Li/garnet/LiFePO₄ solid-state battery was fabricated. The cathode contains LiFePO₄, Ketjen black, poly(vinylidene fluoride):LiTFSI polymer as active material, electric conductor and Li-ion conducting binder, respectively. Polyvinylpyrrolidone was added into the cathode to improve cathode/electrolyte interfacial performance. When combined with polyvinylpyrrolidone additive, poly(vinylidene fluoride):polyvinylpyrrol idone:LiTFSI blend forms, and the cathode/electrolyte interfacial resistance reduces from 10.7 kΩ to 3.2 kΩ. The Li/garnet/LiFePO₄ solid-state battery shows 80% capacity retention after 100 cycles at 30 °C and 0.05 C. This study offers a general strategy to improve cathode/electrolyte interfacial performance and may enable the practical application of solid-state Li-metal batteries.

We adopted a green, economical and simple method in which konjac glucomannan (KGM) was used as a carrier to support CNTs to construct a three-dimensional structure filled with epoxy resin to improve the absorbing performance of epoxy resin. Through the reflection of the internal multi-level pore structure and the dielectric loss effect of CNTs, the dissipation and absorption of electromagnetic waves are realized. This KGM derived CNTs foam exhibits high specific microwave absorption performance with a minimum absorption of −25.2 dB at 11.3 GHz and a qualified bandwidth of around 2.89 GHz (RL⩽ −10 dB), which is achieved by KDCF5/Epoxy with the coating layer thickness of 1.8 mm. We provide a novel and cost-effective method to achieve excellent absorbing performance under thin thickness and low load. The CNTs foam also has a lower density (6.5 mg/cm³) and can improve the absorbing properties of the epoxy while maintaining its various advantages, thereby expanding the application range of the epoxy resin.

To improve the flame resistance of polypropylene (PP)/carbon fiber (CF) composite materials, triazine char-forming agent (TCA) was compounded with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) or modified APP (CS-APP) in a 2:1 ratio to prepare intumescent flame retardant (IFR) and the modified intumescent flame retardant (CS-IFR) in this paper. Flame retardancy and thermal degradation behaviors of the composites modified by IFR and CS-IFR were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), contact angle measurement, oxygen index (OI), vertical burning tests (UL-94), thermogravimetric analyer (TGA), and thermogravimetric analyzer coupled with Fourier transform infrared (TG-FTIR). It was found that 25.0 phr of IFR and 24.0 phr of CS-IFR could improve the LOI value of PP/CF composites to 28.3% and 28.9%, respectively. At the same time, a UL-94 V-0 rating was achieved. The experimental results show that the IFR and CS-IFR prepared could effectively improve the flame retardancy and thermostability of PP/CF composites, and they would greatly expand the application range of PP/CF composite materials.

Aim of the present in vitro study is to evaluate the radiopacity levels of composite resins with various shades and viscosity. 10 mm×2 mm discs were prepared from 7 condensable and 4 flowable composites (n=10). An aluminum step wedge ranging from 2.0 to 10.0 mm in thickness was placed on the occlusal film. Digital radiographs were taken using a dental X-ray device and radiographic densities of each step of the aluminum wedge and the samples were recorded to the computer. Five readings were taken and means were calculated. One-Way Anova and Tamhane post hoc tests were performed. While G-eanial Posterior has the highest radiopacity value followed by Filtek Z550, Aelite Flo has the lowest radiopacity value. Posterior composites show higher radiopacity and flowable composites with higher filler loadings have superior radiopacity levels to condensable composites. Enamel and body shades of the composite brands have also statistically significant differences in radiopacity scores. Eventually, radiopacity level of a composite resin material is not affected by the size of fillers; however, the composition, shape and loading of the fillers can specify the radiodensity.

The (TiNbTaZrHf)C high entropy carbide(HEC) was successfully synthesized by complete commercial transition metal powders, obtained fine sintered bulks without additives by in-situ reaction element synthesis method. (TiNbTaZrHf)C bulk shows a face centered cubic rock salt structure with homogeneous single-phase FCC structure in composition and structure. The optimum sintering temperature is about 1 900 °C at which the best mechanical properties are obtained. The mechanical properties of (TiNbTaZrHf)C ceramic block are better than those of binary transition metal carbides, and it has obvious high entropy effect. Adding a small amount of Al as sintering additive, the mechanical properties of (TiNbTaZrHf)C ceramics continue to improve, the bending strength of the samples at each temperature is increased by at least 38%, and the highest is 486 MPa. The elastic modulus and hardness of the sample at 1 900 C are also slightly increased by 4% and 14%, respectively. The above conclusions illustrate that the properties of high entropy ceramics are greatly improved by in-situ reaction sintering.

A titanium dioxide loaded tremella-like mesoporous calcium silicate hydrate (TiO₂@CSH) with both adsorption and photocatalytic degradation activity was successfully prepared by a hydrothermal method combined with sol-gel strategy in two steps in this work. Tremella-shaped CSH provides abundant active sites for accommodating of TiO₂, thus the corresponding TiO₂@CSH achieved a high loading ratio of 36.73%. Such a special shaped TiO₂@CSH exhibits excellent pre-enrichment capacity and photocatalytic degradation capacity for organic pollutants. Bisphenol A (BPA) removal experiments show that TiO₂@CSH can remove 91.17% of BPA from aqueous solutions. Studies on removal mechanism suggest that BPA tends to bind on the interface between CSH and TiO₂ and the pre-enrichment process conforms to the intraparticle diffusion model; and then, it is decomposed to harmless substances of CO₂ and H₂O during the photocatalytic process. The experimental results show that loading functional nanoparticles such as TiO₂ on the surface of inorganic porous materials can endow inert porous materials with new functions such as photocatalytic degradation, which effectively expands the application range of inorganic porous materials.

Porous Pt thin films were prepared on carbon papers by a single-step ultra-high dc magnetron sputtering method to obtain ideal electrodes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. The platinum loading of the electrocatalyst layer is controlled at about 0.1 mg·cm⁻². Structural characteristics and catalytic activities of the films were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry, and stress durability testing methods. The effect of treatment conditions of a substrate on the structural and performance characteristics of the catalytic films was shown as well. Films produced on acid-treated carbon papers at the argon pressure of 0.01 mbar possessed a homogeneous, highly developed surface along with a porous structure. Compared to Pt/TCPW(Toray carbon papers soaked in ultrapure water) electrodes, the film obtained on the acid-treated substrate had a larger electrochemical surface area (163.33 m²·g⁻¹) and exhibited better catalytic stability and durability due to a porous structure as a result of Pt particle accumulation.

Here, we designed and prepared a new nano-assembly structure of gold nanorods dispersion medium to improve the data storage life. The surface of gold nanorods was wrapped with a layer of silica shell to enhance the nanorod thermal stability, and then injected into the porous alumina to form a nano-assembly structured film. The experimental results show that gold nanorods are uniformly dispersed in the alumina film, and the optical properties of gold nanorods will not change after heat treatment below 200 °C. It is expected that this film can be used for five-dimensional data storage and greatly improve the thermal stability of stored data.

Using the idea of material design and the design of reaction system and conditions, quasi-one-dimensional nano-materials with ribbon-like structure were successfully prepared. Nickel tartrate nanobelts were prepared by a sol-precipitation route, using nickel chloride hexahydrate and tartaric acid as raw materials, and using ammonium hydroxide as pH value modifier. Nickel nanobelts with smooth surface were prepared by a thermal-decomposition route at about 355 °C for about 30 minutes, in CO₂ atmosphere, using nickel tartrate nanobelts as precursor. The analyses of atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), organic elemental analyzer (OEA), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) indicate that the products as-prepared is nickel tartrate, which has octahedral configuration of co-ordination of nickel atoms. The images of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicate that the morphology of nickel tartrate as-prepared is an obvious belt structure with clear and smooth surface. The images of SEM also indicate that the nickel nanobelts have clear and smooth surface. The nickel nanobelts are about tens of micrometers in length, tens of nanometers in thickness, and 100–200 nanometers in width.

In order to reduce the randomness of the occurrence of cracks and shorten the long cracking time in the traditional concentric ring tests, the elliptical ring test, the square-eccentric ring test, and the eccentric ring test have been gradually developed. In this paper, we reported experiments on the eccentric ring test and concentric ring test that were carried out to compare the differences between the two methods. It is found that an increase in the water-cement ratio and the amount of aggregate will increase the cracking time. However, a more obvious cracking tendency of cement-based materials can be seen in the eccentric ring test. The correlation between humidity and strain was established by the use of the Kelvin equation and the Laplace equation so that the coupling analysis of humidity and strain during the drying process of cement-based materials could be determined. The experimental results show that the external surface humidity will decrease rapidly in the early stage of drying, while the interior areas of the cement-based materials decrease more slowly. The closer to the inner circle will decrease the humidity slowly.

In order to compare the compensation effect of expansive materials with different mineral sources on the temperature stress of concrete, we investigated the temperature stress of concrete when adding calcium sulfoaluminate type expansive materials (CSA) or CaO and calcium sulfoaluminate mixed type expansive materials (HCSA) at different temperatures by temperature-stress testing machine (TSTM) considering the influence of temperature history on the expansion. The experimental results show that the expansion characteristics of the two kinds of expansive materials with different mineral sources significantly vary. When adding expansive materials, the growth rate of compressive stress during the heating stage increases obviously, the maximum compressive stress is higher, while the decline rate of tensile stress in the late cooling stage becomes slow, and finally cracking temperature decreases. It is proved that concrete with HCSA has lower cracking temperatures and better temperature shrinkage compensation effect. Therefore, it is rational to choose HCSA when preparing concrete with high expansion energy to reduce thermal cracking.

Directionally distributed steel fiber cement-based composites (SFCCs) were prepared by magnetic field (MF) induction technology. The orientation factor of steel fibers in the as-obtained SFCCs was determined. Besides, the electrical resistivity and piezoresistive responses in two directions of aligned steel fiber cement-based composites, i e, parallel and perpendicular to MF, were measured. The effects of several variables, eg, steel fiber content, curing age, humidity, and temperature, on anisotropic electrical property were studied. The cyclic and failure piezoresistive responses in different directions were tested. It is found that the aligned steel fibers in the as-obtained SFCCs have a high orientation factor more than 0.88. Besides, SFCCs with aligned steel fibers exhibit an obvious anisotropic conductivity and piezoelectric sensitivity. The electrical conductivity of SFCCs with aligned steel fibers is less affected by temperature and humidity. At the steel fiber content of 2.5wt%, the piezoelectric sensitivity coefficient of SFCCs in the direction parallel to MF has the highest value of 324.14. In addition, the piezoresistive properties of SFCCs with aligned steel fibers in the direction parallel to MF indicate excellent sensitivity and stability under cyclic loading and monotonic loading.

We aimed to reuse the propylene oxide sludge (POS). Propylene oxide sludge shell-aggregate (POSS-A) and propylene oxide sludge gradient shell-aggregate (POSGS-A) whose main hydrated phase is tobermorite were successfully manufactured by the hydrothermal synthesis of POS and silica materials under the condition of autoclaved (180 °C, 1.0 MPa) curing. Influences of pre-wetting time of coarse aggregate and pressure application mode on the different concretes were investigated. The experimental results show that the concrete with POSS-A as coarse aggregate (POSS-A concrete), the concrete with POS gradient shell-aggregate as coarse aggregate (POSGS-A concrete), sintered aggregate concrete and common concrete, all have excellent impermeability performance whatever the pre-wetting time of coarse aggregate is 0.5 h or 24 h, and the pre-wetting time of coarse aggregate has a negligible influence on the concrete. The influence degree of pressure application mode on the impermeability performance of the sintered aggregate concrete is the greatest among three kinds of concrete, which has a negligible influence on impermeability performance of the other concretes. POSGS-A can be used as a green building light aggregate in hydraulic concrete.

The usability of waste steel grits and limestone sand in the construction of concrete pavement was investigated. Four different types of pavement concretes were produced, including coarse limestone concrete not containing waste steel grit, coarse limestone concrete containing waste steel grit, limestone sand concrete not containing waste steel grit, and limestone sand concrete containing waste steel grit. In this study, water/binder ratio in concrete production was taken as 0.44. In the production of limestone sand concrete containing waste steel grit, limestone sand with a grain diameter of 0.1–1.0 mm was used as aggregate. Waste steel grits with a grain diameter of 0.2–0.7 mm were added to the concrete mixture. Standard water curing and combined curing were applied to concrete samples. After standard water curing and combined curing, compression and bending tests of the same types of cube and beam concrete samples were carried out. As a result of the study, the maximum compressive and bending strengths were found to be 50.21 MPa and 5.07 MPa for limestone sand concrete containing waste steel grit. The study results show that waste steel grits increase the compressive and bending strength of concrete pavement.

The numerical simulation for temperature distribution of Pt-Rh alloy bushing was carried out using a thermal-electric module in ANSYS Workbench finite element analysis software. The effects of side wall thickness, plug thickness, the angle of two side walls and electrode structure on the uniformity of temperature distribution were investigated. Meanwhile, the contrastive analysis results of bushing with and without glass melt were discussed. The simulation results show that, when the homogeneous glass melt flows through bushing, the temperature difference between the center and both ends of bushing is decreased significantly, but the temperature distribution at both ends of bushing is still affected by heating non-uniformity of bushing. Compared with side wall thickness, plug thickness and the angle of two side walls, electrode structure plays a greater role in adjusting heating uniformity of bushing.

To improve the wear resistance of Fe₄CoCrNiB_0.2 high-entropy alloy (HEA), the Fe₄CoCrNiB_0.2Mo _x (where, x in Fe₄CoCrNiB_0.2Mo _x is a molar content, and the value is 0, 0.5, 1, respectively) HEAs were prepared on the Q235 substrate by laser cladding. The structure, hardness, and wear resistance of Fe₄CoCrNiB_0.2Mo _x HEAs were investigated using scanning electron microscopy with spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Vickers microhardness tester, and pin-on-disc tribometer. The influences of Mo content on the phase structures and mechanical properties of Fe₄CoCrNiB_0.2Mo _x HEAs are studied. The experimental results show that the Fe₄CoCrNiB_0.2Mo _x HEA cladding layers are composed of a simple BCC phase mixed with M₂B phase, BCC phase, and BCC + FCC dual-phase, respectively. The wear resistance and hardness of the Fe₄CoCrNiB_0.2Mo HEA sample are 2 and 1.35 times those of the Fe₄CoCrNiB_0.2 HEA sample, respectively. The microhardness and wear resistance of the Fe₄CoCrNiB_0.2Mo _x HEAs increase with the increase of Mo content. It is found that the Fe₄CoCrNiB_0.2Mo _x HEA cladding layers are mainly strengthened by the solid solution strengthening and fine-grained strengthening.

Y-modified Cr-Al coatings were co-deposited on DZ125 alloy by a pack cementation process, and the microstructures, constituent phases, and formation mechanisms of the obtained coatings were studied. The oxidation resistance of the coatings was also investigated. The experimental results show that the coating prepared by co-depositing Cr-Al-Y at 1 050 °C for 2 h has a multi-layered structure with an outer layer composed of Cr and Ni₃Cr₂, a middle layer composed of Ni₃Cr₂ and Al₁₃Co₄, and an inner layer composed of Ni₃Al. The co-deposited Y is mainly present in the outer and middle layers of the coating. The coating formation process follows a sequential deposition mechanism in which Al is deposited during the initial stage, followed by Cr deposition. After oxidation at 1 100 °C for 1 00 h, a dense Cr₂O₃·Al₂O₃ scale forms on the obtained coating, which effectively protects the DZ125 alloy from oxidation by preventing the inward diffusion of oxygen.

The Cu65Ni35 alloy liquid was undercooled by the fluxing method, and the rapid solidification structure was obtained by natural cooling. The solidification interface migration information of Cu65Ni35 alloy liquid in rapid solidification stage was photographed with the help of high-speed camera, and the recalescence velocity was calculated. The microstructure evolution of the alloy was systematically studied by observing the microstructure morphology and taking photos on the metallographic microscope. By analyzing the evolution of dendrite grain size and microstructure microhardness with undercoolingand relying on electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technology, the grain refinement mechanism of microstructure under high undercooling and low undercooling is finally confirmed.

We introduced fluorine into hydroxyl-terminated block copolyether so as to prepare polyurethane adhesive with better performance. Fluorine-containing epoxy compounds (FO) was synthesized by one-step method from 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propanol (TFP) and epichlorohydrin (ECH). Then, a novel hydroxyl-terminated block fluorinated copolyether (FPO-PTHF-FPO) was prepared by cationic ring-opening polymerization of fluorinated epoxy compound (FO) with polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) as the macromolecular initiator and boron trifluoride diethyl ether (BF₃·OEt₂) as the catalyst. The structure and properties of hydroxyl-terminated block fluorinated copolyether were characterized by FTIR, ¹HNMR, GPC, DSC, TGA, and viscosity-temperature curve analysis. In comparison with polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF), hydroxyl-terminated block fluorinated copolyether (FPO-PTHF-FPO) has lower viscosity and only one lower glass transition temperature (−66.6 °C) on DSC curve. In addition, hydroxyl-terminated block fluorinated copolyether (FPO-PTHF-FPO) begins to decompose at 187.2 °C and is completely decomposed until 431.6 °C, which indicates that it has a good thermal stability.

The inherent difficulty in preservation and processing of conventional red phosphorus flame retardant severely limits its growing applications in polymer materials, thus, there is an urgent need to exploit effective technology to modify red phosphorus. Functionalized lignin-based compounds can provide a great potential in improving the preservation and processing of red phosphorus. Here, we prepared melamine modified lignin/aluminum phosphate coated red phosphorus (LMAP@RP) and used it as the flame retardant of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin. With 25wt% loading LMAP@RP, the ABS samples show excellent flame inhibiting capacity and reached UL-94 V-0 rating. Cone calorimetry test results show that the peak heat release rate, total heat release and total smoke release of ABS/25LMAP@RP are reduced strikingly by 64.6%, 49.3%, and 30.1%, respectively. The char residue is 15.36wt% and the char layer is continuous and dense. The outstanding flame retardant and smoke-suppressant performances of LMAP@RP show its application prospect for ABS.

The commercial vinyl ester resins (VER) was modified by diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) to enhance its toughness, which is called MVER. Hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), a common curing agent for polyurethane (PU), was found to be a reactive agent for MVER and can contribute to the toughness of MVER. Based on present experiment results, the crosslinking mechanism of MVER and HDI system is very similar to that of PU. The FTIR result shows the −NCO of HDI can react with the −OH of MVER. The microstructure of material prepared by MVER and HDI was characterized by NMR, and it was revealed that the unique microstructure leads to the good performances. The different content of HDI has an influence on the microstructure, and the microstructure gradually reduces the toughness and mechanical performances of the MVER cured with increasing concentration of reactive curing agent (HDI). This feature is consistent with a maximum in toughness as a function of the additive (HDI) content, followed by a rapid deterioration in toughness at higher concentrations. The toughness exhibits the maximum at such an HDI concentration (20wt%). Therefore, the special curing agent (HDI) and reactive mode is very important to the microstructure and mechanical properties of material. Furthermore, there should be other reactions which contribute to the curing and microstructure of the material, which needs the further research.