Wettability and formation mechanism of ZnO micro-spheres composed film

This paper reports that the film composed of flower-like ZnO micro-spheres, which consists of nano-sheets, is fab- ricated by chemical bath deposition. By adding hydrogen fluoride （HF） into the reaction solution, which contains zinc nitrate hexahydrate and hexamethylenetetramine, the ZnO crystal growth process is changed and the film composed by ZnO micro-spheres is obtained after keeping the reaction solution at 95 ℃ for 2 h. The morphology, crystal phase and wettahility of the sample axe characterized by scanning electron microscope, x-ray diffraction and contact angle meter, respectively. The results show that the filrrl has the micro-nano compound structure. After modification with heptadecafluorodecyltrimethoxy-silane, the wettability of the film changed from superhydrophilicity to superhydropho-bicity, on which water contact angle and the sliding angle are 154° and less than 5° for 8-μL water droplet, respectively. Additionally, the formation mechanism of the ZnO micro-sphere is also discussed.

Light-driven crystallization of polystyrene micro-spheres

We investigate the dynamic crystallization processes of colloidal photonic crystals, which are potentially invaluable for solving a number of existing and emerging technical problems in regards to controlled fabrication of crystals, such as size normalization, stability improvement, and acceleration of synthesis. In this paper, we report systematic high-resolution optical observation of the spontaneous crystallization of monodisperse polystyrene(PS) micro-spheres in aqueous solution into close-packed arrays in a static line optical tweezers. The experiments demonstrate that the crystal structure is mainly affected by the minimum potential energy of the system; however, the crystallization dynamics could be affected by various mechanical, physical, and geometric factors. The complicated dynamic transformation process from 1D crystallization to 2D crystallization and the creation and annihilation of dislocations and defects via crystal relaxation are clearly illustrated.Two major crystal growth modes, the epitaxy growth pattern and the inserted growth pattern, have been identified to play a key role in shaping the dynamics of the 1D and 2D crystallization process. These observations offer invaluable insights for in-depth research about colloidal crystal crystallization.

Effect of Spherical Particle Size on the Electrochemical Properties of Lithium Iron Phosphate

The effect of spherical particle size on the surface morphology, electrochemical property and processability of lithium iron phosphate was systematically studied. Spherical lithium iron phosphate with different particle size distributions controlled with ball time of precursor slurry was prepared by spray drying method. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), charge and discharge measurements and EIS. The electrochemical performances of the sample materials were measured by coin cells and 14500 batteries. XRD shows that the spherical lithium iron phosphate with different particle sizes all have good crystal structure due to the perfect mixing of the raw materials and rapid drying. The lithium iron phosphate microsphere with different particle sizes self-assembled with submicron primary particles has a core-shell structure. The longer ball time the precursors are, the smaller the active material particles are prepared. The electrode material with 6 h ball time of precursor slurry has the best physical properties and the processability. The composite has a uniform particle size and higher tap density of 1.46 g/cm3, which delivers a discharge capacity of 167.6 mAh/g at a discharge rate of 0.5 C. The results were confirmed by the 14 500 mA h cylindrical batteries, which delivers a discharge capacity of 579 mAh at 0.5 C. And low-temperature performance with capacity of 458.5 mA h at -20 °C under a discharge rate of 0.5 C is the 79.2% of the same discharge rate at 25 °C. Otherwise, the 14500 batteries also exhibit excellent cycling performance and the capacity maintains 93% after 2 000 cycles.

Preparation and Characteristics of CoreeShell Structure Eu(DBM)_3Phen@SiO_2 Micro-Sphere

Sphere-shape Eu（DBM）3Phen@Si02 nanoparticles were fabricated by employing a modified alkaline catalyzed hydrolysis and precipitation method. The silica coated on the particles surface was obtained by means of hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate （TEOS）. In this study, the particles morphology was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and the surface composition of samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD） and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR）. It is confirmed that the Si02 shell has been coated on the rare earth complexes successfully. Moreover, the near-infrared photoluminescence emission analysis on the nanoparticles showed that the SiO2 shell would increase the luminescence intensity of Eu（DBM）3Phen. This is primarily due to the reason that SiO2 shell with chemical inertness can effectively reduce the ion Eu3~ non-radiation transition probabilities, as well as the probability of rare earth luminescence quenching caused by the external medium.

Optimization of the spectral performance of an antireflection coating on a micro-spherical substrate

To improve the optical performance of an antireflection（AR） coating on a micro-spherical substrate, the ray angle of the incidence distribution and the thickness profile are taken into consideration during the optical coating design. For a convex spherical substrate with a radius of curvature of 10 mm and a clear aperture of 10 mm,three strategies are used for the optimization of the spectral performance of a broadband AR coating in the spectral region from 480 to 720 nm. By comparing the calculated residual reflectance and spectral uniformity,the developed method demonstrates its superiority in spectral performance optimization of an AR coating on a micro-spherical substrate.

Monodisperse micro-spherical Sr_(2-z)Mg_(1+y)Y_(z)Al_(22-x)O_(36):xMn^(4+)red phosphors

With narrow red photoluminescence (PL) bands, tetravalent Mn^(4+) doped phosphors show promising prospect in commercial application to effectively expand color gamut of phosphor converted LED displays. Here, we report a type of Sr_(2-z)Mg_(1+y)Y_(z)Al_(22-x)O_(36):xMn^(4+) phosphors with regular cage-like micro-spherical morphologies. The micron size spherical precursors were synthesized with a propylene oxide (PO) driven fast sol–gel method. The cage -like spherical morphology is beneficial to efficiently trapping much incident light to enhance the PL of the phosphors. Being calcined at 1300 ℃, Sr_(2)MgAl_(21.978)O_(36):0.022Mn^(4+) only exhibits the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of 24.91%. With the Mg^(2+)-Mn^(4+) codoping and Y^(3+)/Sr^(2+) substituting strategies, to fulfill charge balance and produce John-Teller distortion, IQE of Sr_(2-z)Mg_(1+y)Y_(z)Al_(22-x)O_(36):xMn^(4+) can be further improved up to 36.45%. The CIE color coordinates of Sr_(2-z)Mg_(1+y)Y_(z)Al_(22-x)O_(36):xMn^(4+) under near ultraviolet excitation can be stably fixed to (0.723, 0.227) at deep red region. It thus finds a potential application as pc-LED display with much broader color gamut than that of the NTSC standard. Therefore, Sr_(2-z)Mg_(1+y)Y_(z)Al_(22-x)O_(36):xMn^(4+) micron size spheres can be employed as promising red phosphors for high performance LED displays.

Filler Size Effect on Tuning Electrical,Mechanical,and Thermal Properties of Field Grading Composites

field-grading composite with a low switching field,stable nonlinear conductivity performance,and excellent mechanical and thermal properties was prepared by using hybrid ZnO micro-spherical varistors of different particle sizes as the fillers and silicone rubber as the matrix.The hybrid effects of particle size on the electrical,mechanical,and thermal properties of ZnO micro-spherical varistors composites are investigated.An increase in the ZnO micro-spherical varistor size in the composites will lower the switching field but lead to degradation of the mechanical properties and stability of the nonlinear conductivity properties.The silicone rubber is incorporated with a mixture of hybrid ZnO micro-spherical varistors of different sizes at an optimal mass ratio range exhibited low switching field,stable nonlinear conductivity performance,and excellent mechanical and thermal properties.Our findings are helpful to comprehensively regulate performance of advanced field-grading materials and increase stability and durability of electronic and electrical devices.

Optimization of Al^(3+) Doping on the Microstructure and Electrochemical Performance of Spinel LiMn_(2)O_(4)

A series of spinel Li Al_(x)Mn_(2-x)O_(4) (x≤0.1) cathode materials was synthesized by controlled crystallization and solid state route with micro-spherical Mn_(3)O_(4) as the precursor.X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to analyze the crystal structure of the synthetic material and the microscopic morphology of the particles.It was found that Al^(3+)doping did not change the spinel structure of the synthesized materials,and the particles had better crystallinity.In the charge and discharge test of the synthesized materials,we found that Al^(3+)doping would slightly reduce the discharge capacity,but it could effectively improve the cyclic stability of the material.The initial capacity of Li Al_(0.04)Mn_(1.96)O_(4) is 121.6 m Ah/g.After 100 cycles at a rate of 1 C (1 C=148 m A/g),the capacity can still reach 112.9 m Ah/g,and the capacity retention rate is 96.4%.Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) suggests that Al^(3+)doping can effectively enhance the diffusion capacity of lithium ions in the material.