Table of contents

The First International Conference on New Material and Chemical Industry (NMCI2016) was successfully held in Sanya, China during November 19-21, 2016. The conference was an annual forum for researchers and application developers in the area of material and chemical industry.

This conference proceeding included 76 accepted articles selected from 197 submissions.

We would like to express our gratitude to the reviewers of these manuscripts, who provided constructive criticism and stimulated comments and suggestions to the authors. We are extremely grateful as organizers, technical program committee and editors and extend our most sincere thanks to all the authors for their excellent contribution and work. Our sincere gratitude also goes to the IOP Publishing editors and managers for their helpful cooperation during the preparation of the proceeding.

On behalf of The Organizing Committees of NMCI2016

All papers published in this volume of IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering have been peer reviewed through processes administered by the proceedings Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing.

Pluronic F127/chitosan blend microspheres were prepared via emulsification and cross-linking process using glutaraldehyde as a cross-linker. Compared with chitosan microspheres fabricated under the same experimental conditions, blend microspheres exhibited better physical stability and higher swelling capacity. Puerarin, a traditional Chinese medicine, was incorporated into microparticlesas the model drug. The in vitro release of puerarin from blend microspheres was reduced because of the improved compatibility of the drug with the matrices. According to the results from in vitro adhesion experiments, mucoadhesive behavior of blend microspheres on a mucosa-like surface was similar to that of chitosan microspheres, despite their good ability of anti-protein absorption in solution.

Far infrared flame retardant slices was prepared, fiber with far infrared flame retardant composite function was also prepared by the method of melt spinning. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the fibrous microscopic structure. In the SEM images, functional ultrafine powder particle size and distribution in the fiber were visible. The results show that the functional ultrafine powder is evenly distributed on the fibrous surface, which is closely combined with fiber, and the far infrared emissivity is F, which is more than (8 to 14 microns) 0.88. Far infrared flame retardant polyester fiber has not only good flame retardant, but also environmental health effect: releasing negative ions and launch far-infrared, which shows wide application prospect. The fiber was processed into far-infrared flame retardant electric blanket, whose functional indicators and flame retardant properties are not reduced.

In order to investigate Magnesium-Potassium Phosphate Cement (MKPC) mixed with silica fume on the solidification and reduction of high moisture content (94%) of municipal sludge. The moisture content of the solidified sludge, volume shrinkage, compressive strength and other properties were studied, and the mechanism was discussed based on phase and morphology analysis. The results indicates that the solidified sludge (30% MKPC) with 30% silica fume can obtain with the early compressive strength of 430 KPa, which reached the requirements of the landfill (≥ 350 KPa). The moisture content of solidified sludge decrease to 30% and the volume shrinkage of solidified sludge can reduce to 68% or less at 7d, which played a key role for sludge reduction. MKPC and silica fume form skeleton structure that can promote the evaporation of moisture in the sludge.

Urban sewage sludge with complicated composition produce largely each year, pollution problem and resource utilization has increasingly become the focus of attention. Sewage sludge is utilized to prepare adsorbent that is a new type method. Agricultural stalks was added to material (urban sewage sludge) and activator (ZnCl₂), calcined under the condition of no inert gas, and obtained domestic sludge activated carbon. The properties were measured by iodine adsorption value and BET, discussed influence factors of sludge activated carbon preparation, including activator concentration, solid-liquid ratio, calcific temperature and calcific time. The best process condition of orthogonal experiment had explored that activated time is 10 minutes, calcific temperature is 350°C, the activator concentration ZnCl₂ is 3 mol/L and the mixing ratio of raw materials and activator is approximately 1:5. The iodine adsorption value and the optimal BET of as-obtained domestic sludge activated carbon is 445.06 mg/g, 525.31m²/g, respectively.

Heavy metal wastewater pollution is one of the three major water pollutions in the world. The zinc hydrometallurgy smelting process usually discharge large quantities of heavy metal wastewater into the environment. In this paper, a synergistic solvent extraction process has been developed to recover copper, nickel, zinc and cadmium respectively from calcium and magnesium. The synergistic organic system contained 0.50 M Versatic 10 and 0.5 M Mextral 984H in DT100. Adjusting pH to 2.0 at 40 °C, the copper will be extracted preferentially with the extraction rate more than 99%. Continuing to adjust pH to 4.2 at 40 °C, the nickel will be extracted secondly with an extraction rate more than 98%; the zinc and cadmium in raffinate could be extracted separately while pH is about 6.5.

PEEK/nHA composite material, with excellent mechanical property as polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and biological activity as hydroxyapatite (HA), has attracted wide attention of medical experts and materials science experts. The addition of hydroxyapatite was the decisive factor for biological activity in PEEK/nHA composite. In this paper, acicular nanohydroxyapatite was prepared by chemical precipitation method with Ca(NO₃)₂, (NH₄)₂HPO₄ as raw material; PEEK/nHA composite was prepared by solution blending and vacuum sintering method. The composite was characterized with FT-IR, XRD, DSC, TG and mechanical property test. Results showed that the composite has good thermal stability and compressive property when the mass ratio of PEEK to nHA is 10:3; and high nHA content can improve the biological activity of the composite, which can meet the basic requirements for bone tissue engineering scaffold.

In the present paper, the preparation and characterization of composite material Na₂SO₄·10H₂O - KAl(SO₄)₂·12H₂O for thermal storage are reported. The co - melting method is employed to perform the preparation. The thermal properties and the step cooling behaviors of the composites are studied. The results show that: the phenomenon of phase separation disappears in the composite system with the mass ratio of 1 : 9 to 3 : 7 (Na₂SO₄·10H₂O: KAl(SO₄)₂·12H₂O), and the optimized mass ratio is about 2 : 8, which results in the lowest phase change temperature, the longest heat releasing platform of 41 min and a higher latent heat of 819.93J/g at 72.7 °C; the enthalpy remains higher value after 50 thermal cycles. Thus, this composite material has a potential as the phase change thermal storage material for low temperature application.

In order to enhance the PV efficiency of the cell made from slurry sawn (SS) mc-Si wafers, using a Ag-assisted electroless etching (AgNO₃+HF+H₂O₂) combined with an auxiliary etching (HF+HNO₃) the RENA textured SS mc-Si wafers (called as RENA wafers) were further textured (nano pores were formed on the original micro pits) to change into micro-nano composite textured wafers (called as MN-RENA wafers). The solar cells made from the MN-RENA wafers had a better PV efficiency than that of RENA wafers. This is mainly attributed to the higher light-trapping of the micro-nano composite texture. The nano size texture enhanced the light-trap of wafer surface and, at the same time, the micro size texture maintained the light-trap uniformity of different gains of RENA wafer. However, there still exist a potential for optimization, such as, the SiNx passviation coating should be improved to be deposited more uniformly in order to passivate the bottom of pits better and to reduce the reflectance of the obtuse tips of pits.

Open cell aluminium foam was used in parallel-flow condenser in air conditioner, and two condensers with different pore density were fabricated. The experimental study was conducted on the heat transfer performance and temperature distribution. The experimental results show that both of the heat transfer load and air pressure drop increase with the increase of pore density, air velocity is 2.5m/s, the heat transfer capacities of the condenser with 10PPI and 8PPI are 4.786kw and 3.344kW respectively. Along the flow direction of refrigerant, the outlet temperatures of refrigerant drop with the rise of air velocity when the inlet temperature is constant. The outlet temperature of the refrigerant decreases with the increase of pore density.

The structural parameters, electronic structure and optical properties of strontium titanate have been investigated by the first-principles. Exchange–correlation effects are treated by the generalized gradient approximation(GGA) employing Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE) functional and hybrid density functional Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof(HSE06). The direct-band gaps are equal to 2.06 and 3.73 eV under PBE and HSE06 level, respectively. The indirect-band gaps are equal to 1.67 and 3.33 eV under PBE and HSE06 level, respectively. The optical properties including complex dielectric function, absorption coefficient, refractivity and reflectivity index have been calculated. Meanwhile, the origin of the spectral peaks on the basis of the electronic band structures has been interpreted.

Zn diffusion in III-V compound semiconductorsare commonly processed under group V-atoms rich conditions because the vapor pressure of group V-atoms is relatively high. In this paper, we found that group V-atoms in the diffusion sources would not change the shaped of Zn profiles, while the Zn diffusion would change dramatically undergroup III-atoms rich conditions. The Zn diffusions were investigated in typical III-V semiconductors: GaAs, GaSb and InAs. We found that under group V-atoms rich or pure Zn conditions, the double-hump Zn profiles would be formed in all materials except InAs. While under group III-atoms rich conditions, single-hump Zn profiles would be formed in all materials. Detailed diffusion models were established to explain the Zn diffusion process; the surface self-diffusion of matrix atoms is the origin of the abnormal Zn diffusion phenomenon.

Dual phase Li₄Ti₅O₁₂-TiO₂ hierarchical hollow microspheres composed of nanosheets are successfully fabricated by the calcination of hydrothermal product obtained from lithium peroxotitanate complex solution. Low-cost industrial H₂TiO₃ particles are chosen as titanium sources, which is significant for the inexpensive and large-scale production of Li₄Ti₅O₁₂-TiO₂ composite material. The Li₄Ti₅O₁₂-TiO₂ electrode yields excellent rate capability (151, 139 and 134 mA h g^-1 at 10, 20 and 25 C, respectively) and good cycling stability (96% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 10 C). The mesoporous hierarchical morphology and high grain boundary density are likely the contributing factors to the excellent electrochemical performance of Li₄Ti₅O₁₂-TiO₂ composite.

The geometric, energetic, spectral and electronic properties of various isomers of B₁₂H_х(NF₂)_12-х²⁻ anion complex with x = 9 − 12 have been studied using Density Functional Theory (B3LYP/6-311++G**). It was shown that the most stable isomers are characterized by the preference to form the most symmetric structures with uniformly distributed charge densities. However, when replacing a hydrogen atom with difluoramino group, an inductive effect occurs. NF₂ group pulls a part of electron density that leads to the polarization of the boron core. Blue shifts in the IR spectrum compared to the vibrations of the free radical NF₂ ranging from 5 to 69 cm⁻¹ for the most stable isomers with the minimum total energy are characteristic and points to the stability of B₁₂H_х(NF₂)_12-х²⁻ anions. The obtained results broaden the idea of aromaticity of B₁₂H₁₂²⁻ anion and will be useful in synthesis of new B₁₂H₁₂²⁻ derivatives.

Ni-doped carbon aerogel was prepared by impregnation methods, physical structure, and electrochemical properties were investigated. Electrochemical properties of prepared Ni-doped carbon aerogel and carbon aerogel electrodes were measured by galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements. The results show Ni-doped carbon aerogels maintain the elementary structure of carbon aerogel, but they exhibited higher specific capacitance than carbon aerogel.

In order to investigate the wettability of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) with the etching solutions during metal-assisted chemical etching process, different surface structures were fabricated on the p-type multi-wire slurry sawn mc-Si wafers, such as as-cut wafers, polished wafers, and wafers etched in different solutions. The contact angles of different etching solutions on the surfaces of the wafers were measured. It was noted that all contact angles of etching solutions were smaller than the corresponding ones of deionized water, but the contact angles of different etching solutions were quite different. Among the contact angles of the etching solutions of AgNO₃-HF, H₂O₂-HF, TMAH and HNO₃-HF, the contact angle of TMAH solution was much larger than the others and that of HNO₃-HF solution was much smaller. It is suggested that the larger contact angle may lead to an unevenly etching of silicon wafer due to the long retention of big bubbles on the wafers in the etching reaction, which should be paid attention to and overcome.

Combining sol-gel process and electro-spinning, the submicron lithium titanate materials are prepared with lithium acetate and titanium tetraisopropanolate respectively as the lithium and titanium sources, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the template. It's found by scanning electron microscope(SEM )that, the prepared lithium titanate materials are characterized by the fiber diameter 150~200nm, a large number of irregular indentations in the surface, and the larger specific surface area than that before calcination. The lithium titanate cell receives charge-discharge test and cyclic voltammetry. The capacity of the submicron lithium titanate materials is up to 160mAh·g-1 at the rate of 0.1C, and it's revealed by cyclic voltammetry that the cell in the charge or discharge process undergoes a single redox reaction, but having good reversibility.

12CaO·7Al₂O₃ (C12A7) glass was prepared by the melt quenching method. The glass transition temperature (T_g) and the crystallization temperature (T_c) of C12A7 glass are about 1050 K and 1194 K, respectively, measured by the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The structure of C12A7 glass was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as magic angle spinning-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MAS-NMR). Analysis shows that Al coordination number is about four in C12A7 glass, in which AlO₄ tetrahedrons and bridging oxygens (BO) constitute the glass network. Ca²⁺ produces a few of non-bridging oxygens (NBO), which become neighbours of Al.

Non-oriented Fe-7.1wt.% Si as-cast strips were produced by twin-roll strip casting process. Then the as-cast strips were hot rolled with different reductions, followed by warm rolling and final annealing. The microstructure, texture evolution and magnetic properties were investigated in detail. The texture of hot rolled sheets with 40% reduction showed strongest {001}<110> texture, whereas the dominated texture was turned into {110}<001> and {110}<112>as the reduction was increased to 56% and 68%. After warm rolling and annealing, the average grain size was decreased firstly and then increased with an increase in hot rolling reduction. In the case of 40% hot rolling reduction, the recrystallization texture was dominated by strong γ (<111>//ND) texture. With an increase in hot rolling reduction, the γ texture was gradually weakened while α (<110>//RD) texture was enhanced. In addition, relatively stronger {100} texture was presented in the sheet of 68% hot rolling reduction. The highest B₅₀ value attained was 1.66 T and the lowest P_10/400 was 24.26 W/kg at a reduction of 56%.

In this paper, inverse temperature crystallization and top-seed solution growth method are used to grow high-quality perovskite CH₃NH₃PbX₃ (I, Br) single crystal. The maximum crystal diameter is 6 mm for CH₃NH₃PbI₃, and 3 mm for CH₃NH₃PbBr₃. The results of XRD show that the crystals are tetragonal structure for CH₃NH₃PbI₃, cubic crystal orientation for CH₃NH₃PbBr₃. What is more, crystals exhibit excellent stability in air and can be maintained for eight months. Furthermore, the crystal growth processes are described in detail. The results demonstrate that CH₃NH₃PbBr₃ single crystal growth is more sensitive to the environment.

We study the effect of substrate type, source temperature, and substrate position on the morphology of Alfa molybdenum oxide (α-MoO₃) in physical vapour deposition. We found that the orientation and thickness of the MoO₃ is strongly affected by the evaporated flow and temperature. Lying down, few layered (FL) MoO₃ can be grown directly on technical substrate such as SiO₂ with typical length scale of tens of micrometres. Our studies provide a simple, catalyst-free and low cost synthesis way to prepared large size FL MoO₃ for further optical and electrical investigation such as photodetector, field effect transistors, and electrochromism.

The anemone-like ZnO nanostructures have been synthesized by hydrothermal method and were further adsorbed immobilized cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) as a nano-biosensor. In this study, the sensitivity of biosensor were improved by varying the thickness of the ZnO seed layer. The SEM analysis showed changes in thickness of seed layer will not affect the morphologies of anemone-like ZnO nanostructures. The X-ray Diffraction patterns showed that the (002) plane of anemone-like ZnO grown on various thickness of the seed layer was more prouded than other crystal plane. Abioelectrode (ChOx/ZnO/ITO/glass) grown on the 30nm of ZnO seed layer with high sensitivity of 57.533μAmM-1cm-2 (1.488 μA (mg/dl) -1cm-2), a wide sensitive range from 25 to 500 mg/dl. It is concluded that the thinner sputtered ZnO seed layer for growing anemone-like ZnO nanostructure can effectively improve the sensitivity of the ZnO biosensor.

In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.52Al_0.48As single quantum well (SQW) grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on the InP (001) substrate is investigated by using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL). At the low temperature of 8 K and excitation intensity of 1 W/cm², the emitting wavelength of QWs shifts from 1387 nm to 1537 nm when the well width increases from 5 nm to 50 nm, approaching the emitting wavelength of bulk In_0.52Al_0.48As. The emitting wavelength of QWs can be flexibly tailored by varying the thickness of the InGaAs layer.

In this work, a rapid model is established to study the effects of flexoelectricity and surface elasticity on the piezoelectric potential of a bent ZnO nanowire. Based on the piezoelectric theory and core-surface model, the distribution of piezoelectric potential of the ZnO nanowire is investigated. The analytical solution shows that the flexoelectricity and surface elasticity both significantly influence the piezoelectric potential. However, the effect of flexoelectricity is longitudinal dependent, which vanishes on the top side of nanowire, but only left surface elasticity effect on the potential. Simulation results show that the maximum value of potential on the top side of nanowire is about ± 220.5mV, of which result is lower compared to other theoretical models, but it should be more reasonable.

Nowadays the photonic crystal hydrogel materials have shown great promise in the detection of different chemical analytes, including creatinine, glucose, metal ions and so on. In this paper, we developed a novel three-dimensional photonic crystal hydrogel, which was hydrolyzed by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and immobilized with butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) by 1-(3-Dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride(EDC). They are demonstrated to be excellent in response to sarin and a limit of detection(LOD) of 1×10⁻⁹ mg mL⁻¹ was achieved.

An amperometric electrode based on multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and Fe nanoparticles (NPs) has been successfully fabricated. Combined with Flow Injection Analysis (FIA) and chromatography separation column, the electrode exhibits linear response in the concentration range of 0.1 -12 μM and the sensitivity of 30.0 nA μM⁻¹ for most of amino acids. The determination of 17 amino acids in the hypothalamus microdialysis fluids of guinea pigs, illustrates that the electrode is a powerful tool to investigate physiology and pathology mechanisms

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were unzipped using the modified Hummer method to prepare the CNTs-GO microstructure (see Fig. 1). A new type of CNTs-GO-H20 nanocomposite has been synthesized by grafting hyperbranched (HB) polyester (Boltorn H20) brushes on the CNTs-GO by coupling agent (KH560). The morphology of CNTs-GO-H20 was characterized by FTIR, TEM, XPS and TGA. The FT-IR data and XPS data evidenced that CNTs-GO-H20 nanocomposites were synthesized successfully. The addition of CNTs improved the thermal stability of the nanocomposites. The TEM data showed that the CNTs-GO microstructure was also prepared. These electrochemical measurements results indicated that coatings provided greater protection against corrosion behavior. Moreover, the nanocomposite material improved corrosion resistance of the coating.

Because of the excellent performance, Micro/Nano optical fiber has been more and more widely applied in passive photonic devices, micro-optical sensors, field of atomic manipulation, etc. Currently the main manufacturing mode of Micro/Nano optical fiber is the stretching method which is susceptible to air impact, vulnerable to contaminant and has poor reproducibility. In order to solve these problems, the fabrication of the Micro/Nano optical fiber by electrospinning direct-writing is researched in this article. The experimental platform is set up after the scheme of electrospinning direct-writing is designed. A series of comparative experiments are carried out with changing three experimental variables. The PMMA Micro/Nano optical fiber of controllable diameter is fabricated by regulating the distance between the sprinkler head and collecting plate, flow rate and concentration of PMMA solution. The testing results indicate that the light transmission power loss rate of the PMMA Micro/Nano optical fiberis 0.41dB/mmexcited by a 633-nm-wavelength light. The problem is expected to be solved by further optimization of the experimental process and parameters.

Rh/Cu superhydrophobic coatings with textured flower-like dual micro-nano structures were fabricated on copper substrates via electrodesposition of Rh followed by annealing treatment. The scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction pattern were conducted to analyse the morphology and chemical composition of the coating surfaces, respectively. The water drops exhibited a water contact angle of 168±1° and a sliding angle of 0±1° on the coating surfaces which were obtained by etching in concentrated hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, electrodeposited at -1.0 V for 30 min and annealing in an oven at 180°C for 60 min. The prepared superhydrophobic coatings showed excellent water repellence and self-cleaning property due to its extremely high water contact angle.

Linkage that connected wing flap and supports was found broken several times during from 2011 to 2014. Flights data was check, no heavy landing or exceed limiting speed warning were found. To investigate the root cause of the failure process, macroscopic and micrograph of the fracture surface were research with optical micrograph and scanning electron micrograph. Results show that the surface of fracture was dimples and shearing fracture structure which mean transient breaking features. Nearby the fracture, a lot of scratch and paint marks were found, that indicated that the rod may collapsed by impacted with some mechanical components. But the distance to the nearest component is within the tolerance, during ground inspection. Basing on stability analysis of column, the linkage will be bending deflection with elastic deformation, when compress exceed a critical value, which decrease the distance. But it will be recovered, during ground inspection for lower compress. Finite Element methods were used to demonstrate the bending deformation too. Basing on the reports and analysis, enhanced linkages were provided and substituted for older versions, and the relevant incidents were never found.

Nickel nanowires have successfully been fabricated through a simple liquid reduction in ethylene glycol medium with a 0.3T magnetic field applied. The effect of uniform magnetic field and solvent on the morphology and the crystal structure of magnetic nickel were studied. Scanning electron microscope images and transmission electron scope images s how that the effect of the external magnetic field on the morphology of nickel nanowires. X-ray diffraction shows the crystal structure of as-prepared products. And a energy disperse spectroscopy and a vibrating sample magnetometer are used to analyze the composition and static magnetic properties. The results show that the straight wires with an average diameter of about 100 nm and a length of several microns were obtained and mainly composed by fcc structure in the solvent of ethylene glycol. Magnetic measurements show that the saturation magnetization of the as-obtained products in a 0.3 T external magnetic field is 36 emu/g, less than that of bulk nickel crystal, and the coercivity of them is 186 emu/g, larger than that of bulk crystal with the mole ratio of sodium borohydride to nickel sulfate is 1:1000. This kind of nanowires array has potential applications with the special one-dimensional structures.

This paper aims to study the influence of the configuration of processing chamber as a part of IC equipment on flow field characteristics. Four parameters, including chamber height, chamber diameter, inlet mass flow rate and outlet area, are arranged using orthogonally design method to study their influence on flow distribution in the processing chamber with the commercial software-Fluent. The velocity, pressure and temperature distribution above the holder were analysed respectively. The velocity difference value of the gas flow above the holder is defined as the evaluation criteria to evaluate the uniformity of the gas flow. The quantitative relationship between key parameters and the uniformity of gas flow was found through analysis of experimental results. According to our study, the chamber height is the most significant factor, and then follows the outlet area, chamber diameter and inlet mass flow rate. This research can provide insights into the study and design of configuration of etcher, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) equipment, and other systems with similar configuration and processing condition.

Visible-light-active Ag₂CO₃ nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple sonochemical method (ambient temperature for only 1 h). The effects of ultrasound pulse mode, ultrasound time and pH value on the photodegradation properties of Ag₂CO₃ were investigated. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and nitrogen adsorption–desorption techniques. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by degrading methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation (λ>420nm). According to obtained results, it was found that MB degradation (about 99.4% after 20 min of irradiation) was higher compare to conventional stirring method, which might be due to the higher specific surface areas and active sites. The method described here can be used to improve the efficiency of visible-light sources and develop an ecologically friendly, practical wastewater treatment for pollutants.

Carbon nanotubes are one of the most typical materials in the nanoscale world. In order to study the IR interference performance of carbon nanotubes as smoke agent, using indoor large smoke box, the infrared extinction performance of three kinds of carbon nanotubes were measured in 8µm∼12µm band. The smoke forming performance of carbon nanotubes were obtained by means of the testing of smoke mass concentration. Based on the experimental data, the dynamic mass extinction coefficients of three kinds of carbon nanotubes were calculated. The results show that carbon nanotubes smoke have good extinction performance to infrared radiation.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was employed as pore-forming agent to prepare TiO₂ nanoporous film based on spin-coating a TiO₂ nanoparticle mixed paste on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass. The electrochromic and optical properties of the obtained TiO₂ film were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA) and UV–Vis spectrophotometer. The results show that the PEG in the mixed paste endows the TiO₂ film with well-developed porous structure and improves the uniformity of the TiO₂ film, which are helpful for the rapid intercalation and extraction of lithium ions within the TiO₂ film and the strengthening of the diffuse reflection of visible light in the TiO₂ film. As a result, the TiO₂ film derived from the mixed paste with PEG displays higher electrochemical activity and more excellent electrochromic performances compared with the TiO₂ film derived from the mixed paste without PEG. The switching times of coloration/bleaching are respectively 10.16/5.65 and 12.77/6.13 s for the TiO₂ films with PEG and without PEG. The maximum value of the optical contrast of the TiO₂ film with PEG is 21.2% while that of the optical contrast of the TiO₂ film without PEG is 14.9%. Furthermore, the TiO₂ film with PEG has better stability of the colored state than the TiO₂ film without PEG.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the individual effect as well as the interactions of different influencing factors like catalyst dosage, aeration rate, temperature and pH on the removal of methylene blue (MB) using biomass charcoal loaded multiple rare earth composite material. Design-Expert 7.0 was used to design testing program and establish response surface model. The result showed that among the factors, catalyst dosage played the most important role, then pH value, aeration rate and temperature in turn. By the optimization of process parameters, the optimum experimental conditions were catalyst dosage of 2.50 g, aeration rate of 2.5 L·min^-1, temperature of 21 °C and pH value of 12, under these optimum conditions, maximum predicted and observed decolorization rate were 100.00% and 99.61%, the observed value was well match with the predicted value.

Anatase phase TiO₂ (a-TiO₂) films have been deposited on MgAl₂O₄(111) substrates by the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method at the substrate temperatures of 500-650°C. The structural analyses showed that the films were highly (004) oriented with tetragonal anatase structure and the epitaxial relationship was given as a-TiO₂(004)||MgAl₂O₄ (111). The sample prepared at 600°C exhibited the best crystallization with a single-crystalline epitaxial film. The average transmittance of every TiO₂ film in the visible range exceeded 90% excluding the influence of the substrate. The morphology and composition of the TiO₂ films have also been studied in detail.

Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ nanocomposite photocatalysts were synthesized by supercritical fluid combination technique, consisting of sol-gel method and supercritical fluid drying. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated by the degradation of acrylic acid. The results indicated that the Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ nanocomposite catalysts prepared by this novel technique showed significant improvement in catalytic activity compared with pure TiO₂ or Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ catalysts prepared by traditional drying. Both infrared and ultraviolet spectrum of Fe₂O₃/TiO₂ nanocomposite photocatalysts shift a little to lower wavelength indicating that the absorption threshold of Fe doped nanocomposite photocatalysts shift into the visible light region. This phenomenon was also attested by the photocatalytic degradation test under visible light.

Series of TiO₂-SrTiO₃ composites were synthesized by hydrothermal method, using TiO₂ nanotube array as a precursor and Sr(OH)₂ as a Sr source material. TiO₂-SrTiO₃ products with various composition were obtained by simply changing the reaction time. The as-synthesized products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical properties were studied by means of UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. Their photocatalytic activities were assessed by photodegradation of rhodamine B (RhB) solution and the photocatalytic reaction mechanism was discussed. The TiO₂-SrTiO₃ composites obtained at 2 h exhibits the highest activity for photodegradation of RhB.

A series of Ce-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles with different doped amount and calcination temperature were prepared by sol-gel method. These obtained samples were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), and their photocatalytic activities were evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange. Results showed that Ce doping inhibits the growth of crystal size and the phase transformation from anatase to rutile, leads to lattice distortion and expansion of TiO₂. Furthermore, Ce doping brings the red-shift of absorption profile and the increase of photons absorption in the range of 400-600 nm. Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange shows that Ce doping improves the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂. The optimal doped amount is 0.05 mol% and the optimal calcined temperature is 600 °C for the maximum photocatalytic degradation efficiency in our experiment.

We investigate the transport of spin electron through the zigzag-edge graphene nanojunction with a line defect. When the magnetization is zero, the conductance spectra exhibits a well-defined insulating band around the point far away from Dirac point. And the width of the insulating band is exactly equal to the energy splitting between the lowest conduction band of the left lead and the new state of the device region. For the parallel configuration, with the enhancement of the magnetization, the conductance value will be reduced by half around the Dirac point. For the antiparallel configuration, the width of the well-defined insulating band becomes larger with the rising of the magnetization.

A novel composite hydrogen sensor, consisting of Pd nanoclusters/TiO₂ nanotube arrays, was fabricated and evaluated at room temperature. The Pd nanoclusters layer was deposited on top surface of the nanotube arrays by using a direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering method. Resistive response of the composite sensors to 0.5% hydrogen was measured. Experimental results indicated that the Pd nanoclusters can quickly and continually form or break multiple passages by absorbing or desorbing hydrogen, so that the composite hydrogen sensors have promising hydrogen sensitivity at room temperature.

The study synthesizes Co microspheres with perfect spherical shape by use hydrazine hydrate as reducing agent to reduce CoCl₂ in alkaline conditions at room temperature, the influence of NaOH addition amount on crystal morphology and structure of cobalt particle were studied. The results show that, under the condition of concentration of NaOH, 0.030g ml^-1 and having ethylene glycol as solvent, are the best choice to synthesize Co microspheres, and the grain is smaller, suitable for industrial production. At the condition of less amount of NaOH, cobalt particle's surface is smooth spherical, and with the increase of NaOH, particles will deviate from the spherical morphology and the surface become rough. The first section in your paper

The composition, crystal structure and phase relationship of the main intermetallics of the Mg-Zn-La system on the low La side have been studied. The results show that there exists a binary solid solutions of Mg₁₂La as (Mg,Zn)La₁₂ and a linear ternary compound (Mg,Zn)_11.5La. Though the composition formula of the two phases are similar, but the composition of Zn in them are different. The maximum Zn content of (Mg,Zn)₁₂La is 7.2at% and the minimum Zn content of (Mg,Zn)_11.5La is 8.5at%. What's more, the crystal structures of (Mg,Zn)₁₂La and (Mg,Zn)_11.5La phase are also totally different. (Mg,Zn)La₁₂ have the body centered tetragonal lattice structure, but the crystal structure of (Mg,Zn)_11.5La is C-centered orthorhombic lattice structure.

The catalyzing effect on nucleation of recrystallization from pre-existing grains is analyzed, analogy to the foreign nucleus size effect in heterogeneous nucleation. Analytical formulation of the effective nucleation site for recrystallization leads to a negative temperature dependence of recrystallized grain size. Non-isochronal annealing, where annealing time is set just enough for the completion of recrystallization at different temperature, is conducted on pure copper after severe plastic deformation. More homogeneous and smaller grains are obtained at higher annealing temperature. The good fitting between analytical and experimental results unveils the intrinsic feature of this negative temperature dependence of recrystallized grain size.

A 2319 aluminum alloy is deposited by the Wire+Arc Additive Manufacturing technology with Cold Metal Transfer process. Porosity that are both existing in the as-deposited and as-heat treated state metal are revealed by optical microscopy and quantitatively analyzed. It explains the reason why the newly initiated pores are easily tend to gather between each layer around the fusion line zone for the WAAM metal after heat treatment. The inner morphology of the pores are demonstrated by Scanning Electron Microscopy. Porosity evolution and distribution during high temperature exposure are demonstrated. Thus two porosity growth and number increase mechanisms are proposed eventually, providing theoretical basis for related material design and process optimization.

QPQ salt bath treatment of SAF2906 duplex stainless steel was conducted at 570 °C for 60 min, 90 min,120 min,150 min and 180 min, followed by post-oxidation process with heating temperature of 400°C and holding duration of 30 min. The effect of QPQ nitriding time on microstructure and wear resistance of SAF2906 duplex stainless steel was investigated by means of OM, SEM, XRD, microhardness test, adhesion strength test and wear resistance test. Microstructure observation showed outer layer was composed of Fe₃O₄. The main phase of the intermediate layer was CrN, αN and Fe_2-3N. The main phase of the inner layer was CrN and S. The adhesion strength test of the surface layer-substrate showed the QPQ treated samples have favorable adhesion strength of HF-1 level. With the increase of nitriding time, the growth rate of the compound layer gradually slowed down and the surface hardness first increased and then decreased, and the maximum hardness was 1283 HV_0.2 at 150 min. The dry siliding results showed that the wear resistance of the QPQ treated samples was at least 20 times than that of the substrate, and the optimum nitriding time to obtain the best wear resistance is 150 min. The worn surface morphology observation showed the main wear mechanism of the substrate was plough wear, while micro-cutting is the main wear mechanism that causes the damage of the QPQ treated samples.

The splitting levels and corresponding wave functions of rare earth compounds Ce₂NiGe₆ and Ce₂NiGe₃ have been presented by taking into account the crystalline electric field. The influences of Ge content on rare earth ion ground state splitting also have been analysed. The first excited energy and overall splitting energy of Ce₂NiGe₃ coincides with the ones calculated by simulating Schottky specific heat.

Stainless steel selective laser melting (SLM) can be considered as a new possible approach for in-situ formation of oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels because of the dispersion of amorphous oxide nano-particles due to the trace amounts of laser chamber oxygen and in-situ internal oxidation of reactive elements. In this paper it is demonstrated that the particle sizes and distributions can be adjusted by choosing different chamber oxygen level through controlling the quantity of initial reactive cores and the available reactive solutes of each core.

The influences mechanisms of Y, Hf elements on the high temperature oxidation of γ-TiAl alloys were studied by using a first-principle plane wave pseudopotential method within the density functional theory. It is shown that Y, Hf atoms segregate to the γ-TiAl surface by substituting Ti atoms, and Y atom is easier to segregate than Hf. Y, Hf atoms segregated at γ-TiAl surface decrease the adhesion of O and γ-TiAl surface, which decreases the oxidation rate of γ-TiAl alloys and thereby hinders the growth of oxide films. The electron structure calculations suggest that the interaction between O and Ti, Al, Y, Hf atom exists both ionic and covalent binding characteristics, the decrease of the adhesion of O and γ-TiAl surface with the doped Y, Hf is mainly attributed to the weaken covalent interactions. As a result, the results obtained by first principles can make us get a deeper understanding of the mechanism of the segregation of Y, Hf to the γ-TiAl surface and the influence mechanism of surface active elements Y, Hf on the initial oxidation of γ-TiAl alloys.

Sr₂Al₆O₁₁:Eu²⁺,Dy³⁺ is known as a high efficient material for generating persistent luminescence. Due to its low structural stability, it is a challenge to prepare such orthorhombic material in large scale. In this work, a facile and effective strategy was designed for the preparation of Sr₂Al₆O₁₁:Eu²⁺,Dy³⁺ with high purity by combining the advantages of solid state reaction and chemical vapor deposition method. The prepared Sr₂Al₆O₁₁:Eu²⁺,Dy³⁺ could effectively store the UV light energy and emit blue-green luminescence for 240 min by slow liberation of photo-excited electrons. Its blue-green afterglow was composed of two luminescent emissions which released from the Eu centers located in different crystal fields.

The Metal Rubber material (MR) is a kind of material with nonlinear damping characteristics for its application in the field of aerospace, petrochemical industry and so on. The study on the lifetime of MR material is impendent to its application in engineering. Based on the dynamic characteristic of MR, the accelerated lifetime experiments of vibration isolators made of MR working under random vibration load were conducted. The effects of structural parameters of MR components on the lifetime of isolators were studied and modelled with the fitting curves of degradation data. The lifetime prediction methods were proposed based on the models.

NiAl based materials has been considered as most potential candidate of turbine blade, due to its excellent high-temperature properties. However the bad room-temperature properties handicap its application. In the present paper, the zirconium doped NiAl/Cr(Mo) hypoeutectic alloy is fabricated by conventional casting and injection casting technology to improve its room-temperature properties. The microstructure and compressive properties at different temperatures of the conventionally-cast and injection-cast were investigated. The results exhibit that the conventionally-cast alloy comprises coarse primary NiAl phase and eutectic cell, which is dotted with irregular Ni₂AlZr Heusler phase. Compared with the conventionally-cast alloy, the injection-cast alloy possesses refined the primary NiAl, eutectic cell and eutectic lamella. In addition, the Ni₂AlZr Heusler phase become smaller and distribute uniformly. Moreover, the injection casting decrease the area fraction of primary NiAl phase at the cell interior or cell boundaries. The compressive ductility and yield strength of the injection-cast alloy at room temperature increase by about 100% and 35% over those of conventionally-cast alloy, which should be ascribed to the microstructure optimization.

A series of PtSnMg/Cr₂O₃·Al₂O₃ catalysts with different Mg loading amounts were synthetized by chemical co-deposition method and their propane dehydrogenation catalytic performances were tested. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET, TG, XPS. It was found that alkali metal Mg can reduce the surface acidity of carrier, improve the catalytic performance. Propane conversion peaks at Mg loading of 0.6wt.%, increasing Mg loading further than this saw a decline in conversion.

The carbon fiber composite core wire is the key component for new overhead transmission lines in the power industry. As the primary load-bearing member, the composite mandrel will produce long-term creep because of the tensile during operation. Therefore, designers need to understand the long-term deformation behaviour of the composite mandrel to assess its durability. To this end, an accelerated creep test on the composite core rod under different temperatures and stresses has been conducted in the current study. According to the time- temperature- stress superposition principle, the shift factors are calculated, and the creep under normal working condition is predicted. Results show that the carbon fiber composite core wire can satisfy the design requirements under normal working condition.

In order to study cube compressive strength of recycled fine aggregate cement mortar after different temperatures, with the affect parameters between replacement rate of recycled fine aggregate and temperature, 45 standard cube test blocks were designed and produced to carry out compressive strength test. The failure process and failure mode of test blocks were observed. Ultimate compressive strength of cube blocks were measured, the relations between cube compressive strength and the replacement rates of recycled fine aggregate under different temperatures as well as the relations between cube compressive strength and temperatures under different replacement rates were all analyzed, the influence change parameters made on cube compressive strength was discussed. The results showed: the failure process and the failure mode of recycled fine aggregate cement mortar and the failure process and the failure mode of nature is similar; when the temperature reached 400°C, the block has no burst phenomenon, but the colour of block into a dark pink; with the increase of recycled fine aggregate, the mass lose rate of block is increase; effect different temperature make on cube compressive strength of test block is not obvious when temperature keeps same for 3h.

The use of FRP in industry results in large amount of waste FRP. If not treated properly, it will pollute the environment. In our study, waste FRP powder was used in mortar to substitute part of sand in mortar. The use of short waste FRP fibre can further increase the mechanical strength. The Waste FRP fibre reinforced adhesive mortar was prepared with the material proportioning: cement-sand ratio 1:2, polymer 8% (cement based ), waste FRP fibre 3% (based on the total solids ). The performance of the mortar conforms to JCT 547-2005 with excellent adhesive characteristics.

The mixing temperature of hot asphalt mixture could be reduced by adding WMA additive Sasobit, as well as reducing smoke emissions and energy construction during the mixing construction and paving. The reasonable mixing temperature were investigated in this paper. In addition, high temperature stability, water stability and low-temperature performance of warm asphalt mixture were evaluaterd. The test results indicate that the mixing temperature of SMA-13 with WMA additive Sasobit may reduce 15-20°C at the same energy (compaction times). the dynamic stability were improved after adding WMA additive Sasobit, and the Water stability and low-temperature performance of mixture decreased, while all kinds of asphalt mixture properties can meet the requirements.

As a class of important conjugated polymers, electroluminescent material of polyfuran possess a lot of merits, including good stability, structure is easy to be modified and controllable electrochemical properties. This study uses ethylene diglycol, diethyl oxalate, 1,3- dibromopropane and so on as raw materials to synthesize 3, 4 - ethylenedioxy furan monomer and similar derivatives via oxidation, acetylation, hydrolysis and elimination reaction, etc.

A consolidated method by EGDE (ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether) and Ala (alanine) was used for fragile ancient silk fabrics protection. Therefore, an investigation has been carried out to figure out the effect of consolidation material in the system. Silk fibers were dyed with madder and then exposed to UV light beams for accelerated aging. The aged madder-dyed samples were treated with EGDE aqueous solution by spraying, and then treated with Ala aqueous solution by the same way on 10 minutes later. The samples were investigated by colour measurement and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It has been observed that there is an obvious change of colour of samples after consolidation material treatment. The surface of the aged madder-dyed silk fabric were covered with EGDE and Ala thus protecting the silk fibers.

A novel strategy of designing high-performance transparent meta-surfaces is proposed by using an ABBA system. The ABBA element provides a new freedom to largely enhance the transmission of a transmissive meta-surface and suppress the fluctuations in the transmission amplitude by tuning the coupling among cascaded layers. Dual-band operating property is straightforwardly performed by employing the polarization-control principle. A well-designed transparent meta-surface, operating at f₁=6.5 GHz and f₂=10.5 GHz, consists of 13×17 ABBA elements with parabolic phase distributions along different dimensions. Perfect focusing effects with the same focal length and small reflection are unambiguously observed at both frequencies under excitation of differently-polarized waves, indicating strong phase compensating capacities and high efficiencies of the meta-lens. For practical application, a dual-band lens antenna (LA) is implemented by launching the carefully-designed meta-lens with a self-made Vivaldi antenna. Numerical and experimental results coincide well, indicating that the proposed LA advances in many aspects such as high radiation gain of 18.7 dB at f₁ and 23 dB at f₂, competitive aperture efficiencies better than 30% and also a simple fabrication process based on a standard printed-circuit-board (PCB) technology. The finding opens up a new avenue to design high-performance meta-surfaces operating in multi-band or achieving integrated functionalities.

As an ultra-thin developed form of meta-materials, metasurface does attract tremendous attention due to its flexibility in controlling wave front in different spectrums. In this paper, we propose a microwave metasurface with function of transforming spherical waves into plane waves and splitting waves according to polarized status of incident waves. By using a compact ultra-thin anisotropic element, we design a polarization beam splitter under spherical wave's illumination. With different phase gradients for x/y-polarized waves, the anisotropic metasurface has function of gain enhancement of 12.4 dB on average and reflecting x/y- polarized waves in -x/+y direction with the same reflected angel of 33° at the operating frequency of 15GHz. For verification of simulation results, the metasurface sample with size of 102×102mm² and cells of 17×17 is fabricated and measured. Experimental results are in excellent agreement with the simulated ones, in which the high isolation of 30dB at 15GHz between x- and y-polarized waves is obtained. Due to the great performance in beam steering and thickness reduction, our design provides a promising approach of beam splitting, steering and gain enhancement in microwave region.

The organic thin film transistor (OTFT) fabricated with the polypeptide as a dielectric layer shows memory function. In order to investigate the effect of polypeptide structure on the performance of non-volatile transistor memory, the Fourier-transform IR (FT- IR) and Circular Dichiroism (CD) spectral of PMLG film has been applied, respectively. In conclusion, the memory transistor device fabricated with polypeptide as the ferroelectric exhibit promising behavior such as a large memory window, and the dipole moment of the amide group was considered as the main source of the memory function.

In this study, a uniform and less defective ceramic coating was prepared on high Si content aluminium alloys by a sectionalized plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) mode. The PEO process of Al-9 wt. % Si binary alloy was performed under constant current mode followed by constant voltage mode. The surface micrographs and chemical compositions of different samples were analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Micro-hardness and reciprocal-sliding testers were used to measure the coatings hardness and tribological performance. It was found that the sectionalized PEO mode could produce hard and anti-friction passive oxide layers with smaller holes and fewer cracks on the Al-Si alloy, comparing with the single constant current mode. In addition, the results of polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests conducted in 3.5 wt. % NaCl solution revealed that the coatings obtained by sectionalized PEO mode had a higher corrosion resistance and provided better corrosion protection for Al-Si alloy.

Among the present oxidation-assisted polishing (OAP) technique, anodic oxidation is a promising method to process reaction-sintered silicon carbide (RS-SiC) with the assistance of abrasive polishing. Projections and cracks are inevitably formed in the anodic oxidation of RS-SiC for the volume expansion force. Evolvements of the oxide morphologies along with different oxidation voltage and different oxidation time are investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). It can be found that when the oxidation time stays the same, size of the projections and cracks on the oxidized RS-SiC sample is gradually enlarged. Meanwhile, when the oxidation voltage stays the same, size of the projections and cracks on the oxidized RS-SiC sample is also enlarged. Details of projections and cracks on the oxidized RS-SiC sample are obtained by the SEM with high magnification. Based on the theoretical derivation, it can be concluded that the formations of projections and cracks depend on the inner volume expansion force and the resultant force generated from other grains. Research on formation of projections and cracks in anodic oxidation of RS-SiC can promote the process level of RS-SiC products.

In this work, Ag/polydopamine composite on glass substrates (Ag/PDA@slides) were formed by using polydopamine (PDA) as both reducing and stabilizing agent to reduce silver salts to silver nanoparticles (NPs) and adhesive them to slides. The morphology and chemical composition of the composite material was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD). The prepared Ag/PDA@slide was a highly active catalyst for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in the presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) aqueous solution at room temperature. The reduction rate of the optimal catalyst was as fast as 10 s and it was stable up to 6 cycles without a significant loss of its catalytic activity. By measuring the UV-Vis absorption bonds of Ag/PDA@slides, it proved that condition of the strongest surface plasmon resonance of Ag/PDA@slides is the optimal condition of catalytic reduction of 4-NP.

4-(2-hydroxyphenoxy) phthalic nitrile was prepared by the nucleophilic substitution reaction of catechol and 4-nitro phthalic nitrile in DMF with the existence of N₂ and K₂CO₃. The optimal reaction conditions were obtained as follows: the mole ratio of catechol, K₂CO₃ and 4-nitro phthalic nitrile is 2:1:1, with the quality of the solute concentration of 0.222g/mL and reaction temperature 80°C. Consequently, the yield of final product reached 87.64%, and the structure of the 4-(2-hydroxyphenoxy) phthalic nitrile was characterized by IR, ¹H NMR and DSC.

A new type of polyester polyol dispersion with good storage stability was prepared based on a hydrophilic monomer 5-sodium sulfodimethyl isophthalate (5-SIPM), and frequently-used monomers such as neopentyl glycol (NPG), dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and trimethylolpropane (TMP) by the transpolycondensation and polycondensation method. The polyester polyol dispersion was characterized by FTIR and GPC. The proper content of these monomers were determined by the performance of polyester dispersion: the content of TMP was 15wt%, the content of NPG was 7.5wt% and the hydrophilic monomer 5-SIPM content was 5wt%. Two-component waterborne polyurethane (2K-WPU) coatings were prepared by Bayhydur® XP2487/1 and polyester polyol dispersions, which were stored before and after at 40 ° for 6 weeks, the prepared films have no differences in drying time, adhesion, pencil hardness, gloss and chemical resistance, the result also reveals that the polyester polyol dispersion have excellent storage stability resistance.

Main challenges in demulsifier research, such as demulsification of ASP flooding produced liquid, demulsification of heavy oil produced liquid, low temperature demulsification and fast demulsification, are summarized. Some importance technology routes to solve the challenges are proposed according to demulsification mechanisms and emulsion characteristics. The proposed routes include increasing aromaticity, molecular weight and branch degree of demulsifiers, and introducing double-function groups to demulsifiers for W/O and O/W emulsions, or groups with alkyl matching with alkyl carbon number of the crude oil into demulsifier molecule. The demulsification mechanisms of the above-mentioned research routes are described in detail.

Cement-based composites (CBCs) are one of the most widely used materials in construction. An appealing characterization of thermal conductivity of CBCs plays an essential role to evaluate the energy consumption in buildings and to facilitate the development of novel thermal insulation materials. Based on Eshelby equivalent inclusion principle and multi-scale methodology, this paper attempted to present a generalized multi-scale micromechanical model in terms of thermal performance of the CBCs, which covers some classic models for thermal conductivity estimation. A Mori-Tanaka homogenization method was applied to investigate the thermal conductivity of the CBCs of different compounds, water-to-cement ratios and curing ages. In addition, saturation degree factor was considered. The results of this model are in good agreement with the experimental value, showing that the multi-scale model developed in this paper is able to evaluate the thermal conductivity of the CBCs in different conditions.

Electrochemical reduction desulfurization is a promising technology for petroleum refining which is environmental friendly, low cost and able to achieve a high degree of automation. Electrochemical hydrogenation of thiophene was performed in a three-electrode system which SPE electrode was the working electrode. The electrochemical desulfurization was studied by cyclic voltammetry and bulk electrolysis with coulometry (BEC) techniques. The results of cyclic voltammetry showed that the electrochemical hydrogenation reduction reaction occurred at -0.4V. The BEC results showed that the currents generated from thiophene hydrogenation reactions increased with temperature. According to Arrhenius equation, activation energy of thiophene electrolysis was calculated and lower activation energy value indicated it was diffusion controlled reaction. From the products of electrolytic reactions, the mechanisms of electrochemical hydrogenation of thiophene were proposed, consisting of two pathways: openingring followed by hydrogenation, and hydrogenation followed by ring opening.

MgB₂ superconducting microbridges were prepared by focused ion beam (FIB) direct milling on MgB₂ films. The surface topography of the microbridges were observed using SEM and AFM and the superconductivity was measured in this paper. Lots of cracks and holes were found near the milled area. And the superconducting transition temperature was decreased a lot and the bridges prepared were not superconducting due to ion damage after milled with large dose. Through these works, we explored the effect regular of FIB milling and experimental parameters on the performance of microbridges.

The corrosion currents of steel bar in concrete with three W/B and four chloride contents after surface-painting two migrating corrosion inhibitors (PCI-2015 and MCI-A) 14d to 150d in atmospheric condition were measured. The results showed that the corrosion current density (I_corr) of steel bar reduced to 0.1 μA.cm^-2 from the initial highest 3.833 μA.cm^-2 (W/B=0.65, NaCl-1%) after surface-painting PCI-2015 14 d, and the I_corr was still lower than 0.1 μA.cm^-2 until 150d. The compressive strength and chloride migration coefficient of concrete specimens were tested. The possible reasons of the mechanisms of durability improvement for reinforced concrete by applying PCI-2015 inhibitor were PCI-2015 may be reacted with calcium hydroxide in cement concrete and lots of inhibitor particles may be adsorbed on the active sites first and then a stable protective layer may be formed. The I_corr of steel bars in a hydraulic aqueduct concrete structure after painting PCI-2015, MCI-A (the United States) and MCI-B (Europe) during 6 months was monitored by Gecor 8 tester. The results showed that the average values of I_corr of steel bars after painting the PCI-2015 150d fulfilled the specification requirements in "Design code for concrete structure strengthening (E.3) "(GB 50367-2013).

Patterning and displaying of photonic crystals are critical for building advanced photonic materials. We developed a monolayered colloidal crystal (MCC) based photonic material through a mask-assistant photo-polymerization process. Polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles were firstly assembled on the glass slide to form highly ordered MCC, this template is invisible and could diffract visible light when infiltrated by solvent. This reversibly displaying property was successfully maintained after the MCC was surrounding by a polymer layer via photo-polymerization, meanwhile a pattern could also be printed on the polymer with the help of a mask. Such photonic printing could be reversibly shown and hidden, revealing the colorful pattern was mainly due to the non-uniform cross-linking density of the polymer.

To investigate the influence of the booster size on the total energy of DNAN-based insensitive melt-cast explosive RBUL-1, six groups of underwater explosion experiments with varied booster sizes were carried out to measure the total energy of RBUL-1 explosive. Experimental results show that the booster size especially the booster diameter has a great influence on the total energy of RBUL-1 explosive. An expression was proposed and calibrated to illustrate the relationship between the total energy of RBUL-1 explosive and the booster size. Besides, the booster size used in the underwater explosion experiments was optimized to achieve higher total energy results. The present investigation has practical significance for the design of the booster sequence and warhead.

The warpage deformation plays an important role on the performance of automobile interior components fabricated with natural fiber reinforced composites. The present work investigated the influence of process parameters on the warpage behavior of A pillar trim made of ramie fiber (RF) reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites (RF/PP) via numerical simulation with orthogonal experiment method and range analysis. The results indicated that fiber addition and packing pressure were the most important factors affecting warpage. The A pillar trim can achieved the minimum warpage value as of 2.124 mm under the optimum parameters. The optimal process parameters are: 70% percent of the default value of injection pressure for the packing pressure, 20 wt% for the fiber addition, 185 °C for the melt °C for the mold temperature, 7 s for the filling time and 17 s for the packing time.

Ti, Ni, activated carbon, and Mo powders were used as raw materials to prepare a composite TiC cermet in this study. The powders were mixed and prepared through high-energy ball milling and then sintered in a spark plasma sintering (SPS) system. Results revealed that ball milling time affected the raw materials. After ball milling was performed for 10 h, Ti and C particles reacted and generated TiC, meanwhile, the solid Mo solutionized in TiC and formed (Ti,Mo)C lumps. XRD results showed that the product of (Ti,Mo)C cermet with high hardness can be prepared at a low sintering temperature of 1150 °C. The microstructure of composite TiC cermet was different from the traditional core-ring structure. In particular, the developed microstructure comprises a (Ti,Mo)C-Ni dark-gray phase at the center surrounded by (Ti,Mo)C light-gray phase and dispersed Mo white phase.