Yttria-stabilized-zirconia hollow spheres prepared by atmospheric plasma spray

Yttria-stabilized-zirconia （YSZ） hollow spheres are widely utilized for their novel physical and chemical properties. However, developing a simple and low-cost method for preparing such hollow spheres still remains a great challenge. In this paper, an atmospheric plasma spray （APS） method is introduced, and the formation mechanism of hollow 7YSZ （ZrO2-7wt%Y2O3） spheres is presented. The hollow sphere morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） when agglomerated and sintered 7YSZ powders were used. Additionally, additive composition changes, phase transformations, and the thermal behavior of 7YSZ powders were analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）, X-ray diffractometry （XRD）, thermogravimetric analysis （TG） and differential scanning calorimeter analysis （DSC）. Furthermore, the phase transformations of agglomerated and sintered 7YSZ powders, 7YSZ hollow spheres that annealed at various temperatures for different times are analyzed.

Synthesis,formation mechanism,and intrinsic physical properties of several As/P-containing MAX phases

321 phases are an atypical series of MAX phases,in which A=As/P,with superior elastic properties,fea-turing in the MA-triangular-prism bilayers in the crystal structure.Until now,besides Nb 3 As 2 C,the pure phases of the other 321 compounds have not been realized,hampering the study of their intrinsic prop-erties.Here,molten-salt sintering(MSS)and solid-state synthesis(SSS)were applied to synthesize As/P-containing 321 phases and 211 phases.Analyzing the phase composition of the end-product via multiple-phase Rietveld refinement,we found that MSS can effectively improve the purity of P-containing MAX phases,with the phase content up to 99%in Nb_(3)P_(2)C and 75.4(5)%in Nb 2 PC.In contrast,MSS performed poorly on As-containing MAX phases,only 8.9(4)%for Nb 3 As 2 C and 64(2)%for Nb 2 AsC,as opposed to the pure phases obtained by SSS.The experimental analyses combined with first-principles calculations reveal that the dominant formation route of Nb_(3)P_(2)C is through NbP+Nb+C→Nb_(3)P_(2)C.Moreover,we found that the benefits of MSS on P-containing MAX phases are on the facilitation of three consid-ered chemical reaction routes,especially on Nb 2 PC+NbP→Nb_(3)P_(2)C.Furthermore,the intrinsic physical properties and Fermi surface topology of two 321 phases consisting of electron,hole,and open orbits are revealed theoretically and experimentally,in which the electron carriers are dominant in electrical trans-port.The feasible synthesis methods and the formation mechanism are instructive to obtain high-purity As/P-containing MAX phases and explore new MAX phases.Meanwhile,the intrinsic physical properties will give great support for future applications on 321 phases.