Tetraalkylammonium Fluorosilicates as Precursors for Electrochemical Deposition of Silicon Coatings. Synthesis and Thermal Stability

Several TAAFS （tetraalkylammonium hexafluorosilicates） with different cations were synthesized. Their thermal properties were studied showing that obtained complexes are stable enough to be suitable for electrochemical deposition of silicon coatings under temperatures at least up to 200 ℃.

Microstructure and Growth Kinetics of Silicide Coatings for TiAl Alloy

In order to improve the oxidation resistance of Ti Al alloy, silicide coatings were prepared by pack cementation method at 1273, 1323, and 1373 K for 1-3 hours. Scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, energy dispersive spectrometry（EDS） and X-ray diffraction（XRD） were employed to investigate the microstructures and phase constitutions of the coatings. The experimental results show that all silicon deposition coatings have multi-layer structure. The microstructure and composition of silicide coatings strongly depend on siliconizing temperatures. In order to investigate the rate controlling step of pack siliconizing on Ti Al alloy, coating growth kinetics was analyzed by measuring the mass gains per unit area of silicided samples as a function of time and temperature. The results showed that the rate controlling step was gas-phase diffusion step and the growth rate constant（k） ranged from 1.53 mg^2/（cm^4·h^2） to 2.3 mg^2/（cm^4·h^2）. Activation energy（Q） for the process was calculated as 109 k J/mol, determined by Arrhenius＇ equation： k = k0 exp[–Q/（RT）].

Pulsed Nd:YAG laser cladding of high silicon content coating on low silicon steel

A pulsed Nd：YAG （yttrium aluminum garnet） laser-based technique was employed to clad low silicon steel with preplaced Si and Fe mixed powders for high Si content. The surface morphology, microstructural evolution, phase composition, and Si distribution, within the obtained cladding coatings, were characterized by optical microscopy （OM）, field emission scanning electron microscopy （FE-SEM）, with associated energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, and X-ray diffraction （XRD）. The microhardness was also measured along the depth direction of the specimens, A crack- and pore-free cladding coating through excellent metallurgical bonding with the substrate was successfully prepared on low silicon steel by means of optimized single-track and multi-track laser cladding. The phases of the coating are a-Fe, T-Fe, and FeSi. The high microhardness of the lasercladding zone is considered as an increase in Si content and as the refined microstructure produced by the laser treatment. The Si contents of the cladding coatings were about 5.8wt% in the single-track cladding and 6.5wt% in the multi-track cladding, respectively.

Thermodynamic Calculations of Melt in Melt Pool During Laser Cladding High Silicon Coatings

Based on the Miedema＇s formation heat model for binary alloys and the Toop＇s asymmetric model for ternary alloys, the formation heat, excess entropy, and activity coefficients of silicon ranging from 1 900 K to 4 100 K in the Fe-Si-C melt formed during the laser cladding high silicon coatings process were calculated. The results indicated that all values of lnγ^0Si, ε^CSi,ρ^SiSi and ρ^CSi are negative in the temperature range and these values increase as the temperature increases. And all values of ε^SiSi and ρ^Si-CSi are positive and these values decrease with increasing temperature. The iso-activity lines of silicon are distributed axisymmetrically to the incident laser beam in the melt pool vertical to the laser scanning direction. And the iso-activity lines of silicon in the front of the melt pool along the laser scanning direction are more intensive than those in the back of the melt pool. The activity of silicon on the bottom of the melt pool is lower than that in the effecting center of laser beam on the top surface of the melt pool and it may be the important reason for the formation of the silicides and excellent metallurgical bonding between the laser cladding coating and the substrate.

Lithiation-enhanced charge transfer and sliding strength at the silicon-graphene interface:A first-principles study

The application of silicon as ultrahigh capacity electrodes in lithiumion batteries has been limited by a number of mechanical degradation mechanisms including fracture, delamination and plastic ratcheting, as a result of its large volumetric change during lithiation and delithiation. Graphene coating is one feasible technique to mitigate the mechanical degradation of Si anode and improve its conductivity. In this paper, first-principles calculations are performed to study the atomic structure, charge transfer and sliding strength of the interface between lithiated silicon and graphene. Our results show that Li atoms segre- gate at the （lithiated） Si-graphene interface preferentially, donating electrons to graphene and enhancing the interfacial sliding resistance. Moreover, the interfacial cohesion and sliding strength can be further enhanced by introducing single-vacancy defects into graphene. These findings provide insights that can guide the design of stable and efficient anodes of silicon/graphene hybrids for energy storage applications.