In this study, using a tin chloride solution as the raw material, a nano-sized tin oxide powder with an average particle size below 50 nm is generated by a spray pyrolysis process. The properties of the tin oxide powder according to the nozzle tip size are examined. Along with an increase in the nozzle tip size from 1 mm to 5 mm, the generated particles that appear in the shape of droplets maintain an average particle size of 30 nm. When the nozzle tip size increases from 1 mm to 2 mm, the average size of the generated particles is around 80-100 nm, and the ratio of the independent particles with a compact surface structure increases significantly. When the nozzle tip size is at 3 mm, the majority of the generated particles maintain the droplet shape, the average size of the droplet-shaped particles increases remarkably compared to the cases of other nozzle tip sizes, and the particle size distribution also becomes extremely irregular. When the nozzle tip size is at 5 mm, the ratio of droplet-shaped particles decreases significantly and most of the generated particles are independent ones with incompact surface structures. Along with an increase in the nozzle tip size from 1 mm to 3 mm, the XRD peak intensity increases, whereas the specific surface area decreases greatly. When the nozzle tip size increases up to 5 mm, the XRD peak intensity decreases significantly, while the specific surface area increases remarkably.
The study of grinding behavior characteristics on aluminum powders and carbon nano tubes (CNTs) has recently gained scientific interest due to their useful effect in enhancing advanced nano materials and components, which significantly improves the property of new mechatronics integrated materials and components. We performed a series of dry grinding experiments using a planetary ball mill to systematically investigate the grinding behavior during Al/CNTs nano composite fabrication. This study focused on a comparative study of the various experimental conditions at several variations of rotation speeds, grinding time and with and without CNTs. The results were monitored for the particle size distribution, median diameter, crystal structure from XRD pattern and particle morphology at a given grinding time. It was observed that pure aluminum powders agglomerated with low rotation speed and completely enhanced powder agglomeration. However, Al/CNTs composites were achieved at maximum experiment conditions (350 rpm, 60 min.) of this study by a mechanical alloy process for Al/CNTs mixed powders because the grinding behavior of Al/CNTs composite powder was affected by addition of CNTs. Indeed, the powder morphology and crystal size of the composite powders changed more by an increase of grinding time and rotation speed.
Mg3-xZnxSb2 powders with x = 0-1.2 were fabricated by mechanical alloying in a planetary ball mill with a speed of 350 rpm for 24 hrs and then hot pressed under a pressure of 70 MPa at 773 K for 2 hrs. It was found that there were systematic shifts in the X-ray diffraction peaks of Mg3Sb2 (x = 0) toward a higher angle with increasing Zn for both the powder and the bulk sample and finally the phase of Mg1.86Zn1.14Sb2 was formed at the Zn content of x = 1.2. The Mg3-xZnxSb2 compounds had nano-sized grains of 21-30 nm for the powder and 28-66 nm for the hot pressed specimens. The electrical conductivity of hot pressed Mg3-xZnxSb2 increased with increasing Zn content and temperature from 33 Sm-1 for x = 0 to 13,026 Sm-1 for x = 1.2 at 323 K. The samples for all the compositions from x = 0 to x = 1.2 had positive Seebeck coefficients, which decreased with increasing Zn content and temperature, which resulted from the increased charge carrier concentration. Most of the samples had relatively low thermal conductivities comparable to the high performance thermoelectric materials. The dimensionless figure of merit of Mg3-xZnxSb2 was directly proportional to the Zn content except for the compound with Zn = 1.2 at high temperature. The Mg3-xZnxSb2 compound with Zn = 0.8 had the largest value of ZT, 0.33 at 723 K.
In this study, GaN powders were synthesized from gallium oxide-hydroxide (GaOOH) through an ammonification process in an NH3 flow with the variation of B2O3 additives within a temperature range of 300-1050˚C. The additive effect of B2O3 on the hexagonal phase GaN powder synthesis route was examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transformation infrared transmission (FTIR) spectroscopy. With increasing the mol% of B2O3 additive in the GaOOH precursor powder, the transition temperature and the activation energy for GaN powder formation increased while the GaN synthesis limit-time (tc) shortened. The XPS results showed that Boron compounds of B2O3 and BN coexisted in the synthesized GaN powders. From the FTIR spectra, we were able to confirm that the GaN powder consisted of an amorphous or cubic phase B2O3 due to bond formation between B and O and the amorphous phase BN due to B-N bonds. The GaN powder synthesized from GaOOH and B2O3 mixed powder by an ammonification route through β-Ga2O3 intermediate state. During the ammonification process, boron compounds of B2O3 and BN coated β-Ga2O3 and GaN particles limited further nitridation processes.
One of the most important characteristics of Mg alloys is the high ratio of strength to weight. This is why there is a high demand for applications with these alloys in the transportation industries to reduce the fuel consumption and to save energy. In addition, magnesium (and its alloys) is of considerable interest as a structural material, especially in the aerospace and automotive industries thanks to its low density. However, its major drawback is its high sensitivity to corrosion. Therefore, its use requires the application of a surface treatment. This study used a die-casted AZ91D Mg alloyand all the samples were annealed (in 120˚C). The surface microstructure and phase distribution in thin-walled AZ91D magnesium components cast on a hot-chamber die-casting machine were investigated by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The reflectance differences in the bulk state comparison with the annealing state are caused by hydrogenation presence of the Mg layer under an oxidation surface layer.
For fabricating silicon solar cells with high conversion efficiency, texturing is one of the most effective techniques to increase short circuit current by enhancing light trapping. In this study, four different types of textures, large V-groove, large U-groove, small V-groove, and small U-groove, were prepared by a wet etching process. Silicon substrates with V-grooves were fabricated by an anisotropic etching process using a KOH solution mixed with isopropyl alcohol (IPA), and the size of the V-grooves was controlled by varying the concentration of IPA. The isotropic etching process following anisotropic etching resulted in U-grooves and the isotropic etching time was determined to obtain U-grooves with an opening angle of approximately 60˚. The results indicated that U-grooves had a larger diffuse reflectance than V-grooves and the reflectances of small grooves was slightly higher than those of large grooves depending on the size of the grooves. Then amorphous Si:H thin film solar cells were fabricated on textured substrates to investigate the light trapping effect of textures with different shapes and sizes. Among the textures fabricated in this work, the solar cells on the substrate with small U-grooves had the largest short circuit current, 19.20 mA/cm2. External quantum efficiency data also demonstrated that the small, U-shape textures are more effective for light trapping than large, V-shape textures.
The electrolytic reduction of a spent oxide fuel involves liberation of the oxygen in a molten LiCl electrolyte, which is a chemically aggressive environment that is too crosive for typical structural materials. Therefore, it is essential to choose the optimum material for the process equipment for handling a molten salt. In this study, the corrosion behavior of pyro-carbon made by CVD was investigated in a molten LiCl-Li2O salt under an oxidation atmosphere at 650˚C and 750˚C for 72 hours. Pyro-carbon showed no chemical reactions with the molten salt because of its low wettability between pyro-carbon and the molten salt. As a result of XRD analysis, pyro-carbon exposed to the molten salt showed pure graphite after corrosion tests. As a result of TGA, whereas the coated layer by CVD showed high anti-oxidation, the non-coated layer showed relatively low anti-oxidation. The stable phases in the reactions were C(S), Li2CO3(S), LiCl(l), Li2O at 650˚C and C(S), LiCl(l), Li2O(S) at 750˚C. Li2CO(S) was decomposed at 750˚C into Li2O(S) and CO2(g).
A study on the corrosion behavior of Inconel alloys and Incoloy 800H in molten salt of LiCl-Li2O was investigated at 650˚C for 24-312 hours in an oxidation atmosphere. The order of the corrosion rate was Inconel 600< Inconel 601< Incoloy 800H< Inconel 690. Inconel 600 showed the best performance suggesting that the content of Fe, Cr and Ni are the important factor for corrosion resistance in hot molten salt oxidation conditions. The corrosion products of Inconel 600 and Inconel 601 were Cr2O3 and NiFe2O4, In case of Inconel 690, a single layer of Cr2O3 was formed in the early stage of corrosion and an outer layer of NiFe2O4 and inner layer of Cr2O3 were formed with an increase of corrosion time. In the case of Incoloy 800H, Cr2O3 and FeCr2O4 were observed. Most of the outer scale of the alloys was observed to be spalled from the results of the SEM analysis and the unspalled scale which adhered to the substrate was composed of three layers. The outer layer, the middle one, and the inner one were Fe, Cr, and Ni-rich, respectively. Inconel 600 showed localized corrosion behavior and Inconel 601, 690 and Incoloy 800H showed uniform corrosion behavior. Ni improves the corrosion resistance and too much Cr and/or Fe content deteriorates the corrosion resistance.
The Ti-6Al-4V extra low interstitial (ELI) alloy has been widely used as an orthopedic implant material because of its excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility. However, it still has many problems, including a high elastic modulus and toxicity of the Al and V elements. Therefore, non-toxic biomaterials with a low elastic modulus need to be developed. A high energy mechanical milling (HEMM) process is introduced to improve the effect of sintering. Rapid sintering of spark plasma sintering (SPS) under pressure was used to make an ultra fine grain of Ti-25 wt.%Nb-7 wt.%Zr-10 wt.%Mo-(10 wt.%CPP) composites with bio-attractive elements for increasing strength. These composites were fabricated by SPS at 1000˚C at 60 MPa using HEMM powders. During the sintering process, CaTiO3, TixOy, and CaO were formed because of the reaction between Ti and CPP. The effects of CPP content on the physical and mechanical properties of the sintered Ti-Nb-Zr-Mo-CPP composites were investigated. The biocompatibility and corrosion resistance of the Ti-Nb-Zr-Mo alloys were improved by the addition of CPP.
Well-distributed SnO2-Sn-Ag3Sn nanoparticles embedded in carbon nanofibers were fabricated using a co-electrospinning method, which is set up with two coaxial capillaries. Their formation mechanisms were successfully demonstrated. The structural, morphological, and chemical compositional properties were investigated by field-emission scanning electron spectroscopy (FESEM), bright-field transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In particular, to obtain well-distributed SnO2 and Sn and Ag3Sn nanoparticles in carbon nanofibers, the relative molar ratios of the Ag precursor to the Sn precursor including 7 wt% polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were controlled at 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3. The FESEM, bright-field TEM, XRD, and XPS results show that the nanoparticles consisting of SnO2-Sn-Ag3Sn phases were in the range of ~4 nm-6 nm for sample A, ~5 nm-15 nm for sample B, ~9 nm-22 nm for sample C. In particular, for sample A, the nanoparticles were uniformly grown in the carbon nanofibers. Furthermore, when the amount of the Ag precursor and the Sn precursor was increased, the inorganic nanofibers consisting of the SnO2-Sn-Ag3Sn nanoparticles were formed due to the decreased amount of the carbon nanofibers. Thus, well-distributed nanoparticles embedded in the carbon nanofibers were successfully synthesized at the optimum molar ratio (0.1) of the Ag precursor to the Sn precursor after calcination of 800˚C.
Delamination crack detection is very important for improving the structural reliability of laminated composite structures. This requires real-time delamination detection technologies. For composite laminates that are reinforced with carbon fiber, an electrical potential method uses carbon fiber for reinforcements and sensors at the same time. The use of carbon fiber for sensors does not need to consider the strength reduction of smart structures induced by imbedding sensors into the structures. With carbon fiber reinforced (CF/) epoxy matrix composites, it had been proved that the delamination crack was detected experimentally. In the present study, therefore, similar experiments were conducted to prove the applicability of the method for delamination crack detection of CF/polyetherethereketone matrix composite laminates. Mode I and mode II delamination tests with artificial cracks were conducted, and three point bending tests without artificial cracks were conducted. This study experimentally proves the applicability of the method for detection of delamination cracks. CF/polyetherethereketone material has strong electric resistance anisotropy. For CF/polyetherethereketone matrix composites, a carbon fiber network is constructed, and the network is broken by propagation of delamination cracks. This causes a change in the electric resistance of CF/polyetherethereketone matrix composites. Using three point bending specimens, delamination cracks generated without artificial initial cracks is proved to be detectable using the electric potential method: This method successfully detected delamination cracks.