The safety issues and lower energy density of the lithium metal batteries are the two main challenges that hinder their applications in the fields of electric vehicles and portable devices. In this work, the semi-interpenetrated polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene (PVdF-HFP)-based gel polymer electrolyte was synthesized through UV-curing method by employing the ethoxylated trimethylolpropane

The present work reports a systematic investigation on phase evolution, microstructure and microstructure–property relationship of two typical face-centered cubic (FCC) structured high-entropy alloys (HEAs), FeNiCoCr and FeNiCoCrMn, prepared via mechanical alloying (MA) followed by spark plasma sintering (SPS). Following 50 h of MA, the two HEAs consisted of a mixture of FCC and body-centered cubic

The precipitation behavior of different phases in a high-silicon stainless steel (6 wt% Si) during aging at 600–1050 °C for 24 h was investigated. The morphology, crystal structure and composition of various precipitates were detailly characterized using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Four phases were mainly identified: χ-phase, M6C carbides,

To improve the interfacial conductivity and corrosion resistance of AISI430 stainless steel (430SS) as bipolar plates for direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFCs), a Nb0.8Zr0.2 layer has been successfully synthesized via the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique on the surface of 430SS. This Nb0.8Zr0.2 layer is smooth, uniform, and comparatively compact without any surface flaw and micropore. Investigation

Stress-rupture properties of a Ni-base Re-containing single-crystal superalloy with three orientations have been tested under 900 °C/445 MPa. An obvious anisotropy of stress-rupture property is attributed to orientation reliant deformation microstructure. The good strength in [001] orientation is attributed to the rapid multiplication of dislocations active in horizontal channels and later γ’ cutting

Previous studies have revealed that laser power and energy density are significant factors affecting the quality of parts manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM). The normalized equivalent density E0* and dimensionless laser power q*, which can be regarded as a progress on the understanding of the corresponding dimensional quantities, are adopted in this study to examine the defects, melt pool

Phase stability and its effect on tensile properties of MAR-M247 alloy have been investigated during thermal exposure at 800–900 °C for up to 10,000 h. Detailed investigations reveal that the larger secondary γ′ phase has no obvious growth, but the smaller tertiary γ′ phase obviously coarsens and the coalescence occurs during thermal exposure at 850 °C and below. γ′ coarsening behavior is consistent

On-line heating rolling mill which could efficiently preheat sheet and apply tensile force on both ends of the sheet along rolling direction (RD) was used to investigate the effect of tension on mechanical behavior and shape quality of magnesium sheets. For revealing the influence mechanism, many analysis techniques including optical microscope, electron backscattered diffraction, macrotexture and

We presented the solution of deformation-induced precipitation after homogenization to enhance the mechanical properties of Mg–6Zn alloys. The results show that the improved strategy exhibits more effective strengthening role than grain refinement methods based on low-temperature severe plastic deformation under the same strain. The low-temperature deformation with larger extrusion ratio results in

Conductivity and oxidation behavior of Fe-16Cr alloy were investigated under long-term stability operation at 750 °C and thermal cycles from room temperature to 750 °C. The results showed that the area specific resistance (ASR) of Fe-16Cr alloy increased over time and reached about 56.29 mΩ cm2 after 40,000 h of long-term stability operation at 750 °C by theoretical calculation. The ASR of Fe-16Cr

High-energy ball milling (HEBM) combined with powder metallurgy route was used to fabricate carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced 7055Al composites. Two powder morphology evolution processes (HEBM-1 and HEBM-2) were designed to investigate the dispersion and damage of CNTs during HEBM process. HEBM-1 evolution process involved powder flattening, cold-welding and fracture, while HEBM-2 evolution process

This study focuses on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints of Q235 mild steel, which was formed by the friction stir welding (FSW). The results indicated that, after the FSW, the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the retreating side (HAZRS) and the HAZ of the advancing side (HAZAS) recovered under the influence of the heating cycle. The transformation of the phases in the thermo-mechanically

The relationship between microstructure morphology and mechanical properties of the low-carbon steel (Fe-0.20C-2.59Mn-2.13Si) treated by different intercritical annealed quenching and partitioning (Q&P) processes was investigated through interrupted tensile tests plus quasi-situ electron backscatter diffraction measurements. Results show that size and distribution of retained austenite (RA) directly

With the rapid development of indium tin oxide (ITO) in the electronic display industry, choosing which raw powders to prepare high-quality ITO targets has always been a controversial topic. In the work, in order to clearly understand the effect of the raw powders on the microstructure and properties of ITO targets and thin films, tin-doped indium oxide (dITO) and In2O3-SnO2 mixed (mITO) powders were

The Mg–12Gd–1Er–1Zn–0.9Zr (wt%) alloy with ultra-high strength and ductility was developed via hot extrusion combined with pre-deformation and two-stage aging treatment. The age-hardening behavior and microstructure evolution were investigated. Pre-deformation introduced a large number of dislocations, resulting in strain hardening and higher precipitation strengthening in the subsequent two-stage

The evolution of corrosion behavior of 316L stainless steels exposed to salt lake atmosphere for 8 years was investigated. The results showed that the stainless steel in salt lake atmosphere had a greater corrosion rate during the initial exposure time and relatively lower corrosion rate during the subsequent exposure time. Dust depositions accumulated on the downward surface caused severe local corrosion

A martensitic stainless steel AISI420 fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) and post-processed by austenitizing and tempering heat treatment was investigated in this study. The as-fabricated SLMed AISI420 showed a strong mechanical property anisotropy and low ductility in the longitudinal direction. Detailed microstructural characterization revealed the presence of austenite and a relatively

Effects of electropulsing treatment (EPT) on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of a cold-rolled 316L austenitic stainless steel with nano-lamellar structure were investigated. The EPT experiments were carried out with the electric current direction along the rolling direction (RD) and the transverse direction (TD) of the samples, respectively. Significant anisotropic electroplastic

The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behaviour of AISI 304 pipe girth welds which were welded by a single-pass laser beam welding (LBW) and a multi-pass tungsten inert gas welding (TIG), respectively, was studied by the slow strain rate tests combined with the electrochemical corrosion tests. The results show that fracture of both the TIG joint and LBW joint occurs in the heat-affected zone (HAZ). According

We elucidate here the effects of annealing twins on phase transformation products based on electron back-scatter diffraction analysis and corresponding microstructure visualization and quantification methods. Martensite and bainite were obtained by rapid continuous cooling and isothermal processing at different temperatures, respectively, which were designed to study variants formed in austenite with

Corrosion behavior and mechanism of irradiated 304 nuclear grade stainless steel were studied in simulated pressurized water reactor primary water. The microstructure of the oxide formed on the steel irradiated to different doses over an exposure period range of 25–1500 h was analyzed and compared. It was found that the general and intergranular corrosion rates of the steel were increased with irradiation

In this work, water cooling, air cooling (AC) and furnace cooling (FC) were applied to investigate the effect of cooling rate on microstructure evolution of primary γ′ in a newly designed Ni3Al-based alloy. The results showed that nucleation rate of primary γ′ increased with increasing cooling rate. In addition, higher cooling rate shortened growth period of primary γ′, which made its morphology close

In this study, Cu nanoparticles-coated graphene nanoplatelets (Cu-NPs@GNPs) were synthesized by a simple in situ method with the assistance of NaCl templates and used for reinforcing Al–10Si composites through stir casting process. The experimental results showed that the coating of Cu-NPs on the GNPs could compromise the density mismatch between GNPs and metal matrix and effectively hinder the float

Recently, exploring appropriate anode materials for current commercial lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with suitable operating potential and long cycle life has attracted extensive attention. Herein, a novel anode of Bi nanoparticles fully encapsulated in carbon nanosphere framework with uniform yolk–shell nanostructure was prepared via a facile hydrothermal method. Due to the special structure design

In this study, the corrosion behaviors of an as-extruded Mg–4%Zn–2%Y–1.8%Nd (in wt.%) alloy in different physiological saline solutions were investigated and compared. The results indicated that the alloy in the 9 g/L NaCl had the higher corrosion resistance than that containing with CaCl2 and NaHCO3. Moreover, it demonstrated that the corrosion behaviors of the alloy in two types of solutions were

Bio-magnesium alloys have received great attention due to their degradability and biocompatibility. Corrosion fatigue failure is a huge challenge in vivo for bio-magnesium alloy implants. Understanding the effects of twinning textures on the corrosion fatigue of magnesium alloys is meaningful for the applications. In the current study, pre-compression strains of 2% and 4% were carried out on extruded

In this study, typical microstructural characteristics of a metastable β Ti alloy (Ti–5Al–5Mo–5V–3Cr–1Fe) forged in a dual-phase region (strain of 54% at 820 °C) were investigated in detail by the combined use of X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy, electron channeling contrast imaging and electron backscatter diffraction techniques. Results show that the microstructure of the forged

Microstructural evolution during severe plastic deformation and mixing of Mg95.8Zn3.6Gd0.6 and Mg97Cu1Y2 (at%) alloys upon friction stir welding was studied. A laminated onion-ring structure composed of alternative distribution of layers with significantly refined microstructures from different alloys was formed in the stirred zone. Coarse quasicrystals were broken up and dispersed with most of them

Basic fundamentals governing the hydrogenation of Zr and its alloys have both theoretical and practical importance. In this work, first-principles calculations have been performed to evaluate the relative stabilities of various possible phases in ZrHx (x = 1–2) under different temperatures and pressures. It was predicted that fct-γ and ε phases with various different H-atom configurations can be energetically

Two different kinds of hot compressions, namely normal-compression and can-compression, were performed on the Mg–11Gd–4Y–2Zn–0.5Zr alloy, featured with long period stacking ordered (LPSO) phase. The kinking behavior of LPSO phase and microstructure evolution was investigated to clarify the effect of levels of imposed hydrostatic pressure. The results suggest that the LPSO phases including both the

Effects of Mn content on mechanical properties of FeCoCrNiMnx (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.3) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) are investigated via first-principles calculations combining EMTO–CPA method. Related physical parameters, including lattice constant, elastic constants, elastic modulus, Pugh’s ratio, anisotropy factors, Poisson's ratio, Cauchy pressure, Vickers hardness, yield strength, and energy factor, are calculated

Two experimental alloys containing different contents of Ru were investigated to study the effect of Ru on the microstructural evolution during long-term thermal exposure. The increase in Ru promoted the formation of cubical, tiny, and even γ′ phase after full heat treatment. Moreover, the samples after full heat treatment were exposed at 1100 °C for different time. Based on the classical model by

A novel method of pulsed magnetic field (PMF) treatment was developed to eliminate the residual stress of rolled magnesium alloy AZ31 sheet in this study. The effect of PMF on residual stress of rolled AZ31 sheet was investigated and its mechanism was analyzed. The experimental results revealed that the pulse frequency had a significant impact on residual stress. After 10.0 Hz PMF treatment, the average

LaFe13−xMx (M = Si, Al) alloys are promising for use in magnetic refrigeration. However, they require long annealing time (30 days) in order to optimize the magnetocaloric properties. Research has shown that the addition of extra La in off-stoichiometric alloys can greatly shorten the annealing time. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the extra addition of La on

Microstructure degradation and stress-induced transformation of a high Nb-containing TiAl alloy with nearly lamellar microstructure during creep were investigated. Tensile creep experiments were performed at 800, 850 and 900 °C under 150 MPa in air. Microstructures before and after creep tests were examined using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). Dislocations within the lamellar

In this work, the effects of Zn content (0–2 wt%) on microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of cast Mg–10Gd–3.5Er–0.5Zr alloys are studied. The results show that the as-cast Mg–10Gd–3.5Er–xZn–0.5Zr alloys are mainly composed of Mg matrix and secondary (Mg, Zn)3(Gd, Er) phases distributed along grain boundaries. With the increase in Zn content, the volume fraction of secondary (Mg, Zn)3(Gd

The microstructure distribution, tensile anisotropy and fracture behaviors in the dissimilar friction stir welded joint of AM60/AZ31 alloys were investigated. Experimental results showed that a significant grain refinement and an orientation fluctuation occurred in the weld. The grain size of AZ31 side in joint was obviously smaller than that of AM60 side. There was a higher percentage of low angle

In order to better understand why the corrosion behavior of carbon steel exposed in Nansha atmospheric environment is very serious, the effect of sodium, potassium and magnesium chlorides deposited on carbon steel surface has been studied under atmosphere conditions by wet/dry accelerated test. The difference of corrosion behavior and surface structure in Na+, K+, and Mg2+ containing atmosphere has

Cu matrix composites reinforced by TiB2/TiN ceramic reinforcements (Cu/TBN composites) were prepared by hot pressing method. Prior to the hot pressing, Cu/TiB2/TiN composite powders (CTBN powders), which were used as the starting materials of Cu/TBN composites, were fabricated by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis method. The CTBN particles were found to be in a special core–shell structure

Lithium sulfur battery (LSB) is widely considered as a next-generation battery system due to its high theoretical energy density of 2567 Wh kg−1. However, several inherent issues obstruct the business application of LSB. To address these issues, we assemble core–shell structure Fe3O4@C nanodots with 5 nm diameter as a valid sulfur host via a convenient organic pyrolysis treatment followed by calcination

This work aims to develop a reliable method to predict mechanical properties of friction-stir-welded 6xxx-series alloys with experimentally measured welding heat input. A calorimetrical method was utilized to experimentally measure the welding heat input in the friction stir welded of aluminum alloy 6063-T5. Good correlations between the input variables, i.e., welding parameters and physical properties

This study focuses on the bonding interface characteristics and mechanical properties of the bobbin tool friction stir welded dissimilar AA6056 and AA2219 aluminum alloy joints using different welding speeds. Voids arise solely in the stir zone at the AA2219 side. A distinct boundary with limited material mixing develops at the middle section of the bonding interface, while excellent material mixing

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of Mo addition on the phase morphologies, microstructures and magnetic properties of the designated alloys. It is found out that the coercivity Hcj increases unevenly from 12.2 kOe for (Nd0.8Ce0.2)13Fe82B5 to the maximum value of 13.3 kOe for (Nd0.8Ce0.2)13Fe80B5Mo2. The transmission electron microscopy images demonstrate that the grain size decreases

The present work aims to study the influence of direct current and pulse current techniques as well as embedded SiC nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of the electrodeposited Ni–W coating. The electrodeposited coatings were studied for morphological, microstructural, mechanical, and scratch resistance properties using the surface roughness tester, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive

Self-healing metals possess the capability to autonomously repair structural damage during service. While self-healing concepts remain challenging to be realized in metals and metallic systems due to the small atomic volume of the mobile atoms, the slow diffusion unless at high temperatures and the strong isotropic metallic bonds, the scientific interest has increased sharply and promising progress

First-principles thermodynamic calculations were carried out at the interface level for understanding the precipitation of coherent L12-phase nano-structures in dilute Al–Sc–Er alloys. All energetics, relevant to bulk substitution, interface formation, interfacial coherent strain and segregation, were calculated and used to evaluate the nucleation and relative stabilities of various possible L12 nano-structures

Lithium batteries (LIBs) with low capacity graphite anode (~ 372 mAh g−1) cannot meet the ever-growing demand for new energy electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. It is essential to replace graphite anode with higher capacity anode materials for high-energy density LIBs. Silicon (Si) is well known to be a possible alternative for graphite anode due to its highest capacity (~ 4200 mAh g−1)

By means of annular channel angular extrusion technology and solution treatment, the AZ80 supersaturated solid solution was prepared. The β-Mg17Al12 precipitate morphologies analysis along with its sizes and area fraction measurement was performed to investigate mechanical properties variation of alloy at various aging temperature. The results indicated that after solution treatment, the intergranular

Developing excellent pseudocapacitive electrodes with long cycle, high areal capacity and large rate has been challenged. 3D printing is an additive manufacture technique that has been explored to construct microelectrodes of arbitrary geometries for high-energy–density supercapacitors. In comparison with conventional electrodes with uncontrollable geometries and architectures, 3D-printed electrodes

A new Ni–Cr–Si–B–Fe filler material is prepared for transient liquid-phase (TLP) bonding of Inconel 718 superalloy by mechanical alloying technique. The melting temperature range of the filler material and its activation energy of melting are determined by differential scanning calorimetry technique. The activation energy and melting temperature of the alloy powder decrease with increasing milling

In order to eliminate the disadvantages of the keyhole in conventional friction stir spot welding joint and attain the high-strength lap joint of Al/Cu dissimilar metals, a novel welding technique, named as friction stir spot riveting (FSSR), was proposed. A pinless tool and an extra filling stud were employed. The Al/Cu spot joints without keyhole defect were achieved by the FSSR. A Cu anchor-like

Thin-walled copper tubes are usually produced by multi-pass float-plug drawing deformation. In general, the annealing treatment subsequently is necessary to release the stored energy and adjusts the microstructure. In this study, an investigation on the evolution of annealing twins as well as textures in the thin-walled (Ф6 mm × 0.3 mm) copper tube underwent holding time-free heat treatment was reported

The 2xxx series Al alloys have been widely used in aerospace industry owing to their high strength, good plasticity and superior formability. To ensure a good control of shape, the quenched alloy sheets require a small pre-deformation before artificial aging. However, this pre-deformation considerably deteriorates the mechanical strength of the Al–3.0Cu–1.8Mg–0.5Si (wt%) alloys due to the formation

It is an important challenge to reduce the carbon content in nanostructured bainitic steels for commercialization purposes while still being able to gain the desired microstructural characteristics in nanoscale and not to deteriorate the strength–ductility combinations. That is the point at which an appropriate heat treatment procedure design would be an important parameter. This article aims to investigate

In this study, tensile behavior of Nb-containing 25Cr–20Ni austenitic stainless steels composed of coarse or fine grains has been investigated at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 900 °C. Results show that the tensile strength of fine-grained specimens decreases faster than that of coarse-grained specimens, as the test temperature increases from 600 °C to 800 °C. The rapidly decreasing

The simultaneous enhancement of magnetic and mechanical properties is desirable but challenging for soft-magnetic materials. A fabrication strategy to meet this requirement is therefore in high demand. Herein, bulk equiatomic dual-phase AlCoFeMnNi high-entropy alloys were fabricated via a magnetic levitation induction melting and casting process followed by annealing at 700–1000 °C, and their microstructures

The nano-Ag paste consisted of Ag nanoparticles and organic solvents. These organics would be removed by evaporation or decomposition during sintering. When the sintering temperature was 300 °C, the resistivity of sintered bulk was 8.35 × 10−6 Ω cm, and its thermal conductivity was 247 W m−1 K−1. The Si/SiC chips and direct bonding copper (DBC) substrates could be bonded by this nano-Ag paste at low

NiCrxMoy (x = 1, 1.5; y = 0, 0.1, 0.3) alloy coatings were prepared on the Q235 substrate by laser cladding under the protection of argon. The phase composition, microstructure, corrosion behavior, and mechanical properties of the NiCrxMoy alloy coatings were investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electrochemical tests, X-ray photoelectron

A transformation-induced plasticity phenomenon in Fe65(CoCrMnNi)35 medium-entropy alloy was investigated. According to the X-ray diffraction patterns, the as-cast specimen contains a single-phase face-centered cubic (fcc), while low-temperature annealing at 500 °C and 600 °C leads to the introduction of a body-centered cubic (bcc) phase as a secondary phase. Further increment of the annealing temperature

A series of AlxCrFe2Ni2Mo0.2 alloy consisting of FCC + BCC phases have been designed, and their as-cast microstructures and mechanical properties were also investigated with x ranging from 0.6 to 0.9. It was found that with the addition of Al element, the solidified structures changed from dendrite to columnar crystal then back to dendrite again. Moreover, the increased amount of BCC phase resulted