A comprehensive review of pre-lithiation/sodiation additives for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries

Lithium/Sodium-ion batteries(LIB/SIB)have attracted enormous attention as a promising electrochemical energy storage system due to their high energy density and long cycle life.One of the major hurdles is the initial irreversible capacity loss during the first few cycles owing to forming the solid electrolyte interphase layer(SEI).This process consumes a profusion of lithium/sodium,which reduces the overall energy density and cycle life.Thus,a suitable approach to compensate for the irreversible capacity loss must be developed to improve the energy density and cycle life.Pre-lithiation/sodiation is a widely accepted process to compensate for the irreversible capacity loss during the initial cycles.Various strategies such as physical,chemical,and electrochemical pre-lithiation/sodiation have been explored;however,these approaches add an extra step to the current manufacturing process.Alternative to these strategies,pre-lithiation/sodiation additives have attracted enormous attention due to their easy adaptability and compatibility with the current battery manufacturing process.In this review,we consolidate recent developments and emphasize the importance of using pre-lithiation/sodiation additives(anode and cathode)to overcome the irreversible capacity loss during the initial cycles in lithium/sodium-ion batteries.This review also addresses the technical and scientific challenges of using pre-lithiation/sodiation additives and offers the insights to boost the energy density and cycle life with their possible commercial exploration.The most important prerequisites for designing effective pre-lithiation/sodiation additives have been explored and the future directions have been discussed.

Recovery of Cassiterite and Topaz Minerals from an Old Metallurgical Dump, Eastern Desert of Egypt

Huge amounts of tailing dumps as a result of mines’ blasting operations were impacting economic and environmental problems. Evaluation of one of these tailing dumps of the Eastern Desert of Egypt showed the presence of reasonable amount of cassiterite mineral reaching 0.199% SnO2. The mineral cassiterite was found as finely disseminated particulates, reached to 5 microns, within varieties of quartz-feldspar-hornblende-biotite granitic formations. In the present study, the processing regime considered from the beginning the alignment between reaching cassiterite mineral liberation size, and its extreme brittleness character. Stirring ball milling technique was applied to produce −0.51 mm product with minimum fines as possible, which was left aside for a separate study. The ground product −0.51 + 0.074 mm was subjected to joint shaking table/dry high intensity magnetic separation techniques after splitting it into two fractions, −0.51 + 0.21 mm and −0.21 + 0.074 mm. Each fraction was separately subjected to “Wilfley” shaking table. At optimum conditions, a shaking table concentrate was obtained with 0.29% SnO2 and an operational recovery reached 96.94% from a feeding contained 0.19% SnO2. The heavies and the two middling products after shaking table were directed separately after dryness to dry high intensity magnetic separation using “Eriez” rare earth roll separator, meanwhile the light fractions were rejected. Mathematically designed experiments were applied to optimize the separation process. At optimum conditions, a final cassiterite concentrate was obtained with 11.25% SnO2, and an operational recovery 94.08%. In addition, a topaz mineral concentrate was separated at splitter angle 65˚.

Effect of Ca addition on modification of primary Mg_(2)Si,hardness and wear behavior in Mg-Si hypereutectic alloys

The effect of Ca addition on modification of primary Mg_(2)Si,hardness and wear behavior in Mg-5 wt.%Si hypereutectic alloy has been investigated.The results showed clearly that without Ca addition,most of primary Mg_(2)Si appeared as coarse dendritic morphology with average size of about 215μm.With the addition of 0.1 wt.%Ca,the average size of primary Mg_(2)Si decreased to about 98μm,but their morphologies did not significantly changed.As the addition level of Ca increased to 0.3 wt.%,the average size of primary Mg_(2)Si decreased significantly to about 50μm and their morphologies changed to polyhedral shape.However,with further increasing Ca addition to 0.6 wt.%and 1 wt.%,some needle-like and blocky CaMgSi particles formed and the average size of primary Mg_(2)Si increased slightly,which could described as over-modification.The present work showed that the optimal modification effect could be obtained when the Ca content in the investigated alloy reached 0.3 wt.%.The modification mechanism may be referred mainly due to poisoning effect resulting from the segregation of Ca atoms at the growth front of the Mg_(2)Si and the adsorption effect of some Ca atoms in the Mg_(2)Si crystal growth plane.The 0.3 wt.%Ca-added alloy has the highest hardness value and the best wear resistance among all other alloys.An excessive Ca addition resulted in the formation of some needle-like and blocky CaMgSi particles,which was detrimental to hardness and wear behavior of the 0.6 wt.%and 1 wt.%Ca-added alloys.The wear mechanism of investigated alloys is a mild abrasive oxidative wear with little adhesion.

Martensitic transformation and magnetic properties of aged Ni-Fe-Ga-Ti shape memory alloy

This article reports the effect of ageing on the microstructure, martensitic transformation, magnetic properties, and mechanical properties of Ni51FelsGa27Ti4 shape memory alloy. There are five specimens of this alloy aged at 573 up to 973 K for 3 h per each. This range of ageing temperature greatly affects the microstructure of the alloy. As the ageing temperature increased from 573 up to 973 K, the microstructure of Ni51FelsGa27Ti4 alloy gradually changed from the entirely martensitic matrix at 573 K to the fully austenitic microstructure at 973 K. The volume fraction of precipi- tated Ni3Ti particles increased with the ageing temperature increasing from 573 to 773 K. Further increasing the ageing temperature to 973 K decreased the content of Ni3Ti in the microstructure. The martensitic transformation tempera- ture was decreased steadily by increasing the ageing temperature. The magnetization saturation, remnant magnetization, and coercivity increased with the ageing temperature increasing up to 773 K. A further increase in ageing temperature decreased these raagnetic properties. Moreover, the hardness values were gradually increased at first by increasing the ageing temperature to 773 K, and then dramatically decreased to the lowest value at 973 K.

Computational Study of Ternary Devices: Stable, Low-Cost,and Efficient Planar Perovskite Solar Cells

Although perovskite solar cells with power conversion efficiencies(PCEs) more than 22% have been realized with expensive organic charge-transporting materials, their stability and high cost remain to be addressed. In this work, the perovskite configuration of MAPbX(MA = CH_3 NH_3,X = I_3, Br_3, or I_2Br) integrated with stable and low-cost Cu:Ni Oxhole-transporting material, ZnO electron-transporting material, and Al counter electrode was modeled as a planar PSC and studied theoretically. A solar cell simulation program(wx AMPS), which served as an update of the popular solar cell simulation tool(AMPS: Analysis of Microelectronic and Photonic Structures), was used. The study yielded a detailed understanding of the role of each component in the solar celland its effect on the photovoltaic parameters as a whole. The bandgap of active materials and operating temperature of the modeled solar cell were shown to influence the solar cell performance in a significant way. Further, the simulation results reveal a strong dependence of photovoltaic parameters on the thickness and defect density of the light-absorbing layers. Under moderate simulation conditions, the MAPb Br_3 and MAPbI _2 Br cells recorded the highest PCEs of 20.58 and 19.08%, respectively, while MAPbI_3 cell gave a value of 16.14%.

Effect of Adding Sb on Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and in <i>Vitro</i>Degradation Behavior of as Cast Mg-4wt% Zn Alloy for Medical Application

Magnesium (Mg) and its alloys are one of a novel kind of biodegradable metallic implants which attracted much fundamental research to develop its clinical application. Nevertheless, it has more restrictions in biomedical applications because it degrades too fast at the early stage after implantation, thus commonly leading to some problems such as early fast mechanical loss, hydric bubble aggregation, gap formation between the implants and the tissue. This work aims to study the effect of 0.5 wt% Sb addition on the microstructure, mechanical properties and degradation behavior of as cast Mg-4wt% Zn alloy. The evaluation process was conducted using optical and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, tensile and compression tests, in addition to a corrosion study by immersing in simulated body fluid (SBF). Results showed that Sb refines the grain size of the base alloy and also enhances its mechanical properties and degradation rate as well. These were due to the formation of the secondary phase of Mg3Sb2. To get better degradation rate, the Mg-4wt% Zn and Mg-4wt% Zn-0.5wt% Sb alloys are coated with Ca-P using autocatalytic technique. The results demonstrated that the formed coat layer improves the degradation rate of samples under the condition of this study. The current study shows that Mg-4wt% Zn-0.5wt% Sb alloy has good mechanical properties and when it coated by Ca-P, it gave a better corrosion resistance that makes it ideal for biodegradable medical application.

Iron Bearing Minerals Flotation from Silica Sand Using Hydroxyl Surfactants

A technological clayey sandstone sample from Wadi Qena locality, Eastern Desert of Egypt, was directed to processing. Fine kaolin and clean silica sand were produced after intensive attrition scrubbing of the sample. To increase the quality of the produced silica, it was subjected to reverse anionic flotation to minimize its iron content. In this respect, conventional flotation tests using three anionic oxyhydryl surfactants namely: sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate, sodium naphtha sulphonate, and sodium dodecyl sulphate, were tried. Results showed a privilege action for sodium dodecyl sulphate to remove most of the iron oxide content of the sample. A statistical Box-Behnken design was constructed to optimize the process efficiency. It was shown that from a flotation feed contained 360 ppm Fe2O3 and 1190 ppm Al2O3, sand concentrate contained 29 ppm Fe2O3 and 564 ppm Al2O3, was produced. The optimum flotation conditions were 3.86 kg/t sodium dodecyl sulphate dose, 3.22 flotation pulp pH, 1226 rpm impeller speed, and 22.24 L/min airflow rate. Variables interaction effects results showed that flotation separation efficiency was significantly influenced by air flow rate and cell impeller speed of the process.

Influence of chemical modification by Y2O3 on eutectic Si characteristics and tensile properties of A356 alloy

The modification of A356 aluminum-silicon alloy using yttrium oxide (Y2O3) was studied. Addition levels of up to 2.5 wt.% Y2O3 were investigated. A premixed powder of Al-30wt.%Y2O3 was added to the melt at about 750℃ using vortex method. Samples were then poured in sand mold. The results showed that evident modification was obtained using the Y2O3 addition. The optimum level was 1.5 wt.%, and was corresponding to a eutectic temperature depression from 568 to 557℃. The eutectic Si particles were refined in length from 44.8 to 8.3 μm, and modified in aspect ratio from 6.8 to 0.98. Higher additions of Y2O3 caused de-modification of the eutectic Si particles. The ductility of the modified specimens was enhanced by more than 20% compared to the unmodified ones. This was associated with a gradual transfer from cleavage to a more ductile mode of fracture.

Heat Treatment Effect on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Re-Containing Inconel 718 Alloy

The effect of Rhenium additions to the standard Inconel 718 (ST IN718) alloy as well as solution and aging treatments on microstructure and hardness property were studied. The microstructure of Re-containing alloys has higher volume fraction of δ phase than standard alloy. Conventional solution treatment (CST) at 1273 K for 1h precipitates a thin film of δ phase at the grain boundaries as well as needle-like in γ matrix;however, after modified solution at 1440 K for 3 h long, both types of δ phase precipitates entirely vanish from the microstructure. Small colonies of needle-like δ phase start to appear with aging at 1023 K for 4 h, after CST. Prolonging the aging time to 50 h, these colonies enlarge in size and spread in the matrix. XRD and TEM observations were used to identify the precipitation of hard γ” and γ’ phases. The changing in hardness measurements were evidence about the precipitation of these hard phases. CST have higher rate to increase in hardness with aging time comparing to modified solution specimens.

Mechanism of Silver Nanoparticles Deposition by Electrolysis and Electroless Methods on a Graphite Substrate

This study shows a silver electrodeposition model (EDM) on a graphite substrate. The electrolyte was a 0.01 M solution of pure silver and chromium nitrate using an electrolyzing cell. EDC with current density up to 20 mA/cm2 and 15 mV and pulse current were studied. Results revealed that silver deposited at a rate of 0.515 mg/cm2/min with 12 mA/cm2 that decreases to 0.21 and 0.16 mg/cm2·min with the decrease of current density to 6 and 5 mA/cm2 respectively. The model postulates that silver ions (a) were first hydrated before diffusing (b) from the solution bulk to the cathode vicinity, The next step (c) involved the chemical adsorption of these ions on certain accessible sites of the graphite substrate (anode), The discharged entities (d) adhere to the graphite surface by Van der Vales force. Silver ions are deposited because the discharge potential of silver is low (0.38 mV) as compared to other metal ions like chromium (0.82 mV). Pulse current controls silver deposition due to flexibility in controlling steps (a)-(c) of the deposition mechanisms. Parameters like current density, current on-time, current-off time, duty cycle (ratio of current on time and total pulse time) and pulse frequency influenced the shape and size of the deposits. Step (b) suggested that silver particles were deposited in a monolayer thickness. The silver layer turned multiple after fully satisfying the accessible sites with the monolayer. The activation energy ΔE value amounts to 86.32 kJ/mol/K. At high temperature and current density, homogeneous diffusion occurs.

Laser Beam Welding of 600 MPa Quenched and Tempered High-Strength Steel

Conventional fusion arc welding of high-strength quenched and tempered steel can be improved through the use of non-conventional laser beam welding. This article presents the investigations of autogenous bead on plate and butt CO2 Laser Welding (LW) of 7 mm thick high-strength quenched and tempered low alloy SM570 (JIS) steel plates. The influence of laser welding parameters, mainly welding speed, defocusing distance and shielding gas flow rate on the weld profile, i.e., weld zone penetration depth and width, microstructure and mechanical properties of welded joints was determined. All welded joints showed smooth and uniform weld beads free from superficial porosity and undercuts. The selected best welding conditions were a laser power of 5.0 kW, welding speed of 500 mm/min, argon gas shielding flow rate of 30 L/min and a defocusing distance of -0.5 mm. It was observed that these conditions gave complete penetration and minimized the width of the weld bead. The microstructure of the welded joints was evaluated by light optical microscopy. The weld metal (WM) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) near weld metal achieved maximum hardness (355 HV). The tensile fractured samples showed the ductile mode of failure and ultimate tensile strength of 580 MPa.

Technology of Iron Carbide Synthesis

Iron carbides are very promising metallurgical products and can be used for steelmaking process, where it plays as an alternative raw material with significant economic advantages. Also it has many other applications, e.g. catalysts, magnets, sensors. The present review investigates the different properties and uses of the iron carbides. The commercial production and the different varieties for the iron carbides synthesis （gaseous carburization, mechanochemical synthesis, laser pyrolysis, plasma pyrolysis, chemical vapor deposition and ion implantation） were reviewed. Also the effect of different factors on the carburization process like gas composition, raw material, temperature, reaction time, catalyst presence and sulfur addition was indicated.

Production of porous silica by the combustion of rice husk ash for tundish lining

In order to study the production of porous silica compacts by the combustion of rice husk ash （RHA） for tundish lining, the experimental design technique was used to evaluate the effect of firing temperature, soaking time and compaction pressure on controlling both the porosity degree and compressive strength of rice husk ash compacts. The results revealed that while the porosity degree of the compacts decreased with the increase in the entire studied parameters, the compressive strength exhibited another trend especially at a lower soaking time. At a lower soaking time, the increase in firing temperature led to a slight decrease in compressive strength and then increasing thereafter. The porous silica compacts having 30% porosity and 〉 2.5 MPa compressive strength suitable for tundish lining could be obtained from the combustion of rice husk ash compacts.

Recent Trends in Producing Ultrafine Grained Steels

Ultrafine grained steels with grain sizes below about 1 μm offer the prospect of high strength and high toughness with traditional steel compositions. These materials are currently the subject of extensive research efforts worldwide. Alloy design is one of the first considered issues, while designing new steel with targeted mechanical properties. However, the alloying content of steel does not fully determine the mechanical properties, but manufacturing procedure, hot rolling and cooling parameters, heat treatment parameters etc. are also of vital importance. For instance, same steel with different processing conditions can exhibit rather large variations in properties. To be precise, chemical composition with the processing parameters determines the microstructure, which in turn determines the properties of the steel. Steel is defined as an iron alloy containing C, Mn and Si that are generally used as alloying elements in steel. Micro-alloying elements such as Nb, Ti V, and B, are considered to be effective, causing strengthening as well as microstructural refinement in small quantities below 0.1 wt% (therefore these are called micro-alloy elements) and are quite generally used in ultrafine grain steel. Substitution alloying elements, such as Mo, Ni, Cr and Cu are alloyed to suppress phase transformation temperatures, i.e. for reaching certain level of strengthening, since the strength of steel structures strongly depends on the phase transformation temperature. Accordingly, the alloy design of ultrafine grains steels with different structures generally relies on: i) carbon levels, ii) sufficient alloying to obtain the desired transformation temperature and iii) micro-alloying technology in conjunction with Thermo Mechanical Controlled Processes (TMCP). Also, both advanced thermo-mechanical processes and severe plastic deformation strategies are used to produce ultrafine grained steels. Both approaches are suited to produce submicron grain structures with attractive mechanical properties. This overview describes the various techniques to fabricate ultrafine grained steels.

Formation of AlN from Secondary Al Resources

Synthesis of AlN by NH4Cl-assisted direct nitridation of secondary Al resources was studied. Aluminum alloy scrap contained Mg and Zn element was used. Milled Al scrap （-1 mm） was mixed with NH4Cl and heated at 1000℃ for 1 h in presence of 1 L/min N2 flow gas. The nitrided product was evaluated by X-ray diffraction semi-quantitative analysis and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. Aluminium nitride of 90.5% concentration was obtained with a hexagonal crystalline form. AlN is mostly formed in nano-whisker morphology （50～150 nm） which is homogenously distributed.

Novel hole transport layer of nickel oxide composite with carbon for high-performance perovskite solar cells

A depth behavioral understanding for each layer in perovskite solar cells （PSCs） and their inter[acial interactions as a whole has been emerged for further enhancement in power conversion efficiency （PCE）. Herein, NiO@Carbon was not only simulated as a hole transport layer but also as a counter electrode at the same time in the planar heterojunction based PSCs with the program wxAMPS （analysis of microelectronic and photonic structures）-lD. Simulation results revealed a high dependence of PCE on the effect of band offset between hole transport material （HTM） and perovskite layers. Meanwhile, the valence band offset （AEv） of NiO-HTM was optimized to be -0.1 to -0.3 eV lower than that of the perovskite layer. Additionally, a barrier cliff was identified to significantly influence the hole extraction at the HTM/absorber interface. Conversely, the AEv between the active material and NiO@Carbon-HTM was derived to be -0.15 to 0.15 eV with an enhanced efficiency from 15% to 16%.

Feasibility of new ladle-treated Hadfield steel for mining purposes

A debate has arisen over the possibility of using a new ladle-treated Hadfield steel instead of conventional heat-treated Hadfield steel in mining applications. This debate might be solved by identifying the differences between the mechanical properties and strain-hardening properties of conventional heat-treated Hadfield steel and its counterpart ladle-treated Hadfield steel. Tensile and compression tests demonstrated that the ductility of ladle-treated Hadfield steel is similar to that of conventional heat-treated steel. However, the strain-hardening property of the ladle-treated Hadfield steel is almost two times higher than that of the heat-treated Hadfield steel. The results of this study demonstrate that the improvement of the strain-hardening behavior is attributable to the low stacking-fault energy of the main austenite matrix, which results from the high segregation coefficient of carbon and manganese solutes of the main austenite matrix into the new eutectic phase. Superior wear abrasion resistance is a potential consequence of different strain-hardening properties under low and high loads.

Microstructural Evolution of Cast Hyper-Eutectic Al-18% Si Alloy during Cyclic Semi-Solid Heat Treatment

The cyclic semi-solid heat treatment represents a promising technique for improving microstructure and mechanical properties of a wide range of metallic alloys. In the current research the influence of cyclic semi-solid heat treatment on microstructure of Al-18% Si alloy containing 0.8% Fe has been studied. All specimens were heated in an electrically heated resistance furnace with heating rate of 10°C·min-1 to 585°C. For a complete one cycle heat treatment (5 min heating time), samples after 5 min holding at 585°C were cooled to a temperature of 550°C in still air cooling and the samples were taken out immediately for water quenching. It was found that heat treatment cycles should be limited to 3 cycles or less in order to maintain fine grain size and globular structure without agglomeration and coalescence. Cyclic semi-solid heat treatment changes morphology of iron-rich intermetallics phases to be plate-like and fine plate iron-rich intermetallics phases, in stead of needle-like iron-rich intermetallics phases that are observed in as-cast samples. Cyclic heating shows a relatively higher hardness for all heating cycles compared with as-cast one due to its finer and globular structure. Cyclic semi-solid heat treatment technique results in lower coarsening rate constant compared with isothermal heat treatment one due to coarsening discontinuous effect.

Reduction Characteristics of High Phosphorus Iron Ore in Reducing Parameters Similar to Blast Furnace Conditions

The strong global demand for iron and steel has necessitated the utilization of various low grade iron ores, which are not suitable for direct utilization in ironmaking processes. The low grade iron ores cannot be dressed effectively using the traditional mineral processing methods because of complicated min-eral compositions. The main problem associated with exploiting these deposits is the dissemination of fine silicate minerals and the high level of phosphorus content due to the poor liberation of iron minerals from the gangues. The pre-sent manuscript is aimed to investigate reduction properties of iron ores rich in phosphorous in order to study the suitability of using these ores in iron blast furnace. Representative technological samples of iron ore are collected from Eastern South Aswan iron ore mine in Egypt. The principal gangue contents are SiO2 7.76%, and P2O5 1.13%. Iron and phosphorus exist in the form of hematite 78% and apatite respectively. The ore was fired at 1000&deg;C for 3 hours. The green and fired samples were isothermally reduced at conditions which closely represent the theoretical reduction conditions in different zones of blast furnace. The influence of reduction conditions on the reduction behaviour and the morphology of the reduced samples were investigated. After reduction apatite is changed to Calcium phosphate beside fayalite and quartz. The reduction rate of fired samples is greater than that for the green ones and that was confirmed by morphological examination. At cohesive zone condition, the effect of firing on reduction characteristics cannot be distinguished.

Characterization of Egyptian Manganese Ores for Production of High Carbon Ferromanganese

This work aims at studying the reactivity of Egyptian manganese ores to be used in the production of ferromanganese alloys in submerged electric arc furnace. Ores with different manganese content (high-medium and low) were selected and characterized by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The main mineralogical compositions in the three ores are pyrolusite (MnO2) and hematite (Fe2O3). Porosity of selected Mn ores was determined. The reactivity of the different ores was carried out through pre-reduction of the selected ores using thermobalance at 900°C and 1100°C and mixture of CO and CO2 gases. The reduction process was done until steady weight. The reduced ores were examined using XRD and SEM. The results showed that pyrolusite in high and medium ores are converted completely to MnO at 1100°C. However, the ore with low manganese content was converted to MnO and Mn3O4. Consequently, it is clear from the results that Mn ores with high and medium MnO2 content are more reactive than those with low MnO2. Therefore, high MnO2 content Mn ores are preferable to get good economic impact during the production of high carbon ferromanganese.