Xu Xuewen

Controllable synthesis of high aspect ratio Mg2B2O5 nanowires and their applications in reinforced polyhydroxyalkanoate composites

Highly pure magnesium borate (Mg2B2O5) nanowires with an average diameter of ~ 30 nm, an average length of ~ 15 μm, and a high aspect ratio of ~ 500 have been synthesized on a large scale via a two-step method. MgBO2(OH) nanowires with high aspect ratios were first prepared via a PVP-assisted hydrothermal technique. Using these nanowires as precursors, single crystalline Mg2B2O5 nanowires were synthesized by post-annealing treatment at a relatively low temperature of 700 °C. The important effect of the MgBO2(OH)—Mg2B2O5 conversion process on the morphology of the Mg2B2O5 nanowires was investigated and it was indicated that the recrystallization process plays an important role in the protection of the one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure. Moreover, the rigidity and the toughness of the Mg2B2O5 nanowire-reinforced PHA composites were tremendously improved compared to those of the pure PHA. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of Mg2B2O5 nanowires for reinforcement applications in polymer composites.

Ab initio study of the electronic structure and elastic properties of Al5C3N

We investigate the electronic structure, chemical bonding and elastic properties of the hexagonal aluminum carbonitride, Al5C3N, by ab initio calculations. Al5C3N is a semiconductor with a narrow indirect gap of 0.81 eV. The valence bands below the Fermi level (EF) originate from the hybridized Al p—C p and Al p—N p states. The calculated bulk and Youngs moduli are 201 GPa and 292 GPa, which are slightly lower than those of Ti3SiC2. The values of the bulk-to-shear-modulus and bulk-modulus-to-c44 are 1.73 and 1.97, respectively, which are higher than those of Ti2AlC and Ti2AlN, indicating that Al5C3N is a ductile ceramic.