Enhanced wettability and thermal stability of nano-SiO2/poly（vinyl alcohol）-coated polypropylene composite separators for lithium-ion batteries

To improve the electrolyte wettability and thermal stability of polypropylene （PP） separators, nano- SiO2/poly（vinyl alcohol）-coated PP composite separators were prepared using a simple but efficient sol-gel and dip-coating method. The effects of the tetraethoxysilane （TEOS） dosage on the morphology, wettability, and thermal stability of the composite separators were investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and contact-angle measurements. All the composite separators gave a smaller contact angle, higher electrolyte uptake, and lower thermal shrinkage compared with the PP separator, indicating enhanced wettability and thermal stability. Unlike the case for a traditional physical mixture, Si-O-C covalent bonds were formed in the coating layer. The composite separator with a TEOS dosage of 7.5 wt% had a unique porous structure combining hierarchical pores with interstitial voids, and gave the best wettability and thermal stability. The ionic conductivity of the composite separator containing 7.5 wt% TEOS was 1.26 mS/cm, which is much higher than that of the PP separator （0.74 mS/cm）. The C-rate and cycling performances of batteries assembled with the composite separator containing 7.5 wt% TEOS were better than those of batteries containing PP separators.

2D Carbon Fiber Reinforced High Density Polyethylene Multi-Layered Laminated Composite Panels:Structural,Mechanical,Thermal,and Morphological Profile

Carbon fiber reinforced high density polyethylene multi-layered laminated composite panels（HDPE/CF MLCP） with excellent in-plane properties along transverse direction have been formulated. Composite architectures with carbon fiber（CF） designed in 2D layout in conventional composites can alleviate their properties in thickness direction, but all attempts so far developed have achieved restrained success. Here,we have exposed an approach to the high strength composite challenge, without altering the 2D stack design on the basis of concept of fiber reinforced laminated composites that would provide enhanced mechanical and thermal properties along transverse direction. CF sheets allowed the buckling of adjoining plies in 2D MLCP. We fabricated 2D MLCP by stacking the alternative CF and HDPE layers under different loading conditions, which resulted in high strength composites. These plies of CF and HDPE served as unit cells for MLCP, with CF offering much-needed fracture toughness and hardness to these materials.For 2D HDPE/CF MLCP, we demonstrated noteworthy improvement in physical and chemical interaction between CF and HDPE, in-plane fracture strain, flexural strength（30.684 MPa）, bending modulus（7436.254 MPa）, thermal stability（40.94%）, and surface morphology, upon increasing the CF layers up to twenty, enabling these composites truly for high temperature and high strength applications.

Effects of support property on the catalytic performance of CeO_2-ZrO_2-CrO_x for 1,2-dichloroethane oxidation

HZSM-5, Al_2O_3, TiO_2 and SiO_2 supported CeO_2-ZrO_2-CrO_x catalysts were prepared by deposition-precipitation method and tested for deep catalytic oxidation of 1,2-dichloroethane（DCE）, as one of the common chlorinated organic pollutants. All the catalysts were characterized by means of N_2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）, ammonia-temperatureprogrammed desorption（NH_3-TPD） and hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction（H2-TPR）. The characterization results revealed that there was strongly synergistic effect between the oxidizability of CZCr species and the acidity of supports, which obviously promoted the catalytic activity for DCE degradation. 20% CZCr/HZSM-5 showed the highest activity and good durability during the long-term continuous test. The catalytic activity decreased in the order： 20%CZCr/HZSM-5〉CZCr〉20%CZCr/TiO_2〉20%CZCr/Al_2O_3〉20%CZCr/SiO_2.