Molten salt synthesis (MSS) of Cu2Mo6S8—New way for large-scale production of Chevrel phases

The Chevrel phase (CP), Mo₆S₈, was found to be an excellent cathode material for rechargeable magnesium batteries. Mo₆S₈ is obtained by a leaching process of Cu₂Mo₆S₈, which removes the copper. A new method of Cu₂Mo₆S₈ production was developed. In contrast to the well-known solid-state synthesis of CP, the method is based on the reaction in a molten salt media (KCl). A fast kinetics of this reaction allows using less active, but more convenient precursors (sulfides instead of sulfur), decreasing temperature and synthesis duration, as well as operation in the inert atmosphere instead of dynamic evacuated systems. It was shown that the composition and the electrochemical behavior of the products obtained by MSS and by the solid-state synthesis are identical. Thus, the molten salt method is extremely attractive for the large-scale production of the active materials for Mg batteries.     

Exponential distributions on semigroups

Three fundamental characterizations of the standard exponential distribution on [0, ) are the remaining life, memoryless and constant failure properties. Analogs of these properties are studied for distributions on a class of semigroups in which the semigroup operation replaces addition, a compatible partial order replaces the ordinary order, and a left-invariant measure replaces Lebesgue measure. Partial characterizations of exponential distributions on such semigroups are obtained and the semigroup formulation provides new characterizations of certain aging properties studied in reliability-increasing failure rate, new better than used, and increasing failure rate average.     

Al3Ti1B1RE细化剂对罐用铝材的细化效果及稀土的作用

采用XRD，OM，SEM，EDAX等探讨了一种新型Al3Ti1B1RE中间合金细化剂对罐用铝材的细化效果及RE的作用。结果表明，该细化剂对罐用铝材的细化效果优于进口和国产Al3Ti1B，且具有长效性，达6h后仍未见明显衰退，明显提高了该材料的强度和塑性；其细化效果及稳定性好的主要原因是：RE可降低铝液的表面能，增加铝液对细化核心(如TiAl3，TiB2)的润湿性，既充分发挥了异质形核作用，又防止了TiB2聚集沉淀倾向；RE也极易在结晶前沿富集造成成分过冷，阻碍了α-Al晶粒生长，并促进其在细化核心上形核；此外RE还兼有一定的净化、细化和变质作用，尤其是净化作用提高了该细化剂的冶金质量。     

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。     

Facile hydrothermal construction of Nb_2CT_x/Nb_2O_5 as a hybrid anode material for high-performance Li-ion batteries

Herein,a simple yet efficient hydrothermal strategy is developed to in-situ convert multi-layered niobium-based MXene(Nb_2 CT_x) to hierarchical Nb2 CTx/Nb_2O_5 composite.In the hybrid,the Nb_2O_5 nanorods are well dispersed in and/or on the Nb_2 CTx.Thanks to the synergetic contributions from the high capacity of Nb_2O_5 and superb electrical conductivity of the two-dimensional Nb_2 CT_x itself,the resultant Nb_2 CTx/Nb_2O_5 hybrid exhibits excellent rate behaviors and stable long-term cycling behaviors,when evaluated as anodes for Li-ion batteries.     

Synthesis and phase transition of Li-Mn-O spinels with high Li/Mn ratio by thermo-decomposition of LiMnC2O4(Ac)

LiMnC₂O₄(Ac) precursor in which Li⁺ and Mn²⁺ were amalgamated in one molecule was prepared by solid-state reaction at room-temperature using manganese acetate, lithium hydroxide and oxalic acid as raw materials. By thermo-decomposition of LiMnC₂O₄(Ac) at various temperatures, a series of Li_1+y[Mn_2−xLi_x]_16dO₄ spinels were prepared with Li₂MnO₃ as impurities. The structure and phase transition of these spinels were investigated by XRD, TG/DTA, average oxidation state of Mn and cyclic voltammeric techniques. Results revealed that the Li-Mn-O spinels with high Li/Mn ratio were unstable at high temperature, and the phase transition was associated with the transfer of Li⁺ from octahedral 16c sites to 16d sites. With the sintering temperature increasing from 450 to 850 °C, the phase structure varied from lithiated-spinel Li₂Mn₂O₄ to Li₄Mn₅O₁₂-like to LiMn₂O₄-like and finally to rock-salt LiMnO₂-like. A way of determining x with average oxidation state of Mn and the content of Li₂MnO₃ was also demonstrated.     

Apparent Molar Volume, Heat Capacity, and Conductance of Lithium Bis(trifluoromethylsulfone)imide in Glymes and Other Aprotic Solvents

Lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulfone)imide (LiTFSI) is a promising electrolyte for high-energy lithium batteries due to its high solubility in most solvents and electrochemical stability. To characterize this electrolyte in solution, its conductance and apparent molar volume and heat capacity were measured over a wide range of concentration in glymes, tetraethylsulfamide (TESA), acetonitrile, -butyrolactone, and propylene carbonate at 25°C and were compared with those of LiClO₄ in the same solvents. The glymes or n(ethylene glycol) dimethyl ethers (nEGDME), which have the chemical structure CH₃–O–(CH₂–CH₂–O) _n –CH₃ for n = 1 to 4, are particularly interesting since they are electrochemically stable, have a good redox window, and are analogs of the polyethylene oxides used in polymer-electrolyte batteries. TESA is a good plasticizer for polymer-electrolyte batteries. Whenever required, the following properties of the pure solvents were measured: compressibilities, expansibilities, temperature and pressure dependences of the dielectric constant, acceptor number, and donor number. These data were used in particular to calculate the limiting Debye-Hückel parameters for volumes and heat capacities. The infinite dilution properties of LiTFSI are quite similar to those of other lithium salts. At low concentrations, LiTFSI is strongly associated in the glymes and moderately associated in TESA. At intermediate concentrations, the thermodynamic data suggests that a stable solvate of LiTFSI in EGDME exists in the solution state. At high concentrations, the thermodynamic properties of the two lithium salts approach those of the molten salts. These salts have a reasonably high specific conductivity in most of the solvents. This suggests that the conductance of ions at high concentration in solvents of low dielectric constant is due to a charge transfer process rather than to the migration of free ions.     

ELECTROCHEMICAL POLYMERIZATION OF ANILINE IN PHOSPHORIC ACID AND THE PROPERTIES OF POLYANILINE

The behavior of the electrochemical polymerization of aniline in a weak acid, phosphoric acid, is very similar to that in strong acids, i.e. its polymerization rate increases quickly with the electrolysis time. The FTIR spectra of polyaniline samples synthesized in phosphoric acid indicate that the counter ion H2PO4^- is present in both the oxidized form and the reduced form of polyaniline. The counter ion plays an important role in adjusting the pH value at the electrode surface of polyaniline during the oxidation and reduction processes. As a result, a pair of redox peaks still appear in cyclic voltammograms of polyaniline in a solution of sodium sulfate of pH 5.5 and in a solution of NaH2PO4 of pH 7.0,respectively, at low potential scan rate; and the color of polyaniline film also changes with applied potential at pH 7.0. Thus,the pH region for the electrochemical activity and the electrochromism of polyaniline is extended to pH 5.5 for a solution of sodium sulfate and to pH 7.0 for a solution of NaH2PO4. The conductivity of polyaniline is 3.3 S cm^-1, depending on the concentration of phosphoric acid used in the stage of polymerization of aniline. The result of elemental analysis of polyaniline is presented here.     

EFFECTS OF COUPLING AGENTS ON THE CRYSTALLIZATION BEHAVIOR OF PP/T-ZnOw COMPOSITES

The objectives of this paper are to understand the crystallization behavior of polypropylene(PP)composites with surface modified tetra-needle-shaped zinc oxide whisker(T-ZnOw).T-ZnOw was surface modified with different coupling agents,such as silane coupling agents(KH-550,KH-560)and titanate coupling agent(NDZ-105),in order to improve the compatibility between PP and T-ZnOw.DSC and POM were used to characterize the melt and crystallization behavior and the crystalline structures of the composites,respectively.The results show that the surface modified T-ZnOw acts as a nucleating agent of PP crystallization,depending on the coupling agent used for modification.KH-550 and KH-560 have more apparent role in improving the interfacial interaction than NDZ-105 and induce PP crystallization at higher temperature and with smaller spherulites size.The results also suggest that the crystallization behavior depends on not only the content of coupling agent,but also the content of the surface modified T-ZnOw used in the composites.     

锂离子电池锡氧化物基负极材料的湿化学合成与电化学性质

采用新兴的湿化学方法合成了锡氧化物基粉末材料。用X-射线衍射、扫描电镜和电化学方法对材料的微观结构、形貌和电化学性能进行了详细的研究。结果表明，经400 ℃热处理4 h的锡氧化物基材料的颗粒大小均匀，平均粒径约为200 nm。这种材料的可逆充电容量超过570 mAh·g^-1，30次循环后平均每次循环的容量衰减只有0.15%。良好的电化学性能表明锡氧化物基材料有望作为新一代锂离子电池的负极材料。