Progress in Materials Science最新文献

Membrane technology has emerged as a promising approach for various CO₂ capture applications, including but not limited to hydrogen purification, natural gas processing, biogas upgrading and flue gas post-treatment. Past decades have seen tremendous efforts in developing new materials with better intrinsic separation capacities. However, only a few of them have made their way to the market. It is therefore timely to compile a review that identifies the gap between materials development and fabrication of asymmetric membranes for carbon capture applications. In this review, we give an overview of the recent development of membrane materials for CO₂ separation. Then, we summarize the processing techniques to turn materials into asymmetric membranes and state-of-the-art membranes. Based upon detailed presentation of literature data, we identify the obstacles preventing CO₂ capture membranes from moving from the lab to the large scale. Last, perspectives on future membrane development are discussed.

For mechanically dominated load profiles, nitrides are preferred as the base material for structural and functional hard coatings, while oxide-based materials offer better protection against high-temperature corrosion (such as oxidation). Thus, when mechanical and thermal loads are combined, the nitrides used should also have excellent stability against temperature and oxidation. How to develop such nitride materials that can withstand both high mechanical and thermal loads is the focus of this review article. This is done primarily with the help of experimental and theoretical investigations of the Ti–Al–N system.

On the basis of transition metal nitride coatings, we discuss important material development guidelines for improved strength, fracture toughness as well as thermal stability and oxidation resistance. Using various superlattice coatings, we further discuss how such nanolamellar microstructures can improve both the strength and fracture toughness of hard coating materials. In addition, other concepts for improving fracture toughness are discussed, with a focus on those that can increase both fracture toughness and hardness.

The individual concepts allow to design materials to meet the ever-growing demand for coatings with a wide range of excellent properties and outstanding property combinations.

This review offers a comprehensive evaluation of an emerging category of adsorbing materials known as high surface area materials (HSAMs) in the realm of water remediation. The objective is to shed light on recent advancements in HSAMs featuring multiple dimensionalities, addressing their efficacy in adsorbing toxic metal ions from wastewater. The spectrum of HSAMs examined in this review encompasses metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), carbon-based porous materials, mesoporous silica, polymer-based porous materials, layered double hydroxides, and aerogels. This review delves into the state-of-the-art design and synthetic approaches for these materials, elucidating their inherent properties. It particularly emphasizes how the combination of high surface area and pore structure contributes to their effectiveness in adsorbing toxic metal ions. These materials possess remarkable attributes, including molecular functionalization versatility, high porosity, expansive surface area, distinctive physicochemical characteristics, and well-defined crystal structures, rendering them exceptional adsorbents. While each of these materials boasts unique advantages stemming from their remarkable properties, their synthesis often entails intricate and costly procedures, presenting a substantial obstacle to their commercialization and widespread adoption. Finally, the review underscores the existing challenges that must be addressed to expedite their translation for water remediation applications of these promising materials.

Transport by rail is an efficient way of moving goods and people while managing problems such as congestion and the consequences on the environment. The relatively low energy consumption and CO₂ emissions are attributed to the low rolling-resistance due to the stiffness of the wheel and rail, leading to small contact area [1]. Investments in rail transportation has boomed in recent years. London, with the oldest underground rail system in the world, has added the Elisabeth Line at a cost of some £14 billion; China now has the largest high-speed rail system in the world. All these developments rely on the safe performance of steel rails, which suffer from two primary damage mechanisms, rolling-contact fatigue caused essentially by repeated contact stresses with the wheel, and a variety of wear mechanisms. Factors such as weldability are important, given that all modern rails are continuous. This review deals with the detailed physical-metallurgy of rail steels, including alloy design, microstructure, variety and choice, and damage mechanisms.

Affordable and clean energy stands as a key component within the realm of sustainable development. As an integral stride toward sustainability, substantial endeavors have been dedicated to advancing electrochemical energy technologies aiming to improve energy efficiency. Al is the third most element in the earth’s crust, finds extensive applications in various electrochemical energy systems. The volumetric capacity of Al (8046 mAh/cm³) is fourfold higher than that of Li (2042 mAh/cm³). In addition, the advantages of low cost, safety and environmental friendliness spurred widespread interest in utilizing Al-based alloys, composites, and nanostructured materials to create highly efficient electrodes for electrochemical energy storage systems. Despite its potential, Al-based materials face challenges such as passive oxide layer formation, self-corrosion and compatibility issues with electrolytes leading to low energy and power density, hindering the commercialization of Al-based technologies. This review concentrates on the pivotal role of Al-based materials across various electrochemical platforms such as supercapacitors, fuel cells, and batteries, particularly highlighting Al-air and Al-ion batteries. It explores charge storage mechanisms, methodologies, and the impact of nanostructures on electrochemical reactions. Additionally, it addresses the pertinent challenges associated with recently developed electrode materials and provides future directions for enhancing electrochemical energy conversion devices.

Photo-responsive polymers have attracted increasing attention due to the unique advantages that light stimulus provides, such as high sensitivity, precise selectivity, temporal and spatial control as well as its non-aggressive nature. Photo-responsivity can be divided into different categories including fluorescence and phosphorescence emission, photochromism, variable wettability and polarity changes, photocatalysis, photodynamic therapy, photo fluidization, photothermal function, photo-induced shape memory effects, and photo-locomotion. The chemical integration or physical doping of the photo-responsive compounds to a polymer matrix could induce such photo-responsivity to the host polymers. In recent years, electrospinning has been used as an effective method to fabricate photo-responsive electrospun nanofibrous mats with improved photo-responsive functionalities due to their porous structure with a high surface-to-volume ratio. This review focuses on the recent developments in photo-responsive electrospun polymer nanofibers. The preparation methods and electrospinning parameters, incorporated photo-responsive compounds, photo-responsive mechanisms, and the application areas of the photo-responsive electrospun nanofibrous mats are covered in detail. In this review, the recent studies on photo-responsive polymer nanofibers will be discussed and arranged based on their application types, such as monitoring and sensing, food packaging, anticounterfeiting, drug delivery, wound healing, bioactivity, membranes, and self-cleaning. Moreover, new strategies are proposed for each application field for the future studies to prepare multi-functional electrospun nanofibers with different morphologies, such as layer-by-layer, core-shell, and Janus nanofibers. It is believed that this review may provide new horizons in the preparation of new photo-responsive electrospun polymer nanofibers with smart applications.

Disorder and amorphous systems constitute a large body of modern scientific and technological research, where metallic glasses represent a simple realistic model material for fundamental inquiries and find increasingly widespread applications. Thanks to advances in experimental and computational techniques, recent decades have witnessed substantial progress in elucidating the nature of metallic glass from the atomic levels. We summarize key achievements in atomic packing, structural rearrangements governing the dynamics process, relaxation behaviors, mechanical and functional properties in metallic glasses. It reveals that cooperative and collective motions and dynamic facilitation, occurring at the medium-range order scale, hold the keys for several outstanding issues. We put forward open questions and future challenges and consider what could be done to establish a general glassy theory.

Traditional concrete, primarily employed for structural purposes, ensures the safety and reliability of infrastructure due to its excellent mechanical and durability properties. However, with the increasing scale of infrastructure, coupling of multifactorial and harsh service environment, expanding usage spaces, escalating demands for construction-environment harmony, and ever-rising human habitat standards, traditional concrete proves inadequate in meeting the sustainable requirements during construction and service phases, thus prompting its development towards multifunctionality. Electricity, the invisible force that propels modern civilization, has given rise to the emergence of electricity-based multifunctional concrete when combined with tangible concrete that carries human civilization. Through the structure–function integration and function-intelligence integration, this innovative composite material demonstrates excellent intrinsic properties as a structural material, including mechanical performances and durability, and superior electrical properties, such as conductivity, inductance, capacitance, impedance, thermoelectricity, piezoelectricity, among others. It, therefore, holds significant promise across various engineering applications, such as structural health monitoring, traffic detection, energy conversion/storage, de-icing and snow melting, building heating, electromagnetic protection, cathodic protection, grounding, and electrostatic protection. The ongoing research on electricity-based multifunctional concrete establishes a fundamental material framework for the transformation of infrastructure, offering a method to enhance safety, durability, functionality, and resilience of infrastructure. This review summarizes the relevant research progress on electricity-based multifunctional concrete, focusing on its design, composition, underlying principles, properties, and applications in infrastructures. Current technical challenges and future perspectives toward applying electricity-based multifunctional concrete in infrastructures are also discussed.

Shortage of freshwater is a global challenge related to population growth, changes in climate conditions and industrial and agricultural needs. Thus, sustainable freshwater production through desalination and wastewater treatment is essential for various human purposes. Membrane distillation (MD) is a recent thermal driven membrane based purification technology with capability to eliminate the limitations of traditional desalination technologies by a synergistic exploitation of the nexus between water and energy. Though MD is recognized as an ecofriendly technology, input heat energy utilization and its efficient management remains a challenge influencing the economic viability of the technology and hindering its realistic applications. To solve this problem, it requires an integrative approach involving materials chemistry, physical chemistry, polymer science, and materials engineering. In addition to the use of robust wetting and fouling resistant membranes, employing the newly developed self-surface heating membranes such as photothermal, joule heating and induction heating membranes have not only minimized energy requirement and fouling issues of MD technology but also enabled it to be considered as potential and economically viable approach for producing high-quality freshwater with negligible carbon footprint. Specifically, recent studies on self-surface heating membranes, utilizing nanomaterials with photothermal, conductive, and magnetic properties, have revealed new possibilities for renewable energy utilization in MD technology. Through direct irradiation or photovoltaic energy conversion, nanomaterial-integrated membranes significantly enhance MD's energy efficiency and productivity without compromising cost-effectiveness, opening avenues for sustainable desalination and water purification technologies. Here, we furnish a comprehensive state of the art overview on (1) the progress of conventional antifouling MD membranes and (2) the opportunities, challenges and limitations of the emerging field of self-surface heated MD (i.e., photothermal MD (PMD), Joule-heating MD and Induction heated MD). We also discuss the exceptional physicochemical properties, antifouling properties, fabrication and scalability of self-surface heating membranes, as well as the strategies for their deployment into MD modules enabling localization of heat at the membrane surface for direct feed heating, thereby leading to sustainable freshwater production.

This paper provides an in-depth overview of the recent advances and future prospects in utilizing two-dimensional Mo₂C MXene for flexible electrochemical energy storage devices. Mo₂C MXene exhibits exceptional properties, such as high electrical conductivity, mechanical flexibility, and a large surface area, which make it a promising material for diverse energy storage applications, including lithium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and supercapacitors. The review begins by discussing the various synthesis methods and characterization techniques employed to fabricate flexible Mo₂C MXene-based composites. It then delves into detailed analyses of the electrochemical performance of these composites in different energy storage systems. The optimal temperature and duration for synthesizing flexible Mo₂C MXene materials are examined, with a focus on their influence on specific capacity, current density, and cycle life. Furthermore, the review investigates the synergistic effects of incorporating flexible Mo₂C MXene with other materials, such as graphene, carbon nanofibers, carbon nanotubes, nanowires, nanorods, and porous materials. The objective is to explore how these supporting materials can enhance flexibility and surpass existing energy storage technologies, particularly in the context of lithium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and supercapacitors. The concluding section addresses the future prospects and challenges in the field.