wt% NaCl solution at 35°C, in accordance with standard ASTM B–117, in conjunction with potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) tests. The results show that the addition of Ce to Mg–8Li–3Al (LA83) alloy results in the formation of Al₂Ce intermetallic phase, refines both the α-Mg phase and the Mg₁₇Al₁₂ intermetallic phase, and then increases the microhardness of the alloys. The results of PDP and salt spray tests reveal that an increase in Ce content to 1.5wt% decreases the corrosion rate. The best corrosion resistance is observed for the LA83 alloy sample with 1.0wt% Ce.     

Microstructure and electrolysis behavior of self-healing Cu-Ni-Fe composite inert anodes for aluminum electrowinning

The microstructure evolution and electrolysis behavior of (Cu₅₂Ni₃₀Fe₁₈)-xNiFe₂O₄ (x=40wt%, 50wt%, 60wt%, and 70wt%) composite inert anodes for aluminum electrowinning were studied. NiFe₂O₄ was synthesized by solid-state reaction at 950℃. The dense anode blocks were prepared by ball-milling followed by sintering under a N₂ atmosphere. The phase evolution of the anodes after sintering was determined by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results indicate that a substitution reaction between Fe in the alloy phase and Ni in the oxide phase occurs during the sintering process. The samples were also examined as inert anodes for aluminum electrowinning in the low-temperature KF-NaF-AlF₃ molten electrolyte for 24 h. The cell voltage during electrolysis and the corrosion scale on the anodes were analyzed. The results confirm that the scale has a self-repairing function because of the synergistic reaction between the alloy phase with Fe added and the oxide phase. The estimated wear rate of the (Cu₅₂Ni₃₀Fe₁₈)-50NiFe₂O₄ composite anode is 2.02 cm·a-1.     

The periodic solution for a kind odd order delay differential equation

In this paper, we use the coincidence degree theory to research the odd order delay differential equation a(t)χ(2n+1)(t)+b(t)χ(t)+g(t,-τ(t)))=p(t), and we obtain the sufficient conditions for the existence of periodic solutions, which improves and generalizes some related results in the literatures.     

Reduction in secondary dendrite arm spacing in cast eutectic Al-Si piston alloys by cerium addition

The effects of Ce on the secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) and mechanical behavior of Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloys were investigated. The reduction of SDAS at different Ce concentrations was evaluated in a directional solidification experiment via computer-aided cooling curve thermal analysis (CA CCTA). -The results showed that 0.1wt%-1.0wt% Ce addition resulted in a rapid solidification time, △T_S, and low solidification temperature, △T_S, whereas 0.1wt% Ce resulted in a fast solidification time, △ta-Al, of the α-Al phase. Furthermore, Ce addition refined the SDAS, which was reduced to approximately 36%. The mechanical properties of the alloys with and without Ce were investigated using tensile and hardness tests. The quality index (Q) and ultimate tensile strength of (UTS) Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloys significantly improved with the addition of 0.1wt% Ce. Moreover, the base alloy hardness was improved with increasing Ce concentration.     

Basic characteristics of Australian iron ore concentrate and its effects on sinter properties during the high-limonite sintering process

The basic characteristics of Australian iron ore concentrate (Ore-A) and its effects on sinter properties during a high-limonite sintering process were studied using micro-sinter and sinter pot methods. The results show that the Ore-A exhibits good granulation properties, strong liquid flow capability, high bonding phase strength and crystal strength, but poor assimilability. With increasing Ore-A ratio, the tumbler index and the reduction index (RI) of the sinter first increase and then decrease, whereas the softening interval (?T) and the softening start temperature (T_10%) of the sinter exhibit the opposite behavior; the reduction degradation index (RDI_+3.15) of the sinter increases linearly, but the sinter yield exhibits no obvious effects. With increasing Ore-A ratio, the distribution and crystallization of the minerals are improved, the main bonding phase first changes from silico-ferrite of calcium and aluminum (SFCA) to kirschsteinite, silicate, and SFCA and then transforms to 2CaO·SiO₂ and SFCA. Given the utilization of Ore-A and the improvement of the sinter properties, the Ore-A ratio in the high-limonite sintering process is suggested to be controlled at approximately 6wt%.     

Properties of a class of groups on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis></Subscript>

In this paper, we obtain the factorization of direct production and order of group GL(n, Z _m ) in a simple method. Then we generalize some properties of GL(2, Z _p ) proposed by Huppert, and prove that the group \(GL\left( {2,{Z_{{z^\lambda }}}} \right)\) is solvable. We also prove that group GL(n, Z _p ) is solvable if and only if GL(n, Z _p ) is solvable, and list the generators of groups GL(n, Z _p ) and SL(n, Z _p ). At last, we prove that PSL(2, Z _p )(p > 3) and PSL(n, Z _p )(n > 3) are simple.