Complementation in the composition of steel slag and red mud for preparation of novel ceramics

A method for preparing novel ceramics was developed in this study. Different ratios red muds were added to steel slags to optimize the preparation of novel ceramics by a traditional ceramic preparation process. The sintering mechanism, microstructure, and performance were studied by X-ray diffraction techniques, scanning electron microscopy, and combined experiments of linear shrinkage, water absorption, and flexural strength. The results confirmed that red mud can reduce the volumetric instabilities through the complementarity of red mud and ferroalloy slag. The crystal phases in the ceramics are all pyroxene group minerals, including diopside ferrian, augite, and diopside. The flexural strength of the ceramic that contains 40wt% red mud and was prepared at the optimal sintering temperature (1140℃) is greater than 93 MPa; its corresponding water absorption is less than 0.05%.     

Effect of minor Sc on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ91 Magnesium Alloy

The as-cast and heat-treated microstructures and mechanical properties of the AZ91 magnesium alloys with and without minor Sc addition were investigated and compared in this paper. The results indicated that adding0.15–0.45 wt% Sc to the as-cast AZ91 alloy not only could modify and refine the Mg_(17)Al_(12) phase but also suppress the formation of the Mg_(17)Al_(12) phase. At the same time, the grains of the Sc-containing as-cast AZ91 alloys were also effectively refined. As a result, the mechanical properties at room temperature(RT) for the Sccontaining as-cast AZ91 alloys were effectively improved. In addition, adding 0.15–0.45 wt%Sc to the AZ91 alloy promoted the formation of the continuous precipitates(CP) during the aging treatment in spite of that the formation of the discontinuous precipitates(DP) was simultaneously suppressed. Accordingly, the Sc-containing as-aged AZ91 alloys obtained the relatively higher mechanical properties at RT than the as-aged AZ91 alloy.     

Nanoengineering of amino - functionalized mesoporous silica nanospheres as nanoreactors

Selective functionalization of mesoporous silica nanospheres (MSNs) is crucial for nanoengineering of MSNs. Herein, we have combined “surface-protected etching strategy” and “cationic surfactant assisted etching strategy” to prepare functionalized MSNs with externally attached amino groups. The externally attached NH2 groups endow the catalysts with excellent catalytic performance for nitroaldol reaction between nitromethane and benzaldehyde. In addition, those NH2-MSNs can also be used to support gold nanoparticles, which display very good catalytic performance for reduction of 4-nitrophenol. It can be envisioned that the synthesis protocol developed in this work could also be extended to nanoengineered MSNs, which provides opportunities for nanoreactors design.     

WO3 nanoflakes decorated with CuO clusters for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting

The low quantum efficiency arising from poor charges transfer and insufficient light absorption is one of the critical challenges toward achieving highly efficient water splitting in photoelectrochemical cells. Three dimensions(3D) structures and heterojunctions have received intensive research interests recent years due to their excellent ability to separate photo-generated charges as well as the enhanced light harvesting property. Herein,3 D Cu O/WO_3 structure was fabricated through a facile solvothermal method followed by chemical bath deposition. The loading of Cu O clusters on WO_3 nanoflake arrays results in a much improved photocurrent density compared with that of pristine WO_3 nanoflake arrays, which reaches 1.8 m A/cm2 at 1.23 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement demonstrates that the improved performance of Cu O/WO_3 electrode is attributed to the accelerated charge transfer kinetics as a result of the desirable band alignment in Cu O/WO_3 heterojunction. This work demonstrates a facile strategy to construct superior WO_3 electrode, which will ultimately allow for efficient storage of solar energy into hydrogen.     

技术转移:企业资助的学术发明对创新的促进

<正>一般认为企业资助的学术研究对其他人来说是不太容易获取且用处不大的,布莱恩D.怀特及其同事提出的数据对这个看法提出了挑战。政府长期以来一直鼓励大学—企业之间的合作,以期对可以带来工作机会、强化投资并生产出改善生活质量产品的创新进行激励。同时,政府在科学上预算的收缩迫使大学通过其他途径寻求经费支持。根据美国国家科学基金会的统计,2012年由企业提供的科研经费只占到美国研究型大学年度科研经费的5%(大约32亿美元)。     

DanHong Injection inhibits the development of primary abdominal aortic aneurysms in apoE knockout mice

Clinical observations indicate that DanHong Injection （DHI） can increase blood flow and reduce various syndromes in patients with cardiovascular disease. How- ever, it still needs to define the function of DHI and the involved mechanisms in details, such as the protective effect on the development of primary abdominal aortic aneurysms （AAAs）. In this study, we determined whether DHI is able to inhibit AAA in apoE knockout （apoE-/-） mice. Thirty apoE-/- male mice on high-fat diet （0.5 % cholesterol, 21% fat） were randomly divided into two groups and received i.p. injection of saline （100 μL/day） and DHI （100 μL/day）, respectively, for 16 weeks. At the end of experiment, we determined the development of atherosclerosis in en face aorta and aneurysms,pathological morphology of arterial wall, and serum lipid levels. We also determined the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 （MCP-1）, MMP-2, and MMP-9 mRNA in aortic wall using real-time RT-PCR. Our results indicated that high-fat diet induced the development of AAAs in apoE-/- mice, but the induction was totally blocked by DHI （P 〈 0.01）. The result of staining of abdominal aortic cross sections showed that DHI main- tained the collagen content in arterial wall, thereby pre- venting the animals from the development of AAA. Although DHI had little effect on serum total- and LDL- cholesterol levels, it reduced the expression of MCP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-9 mRNA in aortic wall （P 〈 0.01）. Taken together, our study suggests that DHI can inhibit the high-fat diet-induced AAA formation. The inhibitory effects may be related to the maintenance of the collagen content and inhibition of expression of AAA-related genes. Our study may suggest a new application of DHI in clinics.     

Enhanced performance of nano-sized SiC reinforced Al metal matrix nanocomposites synthesized through microwave sintering and hot extrusion techniques

In the present study, nano-sized SiC (0, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 vol%) reinforced aluminum (Al) metal matrix composites were fabricated by microwave sintering and hot extrusion techniques. The structural (XRD, SEM), mechanical (nanoindentation, compression, tensile) and thermal properties (co-efficient of thermal expansion- CTE) of the developed Al-SiC nanocomposites were studied. The SEM/EDS mapping images show a homogeneous distribution of SiC nanoparticles into the Al matrix. A significant increase in the strength (compressive and tensile) of the Al-SiC nanocomposites with the addition of SiC content is observed. However, it is noticed that the ductility of Al-SiC nanocomposites decreases with increasing volume fraction of SiC. The thermal analysis indicates that CTE of Al-SiC nanocomposites decreases with the progressive addition of hard SiC nanoparticles. Overall, hot extruded Al 1.5 vol% SiC nanocomposites exhibited the best mechanical and thermal performance as compared to the other developed Al-SiC nanocomposites.     

Sonochemical synthesis of nanostructured nickel hydroxide as an electrode material for improved electrochemical energy storage application

A facile and fast approach for the synthesis of a nanostructured nickel hydroxide(Ni(OH)_2) via sonochemical technique is reported in the present study. The X-ray diffraction results confirmed that the synthesized Ni(OH)_2 was oriented in β-phase of hexagonal brucite structure. The nanostructured Ni(OH)_2 electrode exhibited the maximum specific capacitance of 1256 F/g at a current density of 200 mA/g in 1 M KOH_((aq)). Ni(OH)_2 electrodes exhibited the pseudocapacitive behavior due to the presence of redox reaction. It also exhibited long-term cyclic stability of 85% after 2000 cycles, suggesting that the nanostructured Ni(OH)_2 electrode will play a promising role for high performance supercapacitor application.