Effect of Zr and Sc on mechanical properties and electrical conductivities of Al wires

In order to obtain the Al wires with good mechanical properties and high electrical conductivities, conductive wires of Al-0.16 Zr, Al-0.16 Sc, Al-0.12Sc-0.04Zr（mass fraction, %） and pure Al（99.996%） were produced with the diameter of 9.5 mm by continuous rheo-extrusion technology, and the extruded materials were heat treated and analyzed. The results show that the separate additions of 0.16% Sc and 0.16% Zr to pure Al improve the ultimate tensile strength but reduce the electrical conductivity, and the similar trend is found in the Al-0.12Sc-0.04 Zr alloy. After the subsequent heat treatment, the wire with the optimum comprehensive properties is Al-0.12Sc-0.04 Zr alloy, of which the ultimate tensile strength and electrical conductivity reach 160 MPa and 64.03%（IACS）, respectively.

Influence of Metal Additives on the Electrical Conductivities of the Oxide Ceramics as an Electrode Material

The electrical conductivities are reported for various oxide ceramics and cermets at 1000°C.Adding metal can greatly enhance the electrical condnctivities of the oxide materials.The conductivity of the ceramic added with metal depends on:(1)the conductivity σ_o of the oxides;(2)the content of metal additives;(3)the dispersion of the metal phase among oxide phase.The conductivity of the metal added does not affect the con- ductivity of the metal-containing ceramic.Although the metal-containing ceramic has much higher conductivi- ty than oxide ceramic,the change rate of their conductivities with temperature is similar and is controlled by E_g of the oxide.

Evolution of copper nanowires through coalescing of copper nanoparticles induced by aliphatic amines and their electrical conductivities in polyester films

Copper nanowires were synthesized by the wet chemical reduction method using copper sulfate as the copper precursor,aliphatic amines(methylamine,ethanediamine,1,2-propanediamine)as the inducing reagents,and hydrazine hydrate as the reductant through the aging and reduction processes.The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM)images reveal that the copper nanowires were synthesized by coalescing extremely small-sized copper nanoparticles with the particle sizes of1–6 nm in copper complex micelles.A longer aging time period favored the coalescing of the copper nanoparticles to form thinner copper nanowires in the following reduction process.The coalescing extent of copper nanoparticles in copper nanowires was highly enhanced by ethanediamine and 1,2-propanediamine as compared with that by methylamine.The copper nanowire-filled polyester films had higher electrical conductivity than the copper nanoparticle-filled ones.

Extrusion 3D printing of carbon nanotube-assembled carbon aerogel nanocomposites with high electrical conductivity

Carbon nanotubes(CNTs)with high aspect ratio and excellent electrical conduction offer huge functional improvements for current carbon aerogels.However,there remains a major challenge for achieving the on-demand shaping of carbon aerogels with tailored micro-nano structural textures and geometric features.Herein,a facile extrusion 3D printing strategy has been proposed for fabricating CNT-assembled carbon(CNT/C)aerogel nanocomposites through the extrusion printing of pseudoplastic carbomer-based inks,in which the stable dispersion of CNT nanofibers has been achieved relying on the high viscosity of carbomer microgels.After extrusion printing,the chemical solidification through polymerizing RF sols enables 3D-printed aerogel nanocomposites to display high shape fidelity in macroscopic geometries.Benefiting from the micro-nano scale assembly of CNT nanofiber networks and carbon nanoparticle networks in composite phases,3D-printed CNT/C aerogels exhibit enhanced mechanical strength(fracture strength,0.79 MPa)and typical porous structure characteristics,including low density(0.220 g cm^(-3)),high surface area(298.4 m^(2)g^(-1)),and concentrated pore diameter distribution(~32.8nm).More importantly,CNT nanofibers provide an efficient electron transport pathway,imparting 3D-printed CNT/C aerogel composites with a high electrical conductivity of 1.49 S cm^(-1).Our work would offer feasible guidelines for the design and fabrication of shape-dominated functional materials by additive manufacturing.

Saturation Estimation with Complex Electrical Conductivity for Hydrate-Bearing Clayey Sediments:An Experimental Study

Clays have considerable influence on the electrical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments.It is desirable to understand the electrical properties of hydrate-bearing clayey sediments and to build hydrate saturation(S_(h))models for reservoir evaluation and monitoring.The electrical properties of tetrahydrofuran-hydrate-bearing sediments with montmorillonite are characterized by complex conductivity at frequencies from 0.01 Hz to 1 kHz.The effects of clay and Sh on the complex conductivity were analyzed.A decrease and increase in electrical conductance result from the clay-swelling-induced blockage and ion migration in the electrical double layer(EDL),respectively.The quadrature conductivity increases with the clay content up to 10%because of the increased surface site density of counterions in EDL.Both the in-phase conductivity and quadrature conductivity decrease consistently with increasing Sh from 0.50 to 0.90.Three sets of models for Sh evaluation were developed.The model based on the Simandoux equation outperforms Archie’s formula,with a root-mean-square error(E_(RMS))of 1.8%and 3.9%,respectively,highlighting the clay effects on the in-phase conductivity.The fre-quency effect correlations based on in-phase and quadrature conductivities exhibit inferior performance(E_(RMS)=11.6%and 13.2%,re-spectively)due to the challenge of choosing an appropriate pair of frequencies and intrinsic uncertainties from two measurements.The second-order Cole-Cole formula can be used to fit the complex-conductivity spectra.One pair of inverted Cole-Cole parameters,i.e.,characteristic time and chargeability,is employed to predict S_(h) with an E_(RMS) of 5.05%and 9.05%,respectively.

GLOBAL UNIQUE SOLUTIONS FOR THE INCOMPRESSIBLE MHD EQUATIONS WITH VARIABLE DENSITY AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY

We study the global unique solutions to the 2-D inhomogeneous incompressible MHD equations,with the initial data(u0,B0)being located in the critical Besov space■and the initial densityρ0 being close to a positive constant.By using weighted global estimates,maximal regularity estimates in the Lorentz space for the Stokes system,and the Lagrangian approach,we show that the 2-D MHD equations have a unique global solution.

Fabrication of Graphene/Cu Composite by Chemical Vapor Deposition and Effects of Graphene Layers on Resultant Electrical Conductivity

Graphene(Gr)has unique properties including high electrical conductivity;Thus,graphene/copper(Gr/Cu)composites have attracted increasing attention to replace traditional Cu for electrical applications. However,the problem of how to control graphene to form desired Gr/Cu composite is not well solved. This paper aims at exploring the best parameters for preparing graphene with different layers on Cu foil by chemical vapor deposition(CVD)method and studying the effects of different layers graphene on Gr/Cu composite’s electrical conductivity. Graphene grown on single-sided and double-sided copper was prepared for Gr/Cu and Gr/Cu/Gr composites. The resultant electrical conductivity of Gr/Cu composites increased with decreasing graphene layers and increasing graphene volume fraction. The Gr/Cu/Gr composite with monolayer graphene owns volume fraction of less than 0.002%,producing the best electrical conductivity up to59.8 ×10^(6)S/m,equivalent to 104.5% IACS and 105.3% pure Cu foil.

Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Some Sn-Zn Based Lead-Free Quinary Alloys

Although there are many lead-free soldering alloys on the market, none of them have ideal qualities. The researchers are combining binary alloys with a variety of additional materials to create the soldering alloys’ features. The eutectic Sn-9Zn alloy is among them. This paper investigated the mechanical and electrical properties of Sn-9Zn-x (Ag, Cu, Sb);{x = 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6} lead-free solder alloys. The mechanical properties such as elastic modulus, ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS), and ductility were examined at the strain rates in a range from 4.17 10−3 s−1 to 208.5 10−3 s−1 at room temperature. It is found that increasing the content of the alloying elements and strain rate increases the elastic modulus, ultimate tensile strength, and yield strength while the ductility decreases. The electrical conductivity of the alloys is found to be a little smaller than that of the Sn-9Zn eutectic alloy.

Electrical conductivities of two granite samples in southern Tibet and their geophysical implications

There are clear differences in the electrical conductivities of the crustal granites of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.Because these granites are among the major rock types on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it is very important to detect the electrical conductivity of granites under high temperatures and pressures to study the electrical conductivity structure of this area. Using impedance spectroscopy at a frequency range of 10.1–106 Hz, the electrical conductivity of the muscovite-granite collected from Yadong was investigated at a confining pressure of 1.0 GPa and temperatures ranging from 577 to 996 K, while the electrical conductivity of the biotite-granite collected from Lhasa was investigated at a pressure of 1.0 GPa and temperatures ranging from587 to 1382 K. The calculated activation enthalpies of the Yadong muscovite-granite sample is 0.92 eV in the low-temperature range(577–919 K) and 2.16 eV in the high-temperature range(919–996 K). The activation enthalpies of the Lhasa biotite-granite sample is 0.48 eV in the low-temperature range(587–990 K) and 2.06 eV in the high-temperature range(990–1382 K). The change in the activation enthalpies of the granites at different temperature ranges may be associated with the dehydration of the two samples. The electrical conductivities of the granite samples obtained in the laboratory using impedance spectroscopy correspond well with field observations conducted near the sampling points, both in terms of the actual conductivity values and the observed variations between the low-temperature and high-temperature regimes. This correlation of laboratory and field conductivities indicates that the conductivities of the crustal rocks in the two regions closely correspond to granite conductivities.We calculated the electrical conductivities of muscovite-granite and biotite-granite samples using the effective medium and HS boundary models. When applied to the crustal rocks of southern Tibet, the results of the geophysical conductivity profiles lie within the range of laboratory data. Thus, the electrical characteristics of the crustal rocks underlying the southern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau can largely be attributed to granites, with the large changes to high conductivities at increasing depths resulting from the dehydration of crustal rocks with granitic compositions.

New Type of Nitrides with High Electrical and Thermal Conductivities

The nitrogen dimer as both a fundamental building unit in designing a new type of nitrides, and a material gene associated with high electrical and thermal conductivities is investigated by first principles calculations.The results indicate that the predicted Si N4 is structurally stable and reasonably energy-favored with a striking feature in its band structure that exhibits free electron-like energy dispersions. It possesses a high electrical conductivity（5.07 × 10^5 S/cm） and a high thermal conductivity（371 W/m·K） comparable to copper. The validity is tested by isostructural Al N4 and Si C4. It is demonstrated that the nitrogen dimers can supply a high density of delocalized electrons in this new type of nitrides.

Thermal and Electrical Properties of Liquid Metal Gallium During Phase Transition

Liquid metal gallium has been widely used in numerous fields, from nuclear engineering, catalysts, and energy storage to electronics owing to its remarkable thermal and electrical properties along with low viscosity and nontoxicity. Compared with high-temperature liquid metals, room-temperature liquid metals, such as gallium(Ga), are emerging as promising alternatives for fabricating advanced energy storage devices, such as phase change materials, by harvesting the advantageous properties of their liquid state maintained without external energy input. However, the thermal and electrical properties of liquid metals at the phase transition are rather poorly studied, limiting their practical applications. In this study, we reported on the physical properties of the solid–liquid phase transition of Ga using a custom-designed, solid–liquid electrical and thermal measurement system. We observed that the electrical conductivity of Ga progressively decreases with an increase in temperature. However, the Seebeck coefficient of Ga increases from 0.2 to 2.1 μV/K, and thermal conductivity from 7.6 to 33 W/(K·m). These electrical and thermal properties of Ga at solid–liquid phase transition would be useful for practical applications.

Machine Learning Mapping of Soil Apparent Electrical Conductivity on a Research Farm in Mississippi

Open-source and free tools are readily available to the public to process data and assist producers in making management decisions related to agricultural landscapes. On-the-go soil sensors are being used as a proxy to develop digital soil maps because of the data they can collect and their ability to cover a large area quickly. Machine learning, a subcomponent of artificial intelligence, makes predictions from data. Intermixing open-source tools, on-the-go sensor technologies, and machine learning may improve Mississippi soil mapping and crop production. This study aimed to evaluate machine learning for mapping apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa) collected with an on-the-go sensor system at two sites (i.e., MF2, MF9) on a research farm in Mississippi. Machine learning tools (support vector machine) incorporated in Smart-Map, an open-source application, were used to evaluate the sites and derive the apparent electrical conductivity maps. Autocorrelation of the shallow (ECas) and deep (ECad) readings was statistically significant at both locations (Moran’s I, p 0.001);however, the spatial correlation was greater at MF2. According to the leave-one-out cross-validation results, the best models were developed for ECas versus ECad. Spatial patterns were observed for the ECas and ECad readings in both fields. The patterns observed for the ECad readings were more distinct than the ECas measurements. The research results indicated that machine learning was valuable for deriving apparent electrical conductivity maps in two Mississippi fields. Location and depth played a role in the machine learner’s ability to develop maps.

Electrical and mechanical properties of Cu-Cr-Zr alloy aged under imposed direct continuous current

The Cu-Cr-Zr alloys were aged at different temperatures for different time with different current densities. The results show that both the electrical conductivity and hardness are greatly improved after being aged with current at a proper temperature. The electrical conductivity increases approximately linearly with increasing current density while the hardness remains constant. The microstructure observation reveals that a much higher density of dislocations and nanosized Cr precipitates appear after the imposition of current, which contributes to the higher electrical conductivity and hardness. The mechanism is related with three factors： 1） Joule heating due to the current, 2） migration of mass electrons, 3） solute atoms, vacancies, and dislocations promoted by electron wind force.

Enhanced thermal and electrical properties of poly (D,L-lactide)/ multi-walled carbon nanotubes composites by in-situ polymerization

Biodegradable poly （D,L-lactide） （PLA）/carboxyl-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes （c-MWCNTs） composites were achieved via in-situ polymerization. These as-prepared composite materials were characterized with FT-IR, XRD, TG, DSC, SEM, and high insulation resistance meter. The results demonstrate that the multi-walled carbon nanotube was carboxyl functionalized, which improved the collection between c-MWCNTs and PLA, and further realized the graft copolymerization of c-MWCNTs and PLA. There is a higher glass transition temperature and a lower pyrolysis temperature of PLA/c-MWCNTs composites than pure PLA. The c-MWCNTs gave a better dispersion than unmodified MWCNTs in the PLA matrix, and an even coating of PLA on the surface of c-MWCNTs was obtained, which increased the interfacial interaction. High insulation resistance analysis showed that the addition of c-MWCNTs increased the electric conductivity, and c-MWCNTs performed against the large dielectric coefficient and electrostatic state of PLA. These results demonstrated that c-MWCNTs modified PLA composites were beneficial for potential application in the development of heat-resisting and conductivity plastic engineering.

Continuous changes in electrical conductivity of sodium aluminate solution in seeded precipitation

The mechanism of seeded precipitation of sodium aluminate solution was studied by measuring the seeded-precipitation rate and electrical conductivity online, as well as calculating the activity and fraction of ion pair. The results show that the electrical conductivity of sodium aluminate slurry linearly decreases with increasing aluminum hydroxide addition. Moreover, both the electrical conductivity of slurry and the difference in electrical conductivity between sodium aluminate solution and slurry remarkably decline in the first 60 min before gradually increasing in the preliminary 10 h and finally reaching almost the same level after 10 h. In low Na2 O concentration solution the activities of Na OH and Na Al（OH）4 in seeded precipitation are high, which can enlarge the difference in conductivity between slurry and solution. Additionally, more ion pairs exist in solution in preliminary seeded precipitation, and the adsorption of Na＋Al（OH）4- on seed surface is likely to break the equilibrium of ion pair formation and to decrease the difference in conductivity in preliminary seeded precipitation.

Electrical conductivity of NaF-AlF_3-CaF_2-Al_2O_3-ZrO_2 molten salts

The electrical conductivity of NaF-AlF3-CaF2-Al2O3-ZrO2 system was studied by a tube-type cell with fixed cell constant. The results show that the electrical conductivity of NaF-AlF3-3%Al2O3-3%CaF2-ZrO2 molten salt system decreases with increase of ZrO2 content in an interval of 0-5%. The increase of 1%ZrO2 results in a corresponding electrical conductivity decrease of 0.02 S/cm, and the equivalent conductivity increases with the increase of molar ratio of NaF to AlF3. When the temperature increases by 1 °C, the electrical conductivity increases by 0.004 S/cm. At last, the regression equations of electrical conductivity relative to temperature and ZrO2 are obtained by quadratic regression analysis.

Microstructure and water-swelling mechanism of red-bed mudstone in the Xining region,Northeastern Tibetan Plateau

This paper examines the effect of the microstructure and electrical conductivity(EC)on the swelling ratio and pressure in red-bed mudstone sampled from arid areas in the Xining region in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau.A series of laboratory tests,including swelling experiments,X-ray diffraction(XRD),and scanning electron microscope(SEM),was carried out for mechanical and microstructural analysis.The coupled influence of the EC and microstructural parameters on the expansion ratio and pressure was investigated,and the weight coefficients were discussed by the entropy weight method.The results revealed an increasing exponential trend in EC,and the maximum swelling speed occurred at an EC of approximately 10 μS/cm.In addition,a method for predicting the expansion potential is proposed based on the microstructure,and its reliability is verified by comparing with swelling experimental results.In addition,according to the image analysis results,the ranges of the change in the clay minerals content(CMC),the fractal dimension(FD),the average diameter(AD)of pores,and the plane porosity(PP)are 23.75%-53%,1.08-1.17,7.53-22.45 mm,and 0.62%-1.25%,respectively.Moreover,mudstone swelling is negatively correlated with the plane porosity,fractal dimension and average diameter and is linearly correlated with the clay mineral content.Furthermore,the weight values prove that the microstructural characteristics,including FD,AD,and PP,are the main factors influencing the expansion properties of red-bed mudstones in the Xining region.Based on the combination of macro and micro-analyses,a quantitative analysis of the swelling process of mudstones can provide a better reference for understanding the mechanism of expansion behavior.

Mechanical properties,electrical conductivity and microstructure of CuCrZr alloys treated with thermal stretch process

CuCrZr alloys were treated with the thermal stretch process at various temperatures from 100 to 300℃.The results reveal that the thermal stretch process is successfully developed to manufacture the precipitation hardening CuCrZr alloys with a good combination of microhardness and electrical conductivity.By increasing the tensile elongations at each temperature from 100 to 300℃,the microhardness increases whereas the electrical conductivity decreases slightly.Cr-containing precipitate phases with a Nishiyama-Wasserman orientation relationship to the copper matrix were observed by TEM.The achievement of high micro-hardness and acceptable electrical conductivity in the thermal stretch treated alloys is ascribed to the interactions of the heteroatom solution,dislocation increment,grain refinement and dispersive precipitation effect.

Ambient electrical conductivity of carbon cathode materials for aluminum reduction cells

The ambient electrical conductivity (AEC) of carbon cathode materials was investigated in respect to their open porosity, crystal structure and graphite content using hydrostatic method, four-probe technique and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The AEC is proportional to the specific conductivity (σ0) and the exponential of (1?ε) (ε is porosity) by a quasi-uniform formula based on the percolation theory. Theσ0 can reflect the intrinsic conductivity of the carbon cathodes free of pores, and it depends on the mean crystallite size parallel to the layer (002). The exponentn is dependent on the materials nature of the cathode aggregates, while an averaged value, 4.65, can practically work well with 5 types of cathode materials. The calculation ofσ0 can be extended to the graphitic cathodes containing different aggregates using the simple rule of mixture.

Electrical conductivity of MO(MO=FeO,NiO)-containing CaO-MgO-SiO_2-Al_2O_3 slag with low basicity

As a fundamental study on recovery of valuable metals from nonferrous metallurgical slags,electrical conductivity values of MO（MO=FeO,NiO）-containing CaO-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3 slag with a low basicity were measured at different temperatures using AC impedance spectroscopy.The result shows that the electrical conductivity increased from 1.4 S/m to 14.4 S/m with the increase of the temperature from 1 573 to 1 773 K and the content of MO which is less than 12% under the constant mass ratio of （CaO＋MgO） to （SiO2＋Al2O3） of 0.47.Moreover,the increase magnitude of the electrical conductivity was also promoted with the increase of the content of MO.The electrical conductivity of FeO-containing slags was close to that of NiO-containing slags when the content was less than 8%;however,it was obviously larger than that of NiO-containing slags when the content was 12%.The activation energy of the electrical conductivity decreased with the increase of MO content.