Improved dehydriding property of polyvinylpyrrolidone coated Mg-Ni hydrogen storage nano-composite prepared by hydriding combustion synthesis and wet mechanical milling

In this work, polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP) coated Mg_(95)Ni_5 nano-composites were prepared by hydriding combustion synthesis(HCS) plus wet mechanical milling(WM) with tetrahydrofuran(THF) and donated as WM-x wt% PVP(x = 1, 3, 5 and 7) respectively. The phase compositions, microstructures and dehydriding property, as well as the co-effect of PVP and THF were investigated in detail. XRD results showed that the average crystal size of MgH_2 in the milled Mg_(95)Ni_5 decreased from 23 nm without PVP to 18 nm with 1 wt% PVP. The peak temperature of dehydrogenation of MgH_2 in the milled Mg_(95)Ni_5 decreased from 293.0 ℃ without THF to 250.4 ℃ with THF. The apparent activation energy for decomposition of MgH_2 in WM-7 wt% PVP was estimated to be 66.94 kJ/mol, which is 37.70 kJ/mol lower than that of milled Mg_(95)Ni_5 without THF and PVP. PVP and THF can facilitate the refinement of particle size during mechanical milling process. Attributed to small particle sizes and synergistic effect of PVP and THF, the composites exhibit markedly improved dehydriding properties.     

Surface modification of Ti-45Al-8.5 Nb alloys by microarc oxidation to improve high-temperature oxidation resistance

Microarc oxidation(MAO)electrolysis plasma deposition was used to prepare Al_2O_3coatings on Ti-45Al-8.5 Nb alloys to improve high temperature oxidation resistance.The surface and cross-section morphologies before and after high-temperature oxidation,the chemical composition,and the phase identification of the coatings were investigated by scanning electron microscopy(SEM),electron probe microanalyses(EPMA),and X-ray diffraction(XRD).The results show that Al_2O_3coatings with a thickness of approximately 8μm can be obtained on the Ti-45Al-8.5 Nb alloys by MAO for 600 s.The samples with the Al_2O_3coatings exhibited better high-temperature oxidation resistance.A minimal weight gain of only 0.396 g/m~2after 100 h oxidation at 900°C was observed for the coatings formed with a deposition voltage of 400 V and using a duty cycle of 3%.The deposition mechanism of the Al_2O_3coatings and the effect of the MAO parameters are also described.     

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.     

Influence of minor boron on the microstructures of a second generation Nibased single crystal superalloy

Boron is added into single crystal superalloys as a micro-alloying element to strengthen low angle grain boundaries.However,systematic investigations on the effect of boron on microstructures of single crystal superalloys are limitedly reported.The effect of boron on as-cast and heat-treated microstructures was investigated in two experimental Ni-based single crystal superalloys containing 3 wt% Re.The current results indicated that the volume fraction of(γ+γ′)eutectic and M_3B_2 borides was evidently increased,while the number of micropores was evidently decreased with the addition of 0.02 wt% boron.The(γ+γ′)eutectic could not be dissolved completely due to the lower incipient melting temperature caused by the formation of M_3B_2 borides.Meanwhile,the M_3B_2 borides were found to be enriched with indispensable strengthening elements Cr,Mo,W and Re,and this may lower the strengthening effect and cause stress concentration during high temperature creep.     

Study on the hydrogen storage property of (TiZr0.1)xCr1.7-yFeyMn0.3 (1.05

Jigang Li  Li Xu  Xiaojing Jiang  Xingguo Li 《自然科学进展(英文版)》2018,28(4):470-477

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.     

Novel multiferroicity in orthorhombic SmCrO3

This paper reports the ferroelectricity in antiferromagnetic SmCrO_3 with a reasonably large value of spontaneous electric polarization(70μC/cm~2mC cm~(-2)at 50 K)based on the measurement of pyroelectric current.The experimental results showed that the temperature of the onset of polar order was evidently higher(about220 K)than the Neel temperature(T_N=197 K)in the magnetodielectric studies.The calculated magnetodielectric effect(MDE)value was explicitly negative with maximum|MDE|values of about 3.6%around 230 K.The absence of a convincing signature in MDE at antiferromagnetic ordering temperature T_Nindicated the absence of magnetoelectric coupling around this temperature regime.The results further confirmed that the onset of polar order can be attributed to the structural distortion,rather than the canted noncollinear magnetic structure.     

Mechanical characterization and strain-rate sensitivity measurement of Ti- 7333 alloy based on nanoindentation and crystal plasticity modeling

The relationship between crystal orientations and meso-mechanical properties of β phase Ti-7333 titanium was investigated through the combination of nanoindentation experiments and simulation. The crystal plasticity finite element(CPFE) model for nanoindentation of single body-centered cubic crystal was established based on the experimental data. And the crystal plasticity constitutive law was implemented to simulate the nanoindentation process, obtaining satisfied results with an acceptable error. From the simulated pileup morphology patterns with different crystal orientations, it was found that the β phase experienced a symmetrical and orientation-related deformation process. Meanwhile, the strain-rate sensitivity(SRS) of β phase was investigated through nanoindentation tests based on continuous stiffness measurement(CSM) under different strain rates,varying between 0.2, 0.05 and 0.01 s~(-1). Two grains with different orientations exhibited similar SRS exponents,m, calculated from the experimental results.     

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.     

Effect of cold rolling process on microstructure and mechanical properties of high strength β titanium alloy thin sheets

The microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-3.5Al-5Mo-6V-3Cr-2Sn-0.5Fe high strength titanium alloy sheets prepared by unidirectional cold rolling and two-step cross cold rolling were investigated. Results showed that the β phase grains were refined significantly by cold rolling followed by solution treatment for a short time.Compared to unidirectional cold rolling, the short time solution treatment after two-step cross rolling could significantly reduce the non-uniformity of the microstructure of the alloy sheets. After aging treatment at 550 ℃,the anisotropy of the mechanical properties still existed in the unidirectional rolled sheets, and the tensile strength was highest along the rolling direction. After solution and aging treatment, the anisotropy of the mechanical properties of the two-step cross rolling process sheet was not obvious than unidirectional cold rolling,and alloy had good strength and plasticity matching.