Acceleration Mechanism of Steel Slag Hydration Using THEED.

In this paper, the strength development of a pure steel slag (SS) system with various concentrations of N,N,N',N'-Tetrakis-(2-hydroxyethyl) ethylenediamine (THEED) was investigated. The hydration kinetics, pore structure and microstructure of SS pastes with and without THEED were characterized to underscore the working mechanism of THEED. Results show that THEED additions significantly increase the 3, 7 and 28 days compressive strength of hardened SS pastes. The enhancement effect increases with the dosage of THEED. At a concentration of 2000 ppm, THEED increased the compressive strength by 733%, 665%, and 545% at 3, 7 and 28 days, respectively. It is confirmed that THEED additions improve the hydration degree of SS by accelerating hydration of the aluminum phase (C3A, PDF-38-1429; C12A7, PDF-48-1882) and C2F,( PDF 38-0408) to generate Mc (PDF-41-0219) and Pa (PDF-30-0222) in the presence of CaCO3. Also, the hydration degree of silicates is increased by THEED. In this way, THEED additions refine the pore structure of hardened SS paste by increasing the pore volume with a diameter below 300 nm to achieve enhancement. The chelating effect of THEED results in promoting dissolution of SS, which provides the driving force for accelerating SS hydration.

Investigation on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of the Ti-Ta Alloy with Unmelted Ta Particles by Laser Powder Bed Fusion.

Titanium-tantalum (Ti-Ta) alloy has excellent biomechanical properties with high strength and low Young's modulus, showing great application potential in the biomedical industry. In this study, Ti-Ta alloy samples were prepared by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology with mixed pure 75 wt.% Ti and 25 wt.% Ta powders as the feedstock. The maximum relative density of Ti-Ta samples prepared by LPBF reached 99.9%. It is well-accepted that four nonequilibrium phases, namely, α', α″ and metastable ß phase exist in Ti-Ta alloys. The structure of α', α″ and ß are hexagonal close-packed (HCP), base-centered orthorhombic (BCO) and body-centered cubic (BCC), respectively. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the α' phase transformed to the α″ phase with the increase of energy density. The lamellar α'/α″ phases and the α″ twins were generated in the prior ß phase. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the Ti-Ta alloy were optimized with different LPBF processing parameters. The samples prepared by LPBF energy density of 381 J/mm3 had a favorable ultimate strength (UTS) of 1076 ± 2 MPa and yield strength of 795 ± 16 MPa. The samples prepared by LPBF energy density of 76 had excellent ductility, with an elongation of 31% at fracture.

Novel Fe-Based Amorphous Composite Coating with a Unique Interfacial Layer Improving Thermal Barrier Application.

To improve thermal barrier applications in advanced vehicle engines, a novel Fe-based amorphous composite coating was designed by introducing ceramic oxides and was prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). The microstructure and related properties of the as-deposited coating were investigated in detail. The composite coating comprises a well-formed FeCrNbBSi amorphous metallic matrix and dispersed yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) splats. A unique Si-oxide interfacial layer with a thickness of several nanometers and an amorphous structure forms between the metallic matrix and ceramic phase, which is attributed to a combination of multiple effects. The composite coating displays extremely low thermal conductivity from 2.28 W/mK at 100 °C to 3.36 W/mK at 600 °C and can increase the surface temperature of the piston crown by 18.93 °C, which implies a significant means of enhancing the power efficiency. The improved thermal barrier ability of the composite coating is revealed as the crucial effect of the Si-oxide interfacial layer, which induces an increased interfacial thermal resistance. The fracture toughness of the composite coating remains at 3.40 MPa·m1/2, comparable to that of the monolithic amorphous coating, 3.74 MPa·m1/2, which is closely related to the formation of a Si-oxide layer and its nanoscale thickness. Therefore, the Fe-based amorphous composite coating developed here demonstrates great potential as an innovative metal-based thermal barrier coating for application in vehicle engines and provides specific inspiration for future works exploring the interfacial engineering of coating.

Ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of cobalt oxide/nitrogen-doped graphene oxide hybrid as oxygen reduction reaction catalyst for Al-air battery.

A persistent ultrasound-assisted hydrothermal method has been developed to prepare cobalt oxide incorporated nitrogen-doped graphene (Co3O4/N-GO) hybrids. The electrochemical behaviors and catalytic activity of the prepared hybrids have been systematically investigated as cathode materials for Al-air battery. The results show that ultrasonication can promote the yield ratio of Co3O4 from 63.1% to 70.6%. The prepared Co3O4/N-GO hybrid with ultrasonication exhibits better ORR activity over that without ultrasonication. The assembled Al-air battery using the ultrasonicated Co3O4/N-GO hybrid exhibited an average working voltage of 1.02 V in 4 M KOH electrolyte at 60 mA∙cm-2, approximately 60 mV higher than that using hybrid without ultrasonication. This should be attributed to large number density of fine Co3O4 particles growing on the dispersed GO sheets under the persistent ultrasonication. The related ultrasonic mechanism has been discussed in details.

EBSD Investigation of the Microtexture of Weld Metal and Base Metal in Laser Welded Al⁻Li Alloys.

Autogenous laser welding of 5A90 Al⁻Li alloy sheets in a butt-joint configuration was carried out in this study. The microstructure characteristics of the weld metal and base metal in the horizontal surface and the transverse section of the welded joints were examined quantitatively using electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) technique. The results show that the weld metal in the horizontal surface and the transverse section exhibits similar grain structural features including the grain orientations, grain shapes, and grain sizes, whereas distinct differences in the texture intensity and misorientation distributions are observed. However, the base metal in the horizontal surface and the transverse section of the joints reveals the obvious different texture characteristics in terms of the grain orientation, grain morphology, predominate texture ingredients, distribution intensities of textures, and grain boundary misorientation distribution, resulting in the diversity of the microhardness in the base metal and the softening of the weld metal. However, the degree of the drop in the hardness of the weld metal is highly correlated to the microtexture developed in the base metal.

In vitro evaluation of hydroxyapatite coatings with (002) crystallographic texture deposited by micro-plasma spraying.

Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings are usually deposited on the metallic implant to increase the biocompatibility and protect the bloodstream from harmful metal ions. Atmospheric plasma spray (APS) is known as a cost effective deposition method. However, the low crystallinity of APS deposited coating accelerates its dissolution in body fluid. We used micro-plasma spray (MPS) to develop chemically stable HA coatings, and performed APS as reference. Results showed that MPS deposited coatings exhibited (002) crystallographic texture while the reference sample did not. The texture intensity and crystallinity were improved by shortening stand-off distance. These suggested that different formation procedures of HA coatings were involved and three mechanisms were proposed by sketching typical splats. To evaluate the chemical stability of the coatings in a physiological environment, in vitro experiments were performed in Hanks' solution. Well crystallized (~100%) HA coating with the strongest crystallographic texture exhibited superior stability up to 14days. Crystals with (002) orientation was more stable than that with (211) orientation. Hence columnar structure with nanopores emerged on the coating surface after incubation, and this may facilitate the future osteoblast growth. Furthermore, HA coating with weak and no crystallographic texture induced apatite layer. However, vertical cracks and cleavage at coating-apatite interface may cause coating separation.