In this study, the temperature gradient on lunar surface was simulated by deep cryogenic treatment and cryogenic thermocycling. The influence of these treatments on room and low temperature tensile properties and fracture behavior of the as-cast Mg–10Gd–3Y–0.5Zr alloy was then investigated. The results have shown that the cryogenic treatments caused the precipitation of Mg24(Gd, Y)5 phase and improved the ductility of the alloy. The deep cryogenic treatment almost has no influence on the tensile properties of the alloy, while the cryogenic thermocycling slightly improve its tensile properties at room temperature and slightly deteriorate the ultimate tensile strength of the alloy at low temperature. The cleavage fracture is the main fracture mechanism at both room and low temperatures. To conclude, this alloy can withstand the huge temperature gradient on the lunar surface and shows application perspective.

The evolution behavior of Ni2(Cr, Mo) phase with Pt2Mo-type structure in the Ni–Cr–Mo alloy with a low atomic Mo/Cr ratio subjected to a long-term thermal exposure of 100–340 h at 600 °C was investigated using transmission electron microscopy and microhardness. Results demonstrate that there is a linear relationship between major axis cube (L 3) of ordered domain and thermal exposure time (t) followed by a coarsening regime described by the Lifshitz–Slyozov–Wagner model, as well as between the aspect ratio (D) of ordered domain and thermal exposure time. The volume fraction of ordered domain increases with increasing thermal exposure time, whereas the hardening of samples decreases due to growth-coarsening of ordered domain. Prolonged thermal exposure time led to the coarsening of ordered domain by rate of (3.39 ± 0.02) × 10−30 m3/s without changing their crystallography and ordering characteristics during thermal exposure. Plastic deformation before thermal exposure do not lead to decomposition of initial Ni2(Cr, Mo) phase, but both plastic deformation and thermal exposure affect their morphology and distribution.

Inconel 617 alloy (IN 617) is an important candidate material of advanced ultrasupercritical power unit above 700 °C. However, there are some issues in welding of IN 617 such as constitutional liquation and hot cracking. Tungsten inert gas (TIG) is considered as an effective welding method to join IN 617 because of low heat input and high quality. Investigation of the microstructure variation of TIG welded joint and its correlation with properties is helpful in deep understanding the stability and reliability of IN 617 welded joint. In this paper, the microstructure evolution and element segregation of IN 617 welded joint were investigated systematically. It is found that the base metal (BM) with significant banded structure is characterized by austenitic grains and some secondary phases distribute along the grain boundaries and inside the grains. The fine secondary phases are determined as M23C6 enriched with Cr and Mo elements. A few large polygon phases are identified as Ti(C, N) with a size of about 10 μm. The coarsened secondary phases are observed in the heat affected zone (HAZ) close to BM whilst the lamellar structure enriched with Cr and Mo is present along grain boundaries in the HAZ near the fusion line. The weld metal (WM) is fully austenitic with a dendritic structure and contains particles dispersing in the matrix. The element segregation on grain boundaries of IN 617 welded joint was analyzed by energy dispersive spectrometer. No obvious element segregation was observed in HAZ. In WM, the area in the vicinity of solidification grain boundaries and solidification subgrain boundaries (SSGBs) has a local depletion of Ni and Co while the Cr and Mo have no obvious segregation. Microhardness and high temperature tensile test of BM and WM were conducted. The WM has a little bit larger hardness value than BM and HAZ because of the strengthening effect of SSGBs. The fracture position is determined in the middle of WM, which is attributed to the grain boundary failure in the center of WM. The high temperature tensile properties of the welded joint are close to BM. In this investigation, the constitutional liquation in HAZ and solidification in WM have little effect on the high temperature tensile properties. TIG welding method is proved to be a suitable welding method to join IN 617.

To investigate the effects of cold rolling on the microstructure, the precipitation behavior and the morphology of δ-phase, Inconel 718 alloy samples with different cold rolling reductions were aged for different periods at temperatures range from 850 °C to 1000 °C. Detailed microstructural observations and quantitative measurements were conducted to characterize the evolution of the δ-phase during aging. The results show that the microstructure consists of large deformed grains as a result of a slow static recovery at the low aging temperatures (850 and 900 °C); whereas the austenite matrix is fully recrystallized at the high aging temperatures (950 and 1000 °C). It is also found that the amount of δ-phase and the number density of spherical δ-phase particles increase with the increase in the degree of cold rolling both at low and high aging temperatures. With respect to different microstructural changes for the cold-rolled samples at the low or the high aging temperatures, two distinct mechanisms have been, respectively, introduced to interpret the changes in the precipitation behavior and the appearance of δ-phase.

This study reports new facile approach for gram-scale synthesis of graphene-like nanosheets fine powder, using glucose as precursor. Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) has been prepared in gram-scale via hydrothermal treatment of glucose. Upon increasing the vapor/liquid ratio for aqueous glucose solution within the autoclave system to 3/2, RGO-rich graphitic powder, containing small graphene oxide and amorphous carbon contents and having spherical morphology, is obtained. Then, introducing ammonia into the reaction medium resulted in the formation of pure RGO with reduced O-content and flat nanosheet-like morphology (Amm–RGO3/2). Interestingly, few-layer graphene-like nanosheets with slight oxygen and amorphous carbon contents and few structural defects are produced when annealing Amm–RGO3/2 at 600 °C under inert atmosphere. In summary, hydrothermal treatment of aqueous solution containing just glucose and ammonia followed by moderate-temperature thermal annealing, lead to few-layer graphene-like nanosheets with good structural characteristics. This new simple and efficient approach can be of great potential in the mass production of graphene-like nanosheets.

Two kinds of Ag/ZnO electrical contact materials were fabricated by powder metallurgy method. The electrical life testing was done to investigate the arc erosion behavior of the prepared contact materials. Their properties and morphologies were characterized and discussed in detail. Results showed that Ag/ZnO(c) with coprecipitated ZnO as the second phase had better mechanical and electrical properties compared with Ag/ZnO(a) with ZnO purchased from Aladdin Industrial, Inc. Besides, some typical morphologies, such as holes, Ag or ZnO enrichment zone, Ag skeletons and bubbling area, occurred on the surface of the contacts. Especially for Ag/ZnO(c), vertically aligned ZnO nanorod arrays were detected after the life testing without any other supporting equipment. The existence of a solid solution Zn1−x Ag x O and different energy generated during arcing process were possible reasons resulting in this phenomenon. A solid–vapor–solid mechanism was put forward to analyze the phenomenon mentioned above. These evidences could also offer some valuable information desired for reducing the splashing of Ag droplet under arcing.

The combination of low areal density, high flexural rigidity, and open architecture makes metallic microsandwiching a promising candidate for structural frameworks in small-scale multifunctional devices. We demonstrate a one-step electrodeposition procedure to synthesize an aluminum–manganese (Al–Mn) microsandwich using a porous polycarbonate (PC) membrane template from room-temperature ionic liquid. Mn was added to refine the microstructure and increase the hardness of Al. A cyclic voltammogram study shows Mn codeposit with Al in an acidic chloroaluminate electrolyte. Increasing the MnCl2 concentration in the electrolyte from 0.05 to 0.25 M promoted a crystalline to amorphous phase transition of the deposited structures. Finally, mechanical properties and damage resistance of the microsandwiches were evaluated using nano- and micro-indentation tests as well as finite element methods.

A congruent melting compound LiNaV2O6 has been synthesized by high-temperature solution reaction and it has been grown with sizes up to 11 × 6 × 2 mm3 by the top-seeded growth method for the first time. LiNaV2O6 crystallizes in the monoclinic system with space group C2/c, with a = 10.184(2) Å, b = 9.067(2) Å, c = 5.8324(11) Å, β = 108.965(14)°. UV–Vis–NIR diffuse reflectance spectrum of LiNaV2O6 shows that it has a wide transmittance range from 385 to 2500 nm. The ab initio calculations show that the birefringence of LiNaV2O6 is 0.136 at 589.3 nm. Therefore, LiNaV2O6 may be a new birefringent material. Based on the analysis of the relationship between crystal structure and linear optical properties, it is found that the large birefringence is attributed to the particular arrangement of V–O anionic groups.

Glasses doped with rare earth elements (lanthanide series) are the most popular materials used in upconversion devices. The main aspect to develop these devices is to find suitable host materials for rare earth ions. The host material should have a high transmission of the upconverted photons, high thermal stability, good mechanical properties, low price, and easy to manufacture and shaping. Present work is concerned with studying the mechanical and structural properties for the oxide glass system doped with rare earth metal (erbium oxide, Er2O3). Ultrasonic pulse-echo technique is used to measure the sound velocities in the glass system (30%B2O3·30%Bi2O3·20%Li2O·10%BaO·10%Pb3O4·xEr2O3), (x = 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4) mol%. Ultrasound velocities (longitudinal and shear) are measured as a function of the Er2O3 content at a frequency of 4 MHz for longitudinal wave and 2 MHz for the shear wave at a temperature of 300 K. The elastic moduli and some physical parameters, such as Debye temperature, coordination number, and compressibility, were evaluated. Furthermore, the dimensionality of the glass network has been calculated in terms of the d ratio which equals G/B ratio. These parameters beside the x-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) measurements throw more light on the structure of the glass system. The measurements in this study exhibit remarkable anomalous changes in the network structure of the investigated glass doped with Er2O3.

The effect of applied pressure on reactive hot pressing (RHP) of zirconium (Zr):graphite (C) in molar ratios of 1:0.5, 1:0.67, 1:0.8, and 1:1 was studied at 1200 °C for 60 min. The relative density achievable increased with increasing pressure and ranged from 99% at 4 MPa for ZrC0.5 to 93% for stoichiometric ZrC at 100 MPa. The diminishing influence of pressure on the final density with increasing stoichiometry is attributed to two causes: the decreasing initial volume fraction of the plastically deforming Zr metal which leads to the earlier formation of a contiguous, stress shielding carbide skeleton and the larger molar volume shrinkage during reaction which leads to pore formation in the final stages. A numerical model of the creep densification of a dynamically evolving microstructure predicts densities that are consistent with observations and confirm that the availability of a soft metal is primarily responsible for the achievement of such elevated densification during RHP. The ability to densify nonstoichiometric compositions like ZrC0.5 at pressures as low as 4 MPa offers an alternate route to fabricating dense nonstoichiometric carbides.

Hydrophobic functionalized SBA-15 has been developed via postsynthesis modification with trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) and used for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) removal. The adsorption and desorption performance of different SBA-15-TMCS under static and dynamic conditions were investigated. Experimental results indicated that all samples showed a highly ordered two dimensional hexagonal mesostructure, and the organic groups were chemically incorporated into the pore surface of SBA-15 substrate. Comparing with commercial silica gel and activated carbon, SBA-15-TMCS shows higher static adsorption capacities of n-hexane and 93# gasoline, good recyclability, lower water vapor adsorption capacity, higher dynamic adsorption capacity, and longer breakthrough time. The high adsorption efficiency and stability of SBA-15-TMCS are associated with their hydrophobic surface, uniform and large pore size, high surface area and pore volume. The designed SBA-15-TMCS with high VOC adsorption capacity and recyclability shows great potential for VOC removal.