The influence of high-temperature sintering on microstructure and mechanical properties of free-standing APS CeO-YO -ZrO coatings

In this study, ceria-yttria co-stabilized zirconia (CYSZ) free-standing coatings, deposited by air plasma spraying (APS), were isothermally annealed at 1315 °C in order to explore the effect of sintering on the microstructure and the mechanical properties (i.e., hardness and Young's modulus). To this aim, coating microstructure, before and after heat treatment, was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, and image analysis was carried out in order to estimate porosity fraction. Moreover, Vickers microindentation and depth-sensing nanoindentation tests were performed in order to study the evolution of hardness and Young's modulus as a function of annealing time. The results showed that thermal aging of CYSZ coatings leads to noticeable microstructural modifications. Indeed, the healing of finer pores, interlamellar, and intralamellar microcracks was observed. In particular, the porosity fraction decreased from ~10 to ~5% after 50 h at 1315 °C. However, the X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that high phase stability was achieved, as no phase decomposition occurred after thermal aging. In turn, both the hardness and Young's modulus increased, in particular, the increase in stiffness (with respect to "as produced" samples) was equal to ~25%, whereas the hardness increased to up to ~60%. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Influence of the anion on the electrical conductivity and glass formation of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium ionic liquids

Six ionic liquids based on the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium cation have been studied. As anions Cl-, Br-, I-, [NCS](-), [N(CN)(2)](-), and [BF4](-) were selected. The electrical conductivities were determined between 173 and 393 K based on impedance measurements in the frequency range from 0.1 to 10(7) Hz. The electrical conductivity increases, whereas the glass transition temperature, the fragility, and the low temperature activation energy decrease with increasing anion size. The results can be understood from the changing anion-cation interaction strength with changing anion size and from the energy landscape interpretation of the glass transition dynamics. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3455892]

Influence of the cation on the solubility of CO2 and H 2 in ionic liquids based on the bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide anion

Experimental values for the solubility of carbon dioxide and hydrogen in three room temperature ionic liquids based on the same anion- (bistrifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [Ntf2]-and three different cations-1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, [C4mim], 1-ethyl-3- methylimidazolium, [C2mim] and trimethyl-butylammonium, [N 4111]-are reported between 283 and 343 K and close to atmospheric pressure. Carbon dioxide, with a mole-fraction solubility of the order of 10-2, is two orders of magnitude more soluble than hydrogen. The solubility of CO2 is very similar in the three ionic liquids although slightly lower in the presence of the [C2mim] cation. In the case of H2, noticeable differences were observed with larger mole fraction solubilities in the presence of [N4111] followed by [C 4mim]. All of the mole-fraction solubilities decrease with increasing temperature. From the variation of Henry's law constants with temperature, the thermodynamic functions of solvation were calculated. The precision of the experimental data, considered as the average absolute deviation of the Henry's law constants from appropriate smoothing equations, is always better than ±1%. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007.

Oxidative dehydrogenation of propane with N2O over Fe-ZSM-5 and Fe-SiO2: Influence of the iron species and acid sites

A series of iron containing zeolites with varying Si/Al ratios (11.5-140) and low iron content (similar to 0.9 wt.% Fe) have been synthesised by solid-state ion exchange with commercially available zeolites and tested, for the first time, in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP) with N2O. The samples were characterised by XRD, N-2-Adsorption, NH3-TPD and DR-UV-vis spectroscopy. The acidity of the Fe-ZSM-5 can be controlled by high temperature and steam treatments and Si/Al ratio. The selectivity and yield of propene were found to be the highest over Fe-ZSM-5 with low Al contents and reduced acidity. The initial propene yield over Fe-ZSM-5 was significantly higher than that of Fe-SiO2 since the presence of weak and/or medium acid sites together with oligonuclear iron species and iron oxides on the ZSM-5 are found to enhance the N2O activation. The coking of Fe-ZSM-5 catalysts could also be controlled by reduction of the surface acidity of ZSM-5 and by the use of O-2 in addition to N2O as the oxidant. Fe-ZSM-5 zeolites prepared with solid-state method have been shown to have comparable activity and better stability towards coking compared with Fe-ZSM-5 zeolites prepared by liquid ion exchange and hydrothermal synthesis methods. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synchrotron X-ray diffraction study of the phase transformations in titanium alloys

High-resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction was used to study the phase transformations in titanium alloys. Three titanium alloys were investigated: Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo-0.08Si and beta21s. Both room and high temperature measurements were performed. The room temperature experiments were performed to study the structure of the alloys after different heat treatments, namely as received (AR), furnace cooling (FC), water quenching (WQ) and water quenching followed by ageing. The alpha, alpha', alpha'' and beta phases were observed in different combinations depending on the heat treatment conditions and the alloy studied. A multicomponent hexagonal close packed (hcp) alpha phase, with different c and the same a lattice parameters, was detected in Ti-6Al-4V after FC. High temperature synchrotron X-ray diffraction was used for 'in situ' study of the transformations on the sample surface at elevated temperatures. The results were used to trace the kinetics of surface oxidation and the concurrent phase transformations taking place under different conditions. The influence of the temperature and oxygen content on the lattice parameters of the alpha phase was derived and new data obtained on the coefficients of thermal expansion in the different directions of the hcp alpha phase, for Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo-0.08Si.