A phase inversion based sponge-like polysulfonamide/SiO_2 composite separator for high performance lithium-ion batteries

In this work,a sponge-like polysulfonamide(PSA)/SiO_2 composite membrane is unprecedentedly prepared by the phase inversion method,and successfully demonstrated as a novel separator of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).Compared to the commercial polypropylene(PP) separator,the sponge-like PSA/SiO_2 composite possesses better physical and electrochemical properties,such as higher porosity,ionic conductivity,thermal stability and flame retarding ability.The LiCoO_2/Li half-cells using the sponge-like composite separator demonstrate superior rate capability and cyclability over those using the commercial PP separator.Moreover,the sponge-like composite separator can ensure the normal operation of LiCoO_2/Li half-cell at an extremely high temperature of 90 °C,while the commercial PP separator cannot.All these encouraging results suggest that this phase inversion based sponge-like PSA/SiO_2 composite separator is really a promising separator for high performance LIBs.

Fracture Mechanism of 3D, Five-directional Braided (SiO_2)_f /SiO_2 Composites Prepared by Silicasol-infiltration-sintering Method

Three-dimensional （3D） five-directional braided （SiO2）/SiO2 composites were prepared by silicasol-infiltration-sintering （SIS） method. The flexural properties and microstructures were studied. The flexural strength and flexural elastic modulus were found to be 73 MPa and 12 GPa, respectively. The results of stress vs deflection curve and SEM examinations revealed that the fracture mechanism of 3D, five-directional braided （SiO2）/SiO2 composite was a mixture mode of ductile and brittle. The ductile mode was attributed to the weak bonding strength of fiber/matrix at low temperature. The brittle fracture might be caused by the propagation of micro defect or crack, which existed in the as-prepared composites for the ten-cycle process.

Grain Size and Wettability of TiO_2/SiO_2 Photocatalytic Composite Thin Filing

The uniform transparent TiO2/SiO2 photocatalytic composite thin films are prepared by sol-gel method on the soda lime glass substrates, and characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), BET surface area, FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found that the addition of SiO2 to TiO2 thin films can suppress the grain growth of TiO2 crystal, increase the hydroxyl content on the surface of TiO2 films, lower the contact angle for water on TiO, films and enhance the hydrophilic property of TiO2 films. The super-hydrophilic TiO2/SiO2 photocatalytic composite thin films with the contact angle of 0((o) under bar) are obtained by the addition of 10%-20% SiO2 in mole fraction.

Fabrication and characterization of SiO_(2(f))/Si)_3N_4 composites

A silicon dioxide fiber-reinforced silicon nitride matrix （SiOJSi3N4） composite used for radomes was prepared by chemical vapor infiltration （CVI） process using the SiCl4-NH3-H2 system. The effects of the process conditions, including infiltration temperature, infiltration time, and gas flux were investigated. The energy dispersion spectra （EDS） result showed that the main elements of this composite contained Si, N, and O. The X-ray diffraction （XRD） results indicated that phases of the composite before and after treatment at 1350℃ were all amorphous. A little fiber pull-out was observed on the cross section of the composite by scan electron microscope （SEM）. As a result, the composite exhibited good thermal stability, but an appropriate interface was necessary between the fiber and the matrix.

The effects of radiation damage on power VDMOS devices with composite SiO_2-Si_3N_4 films

Total dose effects and single event effects on radiation-hardened power vertical double-diffusion metal oxide semiconductor（VDMOS） devices with composite SiO2-Si3N4 film gates are investigated.The relationships among the important electrical parameters of the samples with different thickness SiO2-Si3N4 films,such as threshold voltage,breakdown voltage,and on-state resistance in accumulated dose,are discussed.The total dose experiment results show that the breakdown voltage and the on-state resistance barely change with the accumulated dose.However,the relationships between the threshold voltages of the samples and the accumulated dose are more complex,and not only positively drift,but also negatively drift.At the end of the total dose experiment,we select the group of samples which have the smaller threshold voltage shift to carry out the single event effect studies.We find that the samples with appropriate thickness ratio SiO2-Si3N4 films have a good radiation-hardening ability.This method may be useful in solving both the SEGR and the total dose problems with the composite SiO2-Si3N4 films.

Photocatalytic and Thermal Insulating Performances of Fiber Reinforced Hierarchical TiO_2/SiO_2 Xerogel Composites Synthesized by Ambient Drying Route

Silica( SiO_2) based aerogel/xerogel materials have been received ever-growing attentions for versatile applications. However,the widespread applications are narrowed by the inert properties,fragile and brittle natureof silica materials and cumbersome preparation processes. In this paper,titania( TiO_2) was introduced into SiO_2 matrix to form photocatalytic hybrid gels. The TiO_2/SiO_2 composites were then reinforced by the impregnation of various fibrillary reinforcements,such as glass,mullite mineral and ceramic fibers. The properties of the composites were studied systematically in terms of fiberstability,microstructure,chemical interaction and thermal conductivity. The final xerogel composites displayed improved monolithic geometry,satisfied thermal conductivity(0. 09-0. 25 W·m^(-1)·K^(-1)) and optimized photocatalytic performance(85% removal of model pollutant of methyl orange( Mo)),which could be expected to be a feasible route to multi-functional building facades in the future.

Pore structure analysis of PFSA/SiO_2 composite catalysts from nitrogen adsorption isotherms

The perfluorosulfonic acid （PFSA）/SiO2 composite catalysts were prepared by sol-gel method. Differences concerning pore structure analysis of PFSA/SiO2 catalysts were discussed on the basis of nitrogen adsorption. Their surface area and pore size distributions were evaluated by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller （BET） and Barrett-Joyner-Halenda （BJH） methods, respectively. The nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms associated with adsorption hysteresis of PFSA/SiO2 catalysts were analyzed in detail. The adsorption isotherms of PFSA/SiOe catalysts belonged to Type IV isotherms accompanied by hysteresis loops of Type H1 for PFSA/SiO2 catalysts with content of 5%, 13% and 20% PFSA （PFSA-5, PFSA-13 and PFSA-20）, and the hysteresis loop of Type H2 for PFSA/SiO2 catalyst with 40% PFSA content （PFSA-40）. It indicated that PFSA-5, PFSA-13 and PFSA-20 catalysts had narrow pore size distributions and the well-defined cylindrical pores, while PFSA-40 catalyst had wide pore size distribution and inkbottle-like pores. The pore structure of PFSA-40 catalyst from the analysis of the hysteresis loop was not in agreement with that from BJH method. As an emendation for evaluation of pore size distributions of PFSA/SiOz catalysts, the comparison plots method was introduced, which was helpful to evaluate the pore structure of PFSA/SiO2 catalysts more factually.

Preparation of polyacrylamide/silica composite capsules by inverse Pickering emulsion polymerization

Polyacrylamide/silica （PAM/SiO2） composite capsules were synthesized by inverse Pickering emulsion polymerization. Silica nanoparticles modified with methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane （MPS） were used as a stabilizer. Transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectroscopy, and thermal gravimetric analysis （TGA） were used to characterize the morphology and composition of the composite capsules. SEM and TEM images showed that capsules consisted of a particle shell and a polymer inner layer. The capsule size depends on the nanoparticle concentration in the continuous phase. The composite rigidity largely depends on the acrylamide concentration. FTIR and TGA results indicated the existence of polyacrylamide and SiO2 in the composite particles. Aqueous Hg（ll） removal testing by the PAM/SiO2 composite capsules indicated promising potential for removing heavy metal ions from wastewater.

DEFORMATION INVESTIGATION ON iPP/SiO_2 COMPOSITES: INFLUENCE OF STRETCHING TEMPERATURE AND PARTICLE SIZE ON MORPHOLOGY EVOLUTION AND CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE OF THIN FILMS

In the present work, structure changes during （SiO2） composites have been investigated systematically stretching of isotactic polypropylene （iPP） and iPP/silicon dioxide The or-form crystal structure of both iPP and iPP/SiO2 composites is destroyed and transforms into the mesophase as the samples are stretched at a low temperature （35℃）, while stretching at high temperatures （90℃ and 120℃） can restrain the appearance of defects and keep the perfection of crystal structure. FTIR results reveal that the stretching temperatures show no obvious difference of the effect on the orientation of pure iPP, however, the orientation of iPP/SiO2 composites is greatly changed by the tensile temperature. In the case of micron-sized SiO2 particles （average particle diameter d 〉 1 μm）, the orientation of the composites is lower than that of pure iPP at all stretching temperatures. The above results suggest that the stretching temperature and the SiO2 particle size have great influence on the structure variation and orientation behavior of iPP/SiO2 composites.

Fabrication of Ag3PO4-AgBr-PTh composite loaded on Na2SiO3 with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

A novel Ag3PO4-AgBr-PTh composite loaded on Na2SiO3 was synthesized for enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity. The photocatalyUc activity of the samples was evaluated by photodegrading rhodamine B （RhB） under visible light irradiation. The main reactive species and possible photocatalytic mechanism were also discussed. As a result, the Ag3PO4-AgBr-PTh composite loaded on Na2SiO3 exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity for RhB compared with Ag3PO4 under visible-light irradiation. Additionally, it was demonstrated that the hole （h＋） and superoxide radical （·O2-） were the major reactive species involving in the RhB degradation. PTh played vital role for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ag3PO4-AgBr-PTh-Na2SiO3 composite, which offered an electron transfer expressway and accelerated the transfer of the electrons from the CB of AgBr into Ag3PO4. This work could provide a new perspective for the synthesis of Ag3PO4-based composites and the improvement of photocatalytic activity of Ag3PO4.