Nanocrystalline high-entropy hexaboride ceramics enable remarkable performance as thermionic emission cathodes

The development of high-entropy borides with combined structural and functional performance holds untold scientific and technological potential,yet relevant studies have been rarely reported.In this work,we report nanocrystalline(La_(0.25)Ce_(0.25)Nd_(0.25)Eu_(0.25))B6 high-entropy rare-earth hexaboride(HEReB6-1)ceramics fabricated through the high-pressure sintering of self-synthesized nanopowders for the first time.The as-fabricated samples exhibited a highly dense(96.3%)nanocrystalline(94 nm)microstructure with major(001)fiber textures and good grain boundaries without any impurities,resulting in a remarkable mechanical,electrical,and thermionic emission performance.The results showed that the samples possessed outstanding comprehensive mechanical properties and a high electrical resistivity from room temperature to high temperatures;these were greater than the average values of corresponding binary rare-earth hexaborides,such as a Vickers hardness of 23.4±0.6 GPa and a fracture toughness of 3.0±0.4 MPa•m^(1/2)at room temperature.More importantly,they showed high emission current densities at elevated temperatures,which were higher than the average values of the corresponding binary rare-earth hexaborides.For instance,the maximum emission current density reached 48.3 A•cm^(−2)at 1873 K.Such superior performance makes the nanocrystalline HEReB6-1 ceramics highly suitable for potential applications in thermionic emission cathodes.

Heating graphene to incandescence and the measurement of its work function by the thermionic emission method

The work function （WF） of graphene is an essential parameter in graphene electronics. We have derived the WF of graphene by the thermionic emission method. Chemical vapor deposition （CVD）-grown single-layered polycrystalline graphene on copper foil is transferred to a cross-stacked carbon nanotube （CNT） film drawn from a super-aligned multiwalled CNT array. By decreasing the pore size of the CNT film, the as-prepared CNT-graphene film （CGF） can be Joule heated to a temperature as high as 1,800 K in vacuum without obvious destruction in the graphene structure. By studying the thermionic emission, we derive the WF of graphene, ranging from 4.7 to 4.8 eV with the average value being 4.74 eV. Because the substrate influence can be minimized by virtue of the porous nature of the CNT film and the influence of adsorbents can be excluded due to the high temperature during the thermionic emission, the measured WF of graphene can be regarded as intrinsic.

A PVTC system integrating photon-enhanced thermionic emission and methane reforming for efficient solar power generation

A new photovoltaic-thermochemical(PVTC) conceptual system integrating photon-enhanced thermionic emission(PETE) and methane steam reforming is proposed. Major novelty of the system lies in its potential adaptivity to primary fuels(e.g. methane) and high efficiencies of photovoltaic and thermochemical power generation, both of which result from its operation at much elevated temperatures(700–1000 °C)compared with conventional photovoltaic-thermal(PVT) systems. Analysis shows that an overall power generation efficiency of 45.3% and a net solar-to-electric efficiency of 39.1% could be reached at an operating temperature of 750 °C, after considering major losses during solar energy capture and conversion processes. The system is also featured by high solar share(37%) in the total power output, as well as high energy storage capability and very low CO_2 emissions, both enabled by the integration of methane reforming with photovoltaic generation at high temperatures.

Thermionic electron emission in the 1D edge-to-edge limit

Thermionic emission is a tunneling phenomenon,which depicts that electrons on the surface of a conductor can be pulled out into the vacuum when they are subjected to high electrical tensions while being heated hot enough to overtake their work functions.This principle has led to the great success of the so-called vacuum tubes in the early 20 th century.To date,major challenges still remain in the miniaturization of a vacuum channel transistor for on-chip integration in modern solid-state integrated circuits.Here,by introducing nano-sized vacuum gaps(~200 nm)in a van der Waals heterostructure,we successfully fabricated a one-dimensional(1 D)edge-to-edge thermionic emission vacuum tube using graphene as the filament.With the increasing collector voltage,the emitted current exhibits a typical rectifying behavior,with the maximum emission current reaching 200 p A and an ON-OFF ratio of 10;.In addition,it is found that the maximum emission current is proportional to the number of the layers of graphene.Our results expand the research of nano-sized vacuum tubes to an unexplored physical limit of 1 D edge-to-edge emission,and hold great promise for future nano-electronic systems based on it.

Field-assisted thermionic emission toward quantitative modeling of charge-transfer mechanisms in contact electrification

Charge transfer mechanisms of contact electrification(CE)are essential for widening applications of the triboelectric nanogenerator,and thus are widely studied by scientists around the world.However,the quantitative modeling of CE,especially that between polymers,is still lacking.Herein,a model was proposed to describe the contributions from different mechanisms,including electron transfer and mass transfer in polymer/polymer CE through the fieldassisted thermionic emission,where three groups of charge transfer mechanisms were distinguished by the polarity of the charge transfer and the corresponding electric field.The results indicated that the total generated charge in CE is actually much larger than the measured net surface charge,confirming the bidirectional material-dependent charge transfer mechanisms between two surfaces,which is meaningful for understanding the millennium puzzle in triboelectrification and provides a new perspective for promoting the applications to tailor surface charge generation.

Thermionic emission as a tool for measuring the work function of anodic titanium dioxide

Titanium dioxide （TiO2） is being extensively applied in such fields as photocatalysis, sensing, photoelectrolysis, and pho- tovoltaics [I]. The work function （WF） of a material is one of the vital factors that determine the performance of this ma- terial in electron emission, chemical reaction, surface atomic reconstruction, trapping, and recombination of photogener- ated electrons and holes, interface interaction, and corrosion resistance [2,3]. The WF of metallic Ti is an old topic and abundant data are available [4-7]. In contrast, reports on the WF of TiO2 are relatively rare [2,3,8-10].

Thermionic emission theory and diffusion theory applied to CdTe PV devices

In this work, a comprehensive model that takes the phenomenon of carrier thermionic-emission within the frame work of a diffusion theory of current conducting into account in the type Ⅱ hetero-junction Cd Te solar cell is developed. According to this model, it is found that the total current flowing through the Cd Te solar cell is limited by the thermionic process for very thin quasi-neutral regions and limited by the diffusion process for the reverse case. In future research of the Cd Te solar cell, such an approach may enable the determination of the boundary conditions for all doping profiles and computation of the conversion efficiency, etc.

Impact of exterior electron emission on the self-sustaining margin of hollow cathode discharge

Hollow cathode researches used to focus on the inner cavity or downstream plume,however,rarely on the gap between the throttling orifice plate and the keeper plate(T-K gap),which was found to impact the self-sustaining margin of hollow cathode discharge in this paper.Near the lower margin,the main power deposition and electron emission and ionization regions would migrate from inner cavity and downstream plume to the T-K gap,in which case,the source and destination of each m A current therein matter for the self-sustaining capability.Changing the metal surfaces in the T-K gap with emissive materials proved effective in lowering the lower margin by supplementing auxiliary thermionic emission,compensating electron loss on cold absorbing walls and suppressing discharge oscillations.By doing so,the lower margin of a 4 A hollow cathode was lowered from 1 to 0.1-0.2 A,enabling it to couple with low power Hall thruster without extra keeper current.

Delayed Ionization and Delayed Detachment in Molecules and Clusters

The evolution of a molecular system excited above its ionization threshold depends on a number of parameters that include the nature of the excited states and their couplings to the various continua. The general nature of the processes governing this evolution depends also essentially on the complexity of the molecule, more precisely on its size, density of states, and strength of the couplings among the various internal degrees of freedom. In this paper we address the question of the transition between autoionization that prevails in small molecules, and delayed ionization occurring in larger molecules or clusters. This transition is illustrated by autoionization of Na2 Rydberg states on one hand, delayed ionization in fullerene C60, and delayed detachment in small cluster anions on the other hand. All processes are studied in the case of nanosecond laser excitation, corresponding to a rather slow deposition of the internal energy.

Function of Oxygen in Mo-La2O3 Cathode

Different atomic ratio La/O film cathodes were prepared by pulsed laser deposition under various vacuum conditions. The emission properties were measured and their surface composition was investigated with in situ AES analyses. The function of oxygen in thermoionic emission of Mo-La2O3 cathode was investigated. Excess oxygen is negative to electron emission because lanthanum is easy to become stable La2O3, but proper proportion oxygen can weaken the evaporation of lanthanum and conduce to cathodes＇ stable work. The formation of oxygen vacancies enhances semiconductor property of La-O compound and improves greatly the performance of cathodes.

The leakage current mechanisms in the Schottky diode with a thin Al layer insertion between Al_(0.245)Ga_(0.755)N/GaN heterostructure and Ni/Au Schottky contact

This paper investigates the behaviour of the reverse-bias leakage current of the Schottky diode with a thin Al inserting layer inserted between Al0.245Ga0.755N/GaN heterostructure and Ni/Au Schottky contact in the temperature range of 25 350℃. It compares with the Schottky diode without Aluminium inserting layer. The experimental results show that in the Schottky diode with Al layer the minimum point of I-V curve drifts to the minus voltage, and with the increase of temperature increasing, the minimum point of I V curve returns the 0 point. The temperature dependence of gate-leakage currents in the novelty diode and the traditional diode are studied. The results show that the Al inserting layer introduces interface states between metal and Al0.245Ga0.755N. Aluminium reacted with oxygen formed Al2O3 insulator layer which suppresses the trap tunnelling current and the trend of thermionic field emission current. The reliability of the diode at the high temperature is improved by inserting a thin Al layer.

Advances in high-temperature operatable triboelectric nanogenerator

The triboelectric nanogenerator(TENG)offers a novel approach to harness mechanical energy continuously and sustainably.It has emerged as a leading technology for converting mechanical energy into electricity.The demand for self-powered wearable microelectronics and energy generation in extreme conditions underscores the need for efficient high-temperature operatable TENGs(HTO-TENGs).However,the operating environment temperature not only affects the storage and dissipation of electrons during triboelectrification,leading to decreased output performance of TENG and instability at high temperatures,but also damage to the mechanical stability and effective defects in most tribomaterials,resulting in a further reduction in TENG’s effective output power.Moreover,the unstable material properties of the triboelectric layer at high temperatures also restrict the use of the TENG in harsh environments.Therefore,it is imperative to consider the structural durability and electrical output stability of TENG when applying it in challenging working environments.This review aims to bridge this gap by providing a comprehensive overview of the current state and research advancements in HTO-TENG for the first time.Finally,this review presents insights into future research prospects and proposes design strategies to facilitate the rapid development of the field.

Effect of particle size on the polycrystalline CeB_6 cathode prepared by spark plasma sintering

The full densification polycrystalline cerium hexaboride （CeB6） cathode material was prepared by using the spark plasma sintering （SPS） method in an oxygen free system. The starting precursor nanopowders with an average grain size of 50 nm were prepared by high-energy ball milling. The ball-milled nanopowder was fully densified at 1550 °C under 50 MPa, which was about 350 °C lower than the conventional hot-pressing method and it was also lower than that of coarse powder under the same sintering condition. The mechanical properties of nanopowder sintered samples were significantly better than that of coarse powder, e.g., the flexural strength and Vickers hardness were 211% and 51% higher than that of coarse powder, respectively. The electron backscattered diffraction （EBSD） result showed that the （100） fiber texture could be fabricated by the ball-milled nanopowder sintered at 1550 °C and the thermionic emission current density was measured to be 16.04 A/cm2 at a cathode temperature of 1873 K.