Solvent-Free Synthesis of Ultrafine Tungsten Carbide Nanoparticles-Decorated Carbon Nanosheets for Microwave Absorption

Carbides/carbon composites are emerging as a new kind of binary dielectric systems with good microwave absorption performance.Herein,we obtain a series of tungsten carbide/carbon composites through a simple solvent-free strategy,where the solid mixture of dicyandiamide(DCA)and ammonium metatungstate(AM)is employed as the precursor.Ultrafine cubic WC1-x nanoparticles(3-4 nm)are in situ generated and uniformly dispersed on carbon nanosheets.This configuration overcomes some disadvantages of conventional carbides/carbon composites and is greatly helpful for electromagnetic dissipation.It is found that the weight ratio of DCA to AM can regulate chemical composition of these composites,while less impact on the average size of WC1-x nanoparticles.With the increase in carbon nanosheets,the relative complex permittivity and dielectric loss ability are constantly enhanced through conductive loss and polarization relaxation.The different dielectric properties endow these composites with distinguishable attenuation ability and impedance matching.When DCA/AM weight ratio is 6.0,the optimized composite can produce good microwave absorption performance,whose strongest reflection loss intensity reaches up to-55.6 dB at 17.5 GHz and qualified absorption bandwidth covers 3.6-18.0 GHz by manipulating the thickness from 1.0 to 5.0 mm.Such a performance is superior to many conventional carbides/carbon composites.

Structural feature and electronic property of an (8, 0) carbon-silicon carbide nanotube heterojunction

A supercell of a nanotube heterojunction formed by an （8, 0） carbon nanotube （CNT） and an （8, 0） silicon carbide nanotube （SiCNT） is established, in which 96 C atoms and 32 Si atoms are included. The geometry optimization and the electronic property of the heterojunction are implemented through the first-principles calculation based on the density functional theory （DFT）. The results indicate that the structural rearrangement takes place mainly on the interface and the energy gap of the heterojunction is 0.31 eV, which is narrower than those of the isolated CNT and the isolated SiCNT. By using the average bond energy method, the valence band offset and the conduction band offset are obtained as 0.71 and -0.03 eV, respectively.

Carbide derived carbon electrode with natural graphite addition in magnesium electrolyte based cell for supercapacitor enhancements

Herein,we have presented a supercapacitor based on carbide derived carbon（CDC） electrode with natural graphite（NG） addition.The capacitor was analyzed at 22°C by cyclic voltammetry,galvanostatic charge-discharge and impedance techniques using a 0.5 mol/L of magnesium（II）bis（trifluoro methanesulfonyl） imide（Mg TFSI） in ethylene carbonate-propylene carbonate（EC ：PC = 1 ：1,v/v） as electrolyte.The results conclude that the CDC cell enhancements have been proven by the composite electrode（5%–30% NG to CDC） especially on the cell efficiency and voltage i.e.,the CDC cell around 2.5 V limit was improved.An obtainable specific capacitance,real power and energy density are 15 F g-1,1.2 k W kg-1and 15 Wh kg-1,respectively.

Low Temperature Preparation of Carbide Coated Carbon for Refractory Castable Applications

Titanium carbide （ TiC ） coated graphite flakes （GF） and carbon black （CB） powders were prepared at relatively low temperatures （ 750 - 950 ℃ ） using a no- vel molten salt synthesis technique. The in-situ formed TiC coatings were homogeneous and crack-free and their thicknesses could be readily controlled/tailored by simply adjusting the Ti/C ratio. Compared to their uncoated counterparts, as prepared TiC coated GF and CB showed much improved water-wettability/dispersivity and rheological properties, and thus could be potentially used to prepare carbon-containing refractory castables.

Fabrication of solid-phase-sintered Si C-based composites with short carbon fibers

Solid-phase-sintered Si C-based composites with short carbon fibers（Csf/SSi C） in concentrations ranging from 0 to 10wt% were prepared by pressureless sintering at 2100°C. The phase composition, microstructure, density, and flexural strength of the composites with different Csf contents were investigated. SEM micrographs showed that the Csf distributed in the SSi C matrix homogeneously with some gaps at the fiber/matrix interfaces. The densities of the composites decreased with increasing Csf content. However, the bending strength first increased and then decreased with increasing Csf content, reaching a maximum value of 390 MPa at a Csf content of 5wt%, which was 60 MPa higher than that of SSi C because of the pull-out strengthening mechanism. Notably, Csf was graphitized and damaged during the sintering process because of the high temperature and reaction with boron derived from the sintering additive B4C; this graphitization degraded the fiber strengthening effect.

Electronic transport properties of an (8,0) carbon/silicon-carbide nanotube heterojunction

A two-probe system of the heterojunction formed by an （8, 0） carbon nanotube （CNT） and an （8, 0） silicon carbide nanotube （SiCNT） was established based on its optimized structure. By using a method combining nonequilibrium Green＇s function （NEGF） with density functional theory （DFF）, the transport properties of the het-erojunction were investigated. Our study reveals that the highest occupied molecular orbital （HOMO） has a higher electron density on the CNT section and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital （LUMO） mainly concentrates on the interface and the SiCNT section. The positive and negative threshold voltages are ＋1.8 and -2.2 V, respectively.

Effect of Pyrophyllite Particle Size on Properties of AI_2O_3-SiC-C Bricks for Iron Ladles

The Al2O3 -SiC-C bricks for iron ladles were pre-pared asing bauxite, fused corundum,pyrophyllite, SiC powder and flake graphite as main starting materials, and phenolic resin as binder. The effect of pyroph,yllite particle size on permanent change in dimensions, cold crushing strength, oxidation resistance, and corrosion resistance of Al2O3 - SiC - C bricks was investigated. The results show that with the decrease of the pyrophyllite particle size, the permanent change in dimensions of Al2O3 - SiC - C bricks decreases, cold crushing strength increases, the oxidation resistance at 1400 ℃ increases, and the corrosion resistance at 1500℃ decreases.

Flexibility of Burned Al_2O_3-C Due to Bending Tests at Room Temperature

Simple three-point bending test at ambient tempera- ture characterized the mechanical behavior of burned Al2O3 -C refractories before and after thermal shock in association with the processing parameters （graphite content and coking temperature, etc. ）. The results showed that non-linear plastic-elastic behavior under load lower than cold modulus of rupture （CMOR） was registered in all specimens and real linear elastic behavior could be identified after the first load, The total deformation could be divided into two parts, plastic and elastic areas. The graphite content and joint bonding system of carbon and ceramic phases were responsible for mechanical behavior of Al2O3 - C refractories.

Effect of Treated Graphite on Properties of Al_2O_3-SiC-C Castables

Al2O3 - SiC - C castables with 2% pitch or 2%, 4% and 6% treated graphite, respectively, were prepared based on the basic formulation of traditional Al2O3 - SiC - C castables. The flowability of castables, and bulk density, volume stability, strength, oxidation resistance and slag resistance of specimens fired at 110 ℃, 1 100 ℃, and 1 500 9Z respectively were comparatively studied. The results showed that： （1） With carbon source changing from pitch to treated graphite and the increase of treated graphite addition, water addition of castables increased, bulk density of specimens fired at different temperatures increased firstly and then decreased, strength after drying decreased obviously, strength after firing and oxidation resistance changed slightly, hot modulus of rupture increased obviously; （2） Slag resistance of specimen with treated graphite was worse than that of specimen with the same amount of pitch, but the former was obviously improved with the increase of treated graphite addition.

Thermal conductivity and bending strength of SiC composites reinforced by pitch-based carbon fibers

In this work,pitch-based carbon fibers were utilized to reinforce silicon carbide(SiC)composites via reaction melting infiltration(RMI)method by controlling the reaction temperature and resin carbon content.Thermal conductivities and bending strengths of composites obtained under different preparation conditions were characterized by various analytical methods.Results showed the formation of SiC whiskers(SiC_(w))during RMI process according to vapor–solid(VS)mechanism.SiC_(w) played an important role in toughening the C_(pf)/SiC composites due to crack bridging,crack deflection,and SiC_(w) pull-out.Increase in reaction temperature during RMI process led to an initial increase in thermal conductivity along in-plane and thickness directions of composites,followed by a decline.At reaction temperature of 1600℃,thermal conductivities along the in-plane and thickness directions were estimated to be 203.00 and 39.59 W/(m×K),respectively.Under these conditions,bending strength was recorded as 186.15±3.95 MPa.Increase in resin carbon content before RMI process led to the generation of more SiC matrix.Thermal conductivities along in-plane and thickness directions remained stable with desirable values of 175.79 and 38.86 W/(m×K),respectively.By comparison,optimal bending strength improved to 244.62±3.07 MPa.In sum,these findings look promising for future application of pitch-based carbon fibers for reinforcement of SiC ceramic composites.

A facile template approach for the synthesis of mesoporous Fe3C/Fe-N- doped carbon catalysts for efficient and durable oxygen reduction reaction

Facile synthetic approaches toward the development of efficient and durable nonprecious metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction （ORR） are very important for commercializing advanced electrochemical devices such as fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Here we report a novel template approach to synthesize mesoporous Fe-N-doped carbon catalysts encapsulated with Fe3C nanoparticles. In this approach, the layer-structured FeOCI was first used as a template for the synthesis of a three- dimensional polypyrrole （PPy） structure. During the removal of the FeOCI template, the Fe^3＋ can be absorbed by PPy and then converted into Fe3C nanoparticles and Fe-N-C sites during the pyrolyzing process. As a result, the as-prepared catalysts could exhibit superior electrocatalytic ORR performance to the commercial Pt/C catalyst in alkaline solutions. Furthermore, the Zn-air battery assembled using the mesoporous carbon catalyst as the air electrode could surpass the commercial Pt/C catalyst in terms of the power density and energy density.