A new sol–gel processing routine without chelating agents for preparing highly transparent solutions and nanothin films: engineering the role of chemistry to design the process

The great sensitivity of titanium alkoxides to hydrolysis makes their sol–gel transformation very fast and thus difficult to control. A method was proposed to alleviate this drawback. Preparation of highly transparent solutions and nanothin films is another objective of the present research. Employing nanoemulsion method and optimizing the processing conditions, a clear solution of well-dispersed nanosized particles was obtained. With the proposed process BaTiO₃ precursor sols and nanothin films with enhanced optical transparency towards the visible were prepared. The optimal formulation of the sol consists of acetic acid, barium acetate, 2-propanol, TTIP and deionized water with 6:1:1:1:150 M ratios, respectively. It was found that the reduction of the temperature in the initial stage of mixing of precursors controls the size of the forming species and accordingly improves the stability and transparency of the sol. The results also showed that the applied modifications and optimizations significantly downsize the particles within the sol to the nanometric scale and accordingly result in a significant improvement in the optical response of the products.     

Tunable Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering from High‐Density Gold Semishell Arrays with Controllable Dimensions

A convenient reproducible technique is reported for the fabrication of large‐area gold semishell arrays by mechanically pressing porous anodic alumina (PAA) stamps into gold/polymer bilayer structures that serve as robust and cost‐efficient surface‐enhanced Raman‐scattering (SERS) substrates. The surface structure can be tuned further to optimize the enhancement factor according to optional PAA fabrication parameters and imprinting pressures. Finite‐difference time‐domain calculations indicate that the structure may possess excellent SERS characteristics due to the high density and abundance of hot spots.     

Preparation and Characterization of Polyborosiloxanesand Their Blends with Phenolic Resin as ShapeableCeramic Precursors简

Two polyborosiloxanes(PBSis) with char yield up to 74.13% at 800 °C were synthesized by the direct polycondensation of boric acid with phenyltrimethoxysilane in diglyme. The PBSis were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, IR spectroscopy as well as1H-,29Si- and11B-NMR. PBSi modified phenol-formaldehyde resins(PBSi/PFs) were prepared at different PBSi/PF mass ratios and were cured at 150 °C. The PBSi/PFs were characterized by IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and tensile test. The results revealed that the cured PBSi/PFs had sea-island morphology and higher char yield than the common PF. PBSi/PF blend with PBSi/PF mass ratio of 0.4:1 had char yield up to 70.83% at 800 °C. The PBSi/PFs had tensile strength similar to PF. The ceramization of PBSi/PFs was also studied. The silicon boron oxycarbide(SiBOC) ceramics formed were characterized by IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. This method provided a valuable way to prepare easily shapeable polymer blends as ceramic precursors.     

Conversion of Mg‐Li Bimetallic Alloys to Magnesium Alkoxide and Magnesium Oxide Ceramic Nanowires

Technologically important composites with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties rely on the reinforcement by the high specific strength ceramic nanofibers or nanowires (NWs) with high aspect ratios. However, conventional synthesis routes to produce such ceramic NWs have prohibitively high cost. Now, direct transformation of bulk Mg‐Li alloys into Mg alkoxide NWs is demonstrated without the use of catalysts, templates, expensive or toxic chemicals, or any external stimuli. This mechanism proceeds through the minimization of strain energy at the boundary of phase transformation front leading to the formation of ultra‐long NWs with tunable dimensions. Such alkoxide NWs can be easily converted in air into ceramic MgO NWs with similar dimensions. The impact of the alloy grain size and Li content, synthesis temperature, inductive and steric effects of alkoxide groups on the diameter, length, composition, ductility, and oxidation of the produced NWs is discussed.     

In-Situ Synthesis and Characterization of Nanocomposites in the Si-Ti-N and Si-Ti-C Systems

The pyrolysis (1000 °C) of a liquid poly(vinylmethyl-co-methyl)silazane modified by tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium in flowing ammonia, nitrogen and argon followed by the annealing (1000–1800 °C) of as-pyrolyzed ceramic powders have been investigated in detail. We first provide a comprehensive mechanistic study of the polymer-to-ceramic conversion based on TG experiments coupled with in-situ mass spectrometry and ex-situ solid-state NMR and FTIR spectroscopies of both the chemically modified polymer and the pyrolysis intermediates. The pyrolysis leads to X-ray amorphous materials with chemical bonding and ceramic yields controlled by the nature of the atmosphere. Then, the structural evolution of the amorphous network of ammonia-, nitrogen- and argon-treated ceramics has been studied above 1000 °C under nitrogen and argon by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. HRTEM images coupled with XRD confirm the formation of nanocomposites after annealing at 1400 °C. Their unique nanostructural feature appears to be the result of both the molecular origin of the materials and the nature of the atmosphere used during pyrolysis. Samples are composed of an amorphous Si-based ceramic matrix in which TiN_xC_y nanocrystals (x + y = 1) are homogeneously formed “in situ” in the matrix during the process and evolve toward fully crystallized compounds as TiN/Si₃N₄, TiN_xC_y (x + y = 1)/SiC and TiC/SiC nanocomposites after annealing to 1800 °C as a function of the atmosphere.     

新型BT-BMT-xBNT无铅高储能密度陶瓷研究

本文采用传统固相反应法,成功制备了新型无铅弛豫铁电陶瓷(1-x)[0.9BaTiO₃-0.1Bi(Mg_0.25Ta_0.5)O₃]-xBi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃。结果表明,较高居里温度的Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃的引入,使得材料体系中建立了更多的以Bi—O耦合为主的极性纳米区域,弥补了因Bi(Mg_0.25Ta_0.5)O₃的加入导致的宏观极化强度的减少,提高了材料的饱和极化强度,实现了较高储能密度的同时具有更好的温度稳定性。在245 kV/cm电场强度下,x=0.2样品的储能密度约为4.01 J/cm³,储能效率约为84.86%,同时该组分在20~170 ℃储能密度的变化率小于5%,储能效率的变化率小于6%,表现出优异的温度稳定性。     

Evaluation of the piezoelectric behaviour produced by a thick-film transducer using digital speckle pattern interferometry

This paper presents an interferometric measurement of the out-of-plane deflections produced by a piezoelectric transducer, manufactured by thick-film deposition of a ceramic paste over an alumina substrate, when is subjected to a DC electric voltage. It is shown that a digital speckle pattern interferometer with an incorporated phase-shifting facility allows the measurement of nanometer displacements generated by the piezoelectric device. These measurements are used to evaluate the effective piezoelectric charge constant along the polarization direction (d₃₃)_eff that characterizes the thick-film transducer.