The high-energy oscillating electric current pulse (ECP) technology was introduced to relieve the residual stresses in the small AISI 1045 steel specimens treated by the pulsed-laser surface irradiation. The high-energy oscillating ECP stress relief experiments were conducted to study the effectiveness of the high-energy oscillating ECP technology. In addition, the electroplasticity framework was developed based on the thermal activation theory to reveal the mechanism of the high-energy oscillating ECP stress relief. The results show that the high-energy oscillating ECP stress relief has good effects on eliminating the residual stress. Furthermore, the residual stress relieving mechanism of the high-energy oscillating ECP stress relief can be attributed to the electric softening effect and the dynamic stress effect. The findings confirm that the significant effects of high-energy oscillating ECP on metal plasticity and provide a basis to understand the underlying mechanism of the high-energy oscillating ECP stress relief.

Ce3+ ions in ceria nanoparticles (NPs) play a role as reactive sites in the adsorption of silicate anions. However, the limited concentration of Ce3+ ions in ceria NPs remains a major challenge in this regard. Herein, we report a simple strategy to synthesize Ce3+-enriched core–shell ceria NPs for enhanced adsorption of silicate anions. To increase the overall Ce3+ concentration, a shell layer is composed of Ce3+-rich ultrasmall ceria NPs approximately 5 nm in size. The Ce3+ concentration of such core–shell ceria NPs is increased by 12.7–17.1% relative to that of the pristine ceria NPs, resulting in increased adsorption of silicate anions. The Freundlich model fits the observed adsorption isotherm well and the constants of adsorption capacity (KF) and adsorption intensity (1/n) indicate higher adsorption affinity of the core–shell ceria NPs for silicate anions. We attribute these improvements to the increased Ce3+ concentration contributed by the ultrasmall ceria coating. This strategy can be used for enhancing the reactivity of ceria materials.

Twinned silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires (NWs) reinforced Si3N4–SiOC composites were successfully fabricated through a joint process of three-dimensional printing (3DP), direct nitridation, and polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP). 3DP and PIP were both addictive manufacturing processes, enabling the near net shape fabrication and microstructure designing of Si3N4–SiOC. With the increase of the PIP cycle number, the pores of Si3N4 were mostly filled with polymer-derived ceramics-silicon oxycarbide (containing SiC NWs and free carbons), which led to the increase of electrical conductivity of Si3N4–SiOC composites. With the increase of SiOC ceramics, the electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of Si3N4–SiOC composites increased from 2 dB to 35 dB, in which the absorption shielding effectiveness increased to 27 dB. The flexural strength of Si3N4–SiOC composites reached 63 MPa when the content of SiOC ceramics was 50.1 wt%. It is indicated that Si3N4–SiOC ceramics are a promising electromagnetic shielding and structural material.

Nano-structured yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ)/Al2O3 nano-composite coatings were prepared by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) in acetyl-acetone/ethanol solvents under the constant voltage of 40 V. High sintering temperature may damage the metal parts and also lead to high production costs. To overcome the disadvantages of high sintering temperatures, reaction bonding of Al was taken as the approach. It was found that a powder mixture of Al and YSZ can lower the sintering temperature. YSZ/Al green composites were deposited on the MCrAlY layer applied on Inconel alloy cathode. Iodine was added to the solutions as the stabilizing agent. According to differential thermal analysis (DTA) results, embedded Al particles oxidation started at 660 °C. Sintering process for YSZ/Al2O3 nano-composite coating occurred at 1150 °C for 4 h. A lower pinholes coating with the highest density due to the constraint of the substrate was obtained.

A eutectoid carbon steel was studied at three different annealing heat treatment cycles: spheroidizing, isothermal annealing, and normalization (air cooling). The aim of this study was to determine the correlation among thermal, structural, and metallurgical properties, as a result of the annealing heat treatment. Microstructure differences were produced by the heat treatment cooling rate with significant effects on Vickers nanohardness, thermal properties, and crystallinity. It was reflected in photothermal radiometry (PTR) images as in thermal conductivity and diffusivity. The amplitude signal increased as the cooling rate increased. It means that as the cooling rate increased, crystallinity, thermal diffusivity, and conductivity decreased. The cooling rate affected the metallurgical structure directly, and consequently, the nanohardness which decreased due to the solid solution formation and decomposition of the pearlite phase. As the cooling rate increased, the nanohardness increased modifying structural properties and the steel crystallinity. As the cooling rate decreased, the crystallinity increased.

Antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) is an ideal material for thermal insulation. To obtain the stable performance of ATO nanodispersions and measure the transparent and thermal insulation properties of the ATO coatings, we investigated how a dispersant and sand milling affect the stability of ATO dispersion, which has come to the results that adding an appropriate dispersant and sand milling for 2.0 h were beneficial to the ATO dispersion. We characterized the morphology, nanostructure, particle size distribution, zeta potential, and optical properties of the ATO dispersions by a transmission electron microscope (TEM), a laser particle size analyzer, and a spectrometer. The results show that the average particle size of the dispersions is about 50 nm and their absolute values of all zeta potentials are more than 40 mV. We coated the thermal insulation water-based coatings on quartz glasses by spin coating method, the effect of thermal insulation is evident with the increase of the ATO content, and there exists approximately 10 °C difference between the ATO sample and blank sample with the condition for maintaining high transmittance of visual light.

Nano-TiB2 powder of 58 nm size with TiO2 and TiBO3 as secondary phases was heated with 20 °C to <650 °C in argon while applying an electric field. The powder became conductive at 520 and 305 °C (T onset) for 16 and 40 V/cm, respectively, at which point current bursts of 4.5 and 10.0 A (peak value) were observed. Current bursts were accompanied by >1% TiB2 unit cell expansion, exceeding zero field thermally induced expansion. The current bursts also induced nonisothermal reaction between TiB2 and TiO2, yielding TiBO3 that is absent with no field. Increase from 16 to 40 V/cm shifts the TiB2 → TiBO3 reaction forward, decreases T onset but increases reaction rate. Analysis using Van’t Hoff relation, including electrochemical effects, precluded possibility of appreciable Joule heating, which was supported with adiabatic internal temperature calculations. The observed low temperature oxidation of TiB2 to TiBO3 that is electrochemically driven and is mediated by the TiO2 solid electrolyte.