Here, we report a multiferroic relaxor material 0.41Bi(Ni1/2Zr1/2)O3–0.59PbTiO3, which exhibits a large piezoelectric coefficient (d33, 391 pC/N), high remnant polarization (Pr, 52.3 μC/cm2) and a high electrical freezing temperature (Tf, 498 K). The electric-field-induced transition from a cubic-like phase to a tetragonal phase was confirmed by the XRD patterns and first-cycle bipolar electrostrain loop. The magnetization and magnetic field relationship changes from nonlinear to linear when cooled from 300 to 2 K. The unusual trend in magnetic behavior could be interpreted as the transitions between the super short-range orderings. Furthermore, the maximum value of magnetization shows a 14% decrease at 300 K after electrical poling.
Graphical abstractThe effect of post-weld solution along with different double aging treatments on precipitation of various strengthening phases in Alloy 718 weld is carried out in the current assessment. The formation of intermetallic phases in the weld zone deteriorates the mechanical properties and quality of the weld joint. The high-temperature solution treatment at 1165 °C/1 h has dissolved the intermetallic phases and makes a suitable quantity of alloying elements accessible for precipitation of the strengthening phases. To analyze the impact of aging temperature and holding time on δ, γ' and γ" phase precipitation, four different heat treatment paths are designed. The heat treatment holding time is reduced by 53% on the welded component by applying a higher aging temperature compared to the conventional standard aging temperatures. The variation in aging temperature and holding time followed by solution treatment changes the platelet morphology of the δ phase to needle shape in the grain boundary. Significant enhancement in the tensile strength (21%) and weld hardness (121%) is witnessed due to duplex aging treatment compared to as-welded condition. The XRD analysis confirms the precipitation of γ' and γ'' strengthening phases inside the grain and δ particles in the grain boundaries.
Graphical abstractModifications of the binder phase (γ) of cemented carbides have the potential to increase the hardness and wear resistance of the whole material. Partially, coherent precipitations with L12 structure (γ’) promise these improved properties without sacrificing tensile strength or toughness. γ’ is a metastable phase in the Al–Co–W ternary system in the form of Co3(Al,W) which is stabilized by the substitution of cobalt with nickel. Superalloys of the composition Co–(30Ni)–9Al–7 W with different carbon contents were prepared by inductive melting, and the resulting microstructures were analysed using SEM–EDS, XRD and Vickers hardness. Cemented carbides with γ/γ’ binder microstructure were prepared via DTA, and the phase equilibria in the composite material were investigated experimentally and in silico. It was shown that nickel stabilizes the γ’ phase in superalloys as well as in cemented carbides. Carbon leads to the formation of an additional phase with E21 structure (κ). DTA measurements of cemented carbides with different aluminium–cobalt–nickel mixtures as binder gave an overview of the compositional influence. Enthalpies of formation for compounds with L12 and E21 structure were calculated using ab initio methods and compared to experimental results.
Graphical AbstractLicorice residue, a considerable amount of biomass waste discarded during the excellent extraction process of traditional Chinese medicine every year, is a potential low-cost and green material for the synthesis of porous carbon material. In this work, spinel phase NiCo2O4 nanosheets were produced on the licorice residue-derived nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel (LNCA) using simple hydrothermal and calcination methods. LNCA was first prepared from the carbonation of freeze-dried licorice residue aerogel, which was subsequently utilized to prepare an LNCA/NiCo2O4 composite employing hydrothermal reaction and annealing treatment. As a consequence of its properties, the as-prepared hybrid electrode exhibited ultrahigh capacitance specific capacity (956 F g?1 at 1 A g?1) and long-term stability. This work provides some new insights on the preparation of biomass-derived porous carbon for application in supercapacitors, as well as multifaced considerations.
Graphical abstractIn this critical note, the thermal stability behavior of ultra-fine grained (UFG) and nano-structured (NS) metals and alloys produced through severe plastic deformation (SPD) techniques is reviewed. For this case, the common engineering metals with body-centered cubic (BCC), face-centered cubic (FCC), and hexagonal close-packed (HCP) crystal structures such as aluminum, copper, nickel, magnesium, steel, titanium, and their relating alloys were assessed. Microstructural evolution in these severely deformed materials following post-processing annealing treatment was investigated for various times and temperatures below the recrystallization point. The microstructure development reported in the literature was studied in terms of the stable grain structures correlated with different levels of plastic straining. The stacking fault energy (SFE) is noted to be a key issue which has a critical influence in predicting the coalescence or coarsening behavior of ultra-fine and nanoscale grains after SPD treatment by controlling the cross-slip phenomenon for screw dislocations.
Graphical AbstractWO3, a visible light reaction catalyst, absorbs light at a wavelength of 470 nm and has many advantages, such as strong stability, long life, non-toxicity, low cost, and suitable band edges. In this review, the photocatalytic mechanism of WO3 in water pollution treatment is introduced, as well as a systematic summary, and some main strategies for improving the photocatalytic activity of WO3 in water pollution treatment are introduced, for example surface and morphology control, synthetic heterojunctions, and doping element. Finally, the main conclusions and prospects of WO3-based photocatalysts are pointed out. It can be expected that this review can provide guidance for designing low-cost, high-efficiency new WO3-based photocatalysts in the process of water pollution treatment and can meet the application prospects of efficient utilization of solar degradation in the field of environmental purification.
Graphical abstractIn this work, we systematically investigated the effects of single-step and two-step sintering methods on the structural, dielectric and energy storage properties of pure AgNbO3 lead-free antiferroelectric ceramics. Compared with the single-step sintered ceramic, the ceramic prepared by two-step sintering method has smaller grain size, dense and homogeneous microstructure. In addition, the results of dielectric temperature spectra reveal that the two-step sintering method hardly changes the phase transition temperature of AgNbO3 ceramics but greatly decreases the dielectric loss value. Most importantly, the ceramic prepared by the two-step sintering method displays high breakdown electric field strength (22 kV/mm), larger recoverable energy storage density-Wrec (2.59 J/cm3) and higher energy storage efficiency-η (45%) as well as excellent temperature stability than those of the ceramic by single-step sintering method. Furthermore, it also exhibited high power density (PD?=?25.7 MW/cm3) and extremely fast charge–discharge speed (25 ns). Our results provide a simple and novel way to design high-performance AgNbO3-based energy storage lead-free ceramics.
Graphical abstractProton conductivity, morphology, phase composition and mechanical properties of (1-x)CsH2PO4-xp(VDF/HFP) (x?=?0.05–0.25, weight ratio) polymer electrolytes were investigated for the first time. The chemical interaction of the organic matrix and acid salt was not observed and crystal structure of CsH2PO4 was preserved. A method for the synthesis of thin membranes with uniform distribution of the components was proposed. Thin flexible membranes with uniform distribution of sub-micrometer CsH2PO4 particles in the polymer membranes and improved hydrolytic stability were obtained firstly by using a bead mill. The mechanical strength of the hybrid polymer compounds was determined using the Vickers microhardness measurements. Proton conductivity in the (1-x)CsH2PO4-xp(VDF/HFP) electrolytes decreases monotonically with x increase due to the «conductor–insulator» percolation. Nevertheless, the values of proton conductivity remain sufficiently high, and along with small thickness, flexibility, improved mechanical and hydrophobic properties, it makes polymer electrolytes based on CsH2PO4 promising for membranes of medium-temperature fuel cells.
Graphical abstractOxygen evolution reaction (OER) for water splitting has a sluggish kinetics, thus significantly hindering the reaction efficiency. So far, it is still challenging to develop a cost-efficient and highly active catalyst for OER processes. To address such issues, we design and synthesize NiP2/FeP heterostructural nanoflowers interwoven by carbon nanotubes (NiP2/FeP@CNT) by a hydrothermal reaction followed by phosphating. The NiP2/FeP@CNT catalyst delivers excellent OER performance: it displays an ultralow Tafel slope of 44.0 mV dec?1 and a relatively low overpotential of 261 mV at 10 mA cm?2, better than RuO2 commercial catalyst; it also shows excellent stability without observable decay after 20-h cycling. The outstanding OER property is mainly attributed to its special 3D stereochemical structure of CNT-interwoven NiP2/FeP heterostructural nanoflowers, which is highly conductive and guarantees considerable active sites. Such nanostructure greatly facilitates the charge transfer, which significantly improves its electrocatalytic activity. This work offers a simple method to synthesize non-precious transition metal-based phosphide electrocatalysts with a unique hierarchical nanostructure for water splitting.
Graphical abstractThe effect of thermal pretreatment on the porous structure and adsorption properties of asphalt-based carbons activated with potassium hydroxide was investigated by FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, TEM, N2 and CO2 adsorption. Two series of the activated carbons were prepared by a one-stage method using KOH as the activating agent and a two-stage method including pretreatment of asphalt at 450 °C. A cross-effect of the KOH/asphalt ratio and pretreatment conditions on the characteristics of the porous structure of the activated carbons was revealed. The pretreatment of asphalt before activation is demonstrated to be a necessary stage for the effective control of the carbon porous structure by variation the KOH/asphalt ratio from 2 to 4. The porous carbon derived from petroleum asphalt exhibited the high CO2 adsorption capacity of 3.8 mmol/g at 25 °C and 1 atm and good selectivity for CO2 over N2, indicating possible applications in CO2 capture technology.
Graphical abstractThe development of hydrogen production via environment-friendly and efficient electrochemical water splitting technology leans heavily on the exploitation of highly active and durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts. Herein, nanocoral-like cerium-activated cobalt selenide (Ce-CoSe2) nanocomposites to enhance the OER catalytic activity have been successfully prepared by one-pot hydrothermal route via simply altering the cerium content. Owing to the ingenious introduction of cerium, as-prepared Ce-CoSe2 electrode displays remarkable OER performance in comparison with CoSe2. The nanocoral-like Ce-CoSe2 catalyst prepared under optimal condition just needs low overpotential of 276 and 398 mV at 10 and 50 mA cm?2, respectively. Additionally, it attains the current density of 255 mA cm?2 at the potential of 2.0 V vs. RHE, and shows long-term stability during OER. This work offers a simple and feasible pathway for the design and construct of metal dichalcogenides for green and renewable hydrogen production by electrocatalytic water splitting.
Graphical abstractPlanar perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have excellent photoelectric properties and show great commercialization potential. However, there are a lot of crystal defects in the perovskite films prepared by solution method, which reduces the development process of solar cells. In this work, alizarin red s (ARS) was doped into MAPbI3 films to passivate the defect. It was shown that the addition of ARS increased the quality of perovskite film and doped perovskite film exhibited improved light absorption. In addition, it was found that there was a strong interaction between ARS and perovskite, which reduced the density of defect states. The results showed that the passivated perovskite device had improved PL intensity, increased carrier lifetimes and reduced charge recombination. After passivation, the device obtained a higher open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 1.103 V where the control device was 1.055 V, and the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the doped device was 18.82%, which is 11.36% higher than that of the control device of 16.90%.
Graphical abstractQuenching from sintering temperature enhances the depolarization temperature (Td) in Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3-based ceramics without significant deterioration of piezoelectric properties (d33). In this work, quenching effects in an ergodic relaxor 0.97(0.94Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3–0.06BaTiO3)–0.03AgNbO3 (NBT–6BT–3AN) were investigated based on structure, ferroelectric, and dielectric properties. The ergodicity to nonergodicity transition was obtained by quenching NBT–6BT–3AN above 1000 °C. The temperature stability of the quenching-induced nonergodicity was examined by annealing the quenched sample at 300 °C and 600 °C. The effect of oxygen vacancy on ergodicity to nonergodicity transition was investigated by comparing ferroelectric and electrostrain responses of the quenched and nitrogen-atmosphere-annealed samples. The influence of quenching on the structure including the average crystal structure, phase fraction and lattice distortion and the local structure including bond lengths and ordering of ions was analyzed. The ergodicity to nonergodicity transition upon quenching is ascribed to the contribution of the off-centered Bi3+ ions and ordered local structure.
Graphical abstractThe robust Bi7.53Co0.47O11.92 nanoflowers on the nickel foam are first designed by a simple solvent thermal reaction followed by calcining. For its unique structural stability and good electrical conductivity, the Bi7.53Co0.47O11.92 nanoflowers exhibit high specific capacitance of 1046 F g?1 at 1 A g?1 and outstanding rate capability (81.7% capacitance retention at 10 A g?1) along with good cycling stability (80.5% capacitance retention after 3000 cycles). The asymmetric supercapacitor assembled with Bi7.53Co0.47O11.92 and activated carbon delivers a high energy density of 41.1 Wh kg?1. This research provides a guiding strategy for the synthesis of high-performance supercapacitor electrode material based on the bismuth.
Graphical abstractRobust Bi7.53Co0.47O11.92 nanoflowers were first designed by a feasible method and exhibited high specific capacitance and outstanding rate capability.
We review the literature describing the use of interleaves to increase interlaminar fracture toughness in fibre-reinforced polymer composites and hence to improve damage tolerance. From an analysis of data provided in the literature from the use of microfibre and nanofibre interleaves, we show that the performance of these widely researched systems is clearly differentiated when plotted against the mean coverage of the interleaf. Using a simple analysis, we suggest that this can be attributed to the influence of their porous architectures on the infusion of resin. We show also that the superior toughening performance of microfibre interleaves is only weakly influenced by the choice of fibre. We find also that the inclusion of carbon nanotubes within interleaves to deliver multifunctional composites can be optimised by using a hybrid system with microfibres.
Graphical abstractHybrid organic–inorganic nanocomposites are great candidates for display and illumination systems due to improved optoelectronic properties and photostability. This work endeavours towards the scientific study of the influence of defect-induced zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO) on the optical characteristics of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV). ZnO nanoparticles consist of many vacancies which facilitate light emission across the visible region. The green defective emission occurring due to the presence of oxygen vacancies in ZnO was used to re-excite MEH-PPV and hence, improve the luminescence quantum efficiency. The photostability of the nanocomposite was enhanced through charge transfer (prevents the formation of superoxides) and energy transfer (reduces the non-radiative decay) mechanisms.
Graphical abstractPolyimide aerogels are promising for diverse applications owing to their nanoporous structure and superior performance in thermal insulation, dielectric protection, etc. However, the severe shrinkage they usually suffer has long been a threat, and can pose great challenges to their shape-stable preparation and reliable applications. It is very important to clarify the effects of various factors on the shrinkage of PI aerogels and the effective strategies available for shrinkage reduction. These are also the focuses of the present review, to provide guidance for preparing PI aerogels with greatly reduced shrinkage, and thereby improved shape stability and use reliability. Since the shrinkage of PI aerogels is quite a complex issue, further studies on PI aerogels against shrinkage deserve continuous attention.
Graphical abstractCrop harvester machines have played a significant role in increasing crop yield by harvesting at the optimal time and reducing crop losses; however, the main issue is the wear and corrosion of the cutting knives, so the goal of this work is to promote the mechanical and chemical knife surfaces. The blank knife was made of low carbon steel. To achieve the goal of this work, Ni-TiO2 nanocomposite-coated steel was created using electrodeposition technology from Watt's nickel bath with various current densities in the range of (1–4 Adm?2) and TiO2 nanoparticles concentration in the range of (0–1 gL?1). Mechanical and chemical tests were performed on the blank, pure Ni, and Ni-TiO2 nanocomposites. The corrosion property of the investigated samples was carried out in 3.5 wt. % NaCl solution at room temperature. The outcomes of the study showed a co-deposition of TiO2 nanoparticles within the Ni matrix to produce nanocomposites-coated steel, and that formed at 3 Adm?2 and with added 0.5 g/L TiO2 nanoparticles has a major impact on improving the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties such as abrasion resistance, hardness, young's modulus, plastic, and elastic parameter, as well as fretting test.
Graphical abstract