Fire retarded polyurethane foam composites based on steel slag/ammonium polyphosphate system: A novel strategy for utilization of metallurgical solid waste

A series of FR-RPUF composites were prepared by a one-step water foaming process with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and steel slag (SS) as flame retardants. Thermogravimetric analysis (TG), limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL-94 vertical combustion test, microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC), TG-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (TG-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectra and FTIR were used to investigate the thermal stability, flame retardancy, combustion performance, gas phase products, and char residue morphology of FR-RPUF composites. TG test results showed that the initial decomposition temperature (T_-5wt%) and char residue rate at 700°C of RPUF/APP/SS composites were significantly enhanced by the addition of APP and SS, and the thermal stability of the composites was improved. Flame retardant test results confirmed the significantly increased LOI values of RPUF/APP/SS composites with V-0 rating. TG-FTIR also confirmed the obviously decreased release of toxic gases and flammable gases in the combustion of RPUF/APP/SS composites. SEM and Raman spectra of char residues for the composites suggested that APP/SS system improved the compactness and graphitization degree of char layer for RPUF/APP/SS composite. The above researches provide a new strategy for the utilization of SS in fire safety engineering.     

Facile Fabrication of PBS/CNTs Nanocomposite Foam for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

In order to reduce the pollutants of environment and electromagnetic waves, environment friendly polymer foams with outstanding electromagnetic interference shielding are imminently required. In this paper, a kind of electromagnetic shielding, biodegradable nanocomposite foam was fabricated by blending poly (butylene succinate) (PBS) with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) followed by foaming with supercritical CO₂. The crystallization temperature and melting temperature of PBS/CNTs nanocomposites with 4 wt % of CNTs increased remarkably by 6 °C and 3.1 °C compared with that of pure PBS and a double crystal melting peak of various PBS samples appeared in DSC curves. Increasing the CNT content from 0 to 4 wt % leads to an increase of approximately 3 orders of magnitude in storage modulus and nearly 9 orders of magnitude in enhancement of electrical properties. Furthermore, CNTs endowed PBS nanocomposite foam with adjustable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding property, giving a specific EMI shielding effectiveness of 28.5 dB cm³/g. This study provides a promising methodology for preparing biodegradable, lightweight PBS/CNTs foam with outstanding electromagnetic shielding properties.     

定量的复合金属锂作为三维泡沫锂电极用于锂电池的研究

金属锂作为电池的负极材料具有极高的比容量和极低的氧化还原电位,能够显著提升电池的能量密度。然而,金属锂负极在实际应用中所面临的主要问题是锂枝晶、界面副反应和电极体积变化大的难题。在本文中,我们提出了一种通过将定量的金属锂与三维骨架进行复合形成三维泡沫锂负极的策略,并利用三维泡沫锂来抑制锂枝晶的生长和缓解电极的体积变化。因此,三维泡沫锂电极有利于金属锂负极的高效利用,并能借助其与平面锂箔相比更高的比表面积和更多的反应位点来提升电池的倍率性能。因此,通过采用三维泡沫锂,对称电池的循环寿命和倍率性能都得到了有效的提升。EIS数据结果表明,三维泡沫锂能够减小对称电池的电荷转移阻抗。而且,将三维泡沫锂作为负极组装的LTO全电池,与锂箔作为负极相比,循环1000周平均放电比容量从65 mAh·g^-1提升至121 mAh·g^-1。     

基于离子液体的超级电容在3 V及65 oC老化条件下的铝碳界面效应

相比于传统乙腈电解液体系的超级电容器,离子液体基超级电容器具有工作窗口电压高,能量密度大,不可燃等优点,适用于碳中和时代清洁但不稳定电力领域的大规模储能。然而,目前的工作主要集中在对纽扣型离子液体-超级电容器的研究上,有关软包式离子液体-超级电容器的长循环寿命评测的报道较少。构建可靠的超级电容器用于长时间测试或在高温下开展加速老化测试,应考虑集流体/电极界面的良好接触,以最小化电荷转移电阻。本文以包覆不同碳层的泡沫铝为集流体,研究了超级电容器新系统中的碳-铝界面效应。通过环氧树脂薄膜碳化得到的均匀无定形碳层,相比通过PVDF粘附石墨烯碳层,赋予了铝相和碳相更强的相互作用。此外,为了充分挖掘大离子尺寸的离子液体电解液的潜力,本文采用介孔碳电极实现离子在介孔间的快速扩散。因此,本工作首次制备了由介孔碳电极、离子液体电解液和覆碳三维泡沫铝集流体组成的新结构软包式超级电容器。以自制的容量为37 F的不同软包式超级电容器件,通过3 V、65 ^oC、500 h加速老化试验,研究了其时间依赖性的电化学性能,包括CV测试、恒流充放电测试、电容值、接触电阻、电化学阻抗谱等。相比石墨烯包覆的泡沫铝基器件,无定形碳层包覆的泡沫铝基器件表现出更高的电容保持率。此外,我们还对ESR进行了等效电路拟合,并深入分析了接触电阻、电荷转移电阻、韦伯电阻,研究了C-Al界面对高能量密度超级电容器的高性能和稳定性的影响。500小时老化测试前后的极片表征证实了上述结果。高温、高压条件使粘附石墨烯碳层的泡沫铝界面结构不可靠。而泡沫铝表面原位包覆的碳层在老化过程中表现出较强的相互作用和稳定的结构。这些坚实的数据为面向高能量密度、高功率密度和长循环寿命,进一步优化高窗口电压超级电容器提供了充足的信息。     

Synthesis of activated carbon foams with high specific surface area using polyurethane elastomer templates for effective removal of methylene blue

Carbon foams have gained significant attention due to their tuneable properties that enable a wide range of applications including catalysis, energy storage and wastewater treatment. Novel synthesis pathways enable novel applications via yielding complex, hierarchical material structure. In this work, activated carbon foams (ACFs) were produced from waste polyurethane elastomer templates using different synthesis pathways, including a novel one-step method. Uniquely, the produced foams exhibited complex structure and contained carbon microspheres. The ACFs were synthesized by impregnating the elastomers in an acidified sucrose solution followed by direct activation using CO₂ at 1000 ℃. Different pyrolysis and activation conditions were investigated. The ACFs were characterized by a high specific surface area (S_BET) of 2172 m²/g and an enhanced pore volume of 1.08 cm³/g. Computer tomography and morphological studies revealed an inhomogeneous porous structure and the presence of numerous carbon spheres of varying sizes embedded in the porous network of the three-dimensional carbon foam. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy indicated that the obtained carbon foam was amorphous and of turbostratic structure. Moreover, the activation process enhanced the surface of the carbon foam, making it more hydrophilic via altering pore size distribution and introducing oxygen functional groups. In equilibrium, the adsorption of methylene blue on ACF followed the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 592 mg/g. Based on these results, the produced ACFs have potential applications as adsorbents, catalyst support and electrode material in energy storage systems.     

Lignin as a Partial Polyol Replacement in Polyurethane Flexible Foam

This study was focused on evaluating the suitability of a wide range of lignins, a natural polymer isolated from different plant sources and chemical extractions, in replacing 20 wt.% of petroleum-based polyol in the formulation of PU flexible foams. The main goal was to investigate the effect of unmodified lignin incorporation on the foam’s structural, mechanical, and thermal properties. The hydroxyl contents of the commercial lignins were measured using phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance (³¹P NMR) spectroscopy, molar mass distributions with gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and thermal properties with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. The results showed that incorporating 20 wt.% lignin increased tensile, compression, tear propagation strengths, thermal stability, and the support factor of the developed PU flexible foams. Additionally, statistical analysis of the results showed that foam properties such as density and compression force deflection were positively correlated with lignin’s total hydroxyl content. Studying correlations between lignin properties and the performance of the developed lignin-based PU foams showed that lignins with low hydroxyl content, high flexibility (low T_g), and high solubility in the co-polyol are better candidates for partially substituting petroleum-based polyols in the formulation of flexible PU foams intended for the automotive applications.     

Ni(OH)2修饰的三聚氰胺泡沫用于可压缩超级电容器电极

通过化学镀和电化学镀的方法制备了一种Ni(OH)₂电化学活性材料修饰三聚氰胺泡沫(MF)可压缩骨架的超级电容器电极材料MF/Ni(OH)₂。MF/Ni(OH)₂可压缩电极材料表现出最佳的电容性能,例如循环稳定性(即使在40 mA/cm^-3的电流密度下经过2000次充放电循环后,可压缩电极仍能保持90.63%的初始电容)和可压缩稳定性(即使在压缩率为50%时,仍具有97.88%的电容保持率)。层状可压缩超级电容器由MF/Ni(OH)₂弹性材料作为阳极,镍/碳(Ni/C)为阴极以及实验室中常用的滤纸作隔膜材料组成。这种超级电容器装置在不同的压缩下表现出良好的电化学性能和优异的压缩稳定性。最后,使用可压缩的超级电容器来点亮LED灯,以展示其在柔性电子设备中的应用。这些优化的电化学和机械性能表明MF/Ni(OH)₂可作为可压缩超级电容器的应用中的候选电极。     

高性能NiCoP基超级电容器电化学性能

采用水热和低温磷化反应两步法,在无添加沉淀剂条件下成功在泡沫镍上合成纳米花状镍钴磷化物(NiCoP/NF)。研究结果表明,镍/钴元素物质的量之比为1∶1时,在1 A·g~(-1)电流密度下,Ni_(1/2)Co_(1/2)P/NF的比容量高达1 276.36 F·g~(-1),在10 A·g~(-1)电流密度下充放电循环3 000次后,比容量保持率为78.23%。此外,以Ni_(1/2)Co_(1/2)P/NF为正极,活性炭(AC)为负极组装的非对称超级电容器(Ni_(1/2)Co_(1/2)P/NF//AC/NF)在725 W·kg~(-1)的功率密度下,能量密度高达36.25 Wh·kg~(-1)。     

Light‐induced degradation of PECVD aluminium oxide passivated silicon solar cells

Light‐induced degradation (LID) has been identified to be a critical issue for solar cells processed on boron‐doped silicon substrates. Typically, Czochralski‐grown silicon (Cz‐Si) has been reported to suffer from stronger LID than block‐cast multicrystalline silicon (mc‐Si) due to higher oxygen concentrations. This work investigates LID under conditions practically relevant under module operation on different cell types. It is shown that aluminium oxide (AlOx) passivated mc‐Si solar cells degrade more than a reference aluminium back surface field mc‐Si cell and, remarkably, an AlOx passivated Cz‐Si solar cell. The defect which is activated by illumination is shown to be doubtful a sole bulk effect while the AlOx passivation might play a certain role. This work may contribute to a re‐evaluation of the suitability of boron‐doped Cz‐ and mc‐Si for solar cells with very high efficiencies. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Electron irradiation-enhanced core/shell organization of Al(Cr,Fe, Mn)Si dispersoids in Al–Mg–Si alloys

The age hardening 6061-T6 aluminium alloy has been chosen as structural material for the core vessel of the material testing Jules Horowitz nuclear reactor. The alloy contains incoherent Al(Cr, Fe, Mn)Si dispersoids whose characterization by energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) analysis shows a core/shell organization tendency where the core is (Mn, Fe) rich, and the shell is Cr rich. The present work studies the stability of this organization under irradiation. TEM characterization on the same particles, before and after 1 MeV electron irradiation, reveals that the core/shell organization is enhanced after irradiation. It is proposed that the high level of point defects, created by irradiation, ensures a radiation-enhanced diffusion process favourable to the unmixing forces between (Fe, Mn) and Cr. Shell formation may result in the low-energy interface segregation of Cr atoms within the (Fe, Mn) system combined with the unmixing of Cr, Fe and Mn components.