Highly efficient and stable electrooxidation of methanol and ethanol on 3D Pt catalyst by thermal decomposition of In2O3 nanoshells

In this paper In2O3nanoshells have been synthesized via a facile hydrothermal approach. The nanoshells can be completely cracked into pony-size nanocubes by annealing, which are then used as a support of Pt catalyst for methanol and ethanol electrocatalytic oxidation. The prepared In2O3and supported Pt catalysts (Pt/In2O3) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field effect scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were carried out, indicating the excellent catalytic performance for alcohol electrooxidation can be achieved on Pt/In2O3nanocatalysts due to the multiple active sites, high conductivity and a mass of microchannels and micropores for reactant diffusions arising from 3D frame structures compared with that on the Pt/C catalysts. © 2016 Science Press

Surface grain refinement mechanism of SMA490BW steel cross joints by ultrasonic impact treatment

Ultrasonic impact treatment (UIT) is a postweld technique for improving the fatigue strength of welded joints. This technique makes use of ultrasonic vibration to impact and plastically deform a weld toe and can achieve surface grain refinement of the weld toe, which is considered as the main reason for the improvement of fatigue strength. In this paper, the microstructure of the surface of a treated weld toe was observed by metallographic microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that UIT could produce severe plastic deformation on the surface layer of the weld toe and the maximum depth of plastic deformation extended to approximately 260 μm beneath the treated surface. Repeated processing could exacerbate the plastic deformation on the surface layer, resulting in finer grains. We can conclude that the surface grain refinement mechanism of SMA490BW welded joints is related to the high density of dislocation tangles and dislocation walls. © 2017, University of Science and Technology Beijing and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Effects of pre-deformation on microstructure and properties of Al–Cu–Mg–Ag heat-resistant alloy

The effects of the pre-deformation on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of Al–Cu–Mg–Ag alloys were investigated by means of hardness tests, tensile tests, intergranullar corrosion (IGC) tests and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. The results show that with the increase of deformation amount, the aging hardening rate increases while the strength of the alloy decreases and then increases. The sample with a pre-deformation of 6% possesses the highest tensile strength due to the refinedly and homogeneously distributed precipitations. The pre-deformation aging accelerates the heterogeneous nucleation of Ω and θ′ phases at dislocations, and also refines the precipitations both in the grains and along the grain boundaries. The precipitation of Ω phase is restrained while that of θ′ phase is accelerated in pre-deformed Al–Cu–Mg–Ag alloy compared with the sample without pre-deformation. In addition, the width of the precipitate free zone decreases with increasing the pre-deformation amount, leading to a narrower IGC passageway. This results in an enhanced IGC resistance of Al–Cu–Mg–Ag alloy treated by pre-deformation aging. © 2017, Central South University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.

One-pot synthesis and optical properties of In- and Sn-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Colloidal indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) and tin-doped zinc oxide (ZTO) nanoparticles were successfully prepared in organic solution, with metal acetylacetonate as the precursor and oleylamine as the solvent. The crystal and optical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV−visible spectrophotometry, and fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively; the surface and structure morphologies were observed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The XRD patterns of the IZO and ZTO nanoparticles all exhibited similar diffraction peaks consistent with the standard XRD pattern of ZnO, although the diffraction peaks of the IZO and ZTO nanoparticles were slightly shifted with increasing dopant concentration. With increasing dopant concentration, the fluorescent emission peaks of the IZO nanoparticles exhibited an obvious red shift because of the difference in atomic radii of indium and zinc, whereas those of the ZTO nanoparticles exhibited almost no shift because of the similarity in atomic radii of tin and zinc. Furthermore, the sizes of the IZO and ZTO nanoparticles distributed in the ranges 20–40 and 20–25 nm, respectively, which is attributed to the difference in ionic radii of indium and tin. © 2017, University of Science and Technology Beijing and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

HRTEM Study of Three New Regularly Mixed-layer Structures of B_8S_6 Type in Ca-RE Fluorocarbonate Minerals

The microstructural features of clacium rare earth(Ca RE) fluorocarbonate minerals from Southwest China were studied by using selected area electron diffraction(SAED) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM). Three new regularly mixed layer structures of B 8S 6 type with long period and different stacking sequence, i.e. B 8S 6 Ⅰ, B 8S 6 Ⅱ, and B 8S 6 Ⅲ, were found in the derived polycrystal of parisite, in which their structural symmetry, cell parameters, chemical formulas of crystal and stacking models of structural unit layer, etc. were determined. The results of this study also show that these new regularly mixed layer structrues were formed by order stacking unit layer of bastnaesite(B) and synchisite(S) in varying proportion along c axis. The observation under HRTEM reveals that in the three new regularly mixed layer structures there are different distribution modes of Ce F ion layers, CO 2- 3 ion groups between the Ce F ion layers, and CO 2- 3 ion groups between Ce F and Ca 2+ ion layers, and there are some heterogeneous textures, such as disorder interlayer and stacking fault. It further proves the complexity of the crystal structure of the Ca RE fluorocarbonate minerals.

Influence of tribofilm on superlubricity of highly-hydrogenated amorphous carbon films in inert gaseous environments

In this study,we mainly focus on the structural morphology and inter-atomic bonding state of tribofilms resulting from a highly-hydrogenated amorphous carbon(a-C:H) film in order to ascertain the underlying mechanisms for its superlubric behavior(i.e.,less than 0.01 friction coefficient).Specifically,we achieved superlubricity(i.e.,friction coefficients of down to 0.003) with this film in dry nitrogen and argon atmospheres especially when the tribo-pair is made of an a-C:H coated Si disk sliding against an a-C:H coated steel ball,while the a-C:H coated disk against uncoated ball does not provide superlubricity.We also found that the state of superlubricity is more stable in argon than in nitrogen and the formation of a smooth and uniformly-thick carbonaceous tribofilm appears to be one of the key factors for the realization of such superlubricity.Besides,the interfacial morphology of sliding test pairs and the atomic-scale bond structure of the carbon-based tribofilms also play an important role in the observed superlubric behavior of a-C:H films.Using Raman spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy,we have compared the structural differences of the tribofilms produced on bare and a-C:H coated steel balls.For the a-C:H coated ball as mating material which provided superlow friction in argon,structural morphology of the tribofilm was similar or comparable to that of the original a-C:H coating;while for the bare steel ball,the sp^2-bonded C fraction in the tribofilm increased and a fingerprint-like nanocrystalline structure was detected by high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM).We also calculated the shear stresses for different tribofilms,and established a relationship between the magnitude of the shear stresses and the extent of sp^3-sp^2 phase transformation.

Nano-Twinning and Martensitic Transformation Behaviors in 316L Austenitic Stainless Steel During Large Tensile Deformation

The evolutions of nano-twins and martensitic transformation in 316L austenitic stainless steel during large tensile deformation were studied by electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD)technology and transmission electron microscopy(TEM)in detail.The results show that due to the low stacking fault energy of the steel,phase transformation induced plasticity(TRIP)and twinning induced plasticity(TWIP)coexist during the tensile deformation.The deformation firstly induces the formation of deformation twins,and dislocation pile-up is caused by the reduction of the dislocation mean free path(MFP)or grain refinement due to the twin boundaries,which further induces the martensitic transformation.With the increase of tensile deformation,a large number of nano-twins andα’-martensite appear,and the width of nano-twins decreases gradually,meanwhile the frequency of the intersecting deformation twins increases.The martensitic transformation can be divided into two types:γ-austenite→α’-martensite andγ-austenite→ε-martensite.α’-martensite is mainly distributed near the twin boundaries,especially at the intersection of twins,whileε-martensite and stacking faults exist in the form of transition products between the twins and the matrix.

FePO4-coated Li[Li0.2Ni0.13Co0.13Mn0.54]O2 with improved cycling performance as cathode material for Li-ion batteries

Li[Li0.2Ni0.13Coo.13Mn0.54]O2 cathode materials were synthesized by carbonate-based co-precipitation method, and then, its surface was coated by thin layers of FePO4. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, field emission scanning electron micro- scope （FESEM）, energy-dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）, and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The XRD and TEM results suggest that both the pristine and the coated materials have a hexagonal layered structure, and the FePO4 coating layer does not make any major change in the crystal structure. The FePO4-coated sample exhibits both improved initial discharge capacity and columbic efficiency compared to the pristine one. More significantly, the FePO4 coating layer has a much positive influence on the cycling perfor- mance. The FePO4-coated sample exhibits capacity reten- tion of 82 % after 100 cycles at 0.5℃ between 2.0 and 4.8 V, while only 28 % for the pristine one at the same charge-discharge condition. The electrochemical impe- dance spectroscopy （EIS） results indicate that this improved cycling performance could be ascribed to the presence of FePO4 on the surface of Li[Li0.2Ni0.13Co0.13Mno.54102 par- ticle, which helps to protect the cathode from chemical attacks by HF and thus suppresses the large increase in charge transfer resistance.