Here, we report the development of a new and low-cost core-shell structure for lithium-ion battery anodes using silicon waste sludge and the Ti-ion complex. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the raw waste silicon sludge powder to be pure silicon without other metal impurities and the particle size distribution is measured to be from 200 nm to 3 μm by dynamic light scattering (DLS). As a result of pulverization by a planetary mill, the size of the single crystal according to the Scherrer formula is calculated to be 12.1 nm, but the average particle size of the agglomerate is measured to be 123.6 nm. A Si/TiO2 core-shell structure is formed using simple Ti complex ions, and the ratio of TiO2 peaks increased with an increase in the amount of Ti ions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations revealed that TiO2 coating on Si nanoparticles results in a Si-TiO2 core-shell structure. This result is expected to improve the stability and cycle of lithium-ion batteries as anodes.

Zirconia has excellent mechanical properties, such as high fracture toughness, wear resistance, and flexural strength, which make it a candidate for application in bead mills as milling media as well as a variety of components. In addition, enhanced mechanical properties can be attained by adding oxide or non-oxide dispersing particles to zirconia ceramics. In this study, the densification and mechanical properties of YSZ-TiC ceramic composites with different TiC contents and sintering temperatures are investigated. YSZ - x vol.% TiC (x=10, 20, 30) system is selected as compositions of interest. The mixed powders are sintered using hot pressing (HP) at different temperatures of 1300, 1400, and 1500oC. The densification behavior and mechanical properties of sintered ceramics, such as hardness and fracture toughness, are examined.

본 연구에서는 유기용매에 저항성이 뛰어난 소재인 polyketone 고분자를 사용하여 열유도 상분리법(TIPS)으로 유기용매 저항성 중공사 분리막을 제조하였다. 희석제는 green solvent로 알려진 PEG300, DMSO2, glycerine을 사용하였으며, 이때 사용된 diluent에 따라 나타나는 구정형 구조를 가지는 고-액 상분리와 bicontinuous한 구조를 가지는 액-액 상분리를 관 찰하였다. 전반적인 분리막의 특성은 SEM, 수투과도, 기계적 강도, 내화학실험을 사용하여 고찰하였으며, 본 연구에서는 다양한 희석제가 적용된 polyketone 중공사 분리막의 제조와 그 상호관계에 대해 심도 있게 연구하였다.

Carbon lives along with us in our daily life and has a vital role to play. It is present in the air and within all living organisms. Due to its handheld advantage in nano-properties that are utilized in many applications, carbon substrates came under limelight during the recent decades. Carbon substrates are most widely used in cancer detection, catalysis, bio-sensing, adsorption, drug delivery, carbon capture, hydrogen storage, and energy. Alongside, composite materials with carbon as an additive are also developing rapidly in applications like infrastructures, automobile, health care, consumer goods, etc. which became an integral chunk of our life. In this paper different types of carbon substrates and its applications, properties of the substrates were reviewed. The applications and methods of synthesis of carbon substrates are also dealt with a broad perspective.

In this study, the layered structures of immiscible Fe and Cu metals were employed to investigate the interface evolution through solid-state mixing. The pure Fe and Cu powders were cold-consolidated by high-pressure torsion (HPT) to fabricate a layered Cu-Fe-Cu structure. The microstructural evolutions and flow of immiscible Fe and Cu metals were investigated following different iterations of HPT processing. The results indicate that the HPTprocessed sample following four iterations showed a sharp chemical boundary between the Fe and Cu layers. In addition, the Cu powders exhibited perfect consolidation through HPT processing. However, the Fe layer contained many microcracks. After 20 iterations of HPT, the shear strain generated by HPT produced interface instability, which caused the initial layered structure to disappear.

The purpose of this study is to optimize the powder formulation and manufacturing conditions for the solidification of an extract of the herb Bangpungtongseong-san (BPTS). To develop BPTS-loaded particles for the tablet dosage form, various BPTS-loaded particles composed of BPTS, dextrin, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), silicon dioxide, ethanol, and water are prepared using spray-drying and high shear granulation (high-speed mixing). Their physical properties are evaluated using scanning electron microscopy and measurements of the angle of repose, Hausner ratio, Carr’s index, hardness, and disintegration time. The optimal BPTS-loaded particles exhibit improved flowability and compressibility. In particular, the BPTS-loaded particles containing silicon dioxide show significantly improved flowability and compressibility (the angle of repose, Hausner ratio, and Carr’s index are 35.27 ± 0.58°, 1.18 ± 0.06, and 15.67 ± 1.68%, respectively), hardness (18.97 ± 1.00 KP), and disintegration time (17.60 ± 1.50 min) compared to those without silicon dioxide. Therefore, this study suggests that particles prepared by high-speed mixing can be used to greatly improve the flowability and compressibility of BPTS using MCC and silicon dioxide.

Ni–Cr–Al metal-foam-supported catalysts for steam methane reforming (SMR) are manufactured by applying a catalytic Ni/Al2O3 sol–gel coating to powder alloyed metallic foam. The structure, microstructure, mechanical stability, and hydrogen yield efficiency of the obtained catalysts are evaluated. The structural and microstructural characteristics show that the catalyst is well coated on the open-pore Ni–Cr–Al foam without cracks or spallation. The measured compressive yield strengths are 2–3 MPa at room temperature and 1.5–2.2 MPa at 750oC regardless of sample size. The specimens exhibit a weight loss of up to 9–10% at elevated temperature owing to the spallation of the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. However, the metal-foam-supported catalyst appears to have higher mechanical stability than ceramic pellet catalysts. In SMR simulations tests, a methane conversion ratio of up to 96% is obtained with a high hydrogen yield efficiency of 82%.

Porous carbons have been widely used as electrode material for supercapacitors. However, commercial porous carbons, such as activated carbons, have low electrochemical performance. Nitrogen-doping is one of the most promising strategies to improve electrochemical performance of porous carbons. In this study, nitrogen self-doped porous carbon (NPC) is prepared from melamine foam by carbonization to improve the supercapacitive performance. The prepared NPC is characterized in terms of the chemical structures and elements, morphology, pore structures, and electrochemical performance. The results of the N2 physisorption measurement, X-ray diffraction, and Raman analyses reveal that the prepared NPC has bimodal pore structures and pseudo-graphite structures with nitrogen functionality. The NPC-based electrode exhibits a gravimetric capacitance of 153 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, a rate capability of 73.2 % at 10 A g−1, and an outstanding cycling ability of 97.85% after 10,000 cycles at 10 A g−1. Thus, the NPC prepared in this study can be applied as electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.

We report a simple procedure to fabricate single crystals 3D C60 having an FCC structure on silicon substrates using a vapour–solid set-up in vacuum conditions. The morphology of the deposited film can be tuned by controlling the temperature and position of the substrate. The as-fabricated samples are extensively characterised by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscope, X-ray powder diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and nanoindentation, which allow us to shed light on the recrystallization process of the C60. In addition, the growth mechanism of the formation of crystalline 3D structure of the C60 film is discussed in detail. Based on the newly gained knowledge of mechanism and its unique properties, fullerene has shown huge potential as a solid lubricant on various kinds of substrates.

In recent years, special attention of energy researchers has been paid to application of polymer–carbon dots composite in energy storage systems. In this work, for the first time, we introduced a combination of polyaniline, carbon dots, polypyrrole and graphene as high performance supercapacitor. Synergistic effect of conductive polymers combined with specific properties of graphene and carbon dots improved the electrochemical performance of supercapacitor. Carbon dots was prepared from carrot juice hydrothermally as a biomass carbon source and polyaniline–carbon dots was synthesized via in-situ polymerization. Electrochemical performance of polyaniline with different carbon dots content was investigated and nanocomposite of polyaniline with 10 wt% carbon dots was selected to mix with polypyrrole–graphene to obtain a high potential window supercapacitor. The as-prepared composite was characterized by several spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The electrochemical properties of this electrode were studied by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. A polyaniline–carbon dots (10%)/polypyrrole–graphene has showed the maximum specific capacitance of 396 F g− 1. Value of specific capacity remained at 62% under the current density of 5 A g− 1.

Using UV nanoimprint lithography(UV-NIL), 1-dimensional(1-D) pattern structures were fabricated on a hybrid mixture thin film of lanthanum oxide and a UV-curable resin. 1-D pattern on a wafer fabricated by the laser interference lithography was transferred to polydimethylsiloxane and this is used as a mold of UV-NIL process. Conducting an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, C 1s and La 3d spectra were analyzed, and it was confirmed that hybrid thin film was successfully deposited on glass substrate. Also, transferred pattern structure was observed by using an atomic force microscopy. Through this, it was revealed that agglomerations between 1-D pattern were increased as UV irradiation time increased and this phenomenon disrupted the quality of NIL process. Additionally, liquid crystal(LC) cells with patterned hybrid thin films were fabricated and LC alignment performances were investigated. Using the polarizing optical microscopy and the crystal rotation method, LC alignment state and pretilt angles were observed. Consequently, the uniform homogeneous LC alignment was achieved at UV irradiation time of 1min and 3min where high resolution pattern transfer was observed.

In this study, we developed a facile and template-free strategy for the preparation of activated porous carbon beads (APCBs) from polyacrylonitrile. The chemical activation with KOH was found to enhance the pore properties, such as specific surface area (SSA), pore volume, and pore area. The APCBs exhibited a large SSA of 1147.99 m2/g and a pore area of 131.73 m2/g. The APCB-based electrodes showed a good specific capacitance of 112 F/g at 1 A/g in a 6 M KOH electrolyte, and excellent capacitance retention of 100% at a current density of 5 A/g after 1000 cycles. Therefore, the APCBs prepared in this study can be applied as electrode materials for electric double-layer capacitors.

Fabrication of a ferromagnetic composite powder for the magnesium and BaFe12O19 system by mechanical alloying (MA) is investigated at room temperature. Mixtures of Mg and BaFe12O19 powders with a weight ratio of Mg:BaFe12O19 = 4:1, 3:2, 2:3 and 1:4 are used. Optimal MA conditions to obtain a ferromagnetic composite with fine microstructure are investigated by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurement. It is found that Mg-BaFe12O19 composite powders in which BaFe12O19 is dispersed in Mg matrix are successfully produced by MA of BaFe12O19 with Mg for 80 min. for all compositions. Magnetization of Mg- BaFe12O19 composite powders gradually increases with increasing the amounts of BaFe12O19, whereas coercive force of MA powders gradually decreases due to the refinement of BaFe12O19 powders with MA time for all compositions. However, it can be seen that the coercivity of Mg-BaFe12O19 MA composite powders with a weight ratio of Mg:BaFe12O19=4:1 and 3:2 for MA 80 min. are still high, with values of 1260 Oe and 1320 Oe compared to that of Mg:BaFe12O19=1:4. This clearly suggests that the refinement of BaFe12O19 powders during MA process for Mg:BaFe12O19=4:1 and 3:2 tends to be suppressed due to ductile Mg powders.