A bulk metal/ceramic composite material with a cellular structure

Metal/ceramic composite materials can be divided into two groups: one is ceramic reinforced metal matrix composite, and the other is metal toughened ceramic matrix composite. The research on these materials mainly focuses on the mechanical properties due …     

Gas-sensing properties of nanocomplex metal oxide

The development of CuOCeO2 nanocomposites as the sensing material of semiconductor gas sensors is reported. CuOCeO2 nanocomplex oxide is prepared by modified sol-gel method that uses copper nitrate, cerium nitrate and ethylene glycol as precursors. The optimized synthesis parameters and processing condition have been established. The particle size and distribution, phase morphology, specific surface, electronic states of atoms and gas sensing properties have been systematically characterized by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and gas sensitivity measurement. The results show that the sensor sensitivity depends on particle size, CuCe cation ratio and calcination temperature. The effects of calcinations temperature and CuO loading on the gas sensitivity are also examined. The optimum calcination temperature and the CuO content for the highest sensitivity are 600 ℃ and 12%, respectively. The combination of excellent thermal stability and tunable sensing properties through careful control of the processing parameters and selection of material composition gives rise to novel nanocomposites attractive to the sensitive and selective detection of a variety of toxic and combustible gases.     

Bias polarity-sensitive electrical failure characteristics of ZnSe nanowire in metal–semiconductor–metal nanostructure

The effect of bias polarity on the electrical breakdown behavior of the single ZnSe nanowire(NW) in the metal–semiconductor–metal(M–S–M)nanostructure under high current density and high bias conditions has been studied in the present paper. The experimental results show that the failure of the ZnSe NW in M–S–M nanostructure was sensitive to bias polarity since the NW commonly collapsed at the negatively biased Au metal electrode due to high Joule heat produced in NW at the reversely biased Schottky barrier. Thus, the electrical breakdown behavior of the ZnSe NW was highly dominated by the cathode-controlled mode due to the high resistance of the depletion region of ZnSe NW at the reversely biased Schottky contact.     

Multicomponent transition metal phosphide for oxygen evolution

Transition metal phosphides(TMPs)have exhibited decent performance in an oxygen evolution reaction(OER),which is a kinetic bottleneck in many energy storages and conversion systems.Most reported catalysts are composed of three or fewer metallic components.The inherent complexity of multicomponent TMPs with more than four metallic components hinders their investigation in rationally designing the structure and,more importantly,comprehending the component-activity correlation.Through hydrothermal growth and subsequent phosphor-ization,we reported a facile strategy for combining TMPs with tunable elemental compositions(Ni,Fe,Mn,Co,Cu)on a two-dimensional ti-tanium carbide(MXene)flake.The obtained TMPs/MXene hybrid nanostructures demonstrate homogeneously distributed elements.They ex-hibit high electrical conductivity and strong interfacial interaction,resulting in an accelerated reaction kinetics and long-term stability.The res-ults of different component catalysts’OER performance show that NiFeMnCoP/MXene is the most active catalyst,with a low overpotential of 240 mV at 10 mA·cm?2,a small Tafel slope of 41.43 mV·dec?1,and a robust long-term electrochemical stability.According to the electrocata-lytic mechanism investigation,the enhanced NiFeMnCoP/MXene OER performance is due to the strong synergistic effect of the multi-ele-mental composition.Our work,therefore,provides a scalable synthesis route for multi-elemental TMPs and a valuable guideline for efficient MXene-supported catalysts design.     

The composition and distribution of metal clusters in the MoFe protein from a nifZ deletion strain （DJ 194） of Azotobacter vinelandii

Through the anaerobic chromatography on the columns of DEAE 52, Q-Sepharose and Sephacryl S-200, a nitrogenase MoFe protein (△nifZ Av1) was obtained from a nifZ deleted mutant of Azotobacter vinelandii (stain DJ194).The results of Western blotting after anoxic native electrophoresis and SDS-PAGE showed that △nifZ Av1 was similar to wild type MoFe protein (OP Av1) at the electrophoretic mobility, molecular weight and subunit composition. Furthermore, △nifZ Avl was also similar to OP Av1 at the molybdenum content, EPR signal (g≈4.3, 3.65 and 2.01), and the molar extinction coefficient (△ε) of circular dichroism (CD)at 660 nm region. All of these indicated that, besides having the same α2β2 composition as OP Av1, the △nifZ Av1 also contained equal amount of reductive FeMoco in the spin state of S=3/2 to OP Av1. However, the iron content and substrate (C2H2, H^ and N2)-reduction activity of △nifZ Av1 were 74% and 46%-50% of those of OP Av1, respectively. Furthermore, the △ε at around 450 nm, which reflects P-cluster in Av1, was obviously lower than that of OP Av1. It suggested that the difference between △nifZ Avl and OP Av1 resulted from P-cluster rather than FeMoco, and from the half number of P-cluster in △nifZ Av1, but the composition or redoxstate of P-cluster in △nifZ Av1 were not changed. Thus it could propose that △nifZ Av1 is composed of two different αβsubunit pairs. One is a FeMoco-and P-cluster-containing pair, and the other is a P-cluster-deficient but FeMoco-containing pair. Since the deletion of nifZ gene leads to the deficiency of only one of two P-clusters in a α2β2 tetramer, the assembly of P-cluster may not simply depend on one gene product, and so a possible mechanism of NifZ is supposed here.     

Fabrication of multi-level branched metal nanowires by AAO template electrodeposition

One-dimensional nanomaterials have received con- siderable attention over the past decade because of their novel physical and chemical properties and potential applications in future nanodevices[1-4]. By manipulat- ing their texture, size and morphology, …     

Nonlinear optical properties and optical limiting response of a metal cluster [PPh4][ Cp＊ MoS3（CuBr）3]

Nonlinear optical properties of a metal cluster [PPh4][Cp*MoS3(CuBr)3] have been studied, with the third-order susceptibility χ^[3]) for this cluster determined by degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) experiment, the optical limiting (OL) effect observed by transmission technique,and the nonlinear absorption measured by using Z-scan technique.     

Does noble metal modification improve the photocatalytic activity of BiOCl?

Noble metal-surface-deposited BiOCl photocatalysts were prepared through photo-deposition and used for photodecomposition of Rhodamine B(RhB).The received materials were characterised using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy(XPS),UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy(UV-vis DRS),and X-ray diffraction(XRD) to understand the influence of surface deposited noble metals.The results showed that the noble metal species on the surface of BiOCl are in metallic state,which also brought about enhanced light absorption in broad UV-vis region due to plasmonic effects induced by the surfacedeposited noble metal species.All the samples showed good activity in photodecomposition of RhB under UV-light irradiation,but only Ag/BiOCl was more active than bulk BiOCl.The mechanism of the different reactivity of these noble-metal modified BiOCl was tentatively proposed based on the band structure and the interactions between noble metals and the BiOCl.     

Apoptosis of Spodoptera litura larval hemocytes induced by heavy metal zinc

By adding different amount of zinc into the artificial medium of the insect larvae, the zinc-induced apoptosis of the larvae haemocytes of the herbivorous insect Spodoptera litura Fabricius was investigated with flow cytometer. The results showed that the increase of zinc dose in the artificial feed led to the accumulations of zinc in the larval hemolymph and fat body, and more zinc was accumulated in fat body than in hemolymph. The apoptosis of hemocytes was significantly induced at high zinc concentration （1000 mg·kg^-1） in the insect diet, and the apoptosis rate was 63.63%, which was remarkably higher than that at control and lower concentrations （50--500 mg·kg^-1）. This suggests that the high dose of zinc in the artificial diet of S. litura larvae could induce the apoptosis of the larval hemocytes of S. litura.     

Fabrication of copper nanorods by low-temperature metal organic chemical vapor deposition

Copper nanorods have been synthe-sized in mesoporous SBA-15 by a low-temperature metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) employing copper (II) acetylacetonate, Cu(acac)2, and hydrogen as a precursor and reactant gas, re- spectively. The hydrogen plays an important role in chemical reduction of oganometallic precursor which enhances mass transfer in the interior of the SBA-15 porous substrate. Such copper nanostructures are of great potentials in the semiconductor due to their unusual optical, magnetic and electronic properties. In addition, it has been found that chemically modi- fying the substrate surface by carbon deposition is crucial to such synthesis of copper nanostructures in the interior of the SBA-15, which is able to change the surface properties of SBA-15 from hydrophilic to hydrophobic to promote the adsorption of organic cupric precursor. It has also been found that the copper nanoparticles deposited on the external sur- face are almost eliminated and the copper nanorods are more distinct while the product was treated with ammonia. This approach could be achieved under a mild condition: a low temperature (400℃) and vac-uum (2 kPa) which is extremely milder than the con- ventional method. It actually sounds as a foundation which is the first time to synthesize a copper nanorod at a mild condition of a low reaction temperature and pressure.     

DSC study on the undercooling of droplet solidification of metal melt

In this paper, the influence of cooling rate on the undercooling of droplet solidification of metal melt has been investigated by employing the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method. The effect of cooling rate on the undercooling as well as its change tendency is analyzed theoretically. It is shown that the undercooling degree increases whereas the change rate of undercooling decreases with increasing cooling rate. Moreover, the change tendency approaches zero when the cooling rate exceedingly increased, indicating that an extremum of undercooling exists with increasing cooling rate.     

Fabrication of metal nanoclusters on graphene grown on Ru（0001 ）

Monolayer graphene was epitaxially grown on Ru（0001） through exposure of the Ru（0001） to ethylene at room temperature followed by annealing in ultrahigh vacuum at elevated temperatures. The resulting graphene structures were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy （STM）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy （UPS）. The graphene/Ru（0001） surface was used as a periodic template for growth of metal nanoclusters. Highly dispersed Pt clusters with well controlled size and spatial distribution were fabricated on the surface.     

Implementation of the finite deformation plastic theory-Tensor derivative and metal forging simulation

It has been shown that the traditional small deformation plasticity can be transplanted to the finite deformation plasticity by using the logarithmic strain measure only. In this way, the mathematical problem of how to find the derivative of a tensor function arises. In this paper, a general method for finding the derivative of a tensor function is proposed. Several metal forging examples are given.During the calculation, the mesh regeneration is not even invoked.     

Effect of alkali metal oxides on upconversion fluorescence properties of germanatetellurite glasses

Upconversion emissions of Yb^3 /Er^3 -codoped germanate-tellurite glasses have been investigated upon the excitation of 980 nm laser diode (LD). It is found that upconversion luminescence intensities significantly increase with the increasing size of alkali metal ions. Raman spectra show that the maximum phonon energies (MPE) of glass hosts are unchanged with the replacement of alkali metal oxides, indicating that MPE is not the reason for the increase of upconversion fluorescence intensities. The analysis of the non-radiative transition of Er^3 demonstrates that the decrease of the maximum energy phonon density is the main reason for the enhanced fluorescence intensities.     

Synthesis and light-emitting properties of organic electroluminescent compounds and their metal complexes

Several organic electroluminescent (EL) compounds, 2,2‘-(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)bis-3,3-dimethyl-indolenine (1), 2,2‘-(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)bis-benzoxazole (2), 2,2‘-(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)bis-benzothiazole (3), 4,4‘-(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)bis-quinoline (4), 2,2‘-(1,4-phenylene divinylene)bis-quinoline (5), 2,2‘-(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)bis-1,3,3-trimethyl-indolenine dichlo ride (6), 2,2‘-(1,4-phenylene-divinylene)bis-1-hydro-3,3-dimethyl-indolenine dichloride (7), 2,2‘-(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)bis-8-acetoxy-quinoline (8), 2,2‘-(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)bis-8-hydroxyquinoline (9) and metal complexes of 9, Al(PHQ) (10) and Zn(PHQ) (11), have been synthesized and characterized. The crystal structure of 6 was determined. Light emitting properties of the prepared compounds have been investigated. 1 produces an orange-yellow emission (λmax=575nm). The cation, 6, gives a red emission (λmax=607nm), which is shifted 32 nm to the red compared to 1.8 produces a yellow emission (λmax=567nm). The metal complex 10 gives a red emission (λmax=610nm), which is a red shift of 43 nm compared to 8. The change in structure in the prepared compound caused a change in the electron distribution in the compounds, which induces a large wavelength shift of the emitted-light. Thermal analysis showed that the decomposition temperatures of the metal complexes (10, 11) were higher than those for the smaller organic molecular compounds (1-9). Therefore, metal complexes (10, 11) can be used as EL materials over a larger temperature range.     

The effects of transition metal in Sn-based pyrochlores on the methane catalytic combustion

Lanthanum stannate pyrochlores, La₂Sn₂O₇ and La₂SnMO₇ (M=Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu), were successfully prepared by citric acid method and confirmed by XRD. TG and TPR characterizations showed that the introduction of transitional metals resulted in significant impacts on the structures and redox performances of prochlores. All the selected transitional metals could significantly improve their methane catalytic combustion performance. Among the doped pyrochlores, La₂SnCoO₇ pyrochlore possessed optimum activities at low temperatures, and Fe?doped pyrochlore showed highest reactivity for high temperature combustion and was proved to be promising materials for high temperature catalytic combustion. The reactivity differences of La₂SnMO₇ were reasonably attributed to the strong interactions between Sn and transitional metal.     

Characteristic mechanical properties and complex ordered structures in metal films on liquid substrates

It is well known that the nature of the substrate plays a significant role in the growth mechanism, micro- structure, surface morphology and physical property of thin film systems. Because the metal film systems de- posited on solid substrates generally p…     

Preparation of A-type zeolite membranes on nonporous metal supports by using electrophoretic technique

A-type zeolite membranes were prepared on the nonporous metal supports by using electrophoretic technique. The as-synthesized membranes were characterized by XRD and SEM. The effect of the applied potential on the formation of the A-type zeolite membrane was investigated,and the formation mechanism of zeolite membrane in the electric field was discussed. The results showed that the negative charged zeolite particles could migrate to the anode metal surface homogenously and rapidly under the action of the applied electric field, consequently formed uniform and dense membranes in short time. The applied potential bad great effect on the membrane formation, and more uniform and denser zeolite membranes were prepared on the nonporous metal supports with 1 V potential.     

Research progress in the inner surface modification of metal tubes by plasma processing

The recent progress in inner surface hardening of tubes by plasma processing is summerized. Several techniques of inner surface plasma source ion implantation and deposition are introduced, and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The basic principles, technical features and new progress of inner surface plasma source ion implantation methods for metal tubes, which were developed in our laboratory, are described in detail. And perspectives of the future technical development for inner surface ion implantation of tubes are presented.