Yuchi Fan

Amorphous TiO2 Shells: A Vital Elastic Buffering Layer on Silicon Nanoparticles for High‐Performance and Safe Lithium Storage

Smart surface coatings of silicon (Si) nanoparticles are shown to be good examples for dramatically improving the cyclability of lithium-ion batteries. Most coating materials, however, face significant challenges, including a low initial Coulombic efficiency, tedious processing, and safety assessment. In this study, a facile sol-gel strategy is demonstrated to synthesize commercial Si nanoparticles encapsulated by amorphous titanium oxide (TiO2 ), with core-shell structures, which show greatly superior electrochemical performance and high-safety lithium storage. The amorphous TiO2 shell (≈3 nm) shows elastic behavior during lithium discharging and charging processes, maintaining high structural integrity. Interestingly, it is found that the amorphous TiO2 shells offer superior buffering properties compared to crystalline TiO2 layers for unprecedented cycling stability. Moreover, accelerating rate calorimetry testing reveals that the TiO2 -encapsulated Si nanoparticles are safer than conventional carbon-coated Si-based anodes.

Effects of Polarization on Mechanical Properties of Lead Zirconate Titanate Ceramics Evaluated by Modified Small Punch Tests

Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) ceramics were prepared by the conventional mixed oxide method, and the strength of the resultant PZT ceramics was evaluated using modified small punch (MSP) tests. Load–displacement curve test results showed that the crack-initiation and fracture strengths of PZT ceramics decreased after polarization. The effect of the polarization accelerated the fatigue properties of PZT ceramics. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results showed that microcracks were formed before the maximum load in the MSP test, and the first load drop corresponded to crack initiation.

Electrically conductive and mechanically strong graphene/mullite ceramic composites for high-performance electromagnetic interference shielding

Ceramic composites with good electrical conductivity and high strength that can provide electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding are highly desirable for the applications in harsh environment. In this study, lightweight, highly conductive, and strong mullite composites incorporated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are successfully fabricated by spark plasma sintering at merely 1200 °C using the core-shell structured γ-Al2O3@SiO2 powder as a precursor. The transient viscous sintering induced by the γ-Al2O3@SiO2 precursor not only prohibits the reaction between mullite and rGO by greatly reducing the sintering temperature, but also induces a highly anisotropic structure in the rGO/mullite composite, leading to an extremely high in-plane electrical conductivity (696 S m-1 for only 0.89 vol % of rGO) and magnitude lower cross-plane electrical conductivity in the composites. As a result, very large loss tangent and EMI shielding effectiveness (>32 dB) can be achieved in the whole K band with extremely low rGO loading (less than 1 vol %), which is beneficial to maintain a good mechanical performance in ceramic matrix composites. Accordingly, the rGO/mullite composites show greatly improved strength and toughness when the rGO content is not high, which enables them to be applied as highly efficient EMI shielding materials while providing excellent mechanical performance.