Grain refining action of Ti existing in electrolytic low-titanium aluminum with Al-4B addition for superheated Al melt

The effects of superheating temperature on the grain refining efficiency of Ti existing in electrolytic low-titanium aluminum(ELTA)without and with the Al-4B addition and the Al-5Ti-1B master alloy in pure Al were comparatively investigated. The results show that the Ti existing in ELTA without Al-4B addition exhibits a certain grain refining efficiency when the melt superheating temperature is lower,but the efficiency decreases rapidly when the superheating temperature is higher.The grain refining efficiency of the Al-5Ti-1B master alloy is better than that of the Ti existing in ELTA without Al-4B addition at any superheating temperature,but it also decreases obviously with the increase of the superheating temperature.One important reason is that the TiB2 particles coming from the Al-5Ti-1B master alloy can settle down at the bottom of the Al melt easily when the superheating temperature is increased,thus decrease the number of the potent heterogeneous nuclei retained in the Al melt.If the Al-4B master alloy is added to the ELTA melt,the grain refining efficiency of the Ti existing in ELTA can be improved significantly, and does not decrease with the increase of the superheating temperature.This perhaps provides us a possible method to suppress the effect of the superheated melt on the microstructures of aluminum..

Reversible aqueous aluminum metal batteries enabled by a water-in-salt electrolyte

Aluminum(Al),the most abundant metallic element on the earth crust,has been reckoned as a promising battery material for its the highest theoretical volume capacity(8046 mAh cm^(-3)).Being rechargeable in ionic liquid electrolytes,however,the Al anode and battery case suffer from corrosion.On the other hand,Al is irreversible in aqueous electrolyte with severe hydrogen evolution reaction.Here,we demonstrate a water-in-salt aluminum ion electrolyte(WISE)based on Al and lithium salts to tackle the above challenges.In the WISE system,water molecules can be confined within the Li^(+)solvation structures.This diminished Al^(3+)-H_(2)O interaction essentially eliminates the hydrolysis effect,effectively protecting Al anode from corrosion.Therefore,long-term Al plating/stripping can be realized.Furthermore,two types of high-performance full batteries have been demonstrated using copper hexacyanoferrate(CuHCF,a Prussian Blue Analogues)and LiNi_(0.8)Co_(0.1)Mn_(0.1)O_(2)(NCM)as cathodes.The reversibility of Al anode laid the foundation for low cost rechargeable batteries suffering for large-scale energy storage.Broader context:Al batteries are expected to become a safe and sustainable alternative to lithium batteries.For decades,chase for a feasible Al secondary battery has not been successful.The key challenge is to find suitable cathode and electrolyte materials,together with which Al anode battery can function reversibly.Currently,fatal drawbacks have impeded the practical application of Al metal batteries(AMBs),such as sustained corrosion of Al anode and battery case in ionic liquid electrolytes,irreversibility issues as well as severe hydrogen evolution reaction during cycling in aqueous electrolyte.Therefore,electrolyte and their electrochemical kinetics play a vital role in the performance and environmental operating limitations of high-energy Al metal batteries.In this work,we demonstrate a nearly neutral Al ion water-in-salt electrolyte(WISE)to tackle the above challenges.The WISE shows excellent stability in the open atmosphere.The distinct solvation-sheath structure of Al^(3+)in the WISE system would protect Al metal anodes from corrosion and eliminate hydrogen evolution reaction effectively,further promoting the reversibility of Al metal anodes with dendrite-free morphology.Moreover,such a WISE exhibits superior compatibility with LiNi_(0.3)Co_(0.3)Mn_(0.3)O_(2)(NCM)and copper hexacyanoferrate(CuHCF)cathodes and long-term stabilities with high coulombic efficiency(CE)can be attained for full batteries with the WISE.The approach in this study can furnish an opportunity to develop reversible AMBs and lay the foundation for other potential multivalent-metalbased secondary batteries suffering from interface passivation and poor reversibility,which suggest the promise of multivalent metal batteries and their applications in large-scale energy storage.

Effects of current density on microstructure and properties of plasma electrolytic oxidation ceramic coatings formed on 6063 aluminum alloy

Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) ceramic coatings were fabricated in a silicate-based electrolyte with the addition of potassium fluorozirconate (K2ZrF6) on 6063 aluminum alloy, and the effects of current density on microstructure and properties of the PEO coatings were studied. It was found that pore density of the coatings decreased with increasing the current density. The tribological and hardness tests suggested that the ceramic coating produced under the current density of 15 A/dm2showed the best mechanical property, which matched well with the phase analysis. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization curves proved that the coating obtained under 15 A/dm2 displayed the best anti-corrosion property, which was directly connected with morphologies of coatings.

Influence of titanium content on wear resistance of electrolytic low-titanium eutectic Al-Si piston alloys

The wear resistance of six kinds of the electrolytic low-titanium eutectic AI-Si piston alloys with various Ti content ranging from 0.00wt.% to 0.21wt.% has been studied. A new method of adding Ti is adopted in the electrolytic low-titanium aluminum alloy ingots. The electrolytic low-titanium eutectic AI-Si piston alloys are produced by remelting the electrolytic low-titanium aluminum alloy, crystal silicon, pure magnesium, AI-50%Cu and AI-10%Mn master alloy. The wear experiments are conducted using MM200 wear testing machine under lubricating condition. The results indicate that the better wear resistance and the less weight loss are achieved in the study for the eutectic AI-Si piston alloys with 0.08wt.%-0.12wt.% Ti content. The highest ultimate tensile strength of 135.94 MPa at 300℃ and HV141.70 hardness of the alloys are obtained at 0.12wt.% and 0.08wt.% Ti content, respectively. The wear mechanism of the eutectic AI-Si piston alloys under lubricating condition is abrasive wear.

Effect of cerium addition on microstructure and texture of aluminum foil for electrolytic capacitors

Anode foil of aluminum electrolytic capacitor,which requires large surface area for high capacitance,were prepared by rolling,annealing and electrochemical etching.Effects of cerium addition on the capacitance of aluminum electrolytic capacitors were investigated.Microstructure of the aluminum foil surface was observed by optical microscopy(OM) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).Electron back scattered diffraction(EBSD) was also employed to reveal texture evolvement of cold-rolled aluminum foil after ann...

Effects of electrical parameters and their interactions on plasma electrolytic oxidation coatings on aluminum substrates

Based on orthogonal experiments,the effects of voltage,frequency,duty ratio and their interactions on the thickness and corrosion resistance of coatings prepared by plasma electrolytic oxidation(PEO)on aluminum in an alkaline silicate-containing electrolyte were investigated.The thicknesses of these coatings were obtained by measuring their cross-section using Image J software.Their corrosion resistances were evaluated in HCl and NaCl media through spot test and electrochemical test.The results show that the experimental design of this study is the key to investigate the interactions among these electrical parameters.Additionally,not only each independent factor,but also their interactions exhibit a remarkable influence on the coatings.The combination of high voltage,low frequency and large duty ratio significantly increases the coating thickness and content of the corrosion resistance phase,and thus improves the corrosion resistance of the coating in HNO3 medium.Conversely,the coating possessing the densest microstructure and best corrosion resistance in NaCl medium is obtained when low voltage and high frequency match with a small duty ratio.

Numerical modeling of effect of slot on bubble motion in aluminum electrolytic process

A transient three-dimensional（3 D） model was established to understand the bubble motion in an industrial electrolytic process. An anode with a new design was tested. It incorporates two slots that allow an efficient removal of gas bubbles. The electromagnetic fields were described by solving Maxwell＇s equations. The bubble movement was studied with two-way coupling Euler-Lagrange approach. The interplay of current density and bubble nucleation rate was included. The collision and coalescence of bubbles were considered. Random walk module was invoked for involving the chaotic effect of the turbulence. The numerical results were validated by experimental measurements. The results indicate that the current distribution and the bubble nucleation periodically change. Due to the slot, the bubble elimination heavily increases. The contribution of the slot to the bubble removal exceeds 50% in the case of three currents, and the promotion of the slot decays with increasing the current.

Effect of Current Density on Microstructure and Corrosion Behavior of Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation Coated 6063 Aluminum Alloy

Plasma electrolytic oxidation(PEO) coatings were fabricated on 6063 aluminum alloy in a cheap and convenient electrolyte. The effect of different current densities, i e, 5, 10, 15, and 20 A/dm2on the microstructure and corrosion behavior of coatings was comprehensively studied by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), stereoscopic microscopy, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS), respectively. It is found that the pore density decreases and the pore size increases with increasing current density. The XRD results show that the coatings are only composed of α-Al2O3and γ-Al2O3. Potentiodynamic polarization test proves that the coating formed under 10 A/dm2possesses the best anticorrosion property. The long time EIS test shows that the coating under 10 A/dm2is able to protect the aluminum alloy substrate after long time of immersion in 0.59 M NaCl solution, which confirms the salt solution immersion test results in 2 M NaCl solution.

Amorphous coatings deposited on aluminum alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation

Amorphous [Al-Si-O] coatings were deposited on aluminum alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO). The process parameters, composition, micrograph, and mechanical property of PEO amorphous coatings were investigated. It is found that the growth rate of PEO coatings reaches 4.44 μm/min if the current density is 0.9 mA/mm2. XRD results show that the PEO coatings are amorphous in the current density range of 0.3 - 0.9mA/mm2. EDS results show that the coatings are composed of O, Si and Al elements. SEM results show that the coatings are porous. Nano indentation results show that the hardness of the coatings is about 3 - 4 times of that of the substrate, while the elastic modulus is about the same with the substrate. Furthermore, a formation mechanism of amorphous PEO coatings was proposed.

Revisiting aluminum current collector in lithium-ion batteries:Corrosion and countermeasures

With the large-scale service of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs),their failures have attracted significant attentions.While the decay of active materials is the primary cause for LIB failures,the degradation of auxiliary materials,such as current collector corrosion,should not be disregarded.Therefore,it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive review in this field.In this review,from the perspectives of electrochemistry and materials,we systematically summarize the corrosion behavior of aluminum cathode current collector and propose corresponding countermeasures.Firstly,the corrosion type is clarified based on the properties of passivation layers in different organic electrolyte components.Furthermore,a thoroughgoing analysis is presented to examine the impact of various factors on aluminum corrosion,including lithium salts,organic solvents,water impurities,and operating conditions.Subsequently,strategies for electrolyte and protection layer employed to suppress corrosion are discussed in detail.Lastly and most importantly,we provide insights and recommendations to prevent corrosion of current collectors,facilitate the development of advanced current collectors and the implementation of next-generation high-voltage stable LIBs.

Study on wear behavior of plasma electrolytic oxidation coatings on aluminum alloy

Thick and hard ceramic coatings were fabricated on A356 aluminum alloy by using plasma electrolytic oxidation(PEO) technique. The microstructure and phase composition of the PEO coatings were examined by using SEM and XRD method. It is found that the PEO coatings are mainly composed of crystalline α-Al2O3 and mullite. The dry sliding wear test of PEO coatings were carried out on a ring-on-ring wear machine. Results shows that there is hardly no wear loss of polished PEO coatings while the wear rate of uncoated aluminum alloy is 4.3×10-5 mm3·(N·m)-1 at a speed of 0.52 m·s-1 and a load of 40 N.

Kalman-Filtering-Based Frequency Control Strategy Considering Electrolytic Aluminum Load

Traditional thermal power units are continuously replaced by renewable energies,of which fluctuations and intermittence impose pressure on the frequency stability of the power system.Electrolytic aluminum load(EAL)accounts for large amount of the local electric loads in some areas.The participation of EAL in local frequency control has huge application prospects.However,the controller design of EAL is difficult due to the measurement noise of the system frequency and the nonlinear dynamics of the EAL’s electric power consumption.Focusing on this problem,this paper proposes a control strategy for EAL to participate in the frequency control.For the controller design of the EAL system,the system frequency response model is established and the EAL transfer function model is developed based on the equivalent circuit of EAL.For the problem of load-side frequency measurement error,the frequency estimation method based on Kalman-filtering is designed.To improve the performance of EAL in the frequency control,a fuzzy EAL controller is designed.The testing examples show that the designed Kalman-filter has good performance in de-noising the measured frequency,and the designed fuzzy controller has better performance in stabilizing system frequency than traditional methods.

Preparation and Characterization of Amorphous Layer on Aluminum Alloy Formed by Plasma Electrolytic Deposition(PED)

In this investigation, protective layers were formed on aluminum substrate by Plasma Electrolytic Deposition (PED) using sodium silicate solution. The relation between the thickness of the layer and process time were studied. XRD, SEM, EDS were used to study the layer’s structure, composition and micrograph. The results show that the deposited layers are amorphous and contain mainly oxygen, silicon, and aluminum. The possible formation mechanism of amorphous [Al-Si-O] layer was proposed: During discharge periods, A12O3 phase of the passive film and SiO32"near the substrate surface are sintered into xSiO2(l - x)Al2O, and then transformed into amorphous [Al-Si-O] phase.

Determining the Boundary of Molten Electrolyte and Aluminum in Electrolytic Cells by Detecting Their Vertical Distribution of Potential

Aluminum production is a high energy consumption process so that maintaining fundamental compositions in balance and optimal conditions are essential.The molten electrolyte and melted aluminum are primary materials and their boundary needs to be monitored from time to time.An automatic measurement technic is presented in the paper to substitute for the traditional manual measurement work that is dull,poor efficiency and dangerous for operators.The boundary forming mechanism is analyzed,the vertical profile of electric potential is simulated,an automatic instrument is developed to sense the potential distribution,and a strategy is provided to identify the boundary according to the potential curves.Finally,some practical results are compared with manual measurements,which shows good consistency.

Neutral electrolyte aluminum air battery with open configuration

A kind of new long life aluminum air batteries with open configuration was developed, using aluminum alloy doped with Ga, In, Sn, Bi, Pb and Mn as anode, NaCl solution as electrolyte and air electrode as cathode. The polarization curves of aluminum electrode and air electrode were tested. And the cell′s performance was tested to calculate the utilization of aluminum electrode and the energy density. It is shown that, in the 3.5% NaCl solution, the cell can discharge at 0.29 A for 140 h with the working voltage keeping over 1.1 V. The utilization ratio of aluminum anode is over 44%, and the life of battery is longer than 2400 h.

An interface-reconstruction effect for rechargeable aluminum battery in ionic liquid electrolyte to enhance cycling performances

Aluminum(Al) metal has been regarded as a promising anode for rechargeable batteries because of its natural abundance and high theoretical specific capacity. However, rechargeable aluminum batteries(RABs) using A1 metal as anode display poor cycling performances owing to interface problems between anode and electrolyte. The solid-electrolyte interphase(SEI) layer on the anode has been confirmed to be essential for improving cycling performances of rechargeable batteries. Therefore, we immerse the Al metal in ionic liquid electrolyte for some time before it is used as anode to remove the passive film and expose fresh Al to the electrolyte. Then the reactions of exposed Al, acid, oxygen and water in electrolyte are occurred to form an SEI layer in the cycle. Al/electrolyte/V_2 O_5 full batteries with the thin, uniform and stable SEI layer on Al metal anode perform high discharge capacity and coulombic efficiency(CE). This work illustrates that an SEI layer is formed on Al metal anode in the cycle using a simple and effective pretreatment process and results in superior cycling performances for RABs.

Surface modification of die casting mold steel by a composite technique of hot-dipping and plasma electrolytic oxidation

The hot dipping process of pure aluminum on H13 steel substrates followed by plasma electrolytic oxidation(PEO) was studied to form alumina ceramic coatings for protective purpose.H13 steel bars were first dipped in pure aluminum melts,and then,a reactive iron-aluminum intermetallic layer grew at the interface between the melt and the steel substrate.The reactive layer was mainly composed of intermetallic Fe-Al(Fe_2Al_5);the thickness of aluminum layer and Fe-Al intermetallic layer were mainly influenced by dipping time(1.5～12.0 min) and dipping temperature(710～760 ℃).After PEO process,uniform Al_2O_3 ceramic coatings were deposited on the surface of aluminized steel.The element distribution,phase composition and morphology of the aluminized layer,and the ceramic coatings were characterized by SEM/EDS and XRD.The distribution of hardness across the composite coating is demonstrated,and the maximum value reaches 1864 HV.The thermal shock resistance of the coated sample is also well improved.

Numerical simulation on electrolyte flow field in 156 kA drained aluminum reduction cells

Based on the commercial CFD software CFX-4.3, two-phase flow of electrolyte in 156 kA drained aluminum reduction cells with a new structure was numerically simulated by multi-fluid model and k-ε turbulence model. The results show that the electrolyte flow in the drained cells is more even than in the conventional cells. Corresponding to center point feeding, the electrolyte flow in the drained cells is more advantageous to the release of anode gas, the dissolution and diffusion of alumina, and the gradient reduction of the electrolyte density and temperature. The average velocity of the electrolyte is 8.3 cm/s, and the maximum velocity is 59.5 cm/s. The average and maximum velocities of the gas are 23.2 cm/s and 61.1 cm/s, respectively. The cathode drained slope and anode cathode distance have certain effects on the electrolyte flow.

Effects of Different Electrolytes on Stress Corrosion Properties of 2A12 Aluminum Alloy

The stress corrosion cracking(SCC)behaviors of 2A12 aluminum alloy after annealing treatment were studied by slow strain rate testing(SSRT),electrochemical polarization measurement,scanning electron microscope(SEM),energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS)and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).Various concentrations of NaCl,H_(2)SO_(4)and HCl aqueous solution were prepared to act as the corrosive solution.The experimental results show that regarding the SCC,2A12 alloy performs best in NaCl solution but worst in HCl solution and intermediately between the above mentioned two cases in H_(2)SO_(4)solution.For the SSRT carried out in room temperature,there is a higher decrease in elongation without large strength loss for the alloy immersed in NaCl solution.With the test conducted in H_(2)SO_(4)solution,there is a higher strength loss and a relatively less loss of elongation compared to the one immersed in NaCl solution.With the test conducted in HCl solution,there is a relativel level loss of strength and elongation compared to either result carried out in NaCl solution or H_(2)SO_(4)solution.

Dissolution rate determination of alumina in molten cryolite-based aluminum electrolyte

Determination of dissolution rate of alumina is one of the classical problems in aluminum electrolysis. A novel method which can measure the dissolution rate of alumina was presented. Effect of factors on dissolution rate of alumina was studied intuitively and roundly using transparent quartz electrobath and image analysis techniques. Images about dissolution process of alumina were taken at an interval of fixed time from transparent quartz electrobath of double rooms. Gabor wavelet transforms were used for extracting and describing the texture features of each image. After subsampling several times, the dissolution rate of alumina was computed using these texture features in local neighborhood of samples. Regression equation of the dissolution rate of alumina was obtained using these dissolution rates. Experiments show that the regression equation of the dissolution rate of alumina is y=-0.000 5x^3＋0.024 0x^2-0.287 3x＋ 1.276 7 for Na3AIF6-AIF3-Al2O3-CaF2-LiF- MgF2 system at 920 ℃.