Preparation Of Materials Research Articles

Preparation of Composite Materials with Slow-Release Biocides and Solidifying Agents for Remediation of Acid Pollution in Coal Gangue

The processes of coal mining and washing generate a substantial amount of coal gangue. During prolonged outdoor storage, this waste can lead to both direct and indirect environmental pollution, as well as geological hazards. Recent research has indicated that the redox processes of coal gangue are regulated by microorganisms. Techniques such as the application of biocides and the facilitation of microbial interactions have proven effective in controlling the acidic pollution of coal gangue in the short term. However, conventional doping methods that couple sulfate-reducing bacteria with biocides face challenges, including a short effective duration and poor stability. To address these issues, this study utilized corn straw biochar as a microbial attachment material and incorporated water-retaining agents as slow-release biocide carriers, resulting in the development of an environmentally friendly microbial remediation material. This study selected 0.6 g of biochar produced from the pyrolysis of corn straw at 700 °C to immobilize sulfate-reducing bacteria. Additionally, 0.6 g of polyacrylamide was used to prepare a slow-release bactericide with 100 mL of a sodium dodecyl sulfate solution at a concentration of 50 mg·L−1. The composite remediation material successfully raises the pH of weathered coal gangue leachate from 4.32 to 6.88. Its addition notably reduces the sulfate ion concentration in the weathered coal gangue, with sulfate content decreasing by 86.45%. Additionally, the composite material effectively lowers the salinity of the weathered coal gangue. The composite immobilizes heavy metal ions within the weathered coal gangue, achieving an approximate removal rate of 80% over 30 days. Following the introduction of the composite material, significant changes were observed in the dominant microbial communities and population abundances on the surface of the coal gangue. The composite demonstrated the ability to rapidly, sustainably, and effectively remediate the acidification pollution associated with coal gangue.

Effective Removal of Sr2+ Ions by K2SbPO6/Polyacrylonitrile Composite Microspheres

90Sr is one of the highly radioactive and hazardous nuclides in nuclear waste liquids. The high water solubility and mobility of 90Sr2+ ions make it difficult to effectively remove 90Sr from the complex aqueous environment. Herein, K2SbPO6, a phosphatoantimonate ion exchange material with an excellent removal ability for Sr2+ ions, has been organically granulated with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) by an automated method to form K2SbPO6/PAN composite microspheres. The K2SbPO6/PAN microspheres with radiation resistance exhibit a high maximum adsorption capacity (qmSr) of 131.15 mg g−1 for Sr2+ ions and retain the high removal rate (RSr) in a wide pH range (pH = 3–12). It is important that K2SbPO6/PAN microspheres could efficiently treat Sr2+ ions solutions in a dynamic adsorption manner even at 970 bed volumes (RSr > 81%). This work paves the way for the preparation of low-cost ion exchange materials with the advantages of regular shape and easy operation by a simple and fast method and the practical application of powdered ion exchange materials.

New Insight into Industrial Lignin Intermolecular Force Heterogeneity Mitigation: Monodispersed Lignin Colloidal Sphere Synthesis and Full Biomass Photonic Material Preparation.

Industrial lignin is an underutilized resource from the pulping industry due to its high heterogeneity. The transformation of industrial lignin into monodispersed lignin colloidal spheres (LCSs) for the preparation of advanced biomass photonic materials is particularly appealing, because of their unique biocompatibility. However, the LCSs synthesized from industrial lignin generally show a wide size distribution and thus limit this specific application. To address the issue, selective functionalization was carried out to convert phenolic and aliphatic -OH groups into ester groups, decreasing the LCS size distribution to a monodispersing degree. Simulation analysis revealed that the functionalization had narrowed the difference of C-O linkage electron cloud distribution and led to a lignin polarity decrease. Additionally, atomic force microscopy (AFM) quantification of lignin proved a force distribution index (FDI) decrease from 0.38 to 0.11, which was consistent with the LCS polymer dispersity index (PDI) decrease from 0.182 to 0.05. The photonic materials can be readily prepared from monodispersed LCSs with the color precisely adjusted by controlling LCS particle sizes.

Research on the preparation of antimicrobial material based on thermoplastic polyurethane and drug release control.

It's crucial of antimicrobial properties in materials is growing as people desire to live healthier. The purpose of this work was to use thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) as a matrix to produce an antimicrobial material with a tunable drug release rate. Filaments with a diameter of 1.75 ± 0.08mm were prepared by hot-melt processing technology utilizing TPU, the modifier polyethylene oxide (PEO) and ciprofloxacin hydrochloride monohydrate (CPFX) as raw materials. The corresponding models were then printed using fused deposition type (FDM) 3D printing for performance testing. Results demonstrate the uniform fiber morphology and strong mechanical properties of the four samples, each of which was composed of a different ratio of components. The addition of PEO caused a change to the drug release mechanism, increased the material hydrophilicity, and generated extra pores during the dissolution process. This composite exhibited sustained antimicrobial activity even after 21days of rotary immersion, as shown by in vitro dissolution and zone inhibition tests.

Advancing sustainability in Electron and laser beam powder Bed Fusion technologies via Innovation: Insights from patent analysis

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies continuously evolve in materials and operational processes. However, challenges related to energy consumption, material reuse efficiency, and the integration of Circular Economy (CE) principles may impede the overall sustainability of AM processes. As many industrial sectors adopt AM technologies, there is a growing need for innovative tools, methods, and frameworks that guide companies toward more sustainable and circular production practices. This shift involves improving resource efficiency and fostering new Circular Business Models that emphasize material recovery, product lifecycle extension, and waste minimization. This study assesses current and future trends in the development of sustainable AM technologies for processing metal feedstock, based on a comprehensive patent analysis covering the period from 2004 to 2024. We specifically focus on the sustainability impacts of Electron and Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-EB, PBF-LB) and Direct Energy Deposition (DED), given their widespread industrial applications. Patents were categorized into three groups: materials, processes, and components. Furthermore, AM technologies were analyzed according to their role within the production cycle: materials preparation, pre-processing, manufacturing, and post-processing. This categorization allows for a detailed understanding of how innovations in AM contribute to more sustainable production and consumption practices by improving energy efficiency, material usage, circularity, and overall environmental impact.

Recent advances in heteroatom doped transition metal sulfides for high-performance supercapacitors

Supercapacitors have been well focused on, due to the advantages of fast charging/discharging, high power density, long service time and safety. Electrode materials determine the performance of supercapacitors. Serving as a kind of battery-type materials, transition metal sulfides have been received more attentions for high redox activity and high specific capacity. Controllable synthesis of metal sulfides determines their microstructure and composition, which is the basis for developing new materials. Therefore, this review firstly introduces existing synthetic methods of transition metal sulfides, including hydrothermal/solvothermal method, template method, electrodeposition method, sol-gel method, co-precipitation method, exfoliation/intercalation method and solid state method. The preparation process, principle, advantages/shortages of each method and related examples are highlighted. Taking controllable synthesis as the main line, recent advances of heteroatom doped metal sulfides and their application in supercapacitors are introduced in the second section. According to the type of dopants, all doped metal sulfides are divided into two parts: nonmetal doped metal sulfides, including B, N, F, O, P and Se, and metal doped sulfides, including alkali metal, precious metal, rare earth metal and transition metal. The research progresses about materials preparation, structure feature and supercapacitance performance are summarized. At last, current issues and future prospects in the field of heteroatom doped metal sulfides are proposed. It is anticipated that the review will provide guiding ideas or strategies for developing high-performance metal sulfides electrode materials.

Antibacterial cellulose-based membrane with heat dissipation and liquid transportation for food packaging applications

Food spoilage, caused by fungi and bacteria, has drawn increasing attention due to the lack of suitable temperature and humidity control, resulting in food waste and health risks. It is still a great challenge to develop green packaging materials with excellent antibacterial activities and effective temperature/humidity control for food preservation. Herein, a new strategy is proposed to obtain food packaging material with antibacterial ability, heat dissipation, and liquid transportation functions. In this strategy, Zn-Al layered double hydroxide (LDH)@cellulose was obtained by extracting cellulose from sugarcane husks, followed by in-situ growth of LDH nanosheets on the surface of cellulose. Then, asymmetric structured packaging material, namely cellulose acetate/LDH@cellulose (CALC) membrane, was prepared by the combination of electrospinning and hydrophobic modification. The characterization results confirmed that the CALC membrane exhibits asymmetric surface structure and wettability properties, endowing heat dissipation and liquid transportation for food packaging applications. Due to the asymmetric reflectivity and infrared emissivity, the CALC membrane exhibited excellent heat dissipation properties with a surface temperature of 10.3℃, which is lower than that of commercial food packaging material. Furthermore, the excellent liquid transport properties of the CALC membrane are demonstrated by the fact that water can penetrate from the hydrophobic side to the hydrophilic side within 32s, providing the appropriate storage temperature and dry environment for foods. In addition, compared with PE film, the CALC membrane also has antibacterial properties and UV resistance, which is beneficial to improving the storage conditions for foods. This study shows that the developed CALC membrane and corresponding design strategy can be extended for the preparation of other packaging materials for applications in research and food industrial fields.

Staged evolutionary features of the aromatic structure in high volatile A bituminous coal (hvAb) during gold tube pyrolysis experiments

Low-temperature pyrolysis of coal is a crucial step in the coal thermal conversion process and involves very complex physical and chemical reactions that can have different effects on the coal's structure. The thermal evolution behavior and transformation mechanism of the coal microstructure are not yet fully understood, which also limits the efficient utilization of coal to a certain extent. The aromatic structural features (including size, molecular ordering, nematic symmetry, stacking, and curvature) of the char produced from low-temperature pyrolysis of high volatile A bituminous coal (hvAb) from the Xutuan coal mine, China, were quantitatively assessed via high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image processing and analytical techniques. The thermal transformation process and the mechanisms controlling it were explored. The results show that, except for the unexpected slight growth of aromatic sheets at 440 °C, the lower pyrolysis temperature (< 521 °C) contributed weakly to their size growth, whereas at higher temperatures (561–600 °C), it significantly increased their size. The aromatic molecular ordering tended to gradually change in three stages: increasing between 340 and 440 °C, decreasing between 440 and 521 °C and increasing again between 521 and 600 °C. The nematic symmetry strength of aromatic fringes also followed a similar pattern with temperature at different scales. Additionally, in addition to a very minor development trend at 440 °C, the stacking did not significantly change at temperatures below 521 °C but developed appreciably further with increasing temperatures at 561–600 °C; however, the average spacing of the stacks did not appear to be significantly reduced at all temperatures. The curvature of the aromatic sheets also varied in different temperature stages, i.e., initially slightly increasing (340–380 °C), then gradually decreasing (380–480 °C), later increasing again (480–521 °C), and eventually decreasing (521–600 °C). The properties of the chemical composition and structure of the initial coal play important roles in the thermal reaction behavior, and the physical and chemical reactions that dominate at the different temperature stages may be responsible for such wiggly trends in the evolution of the aromatic structure. Notably, the properties of the mesophase (approximately 440 °C) strongly influence the subsequent structural transformation. These findings could provide useful information for the microstructure–property relationships and preparation of coal-based carbon materials.

Investigation of the sintering behavior of nanoparticulate SiC by molecular dynamics simulation

Sintering is a valuable processing technique utilized to create bulk materials from powder compacts. In recent years, sintering has a garnered significant attention in the research community due to its versatility and applicability in various fields, including additive manufacturing. Herein, we investigate the sintering kinetics and mechanism of SiC nanoparticulate using molecular dynamics simulations. The surface morphology, microstructure, radial distribution function, mean square displacement, atomic displacement distribution, structural transformation, and diffusion coefficient are analyzed in detail. The free surface surrounding the neck undergoes a reconstruction to eventually reach an equilibrium dihedral angle. The neck rapidly grows and aligns with the surface, causing the SiC particle to transform from an original spherical shape into a twists shape. The concentration of shear stress results in a change of the local lattice structure from the face-centered cubic phase to amorphous phase in the surface. With an increasing sintering time, the dominant diffusion mechanism gradually shifts from surface diffusion to interface diffusion. This trend leads to a rise in the atomic migration, the consumption of interface energy, and the degree of particle fusion. Ultimately, the sintered SiC particles have the spherical shape, low surface energy, and stable structure. Additionally, the high mobility of melted atom causes a gradual dissolution of SiC particle into the large particle from the surface towards the interior. This process leads to high-altitude concentration structures that facilitate atomic migration. These results shed light on an atomic sintering mechanism in SiC nanoparticulate for applications in the preparation of nanostructured materials, and additive manufacturing.

Investigation on Nitrogen Migration and Transformation during Hydrothermal Conversion of Glucose and Xylose in N-rich Solution Recycled from Hydrothermal treatment of Fiberboard

Nitrogen migration and transformation have been extensively studied during the thermochemical conversion of biomass, particularly N-rich biomass, due to concerns about nitrogen oxides pollution or the preparation of N-doped carbon materials. Nitrogen in fiberboard was extracted into an aqueous solution through low-temperature hydrothermal treatment to prepare the recycled aqueous solution. Subsequently, hydrothermal conversions of glucose and xylose were conducted in the recycled solution. The migration and transformation of nitrogen between hydrochars and aqueous phase were investigated. The results showed that the nitrogen retention rates of glucose hydrochars were higher than those of xylose hydrochars at low temperatures. As the temperature increased, the nitrogen retention rates of glucose and xylose hydrochars tended to converge, reaching their highest value at 220 °C. In hydrochars, nitrogen had a high content and was widely distributed on the surface of the carbon microspheres. The nitrogen content did not change significantly with increasing temperatures, but the nitrogen functional groups tended to become more thermostable. In addition, the char yields of glucose and xylose in fiberboard recycled solution were significantly higher than that in the ultrapure water at low temperatures, which indicates that the introduction of nitrogen promotes the formation of hydrochars. These findings favored the study on the nitrogen migration and transformation during hydrothermal conversions of lignocellulose in a N-rich environment.

Involvement of CN Sites in Solvothermally Engineered Metal-Free Carbon Material From Weed Lantana camara for the Detection of Mercury Ions: Experimental and DFT Insights.

Embarking on a journey to decipher the role of active sites in the detection and removal of toxic mercury(II) ions from polluted water, the surface of thermally engineered biomass derived carbon matrix NC-180 was customized with nitrogen atoms. The HR-TEM and XRD analyses revealed the amorphous nature of Lantana camara derived carbon material with small spherical flakes embedded in it. XPS analysis indicated the presence of pyrrolic, pyridinic, and graphitic N atoms, which was further confirmed by FT-IR analysis. The material shows quenching effect in presence of Hg2+ ions resulting in the "turn off" effect with a detection limit of 7.2 nM. The activity of NC-180 was recovered through "turn on" effect in the presence of L-cysteine. Furthermore, the mystery of binding of mercury(II) ions with N-sites is clarified through its comparison with other materials bearing sulfur and oxygen functional groups designated as AC-180, SC-180, and NSC-180. The conclusive evidence for efficient binding of nitrogen sites in NC-180 with mercury(II) ions is derived from various analyses, including 1H-NMR, FT-IR, XPS, and density functional theory. Notably, sustainability is achieved through utilization of toxic weed L. camara for the preparation of this selective carbon material for detection and adsorption of mercury(II) ions.

Fabrication of C and N co-doped CdS semiconductor photocatalysts derived from a novel Cd-MOF for enhancing photocatalytic performance

The narrow bandgap value and long lifetime of photo generated charges make CdS exhibit higher photocatalytic activity compared to other semiconductor catalysts. Given the excellent optoelectronic properties of CdS, a novel 2D cadmium-organic framework (Cd-MOF) was obtained by solvothermal method, which was served as a precursor template in this paper. C and N co-doped CdS-T (T = 600/800/1000) semiconductor materials were successfully prepared by chemical deposition method under different high temperatures. The as-prepared materials had been characterized in detail. Furthermore, the Cd-MOF and CdS-T were used to conduct the photocatalytic activity of organic dyes. Among them, CdS-800 showed excellent photocatalytic degradation effects on five organic dyes, especially on RB with the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of 98.87 %, which was significantly improved 6.5 times compared to Cd-MOF (58.23 %). Free radical capture experiments have shown that •O2− play a dominant role in the photocatalytic process. In addition, UV–vis diffuse reflection, photoluminescence (PL), photoelectrochemical (PEC) testing and density functional theory (DFT) calculations had shown that CdS-800 could effectively delay the recombination of photo generated charges, improve the rapid migration and separation of photo generated carriers, and enhance photocatalytic activity. This work provides new ideas for the preparation of efficient and recyclable CdS semiconductor photocatalytic materials.

Preparation of a novel laser cladding Ni-based alloy with promising applications in high-temperature conditions: Genetic design, multi-phase evolution, and synergy mechanism

Developing novel Ni-based alloys is crucial for remanufacturing key friction parts at 800-1200 ℃ in metallurgical industry with multiple failure mechanisms, such as wear, corrosion, and adhesion. This paper adopts genetic algorithm to design high-temperature Ni-based alloy with three genetic structures of wear resistance, anti-corrosion, and self-lubricating. By combining simulation calculation and experimental methods, the evolution of the three genetic structures of the laser cladding alloy and the performance strengthening mechanism were deeply studied. The laser clad Ni17Cr10Co7Al5Ti3W2C1S sample of optimized composition had three genetic structures: Cr7C3/TiC wear resistance phases, γ/γ′ anti-oxidation and anti-corrosion phases, Ti2SC/TiS self-lubricating phases. Compared with Cr28Ni48W5 superalloy, the wear rate of the optimal sample was 2.31×10-5 mm3/(N·m) under 800 ℃ friction condition, and reduced by 97%. The friction coefficient of the sample at high temperature was 0.2, approximately half of the substrate alloy, and the self-lubricating performance was significantly improved. Electrochemical tests indicated that the polarizing potential of the sample was -0.16 VSCE in 3.5wt. % NaCl solution. The mechanism of three genetic structures evolution and synergistic enhanced wear resistance, anti-corrosion, and self-lubricating properties were elaborated. Specifically, the key gene of Ti2SC plays a profound role in improving the high-temperature wear resistance and self-lubricating performance of the novel laser clad Ni-based alloy sample. These findings present a novel avenue of material design and preparation for laser additive manufacturing and remanufacturing of key friction parts with high-performance at 800-1200 ℃ in complex metallurgical working conditions.

High-temperature (800 °C) performance of spodumene slag-based ternary sulphate composite phase change materials with improved mechanical property

The large deployment of electric vehicles leads to decarbonised road transport. However, the mining and smelting of lithium resources will continue to increase, which generates lithium slag and urgently needs to be recycled. The integration of spodumene slag with ternary sulphate presents a green and promising approach to achieve resource recycling and high-performance composite phase change material (CPCM). Herein, toughened and strengthened CPCMs are prepared by the hybrid sintering method with mechanical properties better than reinterned glass, even after high-temperature thermal cycling. After the cold compression and hot sintering process, the production of colloidal sodium silicate bonds the ternary sulphate with the spodumene slag skeleton, which greatly enhances the strength of the CPCM for efficient and durable thermal energy storage (TES). The Hydroxyl polar group of sodium silicate interacts with the skeleton and leads to a record-breaking compressive strength of 155.23 MPa, and the CPCM can support its stacking of 23.6 m and 15 kg loading test at 700 °C. A negligible mass loss of 0.26 wt% was observed after 50 thermal cycles at 800 °C. Moreover, the CPCMs exhibit a high TES density of up to 873.0 J/g in the temperature range of 100–800 °C. High charging and round-trip efficiency in the heat recovery process from spodumene roasting is also achieved, as it is 5 % and 19 % higher than the common magnesium bricks, respectively. The CPCM achieves high thermal efficiency TES, and it is the effective resource recycling of lithium slag with simple material preparation, which, from two angles at once, attacks the carbon emission from the life cycle of the lithium-ion battery.

Efficient extraction of uranium(VI) in aqueous solution by contact-electro-catalysis

The efficient and eco-friendly extraction of uranium(VI) from nuclear wastewater continues to pose a significant challenge. Herein, an innovative approach of contact-electro-catalysis (CEC) has been employed for the extraction of uranium from aqueous solutions. Commercial polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was utilized as a trigger catalyst to generate e-, ·O2− and H2O2 under ultrasonic stimulation. These then react with uranyl ions to yield (UO2)O2⋅2H2O precipitates, facilitating efficient and selective extraction of uranium. In the absence of sacrificial agents, without the requirement of material preparation, and ambient atmosphere conditions, the removal rate of U(VI) at concentrations ranging from 1 to 100 mg/L under ultrasonic action (40 kHz, 180 W) exceeded 95 %. Additionally, it showed significant selectivity in the presence of coexisting ions. Furthermore, PTFE exhibits remarkable reusability in the process of uranium removal by CEC owing to its outstanding physicochemical stability. Notably, 82.6 % of U(VI) in actual low-concentration uranium-containing wastewater was extracted through CEC, confirming this method holds a promising application prospect. Our findings offer a convenient and eco-friendly strategy for effective and efficient extraction of uranium from nuclear wastewater based on the CEC, demonstrating powerful potential for practical applications.

A prediction model for the mechanical properties of SUS316 stainless steel ultrathin strip driven by multimodal data mixing

Constructing a mapping relationship among material preparation process, microstructure, and mechanical properties is a challenge in material research and development. In this work, a deep learning framework for multimodal data fusion is constructed that couples a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and a residual neural network (ResNet) to predict mechanical properties of SUS316 stainless steel ultrathin strips. Specifically, the MLP branch is used to extract the rolling process data features, and the ResNet with the addition of a convolutional block attention module (CBAM) is used to extract the microstructure features. Six models are constructed for comparison under the comprehensive consideration of factors such as unimodal network, the multimodal network and input form of image samples. The results show that the multimodal data model fused with the ResNet and MLP after adding the CBAM using both rolling process data and four types of microstructure image data as model inputs has the most accurate prediction results. The R2, MAPE, RMSE and MAE are 0.998, 0.727, 4.440 and 3.359, respectively. In addition, the proposed model is used for predicting yield strength and elongation, and the results show that the R2 values of both models on the test set are greater than 0.980, fully confirming that the multimodal data model has high prediction accuracy and good generalizability.

Effect of preparation designs and CAD-CAM materials on step-stress fatigue survival of premolar partial coverage restorations: An in-vitro study with fractographic analysis

ObjectivesThe growing trend of minimally invasive approaches has encouraged the application of partial coverage designs in restorative dentistry. This study aimed to evaluate the cyclic fatigue performance of different CAD-CAM materials used in various partial coverage designs for premolar restorations. MethodsA freshly extracted upper premolar was prepared using a high-speed handpiece to create mesio-occluso-distal (MOD) cavities with standardized dimensions. Three preparation designs were investigated: onlay, overlay, and vonlay. CAD software was used to create digital models of the restorations, which were milled into one of four CAD-CAM materials: Zr - zirconia polycrystals (4Y-PSZ); EX - lithium disilicate glass-ceramic; VS - zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate glass-ceramic; GB - nanohybrid composite. Partial coverage restorations were bonded to tooth replicas and subjected to step-stress cyclic fatigue testing using a chewing simulator device (n = 10). The number of cycles-to-failure and fatigue fracture resistance (N) were recorded and analysed with Kaplan-Meier survival statistics and Weibull analysis, respectively. Fracture surfaces were analysed using fractography. ResultsZr exhibited significantly higher number of cycles-to-failure and greater characteristic fracture load (L0) than the other materials, for onlay and overlay designs. For vonlay design, Zr, VS and EX had similar and greater number of cycles-to-failure than GB. When comparing different designs for the same material, Zr had lower number of cycles-to-failure for vonlay in comparison to onlay and overlay, while the other materials had similar values among the different designs. Weibull modulus was similar among experimental groups. SignificanceThe findings of this study emphasize the critical role of material selection and preparation design in optimizing the mechanical performance and clinical success of partial coverage restorations. 4Y-PSZ is recommended for high-stress areas due to its superior fatigue and fracture resistance. Overlay designs provide better fatigue resistance, making them more suitable for clinical scenarios requiring higher durability. Understanding the fatigue performance of different materials and designs aids in making informed decisions to enhance the longevity and success of partial coverage restorations in premolars.

A cellular automata modelling approach for grain growth topological evolution process of ternary cathode materials combined with deep neural networks

Ternary cathode materials are pivotal in high-performance battery technologies, with grain size influencing their electrochemical performance. However, the absence of real-time grain size inspection during material preparation poses challenges in maintaining the consistent quality of ternary cathode materials. To address this, this paper proposes a novel method employing cell automata to model the topological evolution of grain growth in these materials, integrated with deep neural networks (DNN). The grain growth process is divided into two stages: heating and constant temperature. In the heating stage, varying heating rates and plateau temperatures serve as DNN inputs, yielding the primary grain distribution for the cell automata model in the constant temperature stage. Based on cell automata, the grain growth model links the grain growth rate to the grain size distribution in the constant temperature stage. A surface energy constraint rule, based on local curvature and grain boundary surface tension, governs growth rates. The grain boundary growth ratio is also used to create a grain ID transition variable, dictating grain ID conversion in the model. This approach accurately simulates the dynamic evolution of polycrystalline grain size and morphology. Simulation results show that this method effectively models grain growth in ternary cathode materials, offering insights for optimising the sintering process and improving material quality.

MIL-101(Fe)@ceramic-monolith for arsenic removal in aqueous solutions

In this work, we present the preparation of a hybrid material constituted by a Metal-Organic Framework (type MIL-101(Fe)) and a natural clay ceramic monolith (NCCM), the materials were successfully assembled through an in-situ hydrothermal method. The composites were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms at 77 K and CO2 adsorption at 273 K; these techniques confirmed the obtaining of the hybrid material and, in addition, through studies before and after adsorption mechanisms involved were identified. Then, the As(V) adsorption capacity of the materials was evaluated using an aqueous arsenic solution; from which high adsorption capacities of up to 268 mg g− 1 and 61.5 mg g− 1, respectively. In addition, kinetic and equilibrium studies of As(V) adsorption were carried out. Finally, the potential capacities of the hybrid material consisting of Al2O3, AlO6-SiO4 and Fe3O4 for the adsorption of H3AsO4, were studied through density functional theory calculations.

Experimental Study on the Preparation of Cementitious Materials Through the Activation of Lead—Zinc Tailings

Experimental Study on the Preparation of Cementitious Materials Through the Activation of Lead—Zinc Tailings