Copper Ions Removal from Wastewater by Electrocoagulation Using Cement-based Cathode Plates

The present work uses PEO solution to well disperse carbon fiber and identifies percolation thresholds of carbon fiber and carbon black which are used as conductive fillers.The resultant cathode plates have an average compressive strength of 27.3 MPa and flexural strength of 29.09 MPa,which demonstrate excellent mechanical properties.The Cu^(2+)removal efficiency was measured at different current densities in EC process with cement-based cathode plate,while the voltage changes were recorded.The results showed that the cement-based cathode plate operated stably and achieved 99.7%removal of 1 L of simulated wastewater with a Cu^(2+)concentration of 200 ppm at a current density of 8 m A/cm^(2)for 1 h.Characterization of floc and tested cathode plates,SEM and EDS analyses,and repeatability testing of the tested plates demonstrate the reusability of the plates,proving that cement-based plates can effectively replace metal cathode plates,reduce the cost of EC and improve the applicability of EC devices.

Approximate Design of Alloy Composition of Cathode Target

An empirical formula for composition demixing analysis in cathodic arc ion plating using alloy target is established based on the concepts of average charged state and relative demixing parameter. The level of composition demixing effect is presented by demixing degree of one element. For binary constituent alloy target, the composition change trend in coating is discussed and the limit of demixing degree for each element is determined. The content of one element with higher average charged state gets larger in coating than in alloy target, at meantime, the content of one element with lower average charged state gets less. For each one of the two constituents, the less the atom percent in alloy target, the larger the difference of its contents between the coating and the target. For triple constituent alloy target, the content change of one element with moderate average charged state is discussed in detail. Its content in coating getting larger or less is determined by the combination result of the contents of the other two elements in alloy target. For a given content of the element with moderate average charged state in triple alloy target, the content deviation level of that element from coating to alloy target will be not larger than that using binary alloy target containing only that element and one of the two others. According to the wanted coating composition, the composition design of alloy target is easily deduced from the formula.

Friction and Wear Performances of Cathodic Arc Ion Plated TiAlSiN Coating under Oil Lubricated Condition

TiAlSiN coating was deposited on H13 hot work mould steel using cathodic arc ion plating（CAIP）. The surface-interface morphologies and phases of the obtained coating were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy（FESEM） and X-ray diffraction（XRD）, respectively, and the morphologies, distributions of chemical elements and profiles of worn tracks were also researched using scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, energy disperse spectroscopy（EDS）, and optical microscope（OM）, respectively. The friction-wear performances of TiAlSiN coating under oil lubricated and dry fiction conditions were investigated, and the wear mechanisms of TiAlSiN coating were discussed. The experimental results show that the coating is primarily composed of（Ti, Al）N, AlTiN, and TiN hard phases, Si_3N_4 exists between the（Ti, Al）N crystal grains, increasing the coating microhardness to 3200 HV. The TiAlSiN coating has excellent performances of reducing friction and wear resistance, the average coefficient of friction（COF） of TiAlSiN coating under oil lubricated condition is only 0.05, lowered than the average COF of 0.211 under dry friction condition, the wear rate decreases by about 81.2% compared with that under dry friction condition. The wear mechanism of TiAlSiN coating under oil lubricated and dry friction conditions is composed of abrasive wear, fatigue wear, and abrasive wear, respectively. The internal friction of oil lubrication is a main factor of decreasing fatigue wear.

Electrochemical oxidation of ammonia-containing wastewater using Ti/RuO_2-Pt electrode

The electrochemical oxidation degradation processes for artificial and actual wastewater containing ammonia were carried out with a Ti/RuO2-Pt anode and a Ti plate cathode. We studied the effects of different current densities, space sizes between the two electrodes, and amounts of added NaCl on ammonia-containing wastewater treatm.ent. It was shown that, after a 30-min treatment under the optimal conditions, which were a current density of 20 mA/cm2, a space size between the two electrodes of I cm, and an added amount of 0.5 g/L of NaC1, the COD concentration in municipal wastewater was 40 mg/L, a removal rate of 90%; and the NH3-N concentration was 7 mg/L, a removal rate of 88.3%. The effluent of municipal wastewater qualified for Class A of the Discharge Standard of Pollutants for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant （GB 18918-2002）.

Composition demixing effect on cathodic arc ion plating

The composition demixing effect has been found often in alloy coatings deposited by cathodic arc ion plating using various alloy cathode targets. The characteristics of composition demixing phenomena were summarized. Beginning with the ionization zone near the surface of the cathode target, a physical model in terms of the ions generated in the ionization zone and their movement in the plating room modified by bias electric field was proposed. Based on the concept of electric charge state, the simulation calculation of the composition demixing effect was carried out. The percentage of atoms of an element in coating and from the alloy target was demonstrated by direct comparison. The influences of the composition change of the alloy target and the bias electric field on the composition demixing effect were discussed in detail. It is also proposed that the average charge states of the elements may be used to calculate the composition demixing effect and to design the composition of the alloy target.

Thickness Dependence of Structural and Optical Properties of Chromium Thin Films as an Infrared Reflector for Solar-thermal Conversion Applications

The thermal emittance of Cr film, as an IR reflector, was investigated for the use in SSAC. The Cr thin films with different thicknesses were deposited on silicon wafers, optical quartz and stainless steel substrates by cathodic arc ion plating technology as a metallic IR reflector layer in SSAC. The thickness of Cr thin films was optimized to achieve the minimum thermal emittance. The effects of structural, microstructural, optical, surface and cross-sectional morphological properties of Cr thin films were investigated on the emittance. An optimal thickness about 450 nm of the Cr thin film for the lowest total thermal emittance of 0.05 was obtained. The experimental results suggested that the Cr metallic thin film with optimal thickness could be used as an effective infrared reflector for the development of SSAC structure.

Preparation and Electrochemical Properties of Pb-0.3wt%Ag/Pb-WC Composite Inert Anodes

We prepared Pb-0.3wt%Ag/Pb-WC（WC stands for tungsten carbide,the same below） composite inert anodes by double-pulse electrodeposition on the surface of Pb-0.3wt%Ag substrates,and investigated the electrochemical properties of the composite inert anodes,which were obtained under different forward pulse average current densities from 2 A/dm2 to 5 A/dm2 and WC concentrations from 0 g/L to 40 g/L in bath.The kinetic parameters of oxygen evolution,corrosion potential and corrosion current of the composite inert anodes were obtained in a synthetic zinc electrowinning electrolyte of 50 g/L Zn2＋ and 150 g/L H2SO4 at 35 ℃,by measuring the anodic polarization curves,Tafel polarization curves and cyclic voltammetry curves.The results show that Pb-0.3wt% Ag/Pb-WC composite inert anodes obtained under forward pulse average current density of 3 A/dm2 and WC concentration of 30 g/L in an original acid plating bath,possess higher electrocatalytic activity of oxygen evolution,lower overpotential of oxygen evolution,better reversibility of electrode reaction and corrosion resistance in [ZnSO4＋H2SO4] solution.The overpotential of oxygen evolution of the composite inert anode is 0.926 V under 500 A/m2 in [ZnSO4＋H2SO4] solution,and 245 mV lower than that of Pb-1% Ag alloy;the corrosion current of the composite inert anode is 0.95×10-4A which is distinctly lower than that of Pb-1%Ag alloy,showing the excellent corrosion resistance.

TiAlN/Cu Nanocomposite Coatings Deposited by Filtered Cathodic Arc Ion Plating

TiAIN]Cu nanocomposite coatings with Cu concentration of 0-1.4 at.% were deposited on the high- speed steel （HSS） substrates by filtered cathodic arc ion plating technique. The chemical composition, microstructure, morphology, adhesion strength, mechanical and tribological properties of the TiAIN/Cu coatings were characterized and analyzed. The results reveal that the coating structure and properties depend on not only the Cu concentration, hut also the deposition condition. The addition of Cu significantly decreases the grain size and weakens the texture in the TiAlN/Cu coatings. With increasing the Cu concentration, the coating hardness decreases slightly from 30.7 GPa of the pure TiAlN coating to 28.5 GPa of the TiAlN/Cu coating with 1.4 at,% Cu. All the TiAlN/Cu coatings present sufficient adhesion strength. In addition, the existing state of additive Cu in the TiAlN/Cu coatings is also investigated.