Enhanced dielectric and nonohmic properties of SrTiO3-modified CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics

Dielectric and nonohmic properties of CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) ceramics can be modified by addition of SrTiO₃ (STO) in different molar proportions which were fabricated by a modified sol-gel method. XRD results indicated that all modified ceramics showed mixed phase consisting of both CCTO and STO. SEM images and grain size distribution probability also presented the change of microstructure with the addition of STO. The dielectric loss of the CCTO/0.4STO ceramics sintered at 1000 °C can be lower than 0.02 in a wide frequency (1 kHz–10 kHz), especially at 1 kHz, the dielectric loss of this sample is as low as 0.012. Furthermore, excellent nonlinear I–V electrical characteristic (high breakdown voltage to 54.15 kV/cm for CCTO/0.4STO sintered at 1000 °C) was observed as well. All the results indicated that the addition of STO does improve the dielectric properties and nonohmic characteristics of CCTO ceramics dramatically.     

Microstructure evolution and mechanical property of pulsed laser welded Ni-based superalloy

For evaluating the microstructure evolution and mechanical property of Ni-based Hastelloy C-276 weld joint by the pulsed laser welding, the influence of pulsed laser welding on the microstructure and mechanical property of the weld joint is investigated by the analysis of the microstructure morphology, microhardness, phase structure and tensile property. The results indicate that, in the fusion zone three sections are divided on the basis of the patterns of grain structures. In the weld joint, the element segregation is found, but the trend of brittle phase׳s formation is weakened. The weld microhardness presents just a little higher than that of base metal, and there is no obvious the softened heat affected zone. Meanwhile in the weld joint, the phase structure is still the face-center cubic with the tiny shift of peak positions and widened Full Width at Half-Maximum. The yield strength of weld joint is the same as that of base metal, and the tensile strength is nearly 90% of that of base metal. The decreased tensile strength is mainly attributed to the dislocation piling-up.     

Theoretical studies of the dependence of EPR g-factors on local structure for the trigonal Er3+–VK centres in KMgF3 and KZnF3

The dependence of the EPR g-factors on the local structural parameter for a 4f¹¹ configuration ion Er³⁺ in a trigonal crystal-field has been studied by diagonalizing the 364×364 complete energy matrices. Our studies indicate that the EPR spectra of the trigonal Er³⁺–V_K centers in KMgF₃ and KZnF₃ may be attributed to the translation of the cubic Kramers doublet Γ₇. Furthermore, the EPR g-factors of the trigonal Er³⁺–V_K centers may be interpreted reasonably by the shifts ΔZ≈0.340 Å and ΔZ≈0.303 Å of the Er³⁺ ions toward the charge compensator V_K along the C₃ axis for the KMgF₃:Er³⁺ and the KZnF₃:Er³⁺ systems respectively.     

Microstructure evolution of room-temperature-sputtered ITO films suitable for silicon heterojunction solar cells

Thickness influence on structural, optical and electrical properties of sputtered indium tin oxide (ITO) with thickness ranging from 60 up to 430 nm films has been studied. At the increase of the film thickness crystallinity degree and grain size increased, whereas tensile structural distortion as well as resistivity decreased. It was observed that a microstructure evolution takes place: the initial amorphous layer evolved in polycrystalline phase, with a grain–subgrain surface morphology. Carrier concentration increased at the increase of the film thickness and a general relationship between electrical characteristics and structural distortion has been found. In thinner films larger tensile distortion allowed to include larger amount of interstitial O and/or Sn atoms in the lattice. An appreciable impact of the thickness was also observed on electro-optical properties in terms of changes in energy gap, resistivity and optical absorption. Silicon heterojunction solar cells have been produced and J_sc as high as 33.0 mA/cm² has been obtained.     

Enhanced mechanical properties of unidirectional basalt fiber/epoxy composites using silane-modified Na+-montmorillonite nanoclay

This study explores the effects of 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (3-GPTS) modified Na-montmorillonite (Na-Mt) nanoclay addition on mechanical response of unidirectional basalt fiber (UD-BF)/epoxy composite laminates under tensile, flexural and compressive loadings. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) data confirmed the reaction mechanism between the silane compound and Mt. It was demonstrated that addition of 5 wt % 3-GPTS/Mt resulted in 28%, 11% and 35% increase in flexural, tensile and compressive strengths. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) clarified the improvement in the adhesion between the basalt fibers and matrix in the case of Mt-enhanced epoxy specimens. Also, a theoretical route based on a Euler-Bernoulli beam-based approach was employed to estimate the compressive properties of the composites. The results demonstrated good agreement between theoretical and experimental approaches. Totally, the results of the study show that matrix modification is an effective strategy to improve the mechanical behavior of fibrous composites.     

Insight into the enhancement of photovoltaic properties of Ti-doped Copper(I) oxide via: Modified spray pyrolysis technique

For years, the human race has awaited a more convenient, greener, and largely efficient material for energy conversion and electronic applications. Cu₂O thin films produced by spray pyrolysis meet the economic viability and cost requirements, and it is widely assumed that they will lead to the production of functionally viable technologies. The spray pyrolysis method was used to added titanium into copper (I) oxide thin films with a deposition temperature of 200 °C and annealing for 2 h at 200 °C in this study. The Ti-doped Cu₂O's optical, surface morphology, and photovoltaic characteristics have all been thoroughly explored. The best characteristics were obtained at 3% Ti doped Cu₂O. The near-band emission of Ti-doped Cu₂O was moved from 385 nm to 400 nm. The bandgap was reduced from 2.35 to 1.98Ev at 3% Ti doped Cu₂O. As a result, Cu₂O (Ti)-based solar cells' short circuit current density and open circuit voltage were greatly improved. It has been demonstrated that adding Ti to p-CuO/n-Si solar cells enhances their photovoltaic performance.     

基于多孔金结构的三相界面酶电极的制备及高效电化学酶传感性能

界面微环境是影响酶催化反应及酶传感性能的关键因素. 本研究基于三维微纳米结构多孔金基底, 通过调控电极表面的亲水和疏水浸润性, 制备了具有固-液-气三相界面微环境的氧化酶电极, 并研究了界面微环境对酶催化反应动力学的影响规律. 基于所制备的三相界面多孔金结构酶电极, 反应物氧气能够从气相直接快速地传输到酶催化反应界面, 极大地提升了界面氧气浓度及其稳定性, 从而大幅度提高了氧化酶活性及酶电极响应的稳定性. 以葡萄糖为模型待测物, 基于该三相界面酶电极的电化学酶生物传感器拥有宽的线性范围、 高的灵敏度、 低的检出限以及良好的稳定性. 这类独特的三相反应界面设计为高效酶生物传感器的建构以及生物分子的精准检测提供了新思路.     

Synthesis of polybutadienes with controllable microstructure by a novel binary Nd(3-NBSO3)3/alkylaluminum catalyst system

The polymerization of 1,3-butadiene was examined by using a novel halogen-free neodymium m-nitrobenzenesulfonate(Nd(3-NBSO3)3·donors)/alkylaluminum binary catalyst system. The catalyst showed fairly high activity and controllable selectivity. The microstructure of the resultant polymer was adjustable by variation of electron donor and/or the alkylaluminum. 13C-NMR and thermal analysis demonstrate that the produced polybutadienes have stereo-block chain structures of cis-1,4 and trans-1,4 segments with adjustable Tm and Tc. The neodymium sulfonate-based catalyst is believed to be significant in regulating the chain structure of polydienes and in exploring 1,3-diene polymerization mechanism.     

复合卤氧化铋纳米材料的合成及其光催化性能

采用低温沉淀法合成了一系列Bi OMxN1-x(M,N=Cl、Br、I)(0X1)复合材料,通过XRD、FESEM、TEM、EDS、UV-vis和PL等一系列表征和对有机物罗丹明光催化降解性能的研究表明:通过对复合材料合成过程中卤素离子含量的控制,使得此类固溶体具有独特的微观形貌和可控能带隙,使其在可见光下具有独特的光催化性能。在相同的光照条件下,Bi OCl0.5Br0.5、Bi OCl0.75I0.25和Bi OBr0.75I0.25相对于其他同系列的Bi OMxN1-x(M,N=Cl、Br、I)(0X1)微球样品而言,具有最好的光催化性能。     

Concepts and realization of microstructure heat exchangers for enhanced heat transfer

Microstructure heat exchangers have unique properties that make them useful for numerous scientific and industrial applications. The power transferred per unit volume is mainly a function of the distance between heat source and heat sink—the smaller this distance, the better the heat transfer. Another parameter governing for the heat transfer is the lateral characteristic dimension of the heat transfer structure; in the case of microchannels, this is the hydraulic diameter. Decreasing this characteristic dimension into the range of several 10s of micrometers leads to very high values for the heat transfer rate.

Another possible way of increasing the heat transfer rate of a heat exchanger is changing the flow regime. Microchannel devices usually operate within the laminar flow regime. By changing from microchannels to three dimensional structures, or to planar geometries with microcolumn arrays, a significant increase of the heat transfer rate can be achieved.

Microheat exchangers in the form of both microchannel devices (with different hydraulic diameters) and microcolumn array devices (with different microcolumn layouts) are presented and compared. Electrically heated microchannel devices are presented, and industrial applications are briefly described.