Sulfur removal from bauxite water slurry (BWS) electrolysis intensified by ultrasonic

Effects of ultrasonic on desulfurization ratio from bauxite water slurry (BWS) electrolysis in NaOH solution were examined under constant current. The results indicated that ultrasonic improved the desulfurization ratio at high temperatures because of the diffusion and transfer of oxygen gas in electrolyte. However, due to the increase in oxygen gas emission, ultrasonic could not improve the desulfurization ratio obviously at low temperatures. Additionally, the particle size of bauxite became fine in the presence of ultrasonic, indicating that the mass transfer of FeS₂ phase was improved. According to the polarization curves, the current density increased in the presence of ultrasonic, indicating that the mass transfer of liquid phase was improved. The apparent activation energy (AAE) of electrode reaction revealed that ultrasonic did not change the pathway of water electrolysis. However, ultrasonic changed the pathway of BWS electrolysis, converting indirect oxidation into direct oxidation. The AAE of BWS electrolysis in the presence of ultrasonic was higher than that in the absence of ultrasonic. And the low AAEs (less than 20 kJ/mol) clearly indicated the diffusion control during BWS electrolysis reaction.     

First-principles studies on the structural and electronic properties of Li-ion battery cathode material CuF2

The 3d transition metal binary compounds have been extensively investigated for a large multi-electron redox capacity through reversible electrochemical reactions. Here, the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of CuF₂ are studied by the first-principles calculations within both the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and GGA+U frameworks. Our results show that the antiferromagnetic (AFM) configuration of CuF₂ is more stable than the ferromagnetic (FM) one, which is consistent with experiments. The analysis of the electronic density of states (DOS) shows that CuF₂ is a classic Mott–Hubbard insulator with a large d–d type band gap, which is similar to the case of FeF₃. Moreover, small spin polarizations were found on the sites of fluorin ions, which accords with a fluorin-mediated superexchange mechanism for the Cu–Cu magnetic interaction.     

Additive free electrodeposition of nanocrystalline aluminium in a water and air stable ionic liquid

This paper shows for the first time that nanocrystalline aluminium can be electrodeposited without any additives in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-1-methyl pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide saturated with AlCl₃. The advantages of this ionic liquid compared to chloroaluminate ionic liquids, which were intensively investigated in the past, are that it is water and air stable, easy to purify as well as it is easy to dry to water contents below 1 ppm. Interestingly, this ionic liquid shows biphasic behaviour above a concentration of AlCl₃ of 1.6 mol/L. A significant current loop attributed to nucleation was found for bulk deposition of aluminium at room temperature on gold, whereas at 100 °C there is no nucleation loop. The deposits obtained are generally uniform, dense, shining and adherent to the substrate with crystallites in the nanosize regime. At 100 °C, the quality of the deposit is even better with an average size of the crystallites of 34 nm.     

Thermal conductivity of symmetrically strained Si/Ge superlattices

This paper reports temperature-dependent thermal conductivity measurements in the cross-plane direction of symmetrically strained Si/Ge superlattices, and the effect of doping, period thickness and dislocations on the thermal conductivity reduction of Si/Ge superlattices. The Si/Ge superlattices are grown by molecular beam epitaxy on silicon and silicon-on-insulator substrates with a graded buffer layer. A differential 3 ω method is used to measure the thermal conductivity of the buffer and the superlattices between 80 and 300 K. The thermal conductivity measurement is carried out in conjunction with X-ray and TEM sample characterization. The measured thermal conductivity values of the superlattices are lower than those of their equivalent composition bulk alloys.     

Comparison of rheological behavior of branched polypropylene prepared by chemical modification and electron beam irradiation under air and N2

Chemical and electron beam irradiation methods were used to introduce a branched structure into polypropylene and propylene–ethylene copolymer. The chemical method was carried out in an internal mixer using initiator and TMPTMA monomer. In irradiation method, the polymer was irradiated by electron beam under air and nitrogen atmosphere. The branched structure in the modified polymer was confirmed by rheological measurements. While degradation was significant in chemical method, branching occurred efficiently by irradiation under air. Small amount of ethylene in the propylene copolymer promoted branching over degradation.     

Enhanced piezoelectric-induced catalysis of SrTiO3 nanocrystal with well-defined facets under ultrasonic vibration

Facet engineering of nanocomposite has been confirmed to be an efficient strategy to accelerate their catalytic performances, but to improve their piezoelectric catalytic activities by facet engineering has been seldom reported. Herein, we developed a series of SrTiO₃ nanocrystals with exposed {0 0 1} facet, dominant {1 1 0} facet and co-exposed {0 0 1} and {1 1 0} facets, respectively, and firstly revealed its piezoelectric catalytic performance under ultrasonic vibration. Moreover, the relationship between piezoelectric-induced catalytic activity and facet-dependence of SrTiO₃ nanocrystal was disclosed for the first time. The SrTiO₃ nanocrystal with co-exposed {0 0 1} and {1 1 0} facets exhibited effectively enhanced piezoelectric catalytic activity by degrading Rhodamine B (RhB) under ultrasonic vibration, as compared to that of SrTiO₃ nanocrystals with exposed {0 0 1} facet and dominant {1 1 0} facet, respectively. In addition, trapping experiments and active species quantitative experiments confirmed that the co-exposed {0 0 1} and {1 1 0} facets were beneficial to produce O₂⁻ and OH with the generation rates of 8.3 and 132.2 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, respectively. The OH radical played a dominant role in piezoelectric catalytic process. Finally, the piezoelectric catalysis mechanism of SrTiO₃ surface heterojunction was proposed based on a DFT study. This study presents an in-depth understanding of piezoelectric-induced catalytic of perovskite nanocrystals with exposed well-defined facets.     

Quadrupolar magic angle spinning NMR spectra fitted using the Pearson IV function

The Pearson IV function was used to fit the asymmetric solid-state ²⁷Al NMR spectra of alumina based catalysts. A high convergence (correlation coefficient is no less than 0.997) between experimental and simulated spectra was achieved. The decomposition of the ²⁷Al NMR spectra of zinc/aluminum mixed oxides with different Zn/Al molar ratio revealed an increased fraction (6–9%) of pentacoordinated aluminum atoms in these oxides as compared to γ-Al₂O₃. As the Zn/Al ratio is raised, the fraction of [AlO₆] octahedral units decreases, while the fraction of [AlO₄] tetrahedra increases.     

Melt rheology and morphology of binary and ternary PS/HIPS blends for blown film extrusion applications

Rheology is an important tool for evaluating the potential application of a specific material in the production of blow molding films. In the present study, binary and ternary blends based on two different grades of polystyrene (PS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) were prepared by melt mixing in a twin screw extruder, using a simplex-centroid mixture design. Rheological analysis was performed based on elongational and dynamic rheology tests combined with scanning electron microscopy. Based on the rheology tests performed, the PS1/HIPS (50:50 wt.%) binary blend is a promising candidate for use in blow molding film applications.     

Synthesis,morphology and phase transition of the zinc molybdates ZnMoO4·0.8H2O/α-ZnMoO4/ZnMoO4 by hydrothermal method

ZnMoO₄ with a rhombus sheet or flower-like structure, α-ZnMoO₄ and needle-like ZnMoO₄·0.8 H₂O were successfully synthesized by simple hydrothermal crystallization processes with citric acid. ZnMoO₄·0.8 H₂O was easily synthesized in a shorter reaction time (2 h) at a higher reactant concentration. It gradually transformed into ZnMoO₄ with a monoclinic wolframite tungstate structure with an increased reaction time, and pure ZnMoO₄ was obtained with a longer reaction time (8 h). Citric acid (CA) played an important role in controlling the morphology of the as-obtained molybdates. The α-ZnMoO₄ and ZnMoO₄ were synthesized by heating ZnMoO₄·0.8 H₂O at 130 °C for 4 h and 8 h, respectively, under hydrothermal conditions. With transforming of ZnMoO₄·0.8 H₂O to α-ZnMoO₄ and further to ZnMoO₄, the needle-like crystals gradually disappeared and were transformed into crystals with rhombus sheet morphology and then further to pentacle or flower-like crystals that can be ascribed to continuous splitting and growing of the rhombus sheets.     

Urchin-like cobalt incorporated manganese oxide OMS-2 hollow spheres: Synthesis,characterization and catalytic degradation of RhB dye

Urchin-like K_xCo_yMn_8−yO₁₆ hollow spheres assembled from nanoplate building blocks were successfully fabricated via a one-pot hydrothermal route using cobalt acetate and potassium permanganate as raw material. The products were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) measurement. The thermal stability and surface areas of cobalt ion in the manganese sites of KMn₈O₁₆ structures were clearly evidenced by TGA and N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms curves. Based on time depended experiment results, a possible formation mechanism for this structures was proposed. The catalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) on K_xCo_yMn_8−yO₁₆ materials has, therefore been dependent for the molar precursor ratio and specific surface area of the as-fabricated products. UV–vis, LC–MS and barium hydroxide methods were utilized to monitor the temporal course of the catalytic reaction.