Morphology controls of the melt blending in a novel highly crosslinked bismaleimide system

A novel bismaleimide of 2,2-bis[4-(4-maleimidophenoxy)phenyl]propane (BMIP) with a broad working-temperature-range for the melt blending was successfully synthesized. BMIP possesses a considerably broad working-temperature-range from 75 °C to 250 °C, prior to undergoing cure reactions to form a highly crosslinked network. The morphology types of cured BMIP/clay hybrids can be controlled by varying the shearing temperatures and the contents of the clay. The conditions necessary for achieving an exfoliated or an intercalated BMIP/clay hybrid were thoroughly investigated via X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). All the uncured samples prepared at different shearing temperatures and with an adequate amount of MMT-C (above 3 phr) exhibited an intercalated form of morphology. However, the crosslinking reactions for specified samples prepared at relatively elevated shearing temperatures (above 120 °C) and with a relatively low content of clay (below 15 phr) resulted in morphology changes from the intercalated form to the exfoliated form of morphology. There exists an isotropically mechanical property for the cured matrix of the exfoliated hybrids whereas there exists an anisotropically mechanical property for the cured matrix of the intercalated hybrids.     

Analyzing electrochemical noise with Chebyshev’s discrete polynomials

The principles underlying a novel method intended for analyzing experimental data obtained when studying fluctuation processes are considered. The method in question is Chebyshev’s spectroscopy. The application of this method allows one to determine statistic characteristics of steady-state electrochemical noise against the background of severe deterministic interference without invoking the procedure of the fitting of the initial data. The potentialities of this novel method, which is intended for treating noise experiment, are demonstrated by examining model examples and analyzing the electrochemical noise generated by a lithium electrode placed in an aprotic organic electrolyte.     

Products of lithium interaction with nanostructured oxides SnO2-TiO2 and mechanism of charge-discharge of electrodes in a lithium-ion battery

Products of lithium interaction with thin-film nanostructured SnO₂-TiO₂ (ST) oxides are studied with the aid of x-ray diffraction analysis and Moessbauer spectroscopy on the ¹¹⁹Sn nuclei. Electrochemical properties of a series of the ST electrodes with different concentrations of TiO₂ varied from 0 to 20 mol % are also examined. It is concluded that the specific feature of the charge-discharge mechanism of the ST electrodes is a significant participation of oxygen in reversible reactions during insertion and extraction of lithium as compared with an alloying mechanism of operation of tin-containing anodes. The leading role in this is played by titanium oxide. Remaining stable towards reduction by lithium, it facilitates the holding of the neighboring layers of SnO₂ in a nanodisperse state and in an oxidized state. The effect of a decrease in the capacity degradation in modified TiO₂ electrodes, which is discovered in this work, is attributed to the hampering of the growth of nanocrystallites of β-Sn by interlayers of tin and titanium oxides mentioned above.     

层状LiMnO2的固相合成及电化学性能

以Mn₂O₃和氢氧化锂为原料，通过焙烧合成出o-LiMnO₂。用X射线衍射和扫描电镜对不同温度下合成的粉末样品进行了表征，并研究了材料的电化学性能。通过对不同温度条件下烧结样品的晶胞参数、布拉格(110)晶面峰半高宽及电化学性能研究发现：600 ℃下合成样品的半高宽最大，堆垛层错率高，同时电化学性能也最好，首次放电容量达到156 mAh·g^-1，20次循环后仍保持在140 mAh·g^-1以上。中高温固相合成的o-LiMnO₂材料，在晶粒范围大小相近时，材料电化学性能与材料堆垛层错率相关。     

Preparation and thermal decomposition study of pyridinedicarboxylate intercalated layered double hydroxides

Supramolecular 2,3- and 2,5-pyridinedicarboxylate (PDC) intercalated ZnAl-layered double hydroxides (2,3- and 2,5-PDC–ZnAl–LDHs) have been prepared by ion exchange method. The structure and composition of the intercalated materials have been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP). The study indicates that the 2,3-PDC and 2,5-PDC anions are accommodated as interdigitated bilayer and monolayer arrangement respectively between the sheets of LDHs. Furthermore, their thermal decomposition processes were studied by the use of in situ high temperature X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD), and the combined technique of thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis-mass spectrometry (TG-DTA-MS) under N2 atmosphere. Based on the comparison study on the temperatures of both decarboxylation and complete decomposition of interlayer PDC, it can be concluded that 2,5-PDC–ZnAl–LDHs has higher thermal stability than that of 2,3-PDC–ZnAl–LDHs.     

Chemical bond in alkali metal sulfates

In the context of the density functional theory of the local electron density the valence and differential density distribution in crystalline sulfates of M₂SO₄ (M is Li, Rb, and Cs) and double sulfates of MLiSO₄ were calculated using the pseudopotential method in the basis set of numerical atomic pseudo-orbitals. It is shown that in lithium sulfate crystallographically inequivalent oxygen atoms are in different charge states and have a different force of chemical bonding with sulfur. Anions are bonded to each other through lithium atoms that form tetrahedral complexes with oxygen. In rubidium sulfates the electron clouds of the anions overlap and chain structures form. Chemical bonding between the anion and the cation has an ionic nature. These features of the electron structure manifest themselves in double sulfates, where LiO₄ complexes that link the anionic chains also form, and heavy metals serve as cations.     

SOLID STATE CHEMISTRY OF La_(1-x)Li_(x)MnO_3 AND RELATED COMPOUND

A series of perovskite type oxides La_(1-x)A_(x)MnO_3(x=0.1 for A=Li,Na,K;x=0.1～0.5 for A=Li)have been prepared by impregnation.Experimental results showed that the substitution of La~(3 ) by Li~ inLaMnO_(3 ?) greatly increased the selectivity to ethane and ethylene for theoxidative coupling of methane.Temperature-programmed desorption of oxygenproved the presence of oxygen vacancies in the oxide lattice.The higher Mn~(4 )/Mn_t ratio in oxide made the formation of oxygen vacancies easier on the oxidesurface.The general formula of the oxides is La_(1-x)Li_(x)Mn＇V＇_(y)O_(3-y),V=vacancy.     

Dense Sphene-type Solid Electrolyte Through Rapid Sintering for Solid-state Lithium Metal Battery

The sphene-type solid electrolyte with high ionic conductivity has been designed for solid-state lithium metal battery. However, the practical applications of solid electrolytes are still suffered by the low relative density and long sintering time of tens of hours with large energy consumption. Here, we introduced the spark plasma sintering technology for fabricating the sphene-type Li_1.125Ta_0.875Zr_0.125SiO₅ solid electrolyte. The dense electrolyte pellet with high relative density of ca. 97.4% and ionic conductivity of ca. 1.44×10^-5 S/cm at 30℃ can be obtained by spark plasma sintering process within the extremely short time of only ca. 0.1 h. Also the solid electrolyte provides stable electrochemical window of ca. 6.0 V(vs. Li⁺/Li) and high electrochemical interface stability toward Li metal anode. With the enhanced interfacial contacts between electrodes and electrolyte pellet by the in-situ formed polymer electrolyte, the solid-state lithium metal battery with LiFePO₄ cathode can deliver the initial discharge capacity of ca. 154 mA·h/g at 0.1 C and the reversible capacity of ca. 132 mA·h/g after 70 cycles with high Coulombic efficiency of 99.5% at 55℃. Therefore, this study demonstrates a rapid and energy efficient sintering strategy for fabricating the solid electrolyte with dense structure and high ionic conductivity that can be practically applied in solid-state lithium metal batteries with high energy densities and safeties.     

Li2O·nB2O3-20%LiCl-H2O体系20℃过饱和溶液结晶动力学研究

用动力学方法对Li₂O·nB₂O₃-20%LiCl-H₂O体系(n=1,2,3)20℃过饱和溶液结晶过程进行研究，结果表明每一种溶液只析出一种固相，Li₂O∶B₂O₃=1∶1、1∶2和1∶3的氯化锂溶液分别结晶出Li₂O·B₂O₃·4H₂O, Li₂O·2B₂O₃·3H₂O和Li₂O·5B₂O₃·10H₂O，拟合并给出结晶动力学方程，同时对这三种固相的结晶反应机理进行了探讨。     

Thermoanalytische Untersuchungen an Schichtmaterialien: Der Einfluβ der Kationen auf das thermische Verhalten

Aluminium-free layered silicates of the metal silicate hydrate type (M-SH) comprise an interesting supplement to the well-known zeolite-like porous materials. Their specific properties allow these materials to be used as catalysts, adsorbents and ion-exchangers. Comparative X-ray diffraction and thermoanalytical investigations (TG and DSC) have shown that the thermoanalytical methods are useful to follow the process of structure formation of ilerite. The interlayer cations influence the properties of the different ilerites. In particular, the hydration behaviour of ilerite is affected. Thus, H⁺- and DTMA⁺-ilerite are stable up to temperatures of about 800°C, while the as-synthesized Na-form loses water irreversibly at about 150°C, is dehydroxylated, and is then desomposed structurally at about 400°C. The course of the dehydration exhibits significant differences for the various cation forms.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.