Self-Healing Liquid Metal Magnetic Hydrogels for Smart Feedback Sensors and High-Performance Electromagnetic Shielding

Hydrogels exhibit potential applications in smart wearable devices because of their exceptional sensitivity to various external stimuli.However,their applications are limited by challenges in terms of issues in biocompatibility,custom shape,and self-healing.Herein,a conductive,stretchable,adaptable,self-healing,and biocompatible liquid metal GaInSn/Ni-based composite hydrogel is developed by incorporating a magnetic liquid metal into the hydrogel framework through crosslinking polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)with sodium tetraborate.The excellent stretchability and fast self-healing capability of the PVA/liquid metal hydrogel are derived from its abundant hydrogen binding sites and liquid metal fusion.Significantly,owing to the magnetic constituent,the PVA/liquid metal hydrogel can be guided remotely using an external magnetic field to a specific position to repair the broken wires with no need for manual operation.The composite hydrogel also exhibits sensitive deformation responses and can be used as a strain sensor to monitor various body motions.Additionally,the multifunctional hydrogel displays absorption-dominated electromagnetic interference(EMI)shielding properties.The total shielding performance of the composite hydrogel increases to~62.5 dB from~31.8 dB of the pure PVA hydrogel at the thickness of 3.0 mm.The proposed bioinspired multifunctional magnetic hydrogel demonstrates substantial application potential in the field of intelligent wearable devices.

In-situ grown Ni Co bimetal anchored on porous straw-derived biochar composites with boosted microwave absorption properties

With the gradually increasing protection awareness about electromagnetic pollution,the demand for absorbing materials with renewability and environmental friendliness has attracted widespread attention.In this work,composites consisting of straw-derived biochar combined with NiCo alloy were successfully fabricated through high-temperature carbonization and subsequent hydrothermal reaction.The electromagnetic parameters of the porous biocarbon/NiCo composites can be effectively modified by altering their NiCo content,and their improved absorbing performance can be attributed to the synergy effect of magnetic-dielectric characteristics.An exceptional reflection loss of-27.0 dB at 2.2 mm thickness and an effective absorption bandwidth of 4.4 GHz(11.7-16.1 GHz)were achieved.These results revealed that the porous biocarbon/NiCo composites could be used as a new generation absorbing material because of their low density,light weight,excellent conductivity,and strong absorption.

Strategies for Improving the Effectiveness of Professional Practice for Full-Time Professional Master Degree Postgraduate in Mineral Processing Engineering

In order to gain practical experience and hands-on skills,full-time professional master degree postgraduate in mineral processing engineering should engage in professional practices.Nonetheless,a series of problems,including insufficient time for practice,low management level,inadequate implementation of the double-supervisor system,and poor results of professional practice,has reduced the effectiveness of professional practice.In view of the aforementioned problems and the characteristics of the discipline,this paper proposes several strategies for improving the effectiveness of professional practice for postgraduates in mineral processing engineering.

Effect of ammonium sulfate on the formation of zinc sulfide species on hemimorphite surface and its role in sulfidation flotation

Effectively strengthening the surface sulfidation is essential for recovering hemimorphite by froth flotation.In this work,inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer(ICP-OES)measurements,Visual MINTEQ calculation,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)analysis,time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry(ToF-SIMS)analysis,and micro-flotation experiments were explored to systematically investigate the effect of ammonium sulfate((NH_(4))_(2)SO_(4))on the formation of zinc sulfide species on hemimorphite surface and its role in sulfidation flotation.The results showed that(NH_(4))_(2)SO_(4)exhibited a positive influence on hemimorphite sulfidation flotation.It was ascribed to the number of zinc components in the form of Zn^(2+)and[Zn(NH_(3))_(i)]^(2+)(i=1–4)increased in the flotation system after hemimorphite treatment with(NH_(4))_(2)SO_(4),which was beneficial to its interaction with sulfur species in solution,resulting in a dense and stable zinc sulfide layer generated on the hemimorphite surface.[Zn(NH_(3))_(i)]^(2+)participated in the sulfidation reaction of hemimorphite as a transition state.In addition the sulfidation reaction of hemimorphite was accelerated by(NH_(4))_(2)SO_(4).Thus,(NH_(4))_(2)SO_(4)presents a vital role in promoting the sulfidation of hemimorphite.

Facile synthesis of yolk-shell Ni@void@SnO2（Ni3Sn2） ternary composites via galvanic replacement/Kirkendall effect and their enhanced microwave absorption properties

Yolk-shell ternary composites composed of a Ni sphere core and a SnO2（Ni3Sn2） shell were successfully prepared by a facile two-step method. The size, morphology, microstructure, and phase purity of the resulting composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, high-resolution TEM, selected-area electron diffraction, and powder X-ray diffraction. The core sizes, interstitial void volumes, and constituents of the yolk-shell structures varied by varying the reaction time. A mechanism based on the time-dependent experiments was proposed for the formation of the yolk-shell structures. The yolk-shell structures were formed by a synergistic combination of an etching reaction, a galvanic replacement reaction, and the Kirkendall effect. The yolk-shell ternary SnO2 （Ni3Sn2）@Ni composites synthesized at a reaction time of 15 h showed excellent microwave absorption properties. The reflection loss was found to be as low as -43 dB at 6.1 GHz. The enhanced microwave absorption properties may be attributed to the good impedance match, multiple reflections, the scattering owing to the voids between the core and the shell, and the effective complementarities between the dielectric loss and the magnetic loss. Thus, the yolk-shell ternary composites are expected to be promising candidates for microwave absorption applications, lithium ion batteries, and photocatalysis.

Dependence of electromagnetic wave absorption properties on the topography of Ni anchoring on reduced graphene oxide

Specific topographic Ni anchoring on reduced graphene oxide(rGO) composites show an astronomical potential as effective wave absorbers due to the synergistic electromagnetic loss effects.Herein,Ni/rGO composites with different topography were successfully prepared via hydrothermal in-situ reduction method.The structure and morphology characteristics revealed that particle-like,chain-like,coin-like and flower-like Ni were closely anchored onto rGO,respectively.The electromagnetic wave absorption(EMA) performance revealed that chain-like Ni/rGO exhibited the optimal reflection loss of-43.7 dB with a thickness of 1.8 mm as well as the EAB of 6.1 GHz at 2.0 mm among all samples due to the good impedance match and the synergistic dielectric and magnetic losses.Besides,one conclusion can be drawn that excellent magnetic coupling effect and impedance matching were the main reasons for significantly improving the EMA performance.Considering the systematic dependence of morphology on EMA,this work provides a perspective for designing high-performance absorbing materials.