Synthesis of high-purity ultrafine tungsten and tungsten carbide powders

High-purity ultrafine W or WC powder was prepared via a two-step process composed of the carbothermic pre-reduction of WO2.9 and the following deep reduction with H2 or carbonization with CH4+H2 mixed gases. The effects of C/WO2.9 molar ratio and temperature on phase composition, morphology, particle size, and impurity content of products were investigated. The results revealed that when the C/WO2.9ratio was in the range from 2.1:1 to 2.5:1, the carbothermic pre-reduction products consisted of W and a small amount of WO2. With changing C/WO2.9 ratio from 2.1:1 to 2.5:1, the particle sizes were gradually decreased. In order to prepare ultrafine W or WC powder, a relatively high C/WO2.9 ratio and a lower reaction temperature at this stage were preferred. After the second reaction, the final products of ultrafine W and WC powders with a high purity could be obtained, respectively.

Kinetic study on carbothermic reduction of ilmenite with activated carbon

The carbothermic reduction of Panzhihua ilmenite with various additions of activated carbon was investigated byisothermal experiments over the temperature range of1373to1773K in the argon atmosphere.According to the reaction kineticsrecorded by the infrared gas analyzer,it was found that the amount of carbon addition had little influence on the reaction rates atvarious temperatures except1473K.When the reaction temperature was above the eutectic temperature of1427K of Fe?C binarysystem,part of carbon would dissolve into Fe to form a liquid phase,which made the liquid Fe as a diffusion channel of carbon todiffuse to the reaction interface.The carbothermic reduction above1573K obeyed the shrinking-core model.The mass fraction ofTiC could be determined by the standard addition technique.

Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel subtypes differentially modulate the excitability of murine small intestinal afferents

AIM： To assess the role of hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation （HCN） channels in regu- lating the excitability of vagal and spinal gut afferents. METHODS： The mechanosensory response of mesen- teric afferent activity was measured in an ex vivo murine jejunum preparation. HCN channel activity was recorded through voltage and current clamp in acutely dissoci- ated dorsal root ganglia （DRG） and nodose ganglia （NG） neurons retrogradely labeled from the small intestine through injection of a fluorescent marker （DiI）. The isoforms of HCN channels expressed in DRG and NG neurons were examined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS： Ramp distension of the small intestine evok- ed biphasic increases in the afferent nerve activity, re- flecting the activation of low- and high-threshold fibers.HCN blocker CsCl （5 mmol/L） preferentially inhibited the responses of low-threshold fibers to distension and showed no significant effects on the high-threshold re- sponses. The effect of CsCI was mimicked by the more selective HCN blocker ZD7288 （10 ~mol/L）. In 71.4% of DiI labeled DRG neurons （/7 = 20） and 90.9% of DiI labeled NG neurons （n = 10）, an inward current （Ih current） was evoked by hyperpolarization pulses which was fully eliminated by extracellular CsCI. In neurons expressing Ih current, a typical ＂sag＂ was observed upon injection of hyperpolarizing current pulses in cur- rent-clamp recordings. CsCI abolished the sag entirely. In some DiI labeled DRG neurons, the Ih current was potentiated by 8-Br-cAMP, which had no effect on the Ih current of DiI labeled NG neurons. Immunohistochem- istry revealed differential expression of HCN isoforms in vagal and spinal afferents, and HCN2 and HCN3 seemed to be the dominant isoform in DRG and NG, respec- tively.CONCLUSION： HCNs differentially regulate the excit- ability of vagal and spinal afferent of murine small in- testine.

Study on reduction of MoS_2 powders with activated carbon to produce Mo_2C under vacuum conditions

A method of preparing Mo2C via vacuum carbothermic reduction of MoS2 in the temperature range of 1350–1550°C was proposed. The effects of MoS2-to-C molar ratio（a, a = 1：1, 1：1.5, and 1：2.5） and reaction temperature（1350 to 1550°C） on the reaction were studied in detail. The phase transition, morphological evolution, and residual sulfur content of the products were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and carbon–sulfur analysis, respectively. The results showed that the complete decomposition of MoS2 under vacuum is difficult, whereas activated carbon can react with MoS2 under vacuum to generate Mo2C. Meanwhile, higher temperatures and the addition of more carbon accelerated the rate of carbothermic reduction reaction and further decreased the residual sulfur content. From the experimental results, the optimum molar ratio α was concluded to be 1：1.5.

Effect of NaCl on synthesis of ZrB2 by a borothermal reduction reaction of ZrO2

ZrB2 powders were synthesized via a borothermal reduction reaction of ZrO2 with the assistance of NaCl under a flowing Ar atmosphere. The optimal temperature and reaction time were 1223 K and 3 h, respectively. Compared with the reactions conducted without the addition of NaCl, those performed with the addition of an appropriate amount of NaCl finished at substantially lower temperatures. However, the addition of too much NaCl suppressed this effect. With the assistance of NaCl, a special morphology of polyhedral ZrB2 particles covered with ZrB2 nanosheets was obtained. Moreover, the experimental results revealed that the special morphology was the result of the combined effects of B2O3 and NaCl. The formation of the special microstructure is explained on the basis of the “dissolution–recrystallization” mechanism.

Effects of various rare earth oxides on morphology and size of oxide dispersion strengthening(ODS)-W and ODS-Mo alloy powders

Ultrafine oxide dispersion strengthening(ODS)-Mo and ODS-W alloy powders containing different types of oxide nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by spraying method(solid−liquid mixing method)combined with the reductions with carbon black and hydrogen in sequence.It is concluded that the solution concentration and type of rare earth oxide have no effect on the grain size of ODS-Mo alloy powder,but have obvious effect on that of ODS-W alloy powder.The higher the concentration of rare earth solution is,the smaller the average grain size of ODS-W alloy powder is.Furthermore,compared with doping with CeO_(2),the grain sizes of reduction products of La_(2)O_(3) and Y_(2)O_(3) doped WO_(3) are relatively larger.Compared with the undoped case,there is almost no change for grain size of ODS-Mo alloy powder,while the grain size of ODS-W alloy powder becomes much larger.This is probably due to the appearance of the composite oxide(such as La_(2)WO_(6))formed by the reaction between tungsten oxide and rare earth oxides,which promotes the heterogeneous nucleation and growth of tungsten grains during the reduction process of ODS-W,while there is no complex oxide composed of molybdenum and rare earth oxides in the reduction process of ODS-Mo.

Non-isothermal reduction kinetics of titanomagnetite by hydrogen

Reduction of titanomagnetite （TTM） powders by H2-Ar gas mixtures was investigated under a non-isothermal condition by using a thermogravimetric analysis system. It was found that non-isothermal reduction of TTM proceeded via a dual-reaction mechanism. The first reaction was reduction of TTM to wustite and ilmenite, whereas the second one was reduction of wiistite and ilmenite to iron and titanium dioxide. By using a new model for the dual reactions, which was in an analytical form and incorporated different variables, such as time, temperature, particle size, and hydrogen partial pressure, rate-controlling steps for the dual reactions were obtained with the apparent activation energies calculated to be 90-98 and 115-132 kJ/mol for the first and second reactions, respectively.

Controlling Roll Temperature by Fluid-Solid Coupled Heat Transfer

Currently, when magnesium alloy sheet is rolled, the method of controlling roll temperature is simple and inaccurate. Furthermore, roll temperature has a large influence on the quality of magnesium alloy sheet; therefore, a new model using circular fluid flow control roll temperature has been designed. A fluid heat transfer structure was designed, the heat transfer process model of the fluid heating roll was simplified, and the finite di erence method was used to cal?culate the heat transfer process. Fluent software was used to simulate the fluid?solid coupling heat transfer, and both the trend and regularity of the temperature field in the heat transfer process were identified. The results show that the heating e ciency was much higher than traditional heating methods(when the fluid heat of the roll and tempera?ture distribution of the roll surface was more uniform). Moreover, there was a bigger temperature di erence between the input and the output, and after using reverse flow the temperature di erence decreased. The axial and circum?ferential temperature distributions along the sheet were uniform. Both theoretical calculation results and numerical simulation results of the heat transfer between fluid and roll were compared. The error was 1.8%–12.3%, showing that the theoretical model can both forecast and regulate the temperature of the roll(for magnesium alloy sheets) in the rolling process.

Preparation of high purity vanadium nitride by magnesiothermic reduction of V2O3 followed by nitriding in N2 atmosphere

High purity vanadium nitride(VN)powders were prepared via a two-step process using vanadium trioxide(V2 O3)as the raw material.The V2 O3 was firstly reduced at 873 K in Ar atmosphere via magnesiothermic reduction reaction to get the mixture of V and MgO,and then the products were further nitrided at 1473 K in N2 atmosphere.Finally,the as-prepared samples were acid-leached to obtain pure VN powders.X-ray diffractometry and field-emission scanning electron microscopy were used to analyze the phase transition and morphological evolution of the samples.The results reveal that the overall morphology of the obtained VN powder retains the morphology of the initial V2 O3 powders.After removing MgO by acidic leaching,the porous VN particles can be obtained,with the oxygen content of 0.178 wt.%.Compared with the traditional methods,high purity VN powders with a small amount of oxygen and no carbon can be obtained.

A model for estimating the viscosity of blast furnace slags with optical basicity

Viscosity is an important physical property of blast furnace slags and has a great influence on blast furnace operations. Because of time consumption and difficulties encountered during high temperature experimental measurement, viscosity data are also limited, so a rea-sonable and accurate estimation model is required to provide the data for controlling and optimizing the blast furnace process. In the present study a viscosity model was proposed for blast furnace slags. In the model the activation energy was calculated by the optical basicity cor-rected for cations required for the charge compensation of , and the temperature dependence was described by the Weymann-Frenkel equation. The estimated viscosity values of the CaO-Al2O3-SiO2, CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-MgO, and CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-MgO-TiO2 systems fit well with experiment data, with the mean deviation less than 25%.

Dripping and evolution behavior of primary slag bearing TiO2 through the coke packed bed in a blast-furnace hearth

To investigate the flow of primary slag bearing TiO2 in the cohesive zone of blast furnaces, experiments were carded out based on the laboratory-scale packed bed systems. It is concluded that the initial temperature of slag dripping increases with decreasing FeO content and increasing TiO2 content. The slag holdup decreases when the FeO content is in the range of 5wt%-10wt%, whereas it increases when the FeO content exceeds 10wt% . Meanwhile, the slag holdup decreases when the TiO2 content increases from 5wt% to 10wt% but increases when the TiO2 content exceeds 10wt%. Moreover, slag/coke interface analysis shows that the reaction between FeO and TiO2 occurs be- tween the slag and the coke. The slag/coke interface is divided into three layers： slag layer, iron-rich layer, and coke layer. TiO2 in the slag is reduced by carbon, and the generated Ti diffuses into iron.

Preparation of CaB6 powder via calciothermic reduction of boron carbide

The method of calciothermic reduction of B4C was proposed for preparing CaB6.The phase transition and morphology evolution during the reaction were investigated in detail.The experimental results reveal that Ca first reacts with B4C to generate CaB2C2 and CaB6 at a low temperature and that the CaB2C2 subsequently reacts with Ca to produce CaB6 and CaC2 at a high temperature.After the products were leached to remove the byproduct CaC2,pure CaB6 was obtained.The grain size of the prepared CaB6 was 2–3μm,whereas its particle size was 4–13μm;it inherited the particle size of B4C.The residual C content of the product was decreased to 1.03 wt%after the first reaction at 1173 K for 4 h and the second reaction at 1623 K for 4 h.

Deletion of Gpr128 results in weight loss and increased intestinal contraction frequency

AIM: To generate a Gpr128 gene knockout mouse model and to investigate its phenotypes and the biological function of the Gpr128 gene.

Regulation of Ti(C,N)deposition on hot surface of refractory in blast furnace hearth

Ti(C,N)concentration was found to be lower on the hearth sidewall of a blast furnace and increased gradually toward the bottom of the blast furnace.The Ti(C,N)protective layer in a blast furnace is thin.Therefore,the formation of a Ti(C,N)protective layer was promoted by studying the heterogeneous nucleation principle of titanium compounds on different substances and regulation measures for the deposition process of titanium compounds on refractories or impurities.The lattice disregistry between the titanium compounds and the main components in the refractory or the main impurities in the protective layer was calculated using a two-dimensional disregistry equation to study the heterogeneous nucleation principle of titanium compounds.The results revealed that in refractory materials,the heterogeneous nucleation of carbonitride is weak when C,SiO_(2),and Al_(2)O_(3) are used as heterogeneous nucleation substrates,and the heterogeneous nucleation of carbonitride is strong when TiO_(2) and SiC are used as heterogeneous nucleation substrates.As nucleation phases,TiC,TiN,Ti(C_(0.3),N_(0.7)),and Ti(C_(0.5),N_(0.5))have similar heterogeneous nucleation ability in single component refractory,and the type of carbonitride has little effect on the lattice disregistry.The impurities in the protective layer as the substrate phases are not conducive to the heterogeneous nucleation of carbonitride.When CaS was used as the substrate phase,the heterogeneous nucleation ability of carbonitride was the worst.Both carbon and alumina were not conducive to the heterogeneous nucleation of carbonitride,but carbon was more unfavourable than alumina.

Synthesis of substitutional hexaboride of lanthanum and cerium La_(1-x)Ce_(x)B_(6) via aluminothermic reduction

Rare-earth hexaborides(REB_(6))are vital raw materials for cathode materials and high temperature structural ceramics that are widely applied as high-frequency electron tubes and ceramics adaptive for extreme environment,respectively.In this work,single phase substitutional solid solution REB_(6)(LaB_(6),La_(0.75)Ce_(0.25)B_(6).La_(0.5)Ce_(0.5)B_(6),La_(0.25)Ce_(0.75)B_(6) and CeB_(6))powders were prepared with the raw materials of La_(2)O_(3),CeO_(2),B_(4)C and Al powders,after calcining at 1773 K for 4 h and the following alkaline leaching.All substitutional solid solution products have homogeneous distributions of La and Ce in particles.Through microscopic morphology analysis,it is discovered that the formation of solid solution is beneficial for reducing the particle size of product,relative to LaB_(6) and CeB_(6).Moreover,Al flux plays an important role in decarbonizing reaction,and C contents of all products are below 0.4 wt%.

Insights into the microbial diversity and community dynamics of Chinese traditional fermented foods from using high-throughput sequencing approaches

Chinese traditional fermented foods have a very long history dating back thousands of years and have become an indispensable part of Chinese dietary culture. A plethora of research has been conducted to unravel the composition and dynamics of microbial consortia associated with Chinese traditional fermented foods using culture- dependent as well as culture-independent methods, like different high-throughput sequencing （HTS） techniques. These HTS techniques enable us to understand the relationship between a food product and its microbes to a greater extent than ever before. Considering the importance of Chinese traditional fermented products, the objective of this paper is to review the diversity and dynamics of microbiota in Chinese traditional fermented foods revealed by HTS approaches.

A study revealing the key aroma compounds of steamed bread made by Chinese traditional sourdough

Aroma of Chinese steamed bread（CSB） is one of the important parameters that determines the overall quality attributes and consumer acceptance. However, the aroma profile of CSB still remains poorly understood, mainly because of relying on only a single method for aroma extraction in previous studies. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the volatile aroma compounds of five different samples of CSB using three different aroma extraction methods, namely solid-phase microextraction（SPME）, simultaneous distillation–extraction（SDE）, and purge and trap（PT）. All samples showed a unique aroma profile, which could be attributed to their unique microbial consortia.（E）-2-Nonenal and（E,E）-2,4-decadienal were the most prevalent aromatic compounds revealed by SDE, which have not been reported previously, while ethanol and acetic acid proved to be the most dominant compounds by both SPME and PT. Our approach of combining three different aroma extraction methods provided better insights into the aroma profile of CSB, which had remained largely unknown in previous studies.

Deoxidation of Molten Steel by Aluminum

The deoxidation equilibrium of liquid steel was investigated from a new perspective. Dissolved associate MmOn was used to describe the interaction between dissolved M and dissolved oxygen instead of the interaction parameter of Wagner. The concentration of unassociated oxygen could be considered as the activity of oxygen. Or, the percentage of unassociated oxygen in the total dissolved oxygen was the activity coefficient of oxygen. When the content of deoxidizer was low, the dissolved oxygen was mainly composed of the unassociated oxygen, while more and more MxO formed with gradually increasing M content. The present model gave a good description to the aluminum deoxidation equilibrium after considering AlO and Al2O. Furthermore, the higher the con- tent of A1 was, the higher the content of Al2O relative to the content of AlO would be.

Fabrication of hollow porous PLGA microspheres for controlled protein release and promotion of cell compatibility

This letter reports on the fabrication of hollow,porous and non-porous poly（D,L-lactide-co-glycolide） （PLGA） microspheres（MSs） for the controlled release of protein and promotion of cell compatibility of tough hydrogels.PLGA MSs with different structures were prepared with modified double emulsion methods,using bovine serum albumin（BSA） as a porogen during emulsification.The release of the residual BSA from PLGA MSs was investigated as a function of the MS structure.The hollow PLGA MSs show a faster protein release than the porous MSs,while the non-porous MSs have the slowest protein release.Compositing the PLGA MSs with poly（vinyl alcohol）（PVA） hydrogels promoted chondrocyte adhesion and proliferation on the hydrogels.

Viscosity and Structure Changes of CaO-SiO_2-Al_2O_3-CaF_2 Melts with Substituting Al_2O_3 for SiO_2

During the smelting process of the high Al steels,the reaction between SiOin molten slag and dissolved aluminum in liquid steel always takes place.This aluminathermic reduction reaction will lead to the substitution of 1mol SiOfor 2/3mol AlO.Therefore,the investigations about the influence of the ratio of AlOto SiOon viscosity and structure changes of mould flux during this process are very necessary.The viscosity variation of CaO-SiO-AlO-CaFv2 melts was studied by changing compositions considering the aluminathermic reduction reaction.It was found that viscosity increased monotonously with gradually increasing the substitution extent.According to the Raman analysis,the substitution of AlOfor SiOleads to the decrease of non-bridging oxygen but the increase of bridging oxygen.Therefore,degree of polymerization and viscosity increase as the substitution extent increases.By comparing the measured viscosities with the model calculated values,it was found that both the recently developed Zhang′s model and Roboud model could describe the viscosity variation behavior of CaO-SiO-AlO-CaFmelts very well.