Effect of Zn concentration on the microstructures and mechanical properties of extruded Mg-7Y-4Gd-0.4Zr alloys

Microstructures and mechanical properties of the Mg-7Y-4Gd-xZn-0.4Zr (x = 0.5, 1.5, 3, and 5 wt.%) alloys in the as-cast, as-extruded, and peak-aged conditions have been investigated by using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. It is found that the peak-aged Mg-7Y-4Gd-1.5Zn-0.4Zr alloys have the highest strength after aging at 220 A degrees C. The highest ultimate tensile strength and yield tensile strength are 418 and 320 MPa, respectively. The addition of 1.5 wt.% Zn to the based alloys results in a greater aging effect and better mechanical properties at both room and elevated temperatures. The improved mechanical properties are mainly ascribed to both a fine beta' phase and a long periodic stacking-ordered structure, which coexist together in the peak-aged alloys.

Luminescent supramolecular microstructures containing Ru(bpy)(3)(2+): Solution-based self-assembly preparation and solid-state electrochemiluminescence detection application

In this correspondence, we report on the first preparation of novel, robust Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)-containing supramolecular microstructures via a solution-based self-assembly strategy, carried out by directly mixing H2PtCl6 and Ru(bpy)(3)Cl-2 aqueous solutions at room temperature. It reveals that both the molar ratio and concentration of reactants have a heavy influence on the morphologies of such microstructures. The electrochemical behavior of the Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) components contained in the solid film of the microstructures formed on the electrode surface is also studied and found to exhibit a diffusion-controlled voltammetric feature. Most importantly, such microstructures exhibit excellent electrochemiluminescence (ECL) behaviors and therefore hold great promise as new luminescent materials for solid-state ECL detection in capillary electrophoresis (CE) or CE microchip.

Different microstructures of ss-NaYF4 fabricated by hydrothermal process: Effects of pH values and fluoride sources

beta-NaYF4 microcrystals with a variety of morphologies, such as microrod, hexagonal microprism, and octadecahedron, have been synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and photoluminescence (PL) spectra were used to characterize the samples. The intrinsic structural feature of beta-NaYF4 seeds and two important external factors, namely, the pH values in the initial reaction solution and fluoride sources, are responsible for shape determination of beta-NaYF4 microcrystals. It is found that the organic additive trisodium citrate (Cit(3-)) as a shape modifier has the dynamic effect by adjusting the growth rate of different facets under different experimental conditions, resulting in the formation of the anisotropic geometries of various beta-NaYF4 microcrystals. The possible formation mechanisms for products with various architectures have been presented. A systematic study on the photoluminescence of Tb3+-doped beta-NaYF4 samples with rod, prism, and octadecahedral shapes has shown that the optical properties of these phosphors are strongly dependent on their morphologies and sizes.

Host-sensitized luminescence of Dy3+, Pr3+, Tb3+ in polycrystalline SrIn2O4 for field emission displays

SrIn2O4:Dy3+/Pr3+/Tb3+ white/red/green phosphors were prepared by the Pechini sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), diffuse reflectance, photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence spectra, and lifetimes were utilized to characterize the samples. XRD reveal that the samples begin to crystallize at 800 degrees C and pure SrIn2O4 phase can be obtained at 900 degrees C. FE-SEM images indicate that the SrIn2O4:Dy3+, SrIn2O4:Pr3+, and SrIn2O4:Tb3+ samples consist of fine and spherical grains with size around 200-400 nm. Under the excitation of ultraviolet light and low-voltage electron beams (1 - 5 kV), the SrIn2O4:Dy3+, SrIn2O4: Pr3+, and SrIn2O4: Tb3+ phosphors show the characteristic emissions of Dy3+ (F-4(9/2) - H-6(15/2) at 492 nm and 4F(9/2) - 6H(13/2) at 581 nm, near white), Pr3+ (P-3(0) - H-3(4) at 493 nm, D-1(2) - H-3(4) at 606 nm, and P-3(0) - H-3(6) at 617 nm, red) and Tb3+ (D-5(4) - F-7(6,5,4,3) transitions dominated by D-5(4) - F-7(5) at 544 nm, green), respectively. All of the luminescence resulted from an efficient energy transfer from the SrIn2O4 host lattice to the doped Dy3+, Pr3+, and Tb3+ ions, and the luminescence mechanisms have been proposed.

Host-sensitized luminescence of Dy3+, Pr3+ , Tb3+ in polycrystalline CaIn2O4 for field emission displays

Caln(2)O(4):Dy3+/Pr3+/Tb3+ blue-white/green/green phosphors were prepared by the Pechini sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), diffuse reflectance, photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescencc (CL) spectra as well as lifetimes were utilized to characterize the samples. The XRD results reveal that the samples begin to crystallize at 800 degrees C 3-1 and pure CaIn2O4 phase can be obtained after annealing at 900 degrees C. The FE-SEM images indicate that the CaIn2O4:Dy3+, CaIn2O4:Pr3+ and CaIn2O4:Tb3+ samples consist of spherical grains with size around 200-400nm. Under the excitation of ultraviolet light and low electron beams (1-5kV), the CaIn2O4:Dy3+, CaIn2O4:Pr3+ and CaIn2O4:Tb3+ phosphors show the characteristic emissions of Dy3+ ((F9/2-H15/2)-F-4-H-6 and (F9/2-H13/2)-F-4-H-6 transitions, blue-white), Pr3+ ((P0-H4)-P-3-H-3, (D2-H4)-D-1-H-3 and (P1-H5)-P-3-H-3 transitions, green) and Tb3+ ((D4-F6,5,4,3)-D-5-F-7 transitions, green), respectively. All the luminescence is resulted from an efficient energy transfer from the CaIn2O4 host lattice to the doped Dy3+ ,Pr3+ and Tb3+ ions, and the corresponding luminescence mechanisms have been proposed.

Microstructures and properties of Mg-7Gd alloy containing Y

Mg-7 mass%Gd-x mass%Y (x = 0, 1, 3 and 5) alloys were prepared by casting method, and the microstructures, age hardening behavior and mechanical properties have been investigated. The results show that the addition of Y to the binary Mg-7Gd alloy could reduce the grain size of the as-cast alloys, and enhance the age hardening response and improve mechanical properties during the investigated temperature range. The Mg-7Gd-5Y alloy exhibits maximum ultimate tensile strength and yield strength at peak hardness, and the values are 258 and 167 MPa at room temperature, and 212 and 140 MPa at 250 degrees C, respectively, which is about 1.8 times as high as the Mg-7Gd binary alloy. When x is more than 3, the amount of Mg-5 (Gd,Y) phase is observed at the peak hardness of aged alloys. The significant improvement of the tensile strength at peak hardness is mainly attributed to the fine dispersion of the beta-Mg-5(Gd,Y) precipitate.

Microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr-xNd (x=0, 1, 2 and 3 mass%) alloys

Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr-xNd (x = 0, 1, 2 and 3 mass%) alloys were prepared by metal mould casting method, and the microstructures, age hardening responses and mechanical properties have been investigated. The microhardness of the as-cast alloys is increased with increasing Nd content. The age hardening behavior and mechanical properties are enhanced significantly by adding Nd element. The peak ageing hardness of the Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr-3Nd alloy is 103, it is about 1.3 times more than that of the Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr alloy. The aged Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr-3Nd alloy exhibits maximum ultimate tensile strength and yield strength, and the values are 271 and 205 MPa at room temperature, 205 MPa and 150 MPa at 250 degrees C, respectively. Which are about 2 times higher than those of Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr alloy. The improved hardness and strength are mainly attributed to the fine dispersiveness Of Mg5RE and Mg12RE precipitates in the alloy.

High mobility vanadyl-phthalocyanine polycrystalline films for organic field-effect transistors

The organic films of vanadyl-phthalocyanine (VOPc) compounds showed weak epitaxy growth (WEG) behavior on thin ordered para-sexiphenyl (p-6P) layer with high substrate temperature. The WEG of VOPc molecules standing up on the p-6P layer leaded to high in-plane orientation and their layer-by-layer growth behavior. In consequence, high quality VOPc films were obtained, which were consisted of lamellar crystals. Organic field-effect transistors with VOPc/p-6P films as active layers realized high mobility of above 1 cm(2)/V s. This result indicated that nonplanar compounds can obtain a device performance better than planar compounds, therefore, it may provide a rule to find disklike organic semiconductor materials.

Electrooxidation of COad intermediated from methanol oxidation on polycrystalline Pt electrode

The poisonous intermediate of methanol oxidation on a Pt electrode was validated to be COad by electrochemical method. An approximate treatment to bimolecular elementary reactions on an electrode was advanced and then was applied to the stripping normal pulse voltammetry (NPV) for complex multistep multielectron transfer processes on plane electrodes to study the kinetics of completely irreversible process Of COad oxidation to CO2. The kinetic parameters for this process, such as standard rate constant (0) and anodic transfer coefficient (alpha) for this irreversible heterogeneous electron-transfer process at electrode/solution interface and apparent diffusion coefficient (D-app) for charge-transfer process within the monolayer of COad on electrode surface, were obtained with stripping NPV method. The effect of the approximate treatment on the kinetic parameters was also analyzed.

Microstructures and tensile properties of Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr-xNd-yY (x+y=3, mass%) alloys

Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr-xNd-yY (mass%) alloys which containing different Nd:Y mass ratio of 3:0, 2:1, 1:2 and 0:3 with a constant x + y = 3 were prepared by metal mould casting method, and the microstructure, aging behaviour and tensile properties have been investigated. The fibrous eutectic areas along the boundaries enlarge clearly in the as-cast alloys containing Y element, and the fine grain boundaries and dispersed precipitation are observed in the aged alloys. The Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr-2Nd-Y alloy exhibits notably age-hardening behaviour and the highest mechanical property. The ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr-2Nd-Y alloy in the peak aged hardness are 293 and 221 MPa at room temperature, 248 and 191 MPa at 230 degrees C. The improvement of age-hardening response and tensile properties is mainly attributed to the quadrate-like stable Mg5RE precipitate, which forms readily and orderly in aged Mg-8Gd-0.6Zr-2Nd-Y alloy.

Microstructures and properties of melt-spun and as-cast Mg-20Gd binary alloy

Mg-20Gd(%, mass fraction) samples were prepared using melt-spinning and copper mold casting techniques. Microstructures and properties of the Mg-20Gd were investigated. Results show that the melt-spun ribbon is mainly composed of supersaturated alpha-Mg solid solution phase and the as-east ingot mainly contains alpha-Mg solid solution and Mg5Gd phase. The differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) curve of the ribbon exhibits a small exothermic peak in the temperature range from 630 to 680 K, which indicates that the ribbon contains a metastable phase (amorphous). Tensile strength at room temperature of the melt-spun ribbon and as-cast specimen are 308 and 254 MPa, respectively. The elongations of the two samples are less than 2%. The fracture surfaces demonstrate that the fracture mode of the as-cast Mg-20Gd is a typical cleavage fracture and that of the melt-spun sample is a combination of brittle fracture and ductile fracture.

Probing UPD-induced surface atomic rearrangement of polycrystalline gold nanofilms with surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry

Silver underpotential deposition (UPD)-induced surface atomic rearrangement of polycrystalline gold nanofilms was probed with use of surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy (SPRs) as a novel probe tool in combination with cyclic voltammetry. Interestingly, upon repetitive electrochemical UPD and stripping of Ag, the surface structure of the resulting bare Au film is rearranged due to strong adatom-substrate interactions, which causes a large angle shift of SPR R-theta curves, in a good linear relationship with the number of UPDs, to a lower SPR angle. The n, K values of the surfacial Au monolayers before and after the repetitive Ag UPD and stripping for 27 times are found to be 0.133, 3.60 and 0.565, 9.39, respectively, corresponding to the huge shift of 1.61degrees to the left of the SPR minima. Cyclic voltammetry experiments in 0.10 M H2SO4 are carried out before and after the UPD treatment to examine the quality of the whole electrode surface and confirmed this change. To correlate the angle change in SPRs with the profile change in the cyclic voltammogram, the UPD treatment was also performed on a Au(111) textured thin film. It was therefore confirmed that the resonance position of the SPR spectrum is very sensitive to the surface crystallographic orientation of the bare Au substrates. Some surface atomic rearrangement can cause a pronounced SPR angle shift.

How to form regular polymer microstructures by surface-pattern-directed dewetting

The substrates with regular patterns of self-assembly monolayers (SAMs) produced by microcontact printing with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) was employed to direct thin polystyrene dewetting to fabricate ordered micrometer scale pattern. The pattern sizes and pattern fashion can be manipulated by controlling the experimental parameters. The pattern formation mechanisms have been discussed. The dewetting pattern can be transferred to form PDMS stamp for future microfabrication process.