Wood‐Derived Ultrathin Carbon Nanofiber Aerogels

Carbon aerogels with 3D networks of interconnected nanometer‐sized particles exhibit fascinating physical properties and show great application potential. Efficient and sustainable methods are required to produce high‐performance carbon aerogels on a large scale to boost their practical applications. An economical and sustainable method is now developed for the synthesis of ultrathin carbon nanofiber (CNF) aerogels from the wood‐based nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) aerogels via a catalytic pyrolysis process, which guarantees high carbon residual and well maintenance of the nanofibrous morphology during thermal decomposition of the NFC aerogels. The wood‐derived CNF aerogels exhibit excellent electrical conductivity, a large surface area, and potential as a binder‐free electrode material for supercapacitors. The results suggest great promise in developing new families of carbon aerogels based on the controlled pyrolysis of economical and sustainable nanostructured precursors.     

In Situ Growth of Hierarchical SnO2 Nanosheet Arrays on 3D Macroporous Substrates as High‐Performance Electrodes

Finding out how to overcome the self‐aggregation of nanostructured electrode materials is a very important issue in lithium‐ion battery technology. Herein, by an in situ construction strategy, hierarchical SnO₂ nanosheet architectures have been fabricated on a three‐dimensional macroporous substrate, and thus the aggregation of the SnO₂ nanosheets was effectively prevented. The as‐prepared hierarchical SnO₂ nanoarchitectures on the nickel foam can be directly used as an integrated anode for lithium‐ion batteries without the addition of other ancillary materials such as carbon black or binder. In view of their apparent advantages, such as high electroactive surface area, ultrathin sheet, robust mechanical strength, shorter ion and electron transport path, and the specific macroporous structure, the hierarchical SnO₂ nanosheets exhibit excellent lithium‐storage performance. Our present growth approach offers a new technique for the design and synthesis of metal oxide hierarchical nanoarrays that are promising for electrochemical energy‐storage electrodes without carbon black and binder.     

铝镧共掺杂的氧化锌红外隐身涂料在帐篷织物上的应用

以水性聚氨酯为粘合剂,掺杂Al和La的ZnO为填料,配以其它助剂制成了红外隐身涂料,应用在帐篷织物表面,探究涂层厚度以及填料含量对红外发射率的影响,并研究了导热系数和红外隐身性能之间的关系。 研究发现,涂层厚度和填料含量对涂层织物的红外发射率有着显著的影响。 当填料质量分数为70%时,得到的帐篷涂层织物的红外发射率可降至0.622,调节填料含量和涂层厚度,可以的得到红外发射率在0.622~0.932之间的帐篷涂层织物。 此外,发现导热系数对红外隐身性能也有一定的影响,红外隐身性能随着导热系数的增加而提高。 通过调节填料含量和涂层厚度制作不同红外发射率的涂层帐篷织物,放在不同背景下拍摄红外热成像图,发现涂层在不同的环境中均具有良好的伪装能力。     

Study of the fire resistant behavior of unfilled and carbon nanofibers reinforced polybenzimidazole coating for structural applications

With increasing interest in epoxy‐based carbon fiber composites for structural applications, it is important to improve the fire resistant properties of these materials. The fire resistant performance of these materials can be improved either by using high performance epoxy resin for manufacturing carbon fiber composite or by protecting the previously used epoxy‐based composite with some fire resistant coating. In this context, work is carried out to evaluate the fire resistance performance of recently emerged high performance polybenzimidazole (PBI) when used as a coating material. Furthermore, the effect of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on fire resistant properties of inherently flame retardant PBI coating was studied. Thermogravimetric analysis of carbon/epoxy composite, unfilled PBI and nano‐filled PBI shows that the carbon/epoxy composite maintained its thermal stability up to a temperature of 400°C and afterwards showed a large decrease in mass, while both unfilled PBI and nano‐filled PBI have shown thermal stability up to a temperature of 575°C corresponding to only 11% weight loss. Cone calorimeter test results show that unfilled PBI coating did not improve the fire retardant performance of carbon/epoxy composite. Conversely, nano‐filled PBI coating has shown a significant improvement in fire retardant performance of the carbon/epoxy composite in terms of increased ignition time, reduced average and peak heat release rate and reduced smoke and carbon monoxide emission. These results indicate that addition of carbon nanofibers to inherently flame retardant coating can significantly be helpful for improving the fire resistance performance of composite materials even with low coating thickness. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface‐Coated Thermally Expandable Microspheres with a Composite of Polydisperse Graphene Oxide Sheets

Surface‐modified thermally expandable microcapsules (TEMs) hold potential for applications in various fields. In this work, we discussed the possible surface coating mechanism and reported the properties of TEMs coated with polyaniline (PANI) and polydisperse graphene oxide sheets (ionic liquid‐graphene oxide hybrid nanomaterial (ILs‐GO)). The surface coating of PANI/ ILs‐GO increased the corresponding particle size and its distribution range. The morphologies analyzed by scanning electron microscopy indicated that no interfacial gap was observed between the microspheres ink and substrate layer during the substrate application. The thermal properties were determined by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses. The addition of ILs‐GO to the polyaniline coating significantly improved the thermal expansion and thermal conductivity of the microcapsules. The evaporation of hexane present in the core of TEMs was not prevented by the coating of PANI/ ILs‐GO. The printing application of TEMs showed excellent adaptability to various flexible substrates with great 3D appearance. By incorporating a flame retardant agent into TEMs coated by PANI/ILs‐GO, finally, these TEMs also demonstrated a great flame retardant ability. We expect that these TEM‐coated PANI/ ILs‐GO are likely to have the potential to improve the functional properties for various applications.     

Scanning thermal microscopy techniques for polymeric thin films using temperature contrast mode to measure thermal diffusivity and a novel approach in conductivity contrast mode to the mapping of thermally conductive particles

Advances in production are leading to increasing use of polymeric thin films in applications such as automotive bearings. Two approaches have been developed to study the thermophysical properties of these thin films: The first technique based on Flash theory uses a scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) tip in temperature contrast mode to measure thermal diffusivity over a nano-scale area. The SThM tip is in contact with the upper surface of the film to detect a heat pulse delivered by a microelectromechanical heater platform from the lower surface. The second technique is a conductivity contrast mode SThM based approach for measuring the size and distribution of thermally conducting particles in thin film polymeric coatings. Topographical and thermal conductivity data are combined to produce a “correlation analysis value” 3D particle map of the coating. Good practice and a case study are highlighted.     

Poly(phenylene oxide) modified cyanate resin for self‐healing

Self‐healing cyanate ester resins (CE) were developed by adding low molecular weight poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) resin, yielding a high performance CE/PPO system via a low‐temperature process. The addition of PPO improved the flexural strength and fracture toughness of the CE matrix without sacrificing thermal properties. CE/PPO formulations with 5, 10, and 15 wt.% PPO showed 43%, 65%, and 105% increase in fracture toughness due to a combination of crack deflection, crack pinning, and matrix cavitation around second‐phase particles. When PPO was introduced into the CE, dielectric properties were either unchanged or declined. During thermal treatment to heal damaged CE, liquid PPO flowed into cracks, and during subsequent cooling, solidified to bond the crack surfaces. The self‐healing efficiency for CE with 15 wt.% PPO after heating to 220°C for 1 h exhibited a recovery of 73% in toughness and 81% in microtensile strength. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of the effect of carbon nanosized particles on thermophysical characteristics of polymer composite materials

Models are developed for calculation of the thermal conductivity of a polymer binder modified with different contents of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Comparison of the computation data with the experimental results shows that the introduction of CNTs cannot significantly increase the thermal conductivity of the binder due to the presence of air cavities around CNTs.     

锂离子电池用多孔硅/石墨/碳复合负极材料的研究

在两步高能球磨和酸蚀条件下制得了多孔硅/石墨复合材料，并对其进行碳包覆制成多孔硅/石墨/碳复合材料。通过TEM，SEM等测试手段研究了多孔硅材料的结构。作为锂离子电池负极材料，电化学测试结果表明多孔硅/石墨/碳复合材料相比纳米硅/石墨/碳复合材料有更好的循环稳定性。同时，改变复合体配比、热解碳前驱物、粘结剂种类和用量也会对材料的电化学性能产生较大的影响。其中使用质量分数为10％的LA132粘结剂的电极200次循环以后充电容量保持在649.9 mAh·g^-1，几乎没有衰减。良好的电化学性能主要归因于主活性体-多孔硅颗粒中的纳米孔隙很好地抑制了嵌锂过程中自身的体积膨胀，而且亚微米石墨颗粒和碳的复合也减轻了电极材料的体积效应并改善了其导电性。     

Durable molybdenum oxide coated solid‐phase microextraction fiber for highly selective and efficient extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water

A bonding method was developed for coating molybdenum oxides onto a steel wire substrate, which was used as a solid‐phase microextraction fiber, was coupled with gas chromatography. Based on the characterization, it is found that the as‐prepared molybdenum oxides material contained a nanobelt structure with a uniform size and good dispersibility. In addition, there were a large number of small protrusions on the surface of the nanobelts. These characteristics provided a large specific surface area for extraction. Molybdenum oxides exhibited a high extraction selectivity for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons owing to its moderate coordination. After the optimization of the factors, method detection limits of < 1.25 μg/L were achieved, and the calibration curves were linear within the range of 2–600 μg/L. In addition, repeatability was demonstrated, and the relative standard deviation < 6.4%. The molybdenum oxides coating had a high scratch resistance, which could effectively prevent coating wear and failure. Combined with the high thermal and chemical stability, the service life of the coating was improved and could be used 150 times without a significant reduction in the extraction performance. Finally, the as‐prepared fiber had a comparable extraction capacity and higher partition coefficients that those of commercial polyacrylate fibers.     

Monomolecular endothermic reaction of n-decane catalyzed by HZSM-5 films

Summary This paper reports the possibility of in situ synthesis of HZSM-5 zeolites films on tubular steel substrate for the improved potential chemical heat sink of fuels, and the performance of prepared membrane catalysts in the endothermic, catalytic cracking of n-decane. Through hydrothermal crystallization, a zeolite / steel composite was obtained which consists of a continuous zeolite film that strongly attaches to the substrate surface. The membrane catalysts are active enough for the n-decane catalytic cracking to provide endothermal ability, and also can suppress the formation of carbon deposits compared with thermal cracking.     

含硼片状锌热固涂层耐蚀性与结构的研究

片状锌热固涂层作为一项清洁生产的高新技术 ,一次完成多层涂覆和钝化 ,具有高抗蚀、无废水排放、无氢脆、高耐热和涂层薄 (一般小于1 0 μｍ)等显著优点 ,在应用前景上具有取代电镀锌的趋势[1] 。在盐水溶液中 ,这种涂层的耐蚀性最高可达电镀锌的 1 0倍 ,但在淡水中却不具有这样的优势。我们用硼酸部分取代铬酸配制涂层处理液 ,明显改善了涂层在淡水中的耐蚀性。为解释硼酸的作用机理 ,采用Ｘ 射线衍射 (ＸＲＤ)、Ｘ 射线光电子能谱 (ＸＰＳ)和核磁共振 (ＮＭＲ)等测试手段对膜层的结构进行了研究。1　实验部分1 1　仪器与药品ＨＤＶ 7Ｂ…     

Thermal‐Gated Polymer Electrolytes for Smart Zinc‐Ion Batteries

Smart self‐protection is essential for addressing safety issues of energy‐storage devices. However, conventional strategies based on sol‐gel transition electrolytes often suffer from unstable self‐recovery performance. Herein, smart separators based on thermal‐gated poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel electrolytes were developed for rechargeable zinc‐ion batteries (ZIBs). Such PNIPAM‐based separators not only display a pore structure evolution from opened to closed states, but also exhibit a surface wettability transition from hydrophilic to hydrophobic behaviors when the temperature rises. This behavior can suppress the migration of electrolyte ions across the separators, realizing the self‐protection of ZIBs at high temperatures. Furthermore, the thermal‐gated behavior is highly reversible, even after multiple heating/cooling cycles, because of the reversibility of temperature‐dependent structural evolution and hydrophilic/hydrophobic transition. This work will pave the way for designing thermal‐responsive energy‐storage devices with safe and controlled energy delivery.     

Effect of testing conditions on the laser flash thermal diffusivity measurements of ceramics

Several experimental techniques either under steady state or transient heat transfer conditions, have been developed to evaluate thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of materials. However, testing difficulties resulting from specimen size, extended testing time and heat losses, have somewhat impaired the applicability of many of them. In this respect, the use of the laser flash technique for thermal diffusivity measurements, is a very convenient alternative, considering its basic modeling equation is independent of the temperature gradient as well as the heat flow, and in addition the heat losses can be analytically treated. Another important advantage of the technique is its rapid experimental execution. In this work, it is presented as an investigation concerning how the testing conditions such as specimen coating, laser power and pulse duration, base line adoption, heat losses correction methods, and specimen thickness, may affect the thermal diffusivity measurements of some ceramic materials using the laser flash technique.     

Characterization of Ce‐rich coating on carbon surface by immersing in an aqueous solution containing Ce ions

Surface modification of carbon fibers with Ce‐rich coating was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and it is shown that a Ce‐rich coating can protect carbon fibers. After the carbon surface was scratched crosswise, self‐healing behavior of carbon surface with chemical immersion treatment from Ce salt solution was investigated at various immersion times. The Ce‐rich compounds deposited easily on the scratch sites, filling it with Ce‐rich compounds. Such self‐healing behavior enables the carbon surface to protect itself. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicate that Ce⁴⁺ was the dominant oxidation state for the Ce‐rich coating on the carbon surface. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of the effects of graphite flake alignment on thermal emissivity by applying a magnetic field during coating of an aluminum sheet

In this study we investigated the effects of graphite flake alignment on thermal emissivity by applying a magnetic field during coating of aluminum sheets with graphite. The coating paste was prepared by ball milling graphite flakes with an organic binder. The graphite flake content was 9.1, 13.0, 16.7, 20.0, or 23.1 wt.%. After coating of aluminum sheets with the paste by dipping, a magnetic field was applied vertically to the coated aluminum sheet by use of neodymium magnets. It was observed that the graphite flakes were aligned at an angle to the surface by application of the magnetic field. In contrast, in the absence of the magnetic field the graphite flakes were aligned horizontally on the aluminum sheets. The surface roughness of specimens prepared by use of a magnetic field (MF; R _a = 10.172–14.654 μm) was more than twofold that of specimens for which no magnetic field was applied (NMF; R _a = 4.564 μm). The thermal emissivity of MF9 (9.1 wt.% graphite; ε = 0.80) was higher than that of NMF9 (9.1 wt.% graphite; ε = 0.77). The thermal emissivity of MF20 (20.0 wt.% graphite) was 0.91, the highest in this study. It was shown that flakes aligned at an angle to the surface contribute to enhanced thermal emissivity. Well aligned graphite flakes are therefore expected to enable high thermal dissipation from electronic components.     

Experimental Results and Analysis for Adsorption Ice-Making System with Consolidated Adsorbent

An adsorption ice-making machine has been built with a single consolidated adsorber and activated carbon-methanol pair. A consolidated adsorbent block made of activated carbon mixed with a binder with good heat transfer properties has been developed and implemented in the adsorber. The design is focused on the adsorber consisting of copper finned tubes and carbon blocks. Experimental tests have been performed suitable for ice making. This paper describes the experimental results of such an ice-maker operating with an intermittent cycle and a cycle time of 35 minutes. The thermal conditions used to test the cycle are: 115°C heat source, 22°C heat sink, the evaporator temperature corresponding to the chilled ethylene glycol temperature is –7°C. At this evaporating pressure, the mass transfer resistance controls the adsorption process. Test results show that the COP reaches 0.07 whereas the SCP (specific cooling power) is 11 W kg^–1 activated carbon. A two-bed adsorptive prototype ice-making machine operating with a heat and mass recovery cycle has also been made for onboard adsorption refrigeration in fishing boats. Good performances have been achieved due to improved mass transfer and the new ice maker can produce 18–20 kg h^–1 of flake ice at mean temperature of –7°C.     

Conformal Surface Coatings to Enable High Volume Expansion Li‐Ion Anode Materials

An alumina surface coating is demonstrated to improve electrochemical performance of MoO₃ nanoparticles as high capacity/high‐volume expansion anodes for Li‐ion batteries. Thin, conformal surface coatings were grown using atomic layer deposition (ALD) that relies on self‐limiting surface reactions. ALD coatings were tested on both individual nanoparticles and prefabricated electrodes containing conductive additive and binder. The coated and non‐coated materials were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling. Importantly, increased stability and capacity retention was only observed when the fully fabricated electrode was coated. The alumina layer both improves the adhesion of the entire electrode, during volume expansion/contraction and protects the nanoparticle surfaces. Coating the entire electrode also allows for an important carbothermal reduction process that occurs during electrode pre‐heat treatment. ALD is thus demonstrated as a novel and necessary method that may be employed to coat the tortuous network of a battery electrode.     

Thermal degradation and fire performance of intumescent silicone‐based coatings

This paper deals with the thermal degradation and fire performance of silicone‐based coatings for protecting steel. In this study, the fire performance of silicone coatings as virgin or formulated materials is evaluated using two homemade fire testing methodologies: one similar to the “torch test” fire testing method and the other using a heat radiator test. It was shown that the performance of the silicone‐based coating used as thermal barrier can be improved incorporating a modifier (a mixture of polydimethylsiloxane and silica coated by a silane). In this case, silicone‐based coating swells and exhibits same fire performance as commercial intumescent coating at the torch test. It is shown that the incorporation of modifier in the silicone makes it to swell upon heating resulting in the formation of expanded material exhibiting low heat conductivity. Thermal degradation of the coating is also investigated: it occurs in three main steps leading to the formation of a tridimensional network characterized by the formation of Q⁴ structure at high temperature. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal stability of magnesium-rich primers based on glycidyl carbamate resins

Coatings of outstanding thermal stability were obtained by the combination of two novel technologies, that of a magnesium-rich primer and a silane-modified glycidyl carbamate binder. While conducting a study to evaluate the new binder system with respect to properties of the magnesium-rich primer, during thermogravimetric analysis of samples, previously unobserved and unexpected properties were noted. The samples transformed into an intact solid residue, with the amount of the residual char ranging between 40 and 90% weight depending on the pigment volume concentration (PVC) of the magnesium particles in the composition. It appears that the hitherto unobserved property is essentially a function of the metallic pigment particles in the coating. The discovery of the exceptional thermal stability potentially increases the range of application for these primers and these can be further developed for use as a thermal barrier coating.