Dense and core-rim structured B4C-TiB2 ceramics with Mo-Co-WC additive

B₄C-TiB₂ ceramics (TiB₂ ranging 5~70 vol%) with Mo-Co-WC as the sintering additive were prepared by spark plasma sintering. In comparison with B₄C-TiB₂ without additive, the enhanced densification was evident in the sintered specimen with Mo-Co-WC additive. Core-rim structured grain was observed around TiB₂ grains. The interface of the rim between TiB₂ and B₄C phases demonstrated different feature: the inner borderline of the rim exhibited a smooth feature, whereas a sharp curved grain boundary was observed between the rim and the B₄C grain. The formation mechanism is discussed: the epitaxial growth of (Ti,Mo,W)B₂ rim around the TiB₂ core may occur as a result of the solid solution and dissolution-precipitation between TiB₂ phase and the sintering additive. It was revealed that the fracture toughness increased as the content of TiB₂ content increased, alongside the decreased hardness. B₄C-30 vol% TiB₂ specimen demonstrated the optimal combination of mechanical properties, reaching Vickers hardness of 24.3 GPa and fracture toughness of 3.33 MPa·m^1/2.     

Microbial susceptibility of various polymers and evaluation of thermoplastic elastomers with antimicrobial additives

The incursion of microbial growth on polymeric products can deteriorate their performance and lead to the development of undesirable staining and odors. A growing trend in the industry has aimed to reduce microbial populations on high-touch surfaces via the use of antimicrobials to protect material aesthetics and durability or to prevent the spread of pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, a variety of plastic substrates (30 unique polymer compounds), including poly(acrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene), poly(butylene terephthalate), poly(etherimide), various thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), poly(carbonates), and poly(amides), were screened for susceptibility to microbial attack using American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) G21 (fungi susceptibility), Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) Z2801, and modified ASTM E1428-15a (bacterial susceptibility) test standards. TPEs were determined to be most susceptible to microbial attack under the appropriate environmental conditions. Subsequent studies assessed the use of an antimicrobial additive, zinc pyrithione (ZPT), for potential efficacy in a variety of TPE blends for diverse target market applications. ZPT proved to be very effective in protecting TPEs, reducing Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli populations by 99.9% or more in JIS Z2801 testing and inhibiting fungal growth (rating = 0) according to the ASTM G21 standard.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of α/β-Si3N4 composite ceramics with novel ternary additives prepared via spark plasma sintering

In this study, α/β-Si₃N₄ composite ceramics with high hardness and toughness were fabricated by adopting two different novel ternary additives, ZrN–AlN–Al₂O₃/Y₂O₃, and spark plasma sintering at 1550 °C under 40 MPa. The phase composition, microstructure, grain distribution, crack propagation process and mechanical properties of sintered bulk were investigated. Results demonstrated that the sintered α/β-Si₃N₄ composite ceramics with ZrN–AlN–Al₂O₃ contained the most α phase, which resulted in a maximum Vickers hardness of 18.41 ± 0.31 GPa. In the α/β-Si₃N₄ composite ceramics with ZrN–AlN–Y₂O₃ additives, Zr₃AlN MAX-phase and ZrO phase were found and their formation mechanisms were explained. The fracture appearance presented coarser elongated β-Si₃N₄ grains and denser microstructure when 20 wt% TiC particles were mixed into Si₃N₄ matrix, meanwhile, exhibited maximum mean grain diameter of 0.98 ± 0.24 μm. As a result, the compact α/β-Si₃N₄ composite ceramics containing ZrN–AlN–Y₂O₃ additives and TiC particles displayed the optimal bending strength and fracture toughness of 822.63 ± 28.75 MPa and 8.53 ± 0.21 MPa?m^1/2, respectively. Moreover, the synergistic toughening of rod-like β-Si₃N₄ grains and TiC reinforced particles revealed the beneficial effect on the enhanced fracture toughness of Si₃N₄ ceramic matrix.     

Phosphorylated chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) based proton exchange membranes modified with propylammonium nitrate ionic liquid and silica filler for fuel cell applications

In our previous work, phosphorylated chitosan was modified through polymer blending with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer to produce N-methylene phosphonic chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) (NMPC/PVA) composite membranes. The aim of this work is to further investigate the effects of a propylammonium nitrate (PAN) ionic liquid and/or silicon dioxide (SiO₂) filler on the morphology and physical properties of NMPC/PVA composite membranes. The temperature-dependent ionic conductivity of the composite membranes with various ionic liquid and filler compositions was studied by varying the loading of PAN ionic liquid and SiO₂-PAN filler in the range of 5–20 wt%. As the loading of PAN ionic liquid increased in the NMPC/PVA membrane matrix, the ionic conductivity value also increased with the highest value of 0.53 × 10^?3 S cm^?1 at 25 °C and increased to 1.54 × 10^?3 S cm^?1 at 100 °C with 20 wt% PAN. The NMPC/PVA-PAN (20 wt%) composite membrane also exhibited the highest water uptake and ion exchange capacity, with values of 60.5% and 0.60 mequiv g^?1, respectively. In addition, in the single-cell performance test, the NMPC/PVA-PAN (20 wt%) composite membrane displayed a maximum power density, which was increased by approximately 14% compared to the NMPC/PVA composite membrane with 5 wt% SiO₂-PAN. This work demonstrated that modified NMPC/PVA composite membranes with ionic liquid PAN and/or SiO₂ filler showed enhanced performance compared with unmodified NMPC/PVA composite membranes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.     

蓝藻基生物降解共混膜的力学性能

以聚乙烯醇(PVA)和水华蓝藻为主要原料,通过溶液铺膜法制备了蓝藻/PVA共混膜,采用万能试验机,研究了不同助剂对蓝藻/PVA共混膜力学性能的影响。结果表明,蓝藻的添加显著降低了共混膜的力学性能。当添加比例为PVA的1/2时,膜的拉伸强度和断裂伸长率分别比无藻处理下降了65.89%和79.57%。甘油、尿素显著提升了蓝藻/PVA共混膜的断裂伸长率,当添加比例为蓝藻的1/2时,分别能使共混膜的断裂伸长率提高73.20倍和62.02倍。虽然柠檬酸、硅烷偶联剂能够提升蓝藻/PVA共混膜的拉伸强度,但只能在低剂量时促进断裂伸长率的小幅提高,当柠檬酸添加比例为蓝藻的1/40时,膜的断裂伸长率能提高4.41倍,而当硅烷偶联剂添加比例为蓝藻的1/20时,膜的断裂伸长率能提高1.49倍。尿素与甘油复合增塑,更有利于提升共混膜的断裂伸长率。硅烷偶联剂与甘油复合增塑,更有利于提升共混膜的拉伸强度。     

V2O5/RGO/Pt nanocomposite on oxytetracycline degradation and pharmaceutical effluent detoxification

The cover image is based on the Research Article V₂O₅/RGO/Pt nanocomposite on oxytetracycline degradation and pharmaceutical effluent detoxification by Mohan, H et al., DOI: 10.1002/jctb.6238 .

     

Low-temperature hot-press sintering of AlN ceramics with MgO–CaO–Al2O3–SiO2 glass additives for ceramic heater applications

Aluminum nitride (AlN) is used a ceramic heater material for the semiconductor industry. Because extremely high temperatures are required to achieve dense AlN components, sintering aids such as Y₂O₃ are typically added to reduce the sintering temperature and time. To further reduce the sintering temperature, in this study, a low-melting-temperature glass (MgO–CaO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂; MCAS) was used as a sintering additive for AlN. With MCAS addition, fully dense AlN was obtained by hot-press sintering at 1500 °C for 3 h at 30 MPa. The mechanical properties, thermal conductivity, and volume resistance of the sintered AlN–MCAS sample were evaluated and compared with those of a reference sample (AlN prepared with 5 wt% Y2O3 sintering aid sintered at 1750 °C for 8 h at 10 MPa). The thermal conductivity of AlN prepared with 0.5 wt% MCAS was 91.2 W/m?K, which was 84.8 W/m?K lower than that of the reference sample at 25 °C; however, the difference in thermal conductivity between the samples was only 14.2 W/m?K at the ceramic-heater operating temperature of 500 °C. The flexural strength of AlN–MCAS was 550 MPa, which was higher than that of the reference sample (425 MPa); this was attributed to the smaller grain size achieved by low-temperature sintering. The volume resistance of AlN–MCAS was lower than that of the reference sample in the range of 200–400 °C. However, the resistivity of the proposed AlN–MCAS sample was higher than that of the reference sample (500 °C) owing to grain-boundary scattering of phonons. In summary, the proposed sintering strategy produces AlN materials for heater applications with low production cost, while achieving the properties required by the semiconductor industry.     

-15℃下Na+， K+， Mg2+//Cl-， NO3-， SO42——H2O体系相平衡研究

新疆卤水硝酸盐矿主要含有Na⁺、K⁺、Mg²⁺、Cl^-、NO₃^-、SO₄^2-六种离子，属于高元复杂体系，其合理利用和开发需要不同温度下的相平衡研究作为理论支撑。采用等温溶解平衡法，对Na⁺， K⁺， Mg²⁺//Cl^-， NO₃^-， SO₄^2--H₂O体系在-15℃、NaCl·2H₂O饱和条件下的相平衡进行了研究，并构建了相图。相图中有六个零变量点和八个两盐结晶区，只存在一种复盐KCl·MgCl₂·6H₂O。八个两盐结晶区，分别对应于NaCl·2H₂O+Na₂SO₄·10H₂O、NaCl·2H₂O+NaNO₃、NaCl·2H₂O+KCl、NaCl·2H₂O+KNO₃、NaCl·2H₂O+MgSO₄·7H₂O、NaCl·2H₂O+MgCl₂·8H₂O、NaCl·2H₂O+Mg(NO₃)₂·6H₂O和NaCl·2H₂O+KCl·MgCl₂·6H₂O，其中NaCl·2H₂O+Na₂SO₄·10H₂O共晶区最大，在低温时，硫酸钠的溶解度最小，降温过程中较易结晶析出。与该体系在25℃下的相图相比，复盐种类减少5种，零变量点减少19个，相关系得以极大简化。     

不同有机物对硝酸盐氮测试的影响

研究了红糖、葡萄糖、乙酸钠、甲醇、乙醇、乙酸、丙酸、丁酸、正戊酸、混合有机溶剂等10种不同有机物对麝香草酚光谱法和离子色谱法测试硝酸盐氮的影响。结果表明,溶液中含有红糖或葡萄糖时,均会对麝香草酚法测试硝酸盐氮造成影响,使得测试结果偏大;在无硝酸根离子存在时,红糖和葡萄糖的质量浓度与硝酸盐氮的测试浓度非线性相关;而乙酸钠、甲醇、乙醇、乙酸、丙酸、丁酸、正戊酸和混合有机溶剂则对麝香草酚法测试硝酸盐氮没有影响。实验发现,红糖和葡萄糖在浓硫酸的作用下与麝香草酚发生Molisch反应,形成有色复合物和红棕色不溶性沉淀。实验采用离子色谱法测试硝酸盐氮时,红糖和葡萄糖等糖类有机物对测试结果均无影响。     

石墨炉原子吸收法测定饮用水中痕量锗

探讨了以硝酸钯为基体改进剂,用石墨炉原子吸收法直接测定饮用水中痕量锗的最佳仪器测量条件、方法原理、基体改进剂的用量、准确度、精密度、曲线线性系数、测定下限、线性范围等。结果表明该方法灵敏、准确、稳定性好,加标回收率为96%～105%。