Acid/Base Treatment of Monolithic Activated Carbon for Coating Silver with Tunable Morphology

Silver coatings on the exterior surface of monolithic activated carbon（MAC） with different morphology were prepared by directly immersing MAC into [Ag（NH3）2]NO3 solution. Acid and base treatments were employed to modify the surface oxygenic groups of MAC, respectively. The MACs＇ Brunauer-EmmettTeller（BET） surface area, surface groups, and silver coating morphology were characterized by N2 adsorption, elemental analysis（EA）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）, and scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, respectively. The coating morphology was found to be closely related to the surface area and surface functional groups of MAC. For a raw MAC which contained a variety of oxygenic groups, HNO3 treatment enhanced the relative amount of highly oxidized groups such as carboxyl and carbonates, which disfavored the deposition of silver particles. By contrast, Na OH treatment significantly improved the amount of carbonyl groups, which in turn improved the deposition amount of silver. Importantly, lamella silver was produced on raw MAC while Na OH treatment resulted in granular particles because of the capping effect of carbonyl groups. At appropriate [Ag（NH3）2]NO3 concentrations, silver nanoparticles smaller than 100 nm were homogeneously dispersed on Na OH-treated MAC. The successful tuning of the size and morphology of silver coatings on MAC is promising for novel applications in air purification and for antibacterial or aesthetic purposes.

Properties of Al/Conductive Coating/α-PbO2-CeO2-TiO2/β-PbO2-WC-ZrO2 Composite Anode for Zinc Electrowinning

The properties of Al/conductive coating/α-PbO2-CeO2-TiO2/β-PbO2-WC-ZrO2 composite anode for zinc electrowinning were investigated. The electrochemical performance was studied by Tafel polarization curves（Tafel）, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy（EIS） and corrosion rate obtained in an acidic zinc sulfate electrolyte solution. Scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy（EDXS） were used to observe the microstructural features of coating. Anodes of Al/conductive coating/α-PbO2-CeO2-TiO2/β-PbO2, Al/conductive coating/α-PbO2-CeO2-TiO2/β-PbO2-WC, Al/conductive coating/α-PbO2-CeO2-TiO2/β-PbO2-ZrO2, and Pb-1%Ag anodes were also researched. The results indicated that the Al/conductive coating/α-PbO2-CeO2-TiO2/β-PbO2-WC-ZrO2 showed the best catalytic activity and corrosion resistant performance; the intensity of diffraction peak exhibited the highest value as well as a new PbWO4 phase; the content of WC and ZrO2 in coating showed the highest value as well as the finest grain size.

Microstructure and Growth Kinetics of Silicide Coatings for TiAl Alloy

In order to improve the oxidation resistance of Ti Al alloy, silicide coatings were prepared by pack cementation method at 1273, 1323, and 1373 K for 1-3 hours. Scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, energy dispersive spectrometry（EDS） and X-ray diffraction（XRD） were employed to investigate the microstructures and phase constitutions of the coatings. The experimental results show that all silicon deposition coatings have multi-layer structure. The microstructure and composition of silicide coatings strongly depend on siliconizing temperatures. In order to investigate the rate controlling step of pack siliconizing on Ti Al alloy, coating growth kinetics was analyzed by measuring the mass gains per unit area of silicided samples as a function of time and temperature. The results showed that the rate controlling step was gas-phase diffusion step and the growth rate constant（k） ranged from 1.53 mg^2/（cm^4·h^2） to 2.3 mg^2/（cm^4·h^2）. Activation energy（Q） for the process was calculated as 109 k J/mol, determined by Arrhenius＇ equation： k = k0 exp[–Q/（RT）].

Analytic estimation and numerical modeling of actively cooled thermal protection systems with nickel alloys

Actively cooled thermal protection system has great influence on the engine of a hypersonic vehicle, and it is significant to obtain the thermal and stress distribution in the system. So an analytic estimation and numerical modeling are performed in this paper to investigate the behavior of an actively cooled thermal protection system. The analytic estimation is based on the electric analogy method and finite element analysis（FEA） is applied to the numerical simulation. Temperature and stress distributions are obtained for the actively cooled channel walls with three kinds of nickel alloys with or with no thermal barrier coating（TBC）. The temperature of the channel wall with coating has no obvious difference from the one with no coating, but the stress with coating on the channel wall is much smaller than that with no coating. Inconel X-750 has the best characteristics among the three Ni-based materials due to its higher thermal conductivity, lower elasticity module and greater allowable stress. Analytic estimation and numerical modeling results are compared with each other and a reasonable agreement is obtained.

The application of Melissa officinalis L.essential oil nanoemulsions protects sea bass(Lateolabrax japonicus)against myofibrillar protein and lipid oxidation during refrigeration

Objectives:The nutrient rich sea bass is prone to oxidation of lipid and protein during refrigeration.Materials and Methods:The research was to investigate the effect of different concentrations of Melissa officinalis L.essential oil(MOEO)nanoemulsions on myofibrillar protein(MP)and lipid oxidation in sea bass(Lateolabrax japonicus)during refrigeration at 4°C.Results:The results of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and mitochondrial membrane potential showed that carboxymethyl chitosan/locust bean gum active coating solutions incorporating 2%MOEO nanoemulsions(C/L-2M)was the most effective in inhibiting lipid oxidation that occurred in sea bass under attack by reactive oxygen species.Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance results showed that C/L-2M maximally slowed the conversion of bound water to free water during storage.The oxidation of lipids and MP disrupted the secondary and tertiary conformations of MP and accelerated protein aggregation and degradation.Conclusions:C/L-2M slowed the oxidation of lipids and proteins by inhibiting the oxidation of reactive oxygen species.C/L-2M is a very promising preservative emulsion for the preservation of sea bass.

Effect of activators on the properties of nickel coated diamond composite powders

Nickel coated diamond composite powders were fabricated via a newly developed direct electrodeposition technique. The effects of activators on the coating of diamond were firstly investigated and diamond grinding wheels were then prepared from Ni-coated diamond composite powders with different activators. The microstructural characterizations of this composite powders were finally conducted by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, and the mechanical and tribological properties of as-prepared diamond grinding wheels were also measured. There are changes in microstructures and properties of the composite powders with activators. The activator concentration also has an influence on the morphologies and phase structures of the Ni coating on diamond particles.The composite powders with more compact coating of nickel can be prepared by adding 1 g dm^（-3） or more AgNO_3 as an activator to electrodeposit nickel on diamond. The mechanical and tribological properties of diamond grinding wheels were significantly improved when the coating phase structure of Ni crystal grew with（111） plane orientation on the surface of diamond particles. The wheels made from nickel coated diamond composite powders possessed the advantages of easy preparation and outstanding tribological properties. Therefore, Ni coated diamond composite powders exhibit a great potential to be extensively applied in diamond cutting and grinding tools.

Performance of activated carbon coated graphite bipolar electrodes on capacitive deionization method for salinity reduction

This research investigates a capacitive deionization method for salinity reduction in a batch reactor as a new approach for desalination.Reductions of cost and energy compared with conventional desalination methods are the significant advantages of this approach.In this research,experiments were performed with a pair of graphite bipolar electrodes that were coated with a one-gram activated carbon solution.After completing preliminary tests,the impacts of four parameters on electrical conductivity reduction,including(1)the initial concentration of feed solution,(2)the duration of the tests,(3)the applied voltage,and(4)the pH of the solution,were examined.The results show that the maximum efficiency of electrical conductivity reduction in this laboratory-scale reactor is about 55%.Furthermore,the effects of the initial concentration of feed solution are more significant than the other parameters.Thus,using the capacitive deionization method for water desalination with low and moderate salt concentrations(i.e.,brackish water)is proposed as an affordable method.Compared with conventional desalination methods,capacitive deionization is not only more efficient but also potentially more environmentally friendly.