This research investigated the effect of Si addition on the microstructure, mechanical properties, electric and thermal conductivity of as-extruded Al 6013 alloys. As the content of Si increased, the area fraction of the second phase increased. As the Si content increased, the average grain size decreased remarkably, from 182 (no Si addition) to 142 (1.5Si), 78 (3.0Si) and 77 μm (4.5Si) due to dynamic recrystallization by the dispersed second particles in the aluminum matrix during the hot extrusion. As the Si content increased, the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength increased. The maximum values of yield strength and ultimate tensile strength were 224 MPa and 103 MPa for the 6013-4.5Si alloy. As the amount of Si added increased, the electrical and thermal conductivity decreased. The electrical and thermal conductivity of the Al6013-4.5Si alloy were 44.0% IACS and 165.0 W/mK, respectively. The addition of Si to Al 6013 alloy had a significant effect on its thermal conductivity and mechanical properties.
The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is very sluggish compared to the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Considering this difference is essential when designing and developing a cost-effective and facile synthesis method for a catalyst that can effectively perform OER activity. The material should possess a high surface area and more active sites. Considering these points, in this work we successfully synthesized sheets of cobalt phosphate hydrate (CP) and sulphurated cobalt phosphate hydrate (CPS) material, using simple successive ionic layered adsorption and reaction (SILAR) methods followed by sulfurization. The CP and CPS electrodes exhibited overpotentials of 279 mV with a Tafel slope of 212 mV dec1 and 381 mV with a Tafel slope of 212 mV dec1, respectively. The superior performance after sulfurization is attributed to the intrinsic activity of the deposited well-aligned nanosheet structures, which provided a substantial number of electrochemically active surface sites, speeded electron transfer, and at the same time improved the diffusion of the electrolyte.
Magnesium alloy is the lightest practical metal. It has excellent specific strength and recyclability as well as abundant reserves, and is expected to be a next-generation structural metal material following aluminum alloy. This paper investigated the possibility of thin plate fabrication by applying a overheating treatment to the melt drag method, and investigating the surface shape of the thin plate, grain size, grain size distribution, and Vickers hardness. When the overheating treatment was applied to magnesium alloy, the grains were refined, so it is expected that further refinement of grains can be realized if the overheating treatment is applied to the melt drag method. By applying overheating treatment, it was possible to fabricate a thin plate of magnesium alloy using the melt drag method, and a microstructure with a minimum grain size of around 12 μm was obtained. As the overheating treatment temperature increased, void defects increased on the roll surface of the thin plate, and holding time had no effect on the surface shape of the thin plate. The fabricated thin plate showed uniform grain size distribution. When the holding times were 0 and 30 min, the grain size was refined, and the effect of the holding time became smaller as the overheating treatment temperature increased. As the overheating temperature becomes higher, the grain size becomes finer, and the finer the grain size is, the higher the Vickers hardness.
Halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have improved rapidly over the past few years, and research on the optoelectrical properties of halide perovskite thin films has grown as well. Among the characterization techniques, photoluminescence (PL), a method of collecting emitted photons to evaluate the properties of materials, is widely applied to evaluate improvements in the performance of PSCs. However, since only photons emitted from the film in the escape cone are included, the photons collected in PL are a small fraction of the total photons emitted from the film. Unlike PSCs power conversion efficiency, PL measuring methods have not been standardized, and have been evaluated in a variety of ways. Thus, an in-depth study is needed of the methods used to evaluate materials using PL spectra. In this study, we examined the PL spectra of the perovskite light harvesting layer with different measurement protocols and analyzed the features. As the incident angle changed, different spectra were observed, indicating that the PL emission spectrum can depend on the measuring method, not the material. We found the intensity and energy of the PL spectra changes were due to the path of the emitted photons. Also, we found that the PL of halide perovskite thin films generally contains limited information. To solve this problem, the emitted photons should be collected using an integrating sphere. The results of this study suggest that the emission spectrum of halide perovskite films should be carefully interpreted in accordance with PL measuring method, since PL data is mostly affected by the method.
In this study, Y3Al5O12:Eu3+ red phosphors were synthesized at different temperatures using a solid state reaction method. The crystal structures, surface and optical properties of the Y3Al5O12:Eu3+ red phosphors were investigated using Xray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and photoluminescence (PL) analyses. From XRD results, the crystal structure of the Y3Al5O12:Eu3+ red phosphors was determined to be cubic. The maximum emission spectra were observed for the Y3Al5O12:Eu3+ red phosphor prepared by annealing for 4h at 1,700 oC. The 565~590 nm photoluminescent spectra of the Y3Al5O12:Eu3+ red phosphors is associated with the 5D0 → 7F2 magnetic dipole transition of the Eu3+ ions. The intensity of the photoluminescent spectra in the red phosphors is more dominant for the magnetic dipole transition than the electric dipole transition with increasing annealing temperature. The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) coordinates of Y3Al5O12:Eu3+ red phosphors prepared by 1,700 oC annealing temperature are X = 0.5994, Y = 0.3647.
There is ongoing research to develop lithium ion batteries as sustainable energy sources. Because of safety problems, solid state batteries, where electrolytes are replaced with solids, are attracting attention. Sulfide electrolytes, with a high ion conductivity of 103 S/cm or more, have the highest potential performance, but the price of the main materials is high. This study investigated lithium hydride materials, which offer economic advantages and low density. To analyze the change in ion conductivity in polymer electrolyte composites, PVDF, a representative polymer substance was used at a certain mass ratio. XRD, SEM, and BET were performed for metallurgical analyses of the materials, and ion conductivity was calculated through the EIS method. In addition, thermal conductivity was measured to analyze thermal stability, which is a major parameter of lithium ion batteries. As a result, the ion conductivity of LiH was found to be 106 S/cm, and the ion conductivity further decreased as the PVDF ratio increased when the composite was formed.
We report the synthesis and gas sensing properties of bare and ZnO decorated TeO2 nanowires (NWs). A catalyst assisted-vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth method was used to synthesize TeO2 NWs and ZnO decoration was performed using an Au-catalyst assisted-VLS growth method followed by a subsequent heat treatment. Structural and morphological analyses using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning/transmission electron microscopies, respectively, demonstrated the formation of bare and ZnO decorated TeO2 NWs with desired phase and morphology. NO2 gas sensing studies were performed at different temperatures ranging from 50 to 400 oC towards 50 ppm NO2 gas. The results obtained showed that both sensors had their best optimal sensing temperature at 350 oC, while ZnO decorated TeO2 NWs sensor showed much better sensitivity towards NO2 relative to a bare TeO2 NWs gas sensor. The reason for the enhanced sensing performance of the ZnO decorated TeO2 NWs sensor was attributed to the formation of ZnO (n)/ TeO2 (p) heterojunctions and the high intrinsic gas sensing properties of ZnO.
Sealing treatment is a post-surface treatment of the plasma spray coating process to improve the corrosion resistance of the coating material. In this study, the effect of the sealing on the corrosion resistance and adhesive strength of the plasma spray-coated alumina coatings was analyzed. For sealing, an epoxy resin was applied to the surface of the coated specimen using a brush. The coated specimen was subjected to a salt spray test for up to 48 hours and microstructural analysis revealed that corrosion in the coating layer/base material interface was suppressed due to the resin sealing. Measurement of the adhesive strength of the specimens subjected to the salt spray test indicated that the adhesive strength of the sealed specimens remained higher than that of the unsealed specimens. In conclusion, the resin sealing treatment for the plasma spray-coated alumina coatings is an effective method for suppressing corrosion in the coating layer/base material interface and maintaining high adhesive strength.