Journal of Materials Science

Yang, Yang; Wang, Haoyue; Dai, Tianliang; Yi, Liqiang; Li, Shanshan; Wang, Shuoshuo; Yao, Juming; Zhu, Guocheng; Guo, Baochun; Khabibulla, Parpiev; Zhang, Ming

doi: 10.1007/s10853-024-10148-ypmid: N/A

As a promising innovative energy storage material, phase change fibers (PCFs) have been widely studied. PCFs are equipped with the ability of temperature regulation by introducing phase change materials (PCMs) and have been successfully prepared by melt spinning, wet spinning and electrospinning. With the rapid development of PCM and fibrous preparation technology, the combination of different processes of PCF preparation has been explored and developed. In this paper, the research progress of the preparation methods of PCFs is reviewed. Firstly, the preparation methods are classified according to the different loading forms of PCMs, and the fibrous maceration method, composite method and microcapsule method are introduced. Then, the special preparation methods and characteristics of PCF are elaborated. Finally, the research hot spots and development of PCFs are summarized for providing guidance for fabricating PCFs with desired comprehensive properties; among them, with the continuous innovation of smart fibers, the single function of PCFs will cause limited use, so the multi-functionality of PCFs is also discussed in detail for various applications.

Shafi, Muhammad Umar; Khan, Muhammad Azhar; Irfan, M.; Akhtar, Majid Niaz

doi: 10.1007/s10853-024-10180-ypmid: N/A

U-type hexaferrites represent a specific category of ferrimagnetic materials with general composition formula Ba4Me2Fe36O60 and have the largest as well as complex structural unit cell among all hexagonal ferrites. These materials have fascinated the researchers ever since they were discovered (1964) because of their extraordinary structural, dielectric, and magnetic properties. Modifying the composition of these materials by incorporating different elements (transition, or rare earth, or their suitable combination) can impact their crystalline structure and hence change their characteristics. Consequently, these changes can influence the functional properties of these materials to absorb electromagnetic (EM) waves. Microwave absorption by U-type hexaferrites primarily originates from the FMR (ferromagnetic resonance) phenomenon. Ferromagnetic resonance frequency (fr) is linked closely to the magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) fields. This review paper provides a detailed description regarding the major studies in the field of U-type hexaferrites on single platform. Key research outcomes are briefly presented in the form of tables and graphs. Among various synthesis techniques, SSR (solid-state reaction) method is mostly used for synthesizing U-type hexaferrites. The specific features of U-type hexaferrites have led to their widespread use in cutting-edge applications. These materials demonstrate excellent microwave-absorbing properties and antenna application due to their attractive dielectric and magnetic behavior. The combination of U-type fillers and polymer matrix to form composites can be potentially applied for EMI shielding.

Nowsherwan, Ghazi Aman; Khan, Mohsin; Nowsherwan, Nouman; Ikram, Saira; Hussain, Syed Sajjad; Naseem, Shahzad; Riaz, Saira

doi: 10.1007/s10853-024-10183-9pmid: N/A

This review thoroughly analyzes the progress and challenges in the emerging fields of rare-earth-based upconversion (UC) and downconversion (DC) materials for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Despite being outperformed by silicon solar cells in terms of efficiency, DSSCs and PSCs have garnered significant attention owing to their ease of fabrication using low-cost materials, making them promising alternatives for commercial photovoltaic devices. However, their power conversion efficiency (PCE) is limited by significant absorption in the visible region of the solar spectrum, leading to transmission losses of sub-bandgap photons. Rare-earth-doped luminescent materials provide a favorable solution by converting these low-energy photons into high-energy photon, thereby enhancing the light absorption and scattering effects of solar cells. This review delves into the underlying mechanisms of trivalent lanthanide ions, which exhibit exceptional luminescence, photostability, and sharply defined emission lines. The review also discusses the impact of microstructures on the properties and performance of these solar cells, emphasizing the importance of energy band alignment, defect passivation, and charge carrier transport facilitated by rare-earth doping. Additionally, this review covers fabrication techniques and discusses the broader implications of UC and DC materials in advancing future photovoltaic technologies. Further, this review offers a comprehensive perspective on the potential applications and future trends in integrating rare-earth-based materials into solar cells, aiming to maximize their efficiency and commercial viability.

Khan, Shanza; Maryam, Laiba; Gulzar, Asma; Mansoor, Muhammad Adil; Iqbal, Mudassir

doi: 10.1007/s10853-024-10187-5pmid: N/A

Hydrogels have been extensively utilized in biomedical applications for multiple decades and because of their distinct engineering potential they have been growing with discoveries in biology and chemistry. Distinct properties involving excellent biocompatibility, versatility, efficient stimuli responsiveness, great flexibility, softness, degradability, and high water content make them competent for various applications ranging from industrial to biological fields. Hydrogels can easily be synthesized by physical and chemical cross-linking of either natural or synthetic polymers and further modification with required functionalities may lead to the desired applications as well. Natural and synthetic hydrophilic polymers can be physically or chemically cross-linked in order to produce hydrogels. However, this review mainly focuses on synthesis as well as discrete biomedical applications like contact lenses, tissues engineering, drug delivery, diagnostic imaging, and immunoregulation.Graphical abstract[graphic not available: see fulltext]

Tang, Hao; Zhang, Man; Zhu, Yuye; Chen, Xuankai; Liu, Dekai; Jiang, Pingping; Shen, Yirui

doi: 10.1007/s10853-024-10140-6pmid: N/A

Phthalate plasticizers are gradually restricted in PVC products due to the escalating demand for health and environmental safeguards. Here, novel poly(glycerol ester) plasticizers(PGE), were synthesized utilizing biomass-derived glycerol and 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid as raw materials via an esterification condensation reaction, with n-octanoic acid serving as an end-capping agent, adjustment of reactant ratios yielded PGE-1 and PGE-0.75, subsequently evaluated for their efficacy in PVC applications. FT-IR and GPC analyses elucidated potential structures and molecular weight distributions of the plasticizers, revealing oligomeric PGE with molecular weights spanning 1000–2000 g mol−1. Mechanical properties, thermal stability, dynamic mechanical analysis, and migration resistance of PVC plasticized with PGE-1 and PGE-0.75 were compared against those employing conventional plasticizers, including di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP), and acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC). The hyperbranched network structure and high molecular weight of PGE conferred superior thermal stability and migration resistance to the plasticized PVC samples. Notably, the T50% of PGE-1/PVC film surpassed that of films plasticized with DEHP, DOTP and ATBC by 107.92, 95.17 and 111.14 °C, respectively. The weight loss of PGE/PVC film in distilled water, anhydrous alcohol and petroleum ether was below 2 wt% during 48 h. Furthermore, the weight loss of each PVC film was below the safety value (5 wt%) during 10 d in three different food simulants. Overall, the obtained poly(glycerol ester) plasticizers exhibit promise as phthalate replacements, owing to their favourable attributes in human health and environmental protection.Graphical abstractThe poly(glycerol ester) plasticizers derived from biomass glycerol, 1,4-CHDA and n-octanoic acid exhibited superb thermal stability and migration resistance far more than commercial plasticizers in PVC, resulting from the hyperbranched network structure.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

Jiao, Chuyu; Jiao, Qirui; Zhang, Wei; Ji, Zhuo; Zheng, Jiajun; Dai, Weijiong; Wang, Yan; Pan, Meng; Li, Ruifeng

doi: 10.1007/s10853-024-10152-2pmid: N/A

Introduction of mesopore system into zeolite crystals is always deemed to be an effective strategy to improve diffusion and acidic accessibility. In this work, a hierarchically structured ZSM-5 with an ultra-small intracrystalline mesopore structure was prepared by using lysine as a pore-forming agent via a hydrothermal crystallization procedure. The structured and textured properties of the as-synthesized samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, TEM, NH3-TPD, FT-IR and N2 adsorption–desorption isothermals. The results showed that a purely-phased hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolite with a size of 2–6 nm mesopore can be obtained under the condition of lysine/Al2O3 = 2–8. The addition of lysine in the precursor not only generated an ultra-small mesopore system, but also had a significant effect on the acidity of the synthesized sample: With the increased amount of added lysine, the acid density and acid strength of the as-prepared zeolite catalyst were gradually weakened. The effects of the introduced hierarchical pore structure and the tailored acid sites on the catalytic performance of the catalysts were investigated during methanol dehydration to hydrocarbons reaction. The introduced hierarchical pores and the weakened strong acids significantly improved the stability of the catalyst. Meanwhile, the reduced acid density strongly inhibited hydrogen transfer of light olefins intermediate and then increased the selectivity toward light olefins on the hierarchical zeolite catalysts.Graphical abstractTo overcome phase separation resulted from brittle combining forces between template and zeolite precursor, lysine, which is easily soluble in water and has a stable structure in the temperature range of ZSM-5 synthesis, served as a mesoporous template, and then, a hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolite was prepared in a hydrothermal method.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

Se, Shengyu; Wang, Huan; Zhou, Jian; Li, Qiang; Qin, Yucai; Song, Lijuan

doi: 10.1007/s10853-024-10195-5pmid: N/A

The adsorption and diffusion properties of zeolite materials for molecules depend on their pore structure and acidic properties, which have a profound impact on their catalytic performance. In this work, the influence mechanism of the Si/Al ratio on the adsorption and diffusion behaviors of n-butane and isobutane in HZSM-5 zeolites was investigated via Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) methods. It is found that the difference in adsorption amount of n-butane and isobutane is not significant in MFI zeolites with varying the Si/Al ratio from 12 to ∞. However, an increase in Brønsted acidity of HZSM-5 can significantly influence the adsorption modes of butane, as analyzed through a parameter of the probability distribution of nearest distance (PDND) techniques. The diffusion of n-butane was impeded by the Brønsted acid site, particularly at low loading, due to increased collisions with H atoms at the active site. Furthermore, the relationship between the diffusion and the adsorption probability of n-butane in the straight channel was built. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of adsorption and diffusion behaviors and their influencing factors, including pore structure and modifications, which are of great significance to the rational design of zeolite catalytic materials.Graphical abstract[graphic not available: see fulltext]

Yang, Junrui; Yin, Chaofan; Chen, Jianjun; Xu, Yangcheng; Han, Mingyu; Zhang, Guopeng; Liu, Zhongxia

doi: 10.1007/s10853-024-10124-6pmid: N/A

With an increasing temperature gradient, the internal stress in composites can cause many problems, such as the plastic yield of the matrix, fracture of the reinforcements, growth of pores in the matrix, and debonding of the interface. The reinforcement particularly affects the internal stress, considerably changing the various properties of the composites. ZrMgMo3O12particle (p)/2024Al composites were fabricated using 5−30 vol. % of a near-zero expansion material, ZrMgMo3O12, as a reinforcement. This was achieved via high-energy milling followed by vacuum hot pressing. The influence of the ZrMgMo3O12 content on the thermal expansion and dimensional stability of the composites was investigated. The results indicated that the large thermal mismatch stress between ZrMgMo3O12 and 2024Al limited the addition of ZrMgMo3O12 to the composites. The composites with 30 vol. % ZrMgMo3O12 failed after solid solution treatment during water quenching. With increasing ZrMgMo3O12 content from 5 to 20%, the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) first decreased and then increased, whereas the dimensional stability of the composites first increased and then decreased. The composites with 10% ZrMgMo3O12 had the lowest CTE of 11.3 × 10–6 °C−1 from − 100 °C to 400 °C, and exhibited dimensional stability from room temperature (RT) to 400 °C.

Chen, Wentao; Yang, Min; Liu, Xiayu; Wu, Bingbing; Zheng, Biyu; Song, Xiaoli; Liu, Junliang; Zhang, Ming; Zhang, Lifeng

doi: 10.1007/s10853-024-10154-0pmid: N/A

To expand the effective microwave absorption efficiency of barium hexa-ferrite (BaM)/polyaniline (PANI) composites, a technique based on lanthanum (La) doping and surface carboxylation of BaM nano powders is explored to simulate the interfacial polarization between BaM and PANI. La doping of BaM nano powders not only regulates the magnetic properties and microwave response of ferrite itself, it also activates the surfaces of ferrite particles for the deposition polymerization of PANI. Surface carboxylation provides activated sites for PANI on the surfaces of ferrite particles, leading to formation of rod-like PANI. All these together make contributions to enriched reflection loss modes, resulting in the fine microwave absorption properties. With La-doping in BaM is 5 mol% (x = 0.05) and surface carboxylation has been performed, the microwave absorption properties of the synthesized composites were characterized of a high efficiency of  − 51 dB and the effective absorption bandwidth of 2.8 GHz at a thickness of 5 mm. This provides an effective method to improve the microwave absorption performance of the conventional absorption medium, barium ferrite.Graphical abstract[graphic not available: see fulltext]

Alshahrani, B.; Korna, A. H.; Fares, S.

doi: 10.1007/s10853-024-10156-ypmid: N/A

Gamma radiation’s impact on PVC/MnFe2O4–ZnMn2O4 nanocomposite films (fabricated via solution casting and irradiated at 0, 50, 100, and 150 kGy) was investigated. XRD revealed reduced defects and increased crystallite size with increasing dose (except 150 kGy, which induced a new phase). FTIR suggested gamma radiation breaks down PVC chains, generating free radicals that promote crosslinking with nanoparticles. The intensity of specific bands increased with dose (up to 100 kGy) before decreasing at 150 kGy, supporting the disruption of the crystalline structure at higher doses. Lower doses promoted a more ordered arrangement of PVC chains, while higher doses favored crosslinking, disrupting order. The optical bandgap ranged from 3.20 to 4.53 eV, with the oscillator energy increasing (up to 100 kGy) before decreasing (150 kGy). This study demonstrates that gamma radiation can be used to tailor the structural, morphological, and optical properties of these films, enabling the design of materials with specific.