Hydrogen storage property of as-milled La7RE3Mg80Ni10 (RE = Sm,Ce) alloys

Element replacement and mechanical milling are considered as the most effective ways to improve Mg-based alloys in their hydrogen storage performance. The as-milled La₇RE₃Mg₈₀Ni₁₀ (RE = Sm, Ce) alloys were prepared in this experiment by introducing both element replacement (replacing La by Ce or Sm partially) and mechanical milling technologies. The influence made by different replacing elements on the structure and hydrogen storage property of La₇RE₃Mg₈₀Ni₁₀ (RE = Sm, Ce) alloys was investigated in detail. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, automatic Sievert apparatus, thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry were used to investigate the experimental alloys. The experiment reveals that a nanocrystalline and amorphous structure appears after mechanical milling. Moreover, comparing with the RE = Sm alloy, the RE = Ce alloy has a superior hydrogen desorption property, including larger hydrogen absorption capacity, faster hydriding/dehydriding rate, lower onset hydrogen desorption temperature, and lower dehydrogenation activation energy.     

High-performance La–Mg–Ni-based alloys prepared with low cost raw materials

La–Mg–Ni-based hydrogen storage alloys showed good application prospects owing to their high hydrogen storage capacity. However, the poor cycling stability was a key problem. In order to improve the cycling stability, low cost YFe_0.85 master alloy was used as raw material to prepare La–Mg–Ni-based La_0.8-xY_xMg_0.2Ni_3-0.85xFe_0.85x (x = 0.50, 0.55, 0.60) hydrogen storage alloys by powder sintering method. The alloys were mainly composed of PuNi₃ phase and MgCu₄Sn phase. With the increase of Y and Fe, the cell parameters of PuNi₃ phase decreased. Lower mismatch coefficient promoted the cycling stability. As the case of x = 0.60, the capacity retention rate rose up to 95.45%. Aside from the cycling stability, appropriate substitution content contributed to higher capacity and satisfactory kinetics. As the case of x = 0.55, the hydrogen storage capacity reached 1.529 wt%, and hydriding time for the x = 0.60 alloy shrank to 76.7% of that for alloys without Y and Fe at 303 K.     

Electrochemical hydrogen storage performance of as-cast and as-spun RE-Mg-Ni-Co-Al-based alloys applied to Ni/MH battery

The La-Mg-Ni-Co-Al-based AB₂-type La_0.8–xCe_0.2Y_xMgNi_3.4Co_0.4Al_0.1 (x=0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2) alloys were prepared via melt spinning. The analyses of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) proved that the experimental alloys contain the main phase LaMgNi₄ and the second phase LaNi₅. Increasing Y content and spinning rate lead to grain refinement and obvious change of the phase abundance without changing phase composition. Y substitution for La and melt spinning make the life-span of the alloys improved remarkably, which is attributed to the improvement of anti-oxidation, anti-pulverization and anti-corrosion abilities. In addition, the discharge capacity visibly decreases with increasing the Y content, while it firstly increases and then decreases with increasing spinning rate. The electrochemical kinetics increases to the optimum performance and then reduces with increasing spinning rate. Moreover, all the alloys achieve to the highest discharge capacities just at the initial cycle without activation.     

The Dune Lakes in central coastal California: Why are they dry?

The Dune Lakes comprise 10 natural lakes in the Callender Dunes in central coastal California, USA. These lakes are wetlands in an arid environment, being important habitat for native wildlife and plants, including three occurrences of the federally endangered/State threatened wetland plant, La Graciosa thistle (Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis; Asteraceae). This plant is known from 21 occurrences, of which only five are extant in 2019. One extant occurrence persists at the lakes and where two other occurrences are likely extirpated. Nine lakes have recently dried, one having been dry for 5 years (2012–2017). Understanding the hydrology of the Dune Lakes is essential for conservation planning and to help prevent extinction of La Graciosa thistle. The best available information points to a combination of two primary causes for drying of the lakes. The first is extensive groundwater extraction beneath Nipomo Mesa to the east. The second is severe drought. The competing demands for water and continued development on the mesa will be obstacles to restoration of the lakes and to recovery of the endangered plant.     

Preparation of Ni–P–La alloy as a novel electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

Ternary Ni–P–La alloy was synthesized by the co-electrodeposition method on the copper substrate. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used for characterization of the synthesized alloy. The electrochemical performance of the novel alloy was investigated based on electrochemical data obtained from steady-state polarization, Tafel curves, linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in alkaline solution and at ambient temperature. The results showed that the microstructural properties play a vital purpose in determining the electrocatalytic activity of the novel alloys. Also, the HER on investigated alloys was performed via the Volmer-Heyrovsky mechanism and Volmer step as RDS in this work. Ni–P–La catalyst was specified by ƞ₂₅₀ = −139.0 mV, b = −93.0 mV dec⁻¹, and j_o = −181.0 μA cm⁻². The results revealed that the Ni–P–La catalysts have a high potential for HER electrocatalysts in 1M NaOH solution.     

La添加量对AZ91镁合金力学性能的影响

为提高汽车材料AZ91镁合金的综合力学性能,采用粉末冶金法在合金中加入纯金属La制备试件.使用金相电子显微镜、硬度测试仪、万能拉压试验机,研究La对AZ91镁合金试件金相组织、硬度及压缩性能的影响.实验结果表明:当La添加量为1.2%时,试件的力学性能达到最佳,硬度达到67.1 HV,抗压强度达到115.8 MPa,比AZ91镁合金基体分别提高了20.0%和29.5%,而且此添加量对AZ91镁合金的晶粒细化效果最好.     

ICP-OES法同时测定茶叶中La、Ce、Pr、Sm、Nd五种稀土元素

本实验建立了一种用ICP-OES同时测定茶叶样品中的La、Ce、Pr、Sm和Nd五种稀土元素的方法.采用干灰化与微波消煮两种前处理方法处理绿茶与乌龙茶茶叶样品,结合ICP-OES法测定,结果精度与准确度良好,其回收率都在87%～103%之间,相对标准偏差都在10%以内.     

Effects of La2O3/Li2O/TiO2- Coating on Electrochemical Performance of LiCoO2 Cathode

Conventional cathode material （LiCoO2） was modified by coating with a thin layer of La2O3/Li2O/TiO2 for improving its performance for lithium ion battery. The morphology and structure of the modified cathode material was characterized by SEM, XRD, and Auger electron spectroscopy. The performance of the cells with the modified cathode material was examined, including the cycling stability, the diffusion coefficient under different voltages, and the C-rate discharge. The results showed that the cell composed of the coated cathode material discharged at a large current density, and possesses a stable cycle performance in the range from 3.0 to 4.4 V. It was explained that the rate of Li ion diffusion increased in the cell while using La2O3/Li2O/TiO2-coated LiCoO2 as the cathode and the coating layer may act as a faster ion conductor （La2O3/Li2O/TiO2）.     

原位自生(TiB+La_2O_3)/TC4钛基复合材料的显微组织和力学性能

利用钛与镧、硼单质之间的原位反应,经真空自耗电弧熔炼与后续的热加工工艺制备了增强体含量不同的(TiB+La2O3)/TC4钛基复合材料,并研究了它的显微组织和室温拉伸性能。结果表明:该复合材料的基体为网篮状组织,增强体分布均匀,其中TiB呈短纤维状并沿加工方向分布,La2O3呈短棒状或颗粒状;与基体TC4合金相比,复合材料的室温抗拉强度均有所提高,且随着TiB与La2O3增强体含量的增多而增大,增强体起到了较好的增强作用;复合材料的拉伸断裂方式均为韧性断裂。     

SHS法合成La1-xSrxMnO3的烧结性能

采用SHS法制备了SOFC阴极材料La1-xSrxMnO3（LSM）}研究了不同温度下烧结LSM强度、相对密度与掺Sr量的关系，烧结试样的孔隙率以及膨胀系数随温度的变化关系。结果表明；随着Sr含量的增加，合成LSM粉末的粒度增大，烧结试样的相对密度略有降低；较高的烧结温度有利于降低试样的孔隙率；烧结LSM的热膨胀系数与YSZ匹配较好。