RESEARCH LETTERS|45 Article(s)
MOF/Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Composite Polymer Electrolyte for Solid-state Lithium Battery
Fengqing LIANG, and Zhaoyin WEN
Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) with high flexibility and processability enable the fabrication of leak-free solid-state batteries with varied geometries. However, SPEs usually suffer from low ionic conductivity and poor stability with lithium metal anodes. Here, we propose nano-sized metal-organic framework (MOF) material(UiO-66) as filler for poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) polymer electrolyte. The coordination of UiO-66 with oxygen in PEO chain and the interaction between UiO-66 and lithium salt significantly improve the ionic conductivity (3.0×10 -5 S/cm at 25 ℃, 5.8×10 -4 S/cm at 60 ℃) and transference number of Li + (0.36), widen the electrochemical window to 4.9 V (vs Li +/Li), enhance the stability with lithium metal anode. As a result, the as-prepared Li symmetrical cells can continuously operate for 1000 h at 0.15 mA∙cm -2, 60 ℃. The results show that UiO-66 filler is effective to improve the electrochemical performance of polymer electrolyte.
Journal of Inorganic Materials
  • Publication Date: May. 20, 2021
  • Vol. 36, Issue 3, 332 (2021)
Facilely Anchoring Cu nanoparticles on WO3 Nanocubes for Enhanced Photocatalysis through Efficient Interface Charge Transfer
Jinyan XIONG, Qiang LUO, Kai ZHAO, Mengmeng ZHANG, Chao HAN, and Gang CHENG
Non-noble metal decoration is a promising strategy for promoting semiconductor photocatalysis by effectively enhancing charge separation. Cube-like WO3-Cu hybrid was successfully synthesized by a facile ascorbic acid reduction method at room temperature. The composition and morphology characterization showed that the Cu particle was deposited on the surface of WO3 nanocube. The WO3-Cu-1.0 hybrid (when 1.0 mmol CuSO4∙5H2O was involved into the reaction system) exhibited promoted photocatalytic capability towards Congo Red photodegradation under simulated sun light irradiation. The trapping experiments of active species during photocatalysis and ESR spectra of DMPO•OH signal of WO3-Cu-1.0 composite confirmed that the photogenerated holes (h +), •OH, and •O2-were the predominant active species during Conge Red degradation. Based on the photo/electro-chemical measurements, it was proposed that efficient charge transfer was accomplished between the WO3 nanocube and Cu nanoparticles, which promoted electron-holes separation and subsequently photocatalysis reaction in the Congo Red solution. This work provides a facile preparation method for a binary photocatalyst system in which a semiconductor coupled with non-noble metal.
Journal of Inorganic Materials
  • Publication Date: Aug. 01, 2021
  • Vol. 36, Issue 3, 325 (2021)
Co Incorporation on Structure, Conductivity and Magnetism of GaFeO3
Zhaoyang XIA, Hui WANG, Jinghong FANG, Yang ZHANG, Chaoyue WANG, Huan HE, Jinqi NI, Yun SHI, Qin LI, and Jianding YU
GaFeO3 is one of the most promising ferromagnetic materials due to its magnetoelectric coupling effect. GaFe1-xCoxO3 (x=0, 0.02, 0.05, 0.07, 0.10) ceramics were prepared by the conventional solid-state method, and the effect of Co substitution on the microstructure, electrical leakage and magnetic properties was investigated. The XRD patterns and Rietveld refinement using the FullProf package showed that the secondary phase with a Fd3¯m space group was present in addition to the main GFO phase with a Pc21n space group, and with an increase of Co doping, the proportion of the secondary phase and the lattice distortion increased. The leakage current density of the GFCO-x samples decreased by approximately 7 orders of magnitude for Co=2at%. The improved magnetization in GFCO ceramics was attributed to the secondary phase and enhanced lattice distortion. This work suggests that the magnetism was improved by doping Co and the leakage current would be decreased sharply without prominent fluctuation of TC in the meantime by the incorporation of trace amounts of Co.
Journal of Inorganic Materials
  • Publication Date: Sep. 10, 2021
  • Vol. 36, Issue 3, 319 (2021)
Mechanical Property of SnSe Single Crystal Prepared via Vertical Bridgman Method
Min JIN, Xudong BAI, Su ZHAO, Rulin ZHANG, Yuqi CHEN, and Lina ZHOU
Ⅳ-Ⅵ SnSe single crystal is an attractive thermoelectric (TE) material due to its outstanding TE behavior and environment friendly charactistic. In this work, an effective way for SnSe single crystal growth was explored, and the mechanical property of the as-prepared product was investigated. Undoped SnSe single crystal with accurate stoichiometric ratio was successfully grown via a vertical Bridgman method. The as-grown SnSe single crystal has standard orthorhombic Pnma space group at room temperature. It is easy to cleave along (100) plane because of its weak link between adjacent Sn-Se layers. Microindentation test reveals that SnSe single crystal is a very soft material as its average Vickers microhardness HV is only 53 MPa under 0.01-0.05 kg applied loads. However, it displays excellent fracture toughness due to strong heteropolar bonds between Sn and Se atoms inside (100) plane. The friction coefficient COF on (100) is increased from 0.09 to 0.8 as the scratch load is added from 5 to 300 mN. This work is of great significance to provide the mechanical property of SnSe single crystal.
Journal of Inorganic Materials
  • Publication Date: Mar. 09, 2021
  • Vol. 36, Issue 3, 313 (2021)
Fabrication and Characterizations of Yb:YAG Transparent Ceramics Using Alcohol-water Co-precipitation Method
Xinyou HUANG, Yumin LIU, Yang LIU, Xiaoying LI, Yagang FENG, Xiaopu CHEN, Penghui CHEN, Xin LIU, Tengfei XIE, and Jiang LI
Yb 3+ doped YAG transparent ceramics have great potential as gain medium for high-power solid-state lasers due to many advantages, such as broad absorption and emission bands, high gain, low thermal loading, long fluorescence lifetime and high quantum efficiency. So Yb:YAG transparent ceramics have gradually been paid more attention. In this work, we aimed at optimizing the properties of powders to fabricate highly transparent Yb:YAG ceramics. 5at%Yb:YAG nano-powders were synthesized via the co-precipitation method by using ammonium hydrogen carbonate as the precipitant, and pure water or alcohol-water mixture as the solvent. All powders calcined at 1250 ℃ for 4 h exhibit a pure YAG phase. Compared to the one with pure water solvent, the 5at%Yb:YAG powder synthesized with alcohol-water solvent exhibits smaller average crystallite size and lower agglomeration degree. 5at%Yb:YAG transparent ceramics were successfully fabricated by vacuum sintering without sintering additives from the obtained powder with alcohol-water solvent. The microstructure and in-line transmittance of the ceramics sintered at 1500-1825 ℃ for 20 h and 1800 ℃ for 10-50 h were investigated. All ceramic samples show a homogeneous microstructure except for that sintered at 1825 ℃ for 20 h. The sample sintered at 1800 ℃ for 50 h shows the highest in-line transmittance of 78.6% at 1100 nm and 76.7% at 400 nm (2.2 mm thickness). The calculated absorption and emission cross sections are 5.03×10-21 cm2 at 937 nm and 13.48×10-21 cm2 at 1031 nm, respectively. Therefore, Yb:YAG ceramics with high optical transparency and uniform microstructure have been fabricated from powder with alcohol-water solvent.
Journal of Inorganic Materials
  • Publication Date: Feb. 20, 2021
  • Vol. 36, Issue 2, 217 (2021)
Fabrication and Optical Property of Nd:Lu2O3 Transparent Ceramics for Solid-state Laser Applications
Ziyu LIU, Guido TOCI, Angela PIRRI, Barbara PATRIZI, Yagang FENG, Xiaopu CHEN, Dianjun HU, Feng TIAN, Lexiang WU, Matteo VANNINI, and Jiang LI
Nd 3+ doped Lu2O3 crystal has been suggested to be potential gain medium for high-power solid-state lasers due to the high thermal conductivity, low phonon energy and excellent optical properties. Because of the extremely high melting point of above 2400 ℃, great attention has been paid to the Lu2O3-based transparent ceramics considering the comparable optical properties and laser performance with single crystal. In this work, we aimed at fabricating highly transparent Nd:Lu2O3 ceramics and investigating the optical properties and laser performance. 1.0at%Nd:Lu2O3 ceramics were fabricated by two-step sintering, namely vacuum sintering along with hot isostatic pressing (HIP) method, from coprecipitated nano-powders. The microstructures of the as-prepared powder, green body and ceramics were studied. The average grain size of the HIPed ceramics is 724.2 nm. The final ceramic sample has the in-line transmittance of 82.4% at 1100 nm (1.0 mm thickness). The absorption cross-section of 1.0at%Nd:Lu2O3 ceramics at 806 nm is 1.50´10-20 cm2 and the calculated emission cross-section from fluorescence spectrum at 1080 nm is about 6.5´10-20 cm2. The mean fluorescence lifetime, 169 ms, of the4F3/2·4I11/2 was measured at the two excitation wavelengths of 878.8 and 895.6 nm, respectively. Laser performance of the annealed ceramic sample was investigated in quasi-continuous wave (QCW) condition. A maximum laser output power of 0.47 W with a slope efficiency of 8.7% is obtained by using an output coupler with a transmission of TOC=2.0%. Briefly, laser level Nd:Lu2O3 transparent ceramics with high optical transparency and uniform microstructure have been fabricated, which are promising gain media for solid-state lasers.
Journal of Inorganic Materials
  • Publication Date: Feb. 20, 2021
  • Vol. 36, Issue 2, 210 (2021)
Cobalt-doped Hollow Carbon Framework as Sulfur Host for the Cathode of Lithium Sulfur Battery
Gaoyao JIN, Haichuan HE, Jie WU, Mengyuan ZHANG, Yajuan LI, and Younian LIU
Lithium-sulfur batteries are deemed to be the next generation of cost-effective and high energy density systems for energy storage. However, low conductivity of active materials, shuttle effect and sluggish kinetics of redox reaction lead to serious capacity fading and poor rate performance. Herein, a sodium citrate derived three-dimensional hollow carbon framework embedded with cobalt nanoparticles is designed as the host for sulfur cathode. The introduced cobalt nanoparticles can effectively adsorb the polysulfides, enhance the kinetics of conversion reaction and further improve the cyclic and rate performance. The obtained cathode delivered a high initial discharge capacity of 1280 mAh·g-1 at 0.5C, excellent high-rate performance up to 10C and stable cyclic capacity of 770 mAh·g-1 at 1C for 200 cycles with high Columbic efficiency.
Journal of Inorganic Materials
  • Publication Date: Feb. 20, 2021
  • Vol. 36, Issue 2, 203 (2021)
High Temperature Interfacial Stability of Fe/Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 Thermoelectric Elements
Xu WANG, Ming GU, Jincheng LIAO, Qingfeng SONG, Xun SHI, Shengqiang BAI, and Lidong CHEN
The high temperature interfacial stability of thermoelectric (TE) elements, which is mainly evaluated by the inter-diffusion and interfacial resistivity at the interface between the barrier layer and the TE material, is one of the key factors determining the service performance and application prospects of TE devices. In this study, a screening method based on high-throughput strategy was employed to further improve the interfacial stability of P-type bismuth telluride TE devices, and Fe was proved the preferred barrier layer material for P-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 (P-BT). Then Fe/P-BT TE elements were prepared by one-step sintering. Evolution of the Fe/P-BT interfacial microstructure during high temperature accelerated aging was systematically studied, and stability of the interfacial resistivity was explored. It is found that during aging, the Fe/P-BT interface is well bonded and the composition of the ternary Fe-Sb-Te diffusion layer remains basically unchanged. The diffusion layer thickness increases linearly with the square root of the aging time and the growth activation energy is 199.6 kJ/mol. The initially low interfacial resistivity of the Fe/P-BT interface increases slowly with the prolonged aging time but remains below 10 μΩ·cm2 even after 16 d at 350 ℃. The life prediction based on the interfacial diffusion kinetics indicates that Fe is a suitable barrier layer material for Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 TE elements.
Journal of Inorganic Materials
  • Publication Date: Feb. 20, 2021
  • Vol. 36, Issue 2, 197 (2021)
Sputtering Power on the Microstructure and Properties of MgF2 Thin Films Prepared with Magnetron Sputtering
Changjiang ZHAO, Chao MA, Juncheng LIU, Zhigang LIU, and Yan CHEN
To reduce the F deficiency defect in MgF2 thin films deposited with magnetron sputtering, SF6 was added to the working gas Ar2 as the reactive gas, and MgF2 thin films were prepared on quartz glass substrates with radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. The effects of sputtering power on the chemical compositions, microstructure and optical properties of MgF2 thin film were investigated. The results show that with sputtering power increase from 115 to 220 W, the atomic ratio of F to Mg increased continuously, and reached 2.02 at 185 W, close to ideal stoichiometric ratio of 2: 1. The crystallinity of MgF2 film improved first, then decreased, and finally changed into amorphous state. Profile of particles composing MgF2 film became clearer at first, and finally became blurred. Refractive index of MgF2 film decreased firstly and then increased, and got the lowest value at 185 W, 1.384 at 550 nm wavelength which is very close to that of MgF2 bulk crystal. The integral transmittance of the coated glass within 300-1100 nm (hereinafter referred to as the transmittance of the thin film) increased first and then decreased, and reached 94.99% at 185 W, higher than that of the bare glass substrate by 1.79%.
Journal of Inorganic Materials
  • Publication Date: Sep. 20, 2020
  • Vol. 35, Issue 9, 1064 (2020)
Three-dimensional Reconstruction and Porosity Calculation of Ceramic Coating: Nondestructive X-ray Computed Tomography
Zhifeng ZHANG, Fengjuan WANG, Shengping WU, and Jinyang JIANG
Ceramic coatings can effectively prevent the corrosion of steel bars in marine environments. In this study, we prepared phosphate ceramic coatings on the surface of carbon steel. X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence were used to analyze the phase structure and composition of the ceramic and the results show that the main crystal composition of ceramic is P2O5 and SiO2. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the morphology of the surface and the section and results showed that the surface was cracked, and the thickness of ceramic was 349 μm. Meanwhile, a number of high-resolution images of internal structure of solids were obtained by non-destructive X-ray computed tomography (X-CT). Matlab and Mimics software were used to conduct the three-dimensional reconstruction of the CT images. Matrix and holes are distinguished by threshold segmentation in grayscale images, and the porosity of the ceramic coatings was calculated to be 14.0%. In addition, mercury intrusion porosimetry was used to verify the calculation results. Therefore, X-CT can be a useful and reliable tool for the visualization of the internal structure of ceramic coatings.
Journal of Inorganic Materials
  • Publication Date: Sep. 20, 2020
  • Vol. 35, Issue 9, 1059 (2020)